Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Seal ❯ The Gathering ( Chapter 15 )

So, Broken Seal has returned. Sorry about the delay, but I. . . erm. . . well, I'm afraid I don't really have a good excuse. I just got wrapped up in another story. Again, my apologies to those who were reading, especially Serendipity. I would have emailed you, but I couldn't find an address.

Anyway, back to business.

Note: There may be a noticeable change in my style since I last added to the story. I hope to remedy any serious discrepancies in the next rewrite.

***

Krillin coasted to the ground. The fighter set down a few meters behind King Vegeta, who was now stood before the doors of King Yemma's office. The return journey from the Tech lab had been mercifully uneventful, marred only by the grim ambience of a world corrupted. There had been no conversation either. Krillin for one was too worn out for such repartee after his confrontation with Dodoria and his frank exchange with Vegeta. And though the proud Saiyan would never admit it, krillin could sense a slight dip in Vegeta's energy since his own exertions.

Krillin trotted up the path, pulled up alongside Vegeta and looked up at the battered doors. They had been closed since the two had been gone, though one still hung crookedly from its hinges, leaving visible a sliver of the scene beyond. Ducking down, Krillin peered through the gap at the bottom. Through it he could just about see King Yemma sat at his desk. The great ogre's face was a picture of anxiety as he spoke softly yet firmly into his telephone receiver.

There was a loud creek. Krillin looked up to see Vegeta brazenly shoving the one well-hinged door aside. The barrier reeled back quickly, swinging through a wide arc before striking the inside wall with a resounding crash. Krillin winced as he heard the subsequent patter of shattered plasterwork falling to the ground.

Vegeta promptly strode forwards, seemingly unperturbed by how Yemma might react. Krillin did not share his confidence, and leaned cautiously around the crooked door to gauge the ogre's mood.

Yemma, however, appeared unmoved by Vegeta's display. Much as with his and Krillin's earlier visit, Yemma seemed more concerned with his call than by their presence.

"Uh-huh, yes." The ogre uttered. "And you still can't break them up? How many? But how could they. . . okay. Right."

Krillin edged around the door and followed Vegeta to the foot of Yemma's desk. This conversation did not sound good. It seemed that with every muffled word that escaped Yemma's enormous ear and drifted into Krillin's, the ogre would become more unsettled. Krillin had seen the great ogre to be concerned, even distressed by the events of the past day or so. But for the first time, and he hoped for the last, the fighter felt certain what he saw in the mighty demon's dark eyes was fear. He dared not guess what could inspire it in one such as King Yemma.

"But you already have everyone I can spare." Yemma went on. "I know, but. . . hello. . . hello?"

Yemma drew the receiver from his face, and peered down at it for a moment as if he did not know what it was he was holding. He then dropped it back onto the hook and leaned back into his chair, an action which was greeted by a creak not unlike that of a toppling tree.

"King Yemma!" Barked Vegeta.

"What? Whose there?" Yemma replied, leaping to his feet.

He then glanced down at the fighters before him.

"Oh, you're back." he observed.

Apparently, whatever horror had been unfolded to him during his phone call had been so distracting, he had not even noticed their arrival.

"Did you get it?" he asked urgently.

"We sure did." Krillin replied. "Sure took some doing though. You'll never guess who. . ."

"Yes, yes." Yemma interrupted, and then thrust out an immense cupped hand at Krillin. "Quickly, give it here."

Krillin looked at the hand for a moment. Apparently, Yemma expected *him* to be carrying the seal. Or maybe that was just what he had hoped. Until this moment, Krillin had not considered how Yemma might react to Vegeta's bearing of the artefact.

With a grin and a nervous titter, Krillin turned to Vegeta.

"Uh, King Vegeta?" he said.

But Vegeta had already begun to extract the seal from beneath his breastplate, under the horrified gaze of King Yemma. Pulling its lustrous chain over his generous head of hair, the Saiyan took the seal in his hand and then tossed it into Yemma's waiting palm.

The ogre looked down at the object in his hand for a moment, still bearing a look of surprise. Suddenly, he wrapped his giant fingers around it and pulled it back. Then, opening up his hand, he began to examine the seal, prodding it around with the index finger of his free hand.

"Is everything alright?" Krillin asked, tentatively.

Yemma did not respond. Instead, he just mumbled to himself as he looked over his acquisition. Then, with a relieved sigh, he leaned back, opened a desk drawer and dropped the seal into its depths.

"Good work, boys, good work." he rumbled as he shut the drawer.

Yemma still seemed unsettled, however. This in turn was unsettling Krillin.

"What are you doing?" Vegeta asked of Yemma, indignantly.

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" Yemma replied.

"Why do you not deploy the seal now?" Vegeta said.

Yemma's cast of disquiet turned to one of annoyance as the second round of Kingly hostilities appeared ready to begin.

"I'll 'deploy the seal' in my own good time." He replied, angrily.

Krillin thought it more than likely that Yemma had a very good reason for storing the seal for now, but it seemed he would rather take exception to Vegeta's tone than to simply explain his actions.

"We do not have time to waste on such delays." Vegeta insisted. "We must use it now."

"Hey guys?" Krillin spoke up.

"Silence!" both Kings roared.

Krillin's shoulders dropped, as did his face.

Not this again; he thought to himself.

"As I was saying," Yemma went on, "I don't take orders from you. You might have been a king back on your home planet, but I'm the one who wears the trousers around here."

"This has nothing to do with who is King and who is not." Vegeta retorted. "The longer we delay, the more difficult our task will become."

"*Our* task?" Yemma said. "I don't remember inviting you onto this team."

"I do not need an invitation to go where I am needed!" Vegeta barked.

"Needed? I don't *need* anybody."

"Nonsense! You are in desperate need of strong fighters. One need only look beyond your doors to see that."

Yemma slammed his hands down on his desk, causing the whole room to quiver with shock.

"Oh, is that right!" He yelled. "Well then, Mr tough guy, why don't you go fight that army on your own?"

A silence fell across the room.

Krillin swallowed hard. For a moment, he ran through the words that Yemma had dispensed, making sure that he had heard correctly. Then, unhappy with the results of his analysis, he asked gingerly,

"Did you say. . . army?"

Yemma relaxed back into his chair.

"Uh. . . no. No, I didn't say anything." he lied.

"King Yemma," Vegeta said, stepping forward, "I demand to know of what army you speak."

"Look, I already said I didn't say anything." Yemma reiterated. "It must have been the wind, or something."

"Come on, King Yemma," Krillin said, regaining his composure after his initial uncertainty, "we might be able to help."

Yemma opened his mouth for yet another denial, but then sighed resignedly instead. It seemed that the offer of help was too tempting to simply pass up; a fact that made Krillin all the more uneasy, since this only served to highlight just how desperate the situation had become.

"I lose more classified information that way." Yemma muttered.

Leaning forward, he clasped his hands together.

"Okay, I'll brief you on what's been happening." Yemma began. "But you're not gonna like. A little more than an hour ago, reports began to come in that condemned souls were congregating at the entrance to the underworld. It started off with just a few dozen. But then more began to show up. A few dozen became a hundred. A hundred became a few hundred. And then. . . well, I don't have to draw you a picture."

"Then why not simply break up this gathering?" Vegeta asked.

"Hey, on any other day that would be a piece of cake for a guy with my resources." Yemma stated. "But in case you haven't noticed, my resources are a bit stretched right now."

Vegeta looked upon Yemma disapprovingly. Though he said little, Krillin cold tell that once again, he was not impressed by the ogre's lack of control over his own domain.

Krillin's mind soon turned to other matters. Raising a hand tentatively so as not to invite another slapping down, he asked a question, the answer to which he was not even sure he wanted to know.

"Uh, King Yemma. Exactly how many of them are there now?"

Yemma let out a rumbling sigh.

"I don't know." He admitted, reluctantly. "I just lost contact with the last of my outposts before they could give me an estimate."

"Well then, what was the most recent report?" Vegeta asked impatiently.

"Well, as of about twenty minutes ago," Yemma began, but then paused as if the words had become lodged in his throat, "the estimate was about forty, maybe fifty thousand."

"F-f-fifty thousand?" Krillin stammered.

"What, is there an echo in here?" snapped Yemma. "You heard me."

"So, what do you intend to do about this?" Vegeta said.

"There's nothing I *can* do." Yemma replied, clearly as dissatisfied with his own response as Vegeta. "I don't have the demon-power to deal with this. Hell, I don't even know what those guys are up to."

"Obviously they wish to prevent us from using the seal." Vegeta asserted.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Yemma scoffed. "This whole operation was top secret. How could they possibly know about the new seal?"

Krillin began to rub the back of his neck nervously with his right hand.

"Well, uh. . . actually. . ."

King Yemma's massive, soul-piercing eyes shot across to Krillin, causing the nerve-racked fighter to flinch beneath their unsettling glare.

"Well actually what?" he rumbled.

"Well, we kinda had some company when we were talking last." Krillin explained gingerly.

Yemma's eyes widened.

"Company? What company?" He boomed.

Vegeta growled, and lowered his head like an angered predator. Raising a single clenched fist, he snarled,

"Zarbon and Dodoria."

Yemma retreated to the recesses of his memory for a moment.

"Zarbon and Dod. . . you mean the pretty boy and the tubby pink guy that used to work for Frieza?"

Vegeta broke eye contact with Yemma. The sound of that last name clearly caused him great displeasure.

"What were they doing skulking around here?" Yemma asked, and then his angry gaze fell upon Krillin once more.

This was the part that the fighter had feared.

"Why didn't you tell me they were here?" Yemma constrained. "I thought you Z people did that power level sensing thingy!"

"Well, we do," Krillin began, "it's just that, um, well, its just that those two had been down *there* for a while, and they kinda, sorta. . . learned how to hide there energy signals."

Krillin cringed in readiness for a dressing down.

"Oh, great!" Yemma roared. "They must've sent all that information straight down the bad guy grape vine. Damn it! This is all I need!"

"But how could they have spread the information so quickly?" Krillin enquired.

"You'd be surprised how quickly news can travel around here." Yemma replied. "Two bad guys tell two more. Those two each tell another two, and so forth. Before you know it, you've got yourself an army of ultimate evil and the headaches to boot."

Krillin shuddered at those words.

"I don't like the sound of that." he muttered to himself.

"How this army was formed is immaterial." Vegeta interjected. "All that matters now is that we destroy it. Nothing must prevent us from achieving our objective."

"Easier said than done, Mr Enthusiasm!" Yemma sniped. "And what is it with you anyway? I mean, why is it that you're always hanging around here? Shouldn't you be out there causing mayhem with your evil buddies?"

"My motives are none of your concern." Vegeta retorted.

"The hell they aren't!" The ogre barked. "You're lucky I let you get this far. If you want to have any further part in this operation, you're gonna have to tell me what you want out of it."

"I will do no such thing!" roared Vegeta.

"Then you can go find some other house to haunt! Having you around is a liability!"

Vegeta emitted an angry grunt, apparently about to force himself to do something that went against his nature.

"You must believe that my motives are true." He explained in as even a tone as he could muster. "But more than that I cannot and will not say."

"Well I'm sorry," Yemma replied, "but that's just not good enough. So, thanks for your help, and don't let the door hit you on the way out. . . or vice versa."

Vegeta gritted his teeth. Krillin knew that, as angry as the Saiyan appeared, he would not argue. In fact, Vegeta was already turning reluctantly for the door.

Krillin couldn't allow this to happen. Whether Yemma liked it or not, he needed every strong fighter he could get if he was to resolve this crisis. Whether it was this reasoning that dictated his actions, or a sense of pity for King Vegeta, Krillin was unsure. But either way, he had to act.

"King Yemma." he said loudly.

Both kings turned to the fighter. Suddenly, the attention didn't feel quite so welcome.

"What?" the ogre replied indelicately.

Krillin paused for a moment. He could back down right now, and save himself from further angering the volatile Yemma. However, a brief glance at Vegeta was enough to remind him of just why he had chosen to entrust the seal to the Saiyan in the first place. Krillin believed that Vegeta would sacrifice his own soul for that of his son. He had to, for that was one of the few kernels of hope that remained for the fighter in these desperate times.

Turning back to Yemma, Krillin spoke.

"I just wanted to say that, uh. . . for what it's worth, um. . . I trust him."

"Oh really?" Yemma replied. "Well then, would *you* mind telling me why?"

Krillin gritted his teeth. Looking to Vegeta, he found the Saiyan to be staring out through the open doors. Though his expression was one of proud defiance, the lack of eye contact was evidence enough that he realised that he was, in this matter at least, at Krillin's mercy.

Krillin swallowed hard, and returned his gaze to Yemma.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I can't tell you, King Yemma."

Yemma flung his great hands skywards.

"Why?" he roared. "Why is it that you people have to waste my time? Is it some kind weird hobby?"

"Listen, King Yemma." Krillin replied. "King Vegeta did tell me why he was helping us, and I believe him. Just trust me when I say it's not the sort of thing a guy jokes about. Now I know it sounds dum, but it's really important that you trust King Vegeta too. After all, you need all the help you can get."

Yemma glared down fiercely upon Krillin. However, his ferocious expression began to fade steadily, leaving one of resignation in its place. He then raised his hand and placed over his eyes.

"Why me?" Yemma rumbled under his breath.

He then dropped his hand to the desk.

"Okay," he conceded, "he can stay, but only because things are getting so bad. On any other day, you'd be out of here so fast your *momma's* feet wouldn't touch the ground."

Krillin turned to Vegeta, upon hearing the Saiyan growling in annoyance at Yemma's comments. However, to Krillin's relief, it seemed that he was willing to be diplomatic in order to retain his place on `the team'. As such, he did not reply.

"Alright," Yemma began, clasping his hands across his desk, "the first thing we have to do before we can deploy the seal is break up this gathering."

"Simple." Vegeta stated. "In order to disperse this army, we must first raise a army of our own."

"Oh yeah, an army!" Yemma agreed facetiously. "Now why didn't I think of that? Now let me see, I'm sure have one around here somewhere."

Yemma then began to rummage mockingly through his desk drawers.

Krillin ventured into the conversation.

"Actually, King Yemma, I have. . ."

"Do not make light of me!" Vegeta complained, cutting Krillin off mid-sentence.

Krillin sighed. Again it seemed it would be difficult to squeeze a word in edgeways between these two colossal egos.

"Look," Yemma said, "I can't just pull an army out of thin air. Stuff like that takes time."

"Time is a commodity we simply do not have." Asserted Vegeta. "Surely you must have some fighters, those which were accepted into paradise when they fell."

Yemma raised a hand to his chin and began to rub it thoughtfully. This was Krillin's chance.

"I know where there are some fighters!" he blabbed, thrusting a hand into the air.

The eyes of both kings fell upon him.

Why do I keep doing this; Krillin thought to himself, forlornly.

Lowering his hand, and allowing his shoulders to sink submissively, Krillin aired his suggestion.

"I was just thinking, maybe you could call King Kai. I think a couple of my friends from Earth might still be there, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping out."

There was a moment of silence as the kings digested the information.

"These allies of yours," Vegeta said, "they are powerful warriors?"

"Oh, uh, yeah they sure are." Krillin replied. "Earth's finest."

"Excellent." Said Vegeta, and then turning to King Yemma, continued, "You must contact this King Kai immediately."

"Hey buddy," Yemma thundered, "I'm the one who gives the orders around here, not you."

Krillin was becoming weary of this clashing of egos.

"Please King Yemma," he said, before Vegeta could retort, "we can't waste anymore time."

Yemma glared down at Krillin. However, his stare seemed to lack the venom of earlier on. His eyes then moved reluctantly across to the telephone atop his desk.

"Alright then," he conceded, "I'll call him. But I'm not going to like it."

Krillin had never met King Kai in person. What he knew of him extended only to the wonders his training had done for Goku, increasing the Saiyan's strength twenty fold and arming him with a battery of potent techniques. Krillin felt sure that if this King Kai could not only make good fighters great, but also evoke such hesitance in one as formidable as King Yemma, then he must truly be a mighty and fearful individual.

Yemma lifted the receiver and began to dial the number gingerly, his eyes flicking back and forth between the phone and Krillin as he did. He then raised the receiver to his ear and listened with a nervous expression.

"Oh, uh, hi King Kai." He said suddenly. "It's King Yemma here. . . Yeah, we're having some problems down here and. . . oh, you heard? Yeah, well we're a little short handed and I was just wondering if we could borrow a couple of your guys for. . . No. . . but. . ."

Yemma sighed deeply.

"No, King Kai. I haven't heard the one about the nun and the manatee. . . uh huh. . . yeah. . ." Yemma then emitted an unenthusiastic laugh. "Yes, that's uh, that's a good one, King Kai. So, um, when can we expect your boys? Uh huh . . . right. . . yes. . . Okay, good. Thanks for your help, King Kai. Bye now."

Yemma hung up, and gave loud a sigh of relief.

"So, what did he say?" Vegeta asked impatiently.

"He says he's sending three fighters by the names of Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Tien." The ogre informed him. "They'll be here within the hour."

"Great!" Krillin exclaimed. "Man, I can't wait to see how much those guys have improved with King Kai."

"Yeah, great." Yemma said, drearily. "Two down, forty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety eight to go."

"There must be somewhere else from which we can summon an army." Vegeta speculated. "Or do you condemn all those who chose the way of the warrior?"

"Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble," Yemma replied, "but the sad fact is that most people who have that kind of strength use it to do bad things."

The demon then resumed his deep thought.

"Well, I guess there is one place I could call." He mused. "But I'm really only supposed to do it in an emergency."

"So tell me King Yemma," Vegeta said, thrusting a hand out in the direction of the open door, "does this not qualify as an emergency?"

For once, Krillin sympathised with the Saiyan's cantankerous outburst.

"Alright, alright." Yemma conceded. "I'll make the call. But I'll have to do it on the special line out back. And I still can't guarantee that they'll be able to send enough fighters."

"If that is our only option, then that is what we must do." Said Vegeta.

The sound of Vegeta's voice caused an idea to occur to Krillin.

"Hey, uh, King Vegeta?" he said nervously. "You're the king of all Saiyans, right?"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed.

"What of it?"

"Well," Krillin said, pausing a moment to choose his words carefully, "couldn't you just ask your people to help us? I mean, I know they probably don't want to go back downstairs, but I'm sure if you. . ."

"No!" Vegeta barked, and then looked away from Krillin. "That is out of the question."

Krillin stood slacked jawed in surprise. Though he had expected some scepticism, he hadn't anticipated such a strong objection. Summoning up the courage to speak again, he said,

"But, I just. . ."

"Absolutely not." Vegeta reiterated. "I will not draw my people into this."

"Well there a part of this, whether you like it or not." Yemma stepped in, lending unexpected but much needed support to Krillin's argument. "I think the kid may be onto something with this. Since the seal broke we've been up to our eyeballs in Saiyans. If we could get even a few of them on our side, bang, instant army."

"No, I can. . . I will not." Vegeta said.

"Well, why not?" Yemma asked. "You're the one who was about to bust a gut over making an army."

"What makes you so sure that my race would agree to fight for you?" Vegeta asked in return.

"Well, duh." Yemma replied. "You're their king. If you tell `em to fight on our side, then that's what they'll do."

Vegeta gritted his teeth. As Krillin looked at him, he could see that the Saiyan had something that he desperately wished to say, but was being held back, most probably by that eponymous Saiyan pride he had heard so much about.

After a short time, Vegeta relaxed his tormented expression.

"Very well, then." He said. "I shall seek out my people. But I cannot guarantee their cooperation."

"Okay, good." Said King Yemma. "You should probably get started now. There's no time to waste."

"How will I be able to find them?" Vegeta asked.

"Same way you find everything around here." Yemma replied. "Just think about them as you go. You shouldn't have a problem as long as they're not on the move. Oh yeah, and try to think of one individual in particular, otherwise goodness knows where you'll end up. You have anyone in mind?"

The room fell quiet for a moment as Vegeta pondered reluctantly the question he had been asked. After a few short moments, he replied,

"Yes, I do. My most loyal and trusted warrior."

"Good, good." Yemma said, standing up from his desk. "Now you'd better get going. I've got a call to make."

With that, Vegeta swung around in his typically dramatic manner and swept towards the door.

"Oh, and you better go and keep an eye on him." Yemma added, turning to Krillin. "Just because you trust him doesn't mean I have to."

"King Yemma," replied Krillin, "I'm sure Vegeta doesn't need me to. . ."

"Come, Krillin!" came a Vegeta's harsh voice from the doorway. "We cannot waste time."

Krillin swung around in surprise. Indeed, Vegeta was standing, half turned towards the outside world, looking straight back at him. He really did want the fighter to accompany him. Or at the very least, he did not object. It was remarkable enough that Vegeta had even called him by name, but to be openly invited to accompany him on a journey to find his people was little short of a coup. It seemed that once one had earned the respect of a Saiyan, one had that respect for life.

"I don't have all eternity!" Vegeta snapped.

Okay, so maybe King Vegeta still didn't quite view Krillin as an equal, but it was a good start.

Vegeta turned and took several paces out of the door. Then, in a brilliant blue flash of ki energy, he took to the muggy skies.

As Krillin ran out into the open and prepared to give chase, he gave thought to Yemma's request. His gut told him that he could trust King Vegeta and his motives, but still, he couldn't help but wonder just what King Yemma thought he would be able to do should the Saiyans turn on him.

Krillin hoped he would not have to find out.