Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragonball V: A World Both Familiar and Foreign ❯ The Losses Begin ( Chapter 7 )

DragonBall V: A World Both Familiar and Foreign

Author's Note: Bah I'm so silly, I've been looking at Pojo's Dragonball site for power levels for the various baddies, and I should have just looked ahead to where the people I was asking about were listed. Silly, silly me. But thanks for the responses. Hehe Anyway, the baddie invading Earth should be pretty apparent in this chapter.

Required Disclaimer: I don't own the DB franchise, I've never worked for them, I'm not making any money off this, and I'm dead sexxy baby! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 7: The Losses Begin

Krillin was flying as fast as he could, seeing as how Frieza already knew of his presence. He was flying so fast, in fact, that he nearly missed a very small ki below him. He stopped in midair and looked around before spotting a small green child trying in vain to hide from the man floating above him. Krillin floated down, trying to look non-threatening but only succeeding in frightening the child. "Get away from me! I don't know where the dragonballs are, so just leave me alone you monster!" The child screamed at him once he knew he was spotted.

Krillin put his hands up in what he hoped was a non-threatening manner. "Hey, little guy! I'm not one of the bad guys. I'm not with Frieza, in fact, my friends and I came to destroy him before he killed anyone else. Sorry about the people of Namek he's killed so far."

The boy warily looked up at him then walked out. "This isn't a trick, is it?" He asked.

Krillin shook his head and smiled. "If I was one of Frieza's goons, I probably would have just blasted you by now, right? Why are you out here though? You're all alone?"

The boy nodded. "The other villagers were killed by that evil person's men. I was the only one to escape." The little green boy's eyes pooled with tears as he remembered his fallen friends and family.

"Well, I'll help you as best I can. By the way, my name is Krillin. What's yours?" Krillin asked, landing in front of the boy.

The Namek looked up at him and wiped his tears away before responding. "Dende. I didn't know where else to go, so I was going to Guru's house. He's the eldest Namek. If you have no evil intentions, we can go there together?"

Krillin frowned a moment and looked at the dragon radar. He hoped it wouldn't delay him too much, but seeing as how the boy needed his help, he couldn't very well turn him away. "Sure, let's go. I'd never harm anyone who didn't have evil intentions." Krillin said to reassure the boy. They took off and Krillin felt a bit hopeful when he realized they were heading in the same direction he had been earlier.

They soon came to a large house and entered. Krillin stared in awe up at the eldest Namek, Guru, who was absolutely humongous. "Dende? Who is your friend? Come… come before me, child." Guru said in his deep resonating voice.

Both Krillin and Dende approached, Krillin a bit more hesitant than Dende. "Hello, sir. Sorry to disturb you, but I wanted to make sure that Dende got here ok. I'm also sorry that my friends and I didn't get here sooner. We had no idea that Frieza had learned of the dragonballs. So many lives lost to that tyrant… it's horrible!" Krillin's fists clenched in his frustration, nearly becoming teary-eyed at the thought of all the senseless deaths.

Guru frowned, wondering if the human was truthful or not. "Come, let me read your thoughts." Krillin came even closer, looking up at the gigantic Namek warily. He tried not to fidget as the old man's hand came in contact with his head, and he was surprised when a large number of thoughts played out in his head, obviously being read by Guru. "I sense the purity of your intentions and your desire to end Frieza's evil. I am so glad you are here. I also sense that you are very powerful, but I'm afraid you aren't powerful enough to stand against Frieza."

Krillin frowned. "I know… I just hope that fighting with all my friends that we can take Frieza down with teamwork. There's not much else I can do, but hope."

Guru smiled down at the human. "I can increase the powers of any pure-hearted warrior, including yourself. Stand still while I do so…" Guru touched Krillin's head again and the monk gasped as he felt power surging through his veins.

'This is amazing!' Krillin thought. 'I was strong before but now… wow!' [AN: Krillin's power level after training under 100 Gs was approximately 150,000, and now… well… it's considerably higher. Teehee]

Guru smiled down at Krillin, who was staring up at him in awe. "You came for the dragonball, I sensed. I'll entrust it to you, I don't doubt that Frieza would be here soon to take it from me anyway. It would be better for you to use it than him, after all. Or at least to keep him from using it. Take it with my blessings, and thank you for seeing Dende here safely."

Krillin nodded numbly and was snapped out of his awe when Dende pushed the large dragonball into his hands. "Oh… thanks!" Krillin said, laughing nervously. "I don't suppose you have any warriors around here that you could spare to aid us in our fight against Frieza?"

Guru shook his head. "I'm sorry. There is only one warrior here and he won't want to leave my side. Perhaps I can get word to any surviving Namek warriors. I'll send them your way if I can."

Krillin nodded. "Thanks for all your help. I hope I can destroy Frieza and end all this madness. Sorry to leave, but I have to rejoin my friends now that I have this dragonball. We're going to try to take back the dragonballs that Frieza already has and use them to wish our friends back. Once we do, we'll all try to kill Frieza and if successful we can use the Earth's dragonballs to wish the fallen Nameks back to life!"

Guru nodded and smiled sadly. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be that easy. "Good luck, my new friend."

Krillin smiled and walked outside and gasped when he saw a familiar face. "Piccolo!? What are you doing here!?"

The Namek frowned at him. "The name's Nail. Piccolo must be a Namek you know from your home planet. I had heard a rumor that a Namek escaped our planet when we had a near cataclysm years ago… I guess he landed on Earth. How strange."

Krillin nodded. "You must be the Namek warrior that Guru mentioned. I don't suppose he was wrong about you consenting to joining the fight against Frieza?"

Nail shook his head. "My place is here, to guard Guru. I wish you luck, however. You'll need it."

Krillin sighed. "I'm off then. I hope to see you again under better circumstances. Bye!" Krillin took off into the air, blasting towards Goku and Vegeta at a speed that would have made his hair stand on end if he had any. 'Wow… I'm so fast now! Wait till the others get a load of me! I bet I'm even stronger than Vegeta right now!' His expression turned determined as he sped up even more, wanting to reach his friends as soon as possible.

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Zarbon sneered down at the elderly Namek, holding him up by the collar of his robe. His other hand was up in the air, ready to deliver a killing stroke. "Last time I'll ask nicely, old man! Where's the dragonball!?"

The Namek shook his head, tears falling from his eyes at the sight of the villagers that Zarbon had already killed. "It's not here, damn it! Just leave us alone!" The elderly alien begged.

Zarbon growled in frustration and crushed the Namek's skull. Or, he would have if he was still there. Zarbon looked around in surprise them upwards as his scouter bleeped. Above him was a man wearing orange clothes and carrying the Namek man he had just tried to kill. A few feet to his left, Vegeta floated in the air as well, his tail swishing about in annoyance. "Well, if it isn't Vegeta. I should have known it was you. Who is your friend?"

Vegeta snorted. "He's none of your concern. I am. I'll kill you for what you've done, you bastard."

Zarbon laughed. "Oh please, Vegeta. You've done things far worse than killing a few villagers."

Vegeta glanced away for a moment, then back at Zarbon. "The things I did while under Frieza's rule was for survival. I don't have to explain myself to you or anyone else. Kakkarot! Get the rest of these villagers to safety!"

Zarbon looked around for the guards that were with him. "Guards! Take out those… Nameks? What the hell?"

Vegeta let out an evil laugh. "You idiot. We already killed all of them! Now, I'll give you a choice. Join me in killing Frieza, or die right here amidst these poor bastards you annihilated. What's it going to be?"

Zarbon sneered. "You could never hope to destroy Frieza, even with a hundred allies. No, I'll kill you and take that tail of yours back to Lord Frieza so he can make a trophy out of it!"

Vegeta looked up at Goku, who was gathering the last of the injured Nameks into his arms and floating around his body. "See, Kakkarot? I told you he wouldn't switch sides."

Goku nodded. "It was worth a try. Do what you will with him, I'll get these Nameks out of here and I'll meet you back here when you're done."

Vegeta assumed a fighting stance in response, smiling over at Zarbon. "So, Mr. Green-hair, shall we get started?" Zarbon sneered and launched into an offensive barrage. He started to get frustrated as Vegeta blocked and dodged all of his blows, laughing at him he whole time. "Damn it, Vegeta! Fight me!" No sooner had he said that when Vegeta's fist buried itself in his stomach. As he was stumbling back and hacking up blood, his scouter bleeped and read 30,000. 'Damn… I can't beat him in this form.' Zarbon thought. "I'll show you a secret, you Saiyan freak! I can transform and become even stronger!"

Vegeta paused and folded his arms together and smirked. "Go ahead then, maybe you'll put up a half decent fight."

Zarbon grinned, thinking he had the fight won now as he suddenly started becoming bulkier, as well as far uglier. "Now, Vegeta, you'll face me at my true strength!"

Vegeta chuckled. "I see why you stay in that other form. You're so ugly you might just win this fight because I'll be too busy puking from disgust!"

Zarbon scowled. "I may be ugly now, but I can tear you apart!" He flew towards Vegeta and started exchanging a flurry of blows, which Vegeta seemed to be having trouble blocking. A few blows landed and Zarbon was confident he could beat the Saiyan prince. It was then that Vegeta grinned and grabbed both of his arms and slammed him into the ground behind him. Zarbon cried out in pain and struggled to his feet. "Well, you caught be by surprise that time, Vegeta, but you won't get that chance again!"

Vegeta grinned sadistically and took a wide stance, fists clenched and feet wide apart. "Check your scouter, Zarbon. I have a little surprise for you!"

Zarbon frowned and pressed the button on his scouter. "30,000 still. You're really…" He trailed off as the number bleeped and changed. "35,000? 40?! 60!" His scouter shattered into pieces then, and Zarbon noticed the energy aura around Vegeta. He was still powering up.

He stopped suddenly and shrugged. "It won't be any fun if I go full power, so about half should be more than sufficient. Now, let's begin again, shall we?"

Zarbon was staring at Vegeta with fear widened eyes. "There's no way a Saiyan could be that powerful! You piece of shit! I'll kill you! And even if I don't, there's no way you can beat Lord Frieza! You may think you have a chance to beat his current form, but he can transform as well! He can become so powerful that you'll weep at the sight of him!"

Vegeta yawned. "Are you going to attack, or should I? You're boring me."

Zarbon shouted in outrage and launched his final assault, throwing everything he had into a flurry of punches and kicks, which were batted aside as if they were slow and sloppy. Zarbon backed up, breathing hard. He put his hands together and summoned up all of his power and concentrated it into a ki blast and launched it at the Saiyan warrior… who caught it.

"I think I'll just give this back to you, Zarbon. In fact, I'll add a little bit of my power to it to sweeten it up, how's that?" Vegeta taunted. The energy ball turned from a soft red to a bright blue as Vegeta's power doubled the destructive power of the ki blast. Zarbon had already taken to the air and was flying desperately back towards where he thought Frieza was, but then he felt the burning sensation of ki hitting his back and he was dust before he could even cry out in pain.

Goku landed next to him less than a minute later and visibly relaxed. "I felt his power shoot up, but I guess it wasn't anything you couldn't handle. So, now all we have to deal with is Frieza, right?"

Vegeta was about to nod when he felt a presence. He looked up and scowled. "Not anymore, Kakkarot."

Goku looked up as well and saw the Ginyu force smiling down at them. They looked even happier when Krillin flew up, carrying the seventh dragonball. He started to say "Hey guys, I got the last… dragonball? Who are these jokers?"

They landed and started what looked to be a dance routine, making the three warriors wonder about their sanity. "We are the Ginyu force!" They announced together after a particularly flashy pose.

"Aw great." Krillin said. "We're fighting a bunch of idiots now!"

"Don't underestimate them, baldie!" Vegeta warned, scowling over at the five Ginyu squad members. "They're Frieza's elite force, the strongest in the galaxy except for Frieza! They're not weakling punks like Zarbon and Dodoria!"

"Well, let's see what kind of power readings we have here, boys." Captain Ginyu announced, grinning maliciously at the three Z warriors. "5000 for the big guy… 30,000 for Vegeta, and 25,000 for the runt. Nothing you boys can't handle." He lifted his hand and the dragonballs floated up to him, one wrenching out of Krillin's hands and the other from the ground by Vegeta's feet.

"The dragonballs!" Goku shouted, taking a step towards Captain Ginyu. Unfortunately, the Squad stepped between their captain and their adversaries.

"You have to deal with us first, mate! And you ain't getting past us!" Jeice announced, grinning at the growling fighters from Earth.

"We can't let Ginyu get away with those dragonballs! Frieza will have all seven!" Vegeta growled, taking a step forward despite the menacing gleam in the Ginyu Squads' eyes. He was silenced when an energy bolt flew out of Burter's hand, knocking the Saiyan backwards and flipping him to land face first on the ground. He shuddered for a moment then was still.

Goku's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at his fallen comrade. "Vegeta!" He shouted. The distraction was enough, for Ginyu had already flown away, leaving the four other members of the team to deal with the earthlings.

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Gohan and Roshi hopped off of the Nimbus cloud as they approached the source of the evil power they had sensed. They shared a nervous look, because the power was much stronger than either of them. "Do you see anything?" Gohan asked the old martial arts master timidly.

Roshi shook his head. "No, but the source of the power we're sensing is just ahead. Keep your eyes peeled, little Gohan. We're in for the fight of our lives, I'm afraid." Inwardly, Roshi was praying that he would be able to see his collection of porn magazines again and possibly even get a kiss from a pretty young girl. Roshi suppressed the lecherous laugh that nearly escaped his lips.

They cautiously walked forward, just in time to hear a little girl scream. They broke into a run, just in time to see a mother dive in front of her little girl and get blasted in the back by an ugly blue fish-like man. [AN: What, you thought Kui would let me get away without giving him something to do? Teehee] The mother looked at her daughter, already knowing she was dying. She got scared by seeing the blood on the girl's shirt, not knowing it was her own. "Videl! No… you can't die, baby! Please!"

Young Videl put her hand on her mother's cheek, tears falling from her eyes. "Mama? Mama, what's wrong?" [AN: What, you thought that was the last of Videl until Gohan met her in high school? Ha ha… I'm so evil.]

Gohan became enraged when he saw the mother shot down by the evil alien. His ki shot up, alerting Kui to his presence as his scouter was bleeping like crazy. Kui turned to regard the boy and frowned. "So Lord Frieza was right, there were still some fighters left on this planet. You are to be my prisoners. Come peacefully and I won't kill any more of these pathetic weaklings."

Gohan was too angry to listen and immediately charged, throwing punches and kicks at the alien faster than Roshi could follow. 'Damn… that kid is something else!' Roshi mused. He wanted to step in and help, but at the speed of Gohan's attacks, he knew he wouldn't be able to get in a punch without distracting the boy. That didn't matter too much, however, when Gohan got smacked upside the head, sending him sprawling. "Gohan!" Roshi cried, running to help the boy up.

Kui turned to look at the mother and daughter, wondering if he had been able to get both in one blast. "Hey little girl, are you still alive over there?" Kui asked with a sadistic laugh, approaching the now still corpse of the mother.

Gohan sprang forward to protect the girl with a cry of rage. If Kui hadn't heard the yell, he saw and heard the scouter bleep, shooting from a reading of 1500 to 8000 in the blink of an eye. "What the hell?" Kui said to himself, turning in time to block Gohan's attack. 'How strong is this brat!?'

A new barrage of attacks commenced, this time backing the fish-like alien up and away from the little girl who was limping away at her mother's dying request, tears falling unbidden from her large blue eyes. Kui didn't notice the girl as he was too busy dodging and blocking Gohan's wild attacks. Gohan suddenly went low and swept Kui's feet out from under him, a move that Roshi had just recently taught him, and followed it with a backhanded blow to what served as the alien's nose. He rolled back to deliver a Masenko to finish the alien off, but he was shocked to see Kui back on his feet already, and already charging up a ki blast of his own. He saw the blast approaching in slow motion, but his own movements were even slower and he knew he was going to be hit despite his best attempts at dodging, and blocking was out of the question judging by the blast's strength. He felt a hard knock from his left, knocking him out of the path of the blast.

Roshi had acted on instinct, knocking young Gohan out of the way of the blast, unfortunately that didn't leave him with enough time to get out of the way himself as he felt the blast burn its way through his rib cage. Roshi crumbled to the ground, hacking up his lifeblood. He stared up at Gohan, his vision blurred. "Gohan… run! Get out of here… oh Lunch… I never even got to see your underwear…" He gasped out his last breath and grew still.

Gohan stared in shock as his father's master and his recent sensai died and the anger exploded in him once again. This time Kui's scouter read 15,000 moments before Gohan's fist connected with the fish-man's gut. Kui gasped and kicked on instinct, knocking Gohan back. It was only a moment's reprieve before Gohan was up again, attacking with a renewed frenzy. Kui did his best to dodge and block the blows, but he took more shots than he would have liked. Unfortunately, Gohan grew exhausted rather quickly and fell to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He was trying to summon up the energy for another attack when he felt rather than saw the energy shot coming his way. He barely rolled out of the way and got to his feet, but it was just in time to feel a foot connect with his chin. A snapping sound filled his ears and he fell to the dirt several meters away from the fallen turtle hermit.

Gohan tried to get up, but he found himself unable to move, or even to feel anything below his neck. His last thoughts were of his family and friends. "Daddy… Mommy… Piccolo… I'm sorry. I tried." It was then that darkness overtook the child.

Kui approached, raising his hand for a ki blast to incinerate the boy when he noticed his scouter reading 0. "Bah, the little punk is already dead?! That's no fun. Ah well, time to get back to the ship for a little rest before I get back to exterminating these useless humans. Vegeta may not have lived to finish this job, but that's ok because that's what I'm here for." Kui laughed as he took off back to his ship to rest up, leaving the fallen warriors in the dust.

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Don't you just HATE cliffhangers?! Muahahahah!!!!!!!!!! I'm so deliciously evil, man! Poor Roshi, Vegeta, and little Gohan! Next chapter: The Ginyu squad! And if that isn't enough, more of Kui the wonder fish! To sweeten it up, Yajirobe, the last hope for Earth!? And a special guest appearance by your hero and mine, Mr. Satan! Woohoo! Review while you're waiting for the next update, you lovely readers. J