Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Nossoreg's Revenge ❯ Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"Jackets are the best you could do, Kakarot?"

Vegeta stormed in with the four star dragonball in one hand and a thick chunk of wood in the other. He tossed the ball to Nossoreg and the wood into the cell at the same time. As Nossoreg fumbled with the extra dragonball, Vegeta pointed a finger and sent a stream of energy through the two shields. The dry wood immediately caught fire and the women were drawn to its warmth like moths.

"That was not a fair reward!" Nossoreg complained. "I said you could give them anything from the room. That was from outside!"

"Fair?! You want to talk about being fair?!" Gohan exploded and started toward the shield. Goku grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"It was part of the room as soon as I brought it in," Vegeta said and folded his arms calmly, daring him to disagree. "If you want it back, get it yourself."

Nossoreg looked at the energy shield across the cell and then back at Vegeta. Slowly, a smile spread across his face.

"Very smart, Vegeta," he complimented. "You knew I couldn't reach it through the shield and I wouldn't risk turning it off to retrieve it. I'm impressed!"

"Good thinking, Vegeta!" Goku said. Evidently, Nossoreg hadn't thought of everything after all. If he hadn't expected this, there was a possibility that there were more things he wouldn't be prepared for.

All eyes were on the computer screen where two small points of light showed the location of Krillen and Goten. They were getting closer together, moving steadily toward the center, then stopped altogether.

"What's going on?" Trunks asked. "Why did they stop?"

"I don't know," Gohan said with a frown. "Maybe something happened to one of them."

"They're both fine," Nossoreg said. "The computer shows their life signs as normal.

"But their energy levels are high," Goku sensed. "Something must be wrong."

The fighters waited anxiously for the lights to move again, but they stayed firmly in one place. Their attention was so focused that they all jumped when they heard a resounding crash from the women's cell. They spun around, legs crouched and arms raised in fighting stance. Nossoreg, who had seen what was coming, never even flinched.

"My, my," he chuckled. "A bit tense, aren't you?"

They all relaxed when they realized where the crash had come from. Chi Chi, in an attempt to keep Vegeta's fire going, had flung the wooden chair against the back wall of the cell. The chair had shattered from the force, and she was now calmly stacking the broken pieces against the dwindling chunk of charred wood.

"Did it ever occur to you to warn us first?" Vegeta snapped.

"Calm down, Vegeta," Goku said. "They're just trying to keep warm." Vegeta scowled back at him.

"They're moving again!" Yamcha said, pointing to the computer screen. "They should be here soon!"

The setting sun was nearly half hidden by the mountains when the final two members of their group returned. Krillen and Goten landed together and rushed in breathlessly. They handed both balls over to Goku and leaned over to catch their breath.

"Sorry. . .we're. . .late," Krillen managed between gasps.

"What happened?" Trunks asked Goten, noticing their ragged appearance.

Krillen's jacket was missing. His white clothes were smudged with black and burned through in two places. Goten's face and hands were almost completely covered in black and his clothes looked worse than Krillen's.

"Goten! Are you all right?" Chi Chi called across the room.

"I'm fine, Mom," he said with a sheepish smile. "Sorry it took so long."

"So. . .what happened?" Trunks asked again.

"We were flying so fast to get back here that we didn't watch where we were going," Krillen began. "We ended up too close to one of those big jumbo jets and the pilot spooked."

"He must have panicked, because the engines somehow caught on fire," Goten added. "That hunk of metal dropped like a lead balloon!"

"They sure don't make those things very strong. We both grabbed a wing to stop it, but they just ripped right off! I nearly got barbequed alive from the engine fire!" Krillen said.

"At least you were warm!" Bulma shouted over to them. "Did you guys forget about us, or what?! It's still freezing in here!"

"As soon as I receive the last two balls, I'll remedy the situation," Nossoreg told her.

Goku hesitated, trying hard to think of an alternative. He hated to give this madman the dragonball's powers, but he couldn't let Chi Chi, Bulma, and Videl suffer any longer. He had to hope that they would be able to stop him before he could make his wish. One by one, he tossed the balls through the shield to Nossoreg.

True to his word, Nossoreg pressed a button on the computer. The cell walls began to glow, heating the air around the shivering women. It didn't take long for the temperature to rise to normal, and they all breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. The women gratefully flung off the blankets and jackets, but it was clear that they were exhausted from the ordeal.

"Well, now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Nossoreg said as he placed the dragonballs neatly in order in a drawer under the computer. "They really are quite beautiful. I knew you would come through for me." With a slight push, the drawer slid shut.

"You're not even going to use them?" Goku asked in disbelief.

"No, I'm just keeping them from being used against me," Nossoreg replied.

They all stood agape. They couldn't believe that he had put them through all that emotional and physical torture just to lock the dragonballs away.

Vegeta, though, was not as surprised as the others. He stood apart from the rest, so they did not see him nod his head. It was what he would have done, he thought. With the dragonballs out of the way, there was no way they could wish their loved ones free. Now he had the security of knowing that he had complete control.

And, Vegeta thought, Nossoreg must not be planning on keeping them here for very long. Not even a psychotic would want the hassle of having a pregnant woman give birth while under their care. So whatever he was planning, he was going through with it before the baby arrived.

"Unless he's not planning on any of us leaving here alive," Vegeta thought aloud, then looked around to see if anyone had heard him. He was glad to see that they were still talking amongst themselves. He knew they would not have thought of that, being the kind natured fools they were.

Vegeta knew better. He had been on the side of evil over half his life. He had destroyed hundreds of planets and had personally sent billions upon billions of souls to the next dimension. He knew the inside of an evil mind; none of the others had a clue. Even Yamcha, who had been a petty desert theif when he was younger, had never been truly evil. An evil person did whatever they needed to do to reach their goal. If it meant killing millions of innocent people, they could do it without hesitation.

What he had to do was figure out what Nossoreg's ultimate goal was. Then he would think of what he would have done to reach that goal himself. He would have to delve deep into his evil past and bring up all the old pride, hate, and lust for revenge to be able to have a clearer view of Nossoreg's plan.

Would he be able to do it successfully? It had been a long time since he had truly thought only of himself. He had come to care for his family, friends, even this planet. Would he be able to forget all of them and think like the evil Saiyan he had been growing up, alone, as the ultimate weapon of destruction?