Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Phoenix Chronicles ❯ Planet of the Vespers ( Chapter 6 )

--- The Phoenix Chronicles ---

Chapter 05 - Planet of the Vespers

He looked down at the girl below him, frustration evident on her face. He'd been trying to teach her to fly for a while now, and was getting nowhere fast. [Come on Pi, you can do it. Just push your Ki under you like I told you,] he called, hovering in the air a few metres above her.

[I'm trying!] she snapped, angry with him for his impatience, and her for her own, in her mind at least, incompetence. [It's not working! I can't do it, I give up!] she cried, flopping down on the ground and starting to sulk.

Kaen sighed softly before smirking, knowing just what would motivate her. [Well,] he said absently, [if you're giving up I guess I'll just have to find someone else to train with. I wonder if Shellie's free...] he trailed off, starting to float away.

Her eyes instantly snapped up, locking on to him, as her vision faded to red, her anger at this other girl's name clouding her mind. She knew inside he would never train with this other girl. It was something they always together, just Kaen and herself, but the rage overcame all logic and reason. She stood up, glaring at him all the while, and using the technique he'd been trying to teach her, and failing, she lifted off, shakily at first, before steadying herself, and launching off after him as fast as her rudimentary skills would allow her.

Kaen smirked again, noticing her out of the corner of his eye. I made sure he was flying slowly enough for her to catch up, and yet fast enough to remain just out of reach. He turned back to her, teasing her by saying, [You'll never catch me. I'll bet Shellie can go faster than that...] His eyes widened as this new barb made her angrier, in turn making her faster, and he dove out of the way, Pi hot on his heels.

Realising that she wouldn't stop until she caught him, he spun around again, and caught her fists as she launched herself at him. She struggled to get free of his grip, growling, [Lemme go, I'm gonna kill you!]

[Why?] he asked off-handedly, [I got you flying didn't I?]

She pulled her arms away, preparing to attack again when his words hit home, and as her anger faded, she looked down, seeing that she was, indeed, flying. This realisation made her lose her concentration, and she started falling, but Kaen quickly dove down and caught her.

[I did it... I flew,] she murmured, then looked at Kaen, still holding her, stuttering, [What... How... Why...]

He just smiled down at her, saying, [I said what I did only to give you the motivation you needed to keep trying. You mustn't have been thinking clearly, because you should know that I'd never have gone to her.]

She pouted a bit, muttering softly, [That still doesn't make it right, but...] before looking back at him shyly, and saying simply, [Thank you.]

He smiled again, saying absently, [Think nothing of it. Now, unless you're too tired, how about we start working on improving the basic skills you just learnt?]

She smiled back, getting her concentration back and floating out of his arms, before the training began in earnest.

*****

The Namekian ship draws near to a green planet, it's pilot's estimated time of arrival fairly accurate, with the journey having taken another two and a half days. Said pilot, the Namekian adventurer Flute, begins to guide the ship towards the planet's surface, which appears to be covered mostly in a lush environment, or at least where they're landing does.

The female Saiyan Pi heads towards the controls, looking over his shoulder and out the window, and saying, "Is that where we'll find the next ball?" The female Namek Viola rises from her meditation at much the same time, joining the group at the controls, and leaning over a bit to get a better look out the window.

Flute just gave a short nod at Pi in response to her question, and turned to the female on his other side. Some hither-to-unknown part hidden deep in the recesses of his mind noticed that, with the way she was standing, he had a really good view of her... Not letting that thought go any further he snapped his gaze back to the front, concentrating on the controls, and not even allowing himself to think of her, lest she overhear his thoughts.

The mercenary Kaen, in true stand-off-ish Saiyan male fashion, hangs back, leaning against a wall a fair way away from the controls, but still within earshot of them.

Thinking out loud as he landed the ship, Flute says, "We need to land somewhere clear, so we won't be very close to the ball when we get there. And I sense a lot of Ki on this planet, so we need to be on our guard."

Hearing this, Kaen just smirks, throwing his black trench coat on, and adjusting his new scouter. Pi, taking notice of this, came over to him and admired his handiwork. If you didn't know what it was, you'd never guess. The case had been re-modelled, now looking more like a quarter sphere with the sides removed, and was now coloured red, instead of the standard, bland white. The eyepiece, a similar colour to the casing, expended out of, and retracted back into, the main unit, as did a small microphone for the radio. Finally, the main unit had a series of buttons on the down curve, towards the back. All in all, she was thoroughly impressed, and the new addition to his attire made him look all the better. With a look of mild wonder, she said, "Wow, so you finally got it to work?"

Kaen smirked again, pride written all over his face, as he said, "Yup. I may have lost five of them in the process, but I got it working." He pauses, going over to his workstation and picking up another scouter, before walking back, holding his hand out and saying, "Here. I made one for you too, after I got this one working."

She gasps a bit as she looks at it. Although made in the same design as Kaen's, this one has a different colour scheme. Instead of a fiery red, this one is a lush forest green. A look of excitement filled her face as she took it from him, blushing a deep red, and bowing her head slightly. She managed to smile, getting out a "Thank you" and kissing him on the cheek, before darting back to where the Namek's were, placing the scouter over her ear as carefully as one would a precious piece of jewellery. After putting it on, she managed to mutter, "He remembered my favourite colour..." her voice too low for Kaen to hear, but the Nameks had no such problem.

Kaen scratches his head a little at this odd behaviour, thinking, 'What was that about? It's just a scouter. you'd think I'd given her a blue diamond the way she's acting...' Getting nowhere fast, he just shrugs, muttering, "I'll never understand her..."

Viola looks between the two, one eyebrow raised in confusion, before shrugging, and looking out the window again, thinking, 'I don't think I'll ever understand those two...' while Flute just glanced at Pi and shook his head slightly, bringing the ship to land in a grassy plain.

*****

Upon touch down, Kaen cracks his knuckles and heads towards the hatch, Pi following one step behind him, as Flute and Viola, upon uttering the Namek word to turn security on, and donning her cloak respectively, head out moments later. The ground below them was soft enough to cause the ship to sink slightly, but study enough to indicate there was firm ground underneath. The grass was wet, the air smelling, to his enhanced senses, of rain, both fallen and to come, while an alien forest could be seen all around the clearing they landed in.

Without wasting any time, Flute started into the forest, already having a lock on the location of the ball. Viola fell into step behind him, but she seemed to have a little more spring in her step than usual. She thought to herself, 'Wow, the spirit of nature is so strong here... it's making me feel a little giddy...' before breaking into a quiet giggling fit, composing herself moments later. Both Nameks stopped moments later when they realised the Saiyans weren't following.

Unlike Viola, Kaen was not so pleased to be here, muttering to himself about "damn trees" and "overgrown over glorified weeds" as he pressed a button on his scouter, looking around the area in search of something, be it their target, or a threat to their safety.

Pi just smiled, chirping, "I wonder what kind of flowers grow here," to which Kaen just snorted inaudibly. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he swatted half-heartedly at her, which started the two of them 'fighting' playfully.

After watching them for a couple of minutes, Flute grew to be a bit irritated, and called out, "Keep your minds on the task at hand!"

Stopping their horseplay, Kaen glares at the Namek before sighing. "Fine, let's get this over with."

With a nod, Flute turned back to the forest and continued walking, Viola almost skipping behind him, and, judging from the look on her face, getting 'drunk on nature.' Kaen sighed again, floating a few inches off the ground as he followed so as to keep out of the dew-covered grass, and starting a search with his scouter, Pi following in tow, a smile on her face.

'Hmm... the ball seems to be almost due west from here, and by the looks of things someone, or something, has found it.' Kaen thought to himself, looking around for anything that might be a threat, as they walked along the natural path leading back towards the clearing. A few small animals jump around, and an amused look crosses his face as he watches Pi chase a few of them, managing to catch a small creature with light grey fur, long ears, and a long monkey like tail.

"It's so cute!" she exclaimed, as the creature decided to sit on her shoulder and examine her hair.

Kaen raised his eyebrow at this, but wisely chose to say nothing.

Flute shook his head, watching the Saiyan girl continue to giggle at the creature, while Viola looked across at her in a bit of a daze, mumbling "Saiyan female's are weird..." before turning back to the forest, and absorbing more of nature's essence.

Pi walked up closer to Kaen, chirping, "He's cute Kaen, what do you think?" No sooner had she finished this sentence than the creature jumped off of her shoulder and onto his, starting to paw at his coat upon landing.

He glares at the creature, picking it up by the scruff of its neck and holding it in front of him for a moment before drawling out, "Yeah, sure it is..." Before he can react, the creature wraps it's tail around his arm and escapes his grip, swinging up to catch hold of his nose, and causing Pi to burst into giggles again. Glaring at it again, he backhands it lightly, even by non-Saiyan standards, and it jumps down, scurrying into the forest.

Pi pouted a little as she watched it leave. "Aww, you scared him."

He glares in the direction it scampered off to, muttering, "It's lucky I didn't kill it..."

She hits him lightly on the arm, huffing, "Meanie."

Flute turns back a bit, taking part in the carryings-on for the first time, as he says, "Let's hope it doesn't have bigger friends."

Kaen ignores him though, looking at Pi indignantly and saying, "I don't appreciate some creature swinging on me like I'm a tree or something."

"Fine." Her answer was neutral, as if she were deliberately blocking her emotions off, and she walked ahead to keep pace with Viola, who was in turn still off in her own world.

As he watched her walk away, Kaen muttered under his breath, "Great, now I've upset her. Wonderful. My day just got so much better..."

He trailed off as Flute spoke up, almost too quietly, without turning back. "We're being followed."

"Just noticed did ya?" Kaen replied, his voice just as low.

"I was going to mention it earlier, but you seemed busy," Flute quips back.

In response, Kaen just shrugs before pressing a button on the side of his scouter. "Think it's a threat, or just curious?"

"They seem curious," Pi adds, the first words she'd spoken in a while, and Viola nods numbly, still seemingly out of it.

"Well," Kaen continued, "Let's hope they don't change that any time soon then, shall we."

After a few more minutes of walking, they pause. On the road ahead of them is a familiar small creature, sitting quietly on its haunches, it's tail idling in the wind. Upon spotting the creature, Kaen just sighs, "Wonderful. I was wondering when it'd show up again..."

Flute paused in his walk, looking at the creature, and it just stared back at him. After a minute of this standoff, the creature scampered over to him and climbed on his shoulder, looking under his turban. The Namek seemed not to mind this very much, but given his lack of emotional expressions this was just a guess.

Kaen looked around warily, still floating a few inches off the ground, both his scouter and his senses picking up more of them around the group, while Pi just giggled at the creature.

After finishing its 'inspection' the creature climbed off Flute's shoulder, scurrying over to Viola. Seemingly noticing the creature for the first time, she gazed at it intently, studying it, before squatting down to get a closer look. It, in turn, climbed onto her shoulder. After simply looking at it a moment, she whispered, "Hey there, what kind of creature are you now?"

The creature smiled back, before replying, "We call ourselves the vespers."

Hearing the creature, the vesper, speak, Kaen looked at it with about as much shock as a Saiyan warrior ever allowed himself to show, while Viola said, "So, you can speak."

The vesper nodded, saying, "Yes, we all can." This seemed to be some sort of signal, as no sooner had it finished speaking when several more of the vespers emerged from the wood, in varying colours, each with a reasonable amount of Ki for something their size."

Kaen looked around at them, his tail twitching a little, but he didn't make any other response besides floating a little higher. Pi smiled wider, couching down to examine another one of them, who took to her with the same amount of interest.

Viola gazed around at the vespers, taking in their differences, before saying to the one on her shoulder, "Don't 'spose you've found a small orange ball?" The vesper gave her a quizzical look, and she chuckled a little, saying, "I guess that's a 'no'."

Flute took the ball they had from his cloak, showing it to the vesper in question, and saying, "It looks like this." It's eyes widened, but as it reached for the ball, he pulled it away, saying in a mock stern voice, "No, you may not play with the shiny object," causing Viola to start chuckling again. Flute just smiled back at her.

Another one of the vespers looked up at Kaen a moment before jumping up and grabbing a hold of his leg. Resisting the urge to kick it off, he looked down and said, "Can I help you?"

It looked back up at him for a moment, before saying in a mild awed voice, "You can fly like the Nuros."

He raised an eyebrow. "The what? What's a Nuros?"

The vesper on Viola's shoulder answered, "They are the ones who have the ball you're after, but they are very violent."

Kaen looked over at the vesper that spoke, a feral grin on his face that only a Saiyan could pull off, replying, "Really? Well, we'll see about that..."

As the vesper on his leg hopped down, Pi asked, "So where can we find them?"

"They live deeper in the forest, in the caves," replied another vesper on the ground.

Viola just smiled at them, saying, "We'll take care of them."

The vesper on her shoulder looked at her quizzically again before jumping off, and the vespers started to recede into the forest.

"Well, looks like things are more complicated than we anticipated," said Flute as he watched them leave.

"Seems that way," Viola replied wryly, standing up and dusting herself off.

Pi looked a little upset as the vespers left, so Kaen floated over to her and whispered, "Don't look so sad. We can see them again after we're done."

She smiled and nodded, closing her eyes a minute before saying, "So we're heading... west, right?"

He smiled back, saying, "Seems that way, yeah." She smiled, happy that her Ki sense training was paying off, and he let his mind wander, remembering just how he taught her.

-Flashback - yesterday-

Kaen growled as the scouter he was working on blew up, the third one since he'd started. He stood up forcefully, growling out, "Dammit! That's it! I'm going to take a break before I smash something..." He walked into the control room, finding Pi still there, and saying, "Wanna start you're training now?"

She looked up, a little puzzled, and said, "But what about your work? Are you done already?"

Shaking his head, he replied, "no, but it's getting me frustrated now, and that's not helping any, so I decided to take a breather, and I figured while I'm free I'd start you training now, so you've got a bit of time to work on it before we land."

Nodding, she said, "Okay then, where do you want to do this?"

Thinking for a moment, he said, "Why don't we head to your room, there's less distractions there."

Nodding a little, and blushing lightly for reasons he couldn't understand, the two headed off, and sat down opposite each other once in the room.

"So... what do I need to do?" she asked, still blushing a little.

He smiled a bit, still not understanding why she was blushing, and replying, "Lemme think a minute... Ok, I got it. I want you to remember back to when we first started training together, and how I taught you to find your centre. I want you to find it, and remember what it looks like, what it feels like."

She closed her eyes, searching inside herself for that place he taught her to find long ago, the source of her power. Unlike when they first started, when it could take her a few hours, she managed to find it in mere minutes, and she said, eyes still closed, "Okay, now what?"

He smiled to himself, pleased that she found it so quickly, and continued, "Now I want you to search out with your Ki and your mind, look for other things that look and feel like your centre."

She nodded, trying to do just what he'd told her. It took her a little while, as she tried to work out how to search with her mind, but soon enough she saw a light in her mind, sitting not 3 feet from her, a light that felt soothing, comforting, and above all, safe. Opening her eyes, she saw Kaen sitting there, right where the light in her mind had been. She whispered, "I saw, felt, a light, right where you're sitting..."

He gave her a wide grin that made her heart flutter, though she tried not to show it. "That's great!" he exclaimed, "That light is how your mind interprets Ki. Now, look further, you should see the Nameks' as well."

She did just that, searching farther with her mind, and finding just two more lights in a sea of darkness. She noticed, though, that they didn't feel the same way as his did. They still felt like Ki, but that was all, there was nothing else to it, and she was left wondering why the difference. "I see them," she whispered, "but... they feel different... different to how you do..."

He thought for a moment before saying, "Well, that could just be because they're a different species..." She could tell that he knew more than he was saying, by the way he avoided eye contact with her, but before she could ask, he stood up and said, "Well, I better get back to work. I'll leave you to practice." before quickly leaving the room. As she watched him leave, she couldn't help but think to herself, 'What could it mean that has him running like that...'

-End Flashback-

Placing the ball back in his robes, Flute called out, "We should continue on foot, no point in startling anything," shooting Kaen a glance as he did so.

Pulled from his thoughts, Kaen glanced back, mumbling, "Yeah yeah... I hate jungles..." before landing.

As they continued on into the jungle, night fell quickly, and mist started to form around them as they slogged through the wet and unstable ground, Kaen grumbling the whole while. The two Saiyans gazed up at the night sky, finding a half moon hanging there. For Pi, it had been a while since she'd been able to look at the moon without worrying whether it was full or not. For Kaen, however, it had been too long since he'd seen a full moon for his liking, and he voiced as such. "Wonderful, only half full..."

Flute glanced back at them, pulling both from their musing by saying, "Stay close, we're almost there."

As they approached, they could hear loud talking coming from the clearing ahead, the beings within obviously not afraid of being overheard. The group paused, focusing on listening to the conversations ahead.

They could hear one of the men, assuming they were men, call out, "I still can't believe we're stuck on this damn rock. This is the third month, when in the name of hell is the backup we requested."

As they moved closer to the clearing to try and get a look at their potential foes, they could make out about a half dozen men huddled around a fire, looking almost squid-like in appearance, and their armour making it quite evident that they worked for the Cold Empire.

Kaen snarled lightly as the men continued.

Nuros 1: "I still can't believe they sent us here, this damned planet has nothing to fight."

Nuros 2: "It must have been the high energy they were getting, these trees probably caused it"

Viola moved closer to them, staying amongst the trees, while Kaen smirked, whispering softly to even his own ears, "Nothing to fight eh..."

Nuros 3: "Nothing worth stealing, 'cept that damn rock you tripped over Nalar"

The Nuros started laughing at one of the men, and as they looked at the man in question, the only one not laughing, they saw him remaining indignant over the matter.

Using her telepathy, Viola asked Flute, ~What should we do?~

Standing up, Flute swept them all with his gaze as he replied out loud, "I'll try being direct, and see if this can't end peacefully"

The Saiyans nodded, remaining hidden, PI next to Kaen, and Viola still in the trees.

Flute walked into the clearing, though quietly, and waited for the Nuros to notice him. After a few moments, one of them did, asking gruffly, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I came looking for an object similar to this," the Namek replied, pulling the ball from his robes. "If you give it to me, I'll be on my way." He then slipped the ball back whence it came.

One of them stood up, the markings on his armour showing him as the leader of this group, and he snarled, "What if we don't want to give it to you?"

Kaen's smirk widened as he heard this, and the smirk turned into a feral grin as he heard, and saw, Flute's reply. "Then it won't be pretty," Flute suggested, shooting a glance into the woods. Noticing the glance, Kaen stood, entering the clearing with that grin still on his face, and Pi on his heels, a serious look on her face, while Viola remained in the forest, but moved close enough to make herself known.

The rest of the goons stood and looked around, switching on their scouters as they did so. One of the men spoke up, "You're pretty strong, but 6 on 4 aren't odds in your favour."

Kaen smirked smugly, saying, "You'd think so wouldn't you? And you'd be wrong. I've survived 5 on 1 odds many a time, and most against stronger beings than the likes of you, so what makes you think you can change that?"

Flute began removing his cloak and mantle, and dropped them to the ground with a dull 'thud', watching the faces of those still watching their scouters start to show fear.

One of the Nuros oblivious to the Namek's actions sneered, "You don't scare us monkey, we'll hang you by the tail when we finish with you!"

Upon hearing the word 'monkey' Flute picked his mantle back up again and took a step back after donning it, nodding Kaen's way to indicate that this fight has his and his alone now. Even Pi seemed to notice the subtle change in Kaen's posture that indicated his rage, as she too took a step back, seemingly content to play cheerleader, despite how angry the comment had made her too.

His eyebrow twitching slightly, his smirk widened as he said, "That a fact? Let's test that shall we..." He removed his coat as he said this, and before anyone could react he hurled it at lightning fast speed at the Nuros who dare insult him. The coat moved faster than anyone expected, knocking the man off his feet, causing him to hit his head on the log behind him, and fracturing his skull. Upon closer inspection, one could see his armour was broken where the coat hit, and his ribcage seemed to have caved in a little.

He cracked his joints a bit, saying, "Ah, that's so much better, without that weighing me down..." and smirked again, smelling their fear as they observed his true power with their scanners, far above what they thought possible from a 'mere monkey.' Deciding to show them what they had really gotten themselves into, Kaen lowered himself slightly, saying, "This night air's a little chilly, you boys mind if I turn up the heat?" As they all watch, they can see red flames starting to build around his form. The strain can be heard in his voice as he cries out, "Here's something I've been tinkering with... Rage Pyre!"

The flames suddenly coalesce into a blood red pyre, turning the water on the ground into steam, and his power level takes a massive jump, causing their scouters to explode due to the overload. Taking another step back, Flute says, in an almost bored voice, "Try to keep their bodies in one piece, the dragon ball may end up damaged if you repeat the last incident."

Kaen grinned, saying, "I'll try," before looking over at the men, all of whom were trying desperately to not show their fear, and almost succeeding, saying, "Now, I believe you guys mentioned something about hanging me from my tail..." Without any other warning, he disappeared from view, phasing in front of one of the men and driving his fist into the Nuros' gut, knocking him back and fracturing his armour, but leaving him standing. Before the men could recover from his movement, he jumped back, raising both hands and shouting "Twin Blaze!"

One of the men cops the blast in, and through, his chest, while another is merely glanced by it, although a very severe glance. Their attempts to fight back were in vain, their now more than obvious fear of the enraged Saiyan male causing their errant blasts to miss by a long shot. He flies for the one with the fractured armour, right hand raised, as he attempts to grab the man by the head, but he's lucky enough to dive out of the way in time.

Kaen glares around at the squid-like beings, deeply satisfied with their fear, before locking eyes with their leader, by far the strongest of the remaining 4. 'Let's see how afraid you are when I use your own strength against you...' Kaen thinks to himself, using his most unorthodox Ki attack by far, one requiring no verbal or physical command at all, 'Wither Strike!' Before the Nuros knows what hit him he collapses to the ground, his muscles atrophied, and his Ki almost non-existent, as Kaen literally steals the strength from him with a glare.

As they watch, the Nuros with horror and the others with wonder, Kaen's power level takes a massive jump, his muscles begin to bulge under his body suit in turn, and causing Pi to blush at the site, but her fascination in the fight stopping her from looking away in embarrassment. Faster than even the Nameks or Pi can see, Kaen flies forward again, driving his knee into the stomach of one of the remaining 3 squids, turning his ribcage into a fine powder, and destroying many of his organs, but leaving him alive.

Errant shooting is all the last two can manage as they start to flee, their terror getting the best of them. A growl can be heard coming from the Saiyan warrior, "Where do you think you're going?" Almost before the words reach their ears he Zanzokens in front of them, throwing a spin kick at one of the guys. An audible 'snap' can be heard as the Nuros' neck breaks, and before the body has a chance to hit the ground, Kaen speeds forward and grabs the last one in a headlock.

As the Nuros struggles in futility to get free from the Saiyan on an obvious warpath, said Saiyan growls, "You should've played nice..." before driving his knee into it's spine, an evident 'crunch' being heard by the others as the knee more than obviously breaks his spine. Kaen simply changes his hold slightly, his hands now resting on either side of the creatures head, and puts it out of it's misery with a twist, it's head being forcibly removed, and it's body slumping lifelessly to the ground.

After surveying the damage, Kaen drops the head lazily, turning to Flute and saying, "Get what you need, then I'll mop up."

The Namek just shook his head before beginning to search the bodies of the fallen for the dragon ball. He soon finds it, taking the other from his cloak and watching them glow slightly before putting them back.

Kaen just nods, flying a little ways into the air and saying "If there's nothing else anyone needs down there I suggest you stand back!" as he raises one hand above his head. Pi is the first one to leave the area, the Nameks soon following, and they turn back to watch Kaen, as Ki starts building above his hand, the flames around him raging. However, before the attack can fully manifest, it's cut short for reasons unknown, the spent Ki causing Kaen to immediately feel ill. The reasons for this unusual occurrence were unknown to all of them, but as he fell slowly back to the ground, Kaen noticed several vespers darting back into the undergrowth.

Kaen clutched his stomach, groaning, "That never happened before..." before realising what had happened, and what the significance of the vespers' presence meant, muttering, "Little vermin..." quietly as the fire around him died down suddenly. Flute, noticing the vespers, watched as a lone vesper, one he thought may have been the same one they first found, looked at Kaen, then himself, before scurrying off as Pi rushed in to help Kaen.

"Perhaps it is best we leave," Flute stated, watching the female Saiyan supporting her male counterpart.

Viola nodded, saying, "Perhaps, yes."

Kaen, muscles still larger than normal, just grabbed his coat and coughed out a reply.

Flute lead off, flying towards the ship, Viola in tow, as Pi helped support Kaen as the two flew back together, albeit slightly slower than normal due to Kaen's condition. the entire flight back, Kaen could be heard muttering about "filthy little vermin," but it wasn't until they were back on the ship, off the planet, and after flute had taken the time to heal him, that Pi responded, "Maybe its their way of making sure their planet is safe..."

He half-heartedly shot her a glare, coughing before saying, "I was holding back..."

She smiled a little wryly, saying, "Do you feel hungry?"

He did an immediate turn around, going from mock-anger to mild apprehension in an eye blink, mildly afraid she'd deprive him the food he so desperately wanted based on his earlier actions, but managing to get out, "Uh... yeah?"

She smiled happily, chirping, "I'll make something for you to snack on," before disappearing into the back of the ship.

He sighed, throwing his coat on the ground, realising that until the effects of his attack wore off it wouldn't fit him, and knowing full well that it would take several hours for that to happen, before sitting down on a chair very carefully, so as to avoid breaking anything.

Flute just sat down, beginning to meditate, as Viola looked at the Saiyan curiously for a moment before saying, "You can power down now you know?"

He grunted out a response of, "Not my choice when it goes away, 'else I would."

She shrugged a bit before wandering off to find Pi, and thus peace reigned once more upon the Namek ship, two dragon balls recovered, but five yet to be reclaimed.

End Chapter 05

To be continued...