Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wish For The Past ❯ Rise and Fall of Emperor Pilaf - Part Three ( Chapter 63 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: The only thing I own are the burns and blisters I received as Christmas presents from all my lovely flamers. ^_^* Thank you so much... your Christmas spirit is so *sniff* admirable. Too bad Santa didn't decide to give me the rights to DBZ. ^_^

Warning: This fic IS rated PG-13, and this chapter is one of the reasons I chose that rating. There is an increase in graphic violence, and the swearing, what little there is, is harsher than I've used so far in this story.

"All right, it's decided then," Bulma announced firmly to the three boys. "We'll capsulize the house and use the Dragon Radar to locate Bardock, Goku, and Vegeta, since whoever took the dragonballs is most likely also responsible for kidnapping them. We should leave right away to keep from giving the thieves any more of a head start." Bulma, Radditz, Trunks, and Goten were all sitting around the kitchen table, since the kitchen was probably the cleanest part of the house and none of them had felt inclined to straighten up any of the other rooms. To save time, they had shared what they had discovered and made plans while eating a hasty meal made from the contents of one of the food capsules where Bulma had stowed some of the recently bought groceries.

"I still don't think you should come," Radditz groused, folding his arms in a rather sulky manner. There had been a brief power struggle between him and the blue haired girl, both of them trying to take charge of the group, and he had somehow managed to lose. On Vegeta-sei, the leader would have been the most powerful person by default, unless rank was a factor, but that would have placed Trunks in command. It went without saying that children should not be in charge of a search and rescue expedition. Arguing that since he was the oldest by a good four years, ranked higher than any of them, and was, in his opinion, the most mature, the wild maned teenager had thought that there was no question that he should lead.

And yet somehow this logic had not been able to stand up to the eleven year old girl's domineering personality. Bulma had shot down each of his qualifying points one by one as easily as though she was shooting fish in a barrel. Age, she argued, was not a factor in this because they all were children, technically, and her superior intellect and knowledge of the planet outweighed any advantage or maturity a measly four years held. As for rank... Just what difference does that make? she'd asked. Just because you're a muscle-bound recruit in some weird alien army doesn't mean you have any leadership ability! I happen to be the sole heir of this world's largest corporation, you know, so I've been trained for management my whole life! And then, of course, she was female. This wasn't brought up on the list of reasons why she should lead, but it had been a deciding factor nonetheless. Whenever a female wanted something, she always managed to get it in the end. Always.

Bulma glared at Radditz. "We've already been through this, Radditz! I am not about to sit around here on my own, waiting for who knows how long while the rest of you get into who knows how much trouble! Besides, you might need my help. If something were to happen to the Dragon Radars, I'm the only one who can fix them. Or you might run up against some high tech security system that you can't blast to smithereens! If I'm not with you, then what will you do?! I'm going, and that's final, so quit complaining!" Besides, I am not being left behind to clean up this mess! To her satisfaction, Radditz closed his mouth and didn't say another word, although he did mutter under his breath and shot several dark looks in her direction. That was okay with her, though, just so long as he didn't cause any more trouble.

"Now," she continued as though there hadn't been any interruption at all. "If everyone's finished eating, let's pack up and head out! The sooner we leave, the sooner we find the others!" Not even bothering to put her dishes in the sink, Bulma stood up and headed out of the kitchen, followed by Goten and Trunks, who had wisely remained silent during the exchange, and trailed by Radditz. The wild maned teen looked about as sour as a bunch of unripe grapes, tail lashing angrily behind him, but he kept his thoughts to himself. As much as he disliked the outcome of the verbal battle, he'd only cause more delay if he kept arguing. For the sake of his father, brother, and the prince, he would concede to the onna. This time. Next time would be another matter completely.

Or so he told himself.

For a moment, the only thing Bardock could see was red. Red rage, red haze, red blood. Pilaf's blood. He had a brief, delightfully violent vision of taking his fist and ramming it into the little imp's face with earth shattering force, literally bursting the blue bastard's head like an overripe melon. He savored the terror he saw written all over Pilaf's pasty face as he plotted out exactly what he would do first. He would start off by breaking every bone in the midget's body one by one, then rip off his fingers and toes, then his arms, legs, and so forth, until the only thing left was his head and torso. Two small ki blasts to the eyes would produce the extremely painful effect of blinding his victim, and without his tongue Pilaf's screechy, annoying voice would be stilled down to simple screams. Bardock could handle screams, would, in fact, enjoy them immeasurably. And once all that was done, taking care to keep him alive and conscious through all of this, the Saiyan warrior would take great pleasure in extinguishing the life of this pathetic little worm who would dare try to harm his son.

Taking one deliberate step forward, Bardock was satisfied to see Pilaf shrink back in fear, both he and his lackeys literally shaking in their boots. Another step forward. The broken chains on his wrists clinked in an ominous way, like miniature bells tolling out the doom of these three wretches. Pilaf skittered back another couple of steps, his little heart pounding so hard that Bardock's ears were able to hear it. Following Pilaf's lead, Mai and Shao retreated a few paces as well, anxious not to be in front of their emperor for fear that Bardock would take out his wrath on whoever he got to first. Cowards. Bardock's lip curled upward in contempt and disgust. The short one calls himself an emperor, and yet he is unwilling to face the consequences of his own mistakes. His bodyguards are no better, falling back when they should be leaping forward to defend their ruler. None of them deserve to breathe the same air as a true warrior, let alone a prince of Vegeta-sei. Eyes lit with the promise of death, the Saiyan warrior again advanced on his quarry. Again, they cowered away.

Only this time they could retreat no further. In their haste to keep their distance from the vengeful father, Pilaf, Mai, and Shao had accidentally angled away from the door and now found themselves with their backs to the wall and no place to run. Quailing in fear, the three watched with wide eyes as Bardock stopped a few few in front of them, face as grim as death itself.

"Nobody threatens my family," he said in a darkly even voice that was somehow far more menacing than if he'd shouted at the top of his lungs. A deep, boiling anger welled up from the depths of Bardock's soul, feeding directly into his ki and causing it to increase so rapidly that a dark blue aura of energy burst into existence around his body. Pilaf didn't need to be able to sense ki to know that this was a very, very bad sign, but the only thing he could do was watch in horror, eyes wide as saucers, as the blue fire swelled and shifted to a reddish color. The air was filled with an energy so intense that the pointy eared midget could even feel the electricity dancing across his skin, almost to the point where his skin would singe.

"C-can't we just... talk about this for a minute?" Pilaf whined pathetically. Beside him, Mai and Shao looked so hopeful about this possibility that it was almost comical, nodding their heads so hard it was a wonder they didn't fall off. "I was... er... joking! Yeah, joking! Can't you take a joke? Eh heh..." The half-pint emperor attempted to chuckle in an effort to prove that, indeed, it had all been a silly little joke, but what actually came out of his mouth sounded more like a strangled whimper. Of course, fear did tend to have a distorting effect on one's voice.

Bardock's ki aura flared sharply to match his rising fury. "A joke? Promising to torture my son is supposed to be funny?! You think that toying with lives is humorous!?" Raising one fist in front of him, he growled angrily, "If that's the sort of "joke" you enjoy, then let's see how much you laugh at your own punch line!!" With a vicious snarl, the Saiyan warrior snapped his fist forward, straight into Pilaf's gut. The satisfying crunch of bones breaking was music to Bardock's ears, and when Pilaf's eyes bugged out and he began to cough up blood, all Bardock did was smirk and slowly pull his fist away, allowing the midget to drop to the floor. Fortunately for Pilaf - or unfortunately, depending on your point of view - Bardock had kept his strength under tight control, using only a fraction of the power available to him to make sure that his victim didn't die in one blow.

Pilaf did not deserve a quick death.

"That's odd," he snorted, glaring down at his feet where Pilaf twitched and spasmed in pain. "I don't seem to hear you laughing. I guess the joke's not as funny when you're on the receiving end." Lifting one booted foot, the vengeful father brought the toe crashing into the blue gremlin's side, punting him like a ball in a children's game so hard that Pilaf smashed through the brick wall and hurtled across the room on the other side. With a sickening smack-thud, the battered and bleeding emperor hit the far wall and sank to the floor, too stunned to do anything besides mewl in agony.

Not even waiting for the dust from the broken wall to settle, Bardock advanced through the rubble, ignoring the rain of pebbles and mortar that fell all around him. The powerful aura that surrounded him served to prevent the dust from settling in his hair or on his clothing, and even the larger pebbles flew away from him as though in fear. Bardock didn't even noticed this, though, as his attention was focused entirely on the huddled form in the room beyond the prison cell.

"P-please," Pilaf coughed, lifting himself weakly off the floor. "Spare me..." Drops of blood splattered on the floor beneath him, dripping from the cuts and scrapes inflicted on him when he'd shattered the prison wall with his body. "I swear... I'll never... even think about... touching your son... again!" he gasped, broken ribs making it heard to breathe.

"Spare you?" Bardock echoed scornfully. Upon reaching the fallen emperor, he bent down and casually wrapped his hand around Pilaf's scrawny neck, lifting him up so he could glare directly into the offensive little creep's eyes. "Why should I spare you? If our positions were reversed, I have no doubt that you would not spare any of us! No, you fucking little asshole, I'm not about to spare your miserable, stinking hide! If anything, I'm going to skin you alive!!"

When Pilaf's poor body impacted with the wall, Mai and Shao quickly took the opportunity to scoot away from the rubble, using the cloud of dust as a cover to hide them as they made their way to the door. Yes, technically they had been hired by Pilaf, and so it could be considered their duty to protect him... but why risk their lives for a lost cause? It was more than obvious to the pair of lackeys that Bardock could and would grind their emperor into a bloody pulp, and there was nothing either of them could do about it. Best look after themselves, then, and get out of there before they, too, fell victim to their prisoner's wrath. Besides, if you looked at it percentage-wise, saving two out of three of the members of Pilaf's empire wasn't bad compared to none out of three, even if the one they lost was the emperor. So it was with these justifications in mind that the woman and the dog-man crept hastily toward the prison door...

"Going somewhere?" a young boy's smug voice asked, and suddenly Vegeta was there, standing directly in front of the closed door. While Bardock had been confronting the three villains, the young prince had ripped the shackles away from his wrists as easily as tearing paper, after which he had contented himself to sitting back and watching the entertaining torment of their jailers. After what they had done to him, Vegeta had wanted to inflict severe bodily harm on them himself, but Bardock had beaten him to it. Oh well. They'd die anyway, one way or another, and that was enough to satisfy him for now. Might as well enjoy the show, he'd thought with a smirk.

But now that Bardock was concentrating solely on Pilaf he had given the other two a chance to escape, and that was something the Saiya-jin no Ouji wasn't about to allow. Whether they were simple accomplices or direct perpetrators of the kidnapping and theft didn't matter to him. For their crimes against his person, they deserved to die just as surely as their so-called emperor did, and since Bardock was busy with that little pip squeak, that meant Vegeta would get to take on the role of executioner for these two. This was going to be fun.

"Out of the way, kid," an irritated Agent Mai snapped, annoyed with any delay that might allow the raging warrior behind them enough time to notice their escape. Apparently she didn't know just exactly what she was up against, because she calmly pulled a small handgun out of her trenchcoat and pointed it at Vegeta's head. With a condescending smirk, she added, "Before you get hurt." He was just a child, after all. A boy that small couldn't possibly be a threat, and even if he did have a tail like the other two, that didn't mean he could live with a bullet in his brain.

An amused chuckle rippled from the ten year old's throat as he casually leaned back against the door, arms folded across his chest. "Oh, don't mind me," he laughed, idly waving his tail in an unconcerned manner. "By all means, go ahead and shoot. I'm feeling stubborn and suicidal today, so I'm not likely to move unless you kill me first." The way his eyes danced with mirth gave the impression that he was enjoying some grand cosmic joke that no one but he was privy to.

Growling impatiently, Shao glared at the impudent boy who dared to block their way. "Just shoot the brat and be done with it, Mai! We don't have time to play around!"

"I know that, Shao!" Mai snarled, taking her eyes off Vegeta just long enough to clout the dog-man behind the ears. "But I don't think our friend back there is so caught up in what he's doing that he won't notice the sound of a gun being fired! I'd like to avoid being caught, you idiot!!"

"Well, so would I!" the furry creature yelled, just an edge of panic tingeing his voice as he heard a piercing shriek come from the room Bardock and Pilaf were in. "But I also don't wanna stick around long enough to be caught just because some stupid kid has a death wish!"

The black haired woman hesitated. In truth, she really didn't like the thought of just shooting a child in the head, but this was a matter of her life versus his death. If her life was on the line - and in this case it was - she would be willing to do just about anything to save herself - even murder a child in cold blood. She briefly considered the possibility of just walking up and shoving him out of the way, but the thought was quickly erased from her mind when a blood curdling scream shook the air. No time for mercy. Tough luck, brat. Calmly aiming the barrel of the gun between Vegeta's eyes, she cocked the trigger and fired.

Beep. Beep. Beep. The comforting sound of the Dragon Radar tracking the cluster of four dragonballs echoed in Radditz's ears along with the rushing of the wind as the four of them sped through the air. The flight might have been an enjoyable experience, except for two things: One, he was still quite concerned for Bardock, Goku, and Vegeta, and two, he was the unhappy bearer of an excitable, panicky, and bossy eleven year old girl.

"Would you quit squirming already?" he grumbled for perhaps the tenth time in the last half hour. "You're pulling my hair!"

"Well, excuse me, mister mighty Saiyan warrior!" Bulma snapped back from her position on his back. With one arm wrapped around the older boy's neck, she was attempting to manipulate the radar to see how close they were getting without falling off, not something done easily when you were at least two hundred feet in the air and traveling almost as quickly! "It'd help if I didn't keep getting your hair whipped into my face!!"

Neither of them were very happy with the arrangement, but there hadn't been any other choice. None of their capsule cars, even the ones Trunks had brought from the future, could compare to the speed of their flying, and they had to assume that time was very much of the essence for this rescue mission. Goten and Trunks were too small to comfortably carry the blue haired girl, so the task had fallen to the unlucky teenager. Radditz had refused to carry her, though, insisting instead that she fly on his back. He did not want to run the risk that her "feelings" for him might return if he held her in such an intimate position. Thankfully, Bulma had conceded with his demand.

Unfortunately, this unspoken agreement to put up with each other during the trip didn't extend to bickering.

"Well, it's not exactly like there's much I can do about it, so why don't you quit complaining and shut up?!"

"Maybe you should cut your hair so it's not always getting in the way! Don't tell me what to do, Radditz!"

"I am not going to cut my hair!! Keep in mind who's carrying you, little girl! I could easily just drop you-"

"I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL!!!"

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP FIGHTING?!?!" Trunks yelled in their ears, entirely fed up with the constant stream of verbal abuse they'd been flinging at each other the whole time they'd been flying. "You've been at each other's throats ever since we left the house! Can't you put aside your differences until after we find the others?!" Giving them a glare that would have done his father proud, the lavender haired demi-Saiyan folded his arms and waited until they looked suitably chastened before continuing in a calmer voice. "My radar indicates we should be wherever the dragonballs are in another five minutes. Keep your guard up. We have no idea what we're dealing with here."

Since when did he become the leader? Bulma grumbled silently, though she still listened to him for some reason. There was just something about him that made her think of her father, and when Dr. Briefs ordered something, Bulma obeyed. Shrugging these thoughts aside, she reluctantly nodded her head at Radditz, indicating that she was willing to have a truce, for now. Radditz reluctantly nodded back.

While all this had been going on, Goten had been straining his senses in the hope that he would find some trace of his grandfather, chibi father, or chibi Vegeta. As they drew closer to the location of the dragonballs, his heart sank lower into his stomach. He still couldn't sense any of them! Undaunted, the eight year old boy continued his silent search, unwilling to give up on the possibility that they were alive. Now, with only five minutes left in the journey, it seemed almost impossible that they would discover the three missing Saiyans alive and well, at least not at the same location where the dragonballs were.

And then Goten felt it. Faint at first, but quickly spiking higher and higher; there was no mistaking that ki. "Trunks! Bulma! Radditz!! It's GRANDPA!!!"