Chapter 3: Saiya-jin Training…
The Sentries were considered the most fanatical grouping of the three way split. True to form, they spread chaos everywhere, and watching the results of such changes.
But even if you were aware of their existence, their handy work was so small and complex, that even those best trained could overlook that which had been done. A small step too far to the right, a bullet shot a few seconds too early, an ambush discovered minutes to late – these were the proud trademarks of the Sentries.
And you would never know the existence of their touch – until it was too late.
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Kuririn stumbled into the Kame house and collapsed on the floor in pain.
"What happened to you?" Roshi asked, leaning into Kuririn’s field of vision.
"I…told Chichi." Kuririn slipped into unconsciousness.
"Oh."
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Gohan gritted his teeth as he slammed into the wall full force, leaving a tiny dent. Nappa snorted in disgust. "Is that all you can do, brat?"
Gohan grunted as he struggled to his feet. After a few days, he had learned to ignore Nappa’s taunts, and instead of retaliating he readied himself for the next blow.
#98231 – clinging to the roof in dragon form – shook her head in disgust. She had read that saiya-jins were brutal adversaries, but she had never imagined this! She was once again amazed at Gohan’s strength – any normal kid would be dead by now.
Nappa snorted as he surveyed Gohan’s defense – incredibly sloppy. He rushed forward and circled Gohan, hitting him from behind. The young boy – unprepared – sailed forward and slammed headfirst into the opposite wall.
After a few minutes, Nappa sauntered over and pulled Gohan out of the wall. He smirked; he’d knocked the kid unconscious. So – dragging Gohan by the scruff of his shirt – Nappa marched over to the regen tank.
After all, the tyke had a lesson with Vegeta in only half a cycle.
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Gokou panted as he continued to run down Snakeway. This thing was longer than he’d previously thought!
He could only hope to reach Kaiou-sama’s in enough time to train. Chikyuu – and Gohan – depended on it.
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Vegeta frowned as he leaned against the wall. Most of his attention was focused on Gohan – still sitting in the regen tank. "Next time, Nappa, limit you do to only half a cycle’s worth of regen time." Nappa began apologizing profusely, but he was cut off as the tank beeped – signaling that its occupant was fully healed.
Stalking over to the regen tank, Vegeta opened it and dragged Gohan out. "Get dressed, brat, it’s my turn now." Quivering slightly, Gohan did as he was told. He’d learned quickly that it was more painful to do otherwise.
Reflecting back, the only reason #98231 liked Vegeta’s training sessions better than Nappa’s was that Vegeta didn’t hit quite as hard. After all, it’s a bit hard teaching techniques if your pupil can’t see straight.
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Nappa chuckled as he sat down to eat. There was nothing better than a hot meal after training tykes.
Fate had other ideas, however. The console in the cafeteria started beeping, signaling the receiving of a message from headquarters. Growling in annoyance, Nappa tried his best to ignore it.
But the beeping grew continuously insistent, and Nappa eventually gave up and stood. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could return to eating.
The messenger on the screen sneered in contempt. "Took you damn monkeys long enough." Nappa’s jaw clenched at the insult, but he said nothing. He still remembered what happened the last time…
"What is your reason for calling?" As always, Nappa was gruff and abrupt. The less he had to deal with Furiiza’s staff, the better.
"I will speak to no one but Vegeta." The apparent lack of respect for the Saiya-jin prince irritated Nappa even more than the insults.
"The prince is busy and shall not be disturbed for obviously trivial matters." The messenger’s sneer increased.
"I bring a message from Furiiza-sama himself. I think it would be…wise for Prince Vegeta to receive it." Nappa nodded stiffly and walked out – any message from Furiiza meant business. The messenger cackled.
"Run, little monkey, run!"
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"Sloppy!" Vegeta’s exclamation – punctuated by a punch hard enough to slam Gohan into a wall – filled the room, echoing endlessly. Gohan started to pry himself from the wall, but he stopped as Vegeta picked him up by the scruff of his shirt.
Only to be slammed into the wall again. "I didn’t train you to be sloppy, brat! Have you been listening to me at all?!" Vegeta gritted his teeth in frustration – the kid had potential, but he was seemingly unwilling to learn. Vegeta pulled Gohan out of the rubble once more; he would force the brat to learn.
"Prince Vegeta." Nappa’s voice – coming from the doorway – stopped the saiya-jin prince short. "There is a message from Furiiza." Vegeta dropped Gohan unceremoniously to the ground and stalked toward the door. The only thing keeping Vegeta’s tail from lashing angrily was the fact it was wrapped tightly around his waist.
"We’ll continue this later, brat." Gohan waited until he heard the footsteps completely recede in the distance before he tried to climb – painfully – to his feet.
#98231 muttered angrily as she shifted into her human-like form. With a gentleness that belied her temper, she picked Gohan up and placed him in her lap. "Are you okay, Gohan-kun?" The saiya-jin boy wrapped his arms around her as best he could before he started sobbing.
"I – I miss ot-otousan," Gohan hiccuped between sobs. #98231 sighed as she rested her back against the cool, steel wall. Patting him awkwardly on the back, #98231 did the best she could to comfort the distraught boy.
"I know you do, Gohan-kun. And I’m sure both he and your okaasan miss you as well." The first couple of days, Gohan had cried himself to sleep, calling out for his father. And when #98231 asked, he was more than happy to tell her about a man known as Son Gokou. It had been then that she’d realized exactly whom Gohan had taken after.
She didn’t like it when someone hurt Gohan. In the weeks they had been able to talk, he had wormed his way into her heart, and she now thought of Gohan as her younger brother.
She hated to see him cry.
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"…and Furiiza-sama’s orders are to clear the planet of all intelligent life forms in preparation for sale." Vegeta stood stiffly – his disgust clear – as he listened to the messenger. He was being hailed for a simple planet clearing. And the inhabitants of Ganal-sei were well known for being soft. Why, even the brat would be able to…
Vegeta paused in thought as a desperate plan was formed. He would make a true saiya-jin out of the boy yet!
At the sight of Vegeta’s ferocious, mocking sneer, the messenger took a step back. Even with Furiiza’s protection, some messengers who crossed with Vegeta met with…unfortunate accidents.
"That i-is all." The messenger nearly cursed aloud for stammering like he did, but Vegeta took no notice. The messenger could only sigh in relief as Vegeta walked away; the sneer was not for him.
But he pitied the man for whom it was directed towards.
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#98231 sighed as she watched Vegeta shake Gohan roughly to wake him. But that wasn’t her main reason for sighing.
She was bored, bored, bored. As the only thing she could do was watch the training sessions, it was no surprise that she’d quickly become restless. The last time she had become this bored, she’d started annoying Nappa by humming a nameless tune. He had nearly gone insane as he’d undertaken the futile task of finding the song's source – her. Why, she was so bored that even talking to dead people would be…
She twitched, an idea forming in her head. And with a chuckle on her face, she teleported.
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Gokou continued jogging down Snake Way. He had just come from an encounter with Princess Snake, but that didn’t prepare him as an unknown woman suddenly appeared in front of him.
Screeching to a halt, Gokou even took a couple steps more to the left. But the action proved to be a mistake as he fell off the side of Snake Way with a startled yelp.
Reacting instinctively, #98231 lunged forward and grabbed his arm. Being wary of the spikes, she managed to drag Gokou back on to the surface.
"Gomen nasai, I didn’t think you would startle so easily. You are Son Gokou, ne?"
"I am." #98231 smiled wider as she resisted the sudden urge to hug him.
"I’ve heard so much about you from Gohan-kun!!" Gokou stared at her for a moment, shocked.
"You know Gohan?" #98231 nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, he…" #98231 continued to ramble on as the two started to jog together down Snake Way. Her, happy to escape boredom, and Gokou, whom was glad to hear news about his son.
Perhaps – if #98231 had stayed – she would have been able to prevent the tragic incident that would occur.
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Author’s Notes ~ A long time, but not a long chapter….
Vegeta: You made me nice to the brat.
*Sweatdrop* Aww, c’mon, Vegeta, it wasn’t that bad… ^-^;;
Vegeta: *Frowning* You made me nice to the brat, and I want my due. This chapter wasn’t enough.
Well, you’ll get to torture Gohan in the next chapter, ‘k?
Vegeta: Fine. *Walks away*
What a hard head…Anyway, I was going to have some very evil things happen to Gohan in the next chapter, so you’ll just happen to keep reading, and look out for Destiny’s Fate: Episode 4: Innocence – denied.
Until then, minna!