"Hey! Wait up!"
"Huh?" Dende looked around in confusion at the voice.
"Here! Down here!" shouted Gohan, waiving his arms.
Dende followed the sound to find a little boy in purple clothes waiving at him from below. "Who are you?" he asked.
"We are visitors! From another planet!" Gohan shouted. "Right now we are in urgent need of some help!"
Dende descended apprehensively, careful to remain on his gaurd.
"You better be saying the truth," said Dende.
"Huh? Of course I am!" Gohan replied.
"I would have you know, my brother's the strongest fighter on the planet. If you try anything, he would surely break your bones."
"Whoah," Gohan mouthed, sweatdropping. "Calm down there, little guy," he said, chuckling nervously.
"Tell me what you need."
"Well actually, we came here from Earth. And we have been left stranded here because our friend left with the spaceship."
"What?! " exclaimed Dende. "You don't happen to be friends of Mr Popo, do you? "
"Yes, we are! You know Mr Popo?"
"Everybody here knows Mr Popo. I am so sorry for my behaviour! You should have told me earlier, " said Dende.
"How would I know?" replied Gohan, chuckling. "What I really am worried about right now, is my friends' health. They are in really bad shape. Could you please guide me to a hospital around here?"
"You don't need them stupid places on our planet," Dende replied, smiling. "Just take me to them."
"Huh?"
. . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gohan lead Dende to his friends. Both of them were lying unconscious on the blue grass under the shade of the huge boulder. Multiple leaves were wrapped around their wounds.
Dende knelt down, examining them carefully. Without a word, he plunged his hand into the soil and unearthed several small beans.
Gohan leaned over, intrigued. "Whoa, what are those?"
Dende picked up a few beans and, to Gohan's surprise, chewed them slowly before spitting them out. Gohan cringed, visibly disgusted.
"What are you doing?" Gohan asked, uneasy.
"Stay quiet," Dende replied firmly, before gently pushing the chewed-up bean into Krillin's mouth. He repeated the process with Yamcha.
Not even a minute passed before both fighters stirred. Krillin's eyes flickered open first, blinking against the sunlight. His breath caught as he shot up, feeling the smooth skin where his wounds had once been. He gingerly touched the spots where bruises and cuts should have been, his face a mixture of disbelief and awe.
"What the...?" Krillin muttered, wide-eyed. He twisted his arm and felt his side, as if waiting for a hidden pain to resurface. "I... I'm completely healed!"
Yamcha groaned and sat up next, clutching his head as if shaking off a dream. "I thought... I thought I was done for..." He ran his hand along his ribs, where he remembered a sharp pain had throbbed only moments ago. Now, there was nothing. His fingers trembled slightly as he touched his skin, still expecting the sting of his injuries.
"What... just happened?" Yamcha asked, his voice shaky with disbelief. He glanced at Gohan, then at Dende, his eyes wide. "I could barely move before... and now I feel... like I haven't been in a fight at all!"
Krillin exchanged a look with Yamcha, then turned to Dende. "What kind of magic is this? Did you just...?"
Dende stood calmly, wiping his hands on his robes. "That's no magic. It's a special kind of healing. Something available only on our planet." His voice was matter-of-fact, but there was a quiet pride beneath it.
Gohan grinned, feeling relieved as he saw his friends' energy return. "He's a Namekian, guys. They're full of surprises, aren't they? "
. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Meanwhile, in a far grimmer location...
On board Frieza's ship...
Frieza frowned as Zarbon and Dodoria spoke. The tyrant floated in his hoverchair, staring out the large window of his spaceship, his two subordinates standing rigidly by the door.
Zarbon shivered in the heavy silence that followed. With Frieza's back turned, he couldn't see the tyrant's face, making the tension even more unbearable.
"You'd better make Vegeta's friend talk about the Syanide," Frieza said coldly, his voice dripping with menace. "Or you'll regret not bringing Vegeta to me alive."
Zarbon swallowed hard. "Y-Yes, sire," he stammered. "We'll make him talk, I promise."
Frieza's silence was suffocating.
"You'd better. Now, leave me."
Zarbon and Dodoria wasted no time, quickly exiting the room. As the door slid shut behind them, Frieza smirked, his reflection visible in the glass before him.
"Impressive, Vegeta. After all your years of service, you save your best for the end. How thoughtful of you to find the Syanide for me... hm hm."
. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .
Yajirobe's eyes flickered open. His vision was blurred, everything tinged in an eerie blue. Bubbles drifted lazily in front of him, rising from the mask strapped tightly to his face. He felt weightless, suspended in liquid. It took him a moment to realize; he really was submerged in some sort of tank.
The faint, rhythmic beeping of machinery echoed in the background, unnerving in its calmness. Panic bubbled in his chest. His breathing quickened inside the mask as the realization of his situation settled in. Suddenly, the door in front of him slid open with a metallic hiss.
Yajirobe's heart froze. Standing there, framed in the doorway, were the monsters: the ones who had faced Vegeta.
Dodoria, the pink brute, lumbered into the room, his heavy footsteps vibrating through the floor. Yajirobe's stomach churned with fear. Dodoria moved to a control panel, his thick fingers tapping a series of buttons. The liquid surrounding Yajirobe began to drain, and the glass in front of him lifted with a hiss. He collapsed forward, gasping for air as the cold hit his skin like a slap.
Zarbon, the green-haired one, lingered in the doorway, a cruel smile tugging at his lips. "Enjoy yourself, Dodoria," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "But don't ruin him completely. I'd like my turn."
Dodoria cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing ominously through the room. "Don't worry. I'll leave enough for you."
As Zarbon left, the door shut with a thud, leaving Yajirobe alone with Dodoria. The room felt suffocating, the weight of the situation sinking in. Yajirobe backed away, his legs trembling uncontrollably. "W-wait, what do you mean by-?"
His words were cut off as Dodoria's massive fist rammed into his mouth. Yajirobe's eyes bulged in horror, his jaw forced wide open, pain shooting through his skull. He gagged, trying to breathe, but Dodoria's fist blocked his airway. Panic consumed him. 'I can't breathe!' His hands clawed weakly at Dodoria's arm, but it was like trying to move a mountain.
Dodoria's laughter rumbled deep, sadistic. "Pathetic," he growled, twisting his arm sharply. With a brutal yank, he swung Yajirobe around and slammed him into the floor. The impact reverberated through Yajirobe's body, his vision exploding into a blur of black and white. His body crumpled helplessly.
Dodoria lifted Yajirobe's limp form, disappointment flickering across his face.
Yajirobe dangled from his grip, unconscious, his face streaked with blood.
"That was too easy," Dodoria muttered, irritated. He pulled his fist out of Yajirobe's mouth, ripping several teeth free in the process. They clattered to the floor, blood dripping from his lips and staining the cold metal beneath him.
"Ugh, can't have you dying on me yet." Dodoria tilted Yajirobe's head forward, letting the blood spill out onto the floor in thick, dark drops. He didn't want the fool choking on his own blood, not when the real fun hadn't even begun.
With a grunt, Dodoria slung Yajirobe's unconscious body over his shoulder. "Back in the pod you go. We'll do this again, nice and slow."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Krillin clenched his fists, the frustration boiling inside him. "Damn it! We were so close!"
Yamcha, sitting beside him, stared at the ground in defeat. They had lost Yajirobe again, and now the sickening thought gnawed at him; was Yajirobe even alive? He couldn't shake the hopelessness creeping in.
Dende, standing nearby, lowered his head. "I'm really sorry about your friend. I wish there was more I could do."
"If only my dad were here," Gohan muttered, his voice quiet but full of longing. "He'd know what to do."
Yamcha scowled, frustration bubbling over. "That idiot, Popo! What was the rush? Why did he have to leave so soon?"
Krillin glanced at him, trying to keep a level head. "Look, don't you want Goku here as fast as possible? That was the whole point."
Yamcha shot back angrily, "Of course I do! But he could've waited, at least until we were all together! We're stuck here for six days with nothing to do except get ourselves killed!"
Krillin chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Don't remind me... You're making me feel even more useless, Yamcha."
Gohan, his head hung low, chimed in quietly. "Yamcha's not wrong, Krillin. I hate to admit it, but we're in way over our heads here."
Yamcha slammed his fist into his palm, his voice rising with anger. "We couldn't even scratch that pink monster! And his buddy, and Vegeta, they're on another level entirely!"
Krillin stayed silent, a pit forming in his stomach. Yamcha wasn't wrong. But then there was Vegeta... "Hey, Yamcha," Krillin began, his voice low. "When we ran, Vegeta was fighting that green-haired guy, right? We saw him again when you dropped Yajirobe, but... I never felt Vegeta's energy. Not even a trace."
A cold silence followed as the truth settled in.
"Which means..." Gohan started, his voice trembling.
Krillin nodded, his face pale, sweat trickling down his brow. "Yeah. We might have seen the last of him, Gohan."
The air was heavy with the weight of that thought: Vegeta, gone. As much as they despised him, Vegeta was still one of the strongest beings they knew. If he was gone... what chance did they stand?
Suddenly, Dende snapped his fingers, breaking the tense silence.
Gohan turned toward him, hopeful. "What is it, Dende?"
A spark of excitement lit up the young Namekian's face. "I've got an idea! If I take you to Guru, he can unlock your hidden powers! You might be strong enough to save your friend, then!"
"Hidden powers?!" Krillin, Yamcha, and Gohan exclaimed in unison, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Dende nodded eagerly. "Yes! Guru can bring out the potential inside you. It's your best chance!"
For the first time since their arrival, hope flickered in the eyes of the Earth's fighters. Maybe, just maybe, there was still a way out of this nightmare.
To be continued...