CHAPTER SEVENTY: MEETING WITH
COLD
It
was raining hard on the day when Gokou, Piccolo, and Gohan were finally going
to stand before King Cold. The rain had begun in the morning, barely more than
a light trickle, and by mid-afternoon it was pouring. The ground, being mainly
desert, simply overflowed instead of absorbing most of the water, thus turning
nearly all of Capitol's main city into one big mud puddle.
"Chichi,
are you ever going to get ready?" Gokou pleaded, nearly on his knees.
"We've been waiting for over a month to met this guy, and he's not going
to wait all day!"
Chichi
glared at her husband without even turning around to face him. This of course
meant that the brunt of her hellish gaze was focused on Gohan. The boy was
wrapped up in more heavy, weatherproof clothing than most kids who are playing
in the snow would wear. His mother was steadily adding more layers. "I'm
sure that the 'Great King of the Galaxy' can wait just a few more minutes while
I make sure that my son isn't going to catch a cold and DIE on his way over."
She continued to add to Gohan's ensemble.
"Chichi,
we're going to have to fly to get there on time now, and with the rain and
everything, that'll be really bad!"
Chichi
finished her job by wrapping a scarf around Gohan's face, completely obscuring
the last uncovered part of him. He now resembled a football-playing Eskimo.
"There. He's ready. Don't blame me if he catches a cold, though... I would
have dressed him better, but since you INSIST on rushing out of the house so
early then I guess we'll just have to make do!"
Gohan
made a strange muffled "Mmrmphh" noise.
Gokou
folded his arms. "Then let's go! I'd hate to fly in this weather,
but-"
"You
won't have to," came a voice from behind him. Gokou turned around to see
Zarbon standing in the doorway, wearing a dress uniform. "I rented a limo.
Today, we travel in style," he said, grinning. Zarbon looked down at
Gohan. He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if he's going to fit in the
door," he commented.
"Mmrmphh."
***
The
limousine pulled up directly outside of the entrance to the Royal Palace.
Zarbon jumped out of the driver's seat and ran around the car to open the
passenger side doors, muttering to himself.
"You
hire a limo, and of course you decide NOT to spring for the driver... less
money, they said... just as easy on the nerves, they said..."
Gokou
climbed out first, followed by Piccolo. Next came chichi, who was pulling Gohan
by the arm- the boy had lost any autonomous movement capabilities- and Zarbon
shut the door behind them.
"You
people go ahead," he said, "Just check in with Sauzaa, or Doore, or
whoever's there. Zangya and I will catch up." Gokou nodded, and the group
from earth headed on their way into the building.
Zarbon
opened the front passenger door, and gave a mock bow.
"We
have arrived at the destination, Madame," he stated in a sarcastic-posh
accent. An umbrella poked out of the door, and popped open with an audible
snap. Zangya came out of the door under the safety of the umbrella moments
later.
"Thanks,
but you honestly don't have to open my car door, too."
Zarbon
shrugged. "Why not? I did it for everybody else- and you have that
umbrella with you, anyway."
She
nodded. Good point. Sorry that I couldn't find a larger one- you're going to be
in the rain on the way in."
He
shot her a grin. "Isn't that always the truth?"
She
shrugged and walked on towards the building. Zarbon followed behind, humming a
song that he had learned while on earth. It was called, "Singing in the
Rain."
***
The
six of them sat together in the waiting room, drying off. Zangya was the only
one who wasn't wet, due to her umbrella- but considering how much hair she had,
it was a wise move.
"Hey,
Zarbon," Gokou asked, "Where's my dad?"
Zarbon
checked his watch. "He said that he'd be here at some point or another. I
wonder what happened to him."
It
was at that moment when Bardock and Seripa came out of the double doors that
lead to Cold's throne room.
"It's
your turn, guys," Bardock said, casually pointing in the direction behind
him. "We're done here."
Zarbon
shot him a confused look. "What were you doing in there?"
Bardock
shrugged. "You're late already. I'd hurry up if I were you."
Zarbon
shook his head and got up. Chichi began to roll the vaguely Gohan-shaped bundle
in towards the throne room.
"Mmrmphh."
The
throne room was one of the most fantastic things that Gokou had ever seen, next
to his wife's cooking. The king himself was an incredibly sight- all sixteen
feet of him. He was reclining back in his throne, sipping from his ever-present
glass of wine.
Gokou
noticed out of the corner of his eye that everybody else was kneeling, so he
followed suit. Gohan attempted to kneel with the others, but just succeeded in
falling on the floor. He still had no feeling in his arms whatsoever.
"Mmrmphh."
Zarbon
was the first to speak. "We have
arrived, Lord Cold," he said.
Cold
motioned with his hand. "You all may stand," he said in a somewhat
uninterested tone.
"We
have come here with the request that earth be declared a safe planet, My
Lord."
"So
you have. And why is that?"
"The
people of that planet, although weak," Zarbon began, "Possess an
incredible strength from within- and we have evidence that their stock can
produce hybrid beings far more powerful than they are. Take, for example, this
man here," Zarbon motioned toward Gokou. "He is a Saiya-jin-
Bardock's son- who was raised on earth. His son, Gohan, his therefore a
half-human hybrid."
"Is
that Gohan?" Cold asked, pointing to the over-protected boy.
Zarbon
nodded. "Yes, that's him. His mother was a little… over-enthusiastic when
dressing him for the rain. He's only five."
Cold
snickered. "So I see. I can barely see him beneath the layers of
clothing."
"He's
wearing Saiya-jin armor under that, from what I understand," Zarbon
offered sheepishly. Piccolo sighed and slapped his forehead.
"And
why is there a Namek in here with you?"
"He
was also raised on earth- and his power level is exceptional for a member of
his race."
"Damn
straight," Piccolo muttered, getting rather annoyed with all of this.
"Mmrmphh!"
***
Waiting
outside the throne room, Bardock looked at his watch. "Strange," he
said, "They've been in there for two hours already. Why's it taking so
long?"
Sauzaa
looked up from behind the desk. He took off his reading glasses. "I have
no idea," he said before getting back to work. Seripa put a hand on
Bardock's shoulder.
"Don't
worry about it- it's probably a good sign." She offered him a smile.
Bardock returned it with a slight head nod.
"Still...
with the news that we just got... this wait is unsettling."
Seripa
nodded silently. Over behind the desk, Sauzaa continued to fill out paperwork.
He put his glasses back on.
***
Gohan
had removed all of the extra raingear that his mother had put on him earlier,
and was now dressed in armor. He was concentrating hard, attempting to power up
so that Cold could get an idea of his potential. The king was unimpressed.
"Is
he going to finish powering up any time soon, or should I send out for dinner
while I wait?"
Chichi
clenched her fists, and restrained herself from attacking Cold in a frenzy of
angry motherhood.
"Don't
worry- just give him some time," Gokou offered. Zarbon and Zangya
exchanged glances.
"I'll
give you ten minutes," The king said, rather bored, "And then I will
come to an opinion on my own- whether the boy is ready or not."
And
so they stood there for a good ten minutes, waiting. Chichi fumed silently at
the way that her boy was being treated.
Finally,
the time was up. King Cold looked at the boy for a second, and sighed.
"He
is powerful, and he has potential, but I am still unimpressed."
"But
sir," Zarbon interjected, "None of his real potential actually shows
unless he's really angry... and we can't just simulate that easily."
"And
I really care?" Cold returned. "In battle, one cannot always expect
to be worked into an extreme rage. Therefore, the boy is powerful for a human-
but not powerful for a hybrid. He's just another half-Saiya-jin child. And
unless you can find some definite way of proving how valuable and hardy the
human stock is, your request will be denied."
Zarbon
lowered his head. He realized that there was no way that he could convince the
king of anything now. It was at that point when Chichi exploded.
She
tackled King Cold, knocking his wine glass to the floor and sending both him
and his throne back and into the wall, lashing out with whichever limbs were
handy. None of the blows even fazed the king, but he was too surprised to
really react. Somewhere along the way, Gokou's wife started into a diatribe of
motherly rage.
"How
DARE you say such THINGS about my baby BOY!!! You INHUMAN MONSTER! You IDIOTIC
BEAST! You DAMNED FOOL! He's MY BOY and if MY HUSBAND says that he's POWERFUL,
than he IS! And he's MY SON! He's going to be a SCHOLAR, not a FIGHTER, but if
he's POWERFUL, than he's MY SON!!!"
On
and on it went, for nearly five minutes. Not a single person even made a single
move in that time. They were all in too much shock.
Finally,
King Cold lifted Chichi by the back of her collar, and held her at arm's length
so she would stop pummeling him.
"So
this is what humans are like," he said, smirking. "Ha! I like them
already!"
Zarbon
blinked. "You... you do?" he asked.
"And
why not?" Cold replied in a hearty voice. "Just look at this one! She
has a stronger will and shorter temper than any Saiya-jin that I've ever seen!
If this is what humans do when they get mad, then we really can't judge hybrids
as well." He dropped Chichi to the ground, and bent down until he was at
eye level with her.
"Congratulations,
woman. You just saved your home planet."
Chichi
blinked twice, and scratched her head. "I did?"
Cold
nodded, and then turned away from them. "Now get out of here while I call
some people in to clean up this mess."
They
all obliged. Chichi was the only one with the presence of mind to gather up
Gohan's rain gear.
***
Later,
after everybody had returned to their associated hotel rooms and finished
celebrating the successful mission, Zarbon took Bardock aside for a quick chat.
"Bardock,
I have a question for you."
"Hmmm?
What is it?" Replied the Saiya-jin.
"Why
did you go to see King Cold before we did?"
Bardock
glanced around a bit before answering in a whisper. "A few days ago, I had
expressed some curiosity as to the well-being of Prince Vegeta now that he'd
left to go clearing planets. Nobody seemed to know how he was doing, so I went
straight to the source- his father."
Zarbon
nodded. "Go on," he said.
"King
Vegeta didn't know how his son was doing, he said that he hadn't gotten any
reports in a long time. I found this incredibly strange, so I went directly to
the database that listed outgoing parties. Seripa has a few connections on that
end. What I found is what I was reporting to King Cold, and asking his advice
over."
"Oh?"
Zarbon replied, curious, "What was it?"
"Vegeta's
new team had long since come back from their raid, but apparently the Prince
had never gone with them. There's absolutely no record of any of Prince
Vegeta's actions after the day before he was supposed to leave with them."
Zarbon
thought about this in silence for a while. He was worried.