The last of the gun-toting soldiers, a small green alien with a huge nose, collapsed to the floor in a charred heap, victim of Broli's blazing ki beams. The huge Saiyajin lowered his palm and nodded slowly. "I was expecting some heavier resistance," he remarked.

"Not that I mind," Kakarotto added with a grin.

"They must be holding their stronger units in reserve," Freeza commented to Broli. "Probably planning to defend King Vegeta."

"King Vegeta isn't the kind of person who hides behind a wall of guards," Broli shrugged. "Unless someone's holding his leash, he'd send his strong fighters to attack us right away."

"Impatient fellow?"

"Sort of."

"Irritating is more like it," came a rasping voice from behind a pillar.

Broli and Freeza reacted at the same time, whipping around to face the offending column of marble. "Come on out," Broli called. "We might decide not to hurt you TOO badly."

A red, newt-like creature in white and gold emerged from behind the pillar, grinning vastly. "You couldn't even begin to hurt me, you big sweaty ape," the alien said. "My power level is seven hundred thousand."

"I can double that."

"Riiiiiiiight." Before Broli could make a reply, the red creature hurled a fireball at him, then turned tail and ran into the depths of the castle.

The red fireball dissipated harmlessly off of Broli's vast chest. He squinted down the hall for a moment, then walked leisurely after him. Freezer followed.

"Where the hell are you going?" Kakarotto shouted.

"To kill that red guy," Broli said simply.

"Neizu," Freeza identified the alien.

"Neizu, huh. I hope he knows what he wants on his tombstone."

"And what about us?" Nappa called.

"Wait here," Broli's voice echoed back as he and Freeza vanished into the dark hallway.

"Well, isn't this just ducky," Nappa muttered. "We're supposed to sit here and wait."

"We won't be alone," Bardock said quietly.

"What?"

Bardock shrugged, pointing off to one side.

Kakarotto followed Bardock's gesture to a corner of the pillared room, and blinked as he noticed the two armored figures leaning against a column. One of the figures, a male Saiyajin, was even shorter than Kakarotto, but his gigantic spiked hair more than made up for it. The second figure was VERY tall, with dark purple skin and jutting ebony horns.

"Captain Ginyu and Prince Vegeta," Kiwi murmured.

"Scouter," Bardock ordered.

"Do it yourself," Kiwi grunted, pointing at Bardock's blue-visored scouter.

"Forgot," the Saiyajin apologized, tapping his scouter and squinting at Vegeta and Ginyu. "The prince is at three hundred thousand," he said. "The Captain is three hundred fifty thousand."

Kakarotto's spirits suddenly dropped several storeys as he realized the truth. Neizu had been a distraction, bait to lure Freeza and Broli away so that Vegeta and Ginyu could pick off the weaker fighters. "We're sitting ducks," he said softly.

"Not really," Kiwi growled, shoving past Kakarotto. "I sure as hell won't go down without a fight."

"Big talk," Ginyu mumbled, rising from the pillar and stepping casually forward. "You have two options, my squid-like friend: Surrender and tell King Vegeta everything you know about Freeza's troop movements..."

"Or I'll fucking kill you!" Vegeta roared, almost throwing Ginyu into a wall as he thrust his fist in front of Kiwi's face. "You hear me, calamari boy?"

"Vegeta!" Ginyu snapped. "Sit! Stay!"

Cringing a bit, the prince backed away.

"Much better."

"Thanks," Nappa chuckled. "Someone's needed to say that to him for twenty years now."

"Always glad to be of service," Ginyu said with a small grin. "However, I'm afraid I'll have to charge you for it?"

"How much?"

"Your lives should suffice."

"Fat chance," Kakarotto snapped, steeling himself and giving Ginyu a glare.

"You keep thinking that, short stuff. But for now..." Ginyu dropped into a combat pose, both fists clenched. "Get ready to die!"

Gritting his teeth together, Kakarotto prepared to do battle.

-----

Countless light-years away, upon a small planet hovering above Snake Way, a squat blue creature stood beneath a fruit tree, his thin antenna quivering as he watched the events on Vegetasei.

"Why are you so interested in a bunch of apes and aliens, sir?" a golden cricket squeaked, floating behind the blue creature's head.

"One, the planet's in my zone," the little Kaiou said shortly. "Two, those Saiyajins are going to be fairly important to us sometime in the future. I can feel that much - that, and that I think something big could happen here."

"How do you know?"

"I AM the Kaiou of the North, remember?" Kaiousama reminded Gregory. "I see things that you can't."

"How silly of me to forget," Gregory said dryly.

"Now then. These events will have a profound impact on the balance of power in this sector of the galaxy. If King Vegeta is defeated now, his alliance will crumble and Freeza's empire will acquire a big chunk of the Saiyajin Empire. If King Vegeta wins, he'll attack Freeza and take over his empire."

"Oh."

"Now shut up while I watch!"

Gregory shut up, watching Kaiousama's antennae twitch.