Dragonball Extreme

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Trunks and Goten stood in the sandy floor of the valley staring at and
discussing the young man in front of them.  He, in turn, sat with
his legs crossed, looking at his feet.  He seemed totally
unconcerned that he was an object of interest.  

“He does look more like Papa now that he’s in normal clothes,” Trunks
remarked.  

“And now that your mom has shaved all that extra fur off of him and
cleaned him up,” Goten added.

Bulma’s voice suddenly sounded behind them.  “Trunks and Goten!”
she exclaimed.  “Gato is a person, not a new plaything!  I
imagine it’s hard enough on him to be in a totally new environment
without the two of you acting like he’s a new toy of some kind!"

"Sorry, Mama," Trunks replied.  

"Don't "Mama" me!" Bulma snapped back.  "I shouldn't have to be
lecturing you two like you're ten year olds!  Go find something
else to occupy your time with!"  She waved them off with a shooing
motion of her hands.

The two young men grumbled a bit and walked off, and Bulma motioned for
Gato to stand.  "Come on," she said. "Vegeta thinks you're too
slack and unmotivated, so ChiChi and I worked up a little project for
you."  She led him to a more secluded area of the valley, where
ChiChi and Videl were already standing.  

"I'm guessing that you don't have much, if any, fighting experience,"
Bulma said to Gato.  "Is that right?"

"Y-yes, ma'am," Gato replied.  "M-men aren't a-allowed to learn
f-fighting on m-my planet."

"Well then, you're going to start right now," ChiChi said.  "I was
trying to help Videl remember some of the more advanced techniques that
Gohan had taught her, but it'd be nice for her to have someone besides
me to spar with.  And since Gohan and the others are way out of any
of our leagues, I decided to train you up to be a decent substitute -
God knows that you'll probably need the skills one day anyway."

"And," Bulma added, "it'll give Vegeta room to grumble about something
else for a while.  He's done nothing but bitch about your low power
level since you arrived, though he's not about to admit it to anyone."

"The first thing we need to improve is your posture," ChiChi said
briskly.  "You're not going to be able to do anything confidently
with your shoulders slouched over like that."

"Y-yes, ma'am," Gato murmured.  He rocked awkwardly on his feet
for a second then pulled his shoulders -so--so-slightly back.

ChiChi frowned.  The quaveriness was going to have to go as well -
the boy made some of the sissiest girls she knew look macho.
 "Speak up!" she said.  "I can't hear you!"

Gato cleared his throat.  "Y-yes, ma'am," he repeated more clearly.

ChiChi cupped a hand around her ear.  "What?"

Gato took a shaky breath.  "Y-yes, ma'am," he said.  His
voice was only slightly louder for the effort.

ChiChi raised an eyebrow.  "Come on, now," she said.  "I can
hear those birds on top of the cliff better than you! Say it again."

The young man's face twisted slightly with frustration.  He took a
deep breath and closed his eyes.  "Yes, ma'am."

"Gato..." ChiChi began warningly.  

His fists clenched at his sides in frustration and irritation, and for
the first time ChiChi thought she might be hitting the half-saiyan nerve
burdeepdeep within the young man.  He pulled his shoulders upright
entirely.  "Yes, ma'am!" he shouted.  Then, realizing
what he'd done, he clamped his hands over his mouth in horror and
flinched as though expecting to be struck at any moment.

ChiChi only smiled knowingly.  "That's better.  And my name
is ChiChi, use it."

Gato opened his eyes tentatively and eyed her.  When she made no
movement toward him he straightened up hesitantly.  "Yes,
ma'am...ChiChi."

"Good," ChiChi replied.  "And now that we've gotten that far, it's
time to move right on to learning proper posture and stance for basic
defense."

Videl and Bulma sat a little to the side as ChiChi worked Gato through
basic maneuvers.  Both women could easily tell that Gato definitely
had the body structure and the ability to fight, he just needed the
mental blocks removed.  

After a few moments of watching in silence, Videl decided to hazard
light conversation with Bulma.  "So..." she began.  "Do you
fight at all?  Like in tournaments or anything?"

Bulma laughed.  "No," she replied.  "I had some wild times as
a kid, but it was all guns and capsules and flying cars - nothing like
this.  I could never even hope
to keep up with some of the stronger human fighters, let alone a saiyan.
 Goku was stronger than most human fighters even as a kid."

Videl frowned.  "From what I've been told, Gohan had taught me a
lot while we were dating.  Was I any good as a fighter?"

Bulma smiled.  "You were good as a fighter without a lot of help from Gohan.
 I think we were all impressed with you at the World Martial Arts
Tournament.  Gohan just taught you some of the things the average
person doesn't know - flying, energy manipulation, that kind of thing."

"The World Martial Arts Tournament..." Videl said wonderingly.
 "That's something I wish I could remember.  I can remember
training for it - I was even ready to go up against my dad if I made it
that far, and he was so sure I would."

Bulma coughed suddenly, trying to cover up a chuckle.  She noticed
Videl looking at her funny and smiled apologetically.  "Sorry," she
said.  "It's just funny to hear you say that.  Even you admitted after a while that your
dad's ready for retirement, and probably was a long time ago."  

They were interrupted suddenly as Gato landed on his back, between
them, wa sha shout.  He looked up apologetically at the two women.
 "S-sorry..." he stammered.

"Sorry about that!" ChiChi called.  "He took that kick harder than
I thought he would."  She looked over at them from several feet
away and waited for Gato to get on his feet again.  

The young half-saiyan didn't even have his shoulders off the ground,
however, when he was pulled upright by gloved hands.  "Get back on
your feet, Boy," Vegeta demanded.  "I don't sire brats to be kicked
around by humans."

Bulma narrowed her eyes and glanced sideways at Vegeta.  "Don't
you have somewhere to be, besides down here picking on kids?" she asked.

"Hn," Vegeta said haughtily.  "As if I'd waste my time on a brat!"

"Then why are you here,
Vegeta?" ChiChi demanded in annoyance.  "Unless you think you can do a better job
training someone hundreds of times under your power level."

Vegeta just smirked.  "You'll see when they get here," he shot
back.

The women looked puzzled for a moment.  They looked around and
noticed that the other saiyans had become quiet, and were standing along
the cliffs following something in the sky with their senses.  

Videl suddenly put a hand to her forehead and leaned forward as though
she were concentrating hard.  

"Videl?  What is it?" Bulma asked.  

"I snly nly got the strangest feeling," Videl said.  "For some
reason I feel like there are a number of people headed this way -
quickly."

"A spaceship," Vegeta shot quickly.  "They're approaching from the
same direction the brat came in - my guess is he's been followed."

Gato whimpered slightly and cowered near the ground; he glanced around
desperately for a place to hide.  

"Don't worry about it, Gato," Bulma said.  Her lips were pinched
into a tight line that gave her face an expression of intense ust.ust.
 "We're more civilized than to allow slave traders or bounty
hunters to take you anywhere."

A long, svelte spaceship suddenly made it's way into view.  As it
drew nearer, the dark, oblong ship was distinguishable as being the
shape of a reclining cat.  The was was a glossy, metallic white
and had fanciful decorations running over the paws and around the tail
of the cat.  Portholes in the sides and front were embellished to
resemble decadent jewelry.

Vegeta just about fell over laughing.  "So the Queen herself makes
an appearance!" he chortled.  "Over one lost slave! How pathetic!"
 He grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles.  In an instant he
went from nearly in hysterics to maliciously serious.  "Good.
 I think it's time for payback."

A beam of pale blue light shot from the front left paw on the ship as
it passed over the vicinity where Gato's craft had landed.  It
began to sweep circles around the area, gaining more ground by the
minute as the diameter of the circles grew wider.  Within minutes
the beam of light swept across the canyon where the Saiyans resided.
 It passed over the group without incident, then abruptly changed
course and swept back across them.  The light locked into place for
a moment and then vanished.

"Looks like they found what they were looking for," Videl muttered.
 She, Bulma, ChiChi and Gato stepped back as the other saiyans
leaped down from the cliff edges and landed next to Vegeta.  Zarbon
followed shortly behind and hung back slightly, watching the others with
curiosity.  The group remained still as the ship approached and
landed.

The feline-inspired space ship glided up to the canyon and settled on
the ground, just barely fitting between the steep rock walls.
 After a short pause, a door opened between the front paws and
lowered slowly to the ground, revealing a brightly-lit interior.  A
tall, graceful, feline-looking woman walked out onto the lowered door.
 Her tawny, fur-covered body was draped with a loose gown of white
and bedecked in long strings of jewels.  The woman's face showed
signs of age, but she still carried herself tall and proud.  She
surveyed the group before her with disdain and curled her nose before
speaking.  When she did, it was only one short, disdainful word -
"Men."

"You never were very observant,
Caterina," came a voice from behind the group of saiyans.  "There
are a number of women present here as well."

All of them, including the woman on the door of the ship, moved to
focus their eyes on the speaker.  Vegeta uttered a low snarl of
irritation at the appearance of one whom he deemed to be quickly
becoming the most annoying creature on Earth.  

Lady Macbeth leaped from the edge of the cliff behind them and lightly
levitated to the ground in front of Vegeta.  The saiyan prince
opened his mouth for a snide remark, but the stately woman in front of
them beat him to it.  

"Maat-Bast!" Caterina snarled.  "I should have known you were involved in this!"

"This?" Macbeth asked innocently.  She arched an eyebrow.  "I
don't know what 'this' refers to - I am merely here to look out for my
property."

"Property indeed!" Caterina snapped.  "You don't know the meaning
of the word!  This little escape attempt reeks of your influence."

"Escape attempt?" Macbeth
laughed.  "Is that what
'this' is about?  Who escaped, Caterina? Half your planet?
 Surely you didn't chase across galaxies over one slave?"

"One or a hundred is all the same!" Caterina shouted.  She snapped
her fingers.  "Guards!"

Two lightly armored cat women ran down to stand at her side.  A
man trailed behind each of them - both wore a long gown for a garment as
Gato had, and both also had a collar around their throat.  These
two, however, more resembled the Queen and the two guards, and their
collars were each attached to a long leather leash held by the guard
they were trailing behind.  

Lady Macbeth laughed.  "Caterina, your mother's guards were
pathetic.  I doubt very much these are any better, especially if
they've trained under you."

Caterina sneered at her.  "It seemed like you left Sophronia in a
big hurry after Mother's guards started giving you trouble."

Lady Macbeth narrowed her eyes at the woman.  "I left Sophronia
because it was no longer profitable for me to stay there - especially
after your mother cancelled her last deal with me and cheated me out of
10,000 gilders."

"Cheated you!" Caterina
shrieked.  "It's just a good thing that Mother found out when she
did that you were cheating us! Buying men just to turn around
and set them free on other planets - there wouldn't have been a man left
on the planet before long!"

The enraged woman was met with a bored look and a yawn.  "That was
the idea, yes.  However, when your mother saw fit to cancel our
contract, I took what I had and left; I have no interest killing those
that I came to save over a bad debt with an unscrupulous bitch."

The three cat women suddenly growled, and their faces contorted in
anger.  However, everyone's attention was suddenly diverted as one
of the leashed men ran forward desperately and knelt down.  "I-It's
true then!" he gasped. "Y-you really are
M-maat-Bast!"

Just as quickly as he had come forward, he was jerked back by the guard
holding his leash.  "Idiot!" the woman shouted.  "Who told you
to move?  Or to speak or think for that matter!"

"N-no one, M-m-my Lady!" the man begged.  He choked as he was
hoisted up by the leash.  "P-please..."

The guard never saw Macbeth move until pale, slim fingers wrapped
around the furry brown wrist.  "Drop him," Macbeth demanded coolly,
"and I won't kill you personally."

"Man-loving wench," the guard seethed.  "Let go of me!"  She
moved as if to jerk her arm away but found herself held firmly in place.

Macbeth extracted the end of the leash from the hand that held it and
tossed the guard toward Vegeta.  "They're yours, Vegeta.  Do
what you will - I just request that you leave the men on the ship alive
and the ship itself intact until I've reclaimed my payment.
 Though, I'm sure your wife wouldn't mind having a look at their
technology, either."  She walked past Caterina and gave the
Sophronian queen a push toward the ground.  As the second guard
rushed to her queen's aid, Macbeth took the other man's leash as well.
 "Come along, you two," Macbeth ordered.  "I know that the
royal family keeps more than two slaves around at any given time."
 She entered the ship with the two men following gratefully behind.

Vegeta sneered in disgust at her retreating figure then turned the look
on the three Sophronian women on the ground in front of him.
 "Now," he said, "what to do with the three of you..."

Bulma suddenly pushed her way to the front.  "Let me handle them,
Vegeta," she growled.  She stomped forward and hauled the
Sophronian queen to her feet, then proceeded to smack her soundly
across the face.  "I don't know who you think you are," Bulma
seethed, "but you're an embarrassment to women everywhere!"

The two Sophronian guards clambered to their feet and rushed at Bulma,
but they were intercepted by two pairs of feet - ChiChi's hitting the
first guard square in the cheek and sending her reeling, and Videl's
wrapping around the second guard's neck in a scissoring movement.
 It was only seconds before the second guard found herself on her
back next to the first guard.  

Behind them, the saiyans snickered at the Sophronians' predicament.
 "Well, things are starting to make more sense," Bardock said with
a quiet chuckle.  "These human women aren't half bad for their
race.  It's no wonder they managed to hook up with our young ones."

At that moment, a low humming sound from the spacecraft diverted
everyone's attention.  As they looked toward the open door, a
vehicle that seemed almost like a smaller replica of the ship itself
glided down the ramp a few inches off the ground.  The back was
open and displayed seats and controls much like those used in capsule
vehicles.  Six young Sophronian men rode in the passenger seats
and Macbeth was behind the steering wheel.  She had one knee up on
the wheel to guide it and was counting out a bag of colored stones with
her hands.  As the craft cleared the ramp, she glanced toward the
Sophronian women.

"You're five hundred gilders short after the slaves and the purse," she
called, "so I'm taking the car as well."  She moved a lever and it
lifted higher off the ground.  "See you around."  She flipped
a rude hand gesture in the cat-like queen's direction and sped off.

Caterina snarled and moved as though to pursue the vehicle, but Bulma
grabbed one of the long pendant's around the woman's neck and pulled
her back.  "Oh no, you don't," she said.  "We're not done
here."

"We might as well be," Vegeta interjected.  "They're an annoyance
and I won't have them around here."  He grasped the Sophronian
queen by the scruff of thck ack and the two guards by the back of their
uniforms.  "I'm going to dump these three somewhere they won't
bother us."  He flew off over the mountains, hauling the three
screaming women with him.