#aramanth

[21 Feruary 233 Before Age.   Planet Lubegev.]

Lubegev was a peaceful world, mostly known for its tranquil oceans and a storied tradition of erotic poetry.    Though not a Federation planet, it had friendly relations with Luffa's interstellar alliance, and some of its leaders had hinted at applying  for membership.   Posing as tourists, Luffa and Dotz made their way through one of the larger cities.   Dotz was still recovering from her encounter with the Saiyan Jolok, so she rode on an antigrav chair which Luffa steered through the pedestrian walkways.  

"Seriously, I'm feeling much better, Luffa," Dotz said, although the weakness in her voice suggested otherwise.    "My visions aren't clearing up much, but I'm sure I could walk if--"

"Sorry," Luffa said.   The poncho she wore rustled on her shoulders as she maneuvered Dotz around a street corner.    "Even if I believed that, I don't want to risk letting you push yourself too hard.   If Doc found out, he'd never let me hear the end of it."

"I'm fine, really," Dotz insisted.  "I've just been having some intense dreams, but considering how many Saiyans I've run into lately, that isn't too surprising."

"You were in a coma," Luffa replied in a tone that reminded Dotz of her own mother.   "You only think it was a quick thing because you don't remember any of it, but you were stuck in bed for a couple of months.   Your muscles have atrophied, and you need time to recover.    I'm just glad the doctors okayed your release so you could come with me.    If your prediction comes true, and there really is going to be a Saiyan attack on this planet, well, you can maybe you can find more Saiyans for me..."

"I had to go with you," Dotz said.   She adjusted the dark purple shawl that she wore around her head and shoulders and took a deep breath.    "I saw it in the lines on your palm.  I don't understand it yet, but the dreams I've been having... There's something important about you, Luffa.    I couldn't just stay behind, even if you hadn't saved me.    You're much too important to the future."

"You're beginning to sound like my wife," Luffa said.  "Well, think whatever you want, but I'm just a plain old Saiyan who happens to change colors when I use my full power."

"From where I'm sitting, you couldn't be more wrong," Dotz said.   "That other Saiyan, Jolok, nearly killed me, and you told me that was just to test his abilities.   But you-- you came all the way to my bedside to save a total stranger."

"I've been on the receiving end of that Mindworm trick myself," Luffa said.   "I wouldn't wish that on anybody, and I thought I could help."  She shrugged.     "Anybody else would've done the same."

"I don't know about that," Dotz said, "but most people probably wouldn't have been so thoughtful as to forward my hormone replacement regimen to your doctor friend."

Luffa harrumphed.   "Just thinking ahead, that's all," she said.   "It works in fighting, and it works in cooking, and I find it helps in other situations too.   You'll want to get back on track with that as soon as you can, and this way Doc can get everything together now instead of figuring it out tomorrow.    Besides, I know what it's like to have trouble controlling your own body."

"Of course," Dotz said.    She decided to let the matter drop, as Luffa seemed to be embarrassed by her own compassion.  Another piece of the puzzle, she thought to herself.  

"So how much do you know about the future?" Luffa asked.   "I thought you could only read minds, like I do, but if you're right about this Saiyan attack, then...?"

"One of my ancestors had Kanassan blood," Dotz explained.   "The family stories said that his people could see what would happen, but they were powerless to change it.    I didn't inherit much of their ability.   If you want the truth, most of my readings are based on whatever I can pick up from the customer's mind, and any flashes of insight I might happen to get."

"So why didn't you get a 'flash of insight' warning you about Jolok?" Luffa asked.

"I did," Dotz said.   "But it wasn't a warning, it was a promise.   A Saiyan would hurt me in some way, but I would recover with a newfound clarity.   Ever since you woke me up, I feel like my psychic abilities are... Well, not increasing.   It's more like they're maturing somehow.  I'm starting to think I got more from my ancestor than I knew."

"Well, if this Saiyan attack on Lubegev ever gets rolling, you'll have me convinced," Luffa said.   "You said he'd be here today.   Now that we're here, any idea what time he'll show up?"

"To be honest, I thought he should have been here by now," Dotz said.    "Could your presence have somehow scared him off?"

Luffa laughed.   "Not likely," she said.   "Chances are, he's been here a while already, and he's just keeping his energy suppressed so ki sensitive warriors like me can't detect him until he's ready to make his move.    I'm doing the same thing, so he won't be able to sense me until I've got him where I want him."

"Why are you so determined to catch him, Luffa?" Dotz asked.   "I know Saiyans love a good fight, but you keep saying he'll be no match for you, so it can't be for sport."

"I have unfinished business with the Saiyan king, Rehval the Third," Luffa explained.   As she spoke, Dotz could tell Luffa was gripping more tightly on the handles of her chair.   "But that royal bastard went into hiding before I could settle things with him.   Until I get a solid lead on him, my best bet is to make life miserable for as many Saiyans as I can.    I'll interrogate any I find, and if they start any trouble on planets like this one, I'll make them regret it.    I've also been shutting down as many wars as I can, just to make sure they can't have any fun behind my back.    Sooner or later, they'll get sick of this standoff, and they'll have to help me find him."

"Couldn't that work against you?" Dotz asked.   "If you aren't careful, the Saiyans might unite against you instead."

Luffa chuckled.   "I guess so.   Yeah, that sounds pretty fun, now that you mention it," she said.  "Is that an official prediction?"

Before Dotz could answer, there was a loud booming sound coming from the downtown area of the city.     Luffa positioned herself between Dotz and the source of the noise.   A moment later, she grinned with anticipation.    

"And there's our boy," she said.  

"The Saiyan?" Dotz asked.    Without thinking, she pulled her shawl tighter, as if it would offer some measure of protection.  

"A little late to the party, but I don't mind," Luffa replied.  

Dotz broke out in a nervous sweat.   Her psychic abilities didn't allow her to sense ki the same way Luffa could, but she could still sense waves of panic and fear from that general direction.   "It sounds like he's setting off explosives!" she said.   "I had no idea Saiyans could be so powerful..."

"This one's stronger than usual, that's for sure," Luffa said.   "But don't worry about that.   He's still no match for me."

She parked Dotz's hoverchair near an archway where she would be reasonably safe, then handed her a small device from the pocket of her yellow pants.  

"That's a communicator," Luffa told her.   "Call me if anything goes wrong.    Or you might be able to raise my wife.   Her ship should be in communications range before too long.   But I don't think you'll need it."

She tore the poncho off her shoulders and tossed it to the ground as she walked in the direction of the explosions.     When she was gone, Dotz took out a deck of cards and attempted to perform a divination.    There were more reliable ways to refine her inborn abilities, but this one was faster and more portable, and she hoped the cards would at least tell her the outcome of the battle.    Minutes later, she had as much of an answer as she could get.    The Saiyan invader would die.    The planet would survive the day.  

Luffa's fate was unclear.    

*******

Seconds later, Luffa intercepted the Saiyan in the middle of a shopping district.   The Saiyan was firing off large bursts of ki energy, but not actually hitting anything.   Everything about his tactics indicated that he was trying to do one of two things.   Either he was attempting to frighten the populace into surrendering without a fight, or that he was trying to lure any strong opponents into the open.    Concerning the second, Luffa was happy to oblige.  

"What--?"   This was all the Saiyan managed to say before Luffa punched him in the face.   He was a short, chubby man with a long beard that nearly ran down to his navel, and despite his immense power, he never saw her coming until it was too late.    Before the force of Luffa's blow could knock him into a nearby building, she flew past him and caught him in midair.    

"Where's King Rehval?" Luffa asked as she held him upside down by the ankle of his boot.    

"Ask him yourself...in hell!" he shouted as he fired a ki blast from both hands into her face.   It didn't harm her at all.    

"Wait, are you saying he's dead?" Luffa asked.   "Or were you trying to be witty and got confused?"

He reared back and tried to punch her, but she simply tossed him away before his fist could connect.     Adding insult to injury, she peppered him with small ki blasts as he tumbled through the air.    

"Come on," Luffa said.   "You're wearing a uniform from the Saiyan Royal Military.   It's a little scuffed up, but I could smell the royalist stink on you from across the city.   You had to be on Planet Saiya when your master ran away like a scalded dog.    You must know something you'd like to share with me."

"M-my master is no coward, woman!" he replied, trying to muster as much defiance as he could.   "The Rehval Dynasty is the past.   I serve the future!   Hail Trismegistus!"

"Then you've betrayed Rehval to become someone else's lapdog, is that it?" Luffa asked.    "Typical royalist trash.   Well that's just fine.   Then you won't mind telling me everything you know about where Rehval is."

"Never!" the man cried.   "I'll never talk!"

"Good, good.    I like a man with spirit," Luffa said.   She approached him with such a blinding speed that she seemed to vanish and then reappear behind him.   Then she gripped his shoulder and began to squeeze.   As he cried out in pain, she added with a laugh: "You've got a lot of courage defying me, but 'never' can be a very long time, Saiyan."

Then, just as she felt she had the situation under control, she sensed another Saiyan, closing in on her from above.   At the same time, the one she was tormenting suddenly increased his power level dramatically, and she realized that he would now be strong enough to break free of her grasp.    In the split second before the incoming Saiyan could connect, she released the first one, and arched her back to avoid a heavy kick.   She was about to fire a ki blast to counterattack, but then she sensed a third power, and before she could react, she was hit with a ki blast to the small of her back.    

"Nicely done, Aramanth!" called the one who had tried to kick Luffa.   "Your aim more than makes up for your lousy looks!"

"Shut up, Kakabajo!" Aramanth shouted from the street below.   "At least I held up my end!   What were you even aiming at?"

"Why didn't she try to read my mind?" whined the fat, bearded one as he nursed the shoulder Luffa had squeezed.   "If I had known she was gonna play so rough, I wouldn't have held back for so long."

"The real question," Aramanth replied as she flew up to meet the other two, "is what she's doing here at all.    Lubegev isn't a Federation planet.   Luffa's never even been here before.   It should have taken days for her to find out about our invasion and to arrive here by starship.   Instead, she's on us before Kres even had a chance to get started!

"No, the real question," Luffa said as she suddenly appeared from the residual energy of Aramanth's attack, "is how you three could give me so much trouble."

"She's still alive!" Kres wailed.

"Of course she is, Kres," Aramanth growled.   "This fight's only just begun.    She hasn't even transformed yet!"

Luffa snapped her fingers and ran her hand through her short, black hair.    "That's right, I knew I forgot something.   Hang on."

"Stop her!" Kakabajo warned the others.   "If we allow her to change, then--!"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Luffa threw back her head and made a loud grunt.    Her hair had shifted from black to glowing gold, and her dark eyes had ignited into a brilliant green.

"You were saying, Kakabajo?" Aramanth grumbled.  

"Didn't know I could do it that fast, did you?" Luffa asked, her voice rising over the pulsating noise of her furious aura.   "Everyone thinks it takes me a while.  Sometimes I drag it out for effect, or just because I'm in the mood.    But sometimes it's more dramatic to make it quick."

"That... that power!" Kres gasped.  

"You're using the same kind of energy as Jolok," Luffa observed.   "So I guess that means you three are part of the same organization that he was in.   He said something about defying orders when he tried to fight me, but you three were counting on me to show up, so I suppose that means your boss authorized this.  What'd you call him?   'Triss Mejistus?'"

Without warning, she rushed towards Kakabako and punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.    His partners tried to attack, but Luffa was too fast for them to get a lock on her.  

"So if that's true," Luffa continued, then your boss is a fool.   You three are strong, sure.    Amazingly strong compared to normal Saiyans, but you're still no match for me.    

"On the contrary, Luffa!" another voice called out.   "Our master did not expect three of us to defeat you."

As she turned to find a fourth Saiyan standing on a rooftop, she noticed two more Saiyan powers appearing on the street.    She kept her focus on the man on the roof, since he appeared to be the strongest, though not by a wide margin.  

"Logas is my name," he said as he waved his arm with dramatic flourish.   "You've already met Kakabajo, Kres, and the, er, lovely Aramanth.   Below me are Voraj and Purzlein."

"Six of you..." Luffa said.   "Well then..."

"I'll give you a moment to consider your situation, 'Super Saiyan'," Logas said.   "And then you might reconsider our master's thrice-blessed wisdom."

Luffa paused for a moment, glancing at each of them.   At last she turned her head and spit.  Below her, Kres scrambled to move out of the way of her phlegm.    

"Not bad at all," Luffa said.  "Your leader must be pretty strong if he can keep six people like you in line.  And if he can afford to sacrifice you all just to test me, then he might be even stronger still.   Yeah... Did you bring him with you?    No offense, but I'd rather fight him first, if it's all the same to you."

"Why, you arrogant--!" Aramanth said with a scowl.

"Your time is over, Luffa!" Logas boasted.    "Trismegistus commands your death!"

Aramanth and Kres flew after Luffa and tried to flank her, while a Purzlein leaped into the air and charged a ki blast, waiting to see which way she would dodge before firing it.   Instead, Luffa stood her ground, punching the Aramanth on her left while contorting her body to avoid the attack from Kres on the right.   Then she launched herself directly at Purzlein, practically begging him to fire at her pointblank.    He did so, and his energy burst splashed across Luffa like rushing water, but it had no effect.    She flew through his attack and reared back her left arm to strike him in the jaw.    

Except that she never actually got close enough to hit her target.   To her surprise, she saw Aramanth had followed her into the air, and was now grasping her boots, halting her movement.   Just as she turned her attention to her, Kres joined in, firing a ki blast of his own at Luffa's back.   And so it went.   Each time she tried to shift her focus on any one of them, the other two took advantage.   Just as Luffa began to appreciate how formidable her opponents were, the others joined in, and she found herself facing something resembling a true challenge.  

Realizing that she couldn't whittle down their numbers by attacking a particular member of their team, Luffa shifted tactics and began using techniques to attack multiple opponents from all sides.    When they gathered too close, she used an explosive wave of ki to drive them back.   When two or more of them tried to attack her at the same time, she would maneuver herself near one of their partners, so that their coordinated attacks would risk hurting their own.  

Mostly though, she took a lot of hits.    The six Saiyans fought like a well-oiled machine, and though none of them were individually strong enough to beat her, any one of them could hurt her once the other five managed to create an opening.    Working together this way, each of them took turns landing body blows, headshots, and various ki attacks.   At all times, at least one of them maintained a barrage of small ki shots at her throughout the battle, which seemed to be intended to harass her more than to soften her up.  It was when a kick to the face caused her to taste her own blood that Luffa began to realize she was actually being pressured.    For the first time since she fought the Shockmaster, she had a real fight on her hands, and if she didn't do something quickly, she was in danger of getting killed.  

Her lips curled into a smile as she realized the danger she was in.

Joint locks weren't an option in this situation.    The same was true for ki techniques.   In the time it took to utilize such moves, she would be wide open to a counterattack.   It would be child's play to pick them off one by one, but she could tell from their attacks that these Saiyans were too well-trained in team attacks to risk splitting up.    So far, she had managed to survive by fighting defensively, but she couldn't assume that they would run out of stamina before she did.   They had clearly been preparing for this fight.   So what weren't they prepared for?

Without warning, she rocketed straight up, nearly colliding with one of her foes.    She fired a volley of ki blasts down at the rest, but this was just to make them think she was trying to fight back.   Instead, she made a sharp turn and sped away from them, heading due north.

"Where the hell is she going?" Aramanth asked.  

"Coward!" shouted Kakabajo.  

"We've won!" cried Kres.    "All we have to do now is follow her and finish her off!"

"Don't get careless!" Logas snapped.  "She's up to something.   After her, but keep your distance!   Keep a tight formation!"

Hundreds of miles away, Luffa could sense them giving chase.   There was a chance that they would refuse to take the bait, and resume pillaging the planet until she returned to face them, but that would have worked to her advantage as well.    As it was, their reaction proved that their main goal was to defeat her, and they were very confident that they could pull it off.    A weaker squad would have been more cautious.   A stronger or more reckless group would have pursued her at their maximum speed.    These six were somewhere in between.   They were confident enough to pursue her, but at the same time they were willing to give up the initiative to see what she had up her sleeve.    Now she had their measure.    

Playing into their expectations, she came to a stop and began charging a Gallick Gun in midair.    There was a strong wind blowing from the ocean to the east.   She caught the scent of one of them from upwind.      Before the Saiyans came into view, they had already spread out to surround her.     There was no chance of hitting any of them with her attack now.    The moment she aimed at one of them the other five would strike, throwing off her aim enough for the sixth to dodge.    Luffa smiled as she quickly shifted the ki into an explosive wave.   This had no chance of working either, since the six were too far out of her effective range, but that wasn't the point.    The point was to cover her trail.

"Where did she go?" one of them asked when the light from her explosive wave subsided.    They had expected her to use it as cover, to maneuver around one of them for an attack, but the attack never came.    Luffa was simply... gone.

"I can't sense her!" Logas replied.    "Can anyone else lock on to her ki?"

"Negative!" reported Voraj.  

"Me either," said Purzlein.   He began to look around anxiously.   "What if she... did something to us just now?  Messed up our senses, somehow."

"I can sense the rest of you," Logas said.   "She must be suppressing her power.   There's a forest down there.   She must be hiding."

"That's crazy!" Kres exclaimed.   "What good would that do her?    We could just blow up the whole area and she wouldn't even be able to protect herself!"    He pointed his open palm down at the trees and it began to glow red as he readied just such an attack.

"Sure we could," Aramanth said as she grabbed his hand and pulled it away from the forest.    "But then we'd never know for sure if we got her or not.   I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to report back to our Lord and say we think we killed the Super Saiyan.   If she turns up alive later on, we'll be banished for sure."

"M-maybe it's not a trick at all," Voraj said.   "We don't know how that glowy yellow power of hers works.    Maybe she can't sustain it for very long, and we finally wore her out.    She ran away because she knew she was almost out of stamina."

"All right, we've got to assume she's still alive down there," Logas said.   "We'll have to start clearing the foliage carefully and check for Saiyan remains as we go."

"This could backfire on us, boss," Purzlein said.    "If she's only feigning weakness, she could ambush us really easily down there."

"Two can play at that game," Logas replied.    "Some of us will suppress our ki and we'll cover each other's backs."

*******

In the city, Dotz had stayed put, until a kind local noticed her sitting alone and escorted her to the relative safety of a cafe.   Emergency vehicles had deployed throughout the area to deal with the destruction, but Dotz already knew the immediate danger had passed.   She had spent the last several minutes reading tea leaves, and between that and her cards, she had determined that the Saiyans had left the city to do battle in a forest.  

The number of Luffa's enemies had increased.   Instead of one invader, Dotz now believed there were at least three.   This troubled her.   It was one thing when her predictions turned out to be mistaken, but when they contradicted themselves, it meant that she couldn't trust her own ability.   Which forecast was true, if either?   And why couldn't she determine anything about Luffa?   It should have been easier than this to forsee whether she would survive this battle.    

But the answers would not be found, no matter how long she started into her tea.   When the waiter came over, she sighed and ordered another cup to try again.  

*******

Luffa waited in the forest for twenty minutes before making her move.    She found the first pair of Saiyans standing in a clearing.   Voraj was keeping watch while Kakabajo began blasting trees.  

"Wait, I think I found something!" Voraj cried.    He raised his power level almost immediately as Kakabajo turned to follow him.    In the distance, Luffa could sense the others approaching.  

Voraj tore through the bushes and grabbed something yellow that he had spotted among some branches.    It was Luffa's pants.

Luffa herself was not with them.

"What the hell--?" Voraj gasped as he realized too late that this was a trap.    Suddenly he sensed a powerful ki blast, and he instinctively rolled away to avoid it, the pants still flapping in his hand as he moved.   When the crimson light faded, he checked on his comrade, only to find him on the ground, with a hole through his chest the size of a small coin.    Kakabajo was dead.  

Then Voraj heard laughter.  

"How did she--?!" he asked.    He never sensed her presence.    He still couldn't.    He could sense his four partners, but not Luffa.   And then, as he looked around, he suddenly saw her running towards him, far faster than any Saiyan could while suppressing their ki energy.   As he struggled to make sense of it, he briefly imagined that this was some sort of illusion.    Then Luffa drove both of her fists into his chest, and scurried away before he could even finish falling to the forest floor.     His broken ribs, he knew, were no illusion.

"What happened?!" Logas called out as they arrived only seconds later.    They had thought that there would be plenty of time for them to gather together when one of them found something.    In their practice drills, it had seemed almost instantaneous.   But now, as he still struggled to grasp Luffa's true speed, those moments seemed like an eternity.

"Luffa," Voraj groaned as he struggled to sit up.    "She took out... ugh..."

"How?!" Aramanth asked.    "We never sensed her energy!   It was like that ki blast came out of nowhere--"

"We need to get out of here!" Kres insisted.   "We can't risk engaging her with only five--"

"And do you think Luffa will just let us leave the planet peacefully?" Logas snapped.   "Even if we could escape, we'd still have to face Trismegistus' wrath.   Oh, he'll know to send seven or eight Saiyan after Luffa next time, but that team won't include any of us!    Not after we've failed.   We have to stand and fight!  There's no other way!"

Once more the forest echoed with a woman's cruel laughter.    "I'll make this easier for you," Luffa said in a mocking tone.   "The first one who tells me about Trismegistus gets to leave the planet unharmed.    The rest of you won't have to worry about his wrath, because you'll be too busy suffering mine."

Logas remained defiant.   "You think we're afraid of you, you craven freak?" he shouted as the others looked around for any sign of Luffa's person.  "Hiding like this only proves that you lack the power to defeat us!"

"Is that so?" Luffa asked.    "Ask your buddy Voraj what he thinks of my power.   Well, unless his ribs hurt too much for him to talk."

"She... she's right, boss," Voraj said as he clutched his chest.   "It's like she can use some of her ki and hide it at the same time.   She wasn't glowing bright yellow when she tagged me.    I don't think she hit me with her full strength, but..."

"Enough," Logas hissed.   "That sort of talk will only make things worse."

"How much worse can it get!?"  Kres cried.    "We're stuck on this planet, one dead, one wounded, and she's going to kill us all!   We won't even see her coming until it's too late!"

"Pull yourself together!" the leader growled.    "We're Saiyans, aren't we?"  

"Yeah, we're all Saiyans," Luffa called out.   "You guys should be enjoying this fight.   I know I am..."

"I'll tell you!" Kres shouted.   "I'll tell you everything!   Trismegistus gave us our powers!   It's called Jindan!   It enhances our ki!   He's building an army of Saiyans, all so he can--"

Logas fired a ki blast at Kres's head before he could say anymore.   His team looked on in horror as Kres's corpse collapsed to the forest floor.   There was nothing left of his head but a skull covered with a thin film of blackened flesh.  

"Logas you... you...!" Purzlein gasped.    

"You know what happens to traitors," Logas said.  

"Well, that brings you down to four," Luffa said with a cackle.  "Three and a half, really.   Voraj doesn't look like he's in much shape to fight."

"You monster!" Aramanth shouted.   "If you're so sure you have us beaten, then why don't you come out and finish us?!"

"Good question," Luffa said.  "I guess the best answer is that I don't just want to beat you chumps.    I've been putting up with Saiyan cowardice and treachery for a while now.    You people are the first Saiyans in a while that I've managed to corner, so I guess I'm taking out my frustrations on you."

Without warning, she suddenly rushed out of the forest, and struck Logas in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.    As he sank to his knees, the others moved to help him, and Luffa stopped and stood before them, bearing a sick smile on her face.  

"You idiots tried to hurt a lot of people today," she said.  "You didn't need to hurt them, but you tried anyway.   For fun, or maybe to get a rise out of me, or maybe your boss Trismegistus told you to do it.   I don't really care why.    All I know is you were pretty high on yourselves earlier, back when you thought you were the strongest guys on the planet.   Back when you thought I'd be easy pickings."

She transformed, and the other Saiyans took a step back as her golden aura kicked up a powerful wind.   Her hair glowed bright yellow, and her eyes shone a furious green.  

"I can tell from fighting you all, none of you were ever particularly weak, even before you got this Jindan treatment, whatever it is.   That was probably the idea.   Your master wanted to send some of his best warriors to face me.   You're all used to having things your own way.    Anyone tries to stop you, you just shove them aside, because you know they can't fight back."   She pointed at her eyes.    "I can see it in your fighting styles."    

The Saiyans tried to attack her, but their coordination was completely ruined now.    Two of their number were dead, one barely able to stand, and Logas still unsteady after taking a body blow.  They were still trying to overwhelm Luffa with their superior numbers and teamwork, only it wasn't quite as superior as it had once been.   Luffa grabbed Voraj, the one with the broken ribs, and slammed him into his partners like a club.  

"Me, I was actually a weakling once, believe it or not.  I know what it's like to get pushed around, and how to fight when my back's against the wall."  Luffa tossed Voraj into the air and watched him fall to the ground.    "Guys like you aren't used to being the underdogs.    You've never had to fight with broken ribs, have you?  Not when a quick ki blast would finish things instead.    Maybe that's why I'm  where I am now.   Doesn't really matter."

Logas grew desperate, and charged at Luffa, putting all the power he could muster into a single blow.    Luffa dodged this easily, though doing so left her vulnerable to flanking attacks from Purzlein and Aramanth.   She leapfrogged one of them, which caused their attacks to very nearly hit each other.   Then Logas caught up to her and managed to drive his fist into her face.

"Now!   While she's down!" Logas screamed.   "Finish her off!"

As one, the four Saiyans fired on Luffa with all the energy they could.   Even Voraj had managed to pull himself upright so he could join the assault.   Dazed, Luffa was barely able to bring up her arms to shield herself before she was engulfed in a stream of multi-colored light.  Behind her, the foliage and rocky soil were annihilated by the blast, carving out a trail of ash for several hundred yards.  

"I... I can't keep it up..." Voraj groaned.

"Don't stop!" Logas shouted.   "She's weakening!  I can feel it!"

"It's another one of her tricks!" Aramanth protested.   "We have to surrender!"

"Don't be a fool!" Logas shouted.   "If we stop now, we're all dead!"

Suddenly, Voraj collapsed, unable to stand the strain any longer.    Logas turned to him and gasped in shock.    

"It's not enough!   We need more power!"

And then suddenly, Aramanth ceased fire.   While Logas was distracted by this, Aramanth turned and shot Purzlein instead.  

"What are you doing?" Logas cried in terror.    Now he was the only one left fighting against Luffa, and in a one-on-one contest of power, he didn't have a prayer.   Luffa forced his attack back, pushing against it, step by step, until at last the energy had nowhere else to go but back upon the man who had unleashed it.   In a matter of seconds, he was torn to shreds, and the shreds were pulverized into dust.    

Luffa was the victor.    Her bare arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises, and her left eye had swollen shut.    Her black shirt and compression shorts were soaked with blood, and she moved gingerly, painfully across the ruined patch of forest, but she still moved.    The first thing she did was to grab her pants from Voraj.   In all the confusion, he had never thought to let go of them.    He was still breathing, though barely.    

As she checked on Purzlein's body, Aramanth aimed at Voraj, and killed him with an energy beam through the skull.  

"Why?" Luffa asked between ragged breaths.    

Aramanth held out her hands in a gesture of capitulation.    "You were winning," she said.   "And you said you'd spare the first one to tell you about Trismegistus.  I couldn't do that until I was sure the others wouldn't be able to kill me for my betrayal."

"What do you mean?" Luffa asked.  

She knelt down and bowed her head to Luffa.   "I've failed Trismegistus," Aramanth said.   "I can't go back to him, so my only chance is to pledge my allegiance to you, Super Saiyan.   I'll tell you anything you want to know, and do anything you ask."

"Get up," Luffa commanded.  

She obeyed, and as soon as she did, Luffa grabbed her by the collar of her uniform.  

"You idiot!" Luffa yelled.   "You could have won!"

"Wh-what?" Aramanth asked.  

Luffa shut her eyes tightly and shook her head.    "I've never fought such a small number of Saiyans and had that much trouble before," she said.   "If the four of you had kept it up just a little longer, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep going!    And then suddenly your offensive went slack and--"

"You mean we really could have killed you?!" Aramanth asked.    She looked over at her fallen comrades, suddenly realizing the gravity of what she had done.   The glorious opportunity that she had allowed to slip through her fingers.   The reward that Trismegistus might have given her for slaying the almighty Super Saiyan.  

Luffa shoved her to the ground and turned away from her.   "Maybe!" she said.   "I don't really know my own limits, so maybe I would have managed to keep fighting, or maybe I would have had to retreat into the forest and hide for a while.    But maybe your combined power might have killed me.   Now, we'll never know."

Neither of them moved for a moment.    A cold breeze blew through the trees.    Aramanth rose to her feet, unsure what to do next.

"As far as letting you leave this planet," Luffa said bitterly, "well, it depends on how good your information is.    I can't exactly trust someone who'd turn against her own--"

She suddenly turned and fired a ki blast at Aramanth, who had been about to attack Luffa from behind.   Whether Aramanth seriously expected to prevail, or whether she had simply been driven mad with regret, no one could say.    

Luffa looked down at the Saiyan woman's corpse, then spit on it in disgust.    

*******

When Luffa returned to her ship with Dotz, Zatte noticed her wounds immediately.    

"What happened?" she asked as she scooped up Luffa and began to carry her to the sickbay.  

"Ran into more of those jacked up Saiyans," Luffa said.   "Like the one on Quadzityz, only this crew never got around to self-destructing."

"Ordinary Saiyans did this to you?" Zatte asked.  

"Yeah, well you should see what I did to them," Luffa replied.  She tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.  

"I'll get Dr. Topsas," Zatte said as she set her down on on of the beds in sickbay.  

"Don't trouble him," Luffa said, "it's not that bad--"

Zatte raised her hands, showing Luffa the red blood that had smeared onto her blue-skinned palms from carrying her.  "This.  Is not.  A debate," she said.

"Okay, okay, but he promised to check out Dotz first, so--"

"To hell with that," Zatte growled, then she spun around on her heel to fetch the doctor.   She made it one step before she found Dotz scooting towards her in her anti-grav chair.

"Oh, hello," Zatte said.  "Uh, excuse me."  She sidestepped Dotz and continued towards the door.

"Luffa, was that your wife?" Dotz asked after Zatte had gone.

"Hell yeah," Luffa said with a proud grimace.   "She's really something, huh?"

"I'm so sorry," Dotz said, maneuvering her chair to Luffa's bedside.   "I only saw one Saiyan in my vision.  I never imagined there would be six of them!"

"You did great, Dotz," Luffa said.  "There's nothing to apologize for.  If I had known there would be six, I still would have played it the same way."

"But... but I was wrong..."

"Accuracy's a relative thing," Luffa said with a shrug.   "A Saiyan's a Saiyan, whether he's got backup or not.    You got the timing down, and the location.   That was all I needed.   Now if there had been zero Saiyans, then I'd be a little annoyed, but this worked out better than I hoped."

"But... but..."

Luffa's expression shifted to one of concern.  "Hey, you should climb into one of the beds, all right?   You still need to recover your strength.   I'll try to get Doc to look you over first, but he's pretty stubborn once he makes up his mind."

Dotz decided there was no point in arguing, and so she removed herself from her chair and lay down in the nearest bed.  As she pulled the covers over herself, she kept glancing over to Luffa, who seemed as cheerful as could be, despite her injuries.