Chapter Text
A full-fledged team again, the Ginyu Force traveled the skies for the duration of their time in the Gripless. There was an air of happiness among them when they began again. Well, perhaps 'happiness' was a bit too strong, but somehow they all felt lighter than they had before.
That is, until they set foot inside the Monster Plateau.
Living up to its name, the land was largely flat apart from the odd sandstone mesa here and there. It was a coarse place, no more inviting than any other they had traversed. Actually, it was far less inviting. The aura in that place was thick and heavy with evil, as though lead weights were slowly crushing their frames. Ginyu had never set foot in this land, but he could feel what lay there somewhere beyond the horizon, beyond the hazy red sky...
In a way, the captain was lost. He had successfully tracked down are reintegrated his men, but what came next? Yes, their stay in Hell was suddenly a lot more entertaining, but a bet was a bet, and a lot was riding on him to prove his men were Pretty Swell Guys. How exactly could he prove something like that? Anyway he looked at it, they were all trained killers and practically reveled in the mayhem they caused over their lifetimes, his own self included. The Force had always been a hardened crew, but they were also an overwhelmingly arrogant one. Being dead, left to the mercies of the lands and its horrifying creatures, and powerless for much of their journey had humbled them, though. Who would have thought that there were things much greater than themselves in life or death?
"Cap'n Ginyu?"
"Jeice?"
The red one looked around warily. "I don't like it here."
"Yeah, this place ain't like the others at all." Recoome joined in, looking mildly stressed. "It doesn't feel right."
"I can practically taste it on the air…" The tip of Burter's tongue poked between his teeth. "It's sort of bitter, like organs. There's so much in the air here, it's overwhelming."
Even Ginyu had to admit that this place had an energy that put him on edge. His arms were covered in goosebumps, and if he had hair, it would be standing on end. "Maybe this is where all thereallybad souls go. It would explain the sea of dark aura we're all swimming in, that's for sure."
He had initially been worried that his men would go crazy from the unchanging desert landscape, but now he had to wonder if they would go mad with fear. Was this place really any better than the Gripless? Ginyu rubbed his brow.
"So what's the plan, Captain Ginyu?" Guldo asked, looking no better than the others.
The lavender leader crossed his arms. "...We're gonna have an adventure."
"Aren't we already on an adventure?" Asked Recoome, scratching his head.
"Well, yes, while thatistrue..." Ginyu began, breathing sharply through his nose. "We're still not up to snuff regarding our abilities. So we're gonna find ourselves some sparring partners."
Jeice co*cked his head. "Sparring partners? In the Monster Plateau?"
"Sparring partners in the Monster Plateau."
Burter raised an eyeridge. "So, monster sparring partners, then..."
Ginyu touched his nose.
The others exchanged glances. "...Sooooo, I have an idea." The toady piped up. "What say we just make our way back to the Grey Frontier and spend the rest of our afterlives not being attacked by things?"
"Hey, yeah. Now that I think of it, that place was a pretty sweet gig compared to all this other stuff." Recoome stroked his massive chin. "I'll do you one better and say we oughta head back to Bloody Lake. There's an amusem*nt park and chocolate parfaits and everything."
Everyone's ears perked up at that. "Well, bugger!" Jeice threw his hands up, a chuckle leaving his lips. "What the heck're we doin' playing monster hunter when we oughta be makin' our way to civilization?"
"Hey, ol' Jeice has got a point, Cap," said the behemoth. "We're all back together now, and you said we weren't gonna do bad things anymore, so why do we hafta worry about that stuff?"
"Recoome is right, Captain Ginyu." Burter crossed his arms. "What's so important that we have to endanger ourselves needlessly?"
This wasn't good. Ginyu was worried this would come up at some point. He couldn't possibly divulge the reason for their entire ordeal and risk losing the bet, and his own existence. The lavender bull squared his hands on his hips. "...Men, do you trust me?"
They all exchanged glances.
"Do you trust me?" He reiterated, his red eyes boring into their very souls.
"Of course, Captain," Recoome's voice rang out. "I think I speak for everyone when I say we trust you with our lives. Well, our souls." The other four nodded in agreement.
"Then trust that I'll not lead you into anything that you can't handle. Don't forget who we are." He hoped that sounded convincing enough. He was wearing his most serious face, so surely they would have confidence in his words. Ginyu turned around, scanning the surrounding area. "There." He pointed to a mesa off in the distance, just a fuzzy nub on the horizon. "We'll camp there and call it a day. Monster hunting begins first thing tomorrow."
With that, the boys followed their leader without further questioning. They couldn't help but notice an almost eerie fog skulking about the ground in that area, thickest around the base of the rock they called home base. Choosing to ignore it, they landed on the mesa's flat top, and began to settle in for the 'night'.
"Do you guys feel that? Tell me I'm not the only one that feels it. I can't be the only one feeling this."
Ginyu rolled his eyes. "Feel what, Guldo?"
"Jeez, Iamthe one one who feels it, aren't I?" Guldo rubbed his arms. "It's like... a crawling, tingling sensation. I've felt it since we came within a few feet of this place."
"Maybe you got some sand fleas in your body suit?" The captain shrugged. He knew whenever Guldo felt something out of place, it was usually a good idea to listen, but he was tired and didn't particularly feel like having something else to worry about.
"Truth be told, this kinda feels like somethin' out of a horror movie, y'know?" Recoome scratched his peanut head. "Like we're just one shower scene away from a horrific end."
Nevermind that there's no water to be found in this region...The captain rolled his eyes.
"Well, we're never going to get to sleep at this rate..." Burter lounged in the back, seemingly calm but just as unnerved as the others. "When I was a kid back home, we used to tell stories in these situations. Something to turn our fears into a fun experience."
"Hey, I've got one," spoke the toady. "I remember stories from my home planet... Stories of creatures that come out on foggy nights when you're fast asleep."
"Here we go..." Ginyu grumbled, but the others had already started paying him their attention. "They say," continued Guldo. "that on foggy nights, this creature, Skivbaku, that's when it comes."
"Skivbaku? What's it look like?" Jeice asked, scooting closer to the storyteller and sitting cross-legged.
"Well, no one knows for sure, but I've heard it has a loooooong snout ..." Guldo extended his arm in front of his face to illustrate. "and is about as large as five cats. It has thick, curving tusks, and claws good for climbing. You can tell when it's climbing on you, because you'll get a crawling sensation on your skin. Just like I have now."
"So why would this Skivbaku thing be crawling on anyone?" Came Burter's question, still skeptical but interested enough to probe.
"I'm getting there. See, when you're fast asleep on a foggy night, Skivbaku creeps in through a vent or an open window, any point of entry, really. Creeps in just as easily as the fog, itself. And if you're an especially deep sleeper, woe to you. It'll climb up with those claws it has, creeping and crawling until it's right on top of you, and..."
"And?" Blue, Red, and Ginger asked, rapt in his tale.
"And... steal your skivvies clear offa ya."
He was met with the blank stares of his teammates.
After a long silence, Burter spoke. "...So, it's like a baku..." Burter squinted his eyes, as if trying very hard to comprehend Guldo's tale. "Except it eats underwear instead of dreams and nightmares?"
"Oh, I get it. Skivvies. Baku. Skivbaku. It makes linguistic sense." Recoome stroked his chin.
Jeice snickered. "I guess you might say that's thelong johnand short of it. Eh? Ehh?"
Ginyu slapped the back of Jeice's head, eliciting a yelp from the smaller man. "Oh, come on! You're all worked up over an underwear-eating monster? After all the actual threatening crap we've been through? In lifeanddeath? Give. Me. A. Break."
"'ey, now that ya mention it..." Jeice began to rub his arms. "I'm feelin' all creepy-crawly, m'self. And thereisthe little matter of that fog below us... Y'sure that thing ain't real, Cap?"
Ginyu appropriately facepalmed. "Oh, no no no. We are not doing this today... Listen, we are going to get some rest, and when we wake up, our undies will be right where we left them when we went to sleep. I honestly do not believe I have to say this. What's next, do I have to start giving you all goodnight kisses, too?" Ginyu closed his eyes, as if holding back an explosion of frustration over the sheer stupidity of it all. "And Jeice, so help me, if you say something to the effect of 'I've been waiting a lifetime for this moment,' I'll slap you again."
The Red Magma snapped his fingers. "I don't want to hear anything more about underpants monsters or fog or odd sensations today." Ginyu crossed his arms. "If you want to see a real monster, we'll go find one tomorrow. But for now... Go. To. Sleep." With that, the captain flopped to the ground.
"Bah, you're no fun, Captain..." Guldo pouted a bit and found himself a comfortable patch of rock to sleep on, but still shifting and rubbing his arms.
Jeice found his own patch beside Guldo, making a pillow of his hair and draping his shirt over his legs (just in case). "Oi, I thought it was a kinda neat story, mate," he whispered to the toady. When he saw Burter settling in close to him, he waved the saurian away. "Oh, no you don't, Burt. Go sleep on the other side of the rock. I don't feel like bein' annoyed awake by your little nose whistles."
Burter snorted. "I can't help it. I have tiny nostrils, sheesh..."
"Well you can help yourself to sleepin' in a place where I can't hear them, that's for sure."
The Blue Hurricane waved dismissively, then carried himself to the far end of the mesa, dropping to lay on his side, his back facing Jeice. Recoome just shrugged and settled somewhere between the two.
The Monster Plateau was surprisingly comfortable compared to the Gripless. While it was still sort of warm and slightly humid from the presence of the fog, and despite the dark auras they could feel all around them, their mind eventually tired and they had little trouble falling asleep. Even Guldo and Jeice, with their odd skin sensations, soon found themselves in Dreamland. It was amazing how well they were able to adapt to this place with no real day or night.
But perhaps, they fell asleep a littletooeasily. The fog that had been hovering just at the base of the mesa began to roll higher, slowly ascending up the rock. It crept and crawled and lurched and grew into curves and points, edging ever closer to the summit...
Meanwhile, Jeice stirred. He grumbled and flicked his ear, finding himself being roused out of his sleep more and more by an irritating noise. When he couldn't stand it any longer, he sighed and stood up. Sure enough, the ever-mobile Burter had managed to roll his way back to his side of the mesa top, half lying on top of the surprisingly deep-sleeping Recoome. His head positioned close to where his ear was just seconds ago, whistling away.
Jeice threw up his hands. Once he was awake, he was awake. Well, if he couldn't sleep, then he may as well get in some flying practice. He gave his body a good, deep stretch, and snapped to a pose out of force of habit. Turning, he made his way to the table mountain's edge...
...when what should be there to greet him but a giant, beastly head?
Jeice was frozen with fear. The creature stared back at him with fiery red eyes, so large and faceted that they could have been giant rubies. The fact that they were set in a 'mask' of golden scales only emphasized their gem-like qualities. Its scaly mask ran up its head, transitioning to a crown of seven long, bony spikes, and ran down to frame the base of a thick, mid-length trunk which tapered to a fleshy point. Two long, curving tusks broke through its upper jaw, while two more, more modest in size, curved outward from its bottom jaw. The beast flicked its short, cattle-like ears and lifted a massive, shaggy paw, long claws cutting into the air.
"Sk-Sk-Sk-Sk-Skivbakuuuuuuu!"
SLAMM!The creature's paw crashing down onto the mountain, the force of impact sending cracks running along the top. Jeice just narrowly managed to avoid being crushed. Between his screaming and the beast's slamming and awful bellowing, the others awoke with a start. Dazed and confused, it took only seconds to become aware of the situation. Their breaths caught in their throats at the very sight of the beast.
"Aaaaah! I told you! I told you!" Guldo shouted in a panic. "Jeice, give it your undies!"
Jeice turned to the toady, aghast. "I'm not givin' it me underwear! That's where me goonies live!"
Ginyu was far too surprised to be scared. "It really exists?" He shook his head. He didn't have time to stand in awe. "Guldo, restrain that thing!"
"My paralysis won't work on something that huge! That thing is waaaaaaaay bigger than a Soul Ent!"
At that moment, the creature's second paw came down on them, the force demolishing the top and causing it to collapse in on itself. By the grace of the gods or just plain dumb luck, the Ginyus managed to jet away more or less unscathed. They spread out in a ring around the beast, sizing it up and weighing their attack options. "Captain, how're we gonna handle this?" Recoome asked.
'Hell if I know!'was what he wanted to say, but he was being depended upon to lead, and so remained silent, studying what he could of the gargantuan beast. A massive frame on thick, straight legs, all covered in a shaggy, brown coat, it was somewhere between an elephant and a bear. A quadruped that large would probably have trouble getting back up right away...
"I've got it. We've gotta take out that thing's legs. Knock out the supports, and the whole house comes tumbling down. Once it's down, we gut the sucker. Guldo," he turned to the toady. "If you can't paralyze it, pelt it with boulders and keep it distracted long enough for us to get to its joints."
"Can do, Captain!" The resident esper retreated to a safer distance and began to concentrate his psychokinetic power.
"Recoome, Jeice, it'll probably take at least three of us to bring down even one of its legs. We'll concentrate our blasts in one spot and hope it'll do the job. Once it's down on its side, we'll attempt to gut the sucker." He turned to the Blue Hurricane. "Burter, once Guldo begins, that thing will undoubtedly try to flatten him. I'll need you to keep him out of stompin' range. Can you manage?"
"If there's a job to do, I'll do it," he replied without missing a beat.
Ginyu nodded soundly. "We all have our parts to play. Guldo! You ready?"
The green one lifted his arms and the freshly-made boulders with them, hovering his weapons in position. "On your command, Captain Ginyu!"
"Then, let 'er rip!"
As the esper let his boulders fly, so too did the Force into their respective roles. As Ginyu, Jeice, and Recoome put a little distance between them, Guldo hammered the beast about the head and face, in turn becoming the target of its aggression. Burter skidded to the toady just as the creature turned its great head in his direction and scooped him under a muscular arm. "You ok?"
"I'm fine, just try not to pin down my arms." He 'threw' another boulder at the beast. The mammoth monster charged the two, but it would have to be content to eat Burter's dust. The saurian ran around it enough to force the Skivbaku to turn its massive frame each time, in effect giving Guldo precious seconds to batter away at it with more boulders. They did no real damage, but their aim was to distract from Captain Ginyu and the others. The Blue Hurricane may not have been exactly back to 100%, but what speed he had was enough to outmaneuver the shaggy creature. A bare-chested blur, he darted every which, only stopping to allow for Guldo's assault.
All this only served to irritate the great beast, and in a show of its massive self, reared up. Everyone present could see what was coming next, and quickly took to the sky. The creature's heavy top half came crashing back down, the earth quaking violently in its wake and shooting up a thick plume of dust that swallowed Burter and Guldo. Their hoarse coughs leading it, the Skivbaku cleared the dust with a mighty trumpeting, mighty enough to send green and blue into a tumble and loud enough to make the remaining three growl in pain at the very least.
"K-Keep powering up..!" He gritted his teeth, blinking dust out of his eyes. He doubted the others could hear him over the beast's blaring. Ginyu had to resist the urge to cover his ears. At this rate, he feared their ear drums would blow out. Still, they willed themselves to gather energy, hoping that their own power would be enough.
After the sudden gust, the fall, and subsequent landing,Guldo found his eyes blinded with dirt. His eyes teared up and he tried to rub his eyes to ease the discomfort, which only served to make it worse. Though even more worse, unbeknownst to him, the fall had separated him from Burter. The toad dared not call his name, for fear the beast would advance upon him. Was he still cloaked in dust clouds? He had no clue. He had to clear his vision quickly.
Guldo's little frog heart sank when the first ominous stomp came from behind. When the second one came, his heart leapt, but that, in part, had to do with Burter's swift rescue. The Blue Hurricane sped away, determined to keep some distance between them and the monstrous beast. The Skivbaku, however, had other plans. It lowered its body and held its trunk perfectly parallel to the ground. Then, its chest began to inflate, taking in air like some great shaggy vacuum.
Burter became aware of the resistance immediately. It became more and more difficult to keep at his running pace, and he soon found himself unable to resist the monster's pull. If only he could run faster...
"Captain!"
"They can handle it!" Ginyu barked, cutting off Jeice's inevitable complaint.
Finally having regained clear eye sight, the esper began the defense. "Burter! Turn toward it!"
The blue giant complied, and one struggled turn let them face the danger face to face. Quickly concentrating his powers once more, Guldo chose a relatively large boulder from the pile and had it levitate just above the Skivbaku's head. With a wave of his hand, it fell, crashing soundly on top of its trunk. The beast immediately roared in pain. Its threat temporarily neutralized, green and blue scrambled out of the danger zone.
The monster shook its heavy head back and forth, trying to free itself from the offending rock. It thrashed about so violently, it was a wonder that it hadn't caused itself further injury. That was of no concern for Ginyu, though. Seeing the opportunity for what it was, now was the time to strike, maximum power or not.
"Aim for the back of its knee! On my command, right hind leg!" He adopted a firing stance. Red and Ginger followed suit, digging their feet into the dirt and drawing back their hands.
"Fire!"
They let their blasts fly, white-hot and streaking through the air. Their combined power landed a direct hit, violently exploding upon impact. The Skivbaku howled a miserable howl, and in its throes, yanked its trunk free—an unintended consequence of their assault. It pitched and reeled and bowled itself over, landing violently on its side.
Once the earth ceased its quaking and the dust settled, Ginyu breathed a sigh of relief. Their combined effort had brought down the beast. He raised his hand and waived it forward, signaling his team to advance on the creature. Quickly and quietly they moved in for the kill, minding the beast's wild thrashing.
Unfortunately, the Skivbaku recovered much more easily than Ginyu could have anticipated. With a bit of rocking, it rolled forward and got back to its feet, the three just barely dodging the hefty pillars that passed for its legs. Not wasting any time, the monster turned to face Ginyu and the others, now too close for comfort, and with a speed that would have been thought impossible for its size, swung its heavy trunk and knocked back all three men with an equally heavy blow.
The captain took a hard landing in the dirt. Recoome had the misfortune of tumbling across the ground and hitting his head on a poorly placed rock. It wasn't enough to render him unconscious, or even mildly concussed, but it did well enough to make him bleed.
"Captain!"
Ginyu lifted his head from the ground. His eyes widened in fright. Jeice was in the clutches of the beast, its trunk coiled tightly around his body. Try as he might, struggle though he did, the Skivbaku refused to yield. Ginyu and Recoome sprung to their feet, rushing toward the creature. The Red Magma could hear his heart beating in his ears as he inched ever closer to the maw of the beast. "Awwright! Awwright! You can have me briefs if they means so much to ya!"
Suddenly, a blue blur rocketed past lavender and ginger. The second half of the Purple Comet Pair came to his partner's aid, leaping with all the grace that came with his race and locking his arms around the base of the Skivbaku's trunk. The beast bellowed in an almost indignant manner, but the Blue Hurricane wasn't having any of it. Summoning his ki, he strong-armed the creature's appendage and pulled it as much as he could, as though trying his damnedest to take the whole beast by the nose.
"Captaaaain! Recooooome!" The saurian called out. "The tusks..! Break one the tusks!"
Easier said than done!Ginyu thought. Just then, an idea struck him. "Recoome," he addressed the behemoth. "I hear you're quite skilled at the hammer throw..."
Ginger cottoned on surprisingly quick. "Ready when you are, Cap."
With a short, almost bark-like kiai, Ginyu fired up his white-hot aura. "Remember, with style!"
Ankles secure in his clutches, Recoome spun his leader right round, and when enough momentum had been built up, he released him, sending him on an express flight to the creature's right tusk. The captain tucked in his arms and legs, entering a rapid forward spin, and when the time was right, he send a bone-shattering double kick on the broad base of the tusk, shattering it at the point on impact and sending it plummeting to the ground.
Unsurprisingly, the Skivbaku was not happy in the least. The force of its enraged roar was so great and so loud that it stunned both Burter and Jeice, leaving them both disoriented. Feeling the saurian's grip had loosened, the beast flung both him and Jeice to the ground, crashing into Ginyu and Recoome. So distracted and so enraged was it, that it failed to notice what was becoming of its newly lost tusk. It shook a bit, through no visible means, and then, it split and halved itself, becoming like the blade of a scythe. And then, as if through magic, the scythical half lifted itself in the air, and spun in the air like a throwing knife, making a beeline to the Skivbaku's neck.
With a sound akin to a knife slicing into a juicy tomato, the ivory scythe sliced through the creature. The massive head that once broke the very sky fell to the ground with an earth-shaking 'THUD!',and the gargantuan body fell on its side a final time. Now dead as a creature of Hell could be, its form began to fade, and became a blanket of fog once again.
Adrenaline still running high, the warriors had to allow themselves a few moments of calm. Burter was the first to speak. "Well, I'm glad that worked out," he chuckled, shaking the dizziness from his head.
"Looks like ol' Guldo came through for us again," said Recoome, wearing a lopsided grin. "Yo, Guldo! Where are ya?"
"I'll be right there, if you gimme a sec!" The little toady groused, fanning away mist that did all but swallow him. The others had to laugh. "Sheesh, what a night. Day. Whatever." He cracked his neck. "I guess this isn't the place to be telling scary stories."
"Speaking of that, what the hell, Guldo? I thought you said that monster was as big as five cats," Jeice grumbled. "If by 'five cats' you meant 'five space ligers'!"
"Don't get mad at me about it! I also said no one knew for sure what it looked like, either! And anyway, if you had just given it your undies, we wouldn't have had to gone through all that!"
"Anyway, that's all water under the bridge now," said Ginyu, surprisingly calm. He hardly felt it necessary to raise his voice over something so trivial. "Just be glad we all made it out with our souls intact. And anyhow..." He crossed his arms. "I think the sheer size and power of that thing... I think it had more to do with this area than anything else. You all felt it when we got here." Ginyu narrowed his eyes. "That overwhelming concentration of dark aura... That feeling was alwayssort ofthere in our travels, but this place..." The captain drew a hand to his chin. He didn't really want to speculate when he couldn't be sure of anything. "I'm not entirely certain, but I think it responds to evil thoughts and ideas. This place, I mean."
Recoome scratched his head. "So, what, if we suddenly start talkin' about nasty beasties, they'll start appearin' outta thin air?"
"Well, Guldo told that story about the Skivbaku..." Though he couldn't really be sure if a story about an underwear-stealing monster really qualified as an evil thought. "And lo and behold, one appeared before our very eyes..." Ginyu shrugged. He was really beyond trying to figure out how Hell worked at this point. "If anything, it just ends up being convenient. We came here for monster sparring partners, and they basically appear on demand. In the end, this is really going to work out for us."
"But what comes after that, Captain Ginyu?"
He really had no clue. He was no closer to figuring out how he could prove them all to have changed for the better, and it was probably just a matter of time before they all slipped back into old habits. Ginyu had to suppress a sigh. "You just leave the details to me. For right now, though, I think we've earned our rest."
No arguments from the rest. As he and his subordinates settled in a slightly more hospitable area, and eventually drifted off to a peaceful slumber, Ginyu laid awake, feeling that somehow, the opportunity to prove themselves was just around the corner, coiled up and waiting silently.
