Chapter 1: Prologue
40 Miles Outside of Topeka, Kansas
April 24, 2010
8:00 A.M. CST
Colin awoke from his dreams to the sound of his alarm. Deciding against hitting the snooze button, he pushed himself up and hit the stop button. He noticed that the space beside him, typically reserved for his wife, was empty. However, the smell of cooking food gave him a hint as to where she was. He got out of bed and put on some comfortable clothes (today was his day off, after all): a blue plaid shirt, black jeans, and his Chelsea boots. It was nothing special, but it was comfortable for him. Finishing his morning maintenance of brushing his teeth and hair, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. His wife, Natalie, had made his favorite: blueberry pancakes with bacon on the side.
"Hello, honey." Natalie greeted her husband with a warm, yet groggy smile as she set the table. "I woke up a bit earlier, decided to do some of the last-minute changes for finalizing the housewarming tomorrow."
"Really? I didn't know we had a housewarming tomorrow." Colin inquired as he sat at the table with a confused glance.
"Trisha didn't call you yesterday?" She asked to a quick "No" in response. "Damn it, I can't trust her to do shit." The woman scoffed, pinching the bridge of her nose to soothe an incoming headache. "Well, the basics of it is that the Powells decided we weren't moving in fast enough, so she decided we should have a housewarming tomorrow to get everyone over here to help us pack."
"And we can't move in at our own pace because…"
"Because your sister is a dumbass." Natalie finished as she took a seat next to him. Colin thought for a second, then nodded.
"Fair point. Anyway, I say we unpack our bedroom today." Colin suggested as Natalie smiled and nodded. They began eating and the small talk for the time being. Since they both mostly worked alternative shifts, it was rare they managed to sit down and eat breakfast together; it was best to get every bit of happiness out of these types of moments.
"Oh, I've got a surprise outside." Colin interrupted as he hopped up from the chair.
"What is it?"
"That's why it's a surprise." He reminded as he led to the back door. Confused but also excited, she let him continue to walk her to the backyard. Once he opened the door, she laid eyes on what looked like…
"Oh my god, we're getting a pool?!" She asked excitedly and he nodded with a smirk. "Oh my god!" She belted as she hugged her husband and planted a kiss on his lips. Just as they disconnected, they both heard a sound. It was almost like a sound of rushing wind. Colin, holding his wife behind him, walked forward and looked into the sky. What he saw damn near made his heart burst out of his chest: a large, fiery meteor was barreling down towards them.
"Get in the house!" Colin commanded as the duo turned and ran into the house. The second they crossed the threshold, the space rock smashed into the ground right behind their house. The impact shattered all the glass of the house and sent the couple flying down. Dust quickly flew into the house and covered the duo before an eerie calm seemed to settle across the house.
"Natalie, you okay?"
"Yea, how about you?" She asked, her voice quivering.
"Yea, I'm fine." Colin answered as he stood to his feet. The lights the house flashed off on impact, leaving the sunlight emerging from the open doors and broken windows to offer a cloudy beam of sunlight. "What the hell was that?" Colin muttered to himself before he began slowly walking over to it.
"Colin, what are you doing? What if it's radioactive?!" She said to no avail, her husband continued walking to the door. She quickly got up and continued after her husband, letting him lead the way. Whatever it was, it burrowed deep into the ground behind their house, right on the pool's designated spot. Once they got to the edge, the husband and wife's breath stopped at the sight. It wasn't a space rock.
"Coulson, Hill." Nick Fury greeted as he climbed out of the van and began walking to the closed off scene. His two trusted agents lifted up the "DO NOT CROSS" rope for him and allowed him to enter the closed-off property. Coulson took a look back at the reporters beginning to swarm the house; it didn't take much for people to both see and hear a meteorite crashing down on Earth and report it to the news. Thankfully it was just local news, for now, national and international news would probably be there in an hour at most. It didn't take but a few seconds before for Fury ask, "What happened?"
"An alien craft crashed into the homeowner's backyard at eight-thirty this morning, said it came out of nowhere. They called the police and the local department called us in. It must've been moving incredibly fast, none of our satellites even picked it up."
"Is whatever came in it hostile?" Fury inquired, sparing a glance at the shaken couple before continuing across the house to the backyard.
"There's no way of telling just yet, our guys are still trying to get it open." Hill answered as they finally reached the spot. It was a large crater, at least 10 feet in diameter, with a white pod sitting at the center of it. Fury could see the red window that was far too tinted for them to see through. "It's definitely a ship, but we don't know what's inside of it."
"It's a peculiar ship, there's no engine on it or propellers, but it struck the Earth with enough power to burrow into the ground at least twenty feet." Coulson added as they watched with silent curiosity until a shout from the workers caught their attention.
"Hey, we almost have it open!" One of the workers called out as they pushed on the rod inserted in the join between one more hard time and the door, after a groan, ripped open. The trio of superiors walked down to see their alien. It looked like a teenage human male with long black hair, a tan complexion, and possessed a slim, yet muscular build. What caught their attention was the battle wounds riddling his body, judging from the red blood oozing from each of countless gashes, cuts, and what seemed looked like bullet holes across his torso. His black bodysuit, or rather the remains of it, clung to his legs and parts of his arm.
"Jesus Christ, what happened to him?" Coulson muttered as Fury looked over to the paramedics and gave a nod. They got a stretcher and proceeded to lift the unconscious alien from his pod and rushed him back to the ambulance. The trio got into the van and followed at the ambulance to the S.H.I.E.L.D. station.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
The steady beeping was what finally awoke Zuchino from his slumber. Finally opening his eyes after the third attempt to let his eyes adjust to the brightness in the room. It was pure white, nothing of interest to add to it. To his left was a mirror, reflecting his own confused glance back to him. To his right was the monitor that constantly let out that incessant noise. If it wasn't for the fact his energy level was very dangerously low, he would've destroyed it with a ki blast.
His entire body felt numb, save for the dull pain that ached in his chest for some reason. He tried to sit up, but his arms were too sore to move. Instead, he leaned up and looked around. Now, he could see that the front of the room had a small table with a strange container. He looked down at his body to see he clothed in a gown and a few wires were sticking out from his chest and body, including a tube feeding something into his wrist.
"What the hell are these?" He muttered as he grabbed at the wires.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see a tall, bald man with black clothing and a patch over his left eye. They stared at each other for a few seconds before he cocked an eyebrow. "It'll send off a bunch of alarms and annoy the hell out of both you and me."
"Then can you turn it off?" He asked as the man walked to the machine and flipped the switch, finally stopping the annoying beeping.
"At least I know you speak English." The man said.
"You mean the common language?" Zuchino questioned as the man's eyebrow cocked.
"Gonna have to remember that for later." He said as he walked closer.
"Can you tell me what planet this is?" Zuchino pushed past his arm's soreness and rubbing his eyes when asking the question.
"Earth."
"No, I mean the planet's number." Zuchino inquired, giving the man an aside glance of annoyance before continuing to rub his eyes.
"Number?" The Saiyan eyed his expression before his glance softened, putting his hands down.
"You mean to tell me you don't know your planet's Freeza number?"
"Not as far as I know. We only go by Earth." The Saiyan fell back on the bed, a breath of relief escaping his lips once he made contact with the pillow.
"Good, last thing I need is to fight off his loyalists trying to avenge him." Zuchino muttered as the ghost of a smirk appeared on his face.
"What is a Freeza number?"
"It doesn't matter anymore. That bullshit numbering system died along with the creator." Zuchino's head turned to face the man.
"Okay, I'll ask this: what caused you to crash-land on our planet?" The strange man asked, stepping even closer to the alien in the bed.
"I was in a battle, a very heated one at that with Freeza, the dictator of most of the known universe after he killed off my race. If I thought I looked bad, you should see him."
"So, you're by yourself?" A sorrowful feeling quickly washed over him, thinking back to the events that transpired, but he stoned up in another instant (not knowing the man noticed it).
"As far as I know, yes. Everyone else is dead."
"And your planet?"
"He destroyed it when he killed everyone."
"Damn." The man muttered under his breath; a thought quickly crossed his mind before he looked back at the alien and asked," Just how powerful was this dictator that he could destroy a planet?"
"I take it, from the sound of your confusion, your species haven't figured out how to master ki?" Zuchino asked, not even looking up at the man.
"Ki?" Zuchino got his answer.
"Sparing you the long-winded explanation I was given; ki is life energy, every living creature has it of some form. Most beings in the universe don't understand how to draw it out, let alone manipulate it. My race, the Saiyan race, was naturally able to draw it out." Deciding a demonstration was in order, Zuchino raised his right hand, creating a golden ball of energy in his hand. "And when you can draw it out, you can use it in multiple forms, such as energy blasts, flying, and defensive moves like barriers."
"So, that dictator had enough ki to destroy a planet?"
"How much ki you possess, whether from training or being naturally born with it, determines how powerful you are. Freeza naturally possessed the highest amount of ki in the universe, barring Beerus the Destroyer." Zuchino realized he mentioned the name and brushed off the man's confused expression with a small shake of his head. "That's a story for another day. He and many Saiyans for that matter could destroy planets very easily with energy blasts powerful enough."
"Can you destroy a planet?"
"Yes."
"How do you know you can destroy planets?"
The Saiyan's jaw clenched for a few seconds before he managed to say, "Because I've done it before. I've done things I'm not particularly proud of, that included exterminating planets across the universe for Freeza."
"How do I know that this is not a trick?"
"Because if it was, you would be dead now; I've fought in worse conditions." Zuchino grimaced before sighing and relaxing his expression. "But that's all I can offer. If you would like me to leave this planet, I'll do it now with my pod."
"Here's my last question: are there others who can destroy planets in our universe?"
"Yes, I've fought many of them. They're rare, but they are definitely are there." Zuchino looked up at the man. There were a few moments of silence between the two as Zuchino assumed he was processing all he heard, which he can't necessarily blame him for being slow to catch on to. If you never knew much about the universe before this moment, learning about the mechanics of something as complex as ki and the Freeza Force would be a lot to catch up on.
"I don't entirely trust you, that will take time…but I would prefer to keep you on this planet for the time being." The man said, earning a confused look from Zuchino. He didn't trust him, but he still wanted him here. "If what you said is right and there are others in this universe with the power to destroy our planet, I feel we would be better off having you here where you can help." The man stated as Zuchino nodded, he couldn't question that logic.
"So, I'll tell you this: as a representative of this planet, I am willing to give you housing and food to live off on one condition: you help us when we need you." Zuchino sighed under his breath.
"From one glorbob-hill to another." He muttered underneath his breath before he looked once again the man and nodded. "I didn't hear what you call yourself."
"Nicholas Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D." He greeted as he extended his hand. "Nice to have you on board, Mr…"
"Zuchino." He shook his hand.