One day in age 732 on a planet in one of the far corners of space, a lonely figure ran for his life. The figure was a man, and he was in fact the ruler of this planet. A planet which had been under siege for days now, by an unknown force. The king and his men fought bravely, and at first it seemed they would be able to fend off their attackers. But than, something strange had happened. Not far from where he was now, a gigantic tree started to grow and in no time at all, life on the otherwise lush planet diminished.
Not being able to fly, the sovereign tried making his way back to his home, the palace, on foot, where his wife and child still waited in the safety and cover of the dungeons. The fact that everything was overgrown with roots and vines, didn't make his escape any easier. And the fact that he was already badly hurt didn't help as well. But eventually, looking over his shoulder every few seconds, he made his way back. Once arrived, he discovered to his big relief that the palace had remained untouched by enemy forces up until now. He quickly made his way inside and found his family in their hiding place. His wife, holding their infant son, jumped up as soon as she saw him.
"By the gods, you look terrible ! How did it go ?"
He motioned her to follow him. "There's no time to explain, we need to make it to the ship, now ! They're coming, quick !"
Without question, the queen left the dungeons and made her way upstairs with her husband, holding their son tight against her body. Her heart was racing and as she heard the zooming sound of an aproaching vessel, she looked at her husband behind her. They both knew this was bad news. It suddenly felt like eventhough she was running as fast she could, she wasn't moving forward at all.
At long last, the three of them reached the front gates again, and they were about to make their way to their own spaceship when they were blinded by a bright light coming from the sky. It made them stop in their tracks.
It seemed the enemy vessel they had heard before had now reached its destination and was landing right in front of them.
Once it had reached solid ground, a door opened and a single person walked out, followed by what looked like two armed guards.
The person, clad in a white cloak, walked over to the frightened family. Once close enough, she removed the hood and revealed the face of a young woman with long, inkblack spikey hair, held back in a ponytail.
She looked at the couple, one of her eyes looking through the red glass of a scouter. And although her eyes were mesmerizingly beautiful, the way they looked struck even more fear in the hearts of the royals in front of her.
By now, the baby in the queen's arms started to cry.
The cloaked woman came even closer and as she reached out with her right hand to the child's cheek, she tried hushing it with the sweetest tone of voice she could act up.
"There there little one, there's no need to cry..." With a meaningful look she now turned to the king. "I won't hurt you if daddy decides to comply..."
"Who...Who are you..." The king stuttered.
The woman, faking forgetfullness, slapped her forehead. "Gods, where are my manners ! Let me introduce myself..." She said as she grabbed the hem of her cloak and held it to the side as she bowed, revealing her monkey-like tail.
"My name is Cress, and I've come to purge your planet." She added with an innocent smile, as if it was no big deal.
The king, noting her tail, was shocked. "A Saiyan ? But...Those men we fought...!"
"Were NOT Saiyans." Cress went on, finishing the king's sentence. She held up her righthand index finger, as if to lecture the man. "Correct ! BUT ! Don't be fooled...What you have to deal with here is much, MUCH worse than a regular Saiyan fighting force, my lord...The men you fought are all carefully handpicked and selected by me, and form what is known as the Cress Crusher Corps." With a proud smile and a sigh, she closed her eyes and kept going. "It's foolish to believe that I, with the resources I've recently acquired, would serve Frieza, like my kin. My men serve me, for my own benefits."
The king, though still trembling with fear, took a step closer to the Saiyan. "I'll never let you conquer us ! You'll never defeat me !" He boasted.
Cress snickered. Though she was a lot smaller than the king, she did not back down. "But I already have..." Finally revealing her left hand from under the cloak, she held up a large, red piece of fruit. A malicious grin now adorned her lips. "Now I know it might sound hard to believe, but this right here could mean your downfall. When I eat this, I can reach my full potential...Once that happens there is no stopping me, and you're already badly wounded..."
She waited a few seconds before continuing, as if she wanted to let the message sink in. "You've fought valiantly defending this planet, and with me, that does not go unnoticed...That's why I'm leaving you the choice..." She held out her free right hand as she said that last part. "Join me, and live on. Your family will remain untouched."
The king looked at her hand, seemingly hesitant. When he remained silent, Cress tried to persuade him even more. "Together we could achieve great things..."
"Don't do it...She's lying..."The queen whispered to her husband. "I can see it in her eyes..."
The king stared at Cress's hand for what felt like an eternity, when finally, he made his decision and spat on it. "I'll NEVER join you !"
Cress's eyes grew wide with a mixture of disgust and surprise, but she quickly recovered and whiped the saliva off on her cloak. "I hate it when they do that... Suit yourself !" She growled as she bit a chunk out of the fruit.
In the blink of an eye, her muscles enlarged and a massive wave of new energy coursed through her vains. High on power, she groaned and let her head fall back into her neck. "Aahh... That feels SO good..."
The king, though surprised at what he had just witnessed, saw an opportunity to strike and threw a fist at her.
Cress's hightened sences felt his attack coming and quickly dodged. "Foolish man !" She yelled as she powerfully elbowed him in the back of his neck, killing him instantly. "Time to finally get this over with !"
She jumped up, shooting herself into the sky. With her left hand she aimed down at the ground, where the queen had fallen down to her knees, still holding her precious child close. Her loud pleas to spare their lives fell in deaf ears.
With a satisfied smirk, Cress fired a large, pink energybeam. the beam was so powerfull and bright, it even blinded her for just a second. And when the dust finally settled on the ground, the queen and her infant son had joined their family member in death, not a trace left of their bodies.
Cress sighed as she descended to the ground again, where her guards still awaited her near their ship. "That was that...Now let's- ugh !"
A sharp pain, like a knife, suddenly struck her lower abdomen. Clenching her belly, she dropped down to one knee. The guards immediately ran over to her. One of them put her arm around his shoulders and helped her up.
"I'm alright...I'm fine..." She muttered as the other guard tried to check on her. The three of them slowly went up the steps to enter the ship.
Once he had helped her sit down in her chair in the cockpit, the soldier spoke out again. "You can't keep lying to us, Cress. We've seen it before. You're knocked up again, aren't you ?"
Cress pursed her lips. There was no use in denying it anymore now. After every attack it was too obvious that the fruit was putting too much pressure on her body. Way more than it could take on now, in her condition.
Her shoulders dropped and she nodded. "Yeah, I am..."
"Well..." The other guard continued. "Shouldn't you go back to Planet Vegeta, then ? If you keep going like this, this kid could die too..."
"So what if it does ?" Cress bit. "Do I look like I care ?" She lowered her head and stared at her knees. Her men did not have to see the tears that welled up in her eyes. To be honest, the sight of her daughter's dead body, so little and pale, after carrying her for nine months, HAD done something to her. Somewhere deep down.
"Think of what we could do with another Saiyan by our side..." The other guard tried encouraging her. "Besides, your own life is on the line too..."
That seemed to do the trick. With a sigh, she turned her chair to the ship's control panel. With the clicks of a few buttons, the engines started running again and she set the course for home. "Just promise that you'll all hold the fort while I'm gone..."