Author's Note: Wow, another update to an unlikely fic...but I got inspired, with some help from my hubby. (I love being married to a fellow DBZ fan) Hope you enjoy the chapter!
As a note: You've probably noticed that my updates have been way less frequent. Well, the reason is I started writing DBZ X-Readers, and obviously I can't post them here. Check my profile for where you can read them.
Kale was coughing up blood by the time Cooler (who followed shortly behind) directed some minions to drag her to the brig and tossed her into one of the larger cells.
"I don't like killing my soldiers," he said, smirking at her through the forcefield, "So I'm not going to."
"Wh...what?"
"I'm going to let my brother do it." He smirked, condensation lingering briefly in the frigid air as he breathed. "I tried to stop you, I truly did, but there was nothing I could've done."
"...what are you...going...on..." She took a deep breath and shuddered from the resulting pain.
"...and of course I wouldn't dare deprive my brother of the honor of disposing of his son's murderer, now would I?"
She paled. "You-you bastard!"
"Have a nice sleep..." he laughed and turned to leave.
This was far worse than she'd ever expected. That Cooler would kill her she'd taken for granted; after all, she'd wiped out the Armored Squadron. But that he would go to this length...what could he possibly...? Was he gunning for his father's position? Why would he kill his nephew over it, unless...
"W-what'd he do to you?"
The voice was tiny.
Frightened.
...familiar.
Kale looked to the corner of the cell to see Kuriza.
"Hey, kid, you alright?" she walked over, still shivering herself, and picked him up. He had some light, superficial bleeding, and was cold to the touch. And his skin...she was sure that it was supposed to be far lighter than it was now. As little as she knew about the Arcosians, she was sure this wasn't good. What had happened?
"N-no," he replied, curling close to her. "Uncle Cooler...th-threw me in here. He said...he didn't say anything to me, but...I heard what he said to you. He wants papa to kill you."
"Hey, try not to worry about that, alright?"
"You're here now. It's going to be okay."
"How d'you know that?" It had slipped out despite every attempt to make things look...well, hopeful, for the poor kid.
"I have a plan."
"Yeah? Is that why your uncle had you locked up in here?"
"Uh-huh. But...but the joke's on him. I got it all ready."
"Wouldn't he have found whatever you were doing?"
"Nope." He grinned. "Just wait. It'll happen."
As cold as she got, as weak as she felt, Kale didn't let Kuriza know just how scared she was. He'd said he had a plan, but she didn't have much faith in that. He was a child...could he really have anything in mind that would get them past a bunch of soldiers, and barring that, Cooler himself?
One hour passed. Then another. Kuriza was slowly warming up, but she was growing steadily less so.
So this, she told herself, was how it ended.
How would Frieza start? She could be assured that he wouldn't be quick about her death...to say nothing of Kuriza. But...wait...the child wasn't dead yet, and even if he had been, it would be obvious that he'd died of hypothermia. Cooler couldn't be that stupid, could he?
Her question was soon to be answered.
As the fourth hour arrived, the door whooshed open, and Cooler walked back in, alone. He motioned the guard out-to avoid witnesses? She wasn't sure. This whole thing felt like one big self-assured wreck.
"It's a pity, really," he said, smirking briefly. "You were on your way to being one of my best soldiers, and you just had to go and ruin it. Was it something I didn't give you? Was it revenge?"
He paused, stopping in front of the cell and crossing his arms, sneering down at her holding Kuriza.
"Pathetic." He shook his head, and disabled the forcefield.
"U-uncle Cooler?" Kuriza asked in his soft little voice, "Can I ask you something?"
"I'm not one to deny a last request...especially to a child. What do you want to ask me?"
"Why...why would you do this to me?" Kuriza reached out, his eyes flashed red...
...and Cooler suddenly doubled over, gasping for air. Kale stumbled back in shock, watching as he struggled for every breath. A few seconds later, Kuriza made a downward gesture, eyes still glowing, and Cooler fell to his knees, still striving to breathe and now apparently suffering through the worst spasms she could ever remember seeing-she could see the muscles rolling under his skin...
"Go!" he said suddenly, his tender voice shifting to one wholly of ice, "GO LIKE I TOLD YOU! We don't have very long!"
She headed past Cooler, kicking at him when he reached for her and dodging an impromptu and obviously weak ki blast. "Where the heck do you think we're going to go, kid?"
"It's easy. All the guards around here are easy, but the one in landing bay 2 is even more weak-minded than the rest of them." He smirked in an unsettling way as there was a low whistle-and then the lights went off.
Kale kept running. The minions were running in the opposite direction, and she could hear the intercom blaring warnings about Lord Cooler being in serious condition.
"Hey, you! STOP WHERE YOU-AAAUGH!"
Kuriza struck the speaker, and three more minions before they finally reached the landing bay where the blank-eyed minion was waiting.
"Ship ready?" he asked.
"Yes," the minion said. "G'on."
Kale took a deep breath and ran forward, boarding the small ship with Kuriza as quickly as she could.
"You remember the coordinates, right?" he asked, once she had put him into the second seat in the cockpit.
"What coor-"
They ran through her head like it was yesterday, and she started typing them in, but she still wondered-how did he know? She'd never said a damn word about them, she'd never told a single soul.
"FTL Drive," he chirped, now back to his innocent, chipper voice.
She could barely remember how to fly one of these things, to be honest, but she started to change the ship's propulsion over to the FTL drive, and they'd barely left the larger ship when the smaller one rocked from an attack.
But there was a pulse, and then...
...then they were gone.