The next chapter is up! Enjoy :)
The room they put her in was bare. With the exception of one small cot jutting from the wall and what appeared to be a small sink and toilet that also jutted from the metal wall. There were very few windows and they were high up. It was the complete definition of a cell. Christina started pacing, trying to figure out what she can do to get the hell out of here.
'Who am I fucking kidding? I don't think I will find a way off this floating tin can. Goku and Vegeta won't be able to find the ship, and I still have yet to figure out where they keep their smaller crafts in this place.' Tears of frustration came to her eyes as she walked the diameter of the small room. Christina recalls that if she were ever in trouble like this, Bulma said there was something else she could do. Unfortunately, she can't remember what that was at the moment.
Eventually, she stopped, and found herself peering out of one of the windows above. 'I may need to put a plan for escape on the back burner for now. That little bastard has the extract that can open portals. God knows what he will do with it. If only I can figure out a way to get that extract back. No doubt, whatever plans he has for it; can be nothing short of horrible.
There is some good news though. On the way down here, she bypassed what appeared to be a lab. Christina noticed they were working on some kind of machine, and when one of the guys in lab coats walked by; he had the vial with the extract in his hand. He was bringing it over to the strange looking machine. She just had to figure out a way out of here, so she can somehow get into that lab, and try to grab the vial. From there, she thought about smashing the vial and destroying it's contents. That seemed to be the most viable option than what Frieza had planned for it.
Christina resumed her pacing; all the while brainstorming on a course of action. She had no doubts that he may kill her if she were to destroy the extract and botch his plans. It scared her shitless knowing this, but it also scared her what he may do with the extract. 'He could use it to harm Earth or any other planet in the Universe.' She thought.
In the Ship's Labs, around 3 Hours Later...
"I'd say it's nearly complete, Tak. Shall we request Lord Frieza to come down yet?" Toshi asks.
"Perhaps, there is only about twenty-minutes left to calibrate the portal. We can call him down to explain some of our enhancements. I'm sure he will love to hear about the switchboard we were able to put together while they were down on Earth retrieving the extract compound." Tak replied.
He agreed, turned to one of his associates, and gave him the 'Ok' to call Lord Frieza down to the Labs. The squat orange alien went over to the intercom on the larger desk and pressed the button.
"Miss Berryblue, this is Crull. Please, inform Lord Frieza that preparations are nearly complete. And that we request he come down to the Labs to see how the portal works. Plus, we have a couple enhancements to show him." He said.
There was a brief pause, before she finally answered.
"Excellent, he shall be down shortly." She replied.
The line cut out, and Crull went back to his associates with a pleased smile. Toshi and Tak had equally big grins. How could they not? They have single handedly accomplished what is one of very few man-made portals, and strongly believe this one to be their biggest breakthrough and success. The scientists know Lord Frieza will be very pleased with the results as well. It meant he could disperse way more of his Force out to many places at once. It will make conquering worlds quicker and more efficient.
Not a few minutes later, the Galactic Emperor walked through the see-through glass doors. Berryblue and Kikono, followed on either side of him.
"So it's nearly finished then?" The tyrant asks.
Tak nods, "Yes, My Lord. In about twelve-minutes, the portal will be fully calibrated, and ready to be activated. But there were some other enhancements we have made for the portal we wished to show you while you wait."
Frieza nodded and gestured for him to; 'Go on'.
Meanwhile, back at the Cells...
One soldier wouldn't stop grumbling about how he got stuck with the pointless chore of bringing the annoying human woman some food and water. He didn't figure it was relevant, knowing Lord Frieza maybe getting rid of her very soon. So, why waste the food? He was missing his own meal by doing this. For that, he may as well eat what was on her tray, and say he delivered it to her anyway. He doubted anyone really cared if that was true or not.
After another few minutes, he made it to her door. The soldier pressed a couple buttons on the side panel next to the door. A green light flashed, followed by a couple beeps, and the door slid open to allow him entry.
He only walked in a few steps, just enough to clear the door. Christina, who was waiting against the wall right by the door, finally made her move. He looked around to see where she was and finally spotted her behind him. She quickly threw her long sleeve shirt at his face, temporarily blinding him. It startled him and he dropped the tray of food on the floor. He reached up to pull the obstruction from his face, while she lunged for the tray on the floor.
Christina wasted no time, picked up the surprisingly pretty heavy tray, and slammed it down on his head as hard as she could. He went down with a grunt, and she ran out with the tray, barely making it out the door before it slid shut. She then lift the tray over her head and slammed it down hard on the side panel next to the door.
A couple sparks flew from it from the impact, a couple red lights flickered on the panel, followed by a series of beeps. 'Hope that means I was able to damage it enough to keep him locked in there.' Christina then dropped the tray and jogged down the hall to the Labs. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find. They only made two turns on the way to the cells after passing the labs.
She can only hope her luck won't run out when she gets there. There weren't too many scientists in there when she glimpsed inside the labs while being escorted to the cell. The few in there also looked very busy and spent a lot of time looking down at what they were working on and not so much on what was going on around them. Hopefully, this meant it won't be hard for her to sneak in. It already helps that she didn't see a side panel on the wall next to the sliding glass doors.
This level was rather quiet, which made it easier for her to creep down the corridors unseen. After five-minutes, Christina made it to the easily recognizable glass doors. She cautiously peered inside before going in. For some reason the few scientists in the room had their backs turned to her and had their attention on something in front of them. She also heard a discussion going on.
The doors slid open, hardly making a sound. Christina crept in and ducked behind one of the tables, and listened. All the while she was looking at the remaining tables and other surface areas for the vial.
"But the biggest enhancement yet, we wish to share with you; is right over here, My Lord. Remember when we were having trouble controlling where the destination was for the portal? Well, we dug further into that problem and created a solution." Tak said, while gesturing to something on a small free standing tray near the portal.
"So, we created this Interdimensional Switchboard to help solve the problem. Took a little more time than we expected, but it was well worth it. The panel itself is assimilated to the portal machine. You just need to type in the coordinates to whichever planet you want to go to. And even though the testing is still a little premature, we believe it may even bring you to other worlds in other Universes. We have yet to see any limitations to the device." Tak said, excitedly.
Christina certainly didn't like what she heard. 'If that is the case, there will be no stopping this asshole from causing havoc all through the other Universes!' She inched in closer to hear and see more.
Frieza had a small toothy grin on his face, "This is most excellent. But tell me, would I be able to send an energy blast through a portal?"
The grubby little scientist nods in confirmation.
"If you mean a large scale attack; then yes. It would be quite simple to go through the portal and execute an attack that will decimate a world. You can even shorten the coordinates, that way you will be just outside of it's atmosphere; instead of being on the actual planet itself." He stated.
Frieza's grin widened, "Really? Shall we put it to a little test then?"
The tyrant made his way over to the switchboard and started tapping in coordinates on the touch panel. Knowing exactly what he wished to try this out on. The portal crackled as energy started flowing through it's circular rim.
Christina watched as something started taking shape within the large metal circle. The shape started to form and get bigger, more sparks and crackling electricity shot out of the shape as it grew. Within a matter of moments, an image started coming through. She quickly looked around, trying to find that vial.
The image finally cleared, and a familiar planet was being shown clear as day; Earth. Frieza began to chuckle, and turned his attention back to Tak.
"So, you tell me that you were able to successfully replicate the extract after you received the vial from Vegeta's Home correct? And that it was enough to make a steady supply for many future trips. That would mean no more future trips to Earth for this extract." He stated.
"That is correct, My Lord. As we told you earlier, we finally found a way to replicate a ready supply for many future endeavors. There is still plenty left in this vial. All the replicated variants would need is a drop in each tube as it's base. And by the time we do run out of the original extract, we would've successfully created a variant that will no longer require the original compound for it's base." Tak explained.
"Good, then it won't take much for me to go through this portal and eradicate Earth from space. I will be in and out of it so quick before those monkeys know what hit them." The tyrant replied.
Frieza only took one step forward towards the portal, that was currently showing Earth. Before there was a crashing sound of glass breaking. The scientists all looked around in alarm at the sudden crash. That's when they noticed the young human woman knocking vials, test tubes and other equipment off the tables. Then she ran over to some free standing shelves that held even more fragile things. She rammed herself into it, putting all her body weight against it.
There were various shouts of protests from the scientists as more things fell off of the shelves. Many mixtures and chemicals spilled onto the floor, creating big puddles. Some of which made it to where Frieza and the two head scientists were standing. His crimson eyes widened when he noticed she found the extract and currently held it in her hand.
Christina held it above her head, and made eye contact with the tyrant.
"You're not going anywhere." She said, between breaths.
Then she hurled it at the ground. The vial smashed into hundreds of pieces, spilling all the extract out of it. The extract got mixed in with other mixtures that were already on the floor from other smashed glass bottles and vials.
"What!? No!" He shouted.
It was in this distraction that she shoved past Toshi and started messing with the switchboard.
"What are you doing!? Stop her you fool!" Frieza yelled.
Toshi went over trying to pull her away. Christina struggled and fought like hell in his grip. It was to the point that another scientist had to step in and help him restrain her. As they pulled her back, the petite woman was lifted off the ground, and in the struggle; she kicked out at the switchboard.
Her foot throbbed, but it did the trick. There was a dent on the rim of the switchboard and a crack on the touch screen that spanned it from top to bottom. The scientists gasped in alarm at what she had done, and dropped her. The switchboard then began to crackle and the image in the portal changed to another scene. It also started to get smaller, because the switchboard and the portal were now malfunctioning. While they were distracted, Christina got up and in her adrenaline fueled panic, she tried to run, and ended up going the wrong way.
Frieza, who was still in front of the portal facing her, went to approach her. Only to become surprised when she accidently ran towards him after breaking free. Christina lost her footing as she slipped in the large puddle of mixtures. He was stunned when she slammed right into him, causing him to lose his balance on the slippery mixed concoction. Even when he tried to regain his own footing, he couldn't because it was just too slippery, and her whole body fell into his.
The extra weight combined with losing balance, sent both Christina and Frieza falling through the closing portal. The scientist shouted and began to panic as it finally closed up behind the two after they went through it.
"Well, what are you waiting for!? Get it back up and running so he can get back!" Tak yelled.
Toshi, Crull, and another scientist went over to the switchboard and started fussing over it. From what they could see, the Interdimensional Switchboard was severely damaged. Not only that, but the extract was now all gone and destroyed, as it lay at their feet; on the floor and mixed in with other chemicals. After a few minutes of mulling over the switchboard, Toshi came over with a grim look on his face.
"I'm sorry, Sir. But the Switchboard is just too damaged. I'm not sure it can be fixed at this point in time." He said.
"What!? There has to be something we can do! We can't just leave Lord Frieza out in some unknown land somewhere! Do we even know where he went!?" Tak yelled, his anger and panic increasing by the moment.
Toshi shook his head, "No, we don't. The screen went dark before we could see the coordinates. Wherever it was, it didn't look familiar at all."
"Great! For all we know, he's on some world in one of the other Universes!" Tak replied.
That's when Crull joined in, "Sir, we still have the replicated variants from the original extract. We can still use that to open the portal and bring him back."
Tak vehemently shook his head, "No, it won't make a difference. Without the switchboard, we cannot manipulate the variants to open a portal to that same place. That is why we created the Interdimensional Switchboard in the first place. It was the only tool we could use to manipulate the extract in the portal to take us to our desired location. Without it, we're lost, and so is our Lord."
The lab and the portal itself didn't look too good either. Years of work, all flushed down the toilet. On the account of one troublesome human! What's worse, is they don't know if they will be able to repair any of it or get it up and running. The parts and chemicals like the extract, that were used in creating the switchboard; were extremely hard to come by as it was.
The scientists felt completely helpless in this situation. Lord Frieza was really lost this time. It was clear; that he may have to find his own way back to them. Though it may prove difficult for the Galactic Emperor to do so. Especially, if he didn't know where he was to begin with or how to get back.
Well, that certainly didn't go as planned. Guess we will see how Frieza and Christina fair next chapter; in the unknown world they have found themselves at. Until Next Time ;)