I was on something soft, a bed. Speaking of which, breathing kinda hurts like someone…shot me…through the chest.
Oooh. A flash of memories flowed into my mind as I recalled my horrible misfortune. Everything from being sent by my father to getting finger beamed by Frieza to somehow meeting a similar end by his older brother Cooler instead.
Slowly, I opened my eyes to see a metal ceiling. Turning my head, my sight fell upon a window showcasing the vast void of space. Using both of my arms, I pushed myself into a sitting position and surveyed more of my new surroundings. All I could see were some furniture and metal walls on all sides, including the door. The view outside my window was enough to say that I was now in space. For what reason was beyond me.
I looked down upon my body to see bandages around my chest. Thankfully, the gaping holes stopped bleeding and somehow filled themselves up. Either I had super healing or alien medicine could regenerate organ parts and blood vessels. In both cases, I was grateful to still be alive and in tip-top shape. The sensations of my newly healed wounds should disappear with time. Hopefully.
In the midst of my thoughts, the door to my room slid open. A humanoid with blue skin and white hair entered the room. He wore the signature Cooler Force armor which consisted of a full-body length purple bodysuit and a single shoulder guard on his left shoulder.
"I see you have awoken, Gula." His voice was smothered by his French accent. "Seigneur Cooler ordered your presence."
The alien placed a set of armor near my side.
"Get dressed. I shall wait for you outside." As he said that, he exited the room. I could see his vivid figure outside the glass panel of my door.
The sudden announcement was strange but I knew better than not following his orders. If the previous encounter with Cooler was any depiction of his temper, I'd say he would blow another hole in me if I didn't get there fast enough. A scenario I wanted to avoid.
I quickly got off my bed and dressed up. To no one's surprise, my armor was an exact replica of one worn by the man outside my door. Without checking myself for imperfections in my getup, I went out the door and greeted the waiting soldier. He followed up with a nod and gestured his hand to have me follow him. I followed closely behind him, hoping to not overstep my boundaries. Though overstepping my boundaries did get me out of my previous death flag.
"The names Salza." The man finally introduced himself, still looking forward.
"Mine is Gula, but you already know that," I replied back. Salza made no mention of acknowledging my statement and continued walking.
"As you can already guess, you are now in Lord Cooler's ship as part of his personal squadron. Including myself and two of my squadmates, you will be our newest addition. I do not know why our Lord wished to grant your pathetic life mercy. However, I will never question his orders."
He stopped and glared at me. "You will do the same. Or face the consequences."
I tilted my head. "Didn't Cooler already try to kill me?"
At my response, Salza narrowed his eyes and pondered a bit before resuming. "You will show the proper respect and address him as Lord. And yes, I have seen… your unique circumstances. Do try not to anger Lord Cooler further. The next time may be your last."
I gulped and nodded. I didn't want to die so soon after just escaping it hours or days before.
Afterward, our walk was short and filled with small talk. Since we were going to be seeing each other a lot, it wasn't so bad to get along with Salza. My other squadmates were Dore, the green guy, and Neiz, the brown lizardman. No comment on their personality because I haven't met them. I could only go on what Salza said and snippets of memories from my past life.
A metal door slid open to reveal the control room of the ship. Cooler sat in his hoverchair, looming above the rest as the tyrant he always was. Salza announced our presence and knelt down. I followed his lead.
Cooler's vehicle rotated towards us as the person himself leaned forward.
"Good work Salza." He complimented before looking my way. "Usually, those wounds required emergency care and large doses of anesthetic. For you though, it took one day in the healing pod and some bandages. Very peculiar."
He paused and rotated to look out the large window in front of me. "Do you perhaps know why?"
I took a peek at Salza and he nodded, which was a sure sign that I had permission to speak. Yet, there was this inkling of doubt in his eyes.
"Is this the rhetorical question thing, where you blow my insides if I answer wrong?" And Salza facepalmed at my response. Oops.
"Well, no. Though I will oblige if you continue to your moronic questions, Punching Bag."
"But my name is Gula."
"Punching Bag."
"G-" *Blam*
A ki beam hit my right shoulder and left a part of my skin charred. The force of the beam knocked me back first onto the floor. My new uniform was ruined and the pain was negligible-to me at least. Even so, the message was clear.
"Note taken. I'm Punching Bag." I sadly reinforced.
*Blam* My other shoulder got fried. This universe must really hate me.
"I am Punching Bag, Lord Cooler."
"Good enough." Cooler leaned back on his chair with a sadistic grin. He gazed at my figure for a couple more seconds, probably to savior the satisfaction he felt from my torment, before turning to Salza.
"Salza, I will place you in charge of educating her on the basics. You are dismissed." He ordered. Salza saluted and dragged my sorry ass out of the control room.
"Clean yourself, Punching Bag. I do not want to see your filth on my floor any longer." Cooler insulted before the door slid shut.
When Cooler was out of sight and earshot, Salza dropped his hold on me. He looked down on me with disappointment.
"That was downright insane, Gula! If it isn't for your surprisingly resilient body and high pain tolerance, Lord Cooler would have killed you for your insolence." He scolded. I got myself up and pouted. I agreed to better myself in front of this asshole, but I would never like it. Once I get strong enough, I would kick his ass and stick my foot down his throat.
"Enough of this." Salza sighed. "Go get yourself a new set of armor and get yourself to the training area."
"What for?"
"Lord Cooler wants me and the other members of our squad to train you up to standard."
"Soo~"
"So a boost of 100,000 by the end of the month."
"But that's impossible! I barely got to 2,000 in three years of training back home!" His demand was unreasonable no matter what.
"Sorry mademoiselle, Lord Cooler expects perfection."
"Let me guess. I will be executed if I don't meet the quota." I answered for him. Salza gave a slight nod. "And let me make another prediction. You and everyone else will beat me to a pulp and call it training."
"If you weren't a Saiyan, I would have called you psychic. Now go along and go get some medical assistance. Be ready in 30 minutes."
At least this was no different than what I was doing back home. Hopefully, the food was better here.
Oh, God! Everything is all a new type of pain. The training is horrible and so is the food. Who calls mystery meat and green liquid of mysterious origins a satisfying meal. You know something is wrong when the solids taste the exact same as the drinks. However, to survive I must stuff it down and keep it down in my stomach. I saw some soldiers buy better-looking stuff with money. I was broke and have to stick with the cheaper than commoner food replacements.
The training was no better. My three squadmates ganged up on my ass and were currently stomping and punching me in a circle under the orders of Cooler.
"Punching bag, I am disappointed that you haven't made any significant progress in these two days. Why do I even bother coming to see you train?" Cooler laughed as he grabbed a handful of popcorn.
"Because you get high on it, sir?" Dore replied while fisting me in the stomach.
"Oh, unbelievably."
"Fuck you!" I screamed at him, be damned with the consequences. "When I get stronger, I will eat you alive!"
Cooler laughed even louder. "Punching bags don't talk back. Can someone fix that?"
"Sorry Gula," Dore whispered before raising his fist and smashing it across my cheek. I felt some of my baby teeth falling out due to the shear force of the impact.
I hate this life.