The Vicious Gods Wrath
Chapter 4: Out of Time
"Find anything?"Gohan asks Piccolo as the two search the spot where they both sensed the faint, malevolent energy appear out of nowhere. The Namekian is slow to answer his pupil, opting to continue searching for the signature both on and off the planet. Though he can sense his fellow Z-warriors and their other allies, he cannot find the energy responsible for bringing them to the middle of this desolate wasteland. Where ever it is, it's either left this world or is doing a very good job of hiding itself.
"Piccolo?"
With a sigh, the Super Namekian shakes his head in dismay. "No, unfortunately. Whatever that power was, it's long gone from this planet." "
He gaze turns to the sky. "I don't like this one bit Gohan, that energy we felt... I know we've encountered it somewhere else..."
"I can't put my finger on it either," Gohan admits, scratching the back of his head as he tries to consider who can help in clearing up this mystery. "Could Dende tell you what wishes Shenron just granted?"
"If the people responsible for summoning him used all three of his wishes, then even Dende won't be able to bring him out for an entire year. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask anyway. If that doesn't work, I may have to turn to King Kai for help in investigating this."
"Uhh, could you... maybe... do that alone?" A sudden, nervous hesitation creeps into Gohan's voice, prompting Piccolo to turn his gaze back to his former student. "I sort of have a romantic speech to prepare for my proposal dinner tomorrow..."
"Tch," He grimaces at the very concept of such a thing. "You humans and your mushy stuff, I'll never understand it."
Jaco's jaw clenches as the enemy fire explode all around him, ringing in his ears as he flies his ship through it all long enough to reach his target: the main pirate vessel. Not an easy target to miss given its massive size, yet its many fighter ships and gun turrets makes it a troublesome one none the less. The colony ships responsible for bringing him into this situation flee the battle as the pirate forces opt to focus on Jaco.
The Patrolman doesn't hold this against them, however, as their continued presence here would only complicate the situation further. For any other opponent of this caliber, Jaco's first instinct is to fire off the Extinction Bomb so that the poisonous gas within deals with his enemy for him. However, this is out of the question as pirate vessels typically hold captured innocents inside, either as manual labor or potential sentient trafficking.
"It seems I'll have to use a more hands-on approach in order to win this battle," Concludes Jaco before pressing the auto- pilot on the command console before him. "Take command of the ship Tights, I'll be handling this matter personally."
"I will do my best not to destroy it, sir," The A.I's voice oozes with sarcasm, earning a chuckle from its master as he leaves the pilots seat and reaches for the side hatch of the ship. "We will be in range momentarily sir, do your best not to be vaporized on the way down sir."
"Can't afford to Tights," He briefly reminds himself of the situation on Earth concerning Freeza, going silent for a moment before returning to the here and now. He takes hold of the hatches opening with his entire body stiffening up as he readies himself for the plunge. The sounds of explosions continue to ring in his ears as Tights moves in closer towards the outside turrets, dozens upon dozens of blaster bolts whizzing past.
Despite some minor cosmetic damage to the exterior, Tights closes the distance leaving a 100-foot jump to the ship below. "Go sir!"
Nodding in understanding, Jaco opens the hatch and jumps downward with his jet propulsion propelling quickly towards the outer hull of the capital ship. Dodging more turret fire on his way down as the vacuum of space deafens him to all sounds around him. Upon reaching the ship, the Patrolman rams his fist right through the hull and rips a chunk of it off, giving himself an entry point inside.
"Tights, I've made it in," He whispers to the A.I. upon landing inside a long, metallic and empty hallway near the center of the vessel. "How goes it outside?"
"Reasonably well, still, I recommend that you take control of the ship quickly, the odds of me keeping this up for very long are not in our favor."
"Understood-"
"Halt Patrolman!" Shouts a loud, deep voice from behind Jaco, prompting the Patrolman to turn 180 degrees to face its owner. Before him stands a squad of six, 10 feet tall swine creatures armed with both archaic bladed weapons and wrist blasters. "Move an inch, and we'll rip ya to pieces!"
"Ordinarily I would properly introduce myself, but seeing as I'm running short on both time and patience, I'm afraid you'll just have to be content with meeting my fist."
"What're ya-" Before any of them can react, Jaco jumps forward like a speeding bullet and punches the squad's leader right in the snout, sending him flying backward several times through the air. The Patrolman does the same to his allies, dispatching them quickly before running forward to the command center. Encountering many more squads along with mechanized sentry bots, all of whom fall before his vastly superior battle power.
In no time, he reaches the elevator shaft allowing him quick and easy access to the command bridge from where he'll be able to take control over all ship systems. "Have you reached your destination yet sir?" Asks Tight as Jaco stands patiently in the elevator with his arms folded and his foot tapping to the music.
"One minute," Is all he says before a pinging noise from inside the elevator lets him know he's reached the bridge. The instant the doors of it open, Jaco finds himself bombarded by both blaster and rocket fire from the pirates inside the room. It proves to be a fruitless effort as Jaco emerges from the smoke without a scratch on him, earning gasps of fear from the present pirates.
"I will only offer this once," He speaks up formally. "Surrender now, and I will ensure that your prisoners won't kill you all the instant I leave this vessel."
"Ha!" Laughs one of the nearby pig pirates. "Jokes on you shrimp! We don't got any onboard!" He proclaims confidently with a smirk with Jaco giving him a deadpan look, his co-workers, however, glare at him angrily at letting such information slip.
"You have absolutely no slaves or innocents held captive on your ship?" Asks Jaco wanting to be sure of the validity of this statement.
The pig pirate laughs at him again. "That's right! Lost all the other lot in a bet not two days ago! Why'd ya think we was goin after those cowards just now-" Before he can continue, one of his crew mates puts his hand around his neck and smacks him over the head. "Shut yer damn mouth, idiot! Do ya want us all to die?!" He asks the blabber mouth pirate angrily.
"Splendid!" States a pleased Jaco loudly. "If there were any prisoners onboard, then it would've been a very long process seeing them back to their natural worlds. Something I simply do not have time for, thank you, vicious fiend," he bows to the blabbermouth, "This will make things much easier for me."
Without warning, Jaco charges forward at the frightened pigs, slamming his elbow into the belly of the captain before snatching his keys to the ship and putting them into the console. Despite the remaining pirates firing blaster bolts at him, Jaco merely sits down on the chair, not feeling any of their blows as he goes through the computer menus, quickly finding the option he seeks. "As my Earth friends would say, bingo!"
With a mighty slam of his open palm onto the console, the ships self-destruct protocol activates. Instantly, the entire ship starts buzzing with the sounds of red alerts going off all over it with a voice stating, "30 seconds until detonation" over and over. The pigs present at the bridge squeal in terror before attempting to make a break for the console, only for Jaco to rip it out off the ground and swing it around like a hammer, knocking them all on their backs.
"I must thank you again for this vital information, you may have very well helped me save the universe," He politely thanks to the blabbermouth pirate before throwing the console right through the windshield. With his escape route formed, Jaco fearlessly welcomes the vacuum of space with a mighty leap out of the broken window.
"Tights, I require your assistance."
"On my way, sir," Doing as requested, the vessel quickly makes its way to Jaco with the fighter ships scattering to escape the capital ships blast radius. Jaco leaps inside the main hatch located on top of his vessel and promptly jumps into the captain's seat, buckling himself in as it rushes to get away. Behind them, the pirate ship explodes with a mighty blaze of fire erasing it from existing, taking most of the pirates along with it.
"We were lucky that they didn't have any civilians present on that vessel."
"Indeed, however, we don't have the luxury of time to enjoy this victory," Jaco warns the A.I. and rushes with putting on his seat belt on and taking manual control of the ship. "Sorbets revival of Freeza is still a threat, one we must deal with immediately-"
The sudden ringing of his communication device interrupts his speech, his bravado immediately replaced with a terrible sense of dread in his stomach. He hesitantly answers the call, hoping it's not bearing the news he thinks it is.
"Hello?"
"It's me," Tagoma's somber voice answers. "I hope to all the gods that may or may not exist that you had a good reason for not making it on time..."
Jaco remains silent, the answer already becoming clear as day to him yet he doesn't want to hear the words,
"Nothing to say? Amazing how bravado falls apart when you've failed so horribly." Tagoma accusation cuts a bit too deeply for Jaco's liking but with what's at stake, he can't say he doesn't deserve it this time around.
"Is," Jaco begins before gulping. "Is he really back?"
PTO Command Ship
Many people seem to regard Freeza as a conqueror only, one who's sole focus in life is in seeking out worlds to bend to his will or exterminate for someone else' needs for the right sum of money. An understandable thing to assume for his reputation as Lord of all the Cosmos and many other, sometimes tiresome titles, lesser creatures bequeath given his prominent role in shaping the universe over the course of many decades.
But in truth, Freeza is also a man who enjoys the finer things in life, as any refined person does. Meals from chefs of such caliber and exquisite taste entire star systems would go to war over them if they had the slightest of inklings of the joy such dishes provide. Wines of various sorts imported from across the galaxy, many of them older than several recorded species and so rich in their flavor they sent every fiber of his being into a kind of ecstasy Freeza thought impossible for him to achieve without setting a planet ablaze first.
Finally, comes the art of music. With his power and influence, gaining an audience to the various performances of the universes' most spectacular musicians is a trivial matter for him, as is commanding them to perform personally for him if he wants them to. From booming scores to somber leitmotifs, Freeza has experienced some of the finest pieces of music that have ever been and will ever be. Creations which managed to send his imagination to an almost childlike frenzy while others brought him to an almost serene calm he has seldom felt.
But none of these can compare to the joy of senses he conducts with his own two hands, his retribution at the two beings he despises above any others.
The two Super Saiyan's responsible for humiliating him, killing him then haunting his every sleeping moment. Son Goku, the Saiyan of Earth and the nameless boy with the haughty arrogance of youth. But now the time of Freeza has come, and paradigm has shifted, for he is the tormentor and their pain is glorious indeed.
The taste of their blood splatting across his face as he slowly, methodically grinds them to dust is more glorious than any meal. The scent of their helpless despair leaves him in a perpetual, almost mesmerizing state of ecstasy and the sounds of their pained gasps, cleaving flesh and crunching bones is an orchestra of pain and misery only a master conductor of that particular art form such as himself could realize to its fullest potential.
Freeza cannot say whether or not this is reality or a dream. If it is the former, then all of his expectations have been far and away greatly exceeded. If it is the later? It is the greatest dream he has enjoyed in a very long time, perhaps ever. In due time, it will become a realizy nonetheless.
I originally intended for this to be longer, but given my strict schedule for the coming week I had to split it in half. Still, expect some interesting things to go down next chapter as Jaco isn't quite ready to let Freeza just heal back up and get back to conquering just yet. There was also going to be prisoners onboard, but that would've dragged this bit out too long, plus I thought it was way funnier this way, from a sadistic point of view of course...