I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 8: Space Warp

I awoke in the green fluid chamber again, but as worn out as I was, I didn't care. I took notice that the Zerg skin had regenerated around my feet, and now it was pushing up my legs, slowly. Accordingly, it felt like my Psi was being partially blocked again. I was in and out of consciousness for a few hours before the fluid drained from the chamber and I was able to climb out.

"Well, you're no worse for the wear," Kerrigan smiled as I climbed out.

"Right, I can just thank a few hundred laser beams for that," I said sarcastically.

"We weren't really sure what was going on when you vanished so quickly, so a few of the other broods got ready to come search for you when you suddenly showed up again and wiped out that fleet. It's a good thing you did, otherwise we would have had a lot of trouble on our hands!" she said.

"I didn't do that because I wanted to," I muttered.

Kerrigan looked bewildered at this statement, "Well then wise guy, why did you do it?" I paused, I wasn't truly sure myself why I had defended the Zerg like that, but the answer was there as I replayed the events in my mind.

"I did it, because I had to," I said, sitting down and holding my knees.

"Well that is one of the more interesting answers I've heard in my day, care to explain it?" she asked, sitting next to me.

"It's kind of hard to say. When I scouted out the humans that were coming towards the base, I told the Zerglings to stay put. I'm still trying to figure out why they listened to me at all. Then the soldiers shot them and killed them. I felt them die, and I wasn't sure what to do then. I was torn between helping and not caring, they were able to capture me because of that. Then I busted out of their base and hid in the woods for awhile, and really I wasn't sure what to do then either. I came across a pack of panthers, well what resembled them anyway. More soldiers came for me, but started killing the animals. It was the same feeling as before when the Zerglings died, only this time I acted and saved the rest of the animals. Then I felt the Zerg over here dying, I think you know the rest," I explained, shaking the cobwebs from my head.

"Sounds kind of strange, but not unlikely, most Zerg do respond to their kind being hurt or killed. So I'd say it was a natural instinct much like a parent would protect a child," she beamed slightly. I didn't answer to that, but I did have another question.

"Why do these Zerg implants need to be on? I can't use my full power with them. Sure I can use ki, but I can't use Psi hardly at all. I had to blast them off to power up all the way, and to destroy that battle fleet," I asked.

"Oh that. Well you see, pure Psi energy and Zerg tissue don't really get along with each other. They conflict a bit," she attempted to explain.

"Doesn't seem to stop you," I muttered, seeing right through the bad attempt at a lie.

"Well I'm a little different than you, the Overmind is weary of your inner Psi potential, and that is sort of an insurance plan just in case you turn against him," she said.

I sighed, "Damn thing can kill me whenever it wants to and it's worried? Well you can tell him that he better cool it with this implant shit if I can't use my full power, after all I'd like to train and master them. And I won't be able to do much if my friends do find us and want to eradicate all of the Zerg. Is that a deal?" I asked towards the ceiling with a raised voice.

"You may use your powers as you need. As long as you don't turn against me, is that a deal?" A loud telepathic voice told me. Whatever. I was far from sincere, but for now I would agree. Right away I could sense all the Psi presences around me again, which was mostly just Kerrigan. The Overmind and Cerebrates had that pure mixture of energy put together, so one could say that I got a better sense of them. The most I was going to be able to do with it is use the sword or use the mixture of power. I wasn't sure about trying to go Super Mystic again. I had to have full access to both energies as I quickly found out earlier, and I wasn't really used to Psi energy yet.

"I guess that will have to do for now," I muttered.

"Good. Now then, I suppose I better go get your gift," Kerrigan said, leaving the room for a minute.

I raised my eyebrows slightly, "Gift?" She was back pretty quick, and followed by a dark brown colored Zergling. It looked much larger than most, in fact when I stood up it was even with my height. Kind of like a really beefed up Great Dane. It's skin looked a lot tougher, and its claws and teeth looked as sharp as my energy sword.

"This is your pet that you picked out earlier, he was done morphing about an hour ago," she said, looking a bit pleased. I looked the Zergling over, it responded by rubbing its face up against my leg. I scratched it behind what I believed to be the ears, and it made a loud purring noise that sounded like a snore. I was more amazed that it would even let me touch it.

"It likes you," she smiled.

"What do I call it? I'm not going to just call it Zergling, does it have a name or anything?" I asked.

"Letch, I came up with it while you were gone, does that work?"

"Letch, the Zerg dog. I suppose it has a ring to it, except it sounds like he's supposed to be some old pervert running around. Hey cut it out!" I laughed slightly as the Zergling, Letch, had decided to engage the licking attack to my face.

"That was kind of the point, I know you have a perverted mind after all. Well you did, maybe not so much right now. Looks like you two will get along well!" she said, looking amused. The floor then shook slightly, and a loud and high-pitched noise triggered in my sensitive ears, making my ears ring.

"What is that?" I asked, plugging them.

"It's time for the Super Hive to do a warp jump, prepare yourself!"

-

"Warp jump?" I asked, lying on the floor, following her directions as she did so herself.

"I'll explain after it's over," she said, putting a finger to her purple lips. I reached out with my senses, feeling that we were back in space and away from the planet surface. I felt the outside surface of the Super hive; and it seemed to be vibrating rapidly as it started to fill with energy. It felt like the energy that had been coming off of the mineral crystals, so I could only assume that they had been able to gather enough of it with the gas to build another Super-structure. I heard the high-pitched whine of a noise again, and it felt as if my ears were just going to split apart. I plugged my ears in the process, trying to block it out as a massive migraine came to my head. Then something opened up outside the hive, but I was so pre-occupied with the noise that I barely regarded it. The hive shifted in that direction, towards the hole. Then it felt as if my insides were shifting around in positions that weren't natural to any form of life. This made me feel very queasy, and I soon forgot about the pain in my ears and clutched my gut, groaning. I glanced over to see Kerrigan's face full of grimace; apparently it was bothering her as well. I then looked back at the ceiling made of skin. It too was shifting a bit; the colors of blood and fluid were shifting around quickly. It's swirling continued until the red and brown fluid shifted into a marble like color of orange. It was kind of a cool scenery, if not for the nauseous feeling. Then everything that we had been experiencing multiplied ten fold and damn near tore me apart at the seams. I had never felt or experienced anything this remotely horrible in my life, other than death that is. It continued for what seemed like an eternity. The skin ceiling then broke and the random fluids gushed out and poured over us. This disgusting feeling allowed me to drop whatever restraint I had, and I threw up violently on the floor, barely able to turn my head in time. The terrible feelings continued, but quickly lessened in intensity, and very soon it was over.

I gasped for breath, spitting out whatever I had digested earlier, "Okay, that sucked!"

"Agreed," Kerrigan replied.

"What was that?" I asked, brushing my chest of whatever fluid had poured on it. I still had the feeling that I needed to vomit again.

"That was a warp jump, it makes most beings quite queasy. Especially the first time," she beamed at me.

"So that was my first time then, care to explain what exactly it does?" I asked, flinging random Zerg crap off of my hand.

"It allows us to travel great distances very quickly. By building a Super Hive to travel with, it can generate a field in which we can bend space and make a jump," she explained.

I looked at her cluelessly, "Can you put that into English?" I asked.

"Eng-what?" she asked. Doh.

"I mean basic terms, I'm not the smartest in the universe," I said plainly.

"No argument there," she chuckled as I growled slightly. "Okay, what is the shortest distance between two points?" she asked.

"A straight line, why?" I asked.

"I'm trying to make you understand this. Now even if the shortest distance is a straight line, a line across the vast reaches of space still takes a long time to travel right?" she asked as I nodded.

"Good, now imagine taking those two points and bringing them together, the line to travel would not be so great right?"

"If it were possible, yes," I said, trying to get what she was saying.

"Well that's just about what we do. You see the Super Hive generates great amounts of Psionic and psychic energy, and using it, we can bend two parts of space together and jump across the fold. Kind of like a wormhole or a portal I guess, the hard part is the jump, but in doing this we can travel great distances in a short amount of time. Space returns to normal the instant we're through, do you get it?"

"Partly, sounds pretty fishy to me, but then a lot of things aren't making sense lately. I guess that will have to do," I said, trying to wipe the sticky multi-colored fluid from my body. Letch was off the floor, shaking himself off as well.

"So that's how we got away from Earth so fast isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, granted we had to stop to form another Super Hive on one of the planets in that sector, but that's how we did it. All we have to do, or I should say all the Overmind has to do, is recall the position in space we were at, and then he can jump there. Obviously the journey to your planet was a bit different in that aspect, but he has charted most of this galaxy. While you were recovering we made two jumps during our travels away from Earth. The first was to just outside the dimensional hole that appears in space in your dimension. It can barely be seen, but there is a tear there. The other was shortly before you awoke to get moving towards Tarsonis. This jump was to another point in space that he has been near long enough to recall its location, about halfway to our destination. Now we are about a month from Planet Char, where we will be staying for awhile. In the meantime, get your rest! More than likely we will all sleep for the month, don't be surprised by it," she ordered after her lengthy explanation, pointing at the oddly shaped bed. I climbed in, still reeking of the mess the ceiling had made.

"There any chance for a shower around here?" I asked.

"Zerg cells naturally clean themselves. You won't notice the smell when we wake up again, goodnight," she said, leaving the chamber. I glanced up at the broken and dripping ceiling; to my surprise it was already bending itself back into place, slowly regenerating itself. Letch then trudged over and sat next to the bed, before lying down. At first I was a bit weary of the Zergling being there, but if anything it just acted like any loving dog would and snuggled up next to the bed. I found his warmth decreased the chilly feeling of the bed, and thus allowed me to fall asleep faster despite the horrid stench.

Interlude 8.1-Contact-

"Why yes, we would be honored to receive your ship Prince Vegeta, you may park at dock number three," Frost said over the screen. When it blipped off, Vegeta was to say the least, surprised.

"That was Frost? He looks like Cooler. I thought for sure he'd be outraged and threaten to destroy us or something," Gohan said.

"I didn't know Frieza had a son," Goku said thoughtfully. Vegeta's surprised expression did not remain.

"I remember him very well. You see, him and I were born about the same time, and we were sort of forced into a so-called friendship by our fathers. My father only did it because he knew what Frieza would do if he suggested otherwise. You could call it a one-sided friendship if you like," Vegeta stuttered a bit.

"Why was that, what did Frieza make you do?" Goku asked.

Vegeta hesitated noticeably, "It wasn't what Frieza made me do, it was what Frost made me do. We were playmates I guess you could say, but Frost would test out his fighting skills by beating me senseless time after time. Whenever Frieza asked what happened, he would claim things like I attacked him or make up some sort of trash that even Frieza knew wasn't true. After that Frieza himself usually beat me to a bloody pulp!" Vegeta explained.

"How awful," Fasha gasped.

"I wasn't finished yet. Most of the more, troubling events were after planet Vegita was destroyed. Eventually Frost would bore of that, and I thought we actually had a friendship. We would go to other planets for trade and cause all kinds of mischief in the process, much like the boys do now. This went on for several years, up until I was almost an adult but still a teenager by your standards. We would do things like spike Frieza's wine, tear up conference rooms right before a meeting, and pour itching solution down the armors of the soldiers, foolish things like that. Then we came across what we thought was a planet for purging, or so Frost said. I received a call for Frost to come back to Frieza's base, and I stayed behind to purge the planet. When I got back, I was informed that the planet we were at was actually a rich mining colony that Frieza's wealth thrived from. Frieza's beating nearly took my life, and then the public humiliation followed. Why I wasn't killed was beyond me, but I'll never forget the smirk that was on Frost's face after it was all over. After that I never associated myself with Frost, and rarely ever saw him. Though I heard reports that he and Frieza had a falling out, and he left the royal family," he finished, taking a deep breath.

"I thought you were with Nappa and Raditz most of the time?" Gohan asked.

"That doesn't mean all the time, and between our home planet's destruction and the time I had reached maturity I was not allowed around Nappa and Raditz. I was with Frost for most of that time. Sort of something to keep Frost out of the other affairs of the Kold family. He tended to object to every little detail and really drove Frieza up the wall sometimes with his opinions," Vegeta explained.

"Is he stronger than Frieza?" Goku asked first.

"That I don't know Kakarot, what I do know is that his body was genetically engineered to be far stronger than any of the Kold family, with what I don't know. So I would guess yes. But I do not know how far that power extends, he is at least as evil as Frieza was. Perhaps more so," Vegeta looked slightly concerned.

"Guess we'll have to be on our guard then," Bardock said, being the only silent one about the idea. All of them, along with the Protoss on the bridge, looked a little shaky about it as they approached the landing platform.

-

"Damn that Frost!" Aldaris shouted, and in result his energy output went up.

"But it should only take us a few months to get back to Auir even without the recall sire!" Croton explained. Aldaris didn't care about that, the fact that Frost had planted such a device on his transmitter was enough for the Judicator to blow his top.

He quickly calmed down though when he saw that his energy was beginning to create a light show around his body, "Yes, set course for Auir right away! The sooner we get there the better!" Aldaris then left the bridge and proceeded to his private chambers. There he contemplated this turn of events.

Either he did that because he is going to come after us himself, or he is going to allow the Saiyans to do so. That must not happen, if they beat us back to Auir, everything will be ruined. And then I will not be able to track down the Saiyan Verto or the Zerg. Damn that Kerrigan, damn that Frost, damn it all! No, calm yourself, getting angry does not help the situation. We must press on to Auir first. Should we come across the boy and the Zerg we can deal with them then. I must use this time to develop my new powers, I can already feel my body strengthening itself, I just need to master the power. We must make haste and not come across any other distractions, some things out here can be worse than the Zerg. Aldaris resumed a meditative phase, concentrating his ki around him. Outside the ship, in space, a shadow of unluckiness loomed over them, smiling at their dismay, and it would soon reveal itself by luring them to it.

A/N: Next time on DBV: The gang arrives on Frost's planet and are treated to a feast provided by the son of Frieza. Vegeta lets off some steam, only to discover some of Frost's true power in the process. Next time.