Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty
Written by: Feraligreater328 and StevenBodner
Edited by: StevenBodner and SparkerLightning
A/N: And thus begins the Majin Buu Section, or the "Reformed Dynasty Saga". :)
Chapter 127: The Tree of Might
On a planet in the Western Galaxy, Planet Beans IV...
A harsh desert wind blew as several bandits sat atop the walls of a dusty, old fort on Planet Beans IV. Once the sight of a massive civil war in the Western Galaxy, Beans IV was left a desolate wasteland as the volatile Legumians moved onto Beans V, Beans VI, Beans VII...
One of the guards gargled and spat out a mouth full of water. "Damn it. There's even sand in my canteen. Why is the boss making us stay on this dump?!"
Another sighed. "Relax. Only a few days more until our buyer comes for that thing that crash-landed here. Once we sell that-"
"GUYS! COME LOOK AT THIS!"
The other two raced up and joined their friend. He was staring out into the harsh expanse with a pair of binoculars. The other two looked and they could see what he was peering at. In the distance, four shadows seemed to be walking through the arid dunes. The wielder was concerned. "Wh-Why would they be walking through that sandy Hell?!"
One of the others grabbed a receiver dish from a nearby table. He held it up and listened closely to what was being said.
*bzzt* "You three, shut up!"
"Why?! I'm trying to tell both lady and gentleman what we're looking for here."
"They have a listening dish. One second."
Two beams came shooting through the air. One shot between the two spyglasses of the binoculars and killed the man holding them. The other pierced the throat of the radar-wielder and sent him flying back thirty feet. The third guard gasped in horror and leapt down to the ground below. "Gotta warn the Boss! Gotta warn the-"
His pupils shrunk. Strewn messily across the ground were the bodies of dozens of his fellow bandits. Some were simply killed; others were viciously shredded. Feeling a presence behind him, the bandit turned...just in time to have his head caved in by a massive club.
The bandit fell to the ground dead, and then the army of attackers lined up in front of the gate. Two of them pulled the metal shutter wide open and the four shadows came marching in. Green ears perked, a red bandana rustled in the wind, orange hair bobbed as its owner walked, and a metal arm glinted in the sun. The owner of that arm chuckled. "Let's go, boys and girls~ It's time to crash the party~"
In a saloon in the center of the Beans IV outpost...
A song spindled uncaringly out of the jukebox of the old, abandoned saloon.
And when it's all said and done, we don't run~
When it's all said and done, we can't run~
Oh, when it's all said and done, we don't run~
We don't run, we don't, we don't~
A boot kicked the doors to the saloon off of their hinges and the first of the shadows stepped in. He pulled down his hood and snapped the fingers on his robotic hand with a smirk. All at once, the windows of the saloon crashed in and a hoard of brigands and demons came charging in: The Demon Crushers!
The boss bandit cried out. "Who the hell are-"
The man came shooting forward and crashed his knee into the boss' face as the other three shadows went to work. He tossed his dark, desert cloak to the side and howled with amusement! "I friggin' love this song~!"
"SPEAKEASY" TURLES! CAPTAIN OF THE DEMON CRUSHERS! GALATIC PATROL BOUNTY: 350,000,000,000 CREDITS!
Turles stomped his foot onto the bandit leader's chest and pinned him down. Meanwhile, his men went to work. Daiz and Amond were slaughtering people left and right, both smirking at their long-time leader's antics. Zeeun, one of Slug's most powerful demons, was bashing people to death with his club. Medamatcha, a frog-like demon, screeched and caused a dozen miniature versions of himself to fire out of his back. The little imps crashed into four of the bandits and began to tear their skin off with razor-sharp claws.
One of the bandits screamed at the top of his lungs. "WE NEED BACK UP! WE NEED-"
A massive, green hand shot through one of the broken windows and grabbed the screamer by the throat, ripping him off of the ground and dragging him outside at high speed, helpless to resist as...
Outside the saloon...
...he was thrown into several of his companions outside, bowling them all over. Some of the fallen bandits tried to stand, some tried to draw weapons. All were helpless as a series of wicked blasts crashed into them and incinerated them to death. More tried to rush at their titanic foe, only to be stalled by his hateful glare.
"DEMON'S GAZE" LORD SLUG! LORD OF EVIL AND AGED WISEMAN! GALACTIC PATROL BOUNTY: 500,000,000,000 CREDITS.
Lord Slug's eyes glowed a sickening purple and he shot beams of utter dread towards his opponents. They continued to toddle forward a few feet before the left sides of their bodies separated from the right and they all fell to the ground in a bloody, dead heap.
Another tried to leap at Slug from above-head, but was quickly seized. He tried to struggle free, only to gasp in horror as Slug began to grow larger and larger. Soon enough, the bandit was small enough, compared to the titanic Namekian, that he fit in Slug's palm. He immediately went to beg for mercy, but Slug crushed him like a grape before he could utter a sound. Then Slug turned, pulled his leg back, and kicked an entire building like a soccer ball. The building went flying across town and crashed...
Across town...
...right next to a furious, blue-skinned woman who was making quick work of several bandits with her fists. Around her, the other lackeys did their part as well. Wings opened his gaping mouth and bit down around a bandit's head, snapping it off with a quick pop and chewing it heartily. Lakasei and Raisen, the twin dwarves, used their horrific psychic powers to turn a man inside out. The terrified, bloody carcass stumbled towards his comrades and fell dead, suffocating inside his own flesh.
The other bandits tried to flee, only for a nearby water tank to suddenly explode. The water rained like needles and skewered the cowards to death in an instant. Another bandit tried to attack the woman with a club, only for her fiery orange hair to wrap tightly around him. He tried to struggle free, but a quick crescent slash of water rapidly brought an end to his struggles. The woman turned and faced the next mob with a cruel smirk.
"ANGEL OF RAIN" ZANGYA! UNWILLING DEMON CRUSHER CORSAIR! GALACTIC PATROL BOUNTY: 100,000,000,000.
She raised her hands, a silver bracelet locked firmly around each wrist, and made all of the water rise out of the sandy ground. "Now I'm going to-"
Zangya's attention snapped to her right and she leaped out of the way. She sneered. "Stupid robot..."
The bandits on the ground screamed as they died, a flurry of missiles raining down and blasting them into meaty chunks. The couple survivors tried to run as far as they could, only for projectile knives to shoot into their backs from...
Up in the sky...
...the modified wrists of Cacao! A lumbering pile of chromated armor and gesticulating, tender flesh, Cacao was truly a horrifying sight to behold. The various panels on his body sprung open, firing blades and lasers and all manner of ammunition towards anything he deemed an enemy combatant. The miserable shrieks of the bandits below sang out like a symphony and Cacao spat a hateful garble towards their plight! "ВАША ШЛУБА МАТЕРИ СОСЕТ В АД, СУКИ !"
More panels opened on his chest, revealing an entire battery of laser funnels. They began to charge and he narrowed his emotionless, yellow eyes. In his focus, however, Cacao did not notice another attacker charging at his back. Luckily, another member of the Demon Crushers swooped in and made the save with a chest-shattering spear kick! The savior turned to Cacao, his black-and-white mask hiding all features but a pair of fierce eyes. "Cacao! Watch your ass!"
Cacao snarled. "ЕБАТЬ ТЫ И СВОЙ МОЛОДОЙ ЛОЖНИК, СУКА !"
The fourth shadow tossed his cloak aside, revealing the body attached to the mask. It was a similar height and build to Turles, but much more solidly muscular. The mysterious savior roared and his black hair turned into a shining gold!
"THE MASKED SAIYAN"! MAN OF VIOLENT MYSTERY! GALACTIC PATROL BOUNTY: 100,000,000,000.
The Masked Saiyan shoved past Cacao and shot towards the ground at high-speed. He landed on the sand with such force that it sent out a shock tidal wave of ground silica. The grating wave engulfed the surrounding bandits, burying them alive with no hope of escape. The few bandits that were left unburied attempted to run down a nearby alleyway, only for Cacao to land with a thud and lock onto them with a murderous glance. He raised his hands, forming them into new and terrifying instruments of death.
As blood-curdling screams echoed out nearby, the Masked Saiyan sighed. Quickly, he was joined by Zangya, Wings, Lakasei, and Raisen. Soon after, Slug came marching up as well. The Namekian shrunk down, visibly winded by the exertion. After him, Cacao came marching out of the alleyway. His chrome armor was painted bright red.
This lot of murderous mercenaries marched back towards the saloon as Turles came marching out, flanked by Daiz and Amond, followed by Zeeun and Medamatcha. From the opposite gate, Angila came marching up. "Reinforcements are coming from the south."
Turles smirked. "Are they going to make it, Angila~?"
Angila smirked and snapped his fingers. Several ki-based explosions went off in the distance, followed by silence. "No, sir."
Turles cackled and gave Angila a pat on the shoulder. "And that, Angila, is why you're one of my go-to guys~"
Angila nodded with a smile. "I aim to please, Captain."
Turles sighed and looked behind, seeing the lesser members of the crew crowding around himself and his inner circle of friends and officers. "Solid work, men! Head back to the ship and get some rest! We will be joining you shortly~"
The various faceless mooks shouted in praise of Turles, saluting as they went marching back towards the gates of the town. Now alone with only his closest followers, Turles pointed back towards the saloon. "Okay~ Let's go get our prize, shall we~?"
Once again, inside the saloon...
The bandit leader sat, beaten nearly unconscious, surrounded by piles of his dead men. He struggled to sit up and assess the situation, only to have a hard boot stomp right into his gut. He gagged and deflated back down to the ground. Looming over him like the shadow of death was Turles, a playful sparkle in his eye. "Now then~ With the fighting over, it's time for the main event! I hope you're ready, cuz I spent all night preparing for this!"
The bandit leader sneered. "If you think I'll respond to torture, you-"
Turles waggled his finger. "No, no~"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out two decks of playing cards. "I'm going to beat you in a game of Battle Beasts! I hope you're ready, cuz my deck is built for competitive play, and-"
A green hand shot down to the bandit leader's face and jabbed its pointed claw right into his right eye. He shrieked in pain as Slug brusquely shoved Turles to the side. The elder Namekian picked up the bandit leader and snarled. "Where is it?! Now!"
The bandit leader cried out. "Eat shit!"
Slug sneered. Quickly, he blasted off one of the bandit leader's feet. Before the guy could ever scream in agony, Slug then blasted off the other foot. The bandit opened his mouth wide to yowl in pain, but Slug reared him high into the air and smashed him, teeth first, into the nearby wet bar. Shattered enamel plinked to the ground and then Slug grabbed one of the bandit's ears and tore it off with a flick of his wrist. Finally, the bandit leader relented. "IT'S UNDER THE FLOOR! UNDER THE FLOOR!"
Slug turned to the floor. Without looking, he shoved his wrinkled hand into the bandit leader's face and made his head burst apart like a meaty balloon. Then he snapped his fingers at Angila, Wings, Medamatcha, and Zeeun. "Dig."
The four demons nodded without complaint. "YES, LORD SLUG!"
Slug crossed his arms, watching his boys begin to shred the floor. Turles pressed his hands to his hips, puffing out his cheeks and looking annoyed. Slug glanced out of the corner of his eye and grunted. "Don't bitch at me."
Turles whined. "IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO COOL, SLUG! I SET UP HIS DECK TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE HE'D WIN, THEN I'D PULL THE PERFECT CARD AT THE LAST SECOND! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE I KILLED TO GET ALL THE AWESOME CARDS IN THOSE DECKS?!"
Slug sneered. "I am not standing around for four hours while you teach some goon how to play a stupid, children's card game! Not a second time! Plus, you suck at that game, so he'd probably have beaten you and held us up even longer! Torture was faster!"
Turles grumbled and shoved his decks back into his pocket, marching away and kicking the dust at the floor in a miniature tantrum. Meanwhile, sitting at the bar, Zangya snapped at Amond and Daiz. "Yo! Shits for brains! Make me a drink, I'm thirsty!"
Zangya was ignored. She snapped. "Hey! I'm talking to-"
*SNAP*
In a flash, the cuffs around Zangya's wrists reactivated and stuck together fast, immediately sapping her strength. Zangya sneered. "HEY! GREEN BASTARD!"
Slug peered over his shoulder, looking annoyed as he rapidly pressed a button on his remote. "What happened to the muzzle we had around her neck?! It should have snapped over her mouth and shut her up!"
Turles shrugged. "She said it made her face itch, so I took it off~"
Slug growled. "She's our prisoner! Not our guest! Who cares if she's uncomfortable?!"
Turles hopped over the bar, grabbing two bottles of liquor and quickly blending a drink. He slid it to Zangya with a gentlemanly flourish. Turles smiled at Zangya, sparkles twinkling around his eyes. "Slug is so rude~ Don't worry, fair maiden, I'll protect you from him~"
Zangya grimaced, downing her drink. "Hang yourself."
Turles chuckled. "We could hang out later if you'd like~"
Finally, the Masked Saiyan sat at the bar. "Not what she said, but I assume you're just hearing what you want to hear, huh?"
Turles stroked his chin. "Devilishly handsome with a big, sexy brain~?! Why, bro, I didn't know you thought that highly of me~"
Bardock popped the mask off of his face, using it to fan himself. "This planet is a friggin' oven. Pour me a glass of water, yeah?"
Turles complied, pouring his brother a cool drink. The cup only managed to fill half-way before the faucet went still. Turles cocked his head. "I guess the water tower in this place must be on the fritz..."
Zangya smirked. "Yeah. Sure~"
As Bardock downed his half a cup of water, the excavation finally finished. And, unearthed beneath the floorboards in a musty basement, was the prize that Turles so fervently sought. He grinned from ear-to-ear. "Beautiful~"
Wings and Medmatcha, dumb animals they were, stood in awe of the hulking thing. It was a massive, one-eyed robot. It sat in a slump; its legs blown to pieces. But, even in such a reduced state, it was still taller than Slug was. Turles leapt down into the hole and stared at his reflection in the red, lens eye. Wings stammered. "Wh-Wh-What is this thing?!"
Turles scoffed. "Damn your stupid! Slug! Why are your kids so stupid?!"
Slug spoke in a dry tone. "I dunno, SON, why don't you tell me?"
Turles' robotic arm split apart, turning into a rotating menagerie of various tools. He pried open the robot's chest and began to fiddle with the circuitry within. "This is an MM3792 general purpose robot soldier. Or, a Cyclopean Guard, if you wanna be colloquial..."
Turles reached his organic arm into the mess of wires, fishing for something with his tongue stuck half-way out. "It's a technological marvel. Durable armor, advanced circuitry, an enigmatic power source that no one has ever been able to pinpoint, let alone dissect..."
He pulled out a large, clear box containing some kind of flickering flame. Turles pressed his face to it, peering inside. "These things cost 2.72 billion to produce, and that's per unit. The people who make them rarely let one get away like this~"
Bardock sat with his arms crossed, his finger impatiently tapping. "Okay then. So, after three months, are you finally going to tell me a bit more about what it is we're doing? Does this thing have anything to do with that tree you keep going on about?"
Turles looked up from his work, shooting Bardock a genuine smile and nodding. "Indeed, it does, Bardock. Indeed, it does. And you've been very helpful, from the conflict with Saganbo up until now. So... I guess when we get back to the ship, it's sharing time. But only with the people here. The grunts don't need to know what I'm up to yet. Just in case any of them might be spies for the Cooler Force..."
At that moment, with the twist of a wire, the Cyclopean Guard's eye lit back up a shining, bright red. It twitched and its voice box flared to life. "BEEP."
Immediately, Slug grabbed Turles by the scruff of his neck and hauled him out of the hole. All of the Demon Crushers watched on as the thing attempted to get to its feet, only to fail due to a lack of feet. Turles nodded. "It must have fallen from deep orbit to sustain that much damage. I doubt it was deployed to this arid dump. Maybe it was on the outside of a ship and came untethered..."
Turles turned to Cacao. "Hey, Cacao! Your time to shine, buddy! You guys share a creator, so interface with him and see if you can draw out its memory for us."
Cacao nodded and leapt into the hole. Turles stroked his chin. "Ideally, it would have been nice if we could've taken that OG73 unit that Saganbo was rumored to be eyeing. But he came to fight us before he acquired it. Cacao is an older model from the same line, so I hope he's compatible with this thing..."
Cacao's chest plate slid open and a cable came snaking out of his viscera. It moved to plunge itself into the Cyclopean Guard, but suddenly the flame within the clear box flared to life. The machine shuddered and looked down at itself, as if self-awareness had suddenly hit it like a truck. "Where...where am..."
The eye began to flicker. "Free. I'm...free. The horror. The...horror. That...golden...whip..."
The red lens eye shattered and exploded with sparks. The flame within the clear box died down and eventually went out. The Cyclopean Guard slumped over, dead for good. Turles sighed. "Damn."
He waved his hand. "Never mind the interface, Cacao. You won't get anything. I'm going to have to take this thing with us and dissect it for information. Pick it up and carry it for me, okay?"
Cacao hefted the hulking robot onto his shoulder, going off on a garbled rant. "ТЫСЯТ ВАС И ВАШУ КОРОВЬЮ МАТЬ!"
Turles' shoulders slumped. "I was really hoping to study that power source. Oh well, maybe I'll get to do it if we can find Planet M1..."
Slowly, the Demon Crushers all filed out of the saloon, heading back for the Planet Cruiser and some much-anticipated rest-and-recovery. As they walked, Bardock studied Cacao with an unnerved look. He turned to Turles. "Hey, little brother..."
Turles nodded. "Yes, sir?"
Bardock whispered. "D-Do you actually know what that pink-and-chrome blob is saying?"
Turles scratched the back of his head. "Do I look like I know how to speak moon rune?! I don't know what language that even is, much less what he's screaming in it..."
Turles smiled. "But Cacao's heart...hearts? Whatever. It's in the right place and he's very loyal. I wouldn't trade him for anything~"
Cacao bellowed. "ПОСТОЯННАЯ БОЛЬ СУЩЕСТВОВАНИЯ ДЕЛАЕТ МЕНЯ БОЛЬШОЙ ТЕПЛОЙ ПЛОСКОЙ !"
Turles smiled brightly. "He screams that one a lot. I think it means that he loves us~"
Back on the Planet Cruiser...
The various officers of the Demon Crushers all gathered together in the ship's mess hall/amphitheater. They stared up at the stage as Turles and Slug each took their positions. Bardock was slumped against a nearby wall, his arms crossed. Zangya sat in the back row, looking annoyed.
The projector on the ceiling above flickered to life and shot onto the wall: showing the beginning of a massive slideshow presentation. Turles nodded. "Okay then~ So, for the benefit of Bardock and Zangya, I'm going to go over every step of this plan from the beginning. I know some of you are vaguely aware of what we've been doing, but I want to paint a complete picture~"
Turles turned towards the projection. "This information was pretty privileged until now. Only myself, Slug, and our dear spy in the Cooler Force have known the full detail~"
Bardock cocked his head. "Spy?"
Daiz glanced over at him. "Yeah. When you and your buddies gave King Cold the axe, not everyone was thrilled with the new direction Cooler went in. Turles turned up that charm of his and recruited someone to spy for us from the inside. Used to be a pretty high-ranked soldier under Cold too. Though, only Turles and Slug have ever spoken to them directly..."
Bardock nodded. "I see..."
Turles continued. "So, a brief run-through of the early stages of this plan! After Cold died and we got our spy, Slug and I got into contact with who we thought was a kindred spirit: Bojack. We agreed to work together to raid the Sacred World of the Kais and the Core World itself! At first, I just wanted to raid the place for treasure...until I discovered the most wonderful tree~ The Kaijuu Tree on Core World!"
The slide shifted to a picture of a shining, golden apple. Turles sighed and frowned, looking genuinely unhappy. "Unfortunately, Bojack's betrayal left us short of all the treasures I wanted to take. We got this shining, golden apple...but he and his crew stole the Sacred Water of the Kaio-Spring. The plan hit a hitch and I lost out on a friend..."
The mood in the room became dour. Slug sighed. "Told you he'd betray us, Turles."
Turles was quiet, almost whispering. "...yeah. I know..."
With his back to the crowd, Turles took a deep breath and wiped his sleeve over his face. His peppy demeanor returned. "But I'm not one to take a setback lying down! So, we continued along anyway~"
The slide shifted to a massive planet that almost looked like a deep basin. The atmosphere was localized over the one green area, recessed deep into the planet. The rest of the planet was cold and barren. Turles turned to his audience with a flourish. "Planet Pokebowl! A gem of the Western Galaxy! Home of the Paikujin and to some of the most fertile land in the Universe! We needed it! That was the next step! We went there and after a...skirmish...with the Paikujin-"
Slug broke in. "You caused a meteor shower that killed hundreds."
Turles smiled. "Whoops~ Didn't mean to~"
He cleared his throat. "Anyway, we managed to get what we wanted from the Paikujin! We stole a 1000x1000 meter chunk of their fertile soil and stored it in the greenhouse attached to the bottom of this ship! And then, using that chunk of land and the seeds from the golden apple, I made my first attempt at my ultimate goal! A replica of the Kaijuu Tree! THE TREE OF MIGHT!"
Turles smiled at his captive audience. "Catchy name, right? Came up with it myself~"
Zangya looked unimpressed. "Wait...that's what you wanted?! You wanted to grow another Kaijuu Tree?! Are...are you even aware of what that tree is or what it's for?!"
Turles spoke confidently. "Not a clue! But that single apple I stole from the tree was radiating with potent power! And I've read enough fairy tales and religious bullshit to know you should always eat fruit that has that sort of feel! But rather than eat one, I want to grow and eat HUNDREDS~! THEN WE CAN RULE THE UNIVERSE!"
Zangya had several beads of sweat running down her face. "You...plan to eat those golden apples...?"
Turles was cheery. "Yuh-huh~"
Zangya mumbled to herself. "...I think I'm gonna be sick."
Bardock flinched. "Sick? Why?!"
Turles waved her off. "She's just being a worrywart! I've run hundreds of tests, there's nothing wrong with the fruit that I can tell. So long as it's a perfect specimen. Which...leads to our problem..."
The next slide appeared on the wall and Turles played a video. It was distant footage of Abo and Kado, and eventually their horrific fusion Aka, rampaging against the Z-Fighters. Turles pointed to them. "These red-and-blue morons were some Frieza Force stooges out for pointless revenge. So, Slug and I decided to use them for our test run. We gave them the imperfect fruit of the Tree of Might we grew! But our observations showed that-"
"HOLD IT!"
Turles turned to his suddenly quite angry brother. "Yes, Bardock?"
Bardock sneered. "You're the one that sent Abo and Kado to Earth?!"
Turles nodded. "Yepper~ Did you know 'em or something?"
Bardock was stunned. Carefully, he selected his words. "Turles, I told you that we were the ones who killed Frieza and Cold, right?"
Turles nodded. "Right."
Bardock continued. "So, you sent two angry Frieza Forcers after the people who killed Frieza and Cold. Armed with experimental super fruit."
Turles nodded. "Uh-huh."
Bardock continued. "To Earth."
Turles nodded. "Yep."
Bardock was exasperated. "The place that I and my family, who killed Frieza and Cold, live."
One could almost hear the gears turning in Turles' head. Then, his eyes went wide. "OH SHIT! I AM SO SORRY!"
Bardock stammered, pressing his hand to his forehead. "You nearly killed Gine! And your grandnephew! You DID kill your grandnephew in the other timeline!"
Turles nodded, bowing his head. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Just tell me something that he likes and I'll make sure to bring him a nice present when we head back to...Did you say OTHER timeline?!"
Slug stomped his foot hard. "THE POINT, TURLES! THE POINT!"
Turles cleared his throat. "SO! Those tests failed. Abo and Kado were killed by some sexy teen with a cool sword. And we were back to square one! All seemed lost!"
Turles hopped down from the stage and wrapped his arm around Bardock's shoulder. "Until my awesome big brother came calling~"
Bardock flinched as Turles punched him in the arm. The captain practically skipped across the room. He bent down next to Zangya and pinched her cheek. "...you see, Bardock brought us this cutie-pie~"
Zangya slapped Turles' hand. "Piss off!"
Turles smiled. "Zangya and Bardock gave us hope again, boys! Cuz Zangya's blood contains traces of the Sacred Kaio-Water! Which I am currently having to filter out of her to save her from her bungled suicide attempt~"
Zangya clenched her teeth and winced at the mention of that particular subject. Turles leapt back onto stage. "But even though I'm filtering it out...Zangya's biological essence is still corrupting it. With her addition to it, it's useless to us. If we try to water the Tree of Might with it, it will fail just as the water we've been using has..."
The next slide came up and Turles smirked. It was four pictures of four certain people. He motioned over to the dead Cyclopean Guard on stage. "That's where this bad mamma-jamma comes in! This Cyclopean Guard is going to lead us towards the apparatus that we need to purify that water back to its old, pristine self! The Cyclopean Guard, ladies and gents, is a product of the lovely folk on screen! The benefactors of Planet M1 and the former artificers of the Cold Force and Frieza Force! Or, as they call themselves..."
Turles slammed his hand to the wall, right between the four pictures. "THE TUFFLE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE!"
Turles motioned to the first picture, a tall man with white hair and a robotic eye. "Their leader, Dr. Wheelo!"
He motioned to a balding man with a massive, bushy beard. "The weaponry technician, Dr. Raichi!"
He motioned to a blue-skinned fellow with orange hair and reflective shades. "The biological genius, Dr. Myuu!"
Finally, he motioned to a white-haired woman with shiny red lips and a pair of go-go sunglasses. "And the robotics genius, Dr. Gete!"
Turles turned to the wall and shifted the slide. "These four are the last Tuffles left alive! And they are brilliant! They refuse to work with us, because I am a Saiyan! They refuse to work with the Cooler Force because they detest Cooler, but the location of Planet M1 remains a hot-button issue for the wealth of advance science that lives there! They have what we need to purify that water! And what we need is..."
Once again, Turles slapped his hand to the wall. This time onto a picture of a massive, blue crystal. "THE REVENGER CRYSTAL!"
Turles cackled. "Some people call this jewel a mere rumor, but what a tantalizing rumor it is! A perfect, flawless crystal that sucks impurity from anything and turns it into a power source! If we were to acquire this treasure, then we could purify the Kaio-Water from Zangya's blood! Then I could reproduce enough of it to water my Tree of Might and make the ultimate weapon! AND THEN WE COULD RULE THIS UNIVERSE AS GODS!"
Turles fell to his knees, staring up at the Revenger Crystal as he maniacally cackled. Bardock was...unnerved, to say the least.
After enjoying his laugh and catching his breath, Turles stood and turned to his audience. "Okay. Meeting adjourned. Glad I could finally fill you all in, keeping secrets is hard~"
Everyone nodded and stood, exiting the mess hall to go about their business. Only Turles, Slug, Bardock, and Zangya remained. Turles leaped down to the floor again and walked over to Zangya, gently taking her hand. "Enchanté mademoiselle~ Your next filtering treatment awaits~"
Zangya stood, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with..."
Once Turles and Zangya were gone, Slug sighed and cracked his neck. "Tired. Need to sleep..."
"Well, before you do that, would you mind stepping outside with me?"
Slug glared over as Bardock approached him. The elder Namekian's joints ached. He looked grumpy to say the least. "I don't wanna talk. Leave me alone."
Bardock crossed his arms. "We could get you some asprin. Maybe a nice, stiff drink."
Slug glared at Bardock again. At first, Bardock glared back. But then his eyes softened just a bit. "I'm concerned. About Turles, I mean. I... I could really use a conversation with you..."
The aged Namekian took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine. We can talk outside. About Turles. Follow me."
Later, in Turles' lab...
Zangya rapidly slurped black garlic cup ramen into her mouth. Once the noodles were gone, she downed the broth and tossed the cup aside. "Another."
Turles obliged with a smile, giving her a new cup and fresh chopsticks. Zangya continued to eat, her body starving from the intensive procedure it was being forced to endure. Turles sat a kitschy little plate with fresh-baked cookies on it next to her. "I'm out of ramen, after this, but I looked up a nice recipe for cookies so that I could have some ready for you today~"
Zangya glared up from her noodles. She studied Turles' face, his stupid smile and the naïve sparkle in his eyes. It was like staring at a child, in a way. Zangya rolled her eyes and thought to herself. 'This guy is an idiot...'
But all the same, Zangya took three of the cookies and rammed them into her mouth. Turles slowly slid a glass of milk over to her and she shook her head, her mouth half full. "Don' wan' it."
As Turles ate a cookie himself and downed the milk, Zangya glanced down at the two needles in her left and right arm. The one in the right was sucking out her blood and pushing it through a special filter to remove the Kaio-Water. The one in the left was reoxygenating her blood and putting it back into her. Her head was woozy from and oxygen high and her lower body was sort of numb, but she couldn't deny that she had been feeling better since he had started doing this. At least, physically.
Zangya crunched another cookie and looked around Turles' workshop. On a nearby table were several vials of blood. Half of them were labelled "Me" and the other half were labelled "Bardock". Beyond that were piles and piles of half-way finished machines. Pasted to the wall nearer to the back were hundreds of different blueprints. Zangya sighed. "You're a busy guy, huh?"
Turles nodded. "Yup. Tree of Might is just my main project at the moment. I dabble with a little bit of everything~"
Once again, Zangya thought to herself. 'Okay, he's not...stupid. He's just ignorant of people, I suppose. That's the only way to explain that dumb smile. He doesn't know how terrible the Universe can be...'
Turles unfurled a rolled-up blueprint and began to read. Zangya nodded towards them. "What's that?"
Turles smiled. "Blueprints for a super weapon to attach to the Planet Cruiser~ I just got done putting it together. Going to go and test fire it next time we hit a snag on the Tree of Might operation. I'm just trying to think of what I wanna call it~ I have an acronym in mind, I just need to pick out words to match letters..."
Zangya leaned back in her seat. "Any ideas?"
Turles smirked. "Yes! I'm thinking...THE TURBO! ULTRA! RESONANCE! SONIC! APARATUS! Cannon~"
Zangya was blunt. "That sounds like gibberish."
Turles snapped. "Well screw you and Slug! I built it! I name it!"
Zangya rolled her eyes. "What does it do, anyway?"
Turles shook his head. "Sorry. I can't say. Slug always says to never show your hand to anybody, even people you trust. I'd have to ask him if he thought it would be wise to share before I said anything."
Zangya held up her hands. "Like how you ask him if it's okay to turn off my handcuffs when we do this? Or how you asked him to take that muzzle off of me first?"
Turles rolled his single eye. "I can't filter your blood if your veins are kinked."
The filtering machine beeped and Turles stood. Carefully, he pulled the needle from each of Zangya's arms and then tightly bandaged them both. "B-Besides...you deserve someone cutting you some slack. It's...not right to keep a pretty lady like you chained up. Cuz then you're frowning all the time..."
He trailed off. "...a-and y-you h-have a n-nice smile..."
For just a brief moment, Zangya was stunned silent. But then she shook her head. She had no interest in him. Why would she?! But...Zangya smirked as she immediately came to a single conclusion. 'I can use this~'
Zangya whispered sweetly. "So, you can't tell me what that weapon does?"
Turles shook his head. "Nope."
She cooed. "Can you show it to me?"
Turles shook his head. "Nope. N-Now then-"
He produced the remote to reactivate Zangya's handcuffs. She touched his arm, walking her index and middle fingers all the way up to his chin. "Oh, come on~ Don't turn those back on just yet. Not until I share my idea~"
Turles flinched. "Wh-What?"
Zangya smirked and whispered right in Turles' ear. "You seem proud of that big ol' cannon of yours...wanna have sex on top of it?"
Not a thought played in Turles' head. "Yes."
Zangya smirked, standing up. "Lead the way~"
Turles blushed bright red, but then immediately started marching right to where his new weapon was stored. Zangya scornfully smirked as she followed him. 'Gotcha~'
On the deck of the Planet Cruiser...
Lord Slug stared up at the twinkling stars in the space around him. Only a thin, artificial atmosphere separated him from that cold vacuum. His steely gaze, one eye cold and black, the other a blinded, milky white was locked in the direction of Galactic North. "You've been a firm hand since you started working with us. We would have left Fuki-Fukitsu in a lot worse shape if you weren't there to help fight Saganbo. So, just this once, I'll humor you. Let's talk about Turles..."
Bardock nodded. "Okay. But, first, if I may ask...are you the missing elder from Planet Namek? Cuz, Piccolo-"
Slug cut him off. "Turles. I will talk about Turles. And I will warn you, if you ever bring that up again, I will rip your throat out and toss you into the vacuum. Understand me?"
Once again, the terrible energy radiated from Slug. Bardock nodded. "R-Right..."
Bardock leaned on the railing next to Slug. His skin prickled at Slug's presence. It wasn't an evil force, per se. But it certainly was not a pleasant force either. Bardock sighed. "The last time I saw my brother, he was a lot like he is now. Quirky, kind, off-kilter..."
Bardock frowned. "But now, he's quite unhinged. And that bothers me as his big brother. I want you to fill me in... what happened?!"
Slug chuckled. "How do I fill you in on what you already know? He was shot in the back and left to burn. You think you bounce back from that unscathed? The last time someone he didn't know tried to pat him on the back, on those scars, he unleashed a blast so powerful it leveled a city..."
Slug frowned. "And then he locked himself in his room and cried for three days..."
Bardock glanced over at the Namekian. "You really care about him too, huh?"
Slug sneered. "I don't care about anything."
Bardock sighed. "Just...fill me in on the gaps, please. The stuff I missed that you saw."
Slug closed his eyes, feeling the scar over his blind eye throb. "It was...a few decades ago. A mere blink of my long life, but the majority of Turles'. Back on Pandora, one of the worlds where the Heeters dump their trash..."
Decades ago in the West Galaxy, Planet Pandora...
Two blue-skinned individuals grunted and groaned as they labored. One of them, a girl wearing a simple dress and a pair of work-gloves, sighed as she pulled a lever and released a massive load of debris and refuse. "Oil! Where are you?! This is hardly the work that would befit a lady like me!"
Marching over from the edge of the hole they had been depositing loads into, Oil groaned. "I'm glad this is the last of it. I'm hungry and I wanna nap. Need help, Macki?"
Her eyebrow twitched. She sighed. "No, not anymore. Ugh, this is so dumb...why can't we just enjoy Mom and Dad's money and live easy lives?! Why is Elec so damned power hungry?!"
Oil scratched the back of his neck. "He just wants us to have successful lives, I guess. What with Gas never getting to know Ma and Pa and all..."
Macki snapped. "Gas is old enough to walk and work! Why isn't he here too?!"
Oil smiled. "Elec has him! They're working out that deal for Kamikiri, 'member? King Cold is finally letting us close enough to help him broker deals directly! Then, once were all up in his good graces-"
Macki scoffed. "We kill him and take over! Yeah yeah yeah..."
She shook her head. "Cold already has a kid. So, we'll have to kill that one too if we're going to take over...not to mention if he decides to have a second brat..."
Oil smiled. "Well, I trust Elec! We'll get there one day...one planet sale at a time~ The Heeters are going places, sis~"
Macki and Oil both hopped into their debris barge and Macki rolled her eyes. "I guess..."
As the two of them flew away in their barge, neither gave a second thought to the burnt wreckage from the recently conquered Planet Kamikiri. Neither of them took a closer look. And neither of them noticed the single arm sticking out from beneath a pile of rubble, wrapped in a dirty, white shroud.
