Free Hera's Hero! Arrival of a New Menace!

Broly and Paragus were easy to bring to the spaceship after learning of its existence. The group as a whole is suspicious of the two saiyans, minus Goku of course, but none more so than Zamasu. While he is a saiyan biologically, he is a Kai by spirit and he can tell, just through instinct, that something is brewing in the old saiyan's mind. What it is, Zamasu is unsure. However, he can tell it is nothing good.

With the party all situated in the ship Zamasu turns to the young Cheelai and says, "Watch the ship. Your power is too weak to help us."

Cheelai frowns and crosses her arms in defiance. "No! I wanna go with! I'm not just some little kid who needs to be protected!"

Zamasu sighs, preparing himself for an argument when Paragus steps in. The old saiyan smirks, saying, "Feisty little one. I say she goes." Seeing Zamasu's annoyed and inquisitive look, Paragus continues. "She is a young Hera… Inquisitor, if my memory is correct. She might be able to access the machines inside that Hera ship you want access to."

The Kai-saiyan stares, then sighs in defeat. "Very well," he says, ignoring Cheelai's triumphant look. "She may come along."

Ignoring the chattering behind him from that slight argument, Zamasu walks over to the airlock and opens it. This causes the chatter to die down as the party prepares to head into open space. Zamasu closes the airlock, and the ship lets them outside.

While the main group knows that the ship is covered in a sort of fiber, Broly and Paragus are not. When Paragus inspects the blue strands, he lets out an amazed exclamation. "These are ki strings! I haven't seen these in ages!"

Zamasu floats closer to Paragus. "You've heard of this technique before?"

Paragus nods, still staring at the strings. "It was an old ki technique passed down by my family. I never bothered to learn it, but it was said to allow the user to create indestructible strings when trying to break them with ki."

This makes Zamasu hum. "Immune to ki?" Zamasu looks across the ship, then stares at the wall in front of him. He brings his fist back, then punches the ship, without enhancing his fist. The whole wall of strings shimmers and pulsates before settling back down. This makes Zamasu grin.

Turning to the group, he says in his microphone. "Hit the strings without ki! It should break them!" Seeing everyone slowly agree, Zamasu turns back to the strings and begins punching them with a steady rhythm.

Soon, the whole main party is hitting the ship, even Cheelai. Paragus and Broly watch, one in amusement and the other in confusion. Broly looks at his father questioningly, to which Paragus nods. Broly turns back to the ship and, remembering what the funny-looking saiyan said, kicks the ship with as much force as he could muster without ki.

That single kick causes a hole to puncture in the strings, and soon the whole barricade comes down. Everyone looks at Broly in amazement, Vegeta with a little bit of jealousy, before Zamasu reels them all back together. Pointing to what looks like an airlock, Zamasu says, "We should be able to get in through there. Careful, we don't know what's inside." Nodding in agreement, the group floats to the airlock, which lets them through.

Free of the heavy space suits, everyone takes a breath of relief. Now able to see inside the ship, the group realizes that the entire ship is dark, nearly pitch black. No lights can be seen anywhere.

Zamasu and Goku ignite their ki blades, the other people capable of controlling ki forming ki balls to illuminate the area around them. The interior of the ship is bathed in a soft, flickering array of blue, purple, and green energy. Vegeta takes a small glance at the green ki balls in Broly and Toga's hands, but then pushes his thoughts to the side as Zamasu turns.

The kai hybrid looks at the group and says, "We should split up. I will go with Goku. Vegeta, accompany Paragus and Broly. Toga and Cheelai can stick together." While everyone seems fine with their group assignments, Vegeta can't help but scowl as he looks at Paragus. Having to deal with that old geezer will be like torture to him.

Nodding to Goku, Zamasu then says, "Keep an eye out for Kenyo or any of his crew. Try to prevent any forms of conflict. Now then, let's go." With that final declaration, the group splits into three parts.

As the groups split, Vegeta reluctantly moves over to search with Paragus and Broly. While the giant saiyan stays quiet, his father isn't so kind. Paragus looks at Vegeta and says, "Well, prince, it seems that we will have to be a team."

Vegeta grunts in response, crossing his arms and moving forward. "Just keep alert. I don't want to defend your ass if we get into trouble."

Paragus smirks and pats Broly's arm. "No need for that. Broly here is all the defense I need."

Broly nods in confirmation, much more polite than Paragus. "Yes. I will protect my father as best as I can."

Vegeta glances at Broly and grunts. "So he CAN speak. I was beginning to think that your son was broken."

Paragus's eyes widen in rage, but he quickly reigns in his anger. "Not now," he reminds himself. "In due time Vegeta will pay, but not now."

Instead of showing Vegeta his anger, Paragus instead replies with. "Well, Broly is simply quiet. But enough about us, we have little to share. What about you, Prince Vegeta? Why are you traveling with such a strange group?"

As Vegeta opens a door to another room in the ship and looks around, he calls out, "Not by choice, mind you. We were on Planet Namek and had to fight Frieza."

This makes Paragus pause. "Lord Frieza?! How are you alive?"

Vegeta pokes his head out with a smirk. "Well, we killed him, obviously." Seeing Paragus's utter disbelief, Vegeta continues with, "Myself, that bumbling buffoon Kakarot, and the faker Zamasu were all able to take him down on Namek." As Vegeta re-enters the room, he thinks to himself, "No need to tell them I was unconscious during the last part."

Paragus and Broly follow Vegeta into the room, Paragus's mind working a mile a minute and only pausing as a small tremor goes through the ship. "Astounding! To think saiyans would actually be able to take Lord… er- Frieza down! Absolutely astonishing!"

However, that's when Paragus realizes something in Vegeta's description of the other saiyans. "Wait one second. That saiyan, Zamasu, you call him a "faker". Why is that?"

Vegeta scoffs as he looks inside a drawer for some clues of what happened on the ship. "He isn't really a saiyan. Based on what we've learned of his past, he used to be a Kai from the future, a sort of god. He tried to destroy all the mortals in his timeline using the body of a saiyan, but he was stopped by two other divine beings. He was sent back in time to "learn of his mistakes" and must've landed on Earth, the planet where I met him and Kakarot. So, despite having a saiyan's body, his heart and mind are that of a Kai."

Paragus takes this information in with deep interest. "Well then, I see we have quite the ally with us. He could prove invaluable in the future."

Vegeta tsks in annoyance as he decides to leave the room, the two other saiyans following. "Make no mistake, even your son is no match for Zamasu. He has achieved the legendary Super Saiyan power and stands above us all in power."

Leaving Paragus shocked at that revelation, Vegeta continues down the hallway. However, once he reaches the final door and opens it, he feels a sudden burst of energy from the other side of the ship. His eyes widen as he can feel Toga's energy suddenly increase, either due to fear or desperation. That's when he notices five more foreign powers in his senses, and none of them are good.

Vegeta turns to Paragus and Broly and yells, "There's trouble on the other side of the ship!" Vegeta can feel the sudden displacement of Kakarot and Zamasu's energies, recognizing the strange teleportation technique they have. "Zamasu and Kakarot are already there, let's move!" Nodding in agreement and not willing to argue when Vegeta is obviously distressed, the three saiyans sprint through the ship towards the foreign energies.

-With Toga and Cheelai, right as the groups split apart-

As soon as the one group became three, Cheelai and Toga ran off into the ship. Their eyes are wide with excitement as they explore the massive Hera ship. Cheelai's eyes shine as she looks at all the high-tech gear inside. "Look at this stuff! So many cool things! Gravity destabilizer, quantum computer, antimatter cannon?! I didn't think they sold those anymore!"

Toga nods with a smile as she looks around. "It really is amazing. So many Herian items are in here." The young half-saiyan's fingers brush against a button next to a door and she peers inside. Her eyes widen in shock and she yells, "Cheelai, come look at this!"

Cheelai comes running over, replying with, "What is it?! Did something… happen?" Cheelai trails off as she looks inside the room Toga discovered. Inside are numerous strings, too many to count. They are thrown all over the place: across the floor, hanging from the ceiling, covering the boxes and consoles. However, they also notice a few important details.

Toga walks over to a large bundle of strings about 5 feet long and stares at it. She sniffs the strings, then recoils in shock. "Ugh! It smells like blood!"

The younger of the two looks down at a large, dried, red puddle and murmurs, "I think it is."

This is when the girls notice the carnage the room is in. The consoles are all broken, some of them sparking from exposed wires. Boxes are destroyed and scorch marks are all over the walls. Then, there are the five humanoid-sized bundles of string.

Suddenly getting a suspicious feeling, Toga walks over to a bundle of strings and pulls. There, beneath the layers of ki strings, is a face. Bloodied, beaten to a pulp, and nearly unrecognizable.

Toga shrieks and jumps back, her eyes wide and hands shaking. Cheelai looks at her to ask what's wrong, but then she notices the face as well. She slowly begins to gape as her eyes snap open in shock. "I-Is that… a body?!"

The two girls are frozen for a moment, but Cheelai gulps and manages to reign in her fear. She approaches the corpse slowly, looks at it, then shakes her head. "Yeah, they're dead alright. No way they survived with their face so totaled."

Hearing Cheelai speak seems to calm Toga down as well. The girl cautiously approaches the body, then looks at the other four bundles. "Are… do all the big bunches of strings have bodies inside?"

Cheelai grimaces and nods. "Probably, considering this one has one. Man, just what happened here?"

Toga looks around, her mouth still set in a trembling frown. Then, she looks at the face again and stares. Something about it seems off. Her trembling dies down a bit as she leans in closer, examining the face. It certainly is bloodied and beaten, but the wounds almost look fresh. Her eyes widen.

"Why hasn't the body decayed?"

Cheelai looks at Toga in confusion, and then realization appears on her face. "Yeah, that's a good point! Kenyo's been missing for a really long time, and so has Bojack. If they had some big final duel, which is what I bet since Frieza didn't care about either of them, then these bodies should be long decomposed!"

Toga pokes at the ki strands and says, "Is it because of these strings?"

Cheelai shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe. We don't really know all they can do, so they might be the reason."

Just then, a sudden tremor hits the ship. Cheelai and Toga stumble, looking around in confusion. Cheelai is the first to voice her confusion. "What was that?"

Toga frowns, looking in a particular direction. "I don't know, but I can feel a big power heading this way. A really big one."

Cheelai hisses in annoyance and slight fear. "Yeah, that's not good. Come on, we need to find Kenyo and get out of here!"

Toga nods and the two run out of the hallway. Looking around, Toga then points down the hallway opposite the direction they started. "I can feel a faint power level in there, nearly unreadable! It could be Kenyo!" Cheelai nods in response and they run down the hallway and enter a big room.

This room appears to be the control room of the ship. The steering dock is elevated in front of them, the lower area covered in control panels. This room, just like the other room they found, is covered in strings. However, there are nearly a dozen body-sized bundles in the room as opposed to the previous five.

"Hey, look up there!" Toga looks up at Cheelai's shout and her eyes widen. There, hanging directly above the steering wheel, is another bundle of strings. However, this time, the head is free and visible. The person's eyes are closed, but despite their bruised face, they are undeniably alive. Their short, spiky orange hair sways to the side, a single bang falling just above their right eye.

Toga's eyes widen in recognition of the person. "That's Kenyo! And he looks alive!"

"Glad to hear it." Toga's eyes widen even further, but not in surprise. Her trembling returns full force as she slowly turns around, hoping beyond hope that who she just heard isn't here. Her hopes are not fulfilled.

A tall, teal-skinned man grins down at the hybrid with a malicious smirk. Four more people, two on each side of him and obviously of the same species, look at her with the same kind of malicious grins.

Cheelai stammers and takes a step back as Toga's energy spikes in fear. "Y-You… you're!"

The man's grin widens as he sees two more people enter the room, both of them with two fingers on their foreheads. "Well now, an interesting technique you two have there." His grin widens as the two saiyans glare at him. Humming to himself, the man looks in a random direction and says, "Three left."

Shortly after, three more saiyans enter the room. Vegeta glares at the man and sneers, dropping into a fighting stance. "Who are you, and why are you here?!"

The man grins, uncrossing his arms and staring at Vegeta with pure, malevolent glee. "Ah Vegeta, I'm glad you're here. I can finally thank you for helping take over Hera all those years ago."

Vegeta raises an eyebrow in confusion as the man continues. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to contend with my rival over there as the strongest in the universe. You truly did me justice by wiping out my brethren."

This causes Vegeta to sneer in disgust, but the man only smirks. "Let it be known that Bojack, leader of the Galaxy Soldiers, is a man who repays such kindness."

Bojack's grin widens. "I see only one way to make this an even deal. You slaughtered my people with Frieza." Bojack's eyes seem to shine with a bloodlusted glee. "So I shall do the same to your friends."

Chronoa slowly closes the book with a grimace. "Oh man. Super Saiyan 2 Gohan was needed to take Bojack down. How could this possibly end well when no one even has Super Saiyan but Zamasu?"

Chronoa sighs, then turns and smiles widely. "On a lighter note, hello! I missed you all! It's been way too long since I last read a chapter, and I can't believe it's finally happening." Chronoa seems to bounce a bit in her seat. "Oh geez, yes! It's so exciting!"

Chronoa breathes in heavily, then breathes out. "Ok, calm down Chronoa." She smiles again, this time with more restraint. "I want to welcome you all back to the story! With the author finally getting a good feel for the next big arc AND getting his life completely figured out, we should be good to go for regular updates again! And from the looks of it, this arc is gonna be a doozy!"

The Supreme Kai giggles a bit to herself. "Well, I bet BIG things are coming!" She waves and shouts, "Thanks for reading, and we welcome you all back! Reviews are nice, but more importantly, enjoy the start of the biggest arc of the story so far! Bye!"