Descent to Arcto! Terrors of North Galaxy!

"This'll cost you, Zamasu. I don't take kindly to being used as a telephone service."

Zamasu shakes his head and sighs softly. "Very well, King Kai. Just tell me what you want later and I will give it."

King Kai snorts loudly as he laughs. "Oh, I'll remember that. You know what to do to use telepathy, Zamasu! Bye!"

Zamasu shakes his head as he feels King Kai recede from his mind. With that out of the way, he can finally get some progress reports on the other groups. It'll be nice to be out of the dark after so long on the road.

Sitting down in a meditative stance, Zamasu puts his fingertips together, similar to that of a monk. While it isn't strictly necessary for him to take this stance to use telepathy, it helps him focus when contacting multiple people.

Zamasu reaches through King Kai's line, feeling for each person in the kai's range. He can feel Piccolo's group, the Earthlings, and Vegeta's. He frowns as he lacks a feel for Goku's group, but he calms down as King Kai never said anything about an attack. They must've found Beerus and went to Universe 6.

The hybrid Kai pushes further into the line, opening the telepathic pathway to all those present.

"Hello," Zamasu says. "Can you all hear me?"

"Wha-"

"Who is?"

"Zamasu?!"

Zamasu smirks slightly at the amount of surprise he can hear. "Yes, it is me. I set up a telepathic communication channel with King Kai. As long as you are in the North Galaxy, you can talk to any of us using your mind."

"Woah!"

"Seems useful."

"North Galaxy?"

"If you wish to contact anybody, simply request for King Kai using your thoughts," Zamasu says. "As long as you do that, he will be able to put you through. Now, any reports?"

"So far we haven't seen anything," Krillin says. "No baddies anywhere."

"Same here," Piccolo mutters. "Kinda boring, but we can't find anything. We decided to move and meet with Krillin's group, that way we can defend better if anything comes our way."

"Good idea," Zamasu praises. "The ships may only hold a few people, but there is nothing stopping us from assisting each other. No need to stay apart if you don't want to. Simply keep on the move until we get the Super Dragon Balls."

Zamasu hears a round of agreement, then decides to focus on the final group. "Vegeta? What have you found?"

The line stays silent for a bit, causing a bit of concern. "Vegeta?"

"...We were attacked by one of Bojack's lackeys."

A round of surprise comes from the group. Zamasu frowns as he says, "They caught up to you? Which one?"

"The one with a sword. He can also transform as Bojack can. We barely escaped, but we managed to injure him greatly. He shouldn't be moving for a while."

Zamasu tsks, then sighs. "That's good, but that means they know where we are and are catching up. With that in mind, do not stop anywhere unless you are refueling or taking care of necessities. It will be imperative that you don't get caught unaware. If you can, get the jump on them and damage them. Don't try to beat them in a direct confrontation unless you can kill them. They will not hesitate to do the same to you. Good luck to you all, and stay vigilant."

With that final message, Zamasu closes the line from his mind and stands up. As he stretches a bit, he begins walking toward the control room of the ship. There he finds Toga and Cheelai, both of them looking at a book on a table. The title says, "Seven Wonders of the World"

"Reading up on the history of Earth, I see?" Toga and Cheelai look up to see Zamasu smiling at them, his hands behind his back.

Cheelai nods with a grin. "If we're gonna be staying with you, we thought we'd see what Earth has to offer. It looks so beautiful!"

Zamasu nods, his smile widening. "Yes, it truly is a beautiful planet. Few compare from what I've seen."

Toga tilts her head as she questions, "Zamasu, that message you sent a bit ago, does that mean I can talk to master Vegeta now?"

Zamasu nods. "Yes, it does. You should-" Zamasu is cut off as a loud blaring ring echoes through the ship. Zamasu looks at the flashing red lights and says, "Wait until later. We have an enemy near."

As Toga and Cheelai move to the control panel, Zamasu runs to the back of the ship to see what is happening. He looks out and doesn't see much, but his ki senses say otherwise. A large and familiar power is gaining on them, and fast too. In fact-

Zamasu's eyes widen as a green dot appears in his vision and then grows larger rapidly. His face pales as he realizes what's happening. Zamasu quickly steps into the airlock and grabs a tether, strapping it to his gi. Without even putting on a suit, Zamasu steps into dead space.

Just as Zamasu steps out and grabs a handle on the ship, the green dot that is Bojack rapidly increases in size as the space pirate tries to plow right into the ship. Zamasu blocks the blow, sending him into the ship and causing a dent, but otherwise averting the damage.

Bojack grins widely, and using ki to project his voice in the vacuum, says, "So you finally face me instead of running? Though I am curious as to how you are breathing as a saiyan."

Zamasu smirks as his hand ignites with ki. "I used to be a kai. Breathing in space is a simple parlor trick compared to what I know!" With that declaration, Zamasu pushes into Bojack and shoves both of them off the ship. Zamasu tries to swipe at the Hera, but is quickly and suddenly pulled back by the trailing ship. Bojack blinks, then follows after them.

Zamasu looks at the approaching Bojack, then at his tether. He turns and grabs the rope, pulling himself toward the ship. He can feel Bojack quickly gaining, but he can also see their destination approaching. Beneath the light of a distant star is a dark blue planet, the planet Arcto.

A sudden tremor hits the ship and Zamasu turns to see Bojack trying to pelt the ship with ki blasts. Zamasu growls softly and mutters, "Enough trying to break my ship."

Zamasu's ki blade reignites and extends to the length of a broadsword. He raises two fingers to his chin, his blade shimmering in tune with his aura. Then, Zamasu swings his blade. Needles begin shooting from the blade, spreading across Bojack's general area and giving him little room to maneuver.

Bojack is caught off guard by the sudden attack and takes a few needles to his chest. His body slows as he feels his ki getting restricted by the intruding needles. Just what is this attack?!

Zamasu continues his dance, sending wave after wave of needles into Bojack's slowly moving body. After he sees Bojack stop completely, he completes the dance and thrusts his palm toward Bojack's now-distant form. "HA!" A massive explosion rocks the ship even from this distance as the supercharged heatwave hits Zamasu's face. He smirks, then turns around and enters the ship.

Once the kai enters the control room, Toga looks at him and says, "Did you beat him?"

Zamasu shakes his head and walks up to the screen. "No, he will most certainly come back. However, we have delayed him for now." Zamasu looks at the screen and frowns. "Where're the other planets in this solar system?"

Cheelai shakes her head as she types on the keyboard. "We have no idea! Only Arcto is here, and it's barely in the orbit of the star! I might be able to track it using the Dragon Radar to see if it picks up any similar energy, but for now, it's a lost cause."

Zamasu tsks, then says, "Alright, begin the search."

Cheelai grimaces and replies, "Abooout that." She points at the corner of the screen, showing the fuel levels of the ship. Currently, it reads 10%.

Zamasu's eye twitches, then he sighs deeply and hangs his head. "Just my luck… Alright! Let us land on Arcto and refuel. It shouldn't take too long, so we should lose Bojack if we are quick." Nodding in response, Cheelai and Toga begin piloting the ship toward Arcto, intent on landing on the planet.

As they descend through the planet's atmosphere, the ship's temperature readings begin to show a small rise in temperature. Space is dead cold, near absolute zero, and only those with substantial ki control can survive in it. This planet is barely above that, barely even able to handle the most arctic lifeforms.

Despite these facts, the group is surprised to see sprawling cities and gleaming greenery inside reflective domes. Some buildings are even in the icy wasteland below, with strange entities moving about. It seems that despite the harsh conditions of this icy planet, life did manage to thrive.

Zamasu can't help but feel giddy at this prospect. "In all my time as a Kai, never have I seen life take shape in such an unfavorable environment. The power of mortals is truly astonishing!"

Toga, meanwhile, is staring at the aliens below with suspicion. She frowns deeply, finding their traits familiar. But from where? Her eyes wander until she looks at the city inside the dome. Skyscrapers covered in marks show who owns what. But her eyes land on the tallest, on which is a mark she is more than familiar with, considering it was everywhere inside their old ship.

"That's Frieza's mark!" Zamasu and Cheelai look over to the building to see the mark of the Galactic Empire, the Frieza Force, emblazoned proudly on the building. Cheelai looks to another building and yells, "And that's Cooler's mark too!"

Zamasu raises an eyebrow. "Cooler?"

Cheelai nods. "Yeah! While we were on Frieza's ship I did some reading and found out that Frieza has a brother who controls part of the empire. That's his symbol right there!"

Zamasu narrows his eyes in suspicion. It seems odd that both Frieza and Cooler would be established on this planet, especially if they control different parts of the Galactic Empire. What is going on?

Their ship lands on what appears to be a public landing zone. The group walks over to the airlock and grabs protective gear, not trusting the weather outside the ship from what they've seen. They open the door and step out into the new world.

Surrounding them on all sides, directing what seems like dozens of ships, are aliens. The slightly reptilian, humanoid species has a very familiar appearance. All of them look similar to Frieza in some way.

Zamasu looks forward as a member of Frieza's Race comes up and looks at the kai with slight indifference. He smirks slightly at the sight of the suits on the two Heras and says, "First time on Arcto, captain?"

Zamasu nods, correctly assuming that the Frost Demon is talking to him. "We've never been on Arcto before and are simply looking to refuel. We mustn't stay long."

The demon shrugs and says, "Not my business what you do. If you need to refuel, go ahead, you have this spot for the next two hours for any business you need to conduct. Anytime after that, you need to rent a spot. You can do that over there." He points to a far-off building with a bored alien inside. "Anyway, that's really it. We have police patrolling so don't cause any trouble. Have a nice visit." With that, the demon walks off to deal with another landing ship.

Zamasu looks around, then shakes his head. He removes a pair of gloves and flexes his hands, feeling the temperature. Feeling no real issues, he realizes that he can feel rumbling beneath his feet and a distinct lack of snow around them. Realizing that this area is well heated, the group takes their suits off and gets to work.

Refueling the ship is as easy as taking out the tank and filling it like an oversized car. Luckily, the fuel is cheap and easy to make, being a synthetic product of Bulma's ever since the saiyans landed.

As the group attends to the ship and ensures that everything is in order, another ship descends onto the place. Frost demons all pause and look at the ship in awe and confusion, recognizing the mark on the side. While it isn't against any laws for him to land in a public space, it is odd that Lord Cooler would land anywhere other than his personal headquarters.

Demons attend to the ship as a tall alien exits the ship. Three more aliens, each of them donned in battle armor, discuss with the demons around them to get the ship filled and spruced up. Cooler himself looks around, then sights his target. He smirks and begins walking.

Zamasu, underneath the ship and looking over the inner workings with instructions in one hand, pauses as he feels something hit the side of the ship. Zamasu looks over and raises an eyebrow at the sight of another demon leaning down and looking at him beneath the ship.

This demon is purple with white bio armor. Two red markings extend beneath his eyes with a single, blue bio gem on his head. Zamasu can't help but think that this one, in particular, looks a lot like Frieza.

The demon smirks and says, "You seem busy, ape. Figuring out how to fix a ship?"

Zamasu narrows his eyes and says, "And you are?"

The demon's eye twitches, but he ultimately just sighs and laments, "Of course Frieza doesn't say anything about me."

This makes Zamasu's suspicions arise. The demon shakes his head, then gestures for Zamasu to come out from under the ship. Zamasu pauses, then decides to do so, if only to see who this is.

Zamasu stands up as the demon looks at him with his arms crossed. Here he can see that the demon is roughly his height, so they are able to look eye to eye. The demon smirks a bit and says, "You are the one that killed Frieza, correct?"

Zamasu's eyes narrow. "And who is asking?"

The alien's smirk widens. "I am Cooler, Frieza's brother, and leader of the Cooler Force." He chuckles a bit at Zamasu's slightly surprised expression. "Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you. I am more interested in how you managed to defeat my brother on Namek."

Zamasu looks over Cooler, searching, but eventually sighs. Bojack is in the solar system and he needs to leave before the pirate recovers from Zamasu's barrage. "I had the help of two other saiyans, Son Goku and Vegeta. We used a host of techniques and three-way attacks to put your brother down without actually being stronger than him."

Cooler smirks and says, "I would believe that, if not for that strange fusion and the transformation you yourself underwent. It seems that you did surpass my brother in some way."

Zamasu shakes his head and sighs. "Yes, we got stronger, but we were still only able to beat him due to cunning and technique. Your brother was quite shoddy with his power, despite the potency of it."

Cooler laughs at this. "Nothing wrong with that assessment! Ah, but you really only used techniques? Even with what I assumed was a Super Saiyan transformation?"

Zamasu shakes his head once more. "That, while similar in energy, was not Super Saiyan. More like a False Super Saiyan. The normal transformation can give you an energy boost as big as 50x. Mine was little more than 25x."

This makes Cooler pause. "So you really were weaker. Astonishing. I never believed that technique and raw skill could defeat someone of our level. Considering the fact that we can enhance our physical defenses relative to our power, that is simply amazing."

Zamasu smirks a bit, finding himself more comfortable with Cooler than Frieza. "It truly is amazing. I may have gained a substantial power boost, but I was terrified. Good thing it was blocked by my rage."

Cooler raises an eye ridge at that and is about to respond when he pauses and looks up. He frowns and says, "I feel something odd. I can't tell, it's so foreign to me, but I can feel something above us."

Zamasu raises an eyebrow, then pales as he feels the ki above the atmosphere. He looks at Cooler and says, "We have no time! My crew and I were being followed by a being far, far stronger than Frieza. Even with our techniques, we can't hope to beat him. We must leave at once!"

Cooler narrows his eyes as he sees someone descending from the sky. His eyes widen and he drops his arms to his side as he sees the green skin and pirate garb. "No… I thought he was dead!"

Zamasu looks at Cooler in surprise. "You know who he is?!"

Cooler nods with a growl. "Bojack. The only true threat to the empire. How dare he show his face here?!"

Said Hera, easily following Zamasu's signature, smirks widely upon seeing the kai-saiyan. "Finally! No more tricks, you have no ship to run with, I can end this pathetic game here and now!"

Bojack pauses as he notices who is next to Zamasu. His grin returns with even more malice. "Cooler! How pleasant a surprise!"

Cooler growls and mutters, "Bojack."

Bojack's grin widens at the obvious hatred in Cooler's voice. "Still sore about my crew ransacking your planets? You did give us easy targets, your highness."

Cooler's growl raises in volume. Zamasu lowers into a fighting stance, not eager to fight the superior opponent. Then, Cooler speaks. "Saiyan. We have little choice but to defend this planet against Bojack. Arcto is the home of the Galactic Empire and, despite whatever you think Frieza is, he was able to bring great prosperity to many races. If we let Bojack destroy this planet, the universe's economy could collapse."

Zamasu thinks back to Chronoa telling him of Universe 7's abysmal mortal level. He grimaces at having to defend anything of Frieza's, which Cooler catches. The demon smirks and says, "Think of it like this. With Frieza gone, the empire is mine, and I am much more reasonable than my psychotic brother."

Zamasu smirks at that slight against Frieza. "I believe I can live with that."

Cooler grins as well, his veins bulging as his aura flares. "Good, because I'm not waiting. It's time to die, Bojack!"

The book closes automatically, triggered by Chronoa's magic. Said Kai is looking at Fu with slight concern, but mainly amusement. The demon hybrid is on her couch, gripping his stomach with a green face. Chronoa grins and says, "I'm not as oblivious or sensitive as people think I am. I know I'm a horrible cook, I just love getting kicks out of people reacting."

Fu gags, having been forced to eat five helpings of Chronoa's pudding, and mutters, "Then why did you give it to Beerus...?"

Chronoa grimaces at that particular mission. "Well, I wasn't expecting that reaction from him." Chronoa crosses her arms under her chest and says, "This is what you get for trying to make time rifts again! You know better!"

Fu grins weakly and replies, "I love it. Can't stop. Won't stop."

Chronoa rolls her eyes, then turns with a smile. "Sorry about the delay. The author got caught up with a lot of beginning college stuff. With his schedule turning more set-in-stone, he should update regularly, if slower than normal." Chronoa waves and says, "Thanks for reading! The next chapter is sure to be exciting, so get ready! Bye!"