Phoenix wasn't sure if the ship could keep outrunning Dodoria like this, and even then it seemed he was catching up still. She mentally cursed at herself for being so slow with her fight, if only she didn't toy with him, this wouldn't have happened! Still, it was too late for regrets now, she knew that. She unsheathed her weapon and turned to face Dodoria as he, surprisingly, landed on the ship instead of just destroying it, he then looked her up and down and scoffed.

"So, you're the one who's been causing all the fuss?" He asked in annoyance.

Phoenix lifted her weapon to rest the pole on her shoulder, blade behind her back, and cocked her head to the side. "If I'm causing such a fuss, why not just destroy the ship instead of landing on it to face me?" She replied with a question of her own.

"Hmph." The pink alien scoffed again. "Because I was curious. But I don't see what the fuss is, a squirt like you can only be a weakling, that or we really have been deploying weaker creatures to planets like this." He smirked as if he had some sort of good comeback.

Phoenix, however, scratched the side of her mask thoughtfully. "Interesting… I was about to ask why Freeza's army was full of weaklings."

Dodoria growled at her remark. "What was that?"

She couldn't help but chuckle at him now before shrugging. "Either deaf or just plain dumb too." She mocked him further.

"That's it!" He yelled, creating a ball of ki above one of his hands. "I was curious, but I saw what I wanted to see, now you and your friends can die!"

She had to act fast now, darting towards him and smacking his wrist away just in time to prevent him from slamming the blast into the hull of the ship. The ki blast hurled into the distance before crashing into the ground quite a ways away from them, only a small speck could be seen from where it exploded. She had used her scythe to hit his wrist, hoping it would have at least left a cut, but at most it left a shallow graze. He turned to glare at her now, making her jump out of his range before he could follow up with an attack.

"So you'd rather go down the hard way, eh? Fine by me!" With that, he charged at her, his left fist cocked back and ready to strike.

Phoenix grit her teeth and got into a horse stance, holding the pole of her weapon in front of her to block. 'I can't win against him how I am now, I'm not strong enough…but I need to think of something to get him off the ship!' She thought.

Dodoria's fist slammed into the pole of her weapon, the force was so strong it reverberated through the pole and into her body, making her wince slightly. That wasn't all though, she heard a slight crack in the pole, alarming her. Her weapon couldn't take another full blow from him, but he seemed to realize that too and smirked, pulling his other fist back to strike. However, she noticed he left an opening. Right before he thrust his fist at her, she ducked down and swiped her leg at his front leg where he was putting all his weight on. He was caught off guard and grunted in surprise as he fell onto his backside, which she took full advantage of by straightening up and swinging her weapon at his stomach. She wasn't fast enough for Dodoria though and he rolled out of the way to narrowly miss the attack, only the side of his armor getting hit and chipped off.

Phoenix had to stop her swing before the blade could sink into the ship, leaving her open long enough for Dodoria to slam his shin into her side. She let out a grunt of pain as she tumbled on the top of the ship, barely managing to grasp a vent before she could roll off the ship, the vent burned her fingers, but she held on long enough to make sure she wouldn't fall off. She scrambled to her feet as she heard her opponent running at her, seeing him getting ready for an uppercut attack. She swiftly jumped to the side to dodge his uppercut before retaliating with a hard knee to his side, landing it full force and getting another pained grunt from the pink alien. She didn't deal enough damage to stun him for long though as he twisted his upper body enough to slam his fist into her mask, causing an audible crack and her to tumble backwards, over the still open hatch and towards the front of the ship. She stopped before she reached the window of the cockpit though. She paused as if to catch her breath for a moment, before getting up to a kneeling position and glaring up at Dodoria, but she was met with a laugh.

"Ha! Did I crack that precious mask of yours? One more hit like that and I might see what you've been hiding!" He taunted, grinning triumphantly as he approached her.

Phoenix, however, lifted a hand to raise the bottom part of her mask slightly to spit some blood out of her mouth before repositioning the mask. "It will take a lot more than a weak punch like that to break this thing, as I'm sure you'll find." She told him as she got to her feet, facing him once more and poising her weapon to strike. "Besides, it's not like I need it to fight. Even if you somehow manage to break it, I'll still beat you."

Dodoria laughed once again. "That's a good one. But I think the only dead ones will be you and your little friends. You're all nothing but flies, you-" He cut himself off with a yell of surprise when his foot found not the ship, but open space. Phoenix wasn't sure if he was just plain dumb, or seriously didn't notice it, but the hatch was still open and it was in his path while he was walking. As a result, his leg was now stuck and that prevented him from moving much, for now. "What the?" He growled as he started to pull his leg out of the hatch.

Phoenix took advantage of this and charged at him with a fist pulled back, slamming said fist into his skull and freeing him, but also causing him to fly back a ways. He didn't fall off the ship yet, but he was right in front of the burning orange thrusters. She watched as he struggled to get up, but something was wrong with him, he was having trouble moving his limbs. Then again, it didn't matter to her at the moment, approaching him and planting a foot on his stomach before leaning down to stare into his eyes. "Listen, you fat ball of retik, you can tell Freeza we'll keep coming for his men, and then he and his pathetic family of lizards are next." She snarled at him before removing her foot, only to plant it into his side as a kick, effectively kicking him off the ship, and even into the thrusters for a short moment, and sending him plummeting down to the planet far below.

Phoenix watched him for a short moment before heaving a sigh and heading to the hatch to head inside so they could finally leave this planet.

"What's going on?" Haku asked in alarm when he heard a thump on the ship, poking his head into the cockpit where Natsume was.

"Why has Phoenix not come in yet?" Saji chimed in as well behind Haku.

Malroth was next to poke his head through the small door. "And why are we still on this planet if we're in such a rush to leave!?"

"One of Freeza's commanders landed on the top of the ship, Phoenix is currently trying to fight him off, so we can't take off until she's inside or she'll die!" Natsume replied to them all, in a panic as he steered the ship. "I can't do anything to help her though!"

"Dammit…!" Saji muttered under her breath while gritting her teeth.

"So…someone else I can kill!?" Malroth was the total opposite of Saji, getting excited over the news.

"No, Mal, this is one of the guys we can't fight yet." Inu scolded, but she was more concerned than annoyed at him. "I…I don't even know if Phoenix can handle him… At least not at her current strength…"

"Please, go back, I can't focus on driving." Natsume requested, sounding quite stressed about the situation and it was obvious their worries weren't helping him. They did as he asked though.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing though!" Malroth argued with Inu as they went back to the common area of the ship, which was a statement Haku agreed with for once.

"I feel the same way, we gotta be able to do something." Haku agreed with Malroth, which was when they heard another thump from outside, over right over them. When they looked up, they could see a foot sticking though the hatch that had opened up earlier.

"Aha! Let's cut his leg off!" Malroth exclaimed, practically bouncing in excitement.

Haku, despite his previous agreeing with Malroth, shook his head though. "No, I got a better idea. It'll give Phoenix an edge, and it'll stop his pursuit." He simply said before shapeshifting into a winged creature resembling a bat mixed with a snake.

Haku flew into the hole leading to the hatch to sink his surprisingly large fangs into Dodoria's ankle, injecting a sort of poison into the alien. However, his fangs were ripped out of the skin when Dodoria's leg practically flew out of the hatch, giving him a view of Phoenix over the hatch with her fist out, giving him an idea of what happened. He may not have been able to inject as much as he wanted, but the dose he did give would be enough for what he wanted. He flew back down and reverted to his human-like form, receiving questioning looks from everyone in the room. He laughed and smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head as well.

"Ah, sorry I didn't explain it exactly. I can take on characteristics of creatures I know how to change to, that one has a paralysis poison, so I just bit Dodoria to paralyze him long enough for us to get away." He explained bashfully.

"Oh, I see! That's pretty smart, Haku!" Inu praised him, even clapping for him a bit. "That shapeshifting or whatever its called is really handy, huh?"

Malroth turned his head to Inu with a raised brow. "Huh? You can change too though." He pointed out, getting an annoyed look from Inu in return.

"I can't change into multiple things, dummy." She corrected, to which Malroth shrugged and leaned back on the couch.

"My bad for overestimating you."

Inu growled at him now, clenching a hand into a fist and even baring her fangs at him, but she was stopped by a voice before she could say or do anything else. "What are you doing, Inu?" Inu quickly whirled around to face Phoenix as she straightened up from jumping down through the hatch.

"N-nothing! Nothing at all! Just…praising Haku for his smart thinking!" She quickly said, pulling a bewildered Haku in front of her.

"Oh?" Phoenix tilted her head to the side, intrigued. "Smart thinking for what?"

Haku was hesitant, but was prodded on by Inu poking him in the back several times. "I…uh…used my shapeshifting ability to paralyze Dodoria so you could handle him easier…" He explained nervously.

"Huh…I see." Phoenix thought out loud as she sheathed her weapon. "Then it seems I owe you my thanks." She gave him a nod. Haku blinked several times, confused at first, but then quickly nodded back in a fluster. She then turned to the others. "I also owe you all an apology. I took too long in my fight with the general here and we all ended up in this mess as a result." She gave them all an apologetic bow, making everyone go silent.

Malroth, however, was the first to speak up. "Eh, you don't do it often, rarely, even, so what's the problem? We all have some fun now and then." He said, waving it off. Haku had to admit, Malroth was the last person he expected to speak up first, let alone forgive her for what happened as he always wanted to fight.

Saji chimed in after him. "Besides, you got all of us out before Dodoria could show up to fight us." She agreed with Malroth. "You act reckless sometimes, yeah, but you didn't let it get so bad it interfered with all of us worse than it did." Haku noticed Broly nodding in agreement with Saji, but also noticed Paragus opened his mouth, only to shut it once Saji cast a glare his way.

"Right!" Inu piped up. "If anything, this was probably the best case scenario for him showing up!"

Phoenix was silent for a moment before a chuckle could be heard from her. "I swear, I sometimes wish you would all yell at me for these things." She mumbled softly, scratching her head as she straightened up. "Still, I appreciate your understanding. I'll see what we can do about getting some supplies so we can have a bigger meal soon. You've all earned it." She said before heading into the cockpit to talk with Natsume.

Haku looked back at Inu and the others. "Is…is it really okay if things like this happen?" He questioned them, getting a mixture of surprised and questioning looks.

"We got out alive, didn't we?" Inu shot back, her ears had gone from up to back now, showing slight irritation.

"Yeah, not to mention she has always gotten us out of jams way worse than that. But you wouldn't know that cause you're still new." Malroth said, while his words hurt more than Inu's, he didn't seem quite as annoyed as Inu.

"I don't like it…" Paragus grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest.

Saji gave an irritated look. "You don't like anything that goes against your 'plans.' You agreed to what Phoenix wanted, so stop with the complaining, its annoying." She stated but then Broly turned to Haku.

"I know you do not understand this, but I know you will trust us more as you spend time here." He told Haku, which caused Saji to smile softly at her partner, seemingly happy he was talking to Haku.

Haku was quiet as he listened to them, but he really couldn't understand how they felt, at least not yet, he hasn't had a relationship like they had with Phoenix before. Perhaps Broly was right and he would understand in time. As he listened, however, he noticed Lobo was quietly listening near the back of the room, but not adding anything to it or giving his thoughts on the topic. Curious, he started to approach the purple wolf, but was stopped when Phoenix entered his field of view, approaching Lobo before he could. The others noticed her, but didn't give her full attention or anything since she didn't address them. He couldn't catch what was said between their leader and the old wolf, but he could see Lobo's look of disapproval but then a nod from the wolf before the two headed down the hall where the living quarters were.

Despite how curious he was, he couldn't do anything about finding out what they were talking about now, so he just plopped himself down on the couch next to Malroth and just let what happened on the planet sink in. The only time he's killed anything before this planet was just a few days prior when Freeza's army invaded his planet, and even then he didn't kill that many people. Here, he killed probably hundreds of soldiers who were just following orders, it didn't sit right with him since he didn't enjoy killing at all. He couldn't even remember everything clearly, it all felt like a blur to him, all he could smell was blood and all he could hear was screaming and the crushing of what he assumed to be bones. However, the others didn't seem bothered by the slaughter they just did, not that he expected Malroth to be bothered, but Inu, Saji, or Broly…he couldn't get a read on Broly, he didn't know Saji enough, and Inu seemed too sweet to enjoy killing or anything like that. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to be like them. However, a voice called out to him, pulling him out of this thoughts. He blinked a few times and looked up at the voice to see Saji standing in front of him, her hands on her hips and Broly was standing behind her.

"Sheesh, are you in a trance or something?" She questioned him.

"I…um…" Haku stammered, glancing away for a moment.

Saji waved him off though while shaking her head. "Never mind, follow me." She instructed, walking towards where he was told the greenhouse of the ship.

Bewildered at first, Haku scrambled after her and Broly before he lost sight of them in the corridors. When he walked into the room, he found Saji sitting on the edge of the soil for the plants, eyeing him as he entered the room, Broly was standing next to her as always. Hesitant, Haku continued walking into the room till he was a few feet in front of her.

"Is…something wro-"

"How are you doing?" She cut him off, taking on a surprisingly soft tone of voice.

"Saji…that was rude." Broly murmured to her softly, to which she looked up at him.

"It's fine, it is not as awkward." She reassured her companion before turning back to Haku, waiting for his answer.

Haku paused for a moment, looking down as he pondered what to say. "Well…to be honest, I'm pretty shaken up…" He admitted quietly, which he heard a sigh from Saji.

"I told you, Broly." She turned to the larger man, who smiled sheepishly and nodded in agreement. She then looked back at Haku again. "I figured. You are quiet, but you were worse." She stated simply. "I bet, you think how we act all fine after we kill people?" She suddenly asked, catching Haku off guard.

"How did you…?" He started to ask, but then his voice trailed off.

"Know? It is all over your face, you know." She pointed out, picking a fruit Broly was eyeing off a vine near her and handing it to him. "And we felt the same when we joined years ago. We did not understand how Inu, Malroth, and Phoenix could kill and not seem to care. What monsters, huh?" She voiced what Haku was thinking spot on. "We do not get used to it. Malroth, but that is beside the point. We have each other, and that eases the pain We hate killing to be honest." She admitted, to which Broly nodded once again to her statement as he happily ate the fruit she handed to him. "However, it is necessary. There will be more killing, and not for good causes, if we cannot put an end to the Cold family. You remember your planet when it was invaded? Imagine that, only throughout the universe. We are trying to stop that. The path may suck, but still." She explained before sighing heavily. "Broly and I would like to find a planet we can call home and just live peacefully after this is over. We will get there, I am sure of it."

Haku listened intently to Saji speak, nodding occasionally as well. He was relieved to know they weren't just unfeeling people who killed for fun, but he also knew they didn't kill just for killing. Still, it was reassuring to know they did feel things when they killed someone. He couldn't help but smile when he heard what their plans were after all this was over, but that brought another question to his mind, and brought a question he's had for a while to the front of his mind.

"I can understand that, thank you. But, I have a couple of questions…" He started before asking his first question. "Why do you guys talk like that?" He was met with a quizzical look from the two of them, and he realized he may have asked something rude. "Sorry…I just…you guys don't use words like 'I'll, we're,' and so on. Like, instead of saying 'don't,' you will say 'do not,' why is that?"

The two of them looked at each other for a moment before back at Haku. "It is how we learned. Is it bad?" Broly asked curiously, to which Haku quickly shook his head.

"N-not at all! I was just curious!" He replied quickly, hoping he didn't offend them, but they just looked confused.

"Okay…second question?" Saji asked him.

At first, Haku stared blankly, seemingly forgetting what she was talking about, but then remembered and perked up again. "R-right!" He exclaimed, but then became a little embarrassed about it, but not so much to stop him from asking. "Are you two…a thing?" He asked them both, pointing between the two of them.

"'Thing?'" Saji cocked her head to the side, an eyebrow raised at his unfamiliar question.

"Well…are you two a couple?" He had to clarify it seemed. "Like, are you a pair? Or…erm…" He was starting to struggle, unsure what else to describe it as, however, Saji seemed to understand what he was getting at now.

"Oh, that is a bit difficult to explain. And it is for a different time. We wanted to check on you after all." She said before abruptly standing up and looking to Broly. "Paragus will be looking for us. Let us go back." She told him. Broly, who had finished eating the fruit he had, nodded and wiped his hands on his pants before following Saji out of the room, giving a small wave to Haku as he left. Haku watched them both go, waving back at Broly as well before turning back to the plants. It was quite peaceful in this room, he figured he could stay here and collect his thoughts for a few moments before returning to the others.

A/N: Unfortunately, Phoenix is not strong enough for me to make a whole fight scene between her and Dodoria just yet, but that will change in the future, so don't worry, not all fighting scenes will be like that one. I hope this chapter didn't seem rushed or anything, I felt like I was rushing at times, so I apologize if it seems like that at all. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you to everyone who follows and favorites this book, as well as reviewers, you all make it worth it :).

Lady Thetford: Dodoria is indeed here now, not as much of a climatic fight, sadly, but there will be longer fights as Phoenix and the others grow stronger. I am really happy you enjoy this book so far and I hope I can keep it interesting for you and everyone else.