Dragonball Z: Alter Age

by TheWriteFiction

After unwittingly getting shot up into space in his uncle's pod- Gohan is discovered and recruited by Cooler's elite, and becomes an integral member of the Armoured Squadron. Together with his new teammates, the demi-Saiyan sets out to conquer worlds, fight armies, topple demons, defeat Saiyans, and wage war against Frieza and his family. [GohanHarem] [Arc: Lord Slug Saga]

11. Raider Saga - Face of Evil

Dragonball Z

Alter Age

Face of Evil

(Meanwhile)

(Back on Earth)

After making stellar progress with their training thus far, the Z-fighters training up on Kami's Lookout had decided to allocate some of their days towards honing their energy-based techniques. Since they'd been spending so much time developing and increasing their physical attributes to contend with the brute force and might of the Saiyans, the team of heroes knew that they also needed to focus some time on their ranged moves. Improving their timing and use of this category of attacks would not only grant them a much greater edge against their foes, but also improve their strength, concentration, and skills in the arts as well.

Aside from Tien teaching Yamcha how to use the Dodonpa and also polishing up his various Kikoho variants with Chiaotzu, Krillin began developing a couple of new and inspired techniques as well- including a single ki blast that broke apart and scattered on command and a cutting disk attack with the capability of slicing through practically everything. There was also Yajirobi trying to learn how to use ki blasts as well, but the man wasn't all that skilled in the area and chose to focus instead on his physical skills.

Piccolo on the other hand was taking his technique training to a whole other level. Aside from also perfecting a new type of cloning ability called the Tri-Form and utilizing them as sparring partners, he also continued polishing his other less-used move sets, including his ocular beams and full-powered ki blasts. This also included training up the speed, strength and timing in which he executed his Makakosappo, in which not only would he be able to fire the attack with minimal effort, but also reduce the timing it took to charge it to a fraction of what it normally would take to prepare it.

This pretty much became the demon's focus on this particular day. Standing on the edge of Kami's Lookout while two of his clones sparred in the air behind him, the original copy of the doppelgangers remained locked in a standing position with his eyes shut, his fists clenched, and his newly modified and heavier turban and neck braces weighing him down. Through the sounds of grunting and fighting taking place from his duplicates- as well as the Z-fighters practicing their moves on another part of the platform, the fully concentrated and intense-looking man took a deep breath before opening his eyes.

Veins pulsing along his forehead, Piccolo then gave a loud growl, before clenching his right hand and extending his index and middle fingers. Electricity sparkling along his digits, the man then lunged forward, curled his arm back, and thrust it forward. A scream of effort ripped from his mouth as he fired his signature beam from his fingers- sending the spiraling cannon shooting up into the sky.

The glow of the attack caused a brilliant flash of light to fill the sky and beat down on the Lookout- momentarily distracting Tien and Yamcha from their energy training. When the beam finished leaving the Namekian's fingers and disappeared into the stratosphere above, a massive explosion soon followed- in which a spherical, orange blast filled the sky hundreds of miles away. After the distant thunderclap of the blast reached the floating palace moments later, the explosion dissipated, leaving Piccolo standing there with his arm and fingers outstretched, and an intense look on his face.

Breathing heavily as sweat rolled down his head, the green demon growled and slowly moved back to a normal standing position. He then grumbled under his breath as he felt the drain from firing the attack hit him. "Hmm… it needs a little more work."

As all of this was going on, on the other side of the Lookout and far out of the firing range of the demon's deadly killing attacks, Chiaotzu was in the process of showing Launch the technique of flight. With Yajirobi standing beside the short, hovering warrior in weighted clothing, the pair observed as the blond woman- dressed in her same uniform as before- attempted to hover about the place in a state of calm and focus.

Though the fierce gunslinger was managing to project her energy beneath her in order to simulate levitation, it was taking a bit more effort and difficulty for Launch to travel. This was proven by how the female fighter was slowly but surely gaining altitude, yet her body seemed to be listing and balking from side-to-side.

Obviously it was taking every ounce of her concentration to keep her full mass and weight from dropping from the sky and potentially plummeting to her death thousands of feet below.

When the young woman felt a strong breeze cut across her level, she wobbled a little and threw her arms out, eventually managing to correct herself and keep drifting upwards. "Okay. It's okay. Everything's fine. I'm fine," Launch whispered to herself over and over again in an attempt to settle her nerves. Sending another burst of ki to her feet, she pushed herself a little higher, not noticing that her body was slowly drifting sideways as she attempted to float forward. "Ah, man. Though I think I preferred keeping my feet firmly on the ground."

Chiaotzu, smiling as he watched from his place above the tiles, then called up to the blonde woman in an encouraging manner. "You're doing great, Launch. Keep it up."

The gunslinger looked back at her friend and grinned wryly. "Great? Is that what it looks like from where you guys are?" Cause it certainly didn't feel like it.

At that moment, Yajirobi decided to act like a smartass and replied. "Not for me. You look like an elephant trying to balance itself on a tightrope. It's kind of hilarious in my opinion."

Hair bristling at the man's remark, Launch attempted to wheel about midair and wave a fist at him. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, FATSO?!" Unfortunately, due to that split second of distraction and frustration, the woman ended up losing all focus on her technique. The next thing the blond knew was that almost immediately after yelling down at the burly fighter, was that she was falling from the sky and over the Lookout. "What the-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the gunslinger screamed as her form suddenly dropped towards the ledge and plummeted right past it.

Chiaotzu and Yajirobi freaked out when they saw the woman fall from the sky, which caused both of them to rush forward and look over the edge in alarm.

"Launch!" the short, mime of a fighter shouted, before extending his hands and preparing to dive after her- only to abruptly stop when he suddenly saw another figure dive down from the sky and shoot past him at blazing speed.

Tumbling and rolling through the air as the winds whipped at her from seemingly all directions, the blond female attempted to regain control of her fall. However, with the shock of the sudden drop upsetting her concentration and with her spinning preventing her from orientating herself properly, all the woman could do was scream and flail about as she tried over and over to correct herself.

As she neared closer and closer to terminal velocity, the first and last thought that came to her head was that she was going to die- her last words being an ineloquent insult towards an infuriating man she'd only just met. But then, just as her body was in the midst of spinning out of control, with the Lookout above her getting further and further away, Launch suddenly felt her entire world stop.

Momentum ceasing instantly and her heart dropping out of her throat, the startled woman blinked a few times as she stared wide-eyed ahead of her. Realizing she was lying in someone's arms, she then looked up to see who or what it was that'd caught her.

What Launch ended up looking up at was the bare, broad chest and shoulders of a topless Raditz, who had been training up in the sky above the Lookout with a new set of weights when he spotted the blonde's terrifying fall. Once he was sure he had her, the Saiyan then began flying back up to the Lookout, all the while looking down at the fierce gunslinger to see her started gaze staring back at him.

The hard-assed mercenary chuckled. "Watch yourself. A fall like that can kill you."

"Uhh…" Launch murmured, completely at a loss for words as she stared up at the smiling face of the warrior holding her in his big arms. At that moment, all she could feel was her body practically pressed up against his- his mess toned arms and chest on full display, accentuated by a light sheen of sweat, which caused him to glisten under the rays of the sun. It was… quite a captivating spectacle, which in turn caused the blonde's once petrified heart to suddenly start beating a little faster than normal.

Seeing he had the gunslinger's full attention, the half-naked Raditz decided to tease her a little more and smirked at the gaping female. "Next time you're learning how to fly, maybe do it over a spot where you'll have a slightly softer landing- like a bed or a crash pad. That way you can curse at anyone you like and not pay a heavy price for it."

When Launch heard his remark and saw his grin directed at her, outlining his firm jaw and cheerful profile, her heartrate doubled and a rush of heat reached her cheeks, causing her to blush brightly. Her green eyes shimmering as they looked up at the devilishly handsome warrior above her as her mind went a little wild with imagination, it wasn't until the edge of the Lookout came within sight when she realized what she was doing, and quickly looked away in embarrassment.

It was a good thing she turned away too, because the thoughts that'd started to plague her mind had started to become a little raunchy.

When Raditz eventually touched down in front of Chiaotzu and Yajirobi, he then set the female fighter to her feet. During which time the observing pair rushed forward and began fussing over their female compatriot.

"Launch! Thank goodness you're alright!" the short fighter exclaimed in relief.

"Yeah. That was one heck of a fall," the man with the sword followed up, his expression reflecting excitement and nervousness. "Good thing Raditz was there to catch you when he did."

"Y-Yeah. Good thing," the blonde stuttered, stepping away from the tall warrior and dusting her arms down. Though she wasn't dirty in the slightest, her actions were all in an effort to slow her heartbeat and keep her eyes off of the man, who was currently staring at her to make sure she was okay. Clearing her throat after a few moments of gathering her composure, she then glanced back at the warrior and whispered through red cheeks. "Ch-Cheers for that."

Hearing this, Raditz smiled back at the gunslinger and nodded. "You're welcome."

At that moment, just as Launch was starting to feel a little hotter under the collar than usual, a strand of her hair tickled her nose. Feeling her extremity get a little itchy, the blonde suddenly reared her head, before giving out a loud yet cute-sounding, "Achoo!" Raditz and the other two standing nearby were then graced with the rather extraordinary sight of the blonde's hair turning blue, as her entire persona switched over to a completely different one. When the kind Launch in the blue tank top, shorts and weight bands looked up, she then glanced around in confusion. "Huh? W-What happened?"

Realizing she'd done it again, Chiaotzu quickly stepped over and beamed up at the startled young lady. "Oh. You were in the middle of another flying lesson. When you lost concentration and fell over the edge of the Lookout, Raditz over here saved you." He added to this by gesturing towards the tall, muscular Saiyan next to them, who he saw had a look of utter bewilderment on his face due to the girl's startling transformation.

"It was a great save too," Yajirobi added, drawing the startled woman's gaze to him. "You were dropping so fast it didn't look like anybody would be able to dive after you. But this guy was able to swoop in and catch you just like that." He snapped his fingers for good measure. "It was awesome."

"H-He did?" Launch asked. When she saw the nods come from both boys, she then turned her attention to Raditz, who balked a little at the wide-eyed, innocent, and amazed look written over the bluenette's face. Upon staring at her would-be savior for a few moment, while at the same time synchronizing her memories with those she'd made up here already, the woman smiled and turned to face the warrior proper. "Thank you. I hope the other me didn't cause you too much trouble."

"Oh? Umm… th-that's alright," Raditz, quickly catching on to what must have happened, reached up and scratched his head in a rather Goku-esque manner. It was an action that didn't go unnoticed by Chiaotzu and Yajirobi, who glanced momentarily at each other before shrugging. "I sort of… reacted without thinking back there. I saw you fall and, well… I acted." The Saiyan then extended a hand and smiled awkwardly. "As long as you're okay, that's good enough for me. We can't afford to lose anybody today over something so trivial."

Good Launch, giggling under her breath, then gazed up at the gruff and charming-looking warrior warmly. "Still, I would feel bad if I didn't reward you in some way. You saved my life… all because the other 'me' did something incredibly silly." She was of course referring to herself. Though she'd gotten a lot better at being able to synchronize her memories with that of her Alter-Ego in her efforts to control her two separate forms, her memories were still foggy at best.

But at least she was getting somewhere.

Hearing the blue-haired Launch's statement had Raditz wave a hand at her. "Oh. N-No. There's no need. Really. Y-You don't need to owe me anything." It was kind of weird for him to be stuttering like this. These feelings that the Saiyan was experiencing right now, they were completely new to him and didn't suit a warrior of his high stature. But… somehow… he just couldn't help it.

There was just something about this girl. This strong-willed, fierce, kind, odd, incredibly beautiful girl…

The Saiyan shook his head when he realized what he was thinking. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Raditz thought to himself, unable to stop from acting restless and nervous in front of the blue-haired woman beaming up at him. The look she currently had on her face and the way her entire face seemed to glow was causing his stomach to do weird tumble-turns inside of his body.

Smiling at the man's flustered responses and feeling incredibly moved by his honesty, the rosy-cheeked, good persona of the hardened gunslinger then did something truly unexpected. Stepping towards him, slipping through his guard, and getting up on her toes, the blue-haired female then gave him a brave yet light peck on the cheek. The action startled Chiaotzu and Yajirobi somewhat, as both of them were not expecting the woman to do such a thing.

Neither was Raditz, as evident by how the warrior was now standing there, frozen in place, and with a look of utter surprise slapped across his mug.

When Launch moved away and looked up at the man, she giggled at his somewhat flabbergasted appearance and straightened back her shoulders. "Well… I'm going to go meditate for a bit and work out some of these memories left behind by my other half. Then I'm going to go inside and help Mr. Popo make us some lunch." With one last nod, the woman then ambled away, not even bothering to remove her weighted clothing, as she too was already used to the training.

Watching the woman walk away at her own pace, a startled Raditz was slowly awakened from his daze. Glancing down at Chiaotzu and Yajirobi, who were also appearing incredibly stumped, the Saiyan raised a hand and pointed. "W-What the heck was that?"

The rotund swordsman glanced up at the long-haired brute of a warrior. "I… believe that was called a kiss."

"No! Not that thing! That… thing with the woman's hair and character changing! What in the world was that?!" the Saiyan replied in a rather frustrated manner.

"Oh? That!" Chiaotzu chirped, before smiling up at the taller and scarier looking individual. "Well, you see… Launch has this condition where, whenever she sneezes, she's able to switch between two different personalities- which we call a Good Launch and a Bad Launch. Though both of them are the same person, because she finds it difficult to recall what the other one has done while the other was 'sneezed away', it's almost like she's switching between two different people inside the same body."

"R-Really?" Raditz murmured, turning his gaze back to the palace to see the now blue-haired woman amble up the steps. "Hmm. What a strange ability. You Earthlings are just full of surprises."

Chiaotzu chuckled at the inquisitive expression the man now had on. "Try not to let it bother you too much. Both Launches are really good people and they're both really fun to hang around with. Though, since their two natures are complete opposites of one another, it's safe to say that the good and bad Launches have their own likes and interests." Obviously the bad one loved guns and fighting. The other one though, she was a much more gentle spirit.

It was then, after observing the curious look on Raditz's distracted face, Yajirobi decided to chime in. He did so with a rather wide, mischievous grin, "Of course… if you want my own personal opinion on their interests, man… I think they both really like you."

Looking down at the fat swordsman in alarm and seeing both him and Chiaotzu grinning up at him with deceptively cheeky expressions, the Saiyan thought about speaking up against that remark and shooting down the burly warrior's theory. However, after a quick, split second instant of debate, the fighter from outer space promptly decided to bite his tongue and turn away.

As much as he wanted to argue against the latter's words of wisdom, Raditz was simply unable to find the strength or willingness to put up a decent fight. In fact, the man wasn't even sure he wanted to. Because for some reason, in that moment of weird clarity and realization, the influx of emotions and thoughts filling the Saiyan's nebulous pushed his normally stubborn, arrogant, and aggressive nature to the sidelines. All negativity he held in his heart was quelled by this new wave of feelings swimming around in his body and wrestling with his soul.

For a full minute, Raditz felt lost. Figuring he needed to clear his head, the warrior wisely chose to abandon the spot he'd found beside Chiaotzu and Yajirobi, and began marching across the Lookout, back to the spot he'd left all of his gear.

While the drama of the whole Launch fall was playing out over on the western side of the Lookout, back on the eastern side a completely different kind of revolution was beginning to play out. With Yamcha and Tien still caught up in their own energy training regimen to notice all of the other commotion going on around them, the pair completely missed the sight of two figures walking over from the palace over to where Piccolo was standing.

The green demon and former terror of the Earth was currently in the middle of a very heated meditation, in which the warrior was currently standing in place at the very edge of the Lookout, and trying to analyze the flow of his energy used for his signature killing move. Due to being so caught up in his thoughts and focused on his task, he was vaguely aware of the his other half- Kami- and Krillin approaching him from the floating palace's front steps. When they stopped a few paces behind him and remained there for a few moments in complete silence, the fabled Guardian of the Earth decided to throw all caution to the wind and smiled pleasantly at his evil counterpart's back.

"I can see your training is coming along really well," the planet's protector spoke in a calm and pleasant voice. "After all the hard work and effort you've been putting forth, the progress you've made over the last six months has been nothing short of astonishing."

"Yeah," Krillin chirped up as well, putting on a big grin as he looked up at the taller and more powerful warrior before him. "Your moves are looking really sharp now, Piccolo. Those Saiyan creeps are going to be in for one hell of a surprise when they see you rock up on the battlefield."

His focus and meditation broken for the moment, the green demon gave a low sigh before addressing the pair behind him. "Okay. What do you two want?" Piccolo asked, his tone carrying a clear level of impatience.

Kami, noticing his counterpart's immediate rise in temper, decided to take advantage of the moment and continued on heedlessly. "I can commend you greatly for all of the gains you've made over the course of your regiment thus far, my friend. However, don't you think it would be beneficial for everyone, including yourself, if you were to, say… join in with the others as well?" When he saw Piccolo's eyes snap over his shoulder to glare at him, the elder guardian pressed on. "It's just an idea I wanted you to consider."

This statement had Piccolo narrow his eyes on his other half. "Oh yeah? And why the hell would I want to do that?"

It was at that point that Krillin stepped forward and grinned at the big, scary demon. "Well, since we're all working towards the same goal, we figured it would be great if you took some time out of your routine to train alongside us." He then pointed up at the warrior. "Since you're Goku's rival and one of the strongest fighters on this planet, the stuff that you know would go a long way in helping the rest of the team."

Clearly the martial artist wanted to make nice with the Namekian, hence why he was acknowledging his strength, while at the same time engaging his ego. It seemed like the best way to go about it, especially with someone who was notorious for having such a short temper.

Kami was also there to help- doing his best to appeal to his other half's reasonable nature. "It will be good for the whole group," the guardian added immediately afterwards, feeling his grip tighten around his staff at the look Piccolo shot his way. "Not just as a way to develop and refine your strength in a whole new way, but also give you time to get to know your allies' abilities and come up with a few strategies to use against the Saiyans."

"All these years we've relied on Goku to carry our toughest battles against our greatest enemies," Krillin continued, drawing the green warrior's glare to him. "But if what Raditz says about his former teammates' and their strength is true… all of us are going to have to work together to win. Whether we have Goku or not."

Glaring back at the short fighter for a moment before looking ahead of him again, the turban-wearing warrior contemplated their points for a good minute. When he then glanced back at the pair and saw that they were both waiting patiently for an answer, Piccolo eventually rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Okay. Fine. But only this one time. Understand?" the green warrior asked, turning around to glare back down at the human fighter, whose nervousness he saw quickly became replaced by a bright smile.

"Great!" Krillin chirped, only to then step aside when the scary warrior marched past him. After nervously watching their group's former nemesis march away- shadow and all- the initially shaken male then looked across at Kami. When he saw the elder guardian look down at him and smile, the bald fighter grinned back. "I… think that went rather well."

"It's a start," Kami answered, craning his head up to watch as Piccolo made his way over to where Yamcha and Tien were training. Whether he would butt in and offer them some blunt advice or challenge them to a spar to test their mettle was undecided yet. However, with some coaxing, the guardian was sure he'd be able to get his counterpart to playball. A little at a time of course. "Let's hope that this conflict will mean the end of the old era and the beginning of a new, more enlightened path. For all of us."

"Right on," the bald martial artist sighed, at the same time reaching up to scratch his head. After a few moments of contemplating the events that'd transpired thus far, Krillin was then brought to a rather grim thought. "Damn. While all of us are struggling down here, Goku is stuck in Otherworld training his legs off with King Kai and his son is out there somewhere, lost in the dark, cold depths of space. All of this is making me wonder if both of them are having an easier time at their adventures than we are."

Though something told him he highly doubted it, especially in the case of Gohan. Poor kid. The guy actually had half a mind to try and wish his friend's son back first, seeing as how that was what Goku originally requested. Though Kami assured them that the child was alive and well, who knows what he was getting up to right now?

OOO

(Meanwhile)

(Back on CP-179)

Suffice to say that while the Z-fighters were making all the preparations necessary to tackle a threat that they considered apocalyptic in nature, billions of lightyears across the cosmos, on the lone, recently desolated world resting on the edge of the Messier 81 galaxy, Gohan was currently stuck neck deep in dealing with his own problem. Since this 'problem' in question was responsible for the destruction of multiple worlds and millions of innocent people so far, it was safe to say that the battle that he was waging was almost- if not even more important- than the one his family and father's friends were set to face.

Down on the planet dubbed CP-179, at the base of the colossal tree that towered over every other edifice and lifeform currently dwelling on the slab of rock, multiple flashes and explosions could be seen tearing across the sky and floor. The shockwaves formed from each blast rocked the countryside, most of which were being formed from the various streaks of light that crisscrossed the sky in multiple locations. It was almost like being stuck in a full blown warzone at night- despite it being the middle of the day- where both sides were currently letting loose every tracer and cannon round they had, filling both the atmosphere and blistering the landscape for miles in every direction. Not only was the sound deafening, but the blasts, flashes and explosions were big, loud and continuous.

All warriors were having their skills and techniques put to the test. At an altitude high above the planet, both Gohan and Dore were engaging in a fierce, aerial dogfight with the small and deceptively quick Lakasei, who was darting and zigzagging around all of the ki blasts they were firing at him. During which time the little imp took pot shots at them, forcing the two of them to separate and continue trying to land a decent hit. But due to how small and agile the purple Beenz was proving to be, most of their attacks ended up spraying the countryside and riddling it with multiple craters and holes.

Diving in from up high and deflecting blasts fired at him from the Beenz, Gohan let out a yell and charged down at Lakasei, slamming into him elbow first and meeting the forearm he thrust up at him in a counter. Their impact being marked by a gunshot, both the Saiyan and the purple alien traded a flurry of lightning fast blows, before the child then swung down at him with a kick. Slippery as ever, Lakasei flew straight upwards, dodging his attack and instead zooming up to where Dore was, causing an irate Gohan to growl after him.

"Oi! Get back here!" the hybrid shouted.

Lakasei cackled when he dodged the ki blast the child chased after him with. "Catch me if you can, brat!" he shouted, goading the boy before continuing to fly towards Dore as the Beppa-seijin charged at him. It seemed like the little Beenz was about to take the man head on. But the moment the green warrior took a swing at him, the little alien dove under him and few on, causing the muscle-bound warrior to overshoot him.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Dore bellowed, powering up and shooting after the Beenz, with Gohan following close behind. "Stop moving around, you coward!"

While the three of them were having a ball above the twisted landscape of enormous roots, canyons and fallen mountains, down on one of the aforementioned Tree of Might's legs, Salza was currently engaged with Amond in a fierce duel to the death. Moving across the wooden platform with great speed and skill, the blond man traded vicious blows with the hulking criminal. Though his shots hit fast, hard, and swiftly from multiple angles and directions, the red-skinned leader of the Turles Crusher Corp most able to tank most of his shots in the chest and gut, all while trying to slug the tiny Brench-seijin across his pretty face.

With Salza ducking under a hook and coming up in the man's exposed left flank, he then aimed a hand at Amond's head and let off a quick blast. In response, the scar-faced mercenary timely deflected the beam with a quick slap of his hand, before letting out a roar and taking another swing at the smaller fighter. The elite captain responded by leaping out of the way and rolling across the root out of reach, before springing to his feet, turning around, and dropping into a low fighting stance with both his hands arcing around him in a very textbook, old-school fighting stance.

"Too slow, big man," Salza exclaimed, earning a smug grin from the bulky warrior while he grinned back in amusement. "Think you can hit me with those big ass swings? I think not."

"Ha! I gotta admit, you pack a hell of a punch for a little pixie," Amond chuckled, stomping towards the captain of the squad with his fists raised. "But if you think fancy dance moves like that can beat me, then give me your best shot!"

With Salza shooting the warrior a smirk, he then prepared to dash forward to engage him, only for both men to grind to a halt when they suddenly saw an explosion go off right next to them. Blinking at the shower of rubble that pelted their position, the two warriors then took a brisk step back when, from the wall of dust, Neiz and Cacao came flying out. The engine on the cyborg warrior roared like a fighter jet as he and his amphibian foe flew right between Salza and Amond, both locked in a brisk exchange of punches as they rolled and flew alongside one another.

Cutting across the landscape at breakneck speeds and causing multiple sonic booms to ring out, Neiz promptly blocked a hook from the metallic warrior flying over him and countered with a sharp elbow across his head. A loud clang and a grunt ringing out on impact, the amphibian warrior smirked and powered up- his body becoming surrounded by a bright purple field of lightning before he vanished with a clap of thunder.

Tracking his foe when he vanished from right out under him, Cacao promptly applied his armor's air brakes- multiple panels on his suit opening up at once and stopping him dead midair. Exposing several jets on his chest, arms and legs, the man then angled himself above the ground and gave a loud grunt, as the thrusters on his suit fired up and shot him straight up into the sky at supersonic speed. The rockets burned brightly for several moments as the warrior blasted up into the clouds, before a loud hiss from his air brakes applying once more slowed his ascent to a controlled stop.

A second burst from his jets to the side propelled Cacao across the clouds at an angle, allowing him to come to a screeching halt directly into Neiz's path. The Zalt-seijin reappeared out of thin air in a flash of purple, the amphibian blinking in momentary alarm when he saw he'd been tracked by the bounty hunter, who promptly thrust his right arm forward and opened up four arms cannons from his wrist's gauntlet.

"GOT YAH!" the robot shouted, before firing off a laser bolt directly at Neiz's surprised face.

Reacting instantly, the brown warrior zipped to the side as fast as he could, dodging the man's shot, before nailing him in the back with a kick from his blind spot. "I don't think so!" The loud clang that followed knocked the bounty hunter spinning out of the sky, his scream echoing out as he plummeted through the thin air.

As Cacao fell, more and more explosions rang out along one of the Tree of Might's many outward traveling roots, as the two forms of the former prince Daiz and Myra could be seen crisscrossing the landscape, engaged in a brisk cat-and-mouse chase. Darting in and out of each other's ranges and trading multiple running blows with one another, the pair eventually took their battle to the air. Shooting up into the sky and coming together, the two warriors traded several hits before Daiz charged in and slammed into his female opponent with a knee, only to watch her catch it in her forearm and hold it back.

Grinning down at the orange-haired teen as she glared back up at him, the punk-rocker of a warrior chuckled darkly. "What's wrong, sweetie. Having a bit of trouble keeping up?"

Not even having to use all her strength to hold back the man's leg, the Hera-seijin scoffed. "Funny. I should be asking you that question." She then promptly smacked his knee out of the way, dodged his straight counter and nailed him in the gut with a vicious side kick.

The blow caused a loud bang and caused Daiz's eyes to bug out momentarily as he was sent careening across the sky. Clutching his stomach from the blow, the man then shot a glare down at the woman to see her floating in place with a cool look in play, which prompted him to draw back his arm. "Little bitch!" he then thrust his hand forward and fired a red blast of ki her way.

Just when it seemed like he would hit her, there was a sudden, sharp flash of red that cut across the sky, a split second before the prince saw his energy ball split into two separate halves and fly past their target. When they struck the ground and exploded in completely different locations, the stunned Daiz saw that his female opponent had managed to produce a whip of solid, red energy from thin air, which she had obviously used to cut his attack in half.

Spinning and twirling her newly formed energy weapon around her, Myra then collected the cable between her two hands and pulled it tight between her, before smirking up at the mercenary.

Letting out a growl of frustration, the armored warrior then cocked both hands back, before thrusting them forward and unleashing a barrage of energy blasts. "Don't underestimate me!" He sent the salvo raining down towards the woman, who managed to deflect many of the attacks with her whip and send his red bolts shooting down towards the landscape. When they impacted, they began rupturing the ground in multiple locations, pulverizing the valleys and causing the tree's multiple arms it was using to keep its hold on the planet to lurch out of place.

As the ground shook under the biblical levels of force being laid down upon the root covered country, the only people that were left to witness it all, were the three little Kitsune-seijin standing on the hill- Kida, Rei and Riko- and the leader of the pirates, who could be seen watching all of the chaos unfold from the safety and sanctuary of his cave in the center of the giant tree.

Seeing several more blasts detonate in the distance and throw clouds of fire and rubble into the atmosphere, caused the criminal organization leader to smirk broadly.

"What an interesting spectacle," the dark warrior in armor said, his red scouter beeping as he analyzed the multiple enemy power levels currently in play. "Their level of skill and teamwork is even more advanced than I'd hoped. This should be entertaining."

OOO

As another series of explosions rang out- caused by a salvo of red energy blasts raining down from the sky- Gohan could be seen springing across the landscape as fast as he could, his hair whipping wildly as debris and rubble cascaded around him from the multiple blasts chasing after him. After zigzagging from left to right across the open field, he then landed atop another root. Watching the last blast explode in front of him, he then saw the large form of his green teammate Dore leap out of the smoke.

When the Beppa touched down on the giant root next to him, the man with the long black hair and scouter-based helmet looked up at the sky from a kneeling position and scoffed. "What an annoying little pest."

Seeing the plumes of smoke and dust part, both Gohan and Dore saw the tiny, purple form of Lakasei come barreling towards them. Grinning widely, the little alien dove towards the pair like a bullet, throwing both his hands forward and unleashing a barrage of multiple red energy blasts in their direction.

Seeing the new attack screaming towards them prompted both Squadron members to leap out of the way, avoiding the various explosions that hammered the tree root. When the pair took to the air, they watched as Lakasei's tiny form touched down on one of the many root below, kick off of it, and then spring back into the air. Arcing over the pair, the small fighter performed a summersault- at the same time unleashing another rain of red energy bolts towards the pair.

"Hahaha! Take this! And this, and this, and this!" the man shouted in a high-pitched, maniacal tone of voice, clearly enjoying the ability to fight so freely across the sky and chase his opponents around with relative ease.

With Dore smacking several of the energy blasts away and Gohan just dodging them with little difficulty, both the adult and youngster glared up at the cackling little imp as he performed an aerial roll several stories above them, before beginning to fly towards them once more for a follow-up assault. By this point the teammates had reached the limit of their patience.

"That's it. I've had it with all of this cat-and-mouse bullshit," Dore growled, bringing his arm back and charging a golden sphere of energy. "Let's shoot him down, runt!"

"Right!" Gohan shouted, bringing his right arm over his left shoulder and pointing his index and middle fingers out, which allowed him to begin charging a golden ball of ki at the end of his digits. "NOW!" He then swung his arm over, took aim like he was pointing a gun, and unleashed a bright, golden flash from his fingers. "Kōsen!" (Light Ray) he shouted, as a highly concentrated golden blast exploded from his fingers in a narrow beam.

"Flash Bomb!"Dore uttered at the same time, thrusting his arm forward and unleashing a larger, more wide-spread golden blast into the sky, which rocketed towards the approaching Lakasei along the same line as Gohan's piercing attack.

When both beams slammed into the purple alien head-on, the guy's body seemed to halt in midair as it was engulfed in a brilliant, flashy explosion. Through the concussive force of the blast and the bright strobe of fire that exploded outwards, the pair could've sworn they saw the Beenz-seijin get split in two from their attacks cutting right through him. What surprised the duo immediately after seeing the imp's tiny body split midair though, was as soon as the bang of the explosion shook the sky and choked the atmosphere with smoke, they suddenly saw TWO Lakasei dart out of the flames and charge towards them.

Dore recoiled. "What the fuck?!" At first thinking he was hallucinating, the Beppa speedily dodged to the side to avoid the first one's charge. The second one however ended up slamming a knee right into the crook of his neck with a loud bang, causing the man to shout in alarm as he was sent dropping out of the sky like a stone. Gohan meanwhile, noticing the first Lakasei flying towards him past his friend, was able to cross his arms over his face in time to receive the pulverizing head butt the alien rammed into with him.

Though he managed to block the locomotive of a blow, the Saiyan was still knocked out of the sky and sent plummeting to the ground with Dore- both of them yelling out in tandem before slamming into the floor. Their crash-landing kicked up a blast of rubble and dust, which shot into the air like a geyser from their impact.

When the two Lakasei eventually floated back up to a higher altitude, both of them pulled up alongside one another and grinned triumphantly at their successful attack.

"Oh? Sorry about that. Didn't I tell you?" the first Lakasei chirped, his armor simmering at the front from the blast that Dore and Gohan launched barely grazing his chest. "I have a twin brother."

"Raisen's the name!" the second Lakasei laughed, brushing off the burnt bits on his front armor as well, before then striking a cocky fighting pose. "What do you think? Did you like that trick?"

"Because we've got plenty more where that came from!" the original Lakasei cackled, coming alongside his brother and swinging his arms out in a second, flashy pose. After which, the two of them then struck the same posture, fanning their hands out and assuming similar midair martial arts postures. "Come on then!"

"Show us what else you've got!" Raisen exclaimed.

Watching the dust fade over the pair's crash site, the pair of Beenz-seijin initially expected to see their two foes flat on their backs. It came as a big surprise to both of them when they saw both Dore and Gohan standing side-by-side, looking a tad bit dusty, but looking in perfect health. In fact, both of them were so unfazed by their opponents' efforts that they were just smirking up at them and the ridiculous pose they'd assumed.

"You call that a battle dance?" Dore asked, reaching up and massaging his neck. "Those moves were about as pathetic as that kick you nailed me with. I barely even felt it. Right, runt?"

"Yeah. That was pretty disappointing," Gohan replied, also flexing his shoulders when he saw the expressions on Lakasei and Raisen twist into ones mixed with nervousness and fury. "If that's the best you two guys can do, then this fight isn't going to last for much longer."

Raisen, clenching his teeth angrily as he glared down at the grinning pair of elite warriors, then brought his arm back and prepared to charge an attack. "You cocky little runt… we're members of the Turles Crusher Corp!" His actions were mimicked by Lakasei, who also drew back his opposite hand so that both he and his brothers were mirror images of one another while floating back to back. "Do you think that a nose-wiping shit like you and that brainless idiot are better than the two of us?!"

"Oh, you bet we are," Gohan chuckled while holding up his left fist and jabbing it towards the airborne siblings. "You're messing with the best, assholes!"

Grinning down at his compatriot standing at his right, Dore then raised his arm and clenched his fist. "Hey. How about we show these two amateurs how it's done?"

Gohan, smiling across at his gym junkie mentor, brought down his left arm and knocked his forearm against his in a sign of respect. "Let's do it." The moment he said this, both of them lunged forward, lowered their postures, and set themselves into a jumping start.

The moment the two squadron members took their poses, both Lakasei and Raisen- their hands pulsing and sparking with red spheres of energy- then gave two simultaneous roars as they thrust said hands forward and unleashed their attacks. "GEMINI SHOT!" the pair screamed in unison as two enormous balls of red energy launched from their hands, molded together, and rocketed down towards the duo on the ground- increasing in size on approach.

As soon as they saw the large attack plummeting towards them, both Gohan and Dore powered up- their whites auras springing around them- before the pair separated and flew around the comet of an energy ball. Evading the attack meant that the sphere of red ki slammed into the planet, detonating with such force the entire landscape quaked and rocked under its shockwaves. When the two Beenz saw their attack erupt into the air in a massive mushroom cloud, they were then alarmed to see Gohan and Dore flying towards them from two completely different directions.

Panicking, the short, purple aliens bolted, shooting up into the sky while the duo pursued. From there, streaks of white light crisscrossed with red in an awesome display of fireworks, in which both Gohan and Dore attacked the twins from directions and angles practiced that were practiced over and over again in training. They moved and attacked in blurs and flashes, moving at such speeds and with such precision it was an awe to watch them move. Eventually, after chasing the twin Beenz for a full minute, the pair made their move.

When a massive fireball exploded in the sky from two attacks colliding with one another, a battered and burnt Lakasei appeared from thin air. Trialing smoke, the man with the busted lip and cracked scouter growled angrily at the fireball, only to recoil when he saw it part suddenly and Gohan's body come barreling right through it.

Tucked up into a ball, the armored youngster rolled at high-speed as he descended, before snapping himself open and driving a diving kick into the stunned Lakasei. The purple warrior threw his hand up and attempted to fire a ki blast, only to miss and receive a kick in the stomach, which knocked him out of the sky.

He flew back, slamming into something solid when his brother- also sporting multiple injuries- unexpectedly crossed his path, and ended up crashing into his sibling when he flew into him. Both of them crying out on impact, the duo spun around to face each other, only to be interrupted when Dore came diving down from the sky, reared back his right arm and, with a massive grin clotheslined both of them simultaneously.

"ORAAAAAA!" the Beppa-seijin bellowed, a loud crack following his blow slamming across both Beenz heads and knocking them into a flip.

As Dore rocketed past the pair following his running attack, and both Lakasei and Raisen were left stunned, Gohan suddenly appeared in the sky above them. Suspending himself horizontal to the planet's surface and above the two Beenz siblings, the Saiyan drew back his head, inhaled so much air that his chest expanded, before then throwing his head forward and opening his jaw- firing a full-power, Mouth Energy Wave down at them.

"Dengeki Taiho!" (Blitz Cannon)

His attack erupted from his mouth like a geyser, swallowing up the two purple aliens, and sent them both plummeting down towards the planet, tumbling through the maelstrom of hellfire the child unleashed upon them in a single, literal breath. Both of them screamed out in agony as they were burned by the flames and dropped at light speed into the ground, which they slammed into amidst the raging torrent of the child's blast. When the inferno lifted moments later and the clouds parted, it revealed both Beenz lying in the center of the crater- their skin charred and armor shredded.

With both of them lying dead and gone, their eyes and faces vacant, they were made the first deaths on the battlefield.

With Dore and Gohan dropping down on the root overlooking the crater, the pair stared down at the corpses of the Beenz, with the Beppa-seijin's scouter beeping brightly for several moments- with all the numbers coming up as zero.

Nodding in satisfaction, the pleased Dore raised his fist and pointed it towards his smaller teammate. "Nice going, little man. Good kill."

Gohan smirked and returned the man's offer a fist bump with one of his own. "Thanks, champ." He then smiled when he saw one of them catch fire and begin to burn on his own accord. "Hopefully this time, they'll stay dead for good."

OOO

(Meanwhile)

As more explosions ripped out across the countryside- felling mountains and forming chasms across every speck of valley exposed by the Tree of Might's roots- the individual battles between the members of Cooler's Armored Squadron and the Turles Crusher Corp were quickly and quite decisively being wrapped up by their respective participants. In the midst of all the chaos still raging across the planet, the remaining pairs were now giving it everything they could for the home stretch, determined to bring home the win.

Well… one side certainly was. The other side was just humoring them for the sake of their egos, before effectively pulling the rugs out from under their feet. It was pretty much the same thing that Gohan and Dore did, as a way to frustrate and annoy their foes before putting an end to them, just like they probably did countless others.

Standing atop a plateau with his feet firmly widened, an unperturbed Neiz frowned as he brought both his hands up and concentrated his energy. Following a few sparks of purple, a field of electricity soon coated both of his hands, which began crackling and spitting wildly in all directions. As he concentrated, he watched as his opponent- the cyborg Cacao- came screaming across the battlefield towards him.

With his metallic armor flashing under the rays of sunlight he passed, the amphibian telegraphed his approach, before eventually letting him have it.

The brown warrior grinned broadly. "You want some of me, tough guy?! HERE!" Neiz shouted, before eventually thrusting both hands forward and unleashing a torrent of purple lightning straight towards his robotic opponent. A clap of thunder rang out as the electricity erupted from his hands, shooting straight towards the oncoming jet that was his opponent.

Cacao, his scouter letting out a warning scream, stopped abruptly and threw his hands forward, just in time to feel the bolts of purple lightning slam into his palms and push him back across the battlefield at breakneck speed. Neiz, through clenched teeth, continued channeling lightning through his palms as he attempted to fry his target, only to watch the silver-plated warrior fall from the air, slam his feet into the ground, and grind to a halt.

All the while his hands, which had previously been coated, had opened up to reveal two ports, which he was now using to absorb all of the purple lightning being shot at him. As more and more thunderclaps rang out for a full several seconds, Neiz eventually cut off all the energy he was pouring into his blast, and stopped in time to watch the robot absorb the last wave of electricity, which crackled and sparked off of his body in small streams.

The plates on his hands snapping closed while his armor let off a hiss of steam as a way to cool down following the attack, the cyborg warrior then snapped his gaze upwards and chuckled darkly. "My turn, frog," he said, thrusting both arms to his sides and cracking open several more panels. The moment he did and exposed several jet propulsion units hidden underneath, Cacao then gave a grunt, before suddenly unleashing a barrage of missile from his armor.

Neiz balked when he saw the rockets scatter through the sky, curling and twisting in multiple directions, before eventually homing in on him and rocketing towards his position. "Shit." Crouching down, the man then bolted into the sky, just in time to avoid the wave of rockets as they bombarded the plateau he'd been standing on and decimated the entire tore.

Shooting into the sky, Neiz then dove down and fly right towards the metal man, giving a yell of effort as he swung at him with a chop. The ground Cacao, standing at the end of two individual trenches formed by his feet, blocked the big fighter's blow, grabbed him, and then tossed him over to the other side, sending him skidding across the floor. Upon which Neiz then leapt at him again and struck out with a barrage of punches.

A series of loud clangs rang out as Cacao, backing off, skillfully blocked the fierce onslaught of attacks with his hands. His defense seemed pretty solid. But his confidence changed moments later when he suddenly caught a sharp one across the face and had his head snapped to the side. A split second later, he was then assaulted by even more punishing blows when Neiz began laying into him with an even swifter combination of attacks, which slowly but surely pushed his body back along the ground.

Avoiding the bounty hunter's attempted counters, Neiz chuckled when he caught the man's fist and locked it up. "Too slow!" He then swung his right leg in and slammed it into the cyborg's forward knee, causing it to buckle inwards and drop the robot to the ground. After which the amphibian then seized one of the weird, metal cables hooping over Cacao's left shoulder and gripped it tightly in his large hand. "Ooh. This looks important!" With a grunt and a hard tug, the Zalt then ripped the cable right out of its host, causing a cloud of gas to spew out of the tube, as one of the key components of the hunter's life robotic system was removed.

"GAAAARRGH! BASTARD!" Cacao shouted, suddenly throwing up his right hand and firing a red ki blast at Neiz, only to see the tall man vanish from in front of him and dart to the side to avoid his attack. As gas continued to spew out of the now cut cable of his suit, the warrior hurriedly stood up and pointed his left arm and fired a second shot, only to watch Neiz dart out of the way again in a blur. He then proceeded to do this multiple times- leaping around the battlefield as Cacao shot at him. Every time he did though, he ended up missing, which quickly frustrated the professional gun for hire. "Damn it! Hold still, would you!"

"Okay," Neiz chirped, reappearing a few feet behind the cyborg with his hands on his hips after dodging yet another one of his blasts. He then grinned when his armored foe spun around and aimed his hand right at his face. "Take your best shot! Right here!"

And he did. In a flash of brilliant red light, Cacao fired a powerful blast right into the amphibian's mug, seemingly vaporizing it and taking the man's whole head off in the process. The bounty hunter narrowed his eyes when he saw the elite warrior take the attack literally at point blank and when the beam dissipated a split second later, he noticed that the amphibian was still standing there- minus a head.

His guard dropping for a moment, the stunned cyborg immediately thought that he had won.

That was until Neiz's headless, still miraculously standing body raised its right hand, pointed it at the robot's head, and fired his own blast in retaliation. The flash of purple was bright and concentrated, instantaneously incinerating the robot's cranium and profile in a single shot. Almost as soon as his blast had been launched at the hunter's face and the energy beam faded, the now headless Cacao dropped to both his knees, before eventually keeling forward and slamming into the floor with a loud bang.

Neiz on the other hand, his body completely unharmed, then popped his head right back into place- revealing he'd simply retracted it into his body after baiting his opponent to take a shot. He finished off his odd dodge by throwing a big grin down at the now dead cyborg. "Hmm. Maybe I took a bit too much off the top? What do you think?" When he saw the robot's body twitch and give off a few sparks of electricity, the Zalt-seijin shrugged. "Yeah. I think so too."

As he was admiring his handwork, the man suddenly looked up when he felt and heard an explosion go off nearby. Glancing across the field to see a wall of rubble and dust falling over a distant hill, he then saw the battered, slightly singed form of the prince-turned-pirate Daiz come flying out of the debris and skid to a stop in the sky above the combusting land.

When he saw the smoke clear around the site of the explosion, he quickly spotted Myra standing in the center of a fractured crater- posture straight, expression calm, and a glowing red, pulsing pole of energy being held in her left hand behind her. Having formed the weapon out of her ki, the adolescent could be seen glaring up at her wounded adversary, while she herself didn't have a scratch on her.

Noticing the unperturbed, bored look on the Hera's face, the infuriated Daiz cocked both hands back and barked, "You insolent wench! You think you're so cool?! I'll show you!" He then gave a shout as he thrust his arms forward and unleashed a massive red energy blast down at the female, his attack plummeting towards her like a meteorite and breaking the sound barrier on approach.

Sighing when she saw the attack streaking towards her, Myra then one-handedly brought her energy staff up and twirled it around her body. When she released it, it spun in an arc, managing to smack aside the red energy sphere and send it streaking off into the distance. The instant it exploded, she caught her energy staff, spun it, and brought it back down to her side- while simultaneously throwing a smirk up at the airborne prince.

Balking in shock, Daiz quickly brought both hands overhead and roared, "Fuck you! Eat this!" He then swung his arms down and fired off a barrage of multiple energy waves, which shot from his hands in a stream and screamed towards the ground like a cluster of missiles- all looping, arcing, and crisscrossing one another randomly.

Beginning to spin her staff around her at high speed and causing a loud hum to fill the air, Myra then began performing multiple acrobatic, martial arts maneuvers- elegantly smacking aside and deflecting every single energy blast that dropped down on her, while those that missed exploded uselessly on the ground around her. Upon effortlessly knocking aside each and every bolt that attempted to hit her, the girl then performed a graceful flourish, stopped in a throwing stance, and cocked back the pole in her hand.

Channeling more energy into her construct and causing the solid beam she'd formed to shimmer, the simple staff Myra was holding then thickened, with a broad-headed, spear tip with accented sides forming on one end of the energy's length. The moment she reshaped her weapon, the Hera then loaded her left arm, took aim with her right, before leaning forward and javelining her weapon right at the airborne Daiz.

All the mercenary was able to do was gape as, in that instant, a bright glint from Myra was followed by the beam of her lance flying up at him at light speed and impaling the warrior right in the stomach. The force of the blow generated a thunderclap as Daiz, lurching over and letting out a scream of agony, was sent arcing through the sky and over a distant cluster of enormous roots. The explosion that occurred the moment the red streak of energy made landfall was colossal, sending a shockwave rippling across the country as flames belched into the sky.

When the smoke cleared moments later, it revealed the very dead Daiz lying sprawled out against the side of the tree root- his armor fractured in multiple places, eyes glazed over, blood dribbling from his mouth, and a massive hole several inches across sitting in the center of his torso.

Remaining in her throwing stance for several seconds, Myra eventually disengaged from her posture and straightened up. Placing her hands on her hips, the orange-haired tomboy of a warrior smirked before glancing to her left, where she saw Neiz touch down next to her. The moment the taller warrior landed, he then whistled as he set his hand over his eyes to look across at the crater she'd formed out of her opponent.

"Nice throw," the Zalt-seijin remarked.

Myra chuckled as she flicked a strand of hair back and looked out across the landscape once more. "Thanks. Personally, I'd give it a seven out of ten."

Her rating had the amphibian male chuckle. "You're a really harsh critic, aren't you?"

The adolescent grinned broadly. "What can I say? There's always room for more improvement."

OOO

(Elsewhere)

Salza meanwhile was just wrapping things up on his end. After effectively laying into Amond with the beating of a lifetime and surprising the big criminal at his speed and strength, the blond warrior now stood atop a large root sitting alongside a large chasm. The man in the purple spandex and accented armor watched with a satisfied smirked as his incredibly beaten and bruised opponent glared back at him from the other side of the cliff, hunched over on his root and clutching a large gash carved into the front of his armor.

Also bleeding heavily from multiple wounds and missing not only a part of his shoulder guard, but a legging in his baggy pants, it was clear the commander of the pirate gang was in serious trouble.

Not caring much for the winded brute, Salza gave a light chuckle as he then swung his right arm out and coated his limb in energy. With a sharp whoosh and a loud hum, his purple energy blade came into full view as he swung it out and took aim at his foe. "En garde," he shouted, straightening up his posture, putting his left arm behind his back, and pointing his glowing right arm at Amond.

Taking in deep gulps of air, Amond then gave a murderous grin of his own and hissed. "Oh. I guess we're up to the fancy moves then, huh? Alright. I'll play along." Bringing his right hand out and concentrating, the red-skinned male then gave a low growl before, with a flash of red electricity, produced a glowing, hot red disk of energy above his palm. The moment the large, spinning mass of ki formed above his grip, the injured pirate widened his stance and readied for launch.

A moment of tense silence then followed as Salza- watching with a cool look on his face and without an ounce of sweat to be seen- observed his bleeding foe as he glared back at him with a clear look of fury burning in his eyes. When a brisk gust of wind cut over the area and sent a cluster of dead leaves flying between them, the two warriors finally decided to make their move.

Both throwing themselves off into action, the pair of battle-hardened aliens flew across the gaping fissure towards one another without hesitation. In that moment, everything happened in the blink of an eye.

With Salza's blade humming loudly as he drew it back and Amond's disk hissing as he locked his arm behind him, the duo telegraphed the others moves in bullet time. Closing in on each other at blinding speed, the long-haired pirate with the scar on his chin timed his foe's approach, watching his posture as well as his blade. Until, with a loud battle cry and a heave of his massive arm, Amond thrust his disk forward- at the exact same time the squadron captain barreled into him with his blade.

Two sharp flashes then occurred midair as the pair passed one another- their attacks ending when Salza and Amond touched down on opposite sides of the chasm- the former in a stylish, lunging pose with his left arm in front and his right arm behind his back- completely different from how he started- and the latter with his throwing arm extended and his red disk flying ahead of him, across the battlefield.

Watching it travel for a few seconds, the former inmate then saw his disk suddenly jitter midflight, before suddenly splitting in half and exploding into a shower of red embers. Gaping at it for several moments, a smirk then crossed the big man's face as he felt his heart slowly beat to a standstill. Heck, he was so caught up in seeing his disk shatter that he was vaguely aware that his body had been split in half through the middle.

"Heh… touché…" Amond whispered, standing straight up, swaying for a moment before, with one last, shaky breath, keeling forward. His body slammed into the ground with a dull thud, ending with a pool of blood slowly beginning to form beneath him.

Upon hearing his opponent fall, Salza swung his blade out and straightened back up into a proper pose, before promptly deactivating his energy blade. Upon doing so he then brushed back his hair and smirked over his shoulder at his now dead opponent.

"You were a strong adversary. But sadly not strong enough to defeat me. Better luck next time," Salza chuckled, before then looking back around to see the rest of his teammates touch down across the enormous root in front of him. Seeing they were all practically untouched and in good condition put a smile on the blonde's face. "Ah. I take it from the state of your uniforms that the four of you won?"

Gohan grinned and gave a thumbs up. "Without a scratch."

"We wiped the floor with those thugs easily," Myra stated, at the same time sharing a high-five with her half-Saiyan teammate.

When the entire group converged on the captain's positioned and formed a circle, Neiz cranked his head over to look at the fallen Amond. When he saw the blood forming around him, the amphibian chuckled. "I guess your opponent found out the hard way not to bring a big ego to a sword fight, huh?"

"Hmph," Salza chuckled while also sharing another look back at the man's corpse. "This man had a very unrefined and straightforward fighting style. There was no way he was ever going to defeat me with such crude tactics."

"Well… in any case, with these losers out of the way, finding out how to get rid of that eyesore should be a piece of cake now," Dore remarked, while simultaneously placing his hands on his hips and turning to face the gargantuan tower in the distance. Seeing the entire edifice jutting up into the cloud bangs above, as well as the vines of the lifeform's canopy dangling through the puffs of white, the Beppa scoffed. "Damn. That's a big motherfucker."

"It looks even bigger up close," Neiz followed up, also appearing quite impressed and slightly overwhelmed by the tree's size. "How in the heck are we going to chop it down?"

"I'm sure we'll figure out a way. We always do," Myra stated with a nod. "A few, full-powered shots from low orbit above the continent should do the trick. But first we're going to have to get those three children off the planet before we start any sort of aerial bombardment."

"Agreed," Salza replied, before then turning to look down at Gohan, who he noticed was still staring towards the giant tree with a rather troubled expression in play. The captain however didn't think anything of it and simply carried on. "Gohan- head on back over to the clearing and collect those three girls you found. Something tells me that they will be very happy to receive a helping hand from the youngest member of Cooler's most elite and famous team of warriors." This statement from the leader of the team had Dore and Neiz grin at each other in amusement, with the latter elbowing the other in the side at their little student's 'big opportunity' to make some acquaintances.

Ordinarily the child would follow that instruction without question. However, after several seconds passed, the puzzled half-Saiyan looked back around at his team and towards the group's leader. "I don't think this is over yet. Didn't these guys say they had a leader with them? A boss?"

His question had the four older warriors balk in surprise, with Myra narrowing her gaze when she too remembered that small detail during their tense back-and-forth with the pirates earlier. "Now that you mention it… yeah. They did."

"Those twins said that their group was called the… Something Crusher Corp," Dore muttered, lowering his head and frowning deeply when he couldn't exactly remember the first part of that name. Mostly because he'd been so worked up while trying to catch those little imps that he couldn't be bothered listening to their blathering. "Uhh… what was it? Tackle? Totter? Turtle?"

"Turles."

The group of five jumped when they heard a new voice echo down from above, which caused all of them to wheel around and face the roots just to the right of the massive tree in the distance. When their eyes fixated on the collection of branches arcing out of the ground, Salza and the rest of his team all blinked in surprise when they saw a new, sixth figure standing out in the open.

Standing at an average six-feet in height and boasting a very fit, muscular frame, was a humanoid male with a rather greyish skin tone. Sporting a full-fitted, blue-gray and black Battle Armor of the exact same design as most of those worn in the Frieza Force, the man had a few very distinct traits that set him apart from all the other alien warriors the members of Cooler's Squadron had encountered thus far. Menacing dress aside, he also wore custom gauntlets with white edges, a dark brown belt wrapped around his waist that seemed strangely familiar, and a standard scouter over his left ear with a red lens. Furthermore, the individual had a very strong, handsome façade topped by black, messy hair that fanned outwards- almost like he'd just gotten out of bed.

Several of the bunched strands made it look as though the guy had devil horns formed in his mop, but that was probably just a coincidence.

Nevertheless, the moment the group laid eyes on the man hovering in the air just above the root with his arms crossed, all of them couldn't help but stare in abject shock and confusion.

Tilting his head upwards, the arrogantly smiling individual spoke again. "Greetings. Welcome to the planet formerly known as CP-179. I hope you've enjoyed your stay so far."

In the thick of the silence that perforated the area, as the older warriors stared at the dark-skinned, ominous looking stranger, Gohan- blinking in disbelief- suddenly stepped forward. Nudging past Myra and towards the front, drawing the squad's gaze down to him, the stunned and overcome hybrid shook his head, as at first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But after a few moments of gaping, the boy knew that this wasn't an illusion.

"D-Dad?"

This question caught the attention of everyone present, with Dore being the first to react. "Huh? Dad?"

"Is… Is that man your father, Gohan?" Myra asked, quickly catching on to what suddenly had the child so shocked, as she turned her gaze up to the armored warrior in front of them.

"He… looks like him," the demi-Saiyan responded, narrowing his eyes on the adult floating ahead of them and seeing his startled gaze turn to him. "His face, his eyes… and his hair are exactly the same as my dad's. But…" Clenching his teeth and tightening his fists, the child suddenly felt the stench of danger waft towards him, which caused his hair to bristle and his entire body to lock up defensively. "But that's not him. This man… he's got a foul aura around him… and he reeks of death."

The spiky haired figure floating in the air ahead of the troop felt his brow furrow as he fixed his gaze on the child at the head of the group. When he scanned the youngster's appearance and saw the brown tail waving behind him, the dark-skinned male felt his stomach clench a little in disbelief. "That boy-"

After staring across at the humanoid warrior for several moments, Neiz gave the man a few blinks before his eyes widened in alarm. "Guys. Isn't he a-?"

"No way," Dore whispered, his expression also appearing somewhat stumped. "Another Saiyan?"

"And a full-grown one as well," Neiz followed-up, his eyes tracing over the warrior's figure and taking note of all of his characteristics. "But… But that's not possible."

Salza clenched his teeth as he glared across at the newcomer. "Just what in the heck is going on here?"

Turles, feeling his smile tug back into play at the stumped expressions' on the group's faces, then decided to mess with them a little. "I see that you recognize what I am from my appearance. Though that shouldn't really be a surprise, all things considered." Unfurling the brown belt wrapped tightly around his waist, the man then waved it out toward the side in a taunting manner, confirming for the squadron that he was in fact what they thought he was. "Yes. I am a Saiyan. To be more precise, I'm a lower-class Saiyan warrior and soldier formerly of the Planet Vegeta and the Frieza Force." His grin widened even more so. "The name is Turles."

Myra stiffened her jaw as she glared daggers across at the male warrior. "So I take it you're the leader of the group of pirates that we just fought and killed- the ones who planted that accursed tree on this world and destroyed it?"

"That's correct," Turles chirped, though his amused tone carried a very snide and venomous air to it. "And if I'm not mistaken, you five are members of the empire spanning most of this entire quadrant- the elite group known as Cooler's Armored Squadron. Tales of your numerous conquests on multiple worlds and victories over dozens of rebel kingdoms and military forces have spread from here, all the way to the western regions. A truly impressive reputation befitting a unit of such high stature. It's an honor to meet you in person."

Finding this feigned ego-stroking to be getting a little bit tiresome, Dore shot the warrior a foul and suspicious look. "I thought Frieza killed all of the Saiyan soldiers on his force when he blew up Planet Vegeta- except for the young prince, his general Nappa, and a handful of other subordinates. As I recall, there weren't any records of a sixth soldier. So how the heck did you manage to survive?"

Chuckling at the Beppa's question, the messy-haired warrior reared his head and exhaled deeply. "It's a rather long and fascinating story. But, since I'll be eliminating most of you in the next few minutes, I'd rather keep my tale short and spare you all of the pointless drivel." He then smirked darkly at the squad. "To put it to you simply, King Vegeta was growing tired of serving under Lord Frieza's thumb and having his family treated as second-class citizens in his empire. Unable to wait for his prodigious son to become powerful enough to overthrow the tyrant and his family, he dispatched me on a secret mission into uncharted space, to search for a rumored weapon that would be able to bring down the all-powerful lizard. Since I was a low-class Saiyan child with an insignificant battle power at the time, it made me the ideal candidate to take on such an important task- as my presence would be able to go virtually undetected. It wouldn't be until years of hunting later when I heard about the destruction of my home planet and the "meteorite" that collided with it."

"So you were away at the time Frieza blew up Vegeta and its people?" Neiz asked, finding it rather poetic that more than the accounted Saiyans had managed to slip through the tyrant's grasp.

"Call it a stroke of good fortune," Turles said while shrugging carelessly. "After I learned of my race's extinction, I decided to make myself scarce and start my own coalition, made up of the biggest, toughest hard cases and killers I could find. We kept on searching for the rumored weapon, moving from planet to planet, keeping a low profile, and following the trail left behind by the races that came before us- until we finally came across the Tree of Might." He then tilted his head and smirked. "I take it you already know the rest."

"More or less," Salza grunted as he glared across at the Saiyan rogue. "So, to summarize, you abandoned your people, ditched the Frieza Force, formed your own gang of criminals, and took it upon yourself to use the weapon you were originally tasked with retrieving to gain the power necessary to overthrow Lord Frieza and the rest of the Planet Trade Organization? Judging from the planets you've already eliminated, you also have no qualms about sacrificing millions of people to realize your plan." The blond scoffed after processing all of this in his head. "I have to say, you've got a sick and twisted sense of ambition."

"It comes with the territory of being a Saiyan. We are, after all, a race of savage warriors built purely for destruction," Turles answered, a chuckle leaving his lips as he turned his gaze towards the young hybrid he could see standing in front of them and snarling in his direction. "Though I've heard many stories about the Ginyu Force and the Armored Squadron, I never would've guessed that of the five elite commandoes making up your team, one of them would be a Saiyan. And a Saiyan child no less." He then narrowed his eyes on the child when he saw the group's expressions change. "Tell me... where did you find that little one?"

Myra, realizing that Turles was singling out her friend, quickly stepped forward along with Neiz, both of whom stood on either side of Gohan defensively. "That's none of your business."

"Hmm. Is that so?" the Saiyan asked.

Before the other members of the squadron could answer him, as Gohan, Salza and the others were glaring across at the Saiyan floating several yards away, all of them then jumped in unison when they suddenly saw he was standing directly in front of them- glaring down at the child. Thinking they must've blinked or had a stroke, a fierce gust of wind blew past them when the momentum of Turles's lightning fast movements caused the air to shudder around him, which in turn prompted the entire squadron to take a defensive and cautionary step back.

The only one who didn't move was Gohan, who was still snarling up at the Goku-look-a-like before him.

Salza blinked in alarm when he saw the Saiyan had practically teleported right in front of them. "How did he do that?"

"I didn't even see the scumbag move a muscle," Neiz gaped in disbelief. "What the fuck?"

Scouter beeping a warning signal as numbers flew up over her screen, Myra felt her jaw drop when she saw the amount of energy the pirate Saiyan standing between them was exuding. "His… His battle power… it's over two-hundred and ten thousand…" She shook her head. "No way. How can a mere vagabond have an energy level so damn high?"

Dore held out a hand when he saw Gohan was still standing within reach of the man and glaring up at him, as if completely unaware and unshaken by the threat they were now facing. "Kid! Be careful! This freak is dangerous!"

After both Saiyans spent about a full minute glaring at one another in silence, the lens on Turles's red scouter beeped into life. With multiple arrows and circles popping up over his screen, he quietly scanned the youngster for a few seconds- watching his bio-signature and energy reading blink across his line of sight. Once the scouter stopped processing and gave him a number, the Saiyan cocked an eyebrow in an impressed manner. "Your power level is massive. A hundred and seventy-five thousand? And it's steadily increasing while you're in a passive state. You truly are a Saiyan warrior." A grin then crossed his lips. "You mentioned I resembled your father, yes?"

Gohan's brow creased as he continued to glare up at the taller and much more intimidating looking man. Though this wasn't the first time this'd happened to him, there was something off about him that was causing all of his instincts to scream at high alert. "Yeah? What about him?"

"Hmm. You must've come from one of the outlying worlds our old race sent infants to years ago to conquer. That must mean your father was a lower-class warrior, just like me. It makes sense, since there was only a few types like us… and most of us shared the same build and appearance. Especially if we came from the same clan," Turles answered, deducing how Gohan was able to make the connection between him and his father. After a moment of consideration, while also keeping his eye on the group around him, the spiky-haired warrior smirked. "Say... how would you like to come with me?"

The child blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"Think about it. If you and I were to join forces, we could destroy Frieza and his family, and rule the universe together- traveling through space, conquering new worlds, and enslaving as many people we desire to do our bidding. I'll teach you how to live and act like a true Saiyan warrior. To become a beast who takes what he wants, whenever he wants- whether it's food, drink, power, or women," Turles stated, at the same time glancing across at Myra with a very dark and sinister glare. His expression causing her to grit her teeth and glare back, the man then looked back down at the child and beamed. "You'll never learn to unlock your true potential with these fools as your mentors. But with me, I promise you'll have all the fun and power you can ever imagine. So what do you say, kid? Interested?"

Seemingly contemplating the man's offer for several moments, Gohan then looked down for a brief moment. A few moments later, he suddenly looked up and widened his gaze. What followed was a loud gunshot, followed by Turles giving a grunt of surprise when the force of several locomotives suddenly slammed into his torso and sent him flying back off of the root. The kiai the child launched was so powerful and unexpected that it managed to carry the Saiyan several dozen yards through the air, before he eventually stopped himself with a sharp burst of ki.

Gohan, fists clenched and face twisted in fury, allowed steam to rise off of his body as his hair billowed about on a stiff wind. Teeth clenching, he then gave a bark of defiance. "How's this for an answer!" White aura exploding around him, the youngster then took a fighting stance similar to his father's and readied himself.

Myra and Dore, grinning broadly at their teammate's response, also took fighting stances- with the former swinging her arm out and generating a beam of red energy, which she caught in her hand.

"Alright, Gohan!" Myra exclaimed.

"You tell him, runt!" the Beppa-seijin laughed, bringing his fists up into a very boxing-like stance as he prepared himself for one hell of a brawl.

Salza and Neiz quickly followed suit, with the captain taking his own, textbook fighting posture and the amphibian coating himself in a field of purple, electrical energy, which zapped off of him in a storm.

"His power level may be greater than ours, but our teamwork will make up for the difference!" the captain shouted, glancing across at his teammates and barking his orders towards them. "You all know what to do! Attack formation: Alpha! Move in from all sides, pour everything you have on him, and don't give this bastard a chance to breathe! Understand?!"

"Yes, sir!" the other four shouted, a split second before all of their auras sprang around them, signaling that they were green to go.

The sight of the five warriors all taking combative positions and readying themselves for battle had the airborne Turles blink in a startled manner. Upon seeing their collective energies blink across his scouter, the stunned and slightly winded warrior then allowed a wide smirk to cross his lips.

"I see. So you'd rather fight and die on what's left of this miserable planet, than accept my generous offer?" the evil, Goku doppelganger chuckled. Correcting his stance midair, the dark-skinned Saiyan then shot the group a very menacing, feral grin and shouted at the top of his lungs. "I can respect that choice! A Saiyan warrior's true nature can only ever reveal itself in the midst of battle! To fight, to bleed, and to die through glorious combat, is what all of us were born and bred for! It's what we crave and desire above all of life's pleasures! And since you and I are cut from the same, savage cloth from the most ferocious and primal race in the history of the universe… I'LL GLADLY TAKE YOU ON!" With a roar of pain and effort, the man's body bulked up as a purple aura erupted around him. Veins pulsing and energy level spiking, Turles allowed his power to rage at full burn as he glared down at the members of the squadron with a very beastly and excited grin. "Let's see what the best of Cooler's Empire can do! COME AT ME!"

TO BE CONTINUED…