Author's Note: For all those keen for a 'Where's Wally' quest, there are many minor characters from the Dragonball Z universe that make an appearance here. If you can spot and identify them, as well as which episodes they came from, you get top marks. :)
I've also thrown in some dialogue from a game with mixed reviews. See if you can spot that as well and who says those lines. *wink-wink*
Dragonball Z
Alter Age
Evil Plot
(Approximately six months later)
Approaching the very outer reaches of the Solar System in the Milky Way galaxy, the two pods carrying both Vegeta and Nappa within them could be seen screaming across the vacuum of space, clearly on a final approach towards their ultimate destination. With the Earth's sun now in view of their pod's viewing ports, and visibly growing brighter and bigger with every minute that passed them, the pair of eager, restless, and bloodthirsty Saiyan warriors had now reached the point in their journey where they could practically feel their goal was within their grasps.
They'd done the hard leg. They'd crossed over a large chunk of the universe, passing through nebulas, asteroid fields, and star systems that they'd only ever glimpsed through star charts and simulations. And along the way they'd also had a couple of stop-offs, one in which they'd been able to wipe out an entire place of bug creatures with very little difficulty. And now, after almost a full year of traveling across the vast expanse of space, the duo were now closing in on the very world where their ultimate prize lay waiting for them.
They could practically feel the taste of victory on the tips of their tongues. Immortality was theirs for the taking. All they had to do was waste a couple of fighters and threaten a couple of people, and they were as good as gold.
Nothing was going to stop them now.
Of course, they were still a couple of days away from actually arriving on Earth, so all Vegeta and Nappa could do in that time was tap their feet and drum their fingers impatiently as they watched their craft speed towards Pluto's orbit.
Looking out through his window, Nappa smirks. "Hey, Vegeta."
There was a brief moment of pause before the disgruntled voice of his partner grunted back over the radio. "What is it, Nappa?"
The bald Saiyan grinned broadly. "I bet you fifty credits I can hit that puny ball of ice through the door."
Noticing for himself the tiny form of Pluto just floating on the edge of their viewing range, the Prince of all Saiyans momentarily considered his teammate's bet. However, upon considering the feats that he knew the Saiyan General was capable of, the brown haired warrior in full battle armor merely frowned and closed his eyes.
"Don't bother, Nappa. Save your energy," Vegeta remarked, promptly shooting down his bored comrade's attempt to goad. "You're going to need every speck you can muster for when we get to Earth, since I'm pretty sure we're not going to be getting a very warm welcome."
In response, Nappa chuckled. "Heh. Good point."
Quickly remembering what was at stake- as well as what was possibly waiting for them after this part of their journey was done- the General reclined back in his chair, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.
Of course, not being the most patient man in the world, approximately two minutes after everything fell silent, Nappa then cracked a smile. "Hey, Vegeta. Want to have a game of twenty questions?"
About a second after asking, Vegeta's aggravated sigh came back over the radio. "Ugh… fine."
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Galaxies away)
When you were charged with running an empire that spanned over dozens of galaxies and star systems, one of the biggest and most standout questions that you had to ask was how one man or woman could possibly keep such a massive organization functioning without it spiraling into chaos.
For Frieza and his father, it was all a simple matter of keeping up appearances- occasionally flexing their powers on unsuspecting worlds, sending their top henchmen on high profile assignments to otherwise troublesome regions, and keeping a steady stream of rumors of their terrifying feats filtering out across the cosmos's many communication channels. Information and reputation were key weapons for them on the political front and, just like his father, the youngest prince knew exactly how to exploit them.
To prevent rebellions from breaking out around his sectors, Frieza kept all of the people under his rule in check by sending his best men in to either bolster his forces or wreck some havoc. If that wasn't enough, then the emperor himself would step in to make some examples of people. Public executions would follow shortly thereafter, breaking the morale of anyone else who thought it would be a good idea to try and fight back against his empire. And whenever people spoke out against the tyrant and attempted to rally the people against him in a more peaceful form of protest, the Frost Demon would have them locked up or killed on the spot. Acts like these were further punctuated by word getting out of the 'Almighty Frieza' himself, swooping in and resolving the conflicts with as many horrifying details as possible, proving to the universe that he was indeed not a man to be messed with.
His elite commandoes- the Ginyu Force- also ensured that his strength was made even more apparent on worlds that extended beyond his reach, which demonstrated an effective use of his military powers as an instrument of terror.
By performing all of the abovementioned deeds on a regular basis, the cruel and cunning members of the Cold family were able to keep the vassals of their empire on a very tight leash, even when they weren't anywhere near those areas. Any small conflicts that arose in their absence were effectively silenced by swift military actions and bombing campaigns.
It was these very same ideas, procedures, and tactics that Frieza was determined in passing on to his descendants.
In fact, it was on this very day, lightyears away from Earth and any other peaceful world on the outskirts of his territory, the young emperor was doing right now.
Orbiting the large, capital world of his branch in the northern galaxies dubbed Frieza Planet 1 (FP-1) - the crown jewel of his empire and the heart of the warlord's economy- there floated in a very open formation the majority of the Frieza Force's main naval armada. The sheer might of the young emperor's military could be seen on full display in the vacuum of space overlooking the purple world covered in white clouds, which amounted to approximately a hundred ships and dozens of assault craft flying between them.
A majority of the vessels considered of medium-sized saucer craft similar to Frieza's vessel, with large crews of just over sixty personnel on each one. These craft floated in a defensive formation around the mothership, keeping watch of the sector as small shuttles transported food, water and other supplies to them from the planet below. Accompanying them floated hundreds of smaller troop transports, all of which were oval in shape and carrying about twenty soldiers apiece.
And then, in the center of this cluster of ships totaling three combined fleets, drifted the main ship itself. A massive saucer resembling the exact same design as Lord Cooler's capital ship, complete with circular hull dotted with yellow anti-gravity domes, blue viewing windows, white and black armor plating, and a purple tinted canopy at the head of the ship, which shielded the control room from the rays of the system's two large stars. To see this vessel appear in the sky over any inhabited planet struck a sort of terror that many races had ever had the privilege of experiencing, as seeing this ship float in over the horizon almost spelled certain doom for all who gazed upon it.
It was on this very large and majestic saucer, positioned at the very forefront of the bridge, was the big man himself.
Assumed in his signature First Suppression Form- or Third Restricted form- adorned in purple RIT armor with brown accents, black spandex and pink scouter, the young tyrant could be seen standing at attention and gazing out over the endless, star-dotted veil of the cosmos ahead of him, as well as the large, purple curvature of his capital world below. Behind the pink and white alien with horns, there also stood his two trusted commanders- Zarbon and Dodoria- and behind them about half a dozen men stationed at the numerous monitors scattered around the bridge.
And finally, the last person on the bridge, standing directly beside his father and looking to be just over half his parent's height, was Frieza's son- Kuriza.
Assumed in a form resembling his dad's First Form- minus the elder's black horns- complete with pink ribbed skin, white carapace plates, and an armored head shaped like a chestnut with a purple jewel in the center, the young warrior in the white RIT armor could be seen gazing in awe at the planet and armada before him. His little red eyes glancing from every corner of the viewing window, the young man with the small nose was and oddly shaped head was now doing everything he could to stop from running right up to the glass and pressing his face against it- as it would be considered improper of him to do so in the presence of his dad's subordinates.
So, against all of his better instincts, the child remained where he was- stubbornly glued to the floor of the ship's control room.
Of course, the sight didn't stop Dodoria and Zarbon from looking at each other and sharing a small chuckle.
"Excited little scamp, isn't he?" the burly, pink warrior with the studded limbs and wearing the purple armor remarked under his breath. "You can tell how overwhelmed he is by all of this."
"Well, his father does command the greatest force on this side of the universe," the commander with the green hair tied into a ponytail also commented, before quickly looking back towards the duo by the viewing port. "You should've seen the look on my face when I saw Cold-sama's forces for the first time."
"Heh. I bet you looked pretty hilarious," Dodoria snickered.
The pair made sure to keep their voices as low as possible. Considering how loud the hum of the computers and other machinery echoing around the room was, the two warrior were positive that they were alright.
After all, had Frieza heard them, he probably would've either shot a glare at them or a Death Beam. Since neither of those had yet to happen, Zarbon and Dodoria could rest easy.
Upon allowing an ample amount of time for his little boy to properly absorb everything laid out before him, Frieza turned his head and smiled down at him. "So what do you think, son? Are you impressed?"
Placing his hands behind his back and taking a deep breath to compose himself, the smaller child looked up at his father and smiled back- mimicking his dad's expression. "Yes, father. Most assuredly." He then quickly looked back out at the armada floating in front of them. "So… all of these ships… all of these planets… and all of these soldiers…" He added to this by looking behind him at the men in the control room with them, "… they belong to you?"
"Yes," Frieza nodded, before then bringing one hand forward and pointing out the window across the planet's horizon. "Every single star you see in front of you is a vassal of my empire. It is the same empire that your grandfather owned, and the same one that your great, great, great grandfather built and maintained for thousands of years. Everything that you see, touch and feel within reach of you, all lies underneath my banner. And who knows, perhaps one of these days, after I've grown old and decrepit from centuries of rule, it might eventually belong to you too."
"Wow…" Kuriza exclaimed, at the same time shaking his head in disbelief.
Chuckling under his breath, the horned prince puffed his chest out. "There isn't a kingdom in any world or reality that can match the sheer might and strength of what I've built. In the years that've come and gone since your grandfather handed all of this over to me, I've expanded our borders, bolstered the army's numbers, and made new trade agreements with the worlds already under our control. Thanks to all sovereign worlds sending all of their resources and riches to us- even at the cost of their own wellbeing and livelihoods- our force has only grown more and more powerful. And it was all thanks to my ruthless methods that has allowed this kingdom to flourish." Judging from the look in the man's eyes, it was clear he was overflowing with pride at his accomplishments. "No other emperor in our history has ever seen the organization become such a powerhouse."
Blinking when he heard his father say all of this, Kuriza then looked up at the ruler curiously. "You mean… the people on our worlds… are giving up their own food, their manpower, and wealth to you… and your army?" When he saw his father nod, the boy appeared momentarily taken aback. "Aren't… aren't those people going hungry?"
"Perhaps. But that's none of my concern. As long as the men directly connected to my force are well fed and well supplied, then we can continue our expansion across every other territory beyond our reach," Frieza stated, his tail swinging behind him excitedly as his eyes flashed with mischief. "I've now begun sending our main regiments on various campaigns to the southern quadrants of space. With my armies moving and growing at such an incredible rate, it's only a matter of time before we've dominated all the main, capital planets in that region. Not even those fools in the Galactic Patrol will be able to stop us." Heck, he doubted they even wanted to try and stand in his way.
After so many wars with the Galactic Kingdom and their meager enforcers, Frieza had practically all but claimed total and decisive victory over them.
"The secret to being emperor is to show no mercy to your enemies. Divide, swarm, and conquer all who stands before you, until there is nothing left to fight. Our force is the superior one and if there are any worlds out there who attempts to defy our rule, we will crush them. There is no room for other cultures in an empire- only one. And that is mine. One nation under me," Frieza informed, at the same time glancing down at his son to see the boy staring up at him nervously. "It's what my father taught me while I was growing up under his wing… and it's what you need to start learning right now, son."
Kuriza, after staring up at his smiling father for several moments, then frowned in confusion. "B-But… uncle Cooler said that we don't need to use armies to take control of worlds. He said that a true leader would take his time to talk with the people, listen to them, accept their differences, and embrace their cultures. That way he can let the empire grow on its own." Even upon seeing his father frown, the youngster turned to his dad with a determined look on his face. "His kingdom is filled with so many great places to explore. Not like the boring cities we have everywhere, where everyone looks and dresses the same. There are so many people living happily and healthily in his-"
Not willing to hear another word, Frieza quickly cut off his son. "Your uncle is a soft-hearted, pathetic, petty fool, who cares only about playing governor and cleaning the boots of lesser beings." The young prince then quickly glared back out through his window and crossed his arms. "He's got nothing of value in his territory. Nothing. Only dust balls of useful rock and primitives toiling the ground under his flag. His empire is a hodgepodge of dirty cretins and beasts, while my force is made up of only the finest stock- the best of the best." Frieza then glanced back down at his boy, who he saw deflate a little at his comments. "You'd be wise not to follow in his footsteps son."
Lowering his head slightly, Kuriza then said in a low voice. "B-But I like hanging out with uncle. He's always kind to me… and he tells me so many cool stories…"
Frieza turned once again and spoke in a lower voice. "Your uncle is not to be trusted. If you knew about how much of a dirty snake and a rat my brother actually is… and if you heard about all of the things he did in the past, you would see for yourself how much of a pathetic cur he actually is. You wouldn't want to have anything to do with him." Reaching out with his hand, the father set it against his boy's shoulder and gave it a pat. "Put everything you think you know about your uncle out of your mind, son. Everything my brother's said to you over the years is nothing but lies and petty feebleness… and it needs to be forgotten. Trust only yourself. Strength in yourself and your forces is all that is needed, as overwhelming power is the simplest and easiest way to success. Understand?"
Opening his mouth a couple of times, as if trying to find a means of protesting, upon seeing the look in his parent's eyes glaring down at him, the young Frost Demon quickly lowered his head and gulped. He then cast his eyes down and nodded. "O… Ok-…"
Before the boy could finish uttering his response, an alarm from one of the control stations nearby suddenly blared out, interrupting the father and son from their time together. With the young emperor and his subordinates all looking in the direction of the monitor, they saw the guard in the RIT armor and helmet suddenly begin typing furiously across the keypad and isolate the disturbance.
"Long range proximity sensors have been triggered," the soldier called out, flickering over the multiple images on his screen before quickly putting it up onto the main monitor. When the rest of the soldiers on the deck and Frieza looked up towards the massive glass panel above the control station, they saw a red and black sonar render of their fleet's position orbiting the capital planet. Upon giving a quick assessment of the feedback they were receiving, the soldier turned around and addressed his superiors. "Multiple signatures inbound, sir! Dozens of large objects have just entered our space from sector four. Distance- nine hundred kilometers and closing fast."
Zarbon, quickly moving forward to assess the information for himself, stopped beside the soldier's station and peered over his shoulder at the computer. "Can you identify? What are they?" the green-haired warrior asked with a serious expression in play. "Enemy ships? Projectiles?"
"No sir. Meteorites. Lots of them," the soldier exclaimed, quickly typing into the computer as he began crunching the numbers flying his way. "The computer calculates they will be passing right through the middle of our fleet's formation inside of the next two minutes."
Frowning in displeasure, Frieza turned to the soldiers stationed around the bridge. "Order all ships to fire all weapons on those meteorites. I want those rocks obliterated and turned to dust before they come within sight of my vessel."
"At once, your highness," another soldier at the computers responded, before quickly engaging the radio and speaking up through the transmitter. "All ships- incoming space debris. Ready all weapons and focus fire in the direction of the shower. Coordinates 7-9-2-0-7. Range- seven hundred kilometers and closing. This is a direct order from Emperor Frieza. Fire for effect. I say again. Fire for effect. Over."
Looking out the window, the prince, his son, and his two commanders, then watched as every saucer and attack transport within sight of their bridge's main viewing window shifted into a more defensive formation around the lead vessel. With all their available guns and turrets all aiming in the same direction, away from the emperor's capital planet, the entire fleet then paused for a moment as they waited for the targets to come within range of their guns.
A few seconds later, multiple flashes then filled the window as every single battery and torpedo launcher began lobbing energy bolts into space at virtually the same time. From his position beside his father, Kuriza watched in awe as the streaks of golden and pink light tore across the vacuum at blinding speed and into the distance, where he then saw explosions begin filling the blackness. The entire bridge of Frieza's ship watched through video feed as the enormous boulders and meteorites tumbling towards them were ripped to shreds by the energy bolts and blown apart.
The barrage of laser and torpedo fire continued for a full minute. When all signatures on the scanners eventually vanished from the screens, all guns stopped firing at once, leaving the entire space hanging dead silent once more. Seeing the fire, smoke, and dust choke the recording on the main monitor and all numbers come up as zero, the soldier that'd been instructed to radio coordinates and instructions gave one last assessment of the situation, before eventually turning back around toward his superiors.
"Field is clear. All meteorite signatures have vanished. Targets destroyed," the yellow alien in white RIT armor and helmet reported confidently.
Frieza smirked at the efficiency displayed by his navy, "Excellent."
On his side of the bridge, Dodoria couldn't help but chuckle. "Now that was one hell of a lightshow out there. Gotta give those gunner boys on those ships some extra credit."
"I'll say," Zarbon remarked as well, hand on his hip as he smiled out the window. "Good shooting."
With the all-clear given, all personnel posted on the ship's bridge could rest at ease, knowing that the danger had passed. However, about several seconds after the instruments had gone silent, a second alarm suddenly rang out as another signature appeared on the screens. Due to the unexpectedness of the alert, the soldiers at the station barely had enough time to engage their monitors before a female soldier on the far end of the line shouted.
"Conn! Radar! New contact! Incoming meteorite!" the reptilian alien girl shouted, wheeling about after throwing the feedback onto the main screen overhead to show a new green dot had blown past their previous projected path. "Object has torn a path right over our fleet's defensive line. We must have missed one!"
Zarbon clenched his teeth, "Talk to me. What's its heading?"
"Single meteorite and small debris cluster, bearing 7-9-2-0-1! Range- fifty miles and closing! It's heading right for us!" the same female shouted, the alarms blaring around them increasing in volume as a new series of emergency alerts were triggered. "Impact imminent! Starboard side!"
Clenching his fists, a now fully alert Dodoria shouted at the men at the computers while Frieza glared at them in annoyance. "Raise the shields! Full power! Brace for impact!"
Almost immediately the soldiers executed these orders, a loud hum filling the room as the ship's engines and machinery roared into life. With all of its outboard field generators firing up to full burn, the entire vessel soon became surrounded by a transparent field of barely visible energy, which flickered into view around the vessel just in time to meet the first wave of rocks that began pelting the ship from the side.
After the smaller bits of debris and rubble flying towards the vessel were effectively incinerated by the shield, the bombardment was soon followed by the big one itself. Traveling at such a high speed through the vacuum that it was nothing but a blur, the large, grey rock smashed right through the transparent barrier and slammed into the side of the saucer. Its collision caused a loud bang to resonate throughout the cruiser as it punctured through its metal hull and into its very center.
The force of the rock striking the capital ship was so great that it not only sent a cloud of metal and smoke gushing out of the hole it formed, it also caused the entire saucer to lurch to the side. Almost immediately, the impact alarms on board Frieza's mobile headquarters began to blare throughout the ship, with all of the officers and soldiers scattered throughout the surrounding fleet looking absolutely flabbergasted that their emperor's ship- the brain and command center of their massive armada- had ended up getting hit.
As steam and gas gushed out of several pipes lining the ceiling of the control room and multiple red lights started flashing around him, an incredibly displeased Frieza turned to the soldier that'd initially given the all clear and glared at him. "Report."
Said soldier slowly turned to face the prince, gulping nervously when he saw the tyrant's eyes on him. "The ship has suffered a hull breach on the starboard side. Compartments twenty three through twenty nine are damaged. The meteor in question is currently embedded in a wall inside of corridor twelve. Structural integrity is normal, emergency shutters have sealed up the gap, and troops are moving in to assess the damage," the yellow alien with the sharp teeth spoke, before lowering his head. "I'm sorry, sir. I take full responsibility for this."
"Really?" Frieza replied, before casually raising his right hand, pointing his finger, and firing a Death Beam straight through the soldier's chest. All the poor subordinate could do was let out a choked cry of pain, before he eventually dropped to his knees and slammed into the floor face-first, dead. Ignoring the stunned looks from his commanders and other soldiers, the tyrant then lowered his arm and glared across at the next soldier in line. "I expect to hear word of that rock being removed from my ship within the next five minutes. If not, more heads will roll. Understand?"
At that moment, there wasn't a single soldier on that bridge who wanted to answer back to their emperor, saying that such a task would be impossible. All they could do was hit the monitors and order all men near the vicinity to go investigate.
During which time, Kuriza, who had just witnessed his father execute a man right in front of him, could only look between the simmering body and his dad fearfully- as this was clearly something he had not been expecting to happen.
"We've got a live recording from one of the soldier's scouters of the crash site. Relaying the video feed now," one of the troopers at the control station spoke up, before pressing the keys that brought said feed up onto the main screen overlooking the bridge.
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Corridor 12)
On the starboard side of the vessel towards the back, down one of the multitude of large hallways forming a maze inside the bowels of Frieza's capital shop, a squad of about eight aliens of various species wearing different sets of naval armor, were currently converging on the site of the problem. While the holes formed in the walls of the ship had been effectively sealed shut thanks to the compartments being locked down by several sets of automatic, emergency shutters, there still remained the problem of the meteorite itself. The subject of which could be found embedded in the steel wall, blocking off passage through the hall.
Having arranged themselves into no particular formation, the squad of warriors with scouters stopped just in reach of the shadow of the massive, smoldering rock that'd smashed into the ship at Kami knows how fast. Though the entire surface of the boulder was charred and simmering, from what the soldiers could make of the area surrounding the piece of space debris, there didn't appear to be any other bits of rock. Just chunks of twisted, shredded metal, courtesy of the rock itself carving through the vessel like a massive bullet.
Ignoring the damaged rows of lights flickering above the slab of stone and around them, the soldier at the front of the formation- a human-looking male wearing purple spandex, full, blue RIT armor, and a helmet connected to a purple wrist blaster- waved away the smoke wafting up into his face as he cautiously moved forward. "Woo-man… that stink… geez…" Pinching his nose with his gloved left hand, Raspberry groaned as he attempted to move a bit closer to the wall of rock towering in front of him. "What in the hell is that?"
"My guess- either volcanic rock or brimstone," the crocodile-looking alien standing beside the trooper- Blueberry- remarked in a croaky voice as he too approached the giant rock. His nose visibly crinkling as he got a face full of the fumes, the yellow eyed, green scaled lizard scoffed. "So… our main job right now is getting rid of this thing? Any ideas on how we're going to do that exactly?"
"Well… I was going to suggest blasting the hell out of it until it's nothing but a pile of rubble, but that would leave an even bigger mess to clean up," Raspberry answered, looking the thing over while his left arm remained pressed over his face- covering his nose. Flinching when a wave of heat from the simmering meteorite washed over him and a jet of steam rushed out of the crack wall, the humanoid warrior wisely took a couple of steps back. "Hm. How about jettisoning it out the garbage lock? Send it back out into space?"
"Good idea. And how the fuck are we supposed to haul this thing all the way down to the maintenance room?" Blueberry followed up, moving closer and being careful not to trip on any bits of metal. Joining his comrade, the reptilian warrior grunted. "This thing is freakin' massive. I doubt it's going to fit down the hallway, let alone through the door."
As the rest of the soldiers behind them also moved in closer, Raspberry tilted his head at the rock and smirked. "I guess that's where the blasting comes in. We can just whittle it down to a smaller size and then roll it out of here," the man suggested, swinging his right arm up and activating his blaster. As the unit buzzed, indicating it was charging, the humanoid warrior then began dialing in the settings necessary for the task at hand. A big grin then crossed his lips. "Oh yeah. This'll work just fine."
Blueberry meanwhile smirked broadly, as he too brought up his blaster and activated it. "Now that's some actionable intelligence I can get behind." As soon as both soldiers had their blasters cocked and loaded, they then took a step back and aimed their arms towards the steaming monolith of stone before them. "This is the part of the job that I really, really love. Shooting stuff."
Just as the duo Raspberry and Blueberry were preparing to open fire on the meteorite, one of the troopers standing behind them with his visor pulled over his face then perked up when he noticed something. "Hold up, guys. Do you hear something?"
His question prompting the eager pair at the front of the formation to glance behind them, both soldiers then lowered their weapons and powered them down. Doing so allowed a tense silence to fill the air, which enabled all of the soldiers gathered in that hallway to pick up the distinct sound of low crunching and thudding sounds reverberating off of the walls.
Initially confused by the noises and where they were coming from, the group then heard the sound getting louder, which drew all of their eyes towards the side of the big meteorite leaning against the wall in front of them.
Upon sharing a look with his teammate, Blueberry then crept forward. "Yeah. It's coming from that big rock." Moving in through the smoke and noticing that the heat had finally died down, the crocodile soldier then looked the rock up and down as he came within arm's reach of it. His friend Raspberry joined him, with the pair moving their ears forward to hear the thudding sounds growing fainter and fainter. As a result, the reptilian soldier frowned. "What the heck is that?"
As the six other aliens in battle armor were watching cautiously from several paces away, the one in the back who was recording the entire thing through his scouter for his superiors up on the ship's bridge, suddenly saw a set of numbers spring up on his screen. His device beeping in his ear, the man's eyes suddenly bugged out when he saw the results suddenly spike at an astronomical rate- seconds before a warning alarm went off in his ear.
Seeing the red alert light flashing next to the numbers, the green amphibian soldier thrust a hand out and shouted in panic, "HEY! GET BACK! THERE'S SOMETHING INSIDE THAT THING!"
The moment Blueberry and Raspberry glanced back at the terrified soldier, the side of the rock in front of the confused soldiers suddenly exploded in a shower of rock. At the same time a large hand swiftly shot out and grabbed the crocodile alien by the throat. All Blueberry could do as the clawed hand clamped down around his neck was let out a choked cry of surprise, before he was suddenly yanked forward, off his feet, and pulled through the newly made hole in the meteor.
In response, a greatly shocked Raspberry leapt back as fast as he could. When he rejoined his startled comrades, all seven troopers then watched and listened in abject horror as the sounds of Blueberry's bloody screams echoed out from inside the rock, all of which were accompanied by the sickening sounds of bones crunching and flesh tearing. Through the pitch black of the inside of the rock, the man's terrified cries became strangled as what sounded like his guts being torn out silenced his pain. Then, after a few seconds of loud chewing and growling filtered out from the large chunk of space debris, everything went deathly quiet.
Almost all at once, the trembling, terrified soldiers of the Frieza Force immediately activated their blasters and pointed them squarely at the hole in the meteor. With sweat visibly pouring down their faces, the men in armor slowly backed up and away from the rock- uncertain of what was going to happen next.
It was then, through the flashing, broken lights of the hole and the dark of the small cavern, the group of seven warriors saw a pair of glowing, red eyes suddenly appear. A split second later, there was a low growl, before whatever the eyes were attached to sprang out of the hole and charged right at them in a blur.
The soldiers were only able to get a few shots off from their blasters before whatever it was crashed into them and began tearing them apart. Their screams of terror were effectively silenced as bits of body parts and blood splattered across the walls of the hallway, as the creature that'd rushed at them practically transformed them into a pile of limbs with its claws.
Within a matter of seconds, all eight squad members were dead.
OOO
(Meanwhile)
Up on the bridge of Frieza's ship, upon seeing the video feed of the crew confronting the meteorite go black, the group of soldiers and commanders watching the screen could only gape in disbelief. Even Frieza, who was initially appearing quite impatient, felt his jaw drop after seeing that big, black whatever it was, jump out of the meteor and tear through his troops in the blink of an eye.
Heck, the soldiers that were stationed at the monitors thought they had blinked, as whatever it was they'd been witnessing had happened so damn fast. The next thing they all knew, they were staring at a now blank screen, with a message reading 'scouter transmission error' flashing in the corner of it.
After several moments of deathly, terrified silence perforated the air inside the command center of the ship, Zarbon then blinked as he was quickly brought back to ground. "W-What the hell was that?"
Dodoria, gulping nervously, shook his head. "I… I don't know." He then quickly looked across at his green-haired comrade. "But did you see the numbers that jumped up on the screen before the video cut out? I swear the scouter blew past the nine-hundred thousand mark."
"That's impossible," Zarbon retorted, before looking back at his companion with an expression of disbelief and panic. "There isn't a creature in the universe with a power level that high. Even Captain Ginyu is only a hundred and twenty thousand, and he's the second strongest warrior on the force." The man shook his head. "There must've been some kind of glitch."
"B-But… if that feedback was correct…" one of the soldiers at the monitors stuttered while turning around. "Then… that thing had a power level greater than Lord Frieza's."
Before anyone else on that bridge could make any sort of remarks, either for or against the numbers that they'd seen, emergency alarms suddenly began ringing out across the vessel. As the sounds of loud metal clanging and blaster fire also began to echo out, the screams of multiple men and women started blaring from the bridge's speakers. When the soldiers at the computers quickly turned to their monitors and began isolating the signals, the chaos starting to unravel across the capital ship soon began making itself all too clear.
"W-What the fuck is that thi-GAAAAH!"
"Kill it! Kill it! Shoot the bloody thing!"
"GRAAAAGH!"
"We can't stop it!"
"Man down! Man do-AUGH!"
"Where the hell is it?!"
"Corridor 10! Repeat! It's just entered Corridor 10!"
"It's coming for us! Run! Run!"
"It's too fast!"
"HELP UUUUSS-GRAAGH!"
As the chatter started pouring into the control room from the multiple soldiers crying out over their scouters, Frieza- not wanting his ship to succumb to whatever cretin had invaded it- turned to the alarmed Zarbon and Dodoria and shouted at them.
"Send a platoon down to Corridor 8! I want them to intercept that beast and kill it before it gets to the bridge!" Frieza ordered, watching as Dodoria immediately engaged the radio on his scouter. When the prince saw his general do so, he then turned to the soldiers at the monitors and barked his next instructions at them. "Lock down all the hallways and patch us into the security feed! I want to see what the hell is going on!"
OOO
(Seconds later)
The pounding of footsteps echoed throughout the corridor as an entire squadron of soldiers led by Appule went sprinting down Corridor 7 to rendezvous with the soldiers at 8. As soon as they passed through the automatic doors and into the hallway itself, almost every single man and woman in the group fanned themselves out across the passageway. Those at the front dropped down to their knees while those furthest to the sides hugged the walls.
The sounds of buzzing filled the air as the detachment of about twenty fresh soldiers armed their blasters and charged energy blasts in their hands, all of which they then aimed down the length of the corridor that was the direction the creature was last spotted. Once all of them were in position, the crew up on the bridge responded by shutting the blast doors behind them, the barrier dropping down from above and locking itself into the floor with a loud clang.
With the gate shut, the soldiers in that hallway then waited with baited breath and stiff limbs as the sounds of battle up ahead echoed towards them.
The screams and shouts of their frantic brothers in arms bounced off of the surrounding walls, along with the distinct sounds of blaster fire and hand-to-hand fighting. After several seconds of listening to the chaos unfolding beyond their line of sight, the platoon assembled in that wide, open corridor then heard the effects of battle disappear. Moments later, the lights over their heads flickered a few times, before promptly going out.
Hearing the power system to their section of the ship shut down alarmed a couple of the troops formed up in that corridor, with Appule spinning around and looking back at the nervous faces of his men.
"Steady, men. Steady," the long-headed alien spoke.
"Th-The lights are gone," one of the men behind him stuttered.
"I can't see a thing!"
"What do we do?!"
"Easy," Appule hissed, silencing the rest of the panicked exclamations as he looked between the men and women arranged over his shoulder. "Don't worry. We've got the numbers. We've got the guns. As soon as that thing comes around the corner, we'll blast it to hell."
Watching as the troopers closest to him all nodded their heads nervously, the group then quickly snapped their eyes back around when the loud clanging of metal echoed nearby. Blasters cocking and hands loading, the soldiers then steeled themselves and tightened their stances as the scouter units in their helmets and over their ears activated. In that instant, all of the lenses quickly became filled with targeting arrows and numbers, all of which beeped and flickered across their screens as they began scanning the dark of the hallway ahead of them.
Unbeknownst to them, their actions and battle formation was being observed by the commanders on the bridge, all through the cameras built into their helmets and the ship's walls.
The men and women held their breaths, listening to the sounds of steel creaking and scouters beeping. Though they had no idea what kind of monster was tearing through their ship and looming somewhere up ahead, since there were so many of them boxed into this one corridor, the platoon was positive that they would be able to overwhelm it with sheer numbers.
For a full minute the detachment waited- watching to see if something or someone would appear from the darkness in front of them. When the scouters in front of their eyes beeped a warning, telling them that something had just entered their range, every single soldier in the vicinity braced themselves.
Then, like a scene from a horror movie, from the darkness choking up the aforementioned junction, the group suddenly saw the lights flicker on and off. This in turn illuminated a figure, who they instantly spotted standing just a few yards in front of Appule and the rest of the squad. The silhouette of a tall, slim, humanoid creature, with powerful looking legs, arms, two horns sweeping backwards on their head, a tail lined with spines, and a pair of large, dragon-like wings fanning out from their back, caused the entire squadron to recoil in shock.
Almost as soon as the lights flickered on they switched back off, concealing the figure in darkness once again, before a pair of bright red eyes surrounded by yellow sclera opened.
When the soldiers momentarily lowered their weapons out of shock at seeing the beast standing so close to them, a stumped Appule quickly raised his hand and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"OPEN FIRE!"
All at once, every single warrior crammed into that tight hallway let loose a hail of lasers and blasts into the darkness. Golden and pink energy bolts tore down the corridor with the intent of tearing through their target. But as soon as the soldiers began shooting into the blackness, a sharp mass suddenly shot forward and impaled Appule right through his chest and out his back on the other side.
A wave of blood splattering across the floor and over the soldiers behind the purple alien caused the troopers behind the sergeant to momentarily stop. When they gaped across at their superior, they saw the stunned Appule cough up more blood, before the tail that'd pierced through his body swung him up into the air, slammed him into the ceiling, and then slammed him into the floor. Loud bangs and cries of agony echoed out from the hapless alien, whose scouter flew off of his face, a split second before he was then dragged into the darkness. His screams of terror were effectively silenced by the sickening sounds of flesh ripping.
As the soldiers continued to blast away into the corridor, they suddenly saw the creature leap towards them from the black and tackle the two soldiers at the front. Slamming them into the floor with enough force to form two small divots, crushing them and killing them instantly, the silhouette of their attacker then lashed out at the troopers around them. With a quick swipe of its tail, the beast struck two men into the wall, watching as their armored bodies crashed into the barrier and splattered against it. Flapping one of its wings out allowed it to knock three more men over and send them tumbling down the corridor, with one of them getting knocked out.
When several ki blasts and laser bolts struck the creature and bounced off of it uselessly, the reptilian monster then suddenly lunged towards two of the soldiers, performed a graceful spin, and slammed a clawed foot into their chest. The fiend managed to speedily slam that person into the wall and bury her into it, crushing and killing the female alien instantly.
As the remaining troopers continued to unload on the beast, hitting it with ki blast after ki blast, all they could do was watch in disbelief as every round they fired was shrugged off by the fiend. Every shot they launched either struck and dissipated against the monster's scales or bounced off of it, as if the creature had the sloped armor of a tank. After several more laser bolts ricocheted off of the unknown alien's hide while it lunged at two more soldiers- carving through one with their clawed foot while cutting the other in half with a single chop of its hand, the soldiers standing in the back of the formation knew it was useless.
Two of them ceased fire and desperately ran towards the door, where they threw themselves against the barrier and started banging against the wall in a vain attempt to get it to open through force. A third soldier then attempted to open it via the control panel to the right, but the system had locked them out.
As the rest of the men and women continued shooting at the black whirlwind of bloody death darting between them, the troopers at the gate attempted to make contact to the other side.
"HEY! HELP US!" one of the troopers shouted.
"OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR! OPEN IT!" the second one screamed.
"IT'S TOO STRONG! LET US OUT! PLEASE!"
About a few seconds later, after the shadowy beast cut and beat down the remaining soldiers in a variety of brutal manners- throwing them into the wall, impaling them, or slicing through them with its claws- it then darted straight toward the three men at the door. When they turned around to shoot at it, the creature barreled through their blaster fire and tackled them, butchering them just like it had the rest of the soldiers.
After the door and surrounding walls became covered with blood and entrails, the beast then turned to the sealed entrance blocking its way. Assuming a more balanced stance, the creature then reared back its head, threw it forward, and unleashed a thick torrent of lava-like energy from its mouth, which struck the barrier and tore right through it, effortlessly melting the ten inches of metal in a single breath.
With the obstacle removed, the creature charged right through the dripping gateway, before continuing to tear a path of carnage throughout the rest of the vessel.
OOO
(Meanwhile)
Back on the bridge, after witnessing the creature make quick and efficient work of the squad sent to dispatch it, the commanders of the Frieza Force found themselves shaken to the core. Upon witnessing such a vicious display of monstrous strength and bloody combat proficiency against what would've otherwise been a sure-kill situation, Zarbon and Dodoria were almost immediately put on guard.
As the soldiers at the computer terminals continued to monitor the monster's progress as it tore its way through the ship and the enemy forces that stood in its way, the scouters onboard the vessel then started throwing a multitude of numbers to the command post. Due to the creature's ongoing rampage, the scanners were able to get an accurate bead on the strength and power it was exerting.
When Frieza and his subordinates saw the results flicker up on the big screen, at the same time watching the shadowy monstrosity run through several more men and women that it managed to corner, all of them were stunned by what they saw.
"That… That can't be possible," Zarbon exclaimed, shaking his head as beads of cold, terrified sweat ran down his face.
"Am I reading that right? Does that monster have a power level over twenty million?" Dodoria asked, as he glanced down at the soldiers gaping at their monitors. "Hey! Tell me that isn't right!"
"We triple-checked the scanners and recalibrated the systems several times, sir!" the female trooper called back, before spinning around to face the terrified commanders gathered behind her. "Even after the meteorite hit, they're all working perfectly. That creature has a battle power of approximately twenty five million… maybe even higher."
"Damn it. Its energy signature is jumping all over the place. I can't get a lock on it," another crew member called from the other side of the terminal as he jammed his fingers into the keys as he attempted to track the beast through the hallways. Watching it rip open a door with its bare hands and rush in to meet the soldiers waiting for it on the other side, the deck officer clenched his teeth nervously when he saw fire gush out of the room. "Every time the alien relocates, its energy level drops to conceal its movements. It keeps moving from compartment to compartment at random. I can't coordinate the men."
It was then a growl from behind caused all of the people on the bridge to flinch worriedly, as all eyes quickly turned to see Frieza reach up, grab the scouter over his ear, and toss it. "All of you men are useless! Unable to handle an insignificant pest that has invaded my ship! And you call yourself my soldiers?"
Kuriza, who was observing all of the events unfolding around him in clear, abject terror, looked across at his dad with an uncertain look in his eyes. "F-Father?"
Glancing across at his son but not so much as dignifying his obvious question with a response, the young emperor then clenched his teeth. "I'll go take care of that thing myself!" Bringing his arm up and curling his fingers into a fist, the alien tyrant then began concentrating his power to begin his transformation sequence. "It's not every day I get to sully my hands with grunt work. But I guess if you want to have a job done right, then you have to kill it yourself!"
Before Zarbon, Dodoria or anybody else on that bridge could mount any form of protest against their leader's sudden willingness to get himself involved, another alarm at the computer terminals was suddenly activated. The noise drawing the attention of all the people on the bridge, everyone turned to the central computer where a humanoid warrior was posted.
Bringing the alert up onto his screen, the armored warrior spun around in his seat. "Sire! We're detecting a massive object emerging from hyperspace!"
The female soldier blinked at the reading she was getting on her screen. "What the hell is it?"
Almost a split second after the woman's question was asked, right outside the viewing window of Frieza's ship, the young emperor and his subordinates suddenly saw a massive, black planetoid the size of a moon suddenly appear right in the path of the force's fleet. Smashing through several of the ships and obliterating them upon entry into the system, the second the mobile, grey satellite emerged from its light speed travel, it immediately began bombarding the fleet with blaster fire from the hundreds and hundreds of energy cannons lining its crust.
Golden energy bolts began raining down upon Frieza's fleet, attacking the ships closest to it before beginning to mow through the rest of them. The salvo of rounds rained endlessly down on the ships, smashing through the ships and tearing them to shreds.
As the soldiers and crew on board the vessels scrambled to begin returning fire, the screams of thousands of people perishing began echoing over every single frequency within the Frieza Force's navy. Scouters all around went crazy as their numbers began to drop like stones, vanishing every time a ship was obliterated. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion- only this one took the form of a huge planetoid carving a path through a sea of tinier, more insignificant frigates and corvettes, all of which were being obliterated by the lasers pouring down on them.
The commanders on board Frieza's capital ship, which was also beginning to get hit by the energy bolts being fired from the planet barreling through their forces, heard the screams of their fleet's captains and commanders blare over the radio.
"What the fuck is that! Another planet?!"
"Return fire! Return fire!"
"It's no good!"
"Hit! We're hit!"
"Life support systems are down! We're losing pressure!"
"ALL CREW, ABANDON SHI-AAAAAAAGH-!"
Explosions and balls of fire filled the vacuum of space, as one by one a gaping Frieza, Zarbon and Dodoria watched as three whole battle groups were ripped asunder by the ungodly object that'd appeared from the cold depths of space. Kuriza too was horrified, unable to do anything but observe through the glass as the pride and joy of his father's military was wiped out before his very eyes.
But the worst was yet to come.
As the cannons dotting the planet continued to wreak havoc upon Frieza's mighty imperial military, from the hemisphere of the planetoid, a large metal tower suddenly protruded out of its micro-atmosphere and pointed towards the large planet below. As blue lights lit up around the massive, spire-like object and flickered along its surface, there was suddenly a brilliant, golden flash of light, followed by a yellow beam shooting out of the pillar and towards the world.
The laser punched through the planet's atmosphere and struck the city, which could be seen residing through the cloud layer below. When the golden beam impacted the planet, the entire surface of the world ruptured, as volcanic explosions and magma cracks appeared across its entire surface. Seconds later, the entire planet detonated, exploding into massive chunks of rubble and sending fire gushing out in all directions. Despite being a controlled blast, the resulting shockwaves battered the remainder of Frieza's fleet, disabling all of the craft attempting to get away from the black planet that'd teleported into their vicinity.
With Frieza's ship also being rocked by the sudden explosion, all the young emperor could do was try to keep his balance as the entire vessel was sent tilting to one side.
Moments after the shaking and vibrations subsided, the crew on the bridge suddenly saw the massive monitor overhead become filled with static. After a brief instant of white noise, the screen was suddenly filled with a new image.
This one was the image of golden throne lined with red velvet and a dark, hooded figure of an elderly looking man sitting in the middle of the screen. When he appeared from the grainy image of the video feed being transmitted directly into Frieza's vessel, the young lord and his commanders could only look up at the screen with mixtures of anger, uncertainty and fear.
Through the chaos of the explosions and the static dancing across the video screen, the hooded figure spoke in a deep, gravelly voice. "This is Lord Slug of the Planetoid Dreadnaught Eclipse-I…" the stranger began as a foul smirk crossed his lips. "All members of the Frieza Force are ordered to surrender… for immediate… execution." A long pause soon followed, in which time the hooded individual quickly brought up an oxygen delivery mask, breathed in deeply through it, before lowering it and coughing to clear his throat. "This is a direct command… from the great, immortal ruler of the new Dark Empire."
Frieza, completely dumbfounded by the audacity of this individual, stepped forward and snarled. "What did you just say, you insolent worm?" the young prince growled, at the same time raising his fist. "You… a mangy vagrant and self-proclaimed warlord, dare enter my space, attack my fleet, and threaten my men… and have the nerve to give them orders?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"
When the old man in the hooded cloak visibly grinned at hearing the emperor's retort, one of the soldiers at the command desk turned towards his superior and addressed him accordingly. "Sire. I'm picking up multiple life forms inhabiting that mobile planetoid dreadnaught- including his. It's…" the man gulped nervously at what he was about to say. "His battle power… it's sitting at nearly a hundred million, sire."
Cocking an eyebrow at that, Frieza bit his teeth together. "So… you've invaded my system with the intention of challenging me and my forces with your own? Is that it?" A smile tugged at his lips. "I can only assume that's what this is from the amount of energy you're exuding. Though if I'm being completely honest… it's significantly lacking compared to mine."
A low laugh left the hooded man's throat, along with a bout of coughs. "Challenge you? A fine joke," the stranger replied in a mocking tone, drawing a twitch from the young tyrant's eye. "Your forces are hardly a challenge to me, oh mighty Lord Frieza. If you haven't noticed already… *cough*… my dreadnaught has wiped out most of your entire battle fleet… including the crown jewel of your empire. Now that I've cleared away with the chaff, it's only a matter of time before… *cough*… I wipe out you and your vessel as well."
Frieza clicked his tongue while his subordinates watched and listened to the pair nervously. "Then what's stopping you, if I may ask?"
A sickly grin stretched across Lord Slug's cracked lips. "Since your forces have been thoroughly crushed- and because I'm a man of small mercies- I have opened up communication channels for a one and only chance to discuss your terms of surrender." This statement caused a very strong chill to fill the bridge of Frieza's capital ship. It was exactly the kind of response the opposing ruler wanted to make, which he quickly capitalized on with the following words. "You are to hand all galaxies, systems, and assets under your control directly over to me, and throw yourself, your father, and your ship into the nearest star." Lord Slug finished with another smile towards the prince through the monitor. "Death is no disgrace, my lord."
The horned tyrant's tail whipped behind him as a clearly infuriated look flashed through the emperor's eyes. "A tempting offer from a lowly cretin. And if I refuse?"
Taking another deep breath through his oxygen delivery mask and lowering it back to his side with a groan, the green faced warlord then chuckled. "Then... *cough*... I will just have to take your son."
Eyes widening, Frieza's gaze snapped towards his boy over by the window. When the man saw the terrified look flash over the youngster's face, he then heard a loud banging of metal nearby, which quickly drew the prince's attention towards the entrance to the bridge, which he had locked down. The moment his and everyone else's eyes locked onto the door, they immediately saw the barrier have several dents form into it from something trying to get in on the other side.
It was only after a couple more loud bangs rang out and the metal frame around the blast doors cracked that Frieza, Zarbon, Dodoria and the others realized that it was the monster from the meteorite that was literally knocking on that door.
Another laugh from the still on screen Lord Slug echoed throughout the entire command center of the vessel. "Since you are choosing to make things difficult, I will have my 'Secret Weapon' claim my prize for the day. I do hope you will reconsider my offer, my lord. You won't get a second one."
Having had enough of this conversation, Frieza pointed his finger up at the monitor and fired a Death Beam at it, destroying the screen with a massive blast. As soon as he did, the tyrant then clenched his fists and powered up, his armor exploding off of his body as his entire form expanded, before eventually becoming surrounded by a fierce, purple aura.
As his energy kicked up around him at full blast and began to tear through the air around him, the emperor then watched through the haze of his transformation as Zarbon, Dodoria, and the men and women standing at the computer terminals quickly rushed into the path of the bridge's entrance. All of them taking up defensive positions in front of their lord, the collection of mixed aliens watched and waited through gritted teeth and extended hands as the door in front of them was pounded into again and again by the thing on the other side.
After a couple more sizable dents were made into its surface, making it look as though the barrier was about to be knocked over, the noises then suddenly stopped.
While Frieza continued his transformation behind his soldiers, sending gusts of fierce, hot wind rippling across the deck as bright, pink cracks formed across his carapace form, Zarbon and Dodoria shared an uncertain look with one another. When their eyes turned back to the door, they then braced themselves and waited for whatever it was on the other side to continue smashing itself against the entrance.
Kuriza meanwhile, unable to stand beside his dad as his energy levels skyrocketed to heights he'd never witnessed before, had chosen to hide himself beside the computer terminals. Finding a good fixture to shield himself, the boy with the nut-shaped head and red eyes peered from around the desk and watched in awe as his father and his commanders prepared for battle.
When Frieza's body exploded in a pillar of pink light, sending energy gushing into the ceiling, the tyrant underwent the final stages of his mindboggling transformation.
As for their intruder, they weren't in the mood for waiting any longer.
Another huge explosion rang across the bridge- this time from the blast door itself. Propelled by an ungodly force, the two warped, metal barriers that once stood in the archway were sent flying from the gate and bouncing across the deck at tremendous speed. Both the commanders and the soldiers were so unprepared for the sudden show of aggression that Zarbon, Dodoria, and their subordinates were hit by the metal slabs and sent tumbling to the floor. When they all crashed in separate locations across the bridge, most of them ended up knocked unconscious- the green warrior and his pink comrade included.
The instant the gate was knocked away, smoke came pouring out of the newly formed hole and into the room. Moments later, as Kuriza and a couple of the still miraculously conscious troopers peered up from their respective locations to see what had happened, they saw the shadowy figure of the beast come marching through the smog.
When the creature passed over the threshold and stopped just in front of the ruined gateway, all of the wounded warriors were quite stunned by what they saw. Standing at probably around six feet in height and looking incredibly intimidating, was a trim, powerful-looking reptilian humanoid, with reddish brown scales across their entire body, a tight waist, ample chest, a spiked tail whipping behind them, and a pair of large wings folded behind their back. With a head of orange spikes lining their cranium and going down their back, and possessing a very short snout, the creature with broad hips, talon-lined claws on both feet and hands, and bright red eyes that seemed to pierce through every living soul they fixated on, then scanned the area before them with vicious intent.
It was only after their inspection of the monster that Kuriza and the troopers on the bridge realized that this dragon-of-a-beast was actually female. And a rather attractive one no doubt, if you could look past the fact that she'd just slaughtered almost every single soldier onboard the vessel. The fact that she was only wearing a tight band across her large breasts and a black spandex thong only further accentuated her feminine appeal.
Upon assessing the command center, the reptilian creature then watched with casual intrigue as the pink dome of energy on the other side of the deck where Frieza was powering up, erupted with a deafening bang- punching a crater into the metal floor he was standing on and cracking the high ceiling above. As the brightness of the sphere eventually faded, it revealed the tyrant himself standing in place, bathed in a fierce aura, and assumed in his signature white and purple Final Form- a transformation very few individuals in history had ever witnessed.
Snarling as pink flames gushed from his small body, the young prince promptly swung his right arm up, took aim with his finger, and charged an attack. His red eyes, filled with rage and frustration, narrowed on his target standing in in line with the door.
"DIE, YOU MONSTER!" Frieza screeched.
Of course, he wasn't given the chance to make his anger known through action, as in the blink of an eye a blast of orange flames suddenly engulfed the tall, female dragon, who then flickered out of sight before reappearing directly in front of Frieza. She managed to cross the room so fast that not even the prince could track her, the sight of her form standing just a foot in front of him causing him to recoil in alarm.
The humanoid dragon, without hesitation and with an intense look of focus on their face, drew back their right hand, before smashing Frieza across the face with such force she not only caused his aura and attack to dispel, but also generated a shockwave so powerful it fractured the metal at their feet. As a result, the stunned, white lizard of an alien was thrown off his feet and sent flying into another line of computers on the other side of the bridge.
After the electronic station caved in under the weight of his body crashing through the steel, leaving the alien emperor lying in the smoldering, sparking metal in a daze and bleeding from his mouth, the female dragonoid wreathed in orange fire pouring from her body then dispelled her odd aura and frowned.
"Master said not to kill you. You're an important part to his plan," the dragon spoke in a soft, yet stern voice.
As Frieza gaped across at the opponent that had so casually knocked him down, he then watched said foe turn around and face the computer terminals opposite of him. Without another word, the female dragon extended her hand, which caused a somewhat hidden Kuriza's body to suddenly get taken over by an invisible force, before being telekinetically pulled from his spot. His tiny body flying through the air, the young, frightened son of the tyrant was effectively drawn into the dragon's hand, who caught him and slung him under her arm.
"No! No! L-Let me go! Put me down! Please!" the young alien shouted, his arms banging uselessly away at the limb crushing him against the dragon's side, with his tail also slapping against the girl's abs. But try as he might, the boy could not budge from the dragon's vice-like grip. "F-Father! Help me!"
Upon securing the squirming youngster, the female dragon turned and glared across at the stunned Frieza. "You have one week to comply with my master's demands… or you will never see your son again."
When Frieza attempted to pull himself out of the caved-in computer, and as Zarbon and Dodoria struggled to get to their feet, the female dragon suddenly fanned their wings out to full stretch, swung her left free hand over her shoulder, and fired a shockwave into the bridge's main window. The act of which shattered the glass and caused all of the pressure inside the room to get sucked out into the vacuum of space. The result was the female dragon being effectively pulled out the window at terrifying speed- with Kuriza in tow.
Allowing physics to carry her across the vacuum and through the debris field that was the remains of Frieza's desolated fleet, the female dragon then turned about in the vacuum and allowed her energy and wings to maneuver her towards her master's dreadnaught planet. Seeing the grey world hovering directly in front of her, the agent of the warlord guided herself towards it, dodging bits of metal and ruined space ships, before picking up speed on approach towards the atmosphere.
With the ship's emergency shield forming over the vessel's damaged window to seal up the hole, allowing atmosphere and pressure to return to the spaceship, Frieza- who had been thrown forward from the suction of the vacuum enacting upon the craft- scrambled to his feet and ran to the remains of his command center's window. By the time he reached the glass and threw a hand up against it, he could only watch helplessly as the space around the grey, mobile planet battleship shimmered, a split second before it suddenly bolted off into the great beyond.
The planet jumping off into hyperspace was marked by a loud boom, with the world leaving behind nothing but a vapor trail, a decimated Frieza Force armada, and a ruined planet.
The tyrant meanwhile, completely stumped by what'd just happened, gritted his teeth before pounding his fist against the cracked window in frustration.
"DAMN IT!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
And that just happened.
If you thought I was just going to focus on the done-to-death Vegeta battle, think again. I've remade Lord Slug into a more interesting warlord, so that he isn't just a carbon copy of King Piccolo anymore, but someone who can actually challenge Frieza and his family. So I've essentially given him the Baby treatment.
Basically we've reached the point where Gohan is ready to take on Frieza, but before he can do that, he needs to pass one more test before Cooler can give him the green light, and that will take the form of Lord Slug and his henchmen, including his Secret Weapon.
She is going to be my last OC for this fic. If you want to check out what she looks like, I posted a comic strip on my paetreon and deviantart. Let me know what you think.
XXX
Also, at this point I should do a spot check on the characters that have appeared so far on Gohan's adventure (in order).
Dragonball Z Characters: Characters that are exclusive to the DBZ universe, including several that people may not have heard of before.
-Raditz
-Nappa & Vegeta
-Cooler's Armored Squadron - Salza, Dore and Neiz
-Berryblue (DB Super)
-Kikono (DB Super)
-Turles Crusher Corp (Tree of Might)
-Turles (Tree of Might)
-King Cold
-Tarble (for all who don't know, he is Vegeta's brother, as seen in the OVA special)
-Baby (for anyone who hasn't watched GT, he is the first major antagonist and one of the most OP villains in DBZ history)
-Doctor Raichi/Hachiyack (from the Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans game exclusive)
-Dodoria & Zarbon
-Kuriza (identified as Frieza's son in the Neko Majin Z series)
-Frieza
-Lord Slug
OC Characters: Characters that I created to fill in certain roles in the story, including support.
-Myra (member of Cooler's Armored Squadron and the only major OC in the story that has a long term effect on Gohan)
-Kida, Rei and Riko (the kitsune trio)
-Lucoa (Lord Slug's secret weapon)
Power levels:
Frieza Force:
Zarbon - 23,000 (Base Form)
Dodoria - 22,000
Appule - 8000 to 10,000 (approximately)
Frieza's soldiers - 2000 (Average)
Frieza (First Form) - 530,000
Frieza (First Form) - 1,000,000
Frieza (Final Form - 6% full power) - 3,600,000
Frieza (Final Form - 50% full power) - 60,000,000
Kuriza (First Form) - 15,000
Lord Slug's Forces - Dark Empire:
Lord Slug (old) - 95,000,000
Lord Slug's 'Secret Weapon' (Base) - 25,000,000
Lord Slug's 'Secret Weapon' (Transformed) - 65,000,000
Before anyone starts moaning about Frieza getting ragdolled by this new character, I would like to point out Frieza wasn't close to full power yet. By this point, Gohan could probably teabag Frieza to death as well when in Super Saiyan (though you can probably expect this by now).
Like in every arc, there's always going to be some sort of character introduction to start off a new saga, and given what we know already about DBZ characters, this isn't a new trend. A new villain coming in to smack around other characters to establish their dominance is a concept as old as Shonen.
What I did here in this chapter, instead of having the typical protagonists like Goku and the Z-fighters getting attacked by the 'new villain', the role is reversed, and it's Frieza- the show's would-be main antagonist- getting attacked by another enemy, Lord Slug. It's pretty much taking a used concept and repurposing it to make a more compelling narrative. It creates new obstacles and challenges for the characters to overcome, with the main focus being on Gohan's growth. Everything that happens here shapes Gohan's character as a hero in this story, but not in the typical good-guy getting attacked by the bad-guy scenario. New situations will always crop up that he has to deal with. But I'm sure I don't have to explain it.
Everything that happened here is all setup for things to come, so please have some patience before you make any hasty decisions.