Nova Corps. Prison

Xandar, Southern Galaxy

10 (Earth) Hours Later

Zuchino sat in his cell, his hands and ankles bound by a chain that was unbreakable at this point. Some of his strength had returned after the Nova Corps realized it was draining too much out of him and toned down the frequency (good to know he was their test dummy). He kept kicking himself for forgetting about the Nova Corps, of course, they would detect his ship the very second he entered the Southern Galaxy. Last time the Freeza Force came, they fought his warriors so much that Freeza decided it wasn't even worth the fight at the moment. Granted Freeza thought he had more than a cycle left before he would die, but that miscalculation is on the dead emperor.

He also noticed that the sleep he got, despite all the circumstances, wasn't flooded with nightmares and flashbacks to Planet Vegeta's detonation. If he ever got the chance to see Tony or Bruce again, he would be sure and thank them for their help. He could still sense them on the planet but wasn't sure why they were still there. He assumed that the Nova Corp would let them go along after being deemed victims by them, but maybe there were holding them to be witnesses at his trial.

The Saiyan's door slammed open and three guards filled the room. Zuchino gave a small scowled as he looked them up and down. "So, are you my brigade?"

"We are. Get up." The head guard gruffly ordered him. Not wanting another shock for being disobedient, he stood and they disconnected the chains around his wrists and ankles. Almost immediately, they cuffed his wrists and attached them to his waist chain belt. With their prisoner secured, they guided him out of the walled-in cell into a neutral colored hallway. They slowly traveled down the cellblock walkway, with the guards surrounding the Saiyan on every side. Jeers and curses were thrown the Saiyan's direction, but he didn't let phase him outwardly.

Once they reached the end of the cellblock, the guard scanned his card against the door before it slid open. He stepped into the transparent elevator and they commanded, "Nova Prime Office." Immediately, the elevator began lifting as the Saiyan looked back at the planet behind him.

"Lovely planet you guys have here." He muttered; the soldier to his right instantly gave him a dirty look.

"Don't even think about it, Saiyan." He growled from behind his mask; Zuchino gave a small chuckle before facing forward, attempting to defuse the tension.

"Don't worry, those days are behind me." He chuckled; wisely deciding threats weren't best made in his place.

The doors slid open to a white and clean environment. It had fauna in the room, giving it a small bit of color, and a wall of windows displaying the balcony and blue planet behind them. Several soldiers were placed throughout the room, all holding rifles and glaring directly at the Saiyan while he stepped out of the elevator into the room. The person who mainly had his attention was a woman sitting behind a console. Her hair was in an intricate style he definitely identified as Xandarian and her outfit made it clear she was the commander of the Nova Corps.

"All of this for little old me?" Zuchino smirked, looking around him. "You really shouldn't have."

"Zuchino, Saiyan of the Planet Vegeta." The woman stated, never taking her eyes from the Saiyan. "Lieutenant General of the Freeza Force, the adopted son of Freeza himself, and the right hand of Vegeta, the King of all Saiyans. I thought it seemed too good to hear that all the Saiyans were gone."

"Can't help but think you seem very happy to see me." Zuchino quipped, rolling his eyes.

"On the contrary, Zuchino, I'm actually ecstatic to have you in our custody. While Freeza gave the lot of you the due punishment that you all had coming, I always felt that death seemed to good for you." She said, stepping out from behind the console. "All though I must say it is strange to see you out of the regular Saiyan attire."

"Well, can't say dressed in a Saiyan armor is the most comfortable thing ever." He shrugged like it was a casual conversation. The guards tensed at his sudden movement, but a look from their commander immediately caused them to stand down.

"So, I must ask, what brings you to this side of the universe? You definitely weren't just sight-seeing."

"I'm on a mission."

"For who? Can't be Freeza, his empire practically crumbled this past cycle when they found their ruler was dead. Could you be working for his brother?"

"You mean Freeza's boogeyman to keep us in fear that someone worse than him was possible? No, I was sent specifically by the Kai of this galaxy."

"A Kai you say? And you call Freeza's brother imaginary." The Nova Prime chuckled. "You expect me to believe that?"

"Considering I know that something has wiped planets out across this galaxy at alarming rates, I'd say yes." That got her attention.

"What do you know?" Her tone was a sharp as her glare at the mention of the destruction wrought upon this universe.

"Not much. If as a final request, care to tell me?" He suggested as she took a few seconds to glare at him, considering the request.

"Tell him, Rhomann." She told the pudgy, curly-haired man next to her, looking at him. He looked like he was going to question her decision before her prolonged glare made him give way.

"Half a cycle ago, we noticed a few planets were being destroyed across the galaxy. We thought nothing of it at first until it increased in rate exponentially. Within the last few days, ten worlds in total have been destroyed without any pattern. The few survivors we managed to find said that it just happened without any warning. The only thing they all had in common was the appearance of a green hue surrounding the planets before the explosion. Any soldiers we sent to investigate were never found, believed to be killed by whatever the being is."

"Any idea what it could be?"

"We don't know." He answered as the Saiyan sighed. So nothing new aside from the green hue claim, but still nothing that could aid him in his search. And with him stuck here, there was no telling what could happen. He needed to get in contact with King Kai.

"Do you know anything about this Saiyan?" Nova Prime quickly asked, giving the Saiyan a suspicious glance.

"Any specifics, no. I was sent here to investigate the claims and take out the threat."

"So what, do you want us to let you go and go investigate?" She asked sarcastically, evident in the amusement shadowing her eyes and chuckle in her voice.

"I would like that," Zuchino suggested, but already knew the answer.

"I'm not willing to take that chance. That's why I'm personally sentencing you to life in Kyln for your crimes." She smirked at him before asking, "Any last words?"

"Do it count that I was the one who killed Freeza?" Zuchino asked as he looked up at the Nova Prime. A brief look of shock crossed her face as there were collective murmurs across the room. However, the shock gave way to amusement.

"Please, if you had enough power to kill Freeza, you've never worked for him for so long." She simply stated as Zuchino's teeth clenched.

"How about you take off this collar and I'll show you how I went about killing Freeza?" Zuchino suggested as the commander let out a hearty laugh.

"And let you blast your way out of here in typical Saiyan fashion? I think not. Get him out of here." She commanded as the guards walked up to retrieve their prisoner.

That's when the windows exploded behind them, knocking down a good portion of the soldiers. In flew Tony, clad in his Iron Man armor, hovering with his arm aiming directly at the Nova Prime. Behind him Bruce, who held a Nova Corps' blaster in his hand.

"Alright, I've waited long enough. We're going to take our friend and go."

"Tony..." Zuchino groaned, lowering his head.

"What, I'm here saving your ass and all you can do is compla-" He didn't even see the Nova Prime hit a button her wrist, sending an electromagnetic pulse straight towards the distracted billionaire. Almost immediately, the Suit powered down and causing the front part of the suit to open. Stark fell out as his suit fell to the ground, shut off. Bruce, in shock, lowered his gun and was immediately flanked by soldiers to his side.

"So, hostages, huh?" Nova Prime stood up with a look of fury in her eyes while looking at the Saiyan, who sighed. "All of them, off to the Kyln! Now!"

-Kyln, 3 Hours Later-

The Avengers walked through the jail hallway, guided by the guards and drones (Of course the Nova Corp wanted to make sure their star prisoner never got free).

"I haven't received a thank you yet," Tony said after a few moments of silence.

"For what, for getting stuck in jail with me?" Zuchino quipped back.

"For trying to save your powerless ass." Tony fired back as Zuchino chuckled before looking back.

"Tony, your level of bullshiting is practically unrivaled in this universe."

"To be fair, we did try rather than leave you stranded and locked up." Bruce chimed in.

"Which is exactly what I did not want you both to do; the Nova Corp is known across the universe for being perhaps one of the most well equipped and powerful armies. I had hoped that you would just take the ship and head home."

"We can't just leave you, you're one of our friends," Bruce replied as Zuchino chuckled.

"Well, that's interesting." The guard, a reptilian alien, said. "I didn't know Saiyans were capable of affection, yet here you are."

"I thought Khuuls were capable of growing hair and above your height, yet here you are...well, then again, there are only...what, three of you left?" Zuchino fired back; he barely had time to react to the guard twirling around and slamming the butt of the blaster into his cheek, causing him to stumble to the side. Tony and Bruce moved to help but reptilian's furious glare dared them to move an inch.

"Listen here, Saiyan," he snarled back down at the Saiyan, "the only reason you are alive is that whatever I do to you won't be justice enough in my eyes! But my patience isn't infinite, so one more wisecrack from you and I will kill you. Do you hear me?!" His scaly lips peeled back to show a mouth full of razor teeth while he glared at the Saiyan.

"Got it," Zuchino muttered before spitting out some blood to the side before standing back up straight and looking the alien in his eye. The alien gave a small superior smirk before turning around and continuing forward.

"I appreciate the affection Bruce, but there was a reason why I wanted you all to leave me," Zuchino said before they reached a new room.

"Stand in front of the grate and strip." The Khuul commanded, standing off to the side.

"What?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"Strip, now!" The guard commanded with even more force. Immediately, the three Avengers walked over to the grate and began peeling off their clothes. They remained only in their undergarments, which seemed bared enough for the guards who pounded on the door. A new guard emerged with an orange hose in his hand aimed directly at the Saiyan.

Orange liquid shot out of the pipe with more force than the Saiyan anticipated, sending him stumbling back into the grate unceremoniously. He fell back against it, the force of spray bringing about a great pain across his torso. The wretched stench emanating from it was burning his nostrils and lungs, making him practically unable to breath. His eyes began watering before they finally shut off the stream of the disgusting liquid. The Khuul guard bellowed in laughter as he grabbed the dazed Zuchino by his elbow and shoved him forward through the doorway into the next room.

"The high and mighty Zuchino, thwarted by a simple hose!" The reptilian alien cackled behind him as his anger finally reached its boiling point and he turned to throw a punch. That's when seven drones descended from the air, all armed with a minigun on the bottom aimed directly at him. The Saiyan froze in place as the reptilian cackled again, "Can't lay a finger on me in here, ya bastard!"

That's when Zuchino decided: the very second he breaks out of this hellhole, the Khuul will be the very first one he kills.

He turned away from the cackling guard and grabbed a pair of pants and began to get dressed. Tony and Bruce, also covered in the orange liquid, were forced into the room by the time the Saiyan had pulled his pants up. They were going to say something to him when they saw the long, thick scars adorning the Saiyan's back. They were random and the signs of the whipping the Saiyan told them about.

Zuchino sighed before he turned to grab a shirt from the pile, looking down the entire time. While putting his arms into the shirt, he looked up to his allies staring at him with a gaze he couldn't describe. He then looked down as saw why, there were very noticeable scars from his battles, especially the many dots of Death Beam holes, scattered across his torso. He could only let out a grunt before throwing them a t-shirt.

"Stop ogling me, I already told you what I did for a living," Zuchino muttered before putting his shirt over his head.

After finally getting dressed and fielding questions from the prodding humans (despite all the progress they made so far, he really did not feel like discussing every scar), the guards escorted the trio into the general population jail block. It stretched up massive proportions, further than they could see, and in the center was the command guard booth. They could tell from the many soldiers glaring down at them from the windows, all holding rifles.

The Saiyan took a deep breath before he began walking into the room. Almost immediately, the room's atmosphere tensed up as all eyes peered down at the new entrants to the prison. Zuchino could feel the looks of recognition on him as some people began whispering before the first yell of "MURDERER!" rang out and a food tray hit the side of his head. Almost immediately, the room erupted in a cacophony of slurs thrown towards the Saiyan as he continued walking forward to the cells, followed by the rattled Tony and Bruce behind him.

"What is happening?!" Bruce shouted over the yells, noting the people following behind them with threatening looks on their faces and countless other making threatening gestures towards him.

"Plenty of people in here have probably lost their family and friends to the Freeza Force, more specifically the Saiyans," Zuchino admitted, grabbing a bottle thrown at his head and redirecting it back at his attacker; a satisfying thud let him know he hit his mark. "Which is why I told you both to leave, I didn't want you in here with me. I already have a big target on my back from both the guards and the prisoners; in here with me, you're targets as well."

"Won't the guards protect us?" Bruce asked as Zuchino scoffed.

"They would rather let me die." Zuchino looked back before he walked into what he thought was a brick wall. He turned to see a blue alien standing over him with a devious smile on his face.

"Oh, a Saiyan." The alien purred, rubbing his hand against the Saiyan's face, brushing hair to the side before getting in close. "I'm gonna slather you up in Gunavian jelly, and go to town..." The Saiyan cut off his fantasy by, in one fluid movement, choke slamming the prisoner down on the table. The metal groaned underneath the weight as all eyes fell on the Saiyan, who tightened his grip. Tony and Bruce saw something in the Saiyan's eyes, something they'd never seen: murderous rage.

It took Bruce uttering, "Zuchino" before the Saiyan's eyes softened just a tad bit, sparing a gaze back at his allies. After all the humiliating shit he has been through the past three hours, he finally hit his breaking point and stopped trying to hide his Saiyan bloodlust.

"Okay, everyone listen up because I'm only going to say this once!" He roared, lifting up the blue alien into the air and throwing him into the crowd. "You so much as touch me or my allies, I will rend you limb from limb. And don't you dare think that this fucking collar around my neck will stop me from fulfilling that promise. Are we clear?!" Silence. "I SAID ARE WE FUCKING CLEAR?!"

"Yes, sir." A collective squeak echoed across the jail in affirmation.

"Great." Zuchino sighed as he looked back at Tony and Bruce. "Keep moving." With that, the crowd cleared away for the Saiyan and his allies. Tony and Bruce exchanged a look before continuing behind the Saiyan, knowing they're more than likely defenseless if left by themselves.

"Zuchino?" A familiar voice called out, making him pause. Not again, not here and not now. But it sounded so real. They turned to see a woman, looking about the same age, wearing a yellow jumpsuit just like him. The only difference from every other prisoner was the metallic collar around her neck, supposedly siphoning the ki from her body. There was no mistake. It was her.

"Corma?!" He could only say before she quickly closed the gap and hugged him closer to her. He couldn't speak, he couldn't even talk. All he could feel was bliss.

"His sister?" Tony asked Bruce, who could only nod with a small smile on his face.

"I-I-I-I thought you were dead." Corma stammered out, breaking the hug to look at her brother.

"I thought you were dead. What happened? How did you end up here?" Zuchino questioned as Corma sighed, a weary look crossing her features.

"It's a long story."

Corma, being a Saiyan, managed to lay claim on one of the nicer private rooms that the prison let inmates fight over. It was slightly larger than most rooms (having four bunk beds in the room with enough room to spare) and an actual door that would shut (though it could be easily opened if someone actually wanted to).

"You'd be surprised at the number of throats I almost ripped out for this room," Corma stated, pressing a button on the wall to actually shut down the door.

"So, what happened?" Zuchino once again asked.

"Where do you want me to start at, it has been almost half a cycle now." She asked, sitting down on her bed with a sigh.

"Planet Vegeta when Freeza invaded."

"We knew you were kidnapped. Our scanners picked up on your distress signal after we ran back footage from your scouter and deduced you had been kidnapped. Knowing Freeza would never send the Ginyu Force after his star pupil unless it was something majorly serious, we figured it was likely because the Irkens and Furons sold us out. From there, we rallied the troops and were preparing to storm the ship when they appeared." She growled under her breath at the memory.

"Who?"

"Not only had they sold us out, the Furons sent dozens of their troops to take over the Squadron B. We didn't realize until it was too late and Freeza's Forces were already attacking. From there, the defenses began crumbling and King Vegeta told me to run. He wanted me to sneak onto the ship and retrieve you and hide out on some planet; try to get stronger and avenge them someday. I refused, but..." She took a deep breath, trying to keep tears in, "I knew he was right. So I did. But just as I got to the ships, a power level shot up from nowhere, blowing up my scouter. I thought it was Freeza powering up until I grabbed a new scouter and found out it wasn't. That's when I went back and found you." She gave a little brother a punch on the shoulder with a proud smile. "My little brother, a Super Saiyan, taking down Freeza and his men like nothing."

"You were there?"

"Of course you never saw me because I was hiding...until the last moments. I saw you losing to Freeza and I intervened."

"That was what happened?!" Zuchino practically yelled. It bothered him for years after Freeza's death why Freeza's end slackened up so much during the beam battle. He always assumed Freeza ran out of steam, but that excuse seemed shaky at best. Now it makes sense.

"I blasted him and he was too shocked to see me still alive that he stopped paying attention to his attack. Then I ran back to the city and blasted off in my pod. Traveled through the Galaxy for some time until I crossed into Nova territory. Been here amongst these morons ever since."

"So you haven't found a way out?" Bruce asked as Corma looked over at him with confusion before looking at her brother, her expression practically demanding an explanation.

"Long story short, got stranded on a planet named Earth, roped into helping them out whenever they would need it and got caught up in a battle with the Chitauri."

"The Chitauri?" Corma sighed at the memory before chuckling. "How did that go?"

"Surprisingly, Tony and I took them out an entire armada. Anyway, I spoke with a Kai; yeah, I know," Zuchino said at his sister's expression, "told me about some planets being destroyed across the galaxy and asked me to come to investigate. But I can't do that if I'm locked up in here. So..." Zuchino left it for here to fill in the blanks. A thoughtful look crossed Corma's face as she thought for a few moments before she smirked.

"Follow me, I just about to meet with someone," Corma said as she gestured for the Avengers to join her. She quickly opened the door and walked down the walkway, the few prisoners up there for hurrying away from the two Saiyans' path. They followed her through the hallway until they got to the large, dark shower room.

Once in there, she looked behind before reaching into an empty laundry pale. She pulled out a small pin and pushed a button on her device that was in a small hole. She turned to her little brother and did the same.

"Listening device. Picked up on that last month." Corma started with a smirk until she continued forward. They reached the center of the dark shower room and stopped. There was a beam in the center, its plaster beginning to fall off from disrepair and grout. She fell down it before knocking on it twice.

It echoed across the room before she stood back and waited. Tony geared up for a snarky remark before two figures began emerging from the shadows. One of them was massively taller than them while the other was much smaller.

"Zuchino, Tony, Bruce; say hello to two of my best friends..." Corma began before the figures stepped into the light.

The taller one looked like an anamorphic tree, complete with a face and arms. ZUchino recognized it as the race Flora colossus, commonly known as Groot. The smaller one was a raccoon scowling at them with a look of annoyance clearly plastered on his furry face.

"Rocket and Groot."