Hello everyone!
I don't usually post these sorts of pre-chapter messages, but Primal Legend, formerly known as the Man in the Green Pelt, is now almost a month old! To celebrate this little milestone, I present Chapter 4 slightly early! Enjoy!
The small metal room was for the most part hollow. The soundproofed walls ensured that any external noise from outside the little orb-shaped vessel could not be heard, nor could they potentially disturb any announcement that may come over the intercoms mounted on the walls. The silence was so profound that the only other noise that could be heard was the sound of a pencil dragging itself across paper.
In the center of the room was a single, unremarkable wooden table where Broly and Cheelai were sat. Around the table's legs were a menagerie of broken pencils; nearly half a dozen scattered all over the floor. Broly sat with an intact pencil, scribbling his ABCs in order over and over. His calligraphy was just barely legible and he simply lacked the fine motor skills, at least for the moment, to hold it correctly, preferring to wrap his fingers directly around it, but he was making steady progress on the exercise. At least he isn't smashing the thing into the sheet anymore thought Cheelai, eyeing the blunt lead marks on the corner of the paper where Broly had done so, along with scratches of the material where he had begun to write only for his utensil to crack under the excess force he was using on the object.
Right as Broly finished writing a curvy letter Z, an announcement came over the PA system.
"We've made it to Rak." spoke the accent of Leemo. "Ya might wanna stop whatever you're doing back there! We're gonna be landing in 5 minutes tops."
While Cheelai picked up and tossed the broken pencil shards into the trash chute that in turn launched them into the bowels of space, Broly took out a small capsule and put the table inside of it. The pair then headed off to the cockpit where Leemo awaited. Broly instantly grew excited upon seeing their destination outside the windows. The dark blue orb was relatively small compared to both Earth and Vampa, but still maintained a formidable size just as any planet should. In addition, it was rapidly growing bigger as the trio's craft approached it.
Eventually, the ship rocketed headfirst into the planet's atmosphere. Underneath a thick layer of clouds was a dark blue, starless sky. From this point on, Cheelai stood directly over Leemo's shoulder, guiding him through the unfamiliar territory. At first, Broly was confused, for all he could see below through the windows were rocks and hills. At one point he thought he had spotted the lights of buildings, but upon closer inspection it was a cluster of eyes of a pack of creatures whose bodies were obscured by the murkiness of their environment. This landscape began to slowly fade, being steadily replaced by a deepening cluster of dark mountains. Leemo lowered the ship in preparation for its landing, slowing down and carefully swerving around each and every one of the stone behemoths. Broly's attention span was fading away at this point; the view was even more disinteresting than Vampa. So he was mesmerized when the little mountain ranges faded away to reveal a large cluster of lit-up buildings, totally surrounded by a protective barrier of the mountains the crew had just spent time wading through.
Cheelai released her grip from Leemo's shoulder as the latter dropped the ship even lower, now just barely gliding over buildings. Broly could now see that these structures were far less brilliant up-close; a majority of them were nothing more than tenements, crammed together and filthy. Some were connected by loose, rickedy-looking bridges, while others were built one on top of the other in stacks that resembled makeshift skyscrapers, only having ladders to get from one floor to another. The trio's ship passed by one of these ladders, giving Broly a brief moment to see a very surprised hooded figure staring back at him before he was out of sight.
Upon reaching the outskirts of the massive slum, the scene below changed again, this time to a sort of parking lot. As their vessel found an empty spot and slowly dropped down, its crew could see a wide variety of other ships parked along with them. Most of them were either fairly small civilian cruisers or larger, beat-up business-class vessels with unfamiliar symbols spray-painted over the normal logos of whatever organization the ship originally belonged to.
In the shadows, two slim green aliens in jumpsuits watched the unfamiliar vessel land.
"Hey," one of them whispered to the other "do you recognize that thing?"
"It looks like a Frieza Force ship to me."
"Why are they in this place, especially without any backup?"
"Must be rogues. Wonder what they're here for?"
The hardened crooks were still caught off-guard by the loud clang of the ship's front door flapping open across the poorly paved ground. At first, only a dim light could be seen from within. Then, two small aliens walked out, with a much bigger, more humanoid one right behind them. The lights turned off behind them as they stepped out into the cold air of the endless night.
"Hmm…" The first alien thought. "I've seen the girl before. She's the one who took that Galactic Patrol ship, remember?"
"Holy crap, yes! Imagine that, those clowns wanna go around preaching to people about "justice" and "civilized behavior" but can't even keep their own ships from getting robbed! I was laughing my ass off for the rest of the day after that."
The quipper's friend looked back at the party. "I remember seeing the old man on a recruitment poster for the technology division. That leaves the burly one…"
Despite his size, the man was at the very pack of the small pack. His shorter companions were chatting amongst themselves while he remained silent.
"Hey, uh…"
"What?"
"You think that guy might be a Saiyan? He has the physique and looks of one."
"Don't be ridiculous, they all died off decades ago; the ones from this Universe, at least. He's certainly too muscular to be one from Universe 6."
"Hey!"
The two green aliens were caught off-guard by Cheelai's call to them. Leemo was next to her, while Broly stood behind them, towering over both.
"How the heck did you hear us?" The unfamiliar bandits said in almost perfectly in sync.
"You'd be surprised at how good my hearing is. Served me good for when I had to eavesdrop on occasion. Anyways, how do you know about the existence of multiple universes?" She asked.
"You familiar with Saffron?" the taller one replied.
"Yeah, I knew him OK before I left. Has he been bothering you?"
"Oh, you wouldn't believe it. Ever since you left, he's been looking for other people to yap about his supposed 'business opportunity' to."
"Do you know where we can find him?"
"He's always hanging out at the town square, particularly at the pub."
"Thank you!" Cheelai exclaimed. The trio then made an OK hand in unison before leaving.
"You're a bit of a celebrity around these parts, ain't ya?" Leemo asked Cheelai.
"I dunno, guess I am. It's a pleasant surprise to be sure."
Broly, Cheelai and Leemo continued past the run-down lot and into one of the many streets of the sprawling shantytown. As they walked, the gang got a sobering look at the squalor of the place. The street was crowded and filled with little market stalls, sat at by destitute-looking merchants selling fruits, vegetables and other mysterious items of questionable quality for Zeni amounts that barely scratched past the 100s. For the many others walking along or past them, it was almost guaranteed that they would be wearing some sort of robe, mask or anything else that could obscure their face. As such, it was difficult for Leemo and Broly to understand the wide spectrum of species that inhabited the slum, only distinguishable by the tiny specks of skin that were visible through their masks.
Cheelai led the way, showing uncanny familiarity with the confusingly laid out, dreadful-looking streets, which were only just adequately lit by simplistic streetlights; at least, the ones that hadn't fallen into disrepair. Meanwhile, Leemo was noticeably distressed by the squalor; he remained careful not to look at any one person for two long, and his left hand was intentionally rested right above the holster containing his blaster. In a strange twist, Broly was the one who showed the most uncertainty with the place which by all means still looked like heaven compared to the dead world he had been forced to endure for nearly his entire life. He hung out at the back of the party, taking great care not to be seperated for too long from his friends at any time. In particular, he was unsettled by the glances of the various passerby on their trek; he could rarely see their faces, but he could tell they were staring right at him, worried by his unnatural physique and complexion.
At one point, Broly saw two people who hadn't covered their face. It appeared to be a mother and her child, the former wrapping her hand around her progeny. Or was it the little one's father? The Saiyan could distinguish the gender of the bulbous, glistening pink aliens' heads, each with a large, beady set of eyes and no distinguishable mouths. Broly was so transfixed on the interesting-looking creatures that he initially failed to notice the masked marauder wielding a curved knife stomping right behind them. Before the assailant could land any sort of blow, the pink alien parent pulled out a blaster and shot the crook in the head, his body crumpling lifelessly and partially crushing a nearby stall. The pink alien only took a second of pause before it turned back to guide its child, seemingly unphased by the attempt against their life. Indeed, most everybody present at the scene showed equal indifference. Even the shopkeeper whose merchandise had been ruined simply let out a defeated sigh as he began to dispose of the body and his ruined produce. While Broly simply stood there in shock and confusion, Leemo was utterly chilled by what he had seen. It wasn't so much the violence itself: He had seen far, far worse in his years in service to Frieza. But the universal, callous disregard that had been shown towards this attack and its aftermath practically forced him to speak his mind.
"How does a society like this even function?" he asked.
"It doesn't." Cheelai deadpanned. "The unwritten rule is that you either endure the conditions or you scrounge up the money and leave. There's a reason they call this place the 'Garbage Bin of the Universe'."
The trio finally exited the network of streets and reached the fabled town square. Despite being a large, open circular area, the crowding issue had barely been resolved; all three members of the team still had to thread carefully, worrying about getting separated from one another. While the houses were still in as decrepit a state as ever, there were a few relatively passable-looking businesses in there; among them was little wooden building with the word "PUB" hastily written in bold, red point on its top.
Upon entering, their first observation was a light of smell of mold in there despite looking far more presentable compared to the other buildings, what with a simple yet functional array of metal tables and chairs. The walls were solid gray and had a few spotlights lighting up the room, but nothing else aside from that. The building was consumed by rambunctious talking and the sounds of clanging bottles and pans, and the cafeteria was not unlike something one would see in a military base.
Broly and his friends searched through the establishment, taking care not to aggravate any of the brutes gargling down beverages the gentle giant did not recognize or the strange, secluded figures sitting alone. Eventually, Cheelai ran up to and poked someone on the back. He turned around, revealing slightly lighter green skin than the woman who had brought his attention, and a small, pointed mat of equally upright hair. His main physical difference from Cheelai was far longer, lankier legs, and his military pants and boots contrasted with the plain, dirty, torn-up white t-shirt he covered his upper body with.
"Hey girl!" Saffron exclaimed in a voice whose pitch was just high enough to get on Cheelai's nerves. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Why did you come back to this dump? Did you finally see the light and now want to join my prestigious business?"
The woman had to restrain an audible groan as she gestured Leemo to sit down along with her. Broly stood over them, listening in on the conversation.
"No Saffron, I'm not here to join your downline, thank you very much. I am, however, interested in this interuniversal travel thing you got figured out."
"Oh, I'm glad you asked! I'm totally willing to divulge my secrets of travelling across the entire multiverse. All you need to do is buy my 1000 zeni initiation ki-"
Before he could finish, Saffron felt the sting of Cheelai's hand making contact with his cheek in the form of a brutal slap.
"Listen pal, I don't have time for this crap. See my big friend over there? His name is Broly. It wasn't my choice to go on this little adventure; it was all his. And he's very excited. He's been through so much bullshit in his life, and he wants to go visit the Saiyans of Universe 6 not only to meet what remains of his people, but also to get his rage under control. Because when Broly gets enraged, he can and will hurt you."
Cheelai felt filthy for saying that out loud after all she had done so far to protect her friend, but thankfully Saffron showed great concern, having clearly fallen for her bluff. Broly also seemed to be a little saddened by the remark, but Leemo whispered about the bluff into his ear, and before long he was back to normal.
"Well, alrighty then." Saffron said. "It all began 3 years ago…"
Broly listened in on the discussion for a few minutes; at least, he tried to. Saffron continued to ramble on about his life story in that time period before beginning a talk involving a bunch of mathematical mumbo jumbo Broly had difficulty comprehending. He looked over to Cheelai and Leemo, both of whom seemed to be fully enthralled in the speech despite the earlier tension.
That guy sure has a talent for getting people invested in nonsense… Broly thought to himself as he began to pace back and forth out of boredom. His attention towards the one-sided conversation began to wane, until he was eventually freely wandering around the small bar, walking from table to table looking for something to do. He had no money on him to purchase something from the bar, and Cheelai hadn't brought their reserve currency from the ship, seeing as this was supposed to be a quick, one-day trip.
While he was looking around, he noticed a black, bat-like humanoid creature gesturing him to come over with his right hand while he held a glass bottle filled with an unfamiliar amber liquid in his left. Seeing as he had nothing else to do and he didn't exactly have to fear the possibility of being injured or killed considering his brimming Saiyan strength, he went over the being, taking note of the pair of black wings folded up behind his long ears.
"Hey there big guy," he said in a gruff voice, "wanna play a game?"
To the stranger's surprise, Broly gave a broad grin. "Of course!" he said with an innocent, happy tone. "I would love to play a game. I'm bored!"
The humanoid had to suppress laughter as he reached towards the rectangularly stretched paper bag at the floor. From within it he grabbed out 3 10-pack cases of the unknown drink.
"If you can drink more than me," he said, "I'll give you 2000 zeni."
"And if I lose?" Broly asked.
"Hmm... I think I'll take that armor of yours."
Broly gave a naive nod and sat down on the chair the alien had laid out for him.
This guy's a total sucker! He thought to himself as he unwrapped the first full bottle of beer. He's gonna lose everything before his little pals have time to help him.
After quickly choosing a nearby, more muscular red alien as a referee, the drinking contest was set to begin, but not before a small crowd gathered around the table to spectate.
"Go!" the referee shouted.
The bat man was the first to pick up his drink. He slurped the whole bottle of the classic alcohol in less than 20 seconds. He then tossed it aside and picked up another bottle; this one took 21 seconds, slightly longer but still good. Finally, he went through nearly 3/4 of another bottle before the referee called the end of Round 1.
The alien turned to Broly, about to instinctively taunt him, as was typical of those unaware of his total resistance to the adverse effects of alcohol. His smug, slitted yellow eyes blew up in size as he realized his supposed victim had already guzzled down nearly twice the amount of beer he had.
"This game isn't very fun." Broly said with a childish bluntness that got on his rival's nerves. "But I'll play to the end." His opponent calmed himself upon noticing that his speech was already a little more slurred than it had been earlier. He may have won the battle, but he's lost the war he thought one more time as more beers were pulled out for Round 2.
"And that's how my company saved the Marlosians!"
Saffron capped off his long diatribe with a self-assured grin. Cheelai and Leemo began to take mental notes, only to suddenly realize they had basically learned no useful information. The latter reached into his pocket and pulled out a small time-keeping utensil, only to then make another revelation: The speech had burned nearly 10 minutes of their time.
"So," Cheelai began, "can you give us the rundown on how to get to Universe 6?"
"...Alright," Saffron replied with a hint of annoyance, "basically, every so often, wormholes open at the very edges of the Universe. These wormholes can take you to other universes based on their time and location. I have devised a formula to figure where the next one will appear and where it will lead. And are you in luck, for if my current calculations are correct, there should a wormhole to Universe 6 spawning tomorrow morning!"
"Well, thanks my guy." Cheelai said as she stood up. "Anyways, let's go look for Bro-"
It was only then that she saw the huge crowd that had gathered around one of the tables in the far corner of the little shop. Not seeing her powerful ally anywhere else, she rushed over with Leemo in tow, fearing the possibility of a fight breaking out. At first, upon breaking through the crowd, that didn't seem to be the case, for Broly was sitting at a table with only one other bat-like alien at it.
"Broly, come over here!"
She once again grew concerned upon seeing Broly's sorry state. His eyes were struggling to keep themselves open, and his balance and walking were in a serious fuddle. While Leemo held up his arm for support, Cheelai now could see that there were several empty glass bottles on the floor, each leaking traces of an amber liquid. She also noticed some stains of this beverage on Broly's chestplate, contaminating the pure white material it was sculpted with.
"Did you..." she began to ask to the other alien at the table. "...Did you get Broly involved in a drinking contest?"
"Hey, c'mon girl, it was only 5 rounds!" he said with a snarky smile and a shrug.
Leemo kept his grip on Broly even as both of their ears were pierced by Cheelai's high-pitched storm of profanities. Broly began to almost seductively stare down Leemo, his face inching up closer to his partner's to the point where he could catch a strong whiff of the Saiyan's alcohol-scented breath.
"Frieeeeeeend..." he managed to drunkenly croak out as he gently patted Leemo's head.
All Leemo could really do was continue to keep Broly from falling on his face. Good thing he can maintain his good nature even when under the influence he thought with relief.
Suddenly, they heard another shriek from Cheelai: This time one of fear. They turned back to see her enemy's thin black arm wrapped around her throat, with the other holding a knife to her head.
"Ya shoulda stayed outta this, toots. I may have lost money to your little freak over there, but you'll make that all back on the slave market."
Before he could react, Broly shoved Leemo aside. He was able to straighten himself somewhat as he marched right up to the swindler.
"And what are you gonna do? I've faced bigger men than you. Now, go away you dim-witted sack of-"
A sickeningly loud crunch was heard all throughout the room as Broly took down the crook with an unrestrained, drunken headbutt. He released his grip around his victim as his body collapsed the floor with a thump. While Cheelai leaned open her savior to recover from what had just happened, a murmur turned into an uproar as all the other people who had flocked around earlier rapidly realized the man wasn't showing any signs of breathing, and his eyes were blank and glazed; Broly's attack, denoted by the deep purple bruise on the bat man's forehead, had instantly killed him. It didn't take much more for Cheelai and Leemo to decide it was time to leave, quickly carrying Broly out of there as they did so. They were so intent on leaving that they hardly noticed Saffron had seemingly vanished.
The hooded figure hastily scampered through the least populated street that connected to the square. The scene of the quick, yet brutal fight that he had just seen take place in the bar was fresh in his mind; that was all that had been needed to make him fully understand the monster he was dealing with and why his client sought after him.
Upon reaching his filthy home with a large hole in the roof, Saffron removed his cloak and slammed the squeaky door behind him. He sat at his desk, turning on a basic communication device and letting it boot up while he scrambled through a stack of papers. Eventually, he found what he was looking for; he didn't pull the sheet out from the stack fully, but just enough to reveal the strange code composed of geometric shapes at the very bottom. He picked up his loaded-up communicator and raised it above the code, automatically scanning it. The device automatically opened its video messenger app, dialing an unknown number.
The image was difficult to decipher through the static and the crack along the screen, but Saffron was eventually able to make out an armored, short blue woman with short violet hair.
"Welcome to the official Frieza Force hotline! I am Berriblu. What can we do for you?"
Broly slowly flapped open his eyes and lifted himself upright in his bed. The first thing he noticed is that he couldn't remember how he got there, or most of the events of last night. But that wasn't what truly concerned him. Whatever conflicting thoughts this lack of memory could've caused with him was mostly blotted out by a sense of unease. He couldn't figure out what it was. As he scanned his little room, he noticed the blinds to its one window were down. He begrudgingly walked up to them and, not knowing how to open them properly, instead lifted them up with his hands.
Cheelai and Leemo woke up to a jolt as they heard Broly's stomping yet again. They briefly feared another situation similar to what had happened on Vampa few days earlier, but those subsided as he ran into their room. Still, he seemed noticeably panicked, and was wildly gesturing them to go outside with his arms. And so they did, and they were horrified to see an armada of Frieza Force ships of all shapes and sizes clogging up Rak's eternal night sky.
"We need to get going now!" Leemo loudly whispered.
"It won't do any good, they've set up a blockade." Cheelai replied, studying the ships' formations. "We're gonna have to fight our way out."
Broly seemed disappointed upon hearing this. Leemo, however, chimed in again.
"We don't need to cause that much of a scene. I bet if they're looking for Broly, Frieza himself will be with them; he's the only one who can hope to stand up to him power-wise."
He then looked towards the shantytown. He noticed one of the bigger, elliptical motherships was hovering right over town square.
"And I think I know where he might be..."
The gang made it to the square after a long run. At first, the crowding seemed even worse than before, but then they realized it was because half of the square itself was occupied by the docked mothership and several organized formations of soldiers on either side of it. None of the outlaws and citizens of Rak dared approach the intimidating force that had taken their square.
The door of the main ship flapped open and crashed onto the ground. The light within gave way to three figures. To the left was the stout, blue-skinned, elderly Berriblu; to the right, the equally as short, bug-eyed, yellow-skinned Kikono. And standing between both of them was their white, reptilian leader; the emperor of the universe, whose cold, expressionless gaze drew frightened gazes and whispers amongst the crowd before them, as well as causing cold sweat to drip from Broly, Cheelai and Leemo's brows.
The madman then smiled and faced his prey.
"It's been a while, hasn't it monkey?" uttered the aristocratic voice of Frieza.