Chapter Eight: It's Been Awhile

"And it's been a while…

And everything I can remember

As fucked as it all may seem

The consequences that I've rendered

I've stretched myself beyond my means…"

It's Been Awhile – Staind

DBZ

One year…One fucking year since the day they made their daring escape from Frieza. The jump into hyper-space had been a desperate decision that for one entire year Seripa had regretted making. Immediately following the jump the hyper-engines had malfunctioned, fracturing into millions of pieces under the stress of making such a sudden and too-soon jump.

The ship had spiraled and twisted through hyper-space for an eternity it seemed, before finally exiting into the territory of the Flazerian Empire. Like Frieza, the Flazerians were a tyrannical bunch that owned and ruled over a multitude of planets…

Not to mention they were in direct opposition to Frieza and the Gylderian Empire.

Without power their ship was drawn to the nearest planet…The planet that they crash-landed on.

Seripa barely remembered anything after the exit from hyper-space. There was chaos aboard the bridge; that much she could recall. Aurah had been trying to calm her crew down as they tried to bring the ship back into operation. All the while, they blamed Seripa for the ship's condition…

And now, a year later, as Seripa sat staring at the blank white wall before her, she couldn't help but agree with them. If she had not told Burgah to make the jump, then they wouldn't be prisoners of the Flazerian Empire. She wouldn't be trapped in this tiny 7 by 7, ki-restricting cell. The same cell she had been residing in since she awoke after the fiery crash that had killed a majority of the occupants on Aurah's ship.

Seripa sniffed and pulled her legs to her chest, her arms wrapping around them as she rested her cheek against her leg. She was sitting with her back against the wall across from the steadily pulsating energy bars that prevented her escape. Her violet hues were half-lidded as she stared at the cell across from hers, but the red glow from the bars was difficult to see beyond. Even so, she could just make out the form of Amotto sitting in a similar position.

She wasn't sure what had happened to the Gylderians, but Amotto, Broco, and Turles were in the same cell block as her. Broco resided in the cell beside hers, while Turles was across the hall from him. Every day they (including Turles, amazingly) tried to convince Seripa that none of this was her fault. But every day their words fell on deaf ears. She had not spoken to any of them in months; not since Aurah, Sushinae and several others had been moved from the cell block to an undisclosed location.

They didn't know the name of the planet, but they knew that their captors were of the Jynn-jin race. They greatly resembled the Saiyans, as did a vast majority of the races in most of the surrounding quadrants. The Jynn-jins lacked tails and for the most part had vibrant hair colors in metallic sheens. They were strong, but nothing compared to Saiyans. What they did have that the Saiyans lacked for the most part was wide-spread intelligence.

And it was this intelligence that had the Saiyans trapped in ki-restricting, power-dampening cells. Turles had revealed that he had been able to muscle his way out of his cell aboard the ship, but the Jynn-jins had obviously prepared for such situations. Seripa had to doubt that even Tettuce could have escaped this prison.

Tettuce.

Seripa sighed and closed her eyes. No one had seen or heard from him even before the jump. After Turles had hijacked the ship, he had made sure to put as much distance between them and Tettuce as possible. Frieza had shown up flying in from the very direction they had traveled from. There was no reason to believe that he had let Tettuce and the others live.

Seripa hated herself for believing that he was dead, but it was something that they all had to believe. He had admitted that Frieza wanted him dead, so there was no reason to believe he was alive.

The sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears and she opened her eyes. Lifting her gaze to the front of her cell they fell upon an aged Jynn-jin male as he stopped before her cell.

"You again?" she sighed and slowly climbed to her feet, dusting the front of her dark blue under armor off, even though there was not a speck of dust or dirt in her cell.

The man frowned at her through the energy bars. He had metallic blue hair and yellow eyes that peered at her from behind thick glasses.

"Every day, without fail, I come to your cells. Who else would it have been, Seripa?"

She approached the bars, her dark brows knitted together in a frown of her own.

"Well, one would hope that it would have been someone coming to release me, Berik." She barely refrained from spitting on him. The man was a scientist, through and through. Every day, without fail, he came to retrieve her for studies. Of the Saiyans, she was the only one that was taken for questioning on Frieza's military. Why? Even she had yet to figure that out.

But she knew this time would be just like the other times. He would open the cell and lead her away to be questioned. And when she gave them the answers they didn't want to hear, she would be tortured. It had gotten old a long time ago, but she was starting to become resistant to the torture. Not only that, but she was beginning to feel new strength. The ki-restriction and power-dampeners that the Jynn-jins used kept her from utilizing it, but there would be hell to pay if ever she got free. She didn't know how strong she was now, but she knew that she was stronger than she had been the last she and Turles fought.

Berik sighed and pressed a sequence of buttons to the side of the bars. "You are one of only four Saiyans on this planet. You really think that someone will come to release a monster like you?"

Seripa smirked as the bars vanished and beams of blue light suddenly appeared around her ankles and wrists, forcing them together in front of her. "A monster, eh? I suppose we Saiyans deserve such a reputation, but Frieza is the true monster."

"Hm, something we can agree on. But you work for him, so that makes you just as bad."

Seripa growled as she was forced against her will to move out of the cell. The Jynn-jins were too smart for their own good, she thought as she shuffled along ahead of Berik. Glancing to either side of her, she saw Broco and Turles sleeping. Amotto was the only other one awake and alert; she watched in silence as Seripa was led away.

"I keep telling you, Jynn-jin, that neither I, nor my friends, work for Frieza. He destroyed our home planet!"

Berik rolled his eyes as he walked along behind her, "Planet Vegeta was destroyed by a comet. Even Lord Ryo verifies that fact, so you can stop with the lies."

She growled and glanced over her shoulder at him, "I do not lie, Jynn-jin scum. Frieza is just as much my enemy as he is yours. And he did destroy our planet, regardless of what your Lord Ryo claims. I was there."

Berik frowned, a peculiar expression coming over his features. But he said nothing in response, instead pointing ahead of her, "Eyes forward Saiyan."

Seripa growled again and turned her eyes forward.

DBZ

Lessbru looked up at Tettuce sharply. "Frieza? How do you know it's him?" He asked nervously. He obviously didn't like the idea of Frieza racing up behind them.

"Frieza was coming after you, as well. Your friend Broco was tracked when he hacked into Frieza's system." Tettuce tore his eyes away from the radar and looked down at Lessbru, "Frieza wants every last Saiyan dead."

The shorter man blinked in surprise, "I can understand that, but why come after us himself? I assumed he would rather send his lackies after us, instead."

"Normally, yes." Tettuce straightened up, a frown etched deep into his features. "Frieza is after me. He wants nothing less than to kill me himself."

Lessbru jerked in surprise, standing up quickly. "What? What in the hell did you do to garner that much of his attention!"

The taller man growled down at Lessbru, who took a step back in response. "Sit back down and get this ship out of hyper space. If he catches us, we are all dead!"

Lessbru blinked again and quickly sat back down. He lifted his hands to the console, but paused. "If I drop this ship out of hyper space, Tettuce, then there's a good chance that the engines will malfunction again." He looked up at him slowly. "Then we'll never catch up to Turles."

Tettuce looked down at him slowly, his expression blank. He had thought about that already. But if he let Frieza catch up to them and kill them, he would never see Aurah again. He looked down to the floor and frowned.

"I know. Drop out of hyper space now," was all he said. Before turning and walking across the bridge.

The ship dropped out of hyper space, and Lessbru immediately activated the cloaking shield, successfully hiding their ship's presence from Frieza's radar…

DBZ

Tettuce opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. He pulled his knees up halfway and rested his arms over each respective leg. A whole year had passed since that day and yet he still found himself dreaming of it. Not a day had gone by that he and the others didn't constantly search for Aurah and Seripa. Shortly after they had escaped they learned of the altercation between Frieza and Seripa, and Seripa's subsequent decision to send the ship into hyper space. But what they didn't know was what had happened after that jump. They had apparently successfully escaped from Frieza and his men, but no one had seen or heard from any of them. There had never been any report of them exiting hyper space or arriving at a planet that was a part of the Gylderian Empire's territory. There hadn't even been any reports of ransom from any known enemies. They simply had no clue where they had gotten to.

Just as Lessbru had warned, the engines had given out. Unfortunately they were completely out of commission as far as hyper jumps went, so they had to limp at half power through space until they reached an occupied area. Even then, it had been weeks before they finally reached planet Gylder to have the ship repaired. Although, as it turned out, the ship was beyond repair at that point. Tettuce and his rag-tag crew were issued a newer, much faster, ship and almost immediately began their long and arduous search for the others.

Tettuce swung his legs around to drape over the side of his bed. He stood up and walked to the large screen panel that was currently displaying a window-view of space. Pausing before it, he folded his arms across his chest with a sigh. He had been doing his best to restrain his anger and frustration, but without Aurah he could just forget keeping his rage in check. He hated the way he was when she was not around. He turned into that monster that even he feared. The rage and darkness that overcame him when he was angry was frightening. It was especially frightening because it always seemed that his power would increase the angrier he got.

Before he had met the girls, long before they ever became Aurah, he was a much more ferocious person. It had earned him quite a few nicknames through the years; Tettuce the Insane, the Harbinger of Doom, the Hand of Fate…the list was longer than he liked to admit sometimes. The things he had done, even to his own people at times, were not things he liked to think about. He wasn't sure how it came to be, considering saiyans were generally known for their ferocity, but he came to despise himself. He supposed it was a result of his getting older. What was it again, 56? 57? He wasn't sure. But it was the best explanation for why he suddenly came to mourn for his victims. Why he hated the things he had done. Perhaps that was a big reason why he didn't think his people should have continued to work for Frieza.

Then again, even after his exile he was still worthy of those nicknames. It wasn't until long after Vogan had taken him in that he met the girls. It wasn't until after he met them that he took a good look at himself and saw the animal that he was. And he knew that was how they viewed him, as well. Maybe that was why he sought to change; he wanted people to view him differently. Was he really remorseful for the things he had done? Sometimes he had to wonder.

Tettuce sighed and pressed his forehead against the screen, his eyes staring out into the black of space. He hoped to never see the monster that was still lurking within ever again. But if it turned out that Aurah had been hurt or worse, then he knew that the monster would win over. He worried what would happen if that proved to be the case.

Actually, no he wasn't worried. If something happened to Aurah, then whoever was the cause deserved whatever happened to them…

His train of thought was interrupted as the screen became opaque and an alert sounded, indicating an incoming transmission. He frowned and stepped away from the screen, folding his arms again. He had let them drop to his sides when he became lost in thought.

"Open channel," he commanded the computer.

The image of a young man with metallic green hair and pink eyes appeared before him, causing him to blink in surprise. The young man was a Jynn-jin! In fact, the young man looked familiar to him.

"Who are you?" Tettuce demanded. Why did he look familiar? Where had he seen a Jynn-jin that would possibly look familiar to him?

The man smiled and inclined his head forward in greeting. "Hello, Tettuce. It has been a long time, though it seems too long ago for you." He chuckled under his breath. "Forgive the jest."

Tettuce frowned, barely suppressing a growl. He would certainly regret losing his temper on this fool. "Just tell me who you are."

The man smiled again and said, "Of course. I am Nepu. My uncle is Berik."

Tettuce quirked a brow and said, "You seem to think I know you. But those names are unfamiliar to m-"

"I am the son of Princess Lira."

That rang a bell. Tettuce stared at the screen in surprise, "You're the brat who used to hide behind her legs?"

Nepu laughed and nodded and said, "Yes, that was me. Though it has been about thirty years since the last I saw you."

"Yeah, times have certainly changed," he frowned and unfolded his arms, dropping them to his sides. If his memory served, it had been just a little over thirty years since the last he had seen the brat. In fact, one again if memory served, he seemed to think he had seen him last the very day that his father, Prince Jaxom, future king of the Jynn-jin people, had been assassinated. He and his own mentor, Turpin, had been sent to one of the Jynn-jin planets (he couldn't remember which) as envoys on behalf of Frieza's empire, at a time when he was still in support of the treaty with Frieza. Even to this day, it was said that no one knew who had assassinated the prince. Tettuce had his suspicions, but that was neither here nor there.

He would have to touch on that subject a little bit later; for now there were more important things to worry about than things that had happened thirty years prior.

"Why are you contacting me?" he asked sharply. "Isn't it a crime punishable by death for anyone in Flazerian territory to contact an opposing empire?"

"Oh, yes. But you should know that the Jynn-jin people hate the Flazerians. It wasn't exactly willingly that we became a part of Lord Ryo's empire. But as for why I am contacting you," Nepu paused and glanced over his shoulder, as if he were making sure he was alone, before turning back to face the screen on his end. "My uncle has in his company some people who I hear that you are very interested in retrieving."

Tettuce's eye went wide and he unconsciously took a step forward, "Seriously? Are you saying that he has Aurah?"

"Among several others, yes. The Saiyans are being held in cells, but Berik was able to get Lady Aurah and her entourage to a safe location. It is very well hidden on Jynn-jin 13."

Tettuce stared on in silence for a few moments. Jynn-jin 13 was in the heart of the Flazerian Empire's territory. "How did they end up there?"

Nepu lifted a hand scratched the back of his neck with a sigh, "Well, the hyper space engines aboard their ship gave out under the strain of the jump they were making, leaving the ship dead in space. When they came out of hyper space, they exited practically on top of Jynn-jin 13 and were caught by the gravity. They crash-landed here; I'm also afraid to say that a majority of the crew was lost in the crash, but Lady Aurah and Sushinae are listed among the handful of survivors. All four Saiyans aboard survived, as well."

Tettuce frowned as an expression of confusion came over his features. "Four? There should only have been Seripa and Turles aboard that ship. Who are the other two?"

"Ah, I believe their names are Amotto and Broco."

Tettuce blinked and then nodded. Of course, he remembered hearing that they, too, were missing. But he had been focused more on the fact that Aurah was missing that he had not even given those two a second thought. He felt a little bad about it now, but not too much. They were Saiyans and could easily take care of themselves. Aurah was only half, but she could as well. Nonetheless, that did not stop him from worrying about her.

"That is good to hear that they, too, survived. So why are you telling me? Why are they all still alive?" Tettuce had been wondering that from the moment Nepu has confided in him that they were under Berik's protection. But for someone under Flazerian rule to harbor enemies to their overlords was unthinkable. Frieza was a tyrant, but the Flazerians' brutality made Frieza tame by comparison. Especially when it came to traitors like Berik and Nepu.

Nepu merely smiled in response, "We Jynn-jin were supporters of the Gylderian Empire for centuries, Tettuce. Why should that change just because the Flazerian Empire has taken control of our planets? No, my friend, we are not allies to Ryo and his army. We have secretly begun an underground resistance, and my uncle has even been constructing a way for us to rise up and overtake the Flazerians. The project is nearing completion, even as we speak," he said with a hint of hope and pride in his tone.

Tettuce nodded absently, "Sounds good. Now, about Aurah and the others…"

"Right, my apologies. As I said they are safe. The Saiyans are being held in power-dampening cells, but they're otherwise safe and unharmed. For the most part, anyway." He added with a slight grimace.

Tettuce arched a dark brow and narrowed his eyes, "Now what does that mean?"

Nepu sighed and glanced away, "Well…we do have to keep up the appearance of being loyal to the Flazerian Empire, so they have been treated less than acceptable. They're being treated just as Saiyans captured by the Flazerian Empire are expected to be treated."

"I can only imagine," remarked Tettuce dryly, a slight hint of anger tingeing his tone. He could understand why they were being treated as such, but that did not mean that he was going to just calmly accept that information.

"I assure you, Tettuce, that we have not seriously harmed them in any way. That is not our intention, of course. We merely need to keep up an appearance lest Colonel Flazamyn suspect something amiss."

"I underst-Wait. Did you just say Flazamyn?" Tettuce frowned up at Nepu who nodded in response. "So that bastard is on Jynn-jin 13, hm?" He lowered his gaze to the floor thoughtfully. It had been decades since he'd last seen that particular Flazerian. Back then he had only been known as Lieutenant Flazamyn, but it seemed he had progressed through the ranks quite a bit in that time.

"Flazamyn hates the Saiyans, as I am sure you are aware, and has repeatedly ordered their executions. Thankfully we have managed to forestall that undesirable outcome, but as time wears on he begins to lose patience. We fear that any day now he will carry out their executions himself, which is why we have chosen to take the chance and contact you. We cannot rescue them as you are capable of. There is not a single Jynn-jin on this planet that has even a quarter of the necessary power to take Colonel Flazamyn on."

"I see. You were hoping that I would find them on my own before you took the chance, right?"

"Yes. We have attempted to send word several times through scouts, but unfortunately none have managed to reach you. Or they have reached your area, only to find that you have long-since left. This was to be our last resort for reaching you with the necessary information."

Tettuce looked up again, still frowning. "I thank you for letting me know. I wish that you had alerted me much sooner, but I can understand why you did not. However," he lowered his voice, his tone becoming threatening, "I can't excuse any of you for waiting for so long. It has been an entire fucking year!" he raised his voice until he was practically yelling at Nepu. "A year! Do you know how crazy I've been trying to find Aurah, not knowing whether or not she was still alive?"

Nepu visibly flinched and recoiled a bit from the view screen. He had been momentarily surprised that Tettuce had taken the information so well…but this reaction fit better into what he had expected in the first place.

Of course, Tettuce had a reason to be upset. He had been beginning to think that Aurah really was dead. The information had settled his fears, but had in turn awoken his rage. He was livid and someone had to pay for what had happened to Aurah.

"But no, you wouldn't know, would you?" Tettuce snarled.

"Tettuce, you must understand that we had no choice…"

"You had no choice? How about Aurah and Seripa and the others? What choice did they have? None!" He straightened his shoulders and glared hotly into the computer screen. "I'm on my way. There's hell to pay, so I'm bringing hell to Jynn-jin 13…"

Nepu visibly swallowed back his apprehension as he stared at Tettuce through the view screen. "You really are the Harbinger of Doom…"

Tettuce scoffed and turned away from the view screen, striding across his room to an armoire just on the other side of his bed. He withdrew his underarmor, his battle jacket, and his cape, slipping them on in a flash. He glanced across the room to where Nepu still stared fearfully from that view screen.

"Whatever you have planned to overthrow the Flazerians will pale in comparison to what I plan to do to them." He turned, his cape whisking around violently. "And pray I don't turn my rage on you Jynn-jins."

DBZ

Droplets of sweat beaded down the sides of his face as Nepu continued to stare into the now blank screen. Slowly he leaned back in his chair, the screen closing down to meld with the large metallic desk it was built into. He sighed and looked up as the door across the darkened office opened and Berik walked in.

Berik raised a blue brow as he paused on the other side of the desk. "I assume the conversation did not go as planned?"

Nepu shook his head. "Oh no, Uncle. It went better than expected. Tettuce is on his way here as we speak, but he is less than pleased with the information that I have given him."

"Well, it is to be expected." Berik shrugged and carefully pushed his thick glasses back up his nose. "He has not seen his mate or his friends in a year. He has every right to be angry."

"Yes, I agree, Uncle. But Tettuce has threatened our safety, as well." Nepu frowned and stood up. "That was not a part of the plan."

"No, it wasn't," replied Berik calmly as he regarded his nephew. "But it should have been expected. Tettuce is the Hand of Fate, after all. The Harbinger of Doom, and so many other violent nicknames. You really think those names were just given to him? No, Tettuce earned them all throughout his violent past." He sighed as he paused, closing his eyes slowly.

Nepu stared across the desk at his silent uncle. "I understand that, but, Uncle Berik, we don't deserve to be treated the way he's going to treat the Flazerians!"

"Now that I will have to disagree on, Nepu." Berik opened his eyes and looked up at the other Jynn-jin man. "We have been under the rule of the Flazerian Empire for close to twenty years, now. And in those twenty years I have seen supposedly peaceful Jynn-jin people do unspeakable things; things that they would not have done prior to the Flazerian rule. I am seeing these unspeakable acts grow in number as the years pass. Before the Rule the things that we have done to the Saiyans since their incarceration here would never have been done." He sighed and walked around the desk to the large window that was behind it. As he approached it, the shades automatically raised up to show a panoramic view of a long-dead forest stretching out for miles below his raised office.

He grimaced visibly as he stared down the once lush and green forest. This devastation had happened all within Nepu's life, but at a time when he was too young to hope to remember it. It had all begun shortly after his father's assassination. Without Prince Jaxom to assist his father in the affairs of the Jynn-jin people chaos had spread like a wild-fire, and in that chaos Lord Ryo had reared his ugly head to "restore balance" to the Jynn-jin people. What fools he and his people had been to believe such lies from a Flazerian of all people. They should have known better!

But then, perhaps they had. Perhaps when faced with the option of being a part of the Flazerian Empire and the Cold Empire…Perhaps they had felt that the Flazerians were the lesser of two evils. At least under Flazerian Rule they were not required to be genocidal murderers like the many races Ruled by Frieza and his family. Perhaps…

He sighed again and looked back at his nephew. "Our fear of the Flazerians has allowed us to let this beautiful planet slowly die. Nepu, we do deserve whatever is coming to us, be it from Tettuce or elsewhere. We do deserve it. We can only hope that along with the justice, there will be some forgiveness."

DBZ

(Hey! Individual Lies here! Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. This chapter proved to be a bit of a challenge, but once again Shadow Majin was there to beta read the chapter and help me out. So a big thanks to him again. I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter and as usual reviews would kick ass!)