Chapter Eleven: Bad Company

"Rebel souls, deserters we've been called.
Chose a gun and threw away the sun
Now these towns
Well they all know our name
The death punch sound
Is the claim of fame.
And that's why they call me…"
Bad Company-Five Finger Death Punch

DBZ


Berik was at a full-on sprint as he ran through a long dark corridor. The echo of his foot falls sounded all around him, but he paid them no mind. Over his head the hallway was dimly lit by the occasional flickering light. It was an old chamber; that much was apparent. It led under a mountain to the north of the Jynn-jin 13 capital city to an old hidden bunker that had been used in the past for protecting key Jynn-jin officials. It was here that he had hidden away the surviving Gylderians to protect them from the wrath of the Flazerians.

He was moving as quickly as he could due to the rapidly unfolding events in the city. When the Ginyu Force had made their presence known he had quickly slipped away from the facility that held the Saiyans to reach Lady Aurah and the other four survivors to get them to an even safer zone. He knew very well how the Ginyu Force was and he did not want to risk their safety. Particularly not with Tettuce en route to rescue them. The better the condition they were in, the better Tettuce would treat him and his people. Of course, Berik knew that he would have to suffer for the things he had done in the last year. For the last twenty-five years, even. But he was prepared to accept any and all consequences.

Berik slipped as he ran, his hand reaching out to brace against the wall. Over the years moisture had dripped down from the ceiling and because it was so far underground, and lacked sufficient heat in the corridor, it had created puddles that had eventually frozen into thin sheets of ice. Constantly traversing the corridor, though, helped to alleviate the majority of the puddles. But there were still a few scattered throughout the hallway. Getting his footing right, he continued down the hallway, finally reaching a thick metal door at the end of it. The door was opened in a flash and he slammed it just as quick, startling the five occupants who all spun to face him, their apprehension apparent on their dull-silver faces. Except for Aurah, who stood tall and defiant, glaring at the Jynn-jin the instant he entered.

Berik panted heavily, his hands on his knees as he looked at them from over the top of his askew glasses. Pushing them back in place, he straightened up with a deep breath.

"What the hell do you want, Jynn-jin?" spat Aurah angrily. She had every right to be angry. After all, she and the others had been hidden away there for months; for so long she wasn't even sure exactly how long it had been. And worse still she had had no idea whether or not they would live past the next day. She was frustrated; she was angry; she was livid. There just were not enough words to describe the way she felt.

Berik glanced over his shoulder quickly, half-expecting someone to burst in through the door behind him. "The Ginyu Force is here-"

"What?" Sushinae broke in, stepping forward a bit before stopping herself. She frowned in an attempt to hide the fear in her eyes.

He turned back to face the group of Gylderians. "The Ginyu Force is here. They are in the city as we speak…"

"Yes," murmured Aurah as she frowned, concentrating her attention on the city. She could sense several high powers; three were clustered together while two were nearer to a plethora of smaller powers…but that's not what caught her attention. She snapped her head back, her eyes practically boring holes into the ceiling as her eyes widened. She could feel three very familiar powers; two of them were rapidly descending onto the city. The other one was racing closer and closer to the planet. It was faint compared to the others, but she knew it would reach them soon. But still...her lips twisted into a smile and she turned to Sushinae suddenly. "Tettuce is here!"

Berik blinked in surprise, his mouth falling open. He still hadn't gotten used to the Glyderian's ability to read the power of another person. But he smiled slightly and let out a quiet sigh. "Good. I was worried he would not make it in time."

Aurah frowned and turned back to him before Sushinae could respond, "What do you mean?"

"I had my nephew contact him a few days ago to come retrieve you. I have been trying to secure yours and your friends' freedom. But working to that extent with so many Flazerians around has been difficult. I am, as I have said often, an ally."

One of the other survivors, a male Glyderian (in fact the very male who had spoken out against Seripa's idea aboard the ship) scoffed. "You expect us to believe that?" He gestured around at the bland, concrete room. It was barely thirty feet by thirty feet with no place for anyone to sleep. They had had to build pallets out of second-hand mattresses that Berik had supplied them with. "You stick us in this hell-hole and expect us to believe that you are an ally? What the fuck ever. I mean-"

Aurah turned sharply to the man and snapped, "Blythe that is quite enough! I am Matron of Gylder so just keep your mouth shut. I do not care if you are one of Zether's most prized protégés, I will not stand your attitude!"

Blythe shrank back in surprise, his slightly luminescent green eyes wide in shock. He looked down, locks of his glistening brown hair falling into his face. He was always getting into trouble with Aurah, but this was the first time she had ever yelled at him so.

Aurah watched him for a moment before turning back to Berik, her brightly luminescent eyes glaring at him intensely. She suddenly threw off her thick robe and stuck her hands to her hips. "We are leaving, Berik."

Berik blinked again, his eyes falling to the woman's waist where he was surprised to see a silver and brown tail wrapped snugly around her waist. Was she part Saiyan?

"Yes, I am half-Saiyan," she said after noting the perplexed look on his face and following his gaze to her tail. She smirked and said, "And that means I am much stronger than you, so do not try and stop me. Now move," she ordered firmly, moving towards the door.

He quickly moved aside. "You must try and reach Tettuce before the Ginyu Force is aware of your presence. I think that they are here for the Saiyans, but I cannot be sure."

Sushinae looked up sharply, noticing for the first time the distant power that was racing to the planet; the others had already landed somewhere near the city. Her eyes widened with the dawning of realization. "That's Zether!"

Aurah smiled and threw open the door. "Yes, the cavalry has arrived." She looked back to Berik as the others filed out of the door before her. She grinned, flashing her elongated Gylderian fangs at the Jynn-jin. "Tettuce will reach us long before the Ginyu Force knows we are here." And with that she took off running down the long corridor, following after the rest of her people.

Berik stared after them with a slight smile playing at the corners of his lips. He chuckled and lowered his head, his shoulders shaking with his laughter…Then he sank to his knees as the shaking became more violent and he lifted his hands to his face and sobbed into them quietly.

He hated the things he had done to such a peaceful people. Oh how he hated Ryo and Frieza and everyone else that had pushed his own people to this point. But most of all…he hated the man who had assassinated Prince Jaxom all those years ago.

He hated the Saiyan known as Turpin.

DBZ


Tettuce dropped down beside Falmer's ship and quickly removed his sleek black helmet. His cape flapped behind him as the helmet condensed down into its portable state and he quickly slipped it into the front of his armor. He had elected to leave the bigger ship in orbit and had instead flown down on his own, just as he had when he'd gone to help Seripa in her fight with Turles. Falmer's ship was small, but it was easily big enough to carry the group they were coming to rescue. He didn't want to take any chances on the new ship somehow getting damaged, or worse, destroyed in the potential battle that was still to come.

He turned to survey the city as the hatch on the jet-black ship opened and Bardock dropped down behind him. Tettuce frowned. He could sense three high powers straight ahead; one was relaxed while the other two were spiking and falling in the tell-tale signs of battle.

Bardock narrowed his eyes and scowled as he folded his arms. "I can't tell what the hell's goin' on. Falmer, this skill you taught me is useless!"

Falmer dropped out of the ship and chuckled as he walked up to stand on the other side of Tettuce. "I told you to practice with it. Calm down and feel the power out."

Tettuce glanced sideways at his former apprentice, meeting the man's gaze. He was vaguely aware that Bardock was wearing fairly standard-style armor, not to mention the only thing he was wearing on his torso was a black and gray battle-jacket. He was somewhat startled that he and Bardock were near to each other in height (though Tettuce was just a hair taller) but he smiled slightly as the other man folded his bare arms across his chest. "So you can sense power readings, eh?"

The other Saiyan scoffed, "Barely. I know something's goin' on, but I can't tell what." He paused and looked off to his left. "Wait…what's that growin' over there?" He narrowed his eyes and did his best to clear and calm his mind (no small feat for him) but he couldn't make heads or tails of what he was sensing.

Tettuce followed his gaze, feeling out the power in question. Immediately his eyes shot open. "Incredible! That…that's Seripa!"

Bardock spun on the man. "What? Seripa? Is it a powerful reading?"

"Yes, it is. Very powerful compared to where she was this time last year…" He paused then, frowning slightly. "Her power is still growing…Speaking of growing, your hair…"

Bardock shrugged as he frowned. "I don't know. It's a long story anyway…"

Falmer stared incredulously in the direction Seripa's power was emanating from. "She's already stronger than me…" he said breathlessly. He had heard about this Seripa numerous times. Everything he had heard had indicated that she was strong, but nowhere near this strong. How had her power grown so much? And why was it still growing?

Bardock was wondering the same thing. To him the sensation was faint, but even he could tell that it was growing larger by the second. He, too, was stronger than Falmer. When he had first met the man he hadn't been, but his strict training regimen for the past nine months had increased his strength extraordinarily. But this…Seripa's power was nearing his own. And the way it was growing told him that it would probably surpass his…

Tettuce glanced back in the direction he had sensed the three other powers. "With power like that Seripa can handle herself…We need to go investigate that disturbance over there." He nodded his head in the direction he was referring to and the other men followed his gaze.

Bardock couldn't help but cast a last glance in Seripa's direction before he took to the air behind Tettuce and Falmer. He would have preferred to go to her first, but…He had to wait.

Falmer suddenly stopped, glancing north. The other two paused and glanced back at him.

"What is it?" asked Tettuce, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"I sense my sister heading this way."

Tettuce spun sharply in mid-air, extending his senses toward the north…a second later a smile lit up his face. "Aurah!" He quickly turned to Falmer. "Stay with the ship and wait for them. Bardock and I are going to take care of the situation ahead. Tell Aurah I will see her soon…" He paused, frowning slightly. Glancing around he quickly felt out other powers. His frown deepened when he felt two more strong powers to the far west of the city. "In fact, take her and the others to the other ship. I don't want anyone caught in the crossfire because I intend to make as many people pay as I can." His eyes narrowed and he took off, his aura alighting instantly.

Bardock stared after Tettuce before grinning. It was time to fight! Without waiting for Falmer to say anything, he too took off, his own aura erupting to life as he shot away to catch up to his mentor.

Falmer stared after them for a moment before turning and flying the short distance back to his ship.

DBZ


Pain. That was the only thing that Seripa felt as she huddled on her knees in the corridor of the cellblock. Her body was surrounded by a raging red aura that spiraled around her in a vortex. The force of the energy that her body was emanating had blown Amotto, Broco, and Nepu down the hallway. Only Turles was still standing, but he had had to power up to his max (which was considerably greater than it had been the year before; peculiar given his captivity, but that hadn't stopped him from doing what little training he could) just to remain standing.

Seripa didn't know how long she had been suffering through the power increase, but her body felt like it was on fire. Pain washed over her, engulfing her from head to toe as the aura whipped about her body madly. The remote that had initiated the increase was in two pieces before her; she had crushed it almost immediately when the pain consumed her being. She could feel that her power was growing drastically, but now she just wanted it to end. She wanted it to end. To just stop. Why wouldn't it stop?

She threw her head back, her eyes wide open as a screech of pain tore through her vocal cords, threatening to rip them to shreds. "WHY WON'T IT END?" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Nepu, hunkered down behind the much stronger Turles, who incidentally was having a hell of a time standing at this point, grimaced at the question. In the preliminary testing of the nano-bots Berik had noted that the process caused considerable pain to the subject. He would have ended it for her if he could have, but she had destroyed the remote and it was the only way to deactivate the nano-bots. At this point all she could hope was that they would short-circuit.

Without warning the aura vanished from around her body, the tornado of power vanishing with it. Seripa sat on her knees with her head thrown back, her eyes wide as she stared up at the ceiling. Sweat poured in rivulets down the side of her face as she panted heavily. It was…over? Just like that? Her eyes closed slowly and she fell to her back, her knees bent oddly beneath her.

Before the others could recover and rush to her, the door at the far end slid open and two Flazerian soldiers rushed in. Both wore identical armor and identical scouters with blue lenses.

The first, much taller, Flazerian faltered in midstride as he glanced around at the Saiyans and then at Nepu. He frowned, snarling as he drew his upper lip back in disgust. "Did you release the Saiyans, Nepu?"

Turles stepped forward, cracking his knuckles with a grin. "It's been a while since I last fought, so this should be a damn good warm-up."

The other Flazerian looked up from Seripa's prone form and chuckled. "You really think you can stand against Comaman, Saiyan?"

Turles frowned and looked the Flazerian over. "He don't seem that strong."

The first Flazerian, Comaman, grinned. "I don't? Oh, well, then…" He trailed off as he raised one arm up, holding his palm open towards Turles. There was a flash of light as he fired off a blast at the Saiyan teenager.

Turles barely had time to register the attack before the thin beam blew into and through his stomach and then exited out from just above where his tail was wrapped around his waist. Blinking slowly, a look of astonished horror on his face, Turles looked down at the bloody hole in his abdomen. He dropped to his knees as he clutched at the wound. Hell, he hadn't even had a chance to fight!

"Turles!" Amotto rushed to the boy just as he fell to his back. She dropped beside him, lifting him up carefully. "Oh, Turles…" she mumbled as her brows knitted together, her eyes raking over the wound. She turned to glare at Comaman. "Bastard!"

Broco grimaced and quickly put himself between the Flazerian and Amotto and Turles. "I'll hold him off. Get Turles and Seripa outta here!" He dropped into a wide stance, both fists clenched tightly as he regarded the grinning Flazerian. But he suddenly blinked and dropped his stance a bit.

Comaman, who had advanced past the prone form of Seripa, almost as if he had not noticed her, noticed the look on Broco's face. He paused and, frowning, glanced over his shoulder. His eyes went wide when he spotted his comrade being held off the ground by a tiny hand wrapped firmly around his throat. He quickly followed the arm to the owner of the hand and his eyes went even wider as he saw that it was the Saiyan female that had been lying on the floor just a few moments before.

Seripa was ignoring the Flazerian in her grip. Her violet eyes were glaring at Comaman. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Turles…" She released the now unconscious (dead?) Flazerian, and before he had even dropped a few centimeters, she was gone, reappearing an instant later to plant her small, but exceedingly, powerful fist in the stomach of Comaman. As the blow lifted him from his feet, she brought her other fist up to slam into his chin, which lifted him up and towards the ceiling. But still, before he had gone too far, she quickly flipped back and planted both feet squarely in his stomach, sending him flying backwards down the corridor. He slammed into the far wall, his body becoming embedded in the solid metal. While the steel was still groaning, his head slumped forward into unconsciousness just as Seripa landed on her feet in the silent corridor.

She blinked and looked around at the others, who were all (Turles included) staring at her as if they'd never seen her before.

"What?"

DBZ


Tettuce came to a screeching halt, his head snapping in Seripa's direction.

Bardock nearly ran him over. Huffing in annoyance, the younger man drew up beside his former mentor. "What's the problem?" he asked when he noticed the strange expression on Tettuce's face.

Tettuce frowned and murmured, "Seripa's power just vanished. I can't sense a…" he trailed off and his eyes widened…and widened…and his jaw dropped open. "Oh…"

"What is it?" Bardock demanded, absently reaching out a hand to grab Tettuce's arm firmly.

Tettuce looked at him with a slight smile. "You should be very proud of her, Bardock."

Bardock blinked and quickly looked in the direction of Seripa's power, narrowing his eyes as he focused in on it. There it was…he frowned and glanced at Tettuce who just nodded. He looked in the direction of her power again, this time in awe. His use of the ability to sense powers was still lacking, he knew, but even he could sense the intensity in her power. He could feel that she was incredibly powerful. Much more powerful than he had ever thought possible of her.

He blinked as there was a sudden spike in her power, but it was small. He could vaguely feel another power dip in response…and an instant later it was gone altogether. He smirked and glanced at Tettuce. "I think she's got that under control."

"You're right. Come on, we're almost there." Tettuce turned and shot away, but not as fast as before. They were almost on top of Ginyu and Flazamyn, now.

Bardock followed after his mentor and within a few minutes they were coming up on the two fights. Ginyu and Flazamyn were trading blow for blow while a smaller man, identical to Ginyu, hovered nearby watching.

Tettuce came to a stop just above the fight, still out of sight of Junior. He looked at Bardock slowly, his expression blank. "Ginyu has the ability to hide his full power, so whatever you are sensing from him is inaccurate."

Bardock glanced sharply at his mentor. "Glad you told me, because I was just about to dive in and attack." He grinned fiercely at Tettuce, who grinned back.

The taller Saiyan looked back down as he casually lifted a hand to first one shoulder-guard and then the next. A moment later his guards, as well as his cape, dropped from his shoulders and to the devastated city below. As the cape dropped into his line of sight, Junior looked up, startled. "Father! Tettuce is here!"

Ginyu cast a quick glance at his son, then drove his big purple fist into Flazamyn's gut, and quickly slammed his elbow down into the back of his head, sending him spiraling to the ground below as Ginyu redirected his gaze to the two Saiyans hovering overhead. He grinned. "So good to see you again, Tettuce!"

Tettuce narrowed his eyes. "Can't say I agree, Major."

Ginyu chuckled as he hovered up to their level. "Yes, yes. I am still a major. But I hear that you have advanced quite a bit further in the rankings than I have. General, if I am not mistaken, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. General Tettuce." He sneered and clenched his fists at his sides. "And now I'm going to pay you back for the humiliation you caused me!"

Ginyu laughed. "Bring it on, Saiyan!" He lunged forward at the same time as Tettuce.

Bardock watched in wide-eyed surprise as the two warriors met and were instantly fighting, fists and feet flying as they tried to get a hit in. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It had been so long since he had seen Tettuce fight, but this was beyond anything he could remember. The power he felt emanating from Tettuce was astounding! But could he stand against Ginyu…?

It was then that Bardock noticed Junior hovering in front of him. He frowned and snarled at him. "What do you want, boy?"

Junior grinned, looking just like his father, and unfolded his arms from his chest. "To fight you, Saiyan!" he said, emphasizing the 'saiyan' with a sharp jab of his finger towards Bardock.

"That's too bad. I don't fight children." Bardock returned his gaze to Ginyu and Tettuce.

But Junior wasn't having any of that. As soon as he looked away, Junior rushed in and delivered a sound blow to the side of Bardock's face. Expecting him to fly back from the hit, Junior was surprised, and then horrified, to find Bardock glaring at him from behind the fist pressing into his scarred cheek.

"Stupid kid, real stupid." There was a flash, and then Junior was plummeting to the ground, his cheek stinging smartly. He caught himself and instantly charged back up to Bardock, drawing his fist back ready to pound the saiyan into the dirt!

He rose rapidly and was on top of Bardock in an instant, his fist flying forward with hundreds of times the force he had used at first…

"Tsk, tsk…" Junior stared in dismay at the gloved hand that was enclosed around his own. He looked up at Bardock, his eyes wide in surprise. "I warned you, kid." Bardock brought his other hand around and slammed his fist into Junior's face hard enough to seen him flying down to the ground.

Bardock watched as he slammed into the ground. As the cloud of dust rose into the air, he looked back up to Ginyu and Tettuce to see that they were still fighting at what seemed to be an even pace. Blow for blow they were racing across the sky. First one way and then back the other way, circling around each other as their fists and feet lashed and clashed. Bardock narrowed his eyes as he noticed that the two fighters had electricity crackling around their battling forms.

Junior hovered back up in front of Bardock, a trickle of blood flowing from his bruised nose. He was glaring at the Saiyan warrior with a look of pure loathing. It was enough to make Bardock raise an eyebrow.

"So you pissed or something? Listen kid, that's what you get. If you're not strong enough to take a lazy punch then you don't need to attack a veteran fighter!" Bardock growled as he folded his arms.

Junior quirked the corner of his lips up in a crooked smile. "I am pissed, but not at you. I grossly underestimated your power. I assumed, because you're a Saiyan, that you couldn't possibly be on par with us. I was careless." He suddenly brought both arms up from his sides, and held them fully outstretched from his body at shoulder-height. He kicked his left leg up with a flourish and began to bend his arms at the elbows while bending his leg at the knee repeatedly. "The Carelessness Dance! To remind myself never to be so damn careless again!" He began to roll his head around on his neck.

Bardock stared on in wide-eyed amazement at the baffling sight before him. There was a life-or-death battle raging on in front of them and this purple freak was acting like…well, a freak.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bardock demanded irritably.

Junior froze and glared at Bardock as if he'd forgotten he was there. "I just told you!"

"If you want to fight, then fight! Enough of this foolish dancing!"

"He's right, Junior!"

Bardock and Junior spun to stare across at Ginyu and Tettuce. They had broken apart and were measuring each other up. Ginyu was hovering closer to them than Tettuce was, so he had heard the exchange. But he was grinning maliciously at Tettuce.

"What say you and me stop this playing around, Tettuce? Let's cut loose and really show what we are capable of."

Tettuce smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "I don't think you could really handle my full power, Major."

"Nor I, you, General."

Tettuce's smirk split into a grin. "Well then, if that's the way you want it…Bardock, you might want to put some distance between yourself and us." He cast his protégé a glance. "Whatever you remember of my power from before, you need to forget it. I am much," his subtle emphasis on the word clued Bardock in, "stronger than I was back then." His gaze held his old student's for a moment longer then he looked back at Ginyu. "How 'bout starting us off?"

"Gladly."

While Ginyu took up his stance and purple sparks began to crackle around his arms and torso, Bardock spun around in midair and shot about a hundred feet away. Stopping he quickly spun back around to watch events unfold. He barely saw the punch as Junior dove on him, punching and kicking.

Bardock flew back away from him quickly, dodging and blocking the punches and kicks that were thrown his way. "What the hell are you doing? I'm trying to watch them fight!" He caught Junior's fist and delivered a jaw-shattering right hook. Junior's head barely recoiled back and he locked a steely-eyed glare on the Saiyan warrior. Bardock's eyes shot wide open as he stared in open-mouthed shock at the young man, barely more than a teenager, hovering before him as casually as if he hadn't just taken a ferocious hit.

"Let's not worry with their fight," he said with a smirk. "We have our own fight to worry about."

Bardock frowned as he regarded Junior. It wasn't rare for him to encounter a warrior whose abilities were often misleading, but he had hit the boy once already, pretty soundly too, and he had dropped out of the air quicker than a dropped fly. But now he had taken a much more solid blow and he had brushed it off as if it had been a tickle. It bothered Bardock more that while he was not fighting at full power yet, he wasn't far from reaching it. He had had to use a lot of his power to just keep up with Tettuce, who had been flying faster than Bardock had seen him fly before. It bothered him that he was almost at full power and the boy had merely shrugged off his punch. He scowled and ground his teeth and balled his hands into tight fists. He would win, but he would have to keep his wits about him.

Junior raised an eyebrow. "You getting cold feet, old man?"

Bardock's eye twitched just slightly. "'Old man?'" he repeated in a cold tone.

"Yeah. 'Old man!'"

Bardock lunged forward with a bright burst from his aura and slammed his fist soundly into Junior's cheek sending him flying backwards. With the aura still burning, Bardock immediately charged after his retreating body and jack hammered him down towards the ground. He rocketed down under the boy's falling form, leaving a trail of blue behind him, and stopped and spun around to look up at him.

With the aura still raging around his body, Bardock threw his right arm down and immediately began to gather ki into a blue orb in his palm. He narrowed his eyes and thrust his hand up above his, grasping his wrist with his left hand. "Picked this up on Planet Vaniil. Forgot the name, but it was something like 'Burning Vaanilian…something.' I call it the 'Spirit Burn.'" The orb in his palm suddenly tripled in size and his body seemed to expand as power flowed all around his body. "Mulitple Thrice!" He thrust his hand towards Junior and fired off the blast which immediately expanded to nearly twice his body size and roared up to meet Junior.

Junior opened his eyes and looked down at the raging blue blast and his eyes immediately widened. He crossed his arms over his chest and tucked his knees close to his torso just as the blast met him. It impacted and a bright flash lit the sky as it exploded, washing everyone in blinding light.

As the light faded and the dust and smoke drifted around him, Bardock lowered his arms as he took heavy breaths. The Spirit Burn was a draining technique, but its ability to multiply the user's strength and speed was a useful weapon to have in his arsenal. He tried to limit his uses of it as he had not yet quite perfected the technique, He had learned of the original skill from what a dying Vaniilian warrior told him. Based on what he had heard he had managed to develop Spirit Burn, but as it was heavily draining if not used properly he often decided against using it at any time. He stared for a moment trying to see through the dust and smoke, but it was still too thick. He did not see any movement so he turned his gaze to where Ginyu was still powering up. He narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on the purple fighter's power.

Beads of sweat beaded on his brow and neck as a sharp prickling sensation in the back of his head accompanied the power that washed over him. His eyes were wide in surprise as he felt out the obviously much higher power. He quickly looked at Tettuce, but his former mentor was merely watching passively as he awaited his foe. His expression was unreadable, but there was an unmistakable gleam in his eyes as he watched Ginyu with predatory focus. Bardock took a breath; if Tettuce wasn't worried than he needn't be.

Chuckling brought his attention back to the clearing dust and his eyes narrowed some more as he spotted Junior hovering just beyond the shroud of wafting smoke.

Junior grinned and looked down at his armor. The shoulder-guards and the thigh-guards had been blown off by the attack. The main chest-piece was still largely intact, though it was cracked all over. "I'm not one to praise or fawn over a fighter, but I must give credit where it is due. You, my Saiyan pal, are a top-notch fighter. My father's told me about techniques like that one. He says they were fairly common a few decades ago, but they quickly went out of style." His grin broadened to show off his fangs. "It seems they were notorious for draining the users."

Bardock's eye twitched, but he merely smiled in response. "Yeah the Spirit Burn can do that. That's why I only recommend it to seasoned practitioners. Warriors who actually know how to fight." His smile split into a grin.

Junior's own grin faded and he glared at Bardock. So taunts just bounced off this guy, eh? He smiled again. "In that case, I'll show you how to fight!" He lunged forward and Bardock dropped back into a defensive posture as he met him.

DBZ


Seripa, now wearing her once-confiscated green and black battle-jacket, skimmed low over the city with her eyes on the explosions from the distant fighting. The other Saiyans, Turles included, were flying behind her. Turles had cauterized his wound with his own ki (something that seemed to hurt, judging by his curses) and then immediately announced himself fit to fight. Granted he winced a bit if he moved wrong, other than that the wound didn't seem to be too significant. It had fortunately missed any major arteries or organs.

As the four Saiyans flew along (they had left Nepu behind, who said he was going to find his uncle anyway) they looked down upon the smoldering ruins of the city. Before the Ginyu Force had unleashed terror upon its citizens, the city hadn't looked much better. It had been the victim of a bad economy and the city had fallen into shambles. The arrival of the Ginyu Force had merely turned empty and abandoned buildings into flaming empty and abandoned buildings. People were fleeing in terror, but not in the masses that the Ginyus probably would have expected. They certainly weren't fleeing in the numbers that the Saiyans had expected.

Seripa sighed and shook her head. Fury swept through her and with it, came a shockwave of her new power. She barely restrained it before she lost control of it. It threatened to do that. She certainly had not been prepared to receive so much power in such a short amount of time. She had to admit that she lacked the experience to wield such power. A year ago she also thought that since she had surpassed Bardock's last known power reading that she was strong. How naïve she had been to think that that had been strength. This threatening torrent that hid in her small frame was strength the likes of which she had never before thought possible. She was willing to wager that she could hold her own against even Tettuce on terms of strength. Fighting skill, now that was another thing.

"So what's the plan?" grumbled Turles as he ran his hand over his sweaty face. He claimed to be fit enough to fly, but he was getting winded pretty rapidly. Broco had suggested that it was possible that the blast had grazed his lung, and had further suggested that he keep his fighting to a minimum. Turles had grumbled a response, but grudgingly agreed to avoid the heavier fighting, should it become necessary.

Amotto glanced over at him and gestured at the distant explosions. "We're heading there, obviously."

"No shit!" he snapped irritably.

Amotto smiled peevishly, but Broco chuckled and responded. "We survive, Turles. There's no other plan than that, really."

"Yeah," added Seripa. "We've lasted this long so we ALL have to make it off this planet alive." She glanced around at them with a stern glare. So much had happened in the last year, but they had all survived and adapted and grown stronger for it. Of course, for some reason they had all looked to her for guidance in the wake of their race's annihilation. But despite her protests and reluctance in taking the role, she had somehow taken to it. Especially in recent months. She had fallen into a funk for a long time because of her decision to jump into hyper-space that had ultimately landed them in this mess in the first place. But that was in the past and the present was happening now.

Her crew and captain were dead and gone. On that dead desolate plant so far away where she had first met Amotto and the others, she had sworn to find herself a new life. Seripa looked at Turles and then at Broco and Amotto. She smiled slightly at her new crew. Turles had started out as an enemy but the last year had changed him. Like Broco and Amotto he was a part of her crew and he was a friend. And Seripa was their captain. She grinned and looked back to the explosions that were drawing ever closer as they flew on. She would be the best damn captain that she could be. She would make Bardock very proud of her.

"Besides, I'm only asking 'cause Nepu did say to head north to where the Gylderians are." Turles said, bringing Seripa back to her senses.

"That's right, I'd almost forgotten." She frowned and glanced at Broco who was tinkering with the two scouters they'd recovered from the Flazerians. "Any luck with those?" For some reason they were not in their factory setting of Galactic Standard, instead switched to Flazerian. She supposed that made sense, but most races opted to use the Galactic Standard dialect because all races in the universe had a variation of it. Legend had it that Galactic Standard was the evolved form of the original language of the universe, explaining why every race in the universe could speak with one another sensibly. For the most part anyway.

Broco shook his head as he turned the one he had in his hands over. "No, afraid not. They're locked in their own language for some reason. If I could understand their language I might be able to use one, but I can't so we can't use these." He shrugged and looked up at her.

Seripa slowed down and they matched her pace. She glanced north and then looked to the explosions. She frowned and sighed in exasperation. Nepu had told them to go north, but her guts were screaming at her to head to the explosions. She assumed that was because of her natural instinct to fight. But something in her heart told her to go there, not to fight, but to…to what? She didn't know and that bothered her. But against her better judgment she found herself gazing off at the distant explosions and she unconsciously began to fly towards them. When it became obvious that was where she was leading them, she closed her eyes for a moment.

Her crew was a good one, but only she and Turles had power readings over 20,000. Broco and Amotto had gotten much stronger since they started fighting with her, but they were still far too weak to try and fight the Ginyu Force. She opened her eyes slowly and sighed. If they all went then she would have to watch over them.

She made her decision. "The scouters are useless to us then, Broco. I want you three to go meet up with Aurah and the others. Make sure they make it to safety. No arguing!" she snapped when Turles opened his mouth to protest. "Turles, you're already hurt enough as it is. If you go to the fight then you may get hurt worse, or you might get killed! Amotto and Broco, you two have improved greatly but you're still not at a level to contend with the Ginyus."

"What about you?" asked Amotto as she frowned at Seripa.

"I'm strong enough to take care of myself so don't worry about that. Just stay safe and take care of each other." Without another word Seripa shot away with a burst of her violet aura. She was out of sight within seconds.

Turles and the others drew to a stop and the teenager spat down into the city. "She gets strong and suddenly we're too weak to do anything!"

Broco tossed both scouters into the city and looked at Turles. "She's right, though. There's no sense in taking unnecessary risks."

"She's taking a bigger risk by going in alone," grumbled Turles as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Maybe. But she's a lot stronger than any of us and she's been fighting a lot longer to boot." Broco smiled. "You had just barely enlisted when all of this happened. Amotto was a computer tech and after I lost my eye," he looked down as an old memory came to the surface of his mind. He shoved it back down and continued speaking, "I was a Tactical Officer and Communications Officer, but I did no more actual fighting. Seripa, on the other hand, has been fighting with Bardock's crew since she was thirteen. She's seen things that we can barely imagine and has had to survive in conditions as bad as these, if not worse." He looked back up and looked between Amotto and Turles. "She can handle herself."

"Yeah, true," murmured Amotto as she continued to stare after her friend. She sighed and shook her head. Seripa was another kind of woman altogether. She'd been running with the big dogs for so long that she had somehow become one of them.

Turles glanced north, shielding his eyes from the sun dipping down to the horizon in the west. "I say we hurry and find Aurah. Tettuce'll be pissed if anything happens to her."

Amotto shook herself out of her daze and nodded. "Right."

The three Saiyans turned north and blasted away.

DBZ


(Individual Lies here! I know it's been a while since I last posted but I've been caught up in the river of life and the current's pretty bad all year round. Anyway, things are getting intense aren't they? I hope ya'll will continue to stick around for the ride because this is just the beginning. I want to thank you all for reading this story. I know this is just chapter eleven, but it seems so long ago that I was just writing a spontaneous one-shot prequel that somehow turned into all of this. I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I really enjoy all of your reviews. I apologize for not getting back to you as I had in the past, but things are going to be changing a bit here in the future. So, if you will continue to read and review I will continue to write and post. And to wrap things up I would once again like to extend my thanks to my ever-awesome beta-reader, ShadowMajin! I highly suggest taking a look at his stories, and he has a new one out that is really good. So go read it! Lol)