Chapter Fourteen: Monster (Part II)

"It's scratching on the walls,

In the closet, in the halls
It comes awake and I can't control it
Hiding under the bed,

In my body,

In my head
Why won't somebody come and save me from this,

Make it end?"

Monster-Skillet

DBZ

Aurah's knees trembled and she gripped the throne before her as the images of a destroyed planet played out across the holo-screen projected in the center of the bridge via the Galactic Band Network. Behind her Falmer, Broco, Sushinae and the other members of the small survival party stared on in stunned silence. Lessbru clutched at his pilot's seat while the other members of the bridge wiped silently at their eyes.

"Such devastation…It appears the rumors really are true that days ago a rogue comet completely obliterated the Gylderian homeworld. No word yet on any possible survivors, but as you can see before you, that does not seem to be a possibility at this point…"

Aurah's eyes glistened and two thin silver streams fell down her cheeks silently. Her home…gone. Both sides of her being had now been completely eradicated from the universe. First the Saiyans…now the Gylderians. Both Leta and Surah were now endangered species…She closed her eyes against the tears trying to get control of herself. She heard the voices of the people still looking to her as their Matron, but they merely washed over her, her sorrows drowning the sounds around her.

Her father's Empire was gone! She sank down to her knees taking deep breaths. By a rogue comet—ha! She knew better. She had seen what remained of Planet Vegeta when Frieza destroyed it; she knew his handiwork and this was clearly it. Her eyes opened and the luminescent pupils seemed brighter as she pulled herself back to her feet.

"Your Highness?"

Aurah glanced over to where Lessbru now sat at the helm. "What is it?"

"Incoming transmission. Unencrypted—hailing from Space Station Celestine Prime…He…says his name is Turpin." Lessbru frowned and cast a confused glance her way.

Aurah frowned dubiously and shook her head. "Impossible…" She fell silent and looked down for a moment. Could it be possible…? "Patch him through."

The holoscreen flashed and the image of an old man appeared in place of the remains of the Gylderian homeworld. The man had a thick black beard that stretched down so that it barely brushed the fabric of the cloak he had draped around his body. Shining beneath his bushy black unibrow was as a single eye, as the other was covered with a red eye patch. The face around the eye and behind the beard looked like it'd been through a grinder before; it was a mess of criss-crossing scars and areas where gouges of flesh had been long-ago torn from his face. Added to that were the wrinkles of advanced age. He had no hair on the top of his scarred head, and only a single ear; if it could even be called an ear, there being only half of it remaining.

Aurah stared in disbelief at the image before her. It really was Turpin! She'd seen more than enough pictures of him to know him on sight, after all. And to top it off, he looked as if he hadn't changed a bit in the twenty years since anyone had seen him alive.

"Ah, so ya must be Aurah," said Turpin gruffly. "Pretty thing ya are fer sure. I see yer in a bit o' a fix, too. Planet bein' d'stroyed an' all. Whadda shame. Saiyans an' Gylderians are extin't races now. Or they'll be 'fore too long." He grinned, flashing two gap-filled rows of teeth. He maybe had a total of fifteen teeth. "I ex-press my con-dol-en-ces," he continued, carefully sounding out the unfamiliar syllables of the words. "Whar's tha' fool boy o' mine, now? Tettuce. Whar's tha' brat?"

Aurah frowned at the screen. "Tettuce is currently on Jynn-jin 13, fighting with the Flazerians and the Ginyu Force."

"Ah, knew tha' boy'd grow up t' be a fool." Turpin sighed and shook his head. "He done let tha' stren'th o' his get tha best o' him, hadn' he?"

"What's that mean?" Aurah said coldly. No one on her ship said a thing.

"Tettuce can't fight Frieza. I can't fight Frieza, so he's sure's as hell can't."

"Tettuce is much stronger than he used to be! At the moment he is literally toying with Major Ginyu, having the time of his life in humiliating him!" the Gylderian/Saiyan hybrid yelled at the holoscreen. "You have been absent for decades, so what would you know about anything?"

Turpin arched up a hairless brow and grinned again. "Tha' so? I can believe tha', but he ain't as strong as me. Neva 'as been and neva will be."

"What do you want?" Aurah suddenly demanded. "Why have you contacted us? And most importantly, how the hell are you alive?"

"A body doesn't usually survive bein' put to death by Frieza…unless, of course, he sends someone too weak t' do tha job!" Turpin laughed and folded his arms across his chest. The fist of his left hand looked grotesque: it was more or less a ball of flesh that had melted into an ugly scarred mess of a club. "I knew tryin' to stay livin' was outta the question. So I made it look like I was obli'era'ed by Ginyu's killin' beam, but instead I lived on. Tha' fool coulda neva bea'en me; sometimes I regre' fakin' my death 'cause o' how full o' himself Ginyu's become. Lousy creep."

"That doesn't tell me anything! Why are you contacting us?" Aurah demanded again.

"I was jus' contacted by a Jynn-jin callin' hisself 'Berik.' He told me tha' the universe has gone to shit and it's my fault. I was tryin' to reach Tettuce t' see what's goin' on. I miss'd somethin' 'parran'ly."

"You've missed a great deal you old Survivor!" Aurah cried out at the holoscreen, calling Turpin the dirtiest thing she could manage to call him. No self-respecting Saiyan would stand for being called a Survivor, especially not one who looked as old as Turpin.

Turpin narrowed his one eye coldly and his upper lip curled up in agitation. He suddenly threw back a fold of his cloak to reveal his bare chest which looked worse, if that was even possible, than his face. "Do I look like a Survivor to you?" he yelled, brandishing the club of his left hand. "Do I look like I've run from a battle in my entire life?" His other hand indicated the scars that covered his face and bare chest.

"The fact that you're alive when you should be dead is proof enough," said Aurah coldly, her tone dripping with unbridled malice. "You have proven yourself to be a Survivor through and through. Now, don't contact us again. You're dirtying up our channels."

The ancient Saiyan laughed, the wrinkles on his face vanishing in his amusement. "Leave it t' my boy t' match himself wit' someone like you." He narrowed his eye as he looked at her closely. "When ya see 'im, tell Tettuce tha' I'll be meetin' up wit' ya soon. Berik got me t' thinkin' and if ya want to stand against Frieza, then mey'be times have fin'lly changed. Mey'be the lizard will fin'lly fall."

Aurah frowned and lifted a hand to tuck some dread-locks behind her ear. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't bring herself to trust him. Sure, Turpin was Tettuce's mentor and teacher, but Tettuce had told her too much about him for her to trust him. He was a powerful old warrior and Tettuce claimed to have surpassed him, but there were times when even he was unsure. He would constantly tell her that Turpin always seemed reserved, even when he seemed to be going all out in battle.

Tettuce had always wondered about it, and to this day it still bothered him. Just how strong had Turpin been? He always wondered why he got the feeling that his teacher was holding out on him. Tettuce has said he assumed that Turpin was as powerful or near to as powerful as he was now, but it was a baseless assumption. He said he had never gotten a decent reading of Turpin's power with a scouter because it was always different; sometimes it'd be in the ten thousands, sometimes the thirty thousands, and other times it'd read as low as a couple hundred. It was clear he had kept it purposely guarded from even his protégé…so what else was he hiding from them, especially since he'd apparently faked his own death?

"I seen the news on the Galactic Band abou' yer world. So when ya get done there, head on over t' Celestine Prime. I'll be waitin'." His image vanished instantly as he cut the connection.

Falmer pursed his lips and glanced at Aurah. "What is the plan, Your Highness? We are all that remains of our people…" he trailed off as she turned her luminescent hues on him.

"We will survive, Falmer." She turned to look around at everyone on the bridge; they were all regarding her silently. She smiled as encouragingly as she could, but her eyes were hard and set. "Do not believe what the Galactic Band says about what happened to our home. I do not believe for an instant that Frieza did not have a hand in this destruction. He threatens peace and all those who hold it dear. He would have the Gylderian Empire fall by destroying our home, but we cannot forget that the Empire is more than just we, the Gylderians. We have allies and many others who look to us for support, and I, for one, refuse to let Frieza subjugate them or any of us."

She clenched both fists tight at her sides. "W-what he has done is despicable. Believe me when I say that…that this action has left me distraught. I have little hope for the future, but still I must, not only as your Matron and leader, but as Leta the Saiyan," at this her eyes were for the Saiyans scattered around the bridge, "and Surah the Gylderian;" her gaze was a little softer as she regarded the sorrowful Gylderians around her, "As Aurah the Hybrid, I must continue to stand against Frieza. He and his family have caused more than enough suffering in this universe! I-we-cannot let it continue any longer.

"He wants a war…Then I, Aurah the Hybrid, Matron of the Gylderian Empire, daughter of the late Lord Vogan;" she paused, frowning slightly. She seemed to consider something, then smiled slightly and said, "daughter, also, of the late Lord Spinac, do declare war against Frieza and the whole Ice-jin Empire! It is time the Cold Regime answered for their crimes!"

DBZ

Broco and Lessbru exchanged glances and the former Saiyan frowned slightly. So Lessbru had taken interest, as well. The others of their race were casting around a few confused glances as well. Aurah had just claimed to be both Saiyan and Gylderian, and sure enough Broco had noticed the strange silver and brown tail wrapped snuggly around the woman's waist. But she was claiming to be the daughter of a member of the royal family; a member known to have no children; or apparently had claimed that he didn't have children.

Broco looked across the bridge when he spotted Etapa looking at him. He smiled slightly and she returned it timidly. She was bothered by it, too, it seemed. But she was also visibly glad to see him, and he was glad to see her, too. His sister had always been his favorite family member; she had been the only one who had not resented him for leaving the battlefield. She was the only one who'd understood that it was more than just the fighting that had driven him away. To see one's team slaughtered before one's eyes; to see your own twin brother die senselessly and for you to be spared; she had understood what the real reason had been.

He tore his gaze from the delightful sight of his sister and looked back at the resolute figure of Aurah standing before her throne now. She and Falmer were in deep conversation, their voices lowered to keep it between themselves. He frowned at the look on Falmer's face as the man touched the side of his head and furrowed his brow. What was going on now?

DBZ

Falmer shook his head and leaned in closer to Aurah. "I am certain it is Ryo. I have never felt his power before, no, but this…this must surely be it. It is massive! Tettuce and the others must fall back to the ship! We have to warn them, but Tettuce did not take a scouter with him."

"Did you not leave one with Amotto?"

"That's right! I'd forgotten about that." He hurriedly grabbed his own communication scouter from his waist and put it on his ear just as the blue screen slid from its compartment and flipped over his eye. "Amotto!"

"Huh? Who is this?" came an instant reply. Several heads turned about the bridge to look at Falmer in surprise.

"This is Falmer Zetra! Listen to me closely. Ryo is there on Jynn-jin 13—"

"Tell me something I don't know!" Amotto cried over the intercom. "He's chasing me as we speak and gods—he's fast! I'm flying full out and he's gaining steadily on me! This extra weight doesn't help," she muttered, almost to herself. "Sorry!" There was a muffled rustling and a faint whistling.

Falmer frowned. "Why are you apologizing-? No, never mind. Can you reach Tettuce and the others?"

"I don't know…Maybe. But I'll draw Ryo right to them if I do that."

"I know…Gods, I know." Falmer closed his eyes. What should he do then? Maybe Zether and Tettuce could take Ryo if they teamed up…He shook his head; no there was no way. The ki he felt from Ryo was beyond what those two were capable of. They were strong, but this was something else. It was comparable only to what he'd felt from Frieza's brother, Coola that time.

"Look, not to be rude or nothing," Amotto suddenly yelled, "but if you don't have any sort of advice then leave me alone! I need my full focus to run from this guy!"

"Forgive me! Listen…lead him to Tettuce and the others. I am going to fly down to where you all are and pick you up. But you all have to be ready—we'll only get the one chance!" Gods he was insane to try this, but his ship was fast enough to pull it off. They would not, of course, be able to stop. Tettuce and the others would have to board while the ship was in motion. And in order for this to work he would have to be going fast enough that Ryo would not be able to prevent their escape.

"Okay, I'll try and take him that way."

"Be safe and good luck." Falmer turned to Aurah. "I'll do my best to bring Tettuce back safe. Zether, too, of course." He smiled to Sushinae when she regarded him. He stepped away from Aurah and saluted her before promptly turning and running back to his ship.

Broco stared after him silently before glancing at Etapa. But his thoughts were on Amotto.

DBZ

Tettuce drummed his fingers across his bicep in irritation. It had been nearly ten minutes since he'd knocked Ginyu down into the building and he was losing his patience.

"Ginyu! Hurry up and come fight me! I know you're not beaten, yet!" He spotted a blur of motion from the corner of his eyes and he floated back out of the way of a yellow blast that had been aiming for his head. He located the source of the blast and narrowed his eyes at the Flazerian that was glaring at him. "Flazamyn! This fight currently has nothing to do with you. But if you want to die, then just wait around until I'm finished with Ginyu. I have plenty of anger to go around!"

Flazamyn smiled thinly and drifted closer to the Saiyan. His eyes narrowed as he regarded Tettuce's blank eyes; his pupils seemed to have been swallowed by the white of his cornea. What was this power doing to him?

"Believe it or not, Tettuce, this fight does concern me. I have already dealt with Ginyu and now I must finish you for trespassing into Flazerian territory. The Gylderian Empire has once again overstepped its bounds!" He lunged forward suddenly, moving as fast as he could.

Tettuce appeared before him and he backhanded the Flazerian down into the ground. He dropped down beside him and folded his arms across his chest as he stood over him.

"You are interfering with matters that don't concern you. Ginyu and I have a score to settle; but if you want to fight that bad, then I suppose I can humor you. I did come here today to do more than just rescue Aurah and the others."

Flazamyn's eyes shot open and he looked sharply up at Tettuce. "Aurah? She was here?"

Tettuce grinned and narrowed his eyes. "Yes, she was." He suddenly jerked Flazamyn up and slammed his fist into his stomach, sending him sailing down the street. Tettuce lunged forward and flipped around to deliver a sound kick into Flazamyn's head, sending him crashing into the street with shockwave-inducing force.

Flazamyn cringed as Tettuce landed beside him in the water-filled hole he found himself laying in. His whole body trembled as he struggled to climb to his feet and he'd only been hit a grand total of three times. Was Tettuce really that amazing a warrior? He lifted his dark gaze and glared at the Saiyan standing mere feet from him.

"You are remarkable, Saiyan. But this is your end." Flazamyn brought both hands around to bear and he fired a full-powered blast at point-blank; the resulting explosion kicked up enough dust and flying debris to hide the Flazerian from view, enabling him to spring backwards. He'd gone no more than a few feet when Tettuce came zooming out of the smoke to slam his gloved fist into his plated cheek.

Flazamyn rocketed down into the ground and Tettuce stared after him. He didn't see Ginyu as the purple warrior rose up out of the dust and smoke below them.

Ginyu grinned and threw both arms out as wide as they would go. He had the Saiyan now! Flazamyn had provided quite the distraction, after all. Now all he had to do was catch Tettuce just right…

"Tettuce!"

The Saiyan turned in mid air to glare at the Major. "So you've come back?"

"CHANGE!" Ginyu's body was suddenly bathed in a bright, pulsating golden light.

In the same instant, Tettuce realized that his body was frozen in place. He struggled to angle his head down to look at his fists, but something had completely immobilized him. What was Ginyu doing? What was happening to his body?

Laughing, Ginyu threw his head back as the light suddenly spread out from his body and then shot like an arrow towards the frozen Saiyan. Before it had even covered half the distance between them, his head suddenly snapped forward and the golden light vanished with a crack! as he was sent rocketing down into the ground.

Tettuce shook his head and followed Ginyu's descent before lifting his gaze to let it settle on Zether Zetra, hovering smugly in the fading plumes of smoke. He smirked at the Gylderian. "I suppose this means I owe you something?"

"Only a rematch when we return to Gylder." Zether grinned, narrowing his golden eyes coldly at his rival. "I've done some serious training since our last fight, and I gotta say that I think I can finally beat you."

Tettuce narrowed his eyes and a sadistic grin spread across his features. "We will just have to see about that, Gylderian." He looked down to the ground as Ginyu shot out of the smoke and launched himself towards Zether. Flazamyn appeared right after him and shot around to fly up at Zether from behind. Tettuce looked between the two of them silently and mumbled under his breath, "Fools."

Flazamyn glanced down at Tettuce and then vanished. He reappeared shooting by Ginyu, "Again!" then vanished once more. He reappeared again, this time enshrouded in a violently burning red aura, a few feet in front of Tettuce just as Ginyu doubled around and shot away from the visibly stunned Zether.

Tettuce snarled and brought his hand up to catch Flazamyn, but the Flazerian vanished yet again, catching the Saiyan by surprise. Before he could even look around he felt Flazamyn clamp on to him, wrapping his arms all the way around him and locking his wrists firmly together. Tettuce knew he meant business as all of Flazamyn's power was going into restraining him. He tried to break the Flazerian's grasp, but he held firm.

"Ch-change!"

Tettuce looked up at Ginyu and his eyes widened as he felt his body go rigid against his will. The sensation had returned; he couldn't break free no matter what now. What was Ginyu doing? What did he mean by crying out 'change'?

Zether shimmered into view behind Ginyu and delivered a crushing blow to his neck, sending him careening down to the ground again.

"What?" cried Flazamyn in dismay.

Tettuce grinned and took advantage of his surprise by driving both elbows as hard as he could into his chest, knocking him loose. He then spun free of his hold and slammed both fists into his stomach soundly, sending him flying backwards. He looked to his right as Zether dropped down beside him.

"What do you suppose they're trying to do?" asked Zether quietly.

"Don't know. It won't be nice, though. Both times Ginyu said 'change', my whole body froze up. I-" he instantly fell silent and snapped his gaze around to glare towards the horizon; he glared at the last fading rays of the red sun that was just then vanishing below the horizon.

Zether followed his gaze and his eyes narrowed. "I know that power." He smiled viciously and glanced to Tettuce.

The Saiyan frowned and looked over at the younger man. "Well aren't you excited? Ryo makes a sudden appearance and you look to be itching to fight him, when common sense clearly says we flee."

"You're a Saiyan; what do you know about common sense?" Zether suddenly laughed.

Tettuce grinned. "Fair enough. Guess we should finish this now. I'll take Ginyu; you finish Flazamyn." He launched himself down toward the ground, while at the same time Zether shot off to search for the Flazerian in question.

DBZ

Meanwhile, at the same moment, Bardock and Seripa were still fighting against Junior. After their last attack on him, his power had been depleted greatly. Despite this, however, he still held the upper hand. Launching simultaneous attacks on him resulted in Junior ducking, dodging, and parrying their best offensive strikes. Neither Bardock nor Seripa was holding anything back, but Junior merely danced around them both with fluid grace.

He seemed too much like he was toying with them, and Bardock was not liking it. And judging from the growls and curses he was hearing from his mate, Seripa wasn't either.

Bardock's fists were blurs as he tried desperately to hit Junior, but the Ginyu had obviously learned his lesson from before. Together, he and Seripa had done more damage to Junior than he wanted to admit, but it was still not enough to finish him. He knew, though, that if the two of them managed another large attack against him, then that would probably be it. He wasn't going to let that happen, though.

Moving faster than they could track, both of his hands lashed out and he grabbed the two of them by their necks, snatching them out of the air. Clamping down tight enough to cut off their air supply, he held the two Saiyans at arm's length over the city, grinning at them the entire time.

"It's too bad this is the end. You two are marvelous fighters."

Seripa wanted to retort, but it was all she could do just to glare at the brat. Her last attack had drained her ki dangerously and with his hand crushing her windpipe, well, there was just nothing she could say.

Junior turned his cold red eyes on her and he sneered. "You deserve death for what you have done to Recoome. He was a great warrior and a valuable member of the Ginyu Force. Do you know how hard it's going to be to replace him?"

"Don't…care..!" Seripa struggled out, her face turning blue with the effort as she grasped at the purple fingers digging bruises into her neck. This wasn't going to be her end. She and Bardock were in a desperate situation, but they would prevail. They always did. She strained to turn her eyes to look at him, but his were closed tightly and he was grasping at Junior's hand in growing weakness.

Junior laughed out loud at Seripa. "You are a very spirited female, but this is the end of the line for the both of you! Starting with you!"

Seripa felt herself swing around as Junior reared back, and then she was falling rapidly toward the city. She didn't have the ki needed to stop her descent before she hit the ground, so she just looked up at Junior and her eyes immediately went wide as she saw the purple ball of ki flying down at her.

So this was it, after all? She smiled and closed her eyes. She had gone as far as she could and met her end against a powerful foe. What more could she ask..?

Her eyes shot open again and she glared up at the approaching blast. Oh yeah, she still had to kill Frieza!

Ki began to crackle around her body and she grit her teeth as she flared it all backwards, trying to propel herself back toward Junior and Bardock. But the brat had put more power into that throw than she was capable of counter-acting and her descent continued. She was going to hit the ground and then that blast was going to completely obliterate her. There really was nothing more she could do.

"SERIPA!"

A blue-limned figure blurred between her and the blast and she blinked in surprise as she followed the figure. Seconds later there was a massive explosion above her as another figure raced in front of the blast and was overtaken by it. The added force of the explosion canceled out the little bit that Seripa had managed to slow her descent and she smashed into the street violently, cracks spreading out for yards from beneath her body. She lay there in a mixture of surprise and pain, her chest heaving as she sucked in breath after breath. What the hell just happened?

Suddenly Amotto landed beside her, her blue aura vanishing with a crack. The green-haired woman quickly pulled her to her feet and slinging her arm over her shoulder, they were ascending into the air before she knew it.

"Wow, I timed that just right. I didn't think Ryo had seen the blast, and apparently he hadn't," Amotto said with a certain measure of glee and relief apparent in her voice. She looked at the stunned woman in her grasp and she grinned. "Good to see you're still alive, by the way!"

Seripa shook her head and grinned. "It takes more than that to kill me, Amotto. What are you doing here, anyway?" she asked, her grin turning into a frown. "I told you and the others to get out of here. This is no place for any of you!"

"Calm down, Seripa. It's just me here. Broco and Turles are both onboard Tettuce's ship. Since there wasn't enough room aboard the ship that shuttled them up there, I stayed behind and wound up involved in this mess with Ryo—eh, I'll explain that later…if we survive." Amotto's gaze had locked on the smoke that had engulfed the massive Flazerian and her eyes narrowed. "Crap…he survived."

Seripa shook herself free from Amotto and she turned to stare in the same direction, but she was looking for Junior and Bardock.

Bardock suddenly shot out of the smoke backwards, and flared his ki to stop himself beside them. He was rubbing his neck and coughing as he stared back in the direction he'd flown from.

"Bardock!" Seripa grinned at him, but it faded when she saw that he didn't share her elation. "What's wrong?"

"Someone strong just showed up. Someone way stronger than Tettuce…" he glanced at her and blinked at the sight of Amotto. "You're a Saiyan…"

She smiled slightly. "Of course I am. And you're Bardock. It's an honor, sir." She inclined her head forward then returned her gaze to the smoke. "And that's Lord Ryo, Emperor of the Flazerian Empire. The strongest Flazerian in the universe," she added grimly.

At that moment the smoke that was obscuring their foe was suddenly completely swept away and Ryo came into view. He was holding the vainly struggling Junior by his neck and glaring heatedly at the boy. But when the Saiyans came into view, he leveled his silver-red gaze on Amotto.

"You tricked me, Woman. Thanks to you Berik has escaped my grasp…momentarily. When I finish you all off, then I will destroy this pathetic rock! It's worthless to my Empire, anyway." He chucked Junior away and the Saiyans watched him fall until he vanished into the dust and smoke that was now clouding up the city below them.

Seripa narrowed her violet gaze on Ryo. "There's more of us than there is of you. You think you can take us all?"

"Hm…good question." Ryo touched the side of his scouter and it came to life, beeping quietly as he looked the three of them over. "Under 4,000…and you ran away from me so well, too. I commend you. 50,000 even for the male…Over 60,000 for the female." Ryo's plated face split into an ugly, black-gummed, serrated-toothed grin. "Oh, I think I can handle the three of you. No…PROBLEM!" He flared his ki and the three Saiyans were thrown violently down into the ground from just the mere force.

Laughing, he flared his red aura to give chase, when suddenly he was slammed from behind by the prone form of Flazamyn. He spun through the air for a few moments before catching himself. He turned to glare up at the golden-haired Gylderian, Zether as Flazamyn dropped limply into the swirling dust below.

"Now, now, Ryo. No sense in messing around with small-fry. Not when you have me to contend with." Zether unfolded his arms and tore his cape from his shoulder guards, letting it slip between his fingers to the city below. He lifted both hands and widened his legs into a stance.

"And me."

Ryo glanced to his left to see Tettuce holding an unconscious Ginyu by what remained of his armor. He let the Ginyu Force leader go and he dropped like a rock down into the city. Ryo smirked at the Saiyan before looking back to Zether.

"You two are seriously out-classed. Do you really not know what my power reading is? Ah, of course. Neither of you have scouters!" The Flazerian laughed again and shook his head.

"We don't need scouters," said Tettuce coldly, interrupting Ryo's peal of laughter. "We can sense your ki well enough and we both know that your level is far higher than ours." The Saiyan suddenly grinned maniacally and narrowed his blank eyes. "Nonetheless, we will tear you to pieces!"

Ryo arched a plated brow and chuckled quietly. "Saiyan, do you know how old I am? I am 340 years old," he continued without waiting for a response. "I have existed for that long by killing any and all who stand before me. You will be no different!" He sneered and smoothly shifted into an offensive stance. "You are messing with the big boys now, Tettuce! And you have sorely overstepped your bounds!"

"Quit talking and atta-" Zether was cut-off off mid-sentence as Ryo appeared in front of him in a powerful uppercut. His other hand lashed out and caught the Gylderian, his massive digits entirely enclosing his head in his grasp.

"This is the true power of Lord Ryo H'iojj!" He spun around and threw Zether like a ragdoll down in the city below, firing off a small orb of green ki after him. As Zether flew uncontrollably towards the ground, it flashed down toward him lightning-fast, reaching him just as the Gylderian's back struck the ground, slamming into his chest and as it exploded violently, it absorbed the young man, expanding up and out until it was several hundred yards across. Its green hue cast eerie shadows upon what remained of the city before it suddenly vanished leaving in its wake flying debris and massive amounts of dust and smoke blanketing the devastated city. Zether's survival was highly unlikely.

Tettuce stared on, wide-eyed. He knew he shouldn't have been surprised, but yet here it was. The attack had been so fast that by the time he registered anything had gone on, the explosion was already underway. That Ryo was a monster beyond him was very clear. Zether, a very skilled and powerful warrior, had just been taken down in an instant. The son of the very warrior who had helped push Tettuce beyond his limits, who had surpassed his father and secured his place as Tettuce's main rival, had been finished in an instant. It was almost mind-boggling to consider it, but the facts were plain as day before him. He couldn't detect a trace of…

His brow suddenly furrowed and he looked up; his eyes went wide again as soon as he did. Ryo, spotting this, followed his gaze. His own eyes widened suddenly.

"Impossible!"

But there, hovering high overhead with a smirk befitting his arrogance, was Zether. And to show for the attack all he had was dirt smudges covering his shining armor and face.

"Tettuce, when I'm done with Ryo, this will be for you!" A golden aura sprang to life around him and Tettuce knew instantly that Zether had indeed surpassed him. The power he could sense coming from the Gylderian was greater than his.

The Saiyan all-but forgot about Ryo as he regarded the young Gylderian above them. The man was too young to have out-paced him so easily, but it was clear that the impossible had occurred. Tettuce didn't know what it was about this man or his late father before him. Gylderians were strong in their own right, but the Zetra family had left such a gap in their powers compared to most of their race that was just baffling. Like Saiyans they had the innate ability to become more powerful upon recovering from life-threatening wounds. But unlike Saiyans, their power did not grow exponentially when they healed. And they did not share their thirst for battle. Except for Zether's father, Spark; he alone had shown the drive and thirst that was prized by Saiyans. And it was apparent that he had passed that thirst, that determination, on to his youngest son.

Tettuce smirked up at Zether. He was stronger than the Saiyan for now, but once this day was over he would definitely see to it that he surpassed the Gylderian once more. There could be only one monster, after all.

He suddenly looked past Zether to see a familiar black ship flying down to them. Ryo had spotted it, too; he snarled viciously and swung his arm around in an arc towards it. From that arc a streak of light flew and sliced clean through the ship and an instant later, it exploded in a blinding flash of light.

Zether's smirk vanished and he spun around to stare up at the point where he had last felt his brother's power in disbelief. His brother had just been killed. Ryo had just killed his brother. The look on his face was beyond anger as he rounded on Ryo, and his aura flashed and became black, his power sky-rocketing as he let out a howl of rage.

Tettuce felt the shockwave from the power increase and it knocked him back a few feet. His dark eyes appeared briefly in the sea of white as he stared on in disbelief at Zether, the true power of the beast awakened now. He had sensed before that it was powerful, but the depth to it was almost unbelievable. Ryo was strong in his own right, but if Tettuce wasn't mistaken (and he was sure he wasn't) then Zether might just have surpassed the Flazerian Emperor.

Ryo looked up at Zether and smiled. "Someone you knew?" His head suddenly recoiled back from Zether's lightning-quick punch, his eyes barely having time to widen in shock. Before he could recover, Zether had spun around and delivered a kick to his jaw that sent him flying sideways. The next thing he knew, there were two boots driving deep into his side and he was flying towards the ground.

Zether stared on coldly as his black aura raged around him. His golden hair and goatee were darkening to black as he held up both hands to aim at the falling Lord. His golden eyes brightened until they were blood-red and gleaming luminescent, all the while a ball of golden energy surrounded by crackling arcs of black electricity grew before his palms.

"Gylderian Golden Death Flash!" The ball was fired off and it shot down to slam into Ryo's retreating back.

The roar of the explosion was deafening; Tettuce shielded himself from the destructive force the best he could, while the winds tore at him and slammed him forcing him to shut his eyes against the blinding light and flying debris, and threatening to tear him from the sky. Zether had far surpassed him in strength and power.

"I have a monster of my own, Tettuce!" Zether growled savagely, his red eyes shining in the Saiyan's direction. "This is the power I gained during my Writ of Passage. This is the power that my ancient ancestors wielded many thousands of years ago. And I am determined to show that we Gylderians are the greatest in the entire universe!" He started laughing, his pitch cold and savage. "I was the first Gylderian in nearly ten thousand years to completely endure the Writ of Passage. Not even my father could do it."

Tettuce stared at the young man intently. He had a greater amount of pride than he'd ever shown before.

"But I did! Me! Zether Zetra! I was the first to finally achieve this great power." He drifted around in mid-air to regard Ryo as he suddenly reappeared, his black and silver armor cracked and with pieces drifting away in the wind; his cape was tattered and torn, barely half of it still clinging to his shoulder-guards. "And I'm about to use it to kick your ass for what you did to my brother!" he spat vehemently at the Flazerian.

"You show such pride, Gylderian."

Zether, Ryo, and Tettuce turned to regard a battered and bleeding Ginyu grinning slyly at them. Flanking him were Burter and Junior, both looking as if they'd seen better days.

Ginyu coughed and spit up some blood, practically vomiting it into the city. He turned his red eyes on Zether and stared at him intensely. "Too bad you pride yourself on being a member of an extinct race."

"What are you talking about?" Zether asked hotly, not at all enjoying the interruption.

"I'm talking about Lord Frieza and your unprotected planet; what with you and Tettuce both being off-world and all…I can guarantee that by now, Planet Gylder is nothing more than flecks of dust in blackness! And it has been that way for several days!" He started to laugh then, Burter and Junior glancing at him uneasily.

"What did you just say?" Tettuce demanded, unconsciously drifting towards the purple warrior. Surely it couldn't be true? Would Frieza really dare…? Did he even have to ask, was his own immediate answer. Of course he would! He had already destroyed Planet Vegeta for twisted reasons; first Lord Vogan and now his people. And what reason would Ginyu have to lie about that?

"You'll have to speak up, Tettuce. My hearing ain't quite what it used to be," Ginyu taunted.

"You heard me," snarled Tettuce.

"No, actually," Junior spoke up. "He really ca-,"

"You lie!" Zether snapped up at the elder Ginyu, interrupting the younger. His eyes seemed to glow brighter as he glared at the members of the Ginyu Force in turn.

"Unfortunately for you, I am not lying," crowed the Major.

"Grrr! DAMN YOU!" Tettuce yelled at the top of his lungs as he thrust his hand forward, firing off a blast that slammed into the center of Ginyu's chest and burst instantly out of his back, immediately dropping him out of the sky.

"Father!" cried Junior in dismay as he dove after the free-falling figure.

Tettuce glared down after the figure, his onyx eyes burning with hatred for Ginyu; his son; the ugly blue alien, Burter; Frieza, his brother Coola; even their father King Cold. The entire Cold Regime was to blame for what had occurred. That fact gnawed at him as his rage burned inside his chest, his teeth grinding together in agitation. His fists twitched spasmodically at his sides, almost as if he were struggling against himself. And he really was. He had arrived on Jynn-jin 13 angry with the Jynn-jins and the Flazerians; adding to that the anger that was overcoming him, and he could feel his mind slipping.

His anger was rising higher and higher and it was threatening to consume him. He had learned years ago to control his anger so that it would never completely take him over. If it ever did, the results were usually catastrophic. He never really understood why it was so, but too many times he had harmed allies in his blind rages and right now he had to keep himself from letting the true monster free. But he could feel it surging upwards now and it was billowing up uncontrollably. Gold sparks danced all around his body and his vision was reddening. Frieza and Ginyu! They had pushed him too far! Too far!

Like a snap going off inside his head, Tettuce lost himself as a golden aura surged to life around his body and his black hair was swept straight up from the force, his thick locks stretched to their ends from the force of his rising power. The force cleared a hole through both the gathering clouds above and the dust below him as he threw his head back and let out a feral cry of pure fury. Zether, Burter, and even Ryo were swept away from him by the violence that he was emanating.

Down in the city below, Bardock pulled his self from a pile of rubble and looked sharply up into the sky, his eyes wide. "I-it's true…" he muttered in disbelief as he stared up at his mentor and teacher. "G-gold aura and everythin'…" Years before he had heard rumors that in the rare occasions that Tettuce ever truly lost his temper, then his power would sky-rocket outrageously and he would become awash with gold flames. Accompanying those rumors were the numerous nicknames that Tettuce had been called throughout his life. And it was those names that were flashing through Bardock's mind as he gaped at Tettuce.

He was not undeserving of those names for a reason; Tettuce became a literal, uncontrollable, monster when he was pissed. Bardock had never seen his mentor fly into a rage like this and he had never wanted to because he had seen the after-effects in records. Those records had been why even King Vegeta had feared for his life when dealing with Tettuce.

Seripa staggered up beside him, breathing heavily. "What the hell…?" She frowned up at Tettuce and cast Bardock a curious glance. "What's going on?"

His thick brows came together sharply and his black eyes hardened instantly. "We just lost Tettuce."

DBZ

Major Ginyu laughed weakly, purple blood gurgling over his lips as his son cradled him in his lap.

"F-father, no! Save your strength!" Junior said desperately, his voice rising in his concern. "You can pull through!"

But Ginyu seemed to ignore him, rasping out hoarsely, "A-and I didn't e-even tell th-them the b-best part: L-lord Frieza is c-coming!" He laughed again until his body was suddenly racked with a fit of violent coughing.

Burter touched down silently beside the two Ginyu's, his gleaming red eyes locked on his dying Major.

Junior closed his eyes. "Father, please." They opened and he stared pleadingly at his father. "Don't say anymore!"

Ginyu finally regarded his son, his red eyes growing duller by the second. He smiled slightly and chuckled. "My son…I h-have one…last order…f-for you. My f-final w-wish."

"Anything, Father. What is it? What can I do for you?" responded Junior eagerly. He knew his father was going to die. Carrying out his final wish was the least he could do.

An evil grin split Ginyu's blood-smeared lips and in a hissing whisper, he uttered, "Change!"

DBZ

(I know I will have some questions, so to head those off: no, Tettuce is not becoming a Super Saiyan. In the movie, Lord Slug, Goku briefly attains a semi-state that increases his power and is similar to Super Saiyan. In the movie it's seemed to be suggested that he cannot hold it for long as it does not last. Anyway, that scene in the movie was partly my inspiration for Tettuce and I had always intended for him to be capable of flying into berserker rages. I certainly hope you continue to read and review as there's still more to come and things are just getting heated!)