Chapter Thirty: Losing My Religion (Part II)
"Oh life, it's bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I've said too much
I've said enough..."
Losing My Religion-Lacuna Coil

DBZ

With a groan Berik touched his forehead as he regained consciousness. He was certain that he was going to have a considerable amount of brain damage by the end of this day. He opened his eyes and went rigid as he came face-to-face with Broco's lifeless body lying atop him. He grimaced as he carefully slid from under the dead man and stood up with a cringe. He quickly, but carefully, returned Broco to the metal slab and covered the man with a fresh white sheet.

Just as he was smoothing out the wrinkles he became aware that there was a battle going on outside as the ship shuddered. He frowned and touched the sides of his cracked glasses and symbols appeared. He froze and his eyes went wide as errors flashed across the lenses indicating that there were powers too high to read in the vicinity. He quickly deactivated the sensor to keep it from overloading and rushed outside.

He froze as he reached the hatch and looked up with wide eyes as he spotted Coola glaring down at the Saiyans.

"Pathetic Saiyan trash. What happened to my Armored Squadron?" he heard the tyrannical alien demand.

Berik's knees went weak and began to shake. He grasped the edge of the doorway as he felt the blood drain from his face.

"Oh gods…"

"Asshole!"

He jerked his attention to the ground to see a golden-haired Amotto climbing to her feet and scowling up at the Ice-jin.

"I happened to you precious Armored Squadron! The same thing is about to happen to you for interfering with MY fight!"

Coola's cold red eyes cut in her direction and Berik gulped. Their situation just kept getting worse.

DBZ

"You? A Saiyan defeated my Squadron? Preposterous! No Saiyan can generate…" Coola trailed off as he got a good look at Amotto. "Wait. Your hair is gold." He frowned as he pointed his glowing finger at Amotto. "You're can't be a Saiyan. What the hell are you?"

"Oh, I'm a Saiyan alright." Amotto smirked as she levitated into the air, rising to Coola's height. His finger followed her the whole way. "I just happen to be a Super Saiyan."

Coola's eyes narrowed. "Impossible."

"Oh? Then how did I destroy your precious Squadron so easily?" Her smirk split into a grin as she arched an eyebrow questioningly. "Explain that one."

Coola's eyes traced up to her hair and he scowled. He recalled what his father, King Cold, had lectured Frieza about. He had honestly thought that maybe their father had lost his mind. But he was staring down a golden-haired Saiyan woman. A woman claiming to have killed Sauza, Doore, and Naize.

But there was no way this woman was a Super Saiyan.

"You are not a Super Saiyan." Instantly, a thin beam fired from his finger, his signature Death Beam attack.

Her arm flashed, and the purple beam was sent flying into the distance. "For an Ice-jin that was pretty pathetic. I expected better."

Coola's eyes were wide as he stared at her. "Impossible!" His index finger shone purple and he released a barrage of death beams at her.

Amotto smirked as her arms flashed back and forth knocking every one of them away. "Oh, come on! Is that the best you can do? That Ka'bijj guy was doing better than this!"

Coola ceased his attack and frowned at Amotto. "You have some skill. For a Saiyan," he sneered.

"Says the guy who can't hit said Saiyan."

Coola smirked. "That is not the extent of my power. It has been quite some time since I used my full power. I never in all my life thought I would have to use it against a Saiyan, mind you…" He narrowed his eyes as a red and black aura shimmered into view around his body.

"I don't think your full power is going to help you here, Ice-jin." She narrowed her eyes and raised her clenched fists up. "Your kind owes me for all that you've done to my people. Before this day ends you will be dead. And you will have been killed by a Super Saiyan."

"We shall see, Saiyan. We shall see!" Coola threw his arms out as a shockwave of power suddenly erupted from his body, his aura surging violently as his power escalated.

"A full powered Ice-jin, versus a full powered Super Saiyan." Amotto's aura erupted to life as she summoned every ounce of her power. "I'll kill you for all that you've done! And when I'm done…I'll kill Frieza! I'll kill King Cold! I'll destroy the entire Cold regime!"

"You can try, Saiyan!" Coola lunged forward and slammed his fist into her face sending her rocketing backwards. His aura surged and he flashed forward after her, flipping around to slam his tail across her body and sending her flying into the ground with explosive force.

Before he could chase after her, his head suddenly snapped sideways. He blinked and slowly turned his cold gaze upon Seripa as she hovered before him with her fist outstretched as her violet aura raged with streaks of red around her body.

"That was a pathetic display, Saiyan," he snarled angrily.

"Try this on fer size ya over-grown lizard! Spirit Burn! Multiple Thrice!"

He looked up as Bardock launched a massive blue blast down at him. It slammed into him and carried him rapidly down to the surface of the planet; it exploded, sending debris and sand flying high. The explosion knocked everyone on the ground from their feet and sent their ship sliding several meters backwards.

The debris had not even dropped back to the ground before Coola was flying from the smoke and dust straight for the two of them. "YOU BOTH SHALL DIE!"

Amotto suddenly appeared in front of him and brought both hands, clasped firmly together, down on top of his head as she brought both knees in the bottom of his chin. The Ice-jin's eyes looked ready to explode from their sockets from the strike.

"You two stay out of this!" Amotto yelled over her shoulder, her green eyes never leaving the stunned red eyes of Coola. "This bastard is mine!" The stunned Ice-jin never even tried to block her next attack as she kicked him hard in his gut and sent him flying back down to the ground like lightning.

Seripa and Bardock exchanged a glance before moving to flank Amotto.

She glanced between the two of them and growled. "I said to stay out of this. He's mine."

"You still might need help, Amotto," protested Seripa. "His power is incredible."

"So is mine," she whispered in response as her aura hummed with a slight musical quality.

"I won't argue against that," said Bardock as he glanced at her with a frown. "But we've experienced an Ice-jin's power before."

Amotto spun around too fast for him to see, grabbing him by the front of his battle jacket. She jerked him close, her green eyes narrowed dangerously. "I was BLOWN APART by Frieza! Don't you even try to lecture me on the power of an Ice-jin! I know better than ANYONE here what their power is like! You WEREN'T blown into pieces by Frieza! I WAS! ME! Not you!"

Bardock blinked at her in surprise as her words stabbed into his skull.

"Amotto…" Seripa ventured as she placed a cautious hand on her friend's arm. "He didn't mean anything by it. We're just trying to look out for you."

Amotto frowned and looked at Seripa coldly. "Oh, NOW you're looking out for me? Where were you while I was busy getting killed by Frieza? Answer me that one!"

"Amotto, I-"

"Save it, Seripa. I'm in control here. I am a Super Saiyan. I have the power to kill Frieza, Coola, and Cold. And that's what I'm going to do. You two…" she looked at Bardock scornfully as she released him and shoved him backwards. "You two are in my way." She spun around and looked down at the ground as Coola rose slowly from the settling smoke and dust.

"We're going to help you, Amotto," said Seripa as she frowned.

"No, you're not. This battle has no room for the weak. So shoo." She waved her hand insultingly, her eyes glued to the rising Ice-jin.

Seripa bit her tongue and looked away. Amotto's words stung her. She felt bad enough as it was about what happened to her on Jynn-jin 13, but hearing the way Amotto talked about it was like pouring salt into an open wound. Amotto wasn't like this. This wasn't Amotto, she realized.

She frowned and looked at her friend again. The Super Saiyan transformation must've altered her personality somehow. She hadn't been this way earlier…She was overcome with grief at the time, but now she seemed overcome with anger. In fact she seemed to be radiating anger.

Bardock caught her eye as Coola paused in front of Amotto, his red eyes glaring heatedly at her.

Seripa arched an eyebrow as her mate nodded towards the ground and began to descend. With a last glance at Amotto, she reluctantly followed.

Amotto, meanwhile, was smirking. "You didn't like that, did you?"

"No one has caused me pain since the last time I fought my brother. What you did hurt." His eyes narrowed as a bead of purple traced a trail of blood down the side of his face. "You actually hurt me. You made me bleed."

"Get used to the sight of your own blood," Amotto sneered. "It'll be splattered all across this planet by the time I'm finished with you."

"No, I do not believe it will." Coola's voice up until now had been eerily calm. Now, however, it belied a slight quiver. "You've angered me more than enough to sufficiently guarantee that you will draw not a single drop more of my blood. Yours, on the other hand, will stain my hands within the hour."

"Ha, you'll have to fight much better than you have up until now. Quite frankly, you weren't doing too well."

"Allow me to rectify the quality of my fighting by enhancing the quality of my power."

Amotto blinked and arched an eyebrow. "The quality of your power? What does that mean?" She smirked. "Don't tell me you've been holding out on me. You haven't been taking this fight seriously?"

"When fighting Saiyans, one usually does not need to take a fight seriously. You lot are usually so pathetically powerless compared to the likes of me." A sinister smile stretched across Coola's twisted features. "Not you, though. You, a mere Saiyan female, have stepped up and challenged the mighty Coola on what looks to be a level playing field. Looks, however, can be deceiving."

Amotto snorted and folded her arms across her chest. "You expect me to rise to that bluff? You hit me with everything you had earlier and here I am with not a single scratch to show for it, let alone a bleeding wound. Where else could you be hiding power? Your nonexistent genitalia?"

Coola grinned and his red and black aura exploded to full life, black sparks of electricity dancing around his clenched fists as he raised them to his sides. "Your insolence shall be rewarded with a sight no other being has ever witnessed."

Amotto arched an eyebrow. "I so do not want to see your genitals, Coola."

"That mouth of yours is going to be in a significant amount of pain when I am through with you."

Amotto grimaced. "Considering the previous comments, that line could be taken many different ways."

"HYAAH!" An explosion of power suddenly shot outwards from Coola, slamming her forcibly in her chest and knocking her backwards.

She came to a stop and frowned at the Ice-jin as his body flashed repeatedly. "What are you doing now?"

Coola's chest expanded to the point that it looked ready to explode as his eyes shone completely red. His forehead bulged as four spikes stretched out from his skull. Two angled away, running almost parallel with his brow, while the other two stretched towards the sky. The purple bauble on his head rose away from his skull as a boney plate shifted to meld with the spikes. His bones cracked and popped as his arms and legs stretched and bulged. More blue baubles appeared on his wrists and ankles as boney, white spikes stretched out from his forearms.

The black faded from his aura and shifted to completely red. The black sparks of electricity remained, popping ever more frantically as his body morphed before Amotto's eyes.

She had an arm raised to shield her eyes from the stinging winds that had been conjured by the fierce power before her. She frowned as Coola's size more than tripled, making her wonder just how powerful he was becoming.

As Coola suddenly laughed, his voice deeper with an eerie hollow quality to it, two boney plates stretched out of his face with a nauseating squelching noise and slammed into place over his nose, mouth, cheeks, and chin. Hoops made of bone stretched from his shoulders, almost resembling the shoulder guards of a battle-jacket.

"This is the true power of Lord Coola! I am the TRUE Supreme Master of the Universe!" He threw his back and laughed loudly, his voice echoing across the terrain. His aura burned steadily and fiercely as the black sparks continued to dance around him, now lancing from the top of his spikes to the tip of his tail.

Amotto lowered her arm slowly. "So you went from a lizard to a crocodile-"

"A fitting, if rather derogatory, analogy."

"Derogatory? This from the guy that calls US monkeys! That's rich!" Amotto grinned. "All I know is that this monkey right here," she said with a jerk of her thumb towards her chest, "is about to roast your reptilian ass."

"Highly unlikely, but you are more than welcome to try." Coola's eyes narrowed menacingly, the red brightening in a brief flash. "Attack me full force, Saiyan. Try and make this interesting."

"I'll do you one better than that!" Amotto's aura flashed, raging into an inferno in an instant. "I'll kill you!" She lunged forward in an explosion of gold, the distance between her and Coola vanishing in a flash.

Faster than she could follow she was suddenly doubled over Coola's knee, her eyes wide in a mixture of pain and surprise.

"Arrogant Saiyan. We Ice-jins are the gods of this universe. What chance did you think you had against us?"

His fist flashed across her face and she was suddenly slamming into the surface of the planet, the ground violently exploding around her. She lay at the bottom of the crater, her eyes still wide as she stared up at Coola through the dust and the smoke.

"You have disappointed me, Saiyan." Coola chuckled as he descended towards her. "For all your big talk, you've really fallen short."

Amotto's eyes narrowed and she sprang to her feet, taking a guarded stance as her aura erupted to life around her body. "You just took me by surprise! I still have the upper hand here!"

Coola was suddenly standing in front of her and she took an involuntary step back in surprise.

"Whoa…fast," she murmured absently as she stared at him, her aura fading into nothingness.

"What was that? I thought I heard you just say that you still have the upper hand." Coola chuckled as he beckoned for her to attack him. "I would like to see proof."

She arched an eyebrow as her eyes narrowed again. "Proof? Are you insulting the power of a Super Saiyan?"

"You are not a Super Saiyan. They do not exist."

Amotto lunged forward in an explosion of gold, her fist suddenly imbedded in Coola's shielded cheek. Her fists were a flurry of motion as she punched Coola's face excessively. There really was no reason to have to punch someone's face in so many times in a row…

Rapid-fire shockwaves of power erupted with each strike as she steadily drove Coola backwards across the ground.

"Super Saiyans don't exist do they?! Well what the fuck is punching you in the face right now?! Tell me again! Come on, tell me! Do Super Saiyans exist?! HUH?! DO THEY?" Amotto's eyes were wide, her face twisted with feral fury.

Both of her flying fists were suddenly caught in the grip of Coola's massive hands. "What?!"

Coola laughed as he looked at her, his eyes shining with evil mirth. "That was impressive, Super Saiyan. But the legend was quite obviously massively blown out of proportion. Your power is still a joke compared to mine."

Amotto's eyes narrowed again as she growled at him. "You're bluffing…"

"Am I?"

"Y-you have to be…I'm a Super Saiyan…I-I'm not weak anymore…" She looked down.

"If you were not so careless in your expenditure of power, woman, you could be beating him right now."

Amotto looked up to see Ka'bijj standing just behind Coola. The Ice-jin glanced over his shoulder and frowned. "What's this?"

The golden haired Ka'bijj suddenly flashed forward and slammed his fist into Coola's chin hard enough to send him rocketing skyward. He scowled and looked down at Amotto. "Get it together, woman. You have the power of a Super Saiyan."

Amotto frowned as she regarded him. "What's your point?"

The elder Saiyan rolled his emerald hues. "Must the youth always have it spelled out for them? Get control over your form. Your anger and arrogance are clouding your mind and dampening your power. Get your act together if you want to survive this fight!"

She blinked in surprise at him. She scowled. "What do you know?! And why should I even listen to you anyway?!"

"Because I just knocked Coola into tomorrow with one punch, while you have not even put a blemish across that fancy mask of his. And you have already struck him at least several hundred times. Calm down and clear your mind. Then go hit him like that again. I guarantee that he will feel each and every one of those punches."

"Piss off, old man. You don't know anything about me."

"Gods be damned, woman. You are acting like a spoiled teenager!"

"Hey, fuck you!"

"HEY!"

"WHAT?!" Ka'bijj and Amotto yelled at the same time as they both looked up at Coola, who had, in his impatience, shouted at them.

Now, however, he was staring down at them with a stunned expression. "S-stop ignoring me!" he bellowed as he regained his composure.

Ka'bijj snorted. "Fine then." He lunged forward, diving into a full on attack. Coola was prepared, though, as he jumped backwards and began parrying and blocking Ka'bijj's all-out punches.

Amotto stared after them for a moment before giving chase, taking off in an explosion of gold. She caught up to them, flashing up beside Ka'bijj as if she had just appeared out of thin air, and began to deliver her own frontal assault.

Somehow, though, Coola managed to block both her and Ka'bijj's attacks.

"Is that the best that you Super Saiyans can manage?" He laughed aloud, his eyes narrowing as he watched them futilely punching him as he rocketed away from them.

The landscape was suddenly dotted with sparse growths of trees sprouting from the surface, and that occasionally was shredded as the massive combined auras of Coola, Ka'bijj, and Amotto instantly tore through the growths in their path like the ravenous teeth of a saw blade. Before they knew it they were tearing a trail through a thick rainforest, trees and animals flying from the force of the shockwave-inducing punches and kicks.

A trail of darkness stretched across the sky as the three powerful fighters dashed across the planet's surface at insane speeds. Amotto was only vaguely aware that the landscape was a rapidly-changing blur as she raced along to keep up with Coola's tremendous speed, her fists and feet a chaotic flurry of motion as she desperately tried to get in a hit on him. For the most part her attention was focused on Coola's face, every single one of her attacks aimed for his glowing red eyes. But no matter how fast her fists flew, no matter how fast her feet kicked, and no matter how much ki she poured into her overall speed, she just…could not…hit!..."COOLA!"

Her angry cry erupted unbidden from the depths of her vocal cords, and her aura flashed as her speed suddenly increased.

Coola's brow arched as he had to get faster and faster and faster, his eyes widening slightly as it became more difficult to block Amotto's and Ka'bijj's attacks at the same time.

A punch broke through his defense and struck him square in his jaw. And then another and another and another until suddenly Ka'bijj and Amotto were pummeling every inch of Coola's body, their auras completely engulfing the three of them in an unstable display of raw power.

"YOU-SON-OF-A-BITCH!" Amotto screeched as she uncontrollably drove her attack onwards, refusing to let up in the onslaught. Beside her Ka'bijj was silent, his gaze focused as his punches and kicks struck Coola's unprotected, powered-up, body.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Coola suddenly bellowed, a shock wave of power emanating from his body with enough force to halt his backwards motion, crater the ground beneath his talons and send trees and boulders flying, and to completely reverse Amotto and Ka'bijj's direction.

They rocketed backwards and slammed violently into the ground, digging trenches in their respective wakes.

Coola hovered in the center of a massive crater, trees flattened and in pieces all around him. Several hundred yards away from him, the two golden-haired Saiyans lay motionless at the end of their trenches. They were now amidst the remains of what used to be a rainforest.

Ka'bijj groaned as he climbed to his feet, rubbing his right shoulder gently. "I am getting too old for this." He glanced to his left as Amotto rose to a crouch. "Are you still set on being a stubborn bitch?"

Amotto looked at him sharply, casting him a glare. "Fuck off, asshole. I don't need your help."

"You are a dense little girl, aren't you?" Ka'bijj sighed. "Stubborn even when death is knocking at your door. It is an initial side-effect of the Super Saiyan transformation. You think this is your true self and you let it control your actions and your emotions. If you would just take a couple of deep breaths and try to calm down, you would begin to see reason."

"As far as I'm concerned you're still my enemy. So fuck off."

"Enemies we may be, but we currently share a common enemy in Coola. It would be beneficial to us both if we were to cooperate and come up with a plan to kill him. Whether you wish to admit it or not, he has outclassed us tremendously."

Amotto frowned as she regarded the elder Saiyan. She was reluctant to admit that he was right. She didn't want to admit it, but she had to see reason. She glanced towards Coola and slowly rose to her feet. She took a deep breath and looked sharply at Ka'bijj. "Well? What do you have in mind?"

"That's more like it."

DBZ

Seripa stared wide-eyed in the direction that the three titans had vanished into. While she could no longer see them, she could still, quite easily, sense their tremendous powers.

"Whoa…Their powers feel like they're on the other side of the planet…"

Turpin and Seluri touched down behind her. "Tha's prolly 'cause dey 're, Seripa." Turpin frowned as he spread his senses out. "Da powa's at play 'ere 're too big fer ya's t' han'le. Ya n' Bardock need t' git outta 'ere now." He glanced at Seluri. "Ya need t' go wit' dem."

Bardock shook his head. "Not happenin'. Not yet."

"Yeah, we can't leave yet." Seripa shook her head. "I can't leave without Amotto."

Seluri frowned and shook her head. "I am afraid you do not have a choice, Seripa. Coola is much too dangerous. Your friend and Ka'bijj are in way over their heads. We all are. Amotto just was not ready to face an Ice-jin, yet."

"She was'n ready fer da Supa Saiyan powa." Turpin sighed. "Ya two need t' go n' b'come Supa Saiyans. L'rn t' c'ntrol it, n' kill dem lizards."

He turned away from them and took a few steps forward. His golden aura suddenly erupted to life around him, his beard instantly gold and his solitary eye green. "Go now. Coola is d'stracted, but it won' t'ke lon' 'fore 'im t' git back t' dis side o' da plane'."

Seluri stared after him with a pained expression. She sighed and glanced at Seripa and Bardock. "Come, you two. We must leave at once."

"No, Seluri," said Seripa vehemently. "I am not leaving my friend." She shook her head forcefully. "Not this time!"

A thin golden beam suddenly pierced through her chest, exploding from her back.

Bardock's eyes went wide. "SERIPA!" A golden beam suddenly pierced his chest, too and exploded from his back.

"TURPIN!" Seluri screamed as the two of them crumpled in a heap. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Dey'll live. G't dem t' a ch'mb'r. T'was necessary, Sel." He glanced over his shoulder slowly. "Dis'll b' da las' time we see each ot'er." He smiled grimly.

Seluri stared at him silently for a moment. She then sighed and nodded her head slowly. "I understand. Injure them fatally, then heal them. Their powers will spike as a result and this also allows for the withdrawal of their stubborn asses." She smirked as she regarded the scarred up face of the shorter man.

"Ya know me far t' well, Sel. Goodbye." He was gone before she could respond, residual golden flames fading in his wake.

Seluri's smirk remained in place as tears dripped down her cheeks.

"Goodbye, Turpin."

DBZ

Grogginess…

That was the first thing he was aware of as consciousness flooded his senses. He didn't know where he was. His eyes opened slowly and he found himself floating serenely in a crystal clear fluid. A feeling of perpetual bliss flooded his numbed senses as he tried to peer beyond the ovular glass of his confines.

Slowly his memory began to return and he glanced down at his chest to see a fresh dark blue scar overlapping other, fainter scars. He frowned as he realized what had happened. Instead of being allowed to die, Frieza had ordered him sent to recovery. No doubt the tyrant wanted to subject him to brutal torture as punishment for betraying him.

Zarbon smirked and glanced around, his vision slowly beginning to clear up. He was in recovery alright. The room was dark, though and he could see no technicians. He glanced to his right at another recovery chamber and was only mildly surprised to see Dodoria floating peacefully within. So the fat tub of lard hadn't died, after all. How lucky for him.

Zarbon grimaced as he leaned forward to press the release button. The tank instantly began to drain, dropping down to waist-level in no time. He removed his oxygen mask as the door opened with a hiss, swinging out wide to the side. He knew he wasn't completely healed as he stood up with a pained grimace. But it was now or never if he hoped to survive long enough to assist the Saiyans in the downfall of the Cold Regime.

He had lasted this long…He had lasted far too long and endured far too much at the hands of Frieza for him to risk not taking this opportunity.

Looking around he quickly came across under armor, a battle jacket, gloves, and some boots. Quickly he slipped them on before making his way to the door. It opened upon his approached and he peeked out into the corridor cautiously. Seeing no one he dashed out into the hallway and ducked behind a cluster of conduit tubing running from the floor to the ceiling. He peered around the edge of it, his senses on high alert.

His only chance was to make it to the emergency space pods in the cargo bay. If he could get to those, he stood a slight chance of jumping to hyperspace before Frieza figured out he was gone.

But he had to hurry.

Certain that no one was coming he made a mad dash down the corridor, running towards the elevator that would take him to the cargo bay area. He hammered the button on the wall beside the closed doors, and they instantly slid open. Zarbon dove in as quickly as he could and pressed the button of the cargo bay.

The doors slid shut quietly and the elevator began to descend. Zarbon exhaled quietly as he stood up straight. He took a breath and readied himself for battle, just in case.

But as the doors slid open, Zarbon couldn't believe his luck. The bay was empty. Surprised, but elated, at his odd luck, he quickly set to task booting up one of the pods. Within seconds the pod was fired up and ready to take off. Zarbon climbed into the open hatch and seated himself comfortably in the waiting cockpit.

The hatch closed as he settled into place.

"Computer, access code: Zed, Alya, Roleo dash 2-2 dash 7-3-9 dash 5-1. Emergency override of Cargo Bay hatch. Situation 0-1-3: launch emergency pods." Zarbon smirked. May as well launch them all at once. Sudden inspiration caused him to grin. "Upon launch, initiate Protocol Zero: destruction of crucial secret military technology."

"Request acknowledged. Confirmed. Launching pods immediately."

The hatch in the center of the bay opened up, and everything within the cargo bay was instantly swept out into the blackness of space.

As his pod tumbled through the darkness, Zarbon felt a sense of satisfaction as the computer announced the countdown of the self-destruct sequence. He only wished he could see the look on Frieza's face right then.

Blue light engulfed the outside of the pod, slightly obscuring his view out of the solitary red-tinted window. The next instant the pod was in hyperspace and long gone from the aftermath of Zarbon's sabotage.

DBZ

The bridge was chaos as red lights flashed and alarms blared at deafening volume.

"Alert. Self-destruction in thirty seconds. Evacuate immediately."

"What is going on?!" roared Frieza in anger as his men rushed back and forth across the bridge.

"I don't know, sire!" cried one soldier desperately.

"Alert. Self-destruction in twenty seconds. Evacuate immediately."

"Shut down the destruction sequence right now!"

"I don't have the clearance!" The soldier's voice raised shrilly, a panicked look on his face. "Someone of high rank initiated it! I can't override their authority!"

"What?! Who?!" Frieza stormed to the console and looked at the screen in irritation. "Bring up information on the last user!"

The screen flashed…

"Alert. Self-destruction in ten seconds. Nine…eight…"

Frieza's eyes narrowed…

"Six…five…"

"Zarbon…you traitorous bastard…"

"Two…one…"

The bridge was bathed in a golden glow…

Frieza glanced around…

And the ship vanished in a bright flash of light, exploding into nothingness…

DBZ

Frieza floated in the vast emptiness that was outer space, his features twisted in anger. Veins were perfectly outlined at his temples and on his neck. All around debris from his destroyed ship drifted by him, as well as the occasional random body part of a member of his crew. Naturally the explosion had been nowhere near powerful enough to kill him, but it did inconvenience him to a great extent.

As such he was rather pissed off at the moment. He suddenly thrashed around, his black and red aura erupting to silent life around his body as he roared into the blackness of space, his voice swallowed by the vast emptiness. He floated in place, his aura raging silently as he glared at nothing.

He would kill Zarbon once he saw him again.

A random space pod suddenly drifted into his field of vision. His aura vanished and he flared his ki to propel himself towards it.

He would kill Zarbon very slowly the next time he saw him. That was his silent promise he made to the turncoat as he seated himself within the pod and closed the hatch…

DBZ

Falmer grimaced as he booted up the ship's computer. He still could not believe that Turpin had shot Seripa and Bardock the way he had. Sure, Seluri had explained his reasoning behind doing it, but it still baffled Falmer.

Beside him Diamond booted up the navigation system as the ship hummed to life. Vibrations ran through the hull, shaking his seat as the engines powered up completely.

As the console came to life before him, Falmer booted up the hyperdrive system. Few pilots could make a hyperspace jump within the atmosphere of a planet. It was widely deemed impossible.

But Falmer was not a standard pilot. He knew how to make the jump just right to prevent the ship from burning up, or tearing apart struggling against a planet's gravitational pull.

He lowered the output of the hyperdrive engines as the ship lifted off from the surface of the planet. He angled the nose up, his eyes glued to the screen before him.

It had been many years since he last attempted a jump like this. He only hoped that he wasn't too rusty to pull it off safely…

"Engines at full power…Computer, maximum thrust on my mark…"

Diamond glanced at him with a slight frown, but remained quiet.

Falmer took a breath, offering a silent prayer to whatever gods may have been listening…and exhaled, "Mark!"

The ship suddenly rocketed forward at maximum speed, gluing him to his seat. "Transition to hyperspace on my mark…Mark!"

The screen before him was suddenly filled with an explosion of light, that almost immediately gave way to streaks of white, and then they were flying through the myriad twisting colors of hyperspace.

Falmer's shoulders relaxed and he sighed. "We made it…"

DBZ