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Introductions

The inhabitants of the Capsule Corp building were very light sleepers. Even before the arrival of a half-saiyan toddler, the Saiyan Prince kept himself alert at all hours, and with young Trunks' habit of midnight awakenings the other adults in the building joined Vegeta in sleeping with an ear out for any disturbance. Of course the other Trunks' arrival from the future didn't help this state, accustomed as he was to living in constant vigilance of androids it was a wonder when the time traveler managed a solid four hours of sleep. With all this unrest, Goku's approach did not go unnoticed, and by the time he touched down on the back lawn he found Vegeta and Trunks awaiting him, with Bulma standing a short distance behind cradling a still comatose baby Trunks. The lights and smells from the kitchen alerted Goku to Mrs. Briefs' presence as well, and the saiyan resisted the urge to check what the woman had busied herself in making.

Before Goku could start Vegeta stepped forward, "why are you here Kakarott?" he asked, "and where did you get the weakling?" he finished with a smirk. He never is one for ceremony, Goku thought, "Hey Vegeta, Trunks, I found him at a crashed pod just like what you and Nappa came here in!" Goku brightly explained, "Turns out, he's a saiyan too! I thought, since he's hurt and all we could help hi-"was as far as he got before Vegeta angrily cut in "we aren't going to do anything for him until we know why he's here." He continued "I can think of one reason why a PTO saiyan would land on Earth Kakarott, and that's certainly not to smell the flowers." At this point Trunks spoke up "I have to agree with Father, what if this saiyan came here to purge the planet?" "Even if his power seems pathetic next to our own," Vegeta added with arrogance.

"Yeah, I guess you guys are right," Goku admitted, scratching the back of his head, "I forgot what you were like when you first came here Vegeta." He finished with a good-natured chuckle. "Hmph," Vegeta huffed, "whatever clown." He stated, turning around to return to the embrace of both his bed and his blue haired companion. Trunks turned to leave, when something caught his eye, "Goku, I think there's something in his hand." Looking down, Goku saw it too, "hey you're right Trunks! Can you grab it for me, my hands are a little full, haha,"

As Trunks bent over and grabbed the hand to try and loosen its grasp on whatever it held he couldn't help but wince at the smell of blood, both new and old, that he picked up from the saiyan's clothing and, as he looked more closely, the saiyan himself. Ignoring the pitiful state of the man in Goku's arm for now, Trunks instead focused on prying open the ragged palm in front of him. It took a surprising effort to lever open the hand, and finally get what was revealed as a sheet of what looked almost like paper to drop to the ground. "Well this guy didn't want to drop this, whatever it is," Trunks remarked. Opening the crumpled and bloodstained page, he frowned, "Father! Can you read this? It's in some language I've never seen before," Vegeta, who had been standing, arms crossed and head held high, and pointedly avoiding eye contact with the other two Z-fighters, turned around at that and briskly strode over. Grabbing the sheet, he grumbled "What makes you think I'll be able to-" the prince began, before his eyes narrowed and began cycling through the lines of symbols on the crumpled page. Trunks noticed the near imperceptible widening of his father's eyes, "Father, what is that? What does it say?" Glancing up at his future progeny, Vegeta started "This is a bounty from the Planet Trade Organization," Shifting his gaze to the ragged Saiyan in Goku's grip, he continued, "It calls for the capture and execution of the saiyan 'Tercres the Grim' for…" at this point the Saiyan Prince broke into a predatory smile before continuing, "-the killing of Lord Cooler and his Armoured Squadron."

Before anyone could say anymore Vegeta tilted his head back and laughed with sadistic mirth, "oh that is precious! The final member of that worthless family killed by saiyan hand!" Interjecting before his father could continue Trunks interjected "Who is lord cooler?" Sobering up a little at the mention of that name Vegeta turned to face Trunks, "He is, or he was" Vegeta amended, smirking, "the elder brother of Frieza, and the final living member of that whole wretched family." Seeing a chance to ask what he'd been holding onto since Vegeta read the bounty, Goku quickly asked "So you guys think he's good now? After all he killed Cooler right?" Goku finished with a grin. "Of course we will help him!" Bulma all but shouted, as she finally gave kid Trunks off to her mother and rushed within earshot of the conversation. "He needs our help, I mean look at him! I can see more blood than I can his skin, quick Goku get him to the infirmary," Bulma reeled off, grabbing Goku's forearm and steering him towards the building. "Hold still woman!" Vegeta snapped, stepping in her path.

"He could still be a threat to-" was as far as he got before Bulma reached him, and let him have it, "VEGETA! He's practically dead! Only those insane saiyan genetics are keeping him alive at all! Now let me get him to the infirmary and then we can talk." Seeing the flash of angry indignation behind her lover's eyes forced Bulma to continue, lower and huskier, "Besides, I'm sure my big strong prince can protect us from whatever the big bad saiyan could do…" Seeing his eyes widen a little and the confident smirk reappear on his face was all Bulma needed to continue on past him, pulling a hapless Goku along.

After bringing him into the light the first thing they noticed was the massive scarring on the young man's face. A harsh line stretched from the right end of the mouth all the way to the ear, before looping downward into a wide area of scar tissue under the jaw. "What could have caused this kind of injury?" Bulma asked, a little unsure if she wanted an answer. She realized she didn't when Vegeta responded brusquely "It is consistent with the aftereffects of ripping out the lower jaw and then surgically repairing it, although the scarring looks like it stretched. Must have happened when he was a boy." Both Bulma and Goku blanched a little at that, neither wanting to ask how Vegeta knew what such an injury looked like, and eager to continue with the examination. After removing most of Tercres' attire even Vegeta was shocked at the condition the younger saiyan was in. The left arm looked like little more than shredded meat about the bones, and the left hand was short the last three fingers. The torso was little better, several ribs protruding from the skin, and two deep holes in the lower left side, but this was at least somewhat familiar to all involved, Vegeta and Goku had suffered their fair share of such rib injuries. When Goku first laid him down on the table Bulma had flinched at the right leg, which flopped and bent at sickening angles. A quick X-ray showed that the bones of the leg had fractured at least three times, and the tibia had snapped completely. "Do you think he'll be okay Vegeta?" Bulma asked, as she finished bandaging Tercres and splinting his leg as best she could. "He should live, and Kakarott said there would be some of those damned senzu beans ready in a few weeks, and that should return him to peak condition." "Oh that's a relief," Bulma exhaled, "I almost don't even want to try to set his leg, that thing is so twisted up it's not even funny," huddling closer to Vegeta she continued "what do you think did all that to him 'Geta?"

As Bulma looked up to him from his arm's embrace Vegeta thought for a minute before answering. "It would have been a fierce battle, the boy didn't prepare enough to come out looking like this."

Two Months Prior

As he kneeled before his nominal lord and awaited his command, Tercres could think of only his looming vengeance. After years of suffering the cruelties of Cooler and his lackeys, adapting and honing his fighting skills for every new challenge, and too many dips in a regeneration tank to count, he knew that if he could get just a little more power, he could CRUSH his tormentor once and for all. As it stood he knew that he was probably about as powerful as Cooler, but he had seen too many fights between equals come down to one man slipping in blood or dodging left instead of right to be comfortable taking on someone as crafty as Cooler without a clear advantage.

So engrossed by his fantasy he was that Tercres missed his "master's" commands, "are you listening, you stupid monkey?" came the familiar rebuke, "I am sorry Lord Cooler, I must not have been listening closely enough." Came the formulaic reply. Also expected was the familiar tail strike across the face, "Of course you weren't listening, that would require you to have a working brain, monkey," Cooler spit out. "I said, you are sent to planet 3-86 N, to clear the contract that has sat unfulfilled for nearly 15 years." Tercres felt a chill in his veins. That planet had been the death of Frieza and Cold, and the energy spikes PTO picked up within the last cycle had been higher than anything yet recorded. To be so close to his goal, and then be given the death sentence like this! "Fine," he thought resignedly, "Now's as good a time as any." Giving the required obeisance, he got to his feet. As cooler turned from him he hesitated for a split second, "what is it, did you forget your orders already monkey?" Any hesitation vanished at that moment, "Fuck it." Tercres muttered, as he leaped forward, arm cocked back.

As Cooler turned, ready administer the beating his pet deserved after speaking in such a fashion, he caught Tercres' fist straight to the face. "How DARE you strike me, MONKEY!" he shouted, turning back towards Tercres and lashing with his tail. Sidestepping the whipping appendage, Tercres responded with another punch, this time Cooler caught it, and threw his own with the other hand. He caught Tercres in the ribs once, twice, then found his hand likewise entrapped by Tercres' own. They stood at a deadlock for a brief moment before the saiyan threw his head forward into Cooler's with a resounding crack. Following up with a left cross the tyrant was thrown across the room into the wall, where he quickly regained his feet, staring at the straight faced saiyan before him. "You know, I regret giving you that lovely scar, boy. It takes away from what I'm about to do to you that I cannot see the fear in your expression." So saying, Cooler stepped into a wide stance, and power surged through his body, as it started to grow. Seeing his chance, Tercres gathered energy in his right hand before leaping at the transforming alien. With a room shaking BANG his Massacre sledge impacted Cooler in his newly expanded abdomen, punching through the skin slightly before exploding with red ki. "ARRGH! WRETCHED MONKEY!" Cooler shouted, now fully transformed, before holding up a blast of his own to Tercres' face. The second before he released it, the saiyan forced his hand to meet Coolers, then dragged the arm to the side. Right before his oppressor released the blast, Tercres had time for one thought, "Shit, I hope it doesn't blow too much of that off-" The two combatants were blown apart, and impacted the walls of the now debris strewn throne room.

Cooler clutched at a charred hole in his stomach, but his pained expression vanished upon looking at his opponent. Tercres clutched with his right arm at what remained of his left. He almost didn't want to look, and when he did it came as no surprise the damage done to his arm. He considered himself an expert on pain, and this was an exquisite agony that Cooler had visited upon him. Looking up at the figure opposite him, Cooler was practically steaming with rage. More importantly, as he felt out the energy of his foe (a useful trick he learned from a particularly difficult purge mission) he estimated it to near his own strength, possibly less. He still had a chance as long as he finished Cooler off before any of his lackeys could intervene. Embracing the pain of his arm and dropping it to his side, he prepared for the finish. "Okay you purple bastard, time for round two." He thought, and with a primal cry the two dashed forward again.