Questions
Present
The bed first caught his attention. The last thing Tercres remembered was collapsing outside his pod, and this certainly wasn't the rocky ground he was laying on. If not for the comfort he might have feared being found by the PTO, but no cot or table was this comfortable in the Planet Trade Organization. Fairly certain that he wasn't about to be tortured to death, the saiyan decided to open his eyes and look around.
The room was almost bare, with only a low machine next to the bed to break up the monotony of the place. He could hear a faint hum emanating from the machine, and it appeared to be attached to him through some tubing running through his arm. Everything was an absurd soft white color, and Tercres closed his eyes in irritation at the seeming brightness of the overhead lights. "Huh, Vegeta does the same thing when he wakes up here," With a start of surprise Tercres tried to lurch upright, only to be stopped by a slender hand on his shoulder from above. "Don't get up, are you crazy!" A blue haired human female had sat unnoticed behind his bed, and now her voice softened and she spoke again, "You're safe here, I am Bulma Brief" She said, gesturing to herself, "My friend Goku brought you here after you crashed." Finishing her statement, the woman-Bulma, she said her name was, stood up and walked to the door. "If you need something call, I think my…husband, and his friend are going to ask you some questions in a little bit, so you should rest and prepare yourself," she finished with a slight smile, before turning and walking out, the door sliding shut behind her.
"Well I'm alive, so far so good," Tercres thought to himself afterwards. "If only I hadn't run into that asteroid field on the way here, the stupid pod might have kept atmosphere and I wouldn't have passed out so soon after landing" The memory of gasping for breath, watching the planet grow in the hatch window elicited a grim chuckle from the scarred patient. "To think, the scourge of the north and killer of Cooler succumbing to suffocation over some backwater planet." The door slid open, interrupting his ruminations, and Vegeta strode in.
Tercres stared at the prince, expression unreadable. A scornful eye roll met his gaze, and the prince began, "Why are you here, weakling?" Indignation crossed Tercres features, and he opened his mouth angrily to reply, thinking, 'Weakling?' "I-""Yes, Weakling!" Vegeta interrupted, "You may have beaten that overgrown lizard, but you're still far behind all those with saiyan blood." Tercres snorted with disdain 'so what, him? There are no more saiyans.' "Hmpf," Vegeta replied, and as if he read Tercres mind, not deigning to meet Tercres eyes, he continued "There are five of saiyan blood not including you, on this planet" Tercres eyes widened, 'What! More saiyans?' At this Vegeta strode to the edge of the bed, and swiftly grabbed Tercres by the neck.
Vegeta had yet to apply any pressure to his neck, but Tercres knew that 'yet' could disappear at any moment, and he still hadn't answered the prince's question. "Fine, fine," He got out, staring up at eyes bearing the remorseless look he himself had mastered, "Everyone who came here died. When I killed Cooler I thought myself strong enough to survive here, or at least prove where my loyalties lay with Cooler's death." At this, an expression of amusement crossed Vegeta's face. "Your strength is nothing, you remain alive only because you rid the universe of that scum." At this he released his hand from Tercres' neck. "We can't heal you," Vegeta began, stonily staring at the closed door. Forestalling commentary with a hand, he continued "But Kakarott will have something to help you in a week. Until then don't touch my wife, my child, or my house or," And at this the prince's stoicism was replaced with a bloodthirsty grin very familiar to Tercres, "I'll dismantle you and leave your chunks scattered across the continent." Satisfied the warning had registered Vegeta turned and briskly strode out, leaving Tercres alone once more.
Standing at the end of the hall as Vegeta exited the room were the main reasons he was wary around his strange houseguest. "Who is he dad? Are you gonna fight him? Can I fight him!?" Trunks could barely contain himself, the thought of his father, or even better himself getting into a good fight with some stranger from space was almost too much for him to handle. "Yes, who is he Vegeta?" Came the more measured question from Bulma. Crossing his arms over his chest and reclining against the wall, Vegeta glanced down at Trunks' wide eyes then up at those of his wife before staring past them and beginning. "The boy served Cooler," At this he met Bulma's questioning stare, and by a slight confirmed her unspoken question; the boy had been Cooler's slave as Vegeta had been Frieza's. "After he killed Cooler he went to the one place none in the PTO could follow," Vegeta continued, "Earth." "Who's Cooler?" Trunks asked, confused by the innocuous name. "He was a tyrant, the leader of the Planet Trade Organization after Future you killed Frieza and Cold," Vegeta answered. "So that," Trunks started, gesturing towards the occupied room "person is good?" Looking at his son's eager face Vegeta's shoulder dropped almost imperceptibly before he began again, "Remember what I told you of myself?" He asked Trunks, this time meeting and holding his gaze. At the boy's nod the prince continued, "That is his past, and he won't change quickly, so keep your guard up boy," Seeing the sudden consternation in the eyes of his family Vegeta quickly continued "You're stronger than he is Trunks," Trunks' head shot up, but he was forestalled by his father's raised hand; "He is weaker than all of saiyan blood here, but Trunks I want you to keep your guard up, because we do not know him." Satisfied his point had been made Vegeta turned and strode around the corner, "Now where is that blasted woman with her cooking?" he muttered as the kitchen beckoned to his saiyan appetite.
Tercres' mind reeled with implications: more of saiyan blood, and all stronger than he was? He knew himself to be one of the strongest in the universe, following the defeat of Cooler Tercres didn't know of anyone else of the same strength. 'Except, apparently, for the saiyans of this planet' He thought to himself, 'If I could train with them to become stronger…' Caught in musing Tercres' fatigue abruptly caught up to him and darkness filled his vision once more.
Walking into the kitchen did not produce the blond haired woman Vegeta sought after, but did reveal his future son, leaning against the far wall in a pose all too familiar to the saiyan prince. "I heard you talk with mother and…me" Mirai Trunks started, "But I heard what you didn't say either father." Standing up from his slouch he continued "I saw how you looked at him when we first cleaned him up. You knew about him already, didn't you?" A glance into the steely eyes opposing him dismissed any thoughts Vegeta had about lying, and with a sigh he began "It was in the last years of my captivity under Frieza. Cooler met with Frieza to discuss some boundaries and administration for the Organization. I was forced to attend by the lizard to spite Cooler. But on arrival Cooler boasted a saiyan of his own, a whelp barely old enough to speak. Apparently his parents had been refugees from Planet Vegeta's destruction, and Cooler had found them only days previously. He killed the parents and took the spawn, and for the first minutes I knew the boy he was crying." At this Vegeta clenched his fists and looked at his feet, "I couldn't do anything; the Prince of all Saiyans reduced to a spectator to the torment of his subject, my last subject for all I knew; all I did was watch as Cooler wedged two fingers under the boy's jaw, and pulled." Trunks' face grew harder and his gaze stonier, but Vegeta was not finished. "For the next few years after that there were stories: the grim saiyan, he never smiled, he never laughed, even Cooler's soldiers were nervous about him, and last I heard before heading to Earth, he grew ever stronger," Vegeta finally finished. "What did you learn from talking to him father?" Trunks asked, "Is he, you know…sane?" Vegeta considered what exactly constituted sane, then appraised his own mind, before opening his mouth to speak, "I don't know," He finally got out. "He wanted to rest after killing Cooler, and thought he would be safe here, after the reputation Earth got when you killed Frieza and his father." "Until he gets that blasted bean he's not a threat to anyone, we can interrogate him further then." Trunks thought about his father's words for a minute before agreeing, "We do need to find out what he plans to do, who knows what's broken in that mind?"
As his father strode away Trunks sighed He had returned to this timeline after ridding his own of the android menaces. He had been looking forward to some time with the Z fighters and his family before going back and beginning the rebuilding process of his world. But now this saiyan's arrival had thrown this all out of sync. Now Trunks wasn't sure if his friends were making the right choice in healing the stranger they knew next to nothing about. Vegeta had told him some of what he experienced under Frieza, and the thought that their guest had undergone the same kind of treatment stayed his hand from attempting to convince the others of the danger he could pose…for now at least.
Two Months Prior, Cooler's Ship
Tercres and Cooler launched at each other, exchanging a flurry of strikes and kicks. Most were blocked, but Tercres' shredded arm and reduced hand allowed Cooler to repeatedly break through his left side guard. After the third strike the saiyan felt a sickening CRACK, and pain flooded his torso. "ARRGH!" He shouted, suddenly bringing his knee into Cooler's wound and sending the lizard back several meters. A glance at the locus of the pain showed Tercres all he needed to know; several ribs were visible exiting his body, he counted himself lucky one hadn't lodged in his lungs. When his gaze shifted back to Cooler however he felt a satisfaction like nothing before. The armored form before him was hunched and panting, and his abdomen bore a gaping wound that continued to dribble blood onto the metal floor.
In Cooler's mind his wound wasn't even the worst part of the fight. The worst part had to be the continued lack of expression on his rebellious pet's face. Rage or resentment he could understand, but steely fortitude best fit the expression on Tercres' face, and it disquieted his otherwise confident mind. "Very good, monkey, you managed to damage me," He started, attempting to get a rise out of his rebellious charge. "Of course, just like the rest of your filthy species your efforts will amount to NOTHING!" Cooler finished, eager to see the effect his insult would have on the saiyan's pride. When the figure before him didn't indicate having even heard the barb, much less any inclination to react on it, the disquieting murmurs in Cooler's subconscious became a roar, and with nothing but rage and desire to see his opponent dead at his feet the tyrant charged for Tercres.
Cooler may have been less willing to give in to his anger if he had known why his words had no effect. Tercres considered himself a man above his emotions, yet even he would likely have given in to thoughts of revenge if he had heard the jab Cooler spat at him. However one of Cooler's first attacks to his head had shaken his eardrums, all that the saiyan could hear was blood pumping through his head, and a constant dull roar. He noticed Cooler talking, but as he couldn't hear the statement, he obviously didn't react. When Cooler seemed to suddenly lose his reserve and charged suddenly back into the fray however he immediately noted the difference in the fight. Ducking under a wild swing and retaliating with a brutal uppercut Tercres saw that the game had changed. 'He's getting sloppy,' the saiyan thought, sidestepping another vicious, but poorly aimed kick, 'I need to end this before he actually lands one of those.'
Tercres returned to the offensive after dodging a series of inaccurate blows, hammering Cooler in the face twice with his good hand and forcing the purple fighter to bring his guard up. The next time Cooler threw a punch with his left Tercres swayed to his right, at the same time turning and grabbing his opponent's wrist. Before Cooler could react Tercres wrenched the limb downward, at the same time bringing his knee up, and with a sickening SNAP the armored limb bent and broke, and as Cooler pulled out of his grip with an anguished yell Tercres saw his left arm hanging limp, much like his own mutilated limb.
The next part would be tricky, Tercres knew; he could hurt Cooler, but what he needed was a killing blow. Thinking of his options, the saiyan grimaced, 'either way, this is gonna hurt, a lot,' Resolved on his course of action Tercres watched Cooler as the larger armored form tried in vain to move its broken arm, before returning Tercres' gaze with a stare of hate. "I'll KILL YOU!" Cooler roared as he recklessly charged the saiyan again. Not fully realizing the extent that his injury would affect his fighting style, he led with his left, leaving himself wide open, in one of the last mistakes Cooler would ever make.
