Yo! Ginyu and the crew! Formation Saga (Chapter 1)
Jaco
A spaceship shaped like a ladybug floated on by as a green alien with large bug eyes laid back, reclined on the white leather in the cockpit. He wore a deep royal purple bodysuit with white armour, gloves, boots, and matching white equipment. His small stature was well suited for the would-be cramped nature of his inhabitance. Among the front of his armour piece was an insignia, a deep black zig zag with a black dot just above. The man goofed off, watched the stars and fell asleep during his post, awakened some time later by a beeping distress signal blaring as loud as could be, forcing him to shoot up lackadaisical.
"Huh?" The guy let out dumbly as the lights turned red overhead and the sirens shouted at him with the grace of a lion. A small radar on the front of the dash alerted him to something and he typed on the keys, forcing a larger version of the sonar to display over the glass instead.
DWERR-DWERR-DWERR!
"..."
DWERR-DWERR-DWERR!
"Oh crap!"
After taking longer than he should have, the small alien placed an iron grip over the controls in the cockpit and shoved it left as far as it would go. The ladybug spacecraft responded in kind, edging out of the flight path of a sphere-like ship by mere hairs, the speed forcing the man's craft in a bit of a tumble as he tried to reign in control once more.
SKUUUUUUUUUUUU~
"No way…" The man stated, his large yellow eyes wide as could be. "That's a Saiyan pod… they're not supposed to be out here." The green alien remarked to himself as he stood up tall and eyed the disappearing grey sphere. "Is The Cold Estate expanding..?"
The Saiyan pod all but disappeared from view as The Ladybug Driver contemplated, his white glove cupped underneath his chin. He snapped a single time.
Clatt!
"He's by himself." The man proclaimed after another checking of the sonar on the dash. "I'm checking this one out. The Cold Estate still hasn't caught up with Our technology."
The green alien tapped on a bunch of buttons before grabbing hold of a shift and jamming it forward, the lights provided by the nearby stars crawled towards the window and dragged on like lines as the ladybug ship propelled into maximum overdrive. Within seconds of speeding through the empty space, the empty space became not so empty, a single Saiyan pod already behind him. The Ladybug Driver jammed a couple buttons on the console and pulled out a walkie talkie from the panel, shouting at it and glaring at the Saiyan pod as his vehicle's sirens activated and red and blue lights dominated the nearby cosmos.
"Pull over! This is The Galactic Police! You have a right to remain silent! If you resist arrest you are consenting to execution! Anything you say can and will be used against you for your trial!"
"Gimmea' break…" A defeated man lamented with a low-hanging neck, cramped up inside the red leather of the Saiyan pod as the words of a feminine sounding voice blared through his comms. "I'm pulling over…"
The Ladybug Driver smirked and shot a few glances.
"There!"
A gigantic white foam finger sprouted out the front of the vehicle and pointed to a desolate moon nearby, flaky rocks and stones up in the air above the mish-mash of a body. The two spacecrafts shifted gears and landed daintily on the white rock. The Ladybug Driver hopped out his ride with a dome spawned from the white equipment on the side of his head. The man who walked out of the Saiyan pod was distinctly not a Saiyan, no tail, pale skin tone, and blonde hair. His helmet was more of a clear sheen mask overlaying his face.
"What are the charges..?"
"Are you serious?"
"... What do you mean?"
"I was under the impression that no one would stop if they were from The Cold Estate."
"..."
"Heh. Looks like you were never really cut out for this kinda stuff, huh?"
"Yeah. I just opened the hangar doors mostly."
"What's your name, sir?" The Ladybug Driver asked as he got out a notepad.
"Cranberry."
"What are you doing all the way out here, Cranberry?"
"..."
"You're gonna have to say something. This airspace isn't authorised for The Cold Estate. The Galactic King declared all of North Galaxy to be Cold's... so long as he doesn't expand."
"..."
"If you don't say anything, I throw you in jail for a lifetime just for shits and gigs."
"... The Cold Estate disbanded."
"..."
"..."
Debris floated on by, some even crashing into the small lunar body and causing a minor quake as they stood still on the creviced ivory rockface.
"Come again?"
"Emperor Cold declared that The Cold Estate disband. So I was just jumping ship with everyone else."
"You jumped ship all the way to The West Galaxy? That's quite a jump, don't you think?"
"I was… thinking the further I go, the easier it would be to stay off radar in case The Emperor wasn't joking."
The Ladybug Driver dropped the pad on the rocky cliff and just strutted around with an attitude, hands on his hips as he gazed at the stars. He scoffed and turned around on a dime, white chalk kicking up from his harsh pivot.
"Really? You're not yanking my chain or anything?"
"No… why would I lie about that?"
"..."
"Emperor Cold doesn't lie and doesn't like it when others do either."
"So what the hell happened?"
"I don't know. The only thing I do know is that Lord Frieza's been missing for weeks and people think that's the cause."
"Did Frieza desert?"
"People who were employed with The Cold Estate seem to think so."
"..."
The Ladybug Driver just paced like a madman, already bulbous yellow eyes as wide as they could possibly be at the revelation. He turned tail and peered out into the blackened maroon exterior beyond them in all directions, lights glittering faintly.
"The Cold Estate is done?"
"I guess..? So?" Cranberry answered, shrugging slightly.
"..."
The stars twinkled and shifted in the spatial aether as The Galactic Policeman strained, rubbing his forehead.
"Alright. You're coming down to HQ with me. I have a bunch of questions that I need answered and that you have answers for."
"..." Cranberry just sighed, falling onto his but and placing his elbows over his knees.
"Don't worry, we can get you witness protection."
"Is that gonna matter? Emperor Cold destroyed you guys ages ago. Do you really have something that can do it this time?"
"..."
The cold pressure of space just lingered, no wind, only stalwart and steady existence on the lunar body.
"Our best unit wasn't available at the time."
"Your best unit!? That's not how it works! You go up against Cold, you lose! How much more simple can it be!?"
"..." The Ladybug Driver glared down at him with a level of assurance that somehow cast away a bit of the doubt Cranberry had just presented, his brow shaking.
"So how strong is this guy?"
"..."
Beerus & I
"Beerus!" I remember beckoning. "We have a visitor!"
"Visitor? It better not be that balding hairball Belmod." He replied lazily from bedding, almost touching the ceiling, using his sleeping arrangements like a magic carpet. "I don't feel like fighting anymore. After that lasagna it's just not the move." The gigantic fish swam by in a frenzy in the tank.
"It's not."
"The lasagna or Belmod?"
"Hmm-Hmm-Hmm. No, Beerus, Belmod isn't coming."
Then…" He closed his eyes, focusing. "Merus? What is he doing here?"
"Well he's not going to be here for a little while so I thought I'd put something on." I responded, moseying around the darkened loft with my flight, hovering over the carpet, the white tile, the polished wood furniture.
"Something on? You don't owe that half-assed poser anything." He remarked, turning over to catch more Zs.
"Hush. It's his choice. All it means is that I stay in the race a little longer."
"A little? I've been trying to get rid of your fae ass for years."
"You're too much." I replied, stifling a laugh as I made my way to the kitchen. "He likes cookies…" I remembered. "Besides."
"'Besides' what?"
"You wouldn't want Merus as your Angel. He takes things too seriously. He might actually ask you to get off your ass once in a while."
"Gah. I don't even want to think about that. I'm goin' to bed."
"Hmm-Hmm-Hmm."
I delicately crafted my special brand of sugar cookies with care and affection, bringing out the special sauce, sprinkles, and the like. I had a field day in the kitchen trying to make sure that I got Merus' hair just right on them.
"Just marvellous."
"Them shits smell good, I'm finna eat all of them before he even gets here." Lord Beerus proclaimed as he hopped onto the carpet.
"No!" I cried, defending the cookies to my very last breath, parrying his purple paws and jabs at the gifts I slaved away for.
"Give it up, Whis. Those cookies are already as good as gone."
Wsst!
"Nom."
"You're a monster~"
"Relax. Nom. I'm not gonna eat em' all."
Selfish Lord Beerus stuffed his face with about HALF of the cookies I baked before Sweet Merus even arrived. He was quite appreciative unlike some people around here. We made sure to meet him on incoming. He broke through the aether, the salmon sky parting in a lightshow of colours just as the blue water below him waded and surged, much to his dismay it would seem.
"Damn." He lamented, clearly wanting to cause less of a splash than he had. "Hello, Whis."
"Merus." I bowed.
"Good to see you again."
"Likewise."
"Whis baked you some cookies so you'd better be grateful."
"The nerve~" I thought, scowling at Lord Beerus.
Merus brought in close and we hugged it out before he took a cookie of his own and examined it on the way back to the living room.
"Really?"
"What?"
"My face?"
"I thought you'd like it."
Merus shook his head and fell into the chocolate coloured leather the couch possessed as I placed the rest of the batch on the coffee table.
"What are you here for?"
"I think you know."
"Know what?" I played hard to get, gazing away from Merus and raising my hands into the air dramatically.
"There's nothing you don't know." I smiled at his response. "Or I suppose I should say, there's nothing you can't find out."
"Hmm-Hmm-Hmm. Perhaps that might be more accurate."
"I just wanted to ask if you think I can do it."
"..."
"The answer is no, hairball. Let me tell you why." Lord Beerus interjected as he floated by in a modelesque pose, laying on the air and stealing another Merus-shaped cookie. "Nom~ Nom~ Cold's Right of The Strong is the most powerful out of any mortal."
"... You think I care, Beerus?"
"Hah-HahhahHah! Perhaps not, but the facts don't change."
"Whis put in a good word for me right in front of The Grand Priest. There aren't supposed to be any Ex-Angels doing work outside of his influence."
"You were never an Angel, Merus." Lord Beerus countered as he snuck in his last cookie and sat to Merus' left on the U shaped couch. "Nom~ Only an Angel-In-Training."
"You'd know better than anyone, Beerus. Once you even Reach the training stage for our line of work you're effectively in the top 0.01%"
"That may be true but the fact still remains that Cold is literally that entire 0.01% by himself."
"Fine. If you don't have faith in me then why don't you go destroy him? You have authority right now, don't you?"
"..."
"..." I held my breath, he was technically correct, as was about to be proven by the next words coming out of his mouth.
"Angel Code 2: 'It is a God of Destruction's job to deal with an event that Would either A: change The Status Quo. Or B: deal with an event that Has changed The Status Quo."
"..." Lord Beerus said nothing, only yawning loudly and letting himself be swallowed up by the couch.
"And it's rule number one in The Galactic Patrol handbook, any infraction against The Status Quo that a G.O.D. doesn't feel is worth their time is our number one priority."
"..."
"So either you go kill Cold, or I do."
"What do you think, Whis?"
"He has the potential to succeed."
"What does that, Mean, Whis? That you want him to go train beforehand? That it's a 50-50 shot?"
"I'd sign off for 50-50."
"Hah-HahhHahhHahh! You don't have much faith in your Ex-pupil do you, Whis!?" He snarled and chuckled like a madman.
"Any fight can be won, no matter the circumstances."
"Don't peddle that shit to the boy, Whis. You said it yourself, your '''''Z Fighters''''' would have lost that battle against Frieza even if he was tied up in a Katchin straight jacket. Merus is… a little bit removed from those boys but the fact still remains."
"I disagree then, Lord Beerus. Perhaps I have a different perception of him because I've trained him myself as I've trained you."
Merus was content to cup his hands and bide his time, listening to Lord Beerus and I bicker endlessly about this and that. He gazed deeply into the caricature of his face I had created on the cookie and wormed his lip about.
"Well, Merus." Beerus stated with a firm paw on his shoulder. "Don't blame me if you get faded, that's all Whis' fault."
"It's no one's fault but his own if he chooses to partake in the arrest, Beerus." I tried to impart but Beerus just shrugged it off like he does with anything that has consequence. "Merus?" He Glared back at me with determined eyes and all I had for him was: "Do what you think best. I stood by your choice all those years ago and I'll stand by this one too."
"Thanks." He replied, standing up and beckoning for a hug. "I know I can count on you."
"Likewise."
Merus
A spinning white steering wheel rotated ever so slowly as it existed along the cosmos. Purple paint splashes lined the darkened galaxy, yellows, reds, and blues shimmering in the sky like glitter. A determined man with a furrowed brow looked on from inside the strange spacecraft, his skin a deep smooth purple and his hair a familiar white tinted green sheen.
"Hmm-Hmm-Hmm!"
"What is it?"
"Nothing, Beerus."
"Ah-hem."
He was in uniform, a dark and royal purple, close to the galaxy outside the quarters he occupied. Along his purple bodysuit were orange stripes, he finished the outfit with a crimson belt and a white boot and glove combo to match his equipment, a headset of some kind and a sphere-like gun at the waist. Various employees wearing the same bodysuit passed as the man gazed out into the stars with his ethereal, unblinking eyes.
"Hey, Merus."
"..."
"Good talk." The random staff member scoffed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
Merus stood still as the people of the hallway came and went, the view outside the long stretch of window shifting ever so slightly as the seconds turned into minutes and those likewise turned to hours, the man still standing stalwart, looming. Merus' brow sharpened even more and he burst down the hallway into a speedwalk, diplomatically weaving through other employees of the establishment as they tried to shout at him, ignoring them all. The ship was circular in nature, long chrome rooms that winded in a circle only to delve deeper and then run in a circle once more. He did this a few times before he came across an elaborately decorated set of hallways, the dull chrome replaced by a pearlescent gold on either side as he maintained his pace and set foot in front of a grand entrance.
"..."
Merus prepared himself with a gesturing of the hands as if to say: 'deep breaths'. He took that deep breath and rounded the corner into a throne room. There were magnificent portraits all along the walls of the golden room, red carpet laid out as a gastly squid with several bruises, cuts, and sealed wounds took unhealthy breaths from a life preservation machine. The portraits were pretty to look at and the artistry was immaculate, but all of them were mugshots, paintings of prisoners hung up like trophies everywhere one could look. The prisoners had scowls, only a few seeming to not mind having their face embellished in the royal man's throne room.
"My liege." Merus made sure to pay his respects, kneeling deeply on the blood red carpet.
"Knnnn~" Bulululu~ "~Suuuu~ What… are you here for, Merus?" Kulululu~
In the large container hooked up to the throne was a medium-sized octopus cut down to a small-sized basically only head of an animal. His eyes were dead, a lifelessness meeting Merus' before drifting off lazily and then finding their way back to the middle once again.
"Have you heard the news about The Cold Estate?"
"Knnnnn~" Bulululu~ "~Suuuu~ I have. What's your… ~Suuu~ motive?" Bubblululu~
Each breath taken in the tube, mask on, looked like it actively did damage to the pulpy lifeform. Blue and bruised veins marked and breathed along with him each time, his green skin defeated and deflated. This octopus didn't live up to his name, three legs only, the other five cut off at various points at the limb.
"I shouldn't have to explain myself to you of all people."
The octopus' brow furrowed and his lazy eyes stared with intensity at Merus' words.
"~Suuu~ Then you should know… ~Suuuu~ better than to mess with Cold." Bulululu~
"I can take Cold, always have been able to. It was only because we waited around too long to do anything after Cold Wind. If you let me in on the operation then and there Cold wouldn't even exist. Now that his offspring have also deserted we have nothing standing in our way."
"~Suuu~" Bubblulu~
"I was an Angel in training at one point, sire. Cold may be near God of Destruction levels but so am I. It's now or never. If he's really disbanded the empire we have one chance and- I Never Miss."
"~Suuu~" Kulululu~
"Sire?"
"~Suuu~ Do... ~Suuu~ what you want. You… ~Suuu~ know that I can't stop you. But… ~Suuu~ You cannot defeat Cold." Bubblululu~
"Watch me, my liege. This is our one chance at turning him in."
The octopus closed his eyes, his blue veins drawing to the surface and panging as he took several slow breaths through the device.
"I'll return with his head."
In a flash, Merus walked through the metal hallways, skirted through security, dashed on the last bit of the runway and yelled up to the hangar staff.
"I'm Catching Cold! Who's with me!?" His stoic delivery raised some eyebrows as he opened up the cockpit.
"..."
"I don't got all day."
Captain Ginyu
"What are we doin' back hea' Cap'n!? Isn't Cold gonna bust our shiit!?" Jeice yelled as they walked right back into the hagar on C.O.1.
"Possibly."
"Then~"
"You don't trust The Captain?" Turles shot back diplomatically.
"You're on some thin fohkin' oice, mate! You try gettin' cheeky with me Oi'll smackya back ta next week! Oi'm stiil stronga'n yew."
The Saiyan grinned as the trio marched, echoes formulating from their white boots, new insignia brightly emblazoned on Turles' Saiyan armour.
"Guldo? You all set?" The Captain questioned, fingertip on his scouter.
"Yup."
"Recoome?"
"Affirmative."
"Salza, how bout you?"
"Magnifique."
"Great. Once those sight scopes are set up we're outta here."
"Whoiy are we settin' up sight scopes, Cap'n?"
"We'll talk about it on the ship." The Captain responded as he and Turles put the large telescope into view of the building, blasted opening and all, The Commande Centre still exposed to all who were brave enough to come and see.
"No need, Captain, I've got this."
Ginyu nodded as Recoome spoke back through everyone's comms.
"So we know that The Cold Estate is a huge empire dealing in the selling of stars."
"Hah! Mate, weya' past all that shiit. Yew know that."
"Of course. But one thing people don't know is~"
Jeice swallowed once as Turles looked through the scope and gave the go ahead with a thumbs up. Ginyu patted The Saiyan a big one on the shoulder pauldron and subsequently the gang headed back to the hangar.
"Selling stars needs to be run by The Galactic Patrol before it can ever be cleared. And it's illegal to do so without approval."
"We'll fahkin' Obviously mate. I don't really undastand whatcha' troiyin' to say ta me roight now."
"The Galactic Patrol tried to arrest Emperor Cold over 100 years ago."
"Areya' serious?"
The trio waded through the metal, echoey stomps reverberating through the metal garage as Ginyu opened up the back end of the ship and Jeice sat at the edge of the latch.
"Yep. Cold not only resisted arrest but annihilated 93% of the officers under employment with The Galactic Patrol."
Jeice was starstruck as Bardock launched it and the ship hovered along the hangar before the latch finally closed, forcing a scramble from the second in command back inside the ship.
"It's referred to by The Galactic Patrol as 'Operation: Cold Win-d'. From that day forth The Galactic King, the guy who runs their operations gave up the goose, told The Galactic Patrol to completely leave The Cold Estate alone. Now their priority has been squarely focused on crime in The East and West Galaxies."
"Now." Ginyu spoke determinately, a sharp pivot on the metal causing a squeal to usher into the enclosed space. "I predict that The Galactic Patrol, having heard of the disbandment of The Cold Estate will try and catch any stragglers on the way out, Or try their luck at capturing Cold. Word's probably got out that Frieza isn't here anymore either. We've gotta bounce, but I've set up those sight scopes in the four most likely places on the planet that our late emperor would inhabit. Though, I'm a little hesitant to believe that he would leave the throne room. He loves that place too much to part ways with it. This planet is actually technically named C.O. 804 but Emperor Cold loves that fresco so much that he swapped this with number one. If he's going off-world you best believe he's knocking that ceiling loose and taking it with him."
Jeice hopped up on the bench and dog eyed the planet as it crawled further and further away from them.
"We don't have as much access to private knowledge about The Galactic Patrol as I would like seeing as everyone in The Cold Estate are criminals, ~us included~ but if my plan pulls through we might see an arrest or another slaughter."
A crooked smile drew to the second in command's face.
"Really?"
"We're likely closer to the second one. And if The Galactic Patrol's best get wiped out in this generation, absolutely no one can stop us from building an armada."
"Yes!" Jeice shouted as he presented a high five. "Hands up, Cap'n!"
"YEAHH!" The pair shouted with glee.
Slapp!
"Attention." Ginyu spoke diplomatically into the comms.
"Yessir." Everyone responded in sync over the scouters.
"Remember, this is a hard read. I have no full confirmation other than that The Galactic Patrol knows that The Cold Estate disbanded. This is a stakeout, first and foremost, if nothing comes to pass we'll have wasted a month of our lives."
"..." Jeice held the pose, knife edge salute over his forehead.
"But that's time I'm willing to expend so that The Armada has a good knowledge base, is that clear?"
"Yessir!"
"Any objections?"
"No Sir!"
"Good, now let's skedaddle on out of here and hide somewhere rural. Those sight scopes can transmit signals far out into the cosmos, we don't have to be anywhere Near those things to be able to watch a live feed. I say let's go get something to eat boys."
"YEAHH!" They all hooted and hollered over the scouters, Bardock shaking his head as a smile formed on his face.
"Where are we landing, Captain?" The Saiyan questioned as he took a deep inhale through his nostrils and cranked his neck hard with a forceful palm of his hand.
Cricc.
"Mmm!"
"Planet Yardrat."
"..?"
"You don't know Yardrat?"
"No." He spoke plainly in response, stargazing and rolling his shoulders.
Jeice laid down on the bench and exhaled a cathartic breath.
"Yardrat is that bytchin' sweet place with all the groit droinks. Yew outta luvit' bein' a Saiyan an allat. Figure you could have a pissin' contest with Bahtah, that'or you could knock back a few with me."
"I'd drop your ass in second, Jeice."
"Oh really?" He stomped upright, locking eyes and forcing a grin along Turles' face. "Oi'd loike to see yew troy, bugga."
"What're the stakes, this shit don't matter if we're slamming cold ones for no reason."
"Stakes eh? I can diig it. How bout' this? Me and yew, mano-y-mano. Whoever downs the most beverages gets the other's share of fruits for a whole month."
Ginyu chuckled like a bastard, shoving his big purple hand onto Turles' armour and forcing him to the forefront of the bay.
"Hrah-Hah-Hrah!"
Whapp-DonDon!
"You gonna put that down?"
"Half? I surrender half of all the fruits we get to Jeice if I lose?" Turles shot back, slapping The Captain one on the chest.
"Yeah, you too chicken-shit, bro?" The Captain inquired.
"Fuck, I ain't no bitch."
"Oh shiit~" Jeice rocked on the bench with the goofiest smile on his face. "Yor, chums, Tahless an Oi are fahkin' betting a month's worth of fruit on a pissin' contest."
"You're sssshittin'."
"Nar, Oi ain't shittin', not yet. Heheheh~" He cackled out as Bardock weaved through the heavy traffic of stoney debris.
"Come on, Jeisss, bet me halfff."
"Nor way, Oi ain't jus' finna' throw away moi hard earned shiit jus' loike that. Soides, we don't knor what kinna' sloppy toppy he's gonna give the bottle."
"The what?" Turles questioned with authority, brows raised, face askew.
Ginyu, Burter, and The Captain lost it as Turles stood in the middle of the bay with a curious look about him.
"Yardrat's still in The North Galaxy, right?" Bardock's commanding voice sounded over the comms of the ship.
"Affirmative. Coordinates should already be pre-programmed since we're still using Cold Estate gear. We're gonna have to go analogue if the network stops functioning or if we start using different ships. I'd prefer we find some way to preserve what Cold and his team built if at all possible." Ginyu responded as he walked through the deck and met up with the father in the cockpit.
The droning of the machines, stifled coughs and breathing of the four of them were all that filled their long voyage until they finally settled into the atmosphere of a gassy planet. Green swirls and smoke fogged up the sphere as they came into view, Jeice hooted and hollered the closer they came.
"Whoar, looka' that. Holy shiit. That bugga hotboxed like a mathafahka."
"They gassed up for real." The Captain joked back, slapping Jeice on the face for seemingly no reason. Jeice chuckled and did the same which resulted in a full blown slapping contest on the way down. Bardock shifted in his seat and slowed it down, the giant machine grinding to a halt as they descended upon the rocky planet. The landscape was filled with quarries, caverns, canyons, and most importantly, spires. The landmass was otherworldly, possessing many thin columns of rocks that almost looked like trees. The father of three tuned it, reigning in the mechanical beast as he pressed the last few necessary buttons, causing the latch to wind down and touch earth beneath.
"Whatare the chances of that fair maiden still fiendin' after Bahtah's Tree a Moight, Cap'n?"
"100% Copasetic."
"Fahkin' copasetic. Knn~" Jeice snorted out, slapping Ginyu in a fit as the two broke out in tears and onto the stone below. The pair shifted around before Jeice let out a shrieking yell of a stretch, the reverberating sound booming in a titanic echo through the stonescape. Ginyu and Jeice laughed it up as Turles stepped out just after them and Bardock a minute later.
"We planting a tree here?"
"What are you asking me for, Bardock?"
The father of three raised a brow as he locked eyes with The Captain.
"Your boy is the one in charge, ask him."
Bardock then met the eyes of his son, trying to communicate with a subtle shifting of his eyes.
"Captain."
Ginyu just nodded back to Turles as they stood on the cold grey stone.
"From the way you and Jeice have been talking I take it you've been to Yardrat before?"
"Yes, dozens of times."
Turles mapped out the landscape, eyeing not that much life in the cracked earth, nor much in the long spires, and especially nothing in the deep canyons just over yonder.
"From the way you've been talking you say that The Galactic Patrol has always been a threat but we've got off easy due to the privileges of being associated with The Cold Estate?" His voice trailed off into the cavernous wilds of the somewhat dampened stone nothingness.
"Affirmative, we'll have to play our cards right from now on. I've got intel that states that The Galactic Patrol has a tight lock on The East and West Galaxies. Preferably we'd like to keep a low profile and then stay here in The North or shift gears and haul ass all the way to South Galaxy for the least amount of harassment."
"You like this place?"
"..."
His voice banged off the walls before fading into the abyss below them as familiar ships broke the atmosphere up above.
"Yeah."
"Hell yea' mate. Oi have the toime of moi loife when we goof off hea'."
"Then I guess we're not planting a tree."
"There we gor, bud! Heheheh~" Jeice cackled out as he jumped Turles, throwing his arm over before being swiftly denied. "Or, iit would seem that our lad has yet to settle iin. Foisty."
The clanging of ship landing gear bellowed out into the caverns causing little reptiles to scatter about out of the cracks of the land and skitter elsewhere. Soon enough, everyone met up and asked the question:
"Where are we eating, Cap'? We goin' down to that plasse with the sssmooth Jass?"
Ginyu and Jeice had a laughing fit much to everyone else's confusion.
"I think that means yes." Turles remarked as he crossed his arms defiantly.
The Captain and his second in command hollered as they got up and flew as a group over the stoney landscape.
"There's smooth jazz on this thing? This place?" Cui asked, scanning the dusty wasteland of grey rocks. "Could have fooled me…"
The squadron of 9 pulled along the endless expanse of stone for a long time, Bardock having trouble keeping up with their speed and so was forced to jump along the stone instead to keep up.
"Oh sssshit! You can't hang, Bardock?" Burter teased, crossing his arms behind his back, cheesing wide and leaning on the air as he pivoted around.
"Shut up!"
"There'sss nothing to be ashamed of, you want me to come pick you up down there?"
"Not on your life!"
"Sssseemsss the babiessss a little fusssy. You want to go tuck him in, Turlesss?"
"Tch." Turles grinned, shaking his head at the comment but not sparing any laughs that broke out as a result of the taunts.
"Don't worry it'sss not too much longer."
"Don't hold your S's too much longer or you'll give your tongue a bigger workout than your body! Fasssstessst in the universssse my assss~"
"Hrah-Hah-Hrah!"
"Tch-heh-heh!"
"Heheheheheh!" Jeice cackled in a rapid fire. "Oh, Shiit, lor blow, man!"
"Fuckin' Ssssaiyanss." Burter chuckled. "Can't even tease em' without havin' them dog on your ssspeach impediment. Rat bassstard."
Wsst! Wsht! Fasht!
"You started it goofy-assss." The father of three yelled back as he leaped from pillar to pillar, using his hand to land and guide each consecutive lunge.
"Iszis what you barbarians dew all day? Rag on eachozour? Becouz if zat's ze case maybe zhis new occupation won't be zou bad."
"You shoulda known when to keep ya' mouth shut. They gonna rag on your ass iif you put iit out there, mate."
"Rag on my azz? Why are a bunch of men ragging on my azz, zeems a litel zuspect, no?"
"He's got a point." Turles replied with a grin as the rocky monuments dotted the landscape less and less, the bombastic and powerful flight propelling the unit across the stone.
"Yew got somethin' against the gays maite? Yew soundin' propa' insensitive."
"Chock him up as not very progressssive."
"Heheheheh~ Oi'll say."
"Ligmy airy azzcrack, putain."
"I don't knor what that last shiit was but you hear that Bahtah?"
"Oh yesss, it would appear he wants someone to lick hisss asscrack."
"Now That's suspect, mate."
"Raler~" Salza rolled his eyes as the blue and red goofballs lost it and a small smile crept along his blue lips.
The gang crossed the quarry and entered into a cityscape, still on the rocks. In the middle of town were four gigantic pillars, Turles furrowed his brow and used his hand as a visor as he gazed up at the foggy skyline. Yardrat was dark, all the gas up above shrouding the planet in a dull hue.
"How far up do those things go?" Turles raised a brow at the oddity before he realised he was the only one who cared, everyone else had already filed out of the sky and onto the ground.
Whnn.
Except one.
"Come on, Turles. It's just over here." Recoome welcomed with his big hand.
The pair touched the ground and pushed the double doors open, a warm scented wind washed over them, the cold nibbling at Turles' fingertips were gone and instead replaced by a candlelit evening and rambunctious yet controlled brass instruments. There were two types of people in the establishment, smaller, rotund individuals with a wide-eyed look about them, possessing dot eyes as well as strange misshapen teardrop domes and taller, much more slender individuals with beady eyes, dark patches, bald heads, and whiskers.
The band on stage played a low tune as a feminine-sounding tone rocked the halls. Her white dress was embellished with orange and blue metal plating, it almost looked like armour. Turles furrowed his brow and followed Recoome's lead as they pushed through the people in the front and met up with the others in a large circular booth against the wall. Smooth leathers and black tables dotted the club and the low lighting in the rectangular lights above ushered in an intoxicating vibe.
"Where's... Burter…" Turles glanced at the front row seats for the performers and saw him there as he wiggled into the booth, question answered as he asked it.
The pink, skinned woman didn't belt lyrics it was more like ethereal sing-songing, conjuring melodic tunes from the stomach that were pleasing to listen to, jiving with the smooth brass perfectly. As soon as he sat down on the stool she didn't take her eyes off him, other club patrons shifted jealous gazes at Burter as he shot back a smooth grin to the dame lulling her heart out on stage.
"I did not know zis."
"Yea. Bahtah's got that chiick wrapped around his finga' the thing iis tho, he's definitely wrapped around hers too."
"Sou? You coume here to help a brozher out?"
"Yup. Gotta unwind somehow. He's the only one in the group who seems to care about that kind of stuff." Ginyu let out with a yawn, stretching and reclining into the black leather of the booth. "I feel like it's bad practice to let it get in the way of work, especially the things we do."
"..." Turles sharpened his brow and just watched as Burter ordered a drink and locked eyes with her, the silky white dress shimmering under the candlelights. "Captain?"
"What is it, Turles?" The Captain inquired as he leaned his veiny bald head on the back of the upholstery.
"Were you just gonna let me blow the joint if I said yes?"
"... You'll only catch my veto if I think it negatively affects the group. You're the asset manager for the fruits, Turles. I can't say no to you without a reason."
"So if I said we were planting a tree here then Burter would have to hold that?"
"Assumedly."
"..."
"Interesting."
Guldo undid his knapsack and passed out four flat screen tablets. Recoome snatched one quick as did Salza, Bardock grabbing the last one as Guldo placed the last one in front of their Captain. After a few clicks here and there, the live feed fed through and the table watched carefully.
"... You guys got anything?" Recoome asked plainly, eyeing the suspects.
"Not a whispere."
"Not shit." Bardock replied, scratching his deep brown locks.
Guldo shook his head no and Recoome nodded. The performance went on for quite a while, the group got their drinks and ordered from the menu.
"Merci." Salza graciously bowed his head to the server as he received his drink and took a long swig from the tall glass before delicately placing it on the napkin provided.
After the show, the singer beckoned to Burter with a single index finger as she walked the line to the back room. Burter got up from his seat and left some cash on the counter. Hushed speech, low hums from the fire of candles, and the clinckin of glass and metal were all that was heard as the group watched the four tablets patiently.
Merus
"Merus! Hey! Talk to me!" A voice blared out over the intercom of Merus' ship. He took up the device and spoke back sharply.
"Jaco? I didn't see you in the hangar, are you coming to see Cold's demise?"
"I just don't want you to do anything rash."
"If rash is making sure Cold doesn't get away with illegal activity for 200 years straight then I might be the only one rash in the entire police force."
"Hey, more power to ya. I love that you're taking the job seriously, I'm just coming in to provide back up, bro. I don't want you making any stupid moves."
"What moves are there to make, Jaco? Cold's a criminal that is Apparently above the criminal justice system. Nah. I'm not letting this starseller see the light at the end of the tunnel. There's no light for scum like him who prey on weaker populi just because they possess the power to do so."
Merus' ship was almost a one-for-one of Jaco's, a half oval number that sped along the stars like a computer mouse, weaving and zigzagging out of the way of debris. An entire army of spaceships crawled along the maroon-tinted splashes of galaxy behind the pair as they made their way to the last known coordinates.
"You said Cranberry ratted out C.O.1 as his last known location?"
"Yup. Apparently there's something on that planet that Emperor Cold is really attached to."
"He's no longer an emperor, remember? Don't call that scum a name he doesn't deserve."
"Heh-Heh. My bad."
Merus' face sharpened up as they reached the outskirts of a planet, stark white domiciles standing in contrast to the deep blue grass and khaki coloured dirt.
"Prepare to land." Merus called out over everyone's intercoms, speaking into the talkie.
GZZHHHHHUUUUUUU~Plink-Plinkk.
The ladybug battalion of spacecrafts landed in a symphony of springing noises, their legs touching the ground in a crescendo wave. Merus popped the lid and hopped out the craft with a determined scowl. He cracked his neck and his knuckles simultaneously.
"Hey!" Bardock shouted. "Turn to live feed 3! Someone just landed."
The group huddled around, food still in their mouth, Jeice spilling a drink before catching it mid-way, almost splashing the table full of some sort of alcohol, red cheeks marked even redder.
"Loive feed three..? Whoiy'ssat?" His speech slurred as he gazed upon the fuzzy video, head spinning, drink still in hand.
Turles was having trouble holding his own as well, rocking back and forth slowly, clamping his mouth shut and only opening it for a sloppy drink here and there.
"We'll likely have to switch to live feed 4 soon enough. Unless Cold doesn't want to fight anywhere near his masterpiece."
The group corralled in tight and shoved themselves into a row of onlookers, placing the flatscreens side by side as Guldo configured with them all to procure a larger picture, a seamless stacking of the four tablets that resulted in a full image. Ginyu smiled, putting a hand on Guldo's shoulder and focusing up at the event before them. Burter busted out of the back room quickly, zooming across the club, almost knocking tables over as he leaped and drew the line of his frame above everyone.
"What did I missss?"
"Nothin' yet." Cui remarked as he placed his hands together and furrowed his brow.
Merus and crew marched along before he spoke loud and proud.
"When we converge on Cold, I urge everyone to make sure to use the devices to check for his power! I repeat, do NOt try and sense for his ki using yours!"
Ginyu and company all shot looks at each other except for Cui who only nodded deeply.
"Now is everyone ready?"
They all saluted then filed in behind Merus as he got out a megaphone and shouted across the blue grass and towards the main building.
"Cold!"
"..."
The still wind on the planet provided no response, the anxious soldiers stood firm but with weakening resolve the longer they existed in the space. Shakes and bending knees were commonplace as Jaco eyed his and Merus' backup. His lip wormed around in worry as well.
"What should I be afraid of? Merus is right. We've been too lax, bending over backwards so that we don't follow our own rules. Pathetic." Jaco chastised himself, hand on his gun as he stomped ahead of the march and stood toe to toe with The Ex-Angel. "I should be standing side by side putting the cuffs on this kingpin. Everyone's reign has to end some time."
One half of The Right of The Strong is about the willpower of the user. The more one believes in their own power the more that power is spoken into existence. And conversely, the more one perceives a user of The Right of The Strong as threatening the more their subconscious actually fights against ones will. That being, The Right of The Strong supercedes the accolades of someone who is powerful so long as they believe in the might of their superior. The more well known a name and the more narcissistic that person is in reality, the more power they are fed by the will of the universe. Only someone like Merus, an Ex-Angel in training can stand against such a force with no negative effects on either his psyche, or ki usage. It is why almost all Gods of Destruction are arrogant, they have to be, if they aren't the universe won't speed up their progress.
Merus kissed his own lips in disgust, shaking his head before speaking into the mic again.
"Emperor Col-"
DWANN! THUUUUMMMMMM!
The titanic 10-foot body of The Emperor loomed over the entire unit without a second thought, ripping gale winds blazing out in every direction, pulling apart the armour and equipment of several officers.
"I heard you." He cleared his throat before speaking, checking his black polished nails after.
Merus dropped the megaphone on the grass and locked eyes with the monster.
"Cold. You are under arrest for multiple counts of illegal starselling, drug possession, illegal trade of resources without a permit, genocide, enslavement, theft, racketeering."
"Now That's not true. All that other stuff might be but racketeering? That's not reflected in any capacity. I am a man of my word."
"..."
"Go on, don't let Me stop you."
"-Homicide, planetary arson, larceny, resisting arrest, bribery."
"I don't like the word bribery. I don't feel it's wholly accurate. I've made deals but I'm not comfortable calling them Bribes, come on now."
"-Extortion, child labour."
"Child Labour? You're going to try and get me on that? Please. Some races Want to fight as soon as they shoot out the womb. You're trying to fine me for putting Saiyans on the battlefield as children? That's ludacris."
"I'm not gonna read them all out to you, Cold. You know what you've done wrong and you know those offences add up to thousands of lifetime sentences."
"Huh-Huh-Huh-Huh-Huhheh!" Cold's pompous laugh rocked the earth beneath them, a sizable quake ushered forth from a chuckle alone. The ground at first felt a little unstable but the more he let it rip the harder it was to move, soldiers took a forceful kneel or fell right over under the magnitude. "Oh. You're serious?"
"..."
The litany of officers attempted to stand their ground and shake off the ethereal force seeming to subjugate them but Cold protested, maintaining dominant eye contact with Merus but raising and then lowering his hand. A wave of pressure impacted everyone behind the Ex-Angel, Jaco being the only one to truly fight against it. Their boots dug into the blue grass and the many officers suffered nosebleeds, eye bleeds, earbleeds, ruptured vessels and internal bleeding, bruises marking the surface of their frame as Cold steadily lowered his hand on the air.
"What the hell..? ..!" Escaped Jaco's teeth as he shot a shocked glance back at all the broken men behind him.
Merus sharpened his brow and shifted his gaze just slightly to the black horns above his eye line.
"What happened to your other horn? That wasn't in the registry."
"Huh-Huh-Huhheh. That happened a few years ago."
Also over 100 years previous.
"You come all the way out here to arrest me and you don't even have your facts straight? What a riot. First you incorrectly deduce that I'm a racketeer and then you don't even know that I lost my horn in a fight? You're too much."
"..."
"..."
Cold loomed down over Merus but the Ex-Angel glared right back, sparks starting to snap into existence and the ground around them starting to bend and shape to their will.
"Enough, Cold. We finish this now. Are you going to come quietly?"
Cold just smiled wickedly.
"I take that as a no."
"I thought I had diplomatic immunity. Is that to say that The Galactic King was lying after all?"
"..."
"I'm a man of my word but it seems that The Galactic Patrol follow the model of: 'Do as I say, not as I do'."
Merus gripped his white glove tightly, the fabric underneath his nails ripping as his blood brewed to a boil.
"Shame."
"..."
"Well. I'm not gonna spend my years locked up in a cell, but I don't want to have to kill you all either. You have one last chance and I won't hold it against you."
"Merus…" Jaco dared not let aloud as he shifted his shaky gaze to The Ex-Angel.
"Go on. Use your better judgement and run far, Far away from here."
"..."
"Huh-Huh-Huh-Huhheh!" His throaty, posh laugh rocked the world in another bombastic earthquake, Merus the only one still standing besides The Emperor after all was said and done.
Merus locked eyes with Cold and undid his tracksuit, zipping down the top half after he threw his chest piece on the ground, followed by his communicators on each ear, then his gloves. Lastly he detached his belt and threw it on the ground along with his pistol.
"..!" Jaco's wide yellow egg yolk eyes freaked out. "Merus is… gonna go all out. I've never seen him~"
A white wispy aura wrapped around his frame as his elderly bowlcut started flaring upwards in small increments. His sharp lavender eyes shifted to an ethereal silver as did his white-tinted green hair, a proper silver sheen as blue aura gathered behind the white in a magnificent glow, all occurring in a matter of seconds.
"I'm impressed, I've never encountered a technique like This before. Well done." Cold remarked with sassy claps, taking a lap as he chuckled to himself.
Ultra Instinct.
As soon as the last bit of aura locked in, Merus blinked and darted with an incomplete step-in, one second he was standing, the next slamming in a full-commit haymaker of a right hand.
WHAMMM! FYuuuuuuuuuuuuunnn~ Sssufff!
The police force all around starved for breath, trying desperately to suck in anything they could as they collapsed on the ground for dear life.
"How are we..?" Jaco thought as he took a kneel on the grass.
Merus VS Emperor Cold
Objective: Place the starselling Emperor Cold under arrest!
The shockwave rolled across the grass, then across the buildings, then across the ships, then across oceans, then across the equator, meeting up with the second station on the other side, then along the entirety of the planet, the wave clapping back double time with a planetwide sonic boom just at the touching of the pair's fists.
"Oh my god!" An officer yelped as he hung onto the grass with a clenched fist planted into the dirt like a rock climber on his last leg, billowing gales slicing into his skin from the affair.
The ferocious tirade went on for ages as Emperor Cold and his combatant locked shot after shot, just them blocking each other's blows knocking buildings over and everyone else on their ass. Interestingly, the grass and dirt pulled and uprooted in square chunks, not rippy uneven segments. Merus and Cold swung wildly, Wildly, missing by hairs with blows that could take someone's head off in one shot before The Ex-Angel pivoted skillfully off the air and landed a double jump thrust kick with his flight path.
Duh-DOOOOOOOMMMM!
The resulting shockwave sent everyone who had stood up by this point right back into the dirt, vehicles in the path were not so lucky, flung right into the sky from the massive blowback as Cold flew along the planet, his long tail slithering like a snake before Merus came back overtop, a thunderous right hand wound back.
FOOSHH!
A swing and a miss.
THUMM!
A left roundhouse and a punish.
Wsst! Skfffffff~
Merus caught the ground with his palms, dirt flying up every which way as Cold shot out a sonic boom cone into the stars. Merus stood up and let his arms limp, dodging the monstrous blows with his chest and head movement alone. Merus let a left slip through, guiding it along with his right hand before swinging back the other way and landing a mean backfist, halting The Emperor's pressure. Cold was only perturbed by the fact and not by any wavering of his resolve, he stomped on the ground with a fury, his positioning and something else forcing Merus' hand and stopping him dead in his tracks, his white eyes looking like a deer's in the headlights.
WHOKK!
THUNKKTUNKKTUNKTHUNKTHUNKKTUNKTHUNKK! SKLLLLLuuuuupp! Sllllluu~
The haymaker of an overhand looked to snap Merus' neck from the other side as he plunged him into the abyss. Through the grass, through the dirt, through the stone walls, through the stalactite tunnels, through the limestone, through the beautiful gem caverns, through the rocky final stages of the crust and into the core of the planet. Merus landed right smack dab in the middle of a soupy magma core, his hand only singed as he used it to stop himself, his purple tracksuit being the one to show damage after the heavy hit. The red-yellow melting pot of heat splashed as Merus' struggled to get upright in the soupy jelantenous cage of doom. Cold launched right after The Ex-Angel with no fear, leaping into the unknown with a left-stomp lunge.
Merus weaved it like it was his job, almost limboing as Cold lined up another haymaker. Merus dodged preemptively and the defence worked but the resulting force just blasted the cave's structural integrity to kingdom come. Merus snapped out of U.I. to witness the sheer magnitude of Cold's strength with full awareness.
SCWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
The punch didn't land on anything, yet, but the air cut like a scythe. The sharp winds just kept building and building, the sound not stopping until it came into contact with the other side of the core and ripped through the rock like a hot knife through butter. The rocky stone stood no chance, neither did the glittery gems, nor the dirt and certainly not the grass.
SHWINGGGG!
Merus' jaw dropped as in less than a second, Cold carved the planet into 3/4ths, punching him down to the core and then lopping off the entirety behind him. Through all the gems, magma, stone and stalagmites were the indigo sky and the beautiful stars staring back. A thousand thoughts passed through as Cold spared no moment's hesitation, after he whiffed, he shifted gears and rooted his stance deep in the magma, preparing his next strike. A cold breeze broke out despite the blistering and boiling shin-deep lava. Merus' heart skipped a beat as he locked eyes with The Emperor.
"That's not…" He contemplated. "That wasn't… ki. He can just Do that?"
This is why there are Gods of Destruction. Rationally, people understand that it takes quite a level of force to destroy a planet, if we remember correctly, back on Planet Vegeta, Frieza deliberately powered up to deliver The Death Ball. He was unable to provide a level of force capable of capsizing the planet without Golden Forme. For some reason, mortals think that higher level beings can destroy planets for free, that is simply not the case. It takes a power level around 600,000 or so to expend the ki necessary to destroy an Earth-sized planet.
Frieza also expended his entire pool of ki to form the attack because the technique used wasn't very well suited for the job. A technique like The Tri-Beam, an attack that uses the user's life force in tandem with their ki is a far more well tuned attack for the sake of raw punching power and destructive capability. Starting at around give or take 430,000-ish battle power is when one could expect to see Earth punched apart by an attack like The Tri-Beam. This however, was different. Cold is so astronomically powerful that the impact of his fist and combined with his Right of The Strong, that Cold Estate Number 1 simply couldn't handle the sheer might on display, choosing to get out of the way of the blast zone instead of try and test Cold's power. The longer one who possesses The Right of The Strong stays in an isolated location, the stronger The Right builds. Preferably, Merus would have taken him off-world to fight as Cold's power would be lessened.
Merus shifted his eyes right back to Cold's and the two stared down as the magma boiled, time slowing down to a crawl.
"No matter." The Ex-Angel stated to himself. "I'll just show him that he's wasting his energy."
Fshuu!
With a sharp left, Merus put on the pressure, slamming a quick fist right onto Cold's nose.
"Ho-ho! He's got some fight left in him!" He let out with a chipper disposition as he splashed around in the lava.
Sfff~
Merus' clothing started to singe and burn under the conditions as they splashed and threw bombs at each other in the pool of melting fluid. Cold lined up a three-piece of left roundhouses that went blocked until the third, the shiny cerulean shin gem whacking The Ex-Angel in the face and into the blackened wall of the bedrock. A booming reverberation forced the planet to shake and stalactites to fall. As the pair went at it on the wall the 1/4th chunk lifted ever so slightly away from the other end one exchange at a time. Merus dodged along the wall like a pro boxer using the ropes, expertly counting out the pressure as more white wisps started to formulate around his shape until he got the read he needed and elbowed the shiny black armour into a dancing pivot to the outside. The blow went unnoticed but that wasn't the point, as Merus rounded the back the real hit came and Merus full sent a jumping back thrust kick.
WHUMMMmmmmle~
The earthy core shook violently as the searing crimson soup spilled onto the steaming black rock and Cold met the stone face with his own. Cold looked to punish the maneuver with a sharp slicing of his tail but Merus backstepped every attempt forcing The Emperor to abandon the rocky wall and properly separate the 3/4th arrangement from the missing piece. The planet shook wildly up top as officers from all around peered down into the slowly shifting cavern that stretched on for miles. Cold went for broke and kipped off the wall like a swimmer does in preparation for a mean elbow. Merus ducked it clean with a low squat and shot up with a perfect left upper flight path into a:
"HAKAI- Ehnn~" He stopped, wriggling in the air with as much struggle as one could put forth.
"Hmm."
"Ah-hem."
"Why can't I..? Telekinesis!" Merus shouted in his mind, breaking free as if unwrapping gift paper from the inside.
"What Was That!?" Cold barked, his goofy nature nowhere to be seen.
"Is Cold really..?"
"..."
Cold's eyes were unlike anything Merus had ever seen. Cold was a natural. He could accurately anticipate that if the move Merus landed had gone through he wouldn't exist and he doesn't even know what a Hakai is. He just knew that the feeling was similar to what he had performed on Zarbon. If you're thinking I stopped him, you're wrong. He doesn't have to follow Angel law because he's not an Angel, Cold had a hard read on his demise and perfectly covered it.
"..."
Wssssss~
No more games, Cold darted off the rocky black chunks of stone and appeared behind Merus.
Wsht! WHUMMM!
Cold slammed his hammerfist into the chunky stone and the top piece finally flew away, exposing the nightly indigo of the galaxy to the core of the planet. The Ex-Angel handsprung forward to dodge and conjured a familiar item in the palm of his hand off the rebound. Sunlight glew from the palm of his hand as well as jumpy arcs of static as he stood up tall and whirled around something special.
An Angel Attendant's Staff is all powerful, capable of doing pretty much anything. Now seeing as Merus never became an Angel he is forbidden from using one. He conjured something in the image of an Angel Attendant's Staff, however, that is not the cause for concern here but rather the material he just spawned into being.
"All bets are off, huh?"
"It would appear so, Beerus."
"He really doesn't want to lose this one."
"Well... The Galactic Patrol is quite important to him."
"Important enough to test if Cold could break through Katchin?"
"We'll see."
"Ah-hem."
The stars shined on the pair as the cold wind of the intergalactic aether washed over them. The missing piece of C.O.1 was no more and they locked eyes, brilliant and distant lights twinkling over the open ended cavern. Time slowed to a crawl again and as soon as Merus touched the charry black floor they launched right at each other.
Suwuwuwu~
Merus spun the False Attendant Staff like a wild fan, catching Cold's left hand in the process, denying it swiftly as he backpedaled over the rocks.
Clangg! Whangg!
The metal sounded off as each blistering attack Cold presented wobbled the staff.
WSHUUOMMMM!
With a guiding lead, Merus led Cold's roundhouse to the black bedstone and hula-hooped the stick back around, smacking him in the side of the head for good measure, the blue gem atop his head making contact with the orb atop The False Attendant Staff. Cold walked the line to the side and attempted to tighten his stance but Merus had enough, rearing back the staff and attempting a battering ram right at the solar plexus. Cold flared to life and leaped across the stony cavern, jamming his blue gem right into the orb willingly. Merus almost caved, falling to a knee as The Emperor forced him along the hot stone. With a calculated motion, Cold presented his gigantic left foot, Merus backstepping, only it wasn't an attack, only a maneuver to divert attention.
WHAMMM! FYUUUUUUU!
Cold smashed him with his sharp and weighty tail. The gravity started to lift and Merus was forced to use flight to stay grounded, the magnetic property of the planet called into question by the 3/4ths nature as they fought in the starlit core.
"DYAGHHH!" Cold shouted as he hyped up a purple energy blast in his left palm. The energy was erratic, more like a cluster, but the longer it stayed in his hand the more it played nice, pooling together in a powerful showstopping blast. The beam erupted, forcing the black rock up in cubicle chunks as the magma behind him splashed and bubbled.
Merus dissuaded the heavy beam with a flick of his False Attendant Staff but upon further inspection and a pulse of Scanning:
Wsst!
The Ex-Angel acted fast, trying to jam the bottom of the rod against Cold's face but The Emperor had something else in mind. As Merus attempted to shove the bottom of the weapon towards him, Cold grabbed it with his hand-like foot and shoved it all the way back, forcing the orb atop the staff to come crashing into his nose, blood trickling from the orifice immediately, his nose bent in an uncomfortable contortion. As Merus took a backstep, Cold lined up his left index finger for a few thin lines of death. Merus weaved all of them as he got his staff in order, the white wisps starting to coalesse again, blue aura mounting.
Cold waved his right hand starting from below and then rising into the air, as he did it, the black rock separate and a gigantic geyser sprouted forth, hot magma and explosive ki rocked the open ended space as Cold retreated and Merus parried everything coming his way with his False Attendant Staff. Upon the realisation, Merus' U.I completed and he shot like a bullet towards Cold's stance in the pulpy, searing hot spring. A deep indigo shell formed over his being but as it churned and shined, Merus:
Krrrashhhhhh~
Broke through mid-transformation. Like a caterpillar before it could hatch into a butterfly, the golden armour wasn't complete. Golden goopy glitter fell off his frame in a soupy mix of his own, interacting with the magma strangely, as if oil and water, the Golden Forme liquid dissuaded the hot lava from touching it and the seas parted. Cold just laughed.
"I Like You! What's Your Name!?"
"..."
Fsht! Whom!
Merus attempted a quick send with his weapon but Cold blocked with a goopy forearm, the incomplete Golden Forme providing nonetheless excellent defence anyway. The Emperor laughed with hysterics as he punched with his right and:
THUUUUUUUUMMM! Snnnn~nnapp!
Merus' eyes lost their glow.
Katchin is the hardest metal across all universes. It is used to gauge the aptitude of Gods of Destruction in training. If someone has the right mindset, one of either perseverance, someone like Son Goku or Tienshinhan, or one of domination, someone like Lord Beerus or Emperor Cold, or someone of sheer spite like Moro and Vegeta. They will be able to break Katchin, then and only then. Technically you could be at 1,000,000 battle power and still be unable to bend or break the material.
During the crackback of his right arm Cold backfisted Merus for a loop, sending him careening all along the starlit cavern as The Emperor cackled, parading around the lava with heavy stomps that shook the planet with each step.
"Huh-Huh-Huhheh!"
TOMPDOMTOMDOMPPDOMPTOMPTOMPP!
"DYAGHHHH!" Cold roared as he leaped into action, another superman punch of legends only to be weaved at the last second, Merus' U.I. nowhere to be seen.
DOMMMM!
The planet shook once again, officers staring down into the fight from above falling off the ledge. The 3/4ths started to look more like the 2/5ths at that juncture after Cold hammered the bottom of the core with that last blow. Merus gazed down in horror as Cold locked eyes with him from the bottom, smiling wickedly.
"Aren't You Going To Arrest Me!?"
Just staring back at The Emperor was a warning sign in and of itself. Merus' mind does the heavy lifting for him and reminds him of just who he's dealing with.
"~Suuu~ You cannot defeat Cold."
"Don't blame me if you get faded, that's all Whis' fault."
He is brought back to reality.
"Where Are You Going!?" Cold howled like a monster, his laughing fit booming across the face of the half complete planet. Magma spilled and pooled into the galaxy, rubble and debris following suit. The Emperor stomped up the cliff face as Merus broke out into a speeding bullet of flight. "Come Back Here!" He shouted with glee as he cleared the distance as well, hopping over the cavern and blasting everyone near him on their butts as he pushed with ki to chase after The Ex-Angel.
The pair sped along the blue grass as Merus tried to weave and dodge but Cold sniped and sharked every single angle, gaining on him bit by bit until they reached The Galactic Patrol ships.
"You're Heartless! Huh-Huh-Huhheh! You'd Sacrifice Them To Save Your Own Skin!?" Cold bellowed as he waved his hand and a volcanic eruption of ki blazed in an inferno, turning all the spaceships to ash as Merus bailed and rolled onto the ground in a frenzy, almost falling over himself as the planet rocked and quaked from the event.
Fshuu!
"Jaco!" Merus screamed through the comms as he picked up his abandoned earpiece off the ground.
"..!"
Merus weaved and dodged the onslaught as much as he could, Cold's whipping and glistening golden tail slicing through the air like a sword.
"I need you to retr-"
WHAMM! Krshhh~
The length of the limb smashed into Merus' cheekbone and right through the device, Jaco losing his shit over the revelation as static came through the other end. He peered out into the battle and saw Merus fight back, sending a left leg that erupted the grass, landing on Cold's block and forcing his feet to glide and uproot the dirt. Jaco dashed towards his superior, as did the rest of the police force, drawing their guns and firing as The Ex-Angel fought back.
ByuuCyuuVyuSyuuVyewByew!
The lasers did nothing, Cold didn't even block them, he readied his left hand as he traded shots with Merus using his right. As he blasted back The Ex-Angel he let his off hand drop like a guillotine and the entire police force were splattered with a thumping wave of Telekinesis, Jaco the only one left standing as the gravitational force just kept coming. He looked on in horror as the grass stained red, green, blue, black, yellow, and all manner of disgusting pulpy fluids.
"Cold's something else…" Recoome posited as he gazed into the tablet.
"I've never seen the bastard fight, this is interesting." Bardock commented, shifting his legs.
"How stroung dew yew think Emperour Col really iz?"
"No idea. Stronger than Frieza, that's the only thing I know for sure." Ginyu replied, hands cupped together, eyes straining at the battle unfolding before them.
"Zhis, uhh… Galactique Pahtroul guy iz zomethink special then, no?"
"Yeah…"
"Look at all the other offficersss. They're all too busy eating shit to do anything againssst Cold. Thisss guy isss the man. I wouldn't be shocked if Cold losssst to be honessst."
"I don't think that's happening." Guldo spoke plainly, Ginyu nodding along with the assertion. Recoome and Burter shot a look at each other.
Bardock took a long swig, a deep breath, and shifted in his seat once more as Merus locked arms with Cold in a wrestling tie-up. The last bit of grass shook out and shot everywhere in a cubic frenzy as they pressed against one another. Merus saw his chance and broke free, aiming his index and middle finger right for the forearm gem on Cold's left arm.
TWONGGG!
"Uoughhh~" Cold let out a harsh breath, sweating a bit at the funny-bone feeling tingling through his body.
The gem rattled as Merus nodded deeply.
"That's it."
Fshuuu~TINGG!
Cold gritted his teeth as The Ex-Angel rounded the other side and elbowed the gem on his right.
WHAMM!
But Merus left himself wide open for The Emperor's tail in the process, thrusting The Galactic Patrolman along the smooth and dissected rough patch. As The Ex-Angel attempted to get up Cold was already on his head, gritting his teeth and stomping another furious blow into the planet, forcing the cubes to shift and wiggle like jenga blocks as more and more of the core ruptured and spilled out like doughnut jelly.
"Holy crap mate!"
Slllamm!
"Sorry." Recoome motioned to the waitress making a b-line for their location. "We'll tone it down."
She nodded and turned her focus away from their table.
"Didya' see that? Cold's fahkin' blowin' up the planet juss boiy punchiin' iit. Oi'm fahnkin' numb." He slurred, laying back into the warm leather with a hand on his banging forehead.
Merus slid along the grass with his hand as a pivot. Cold dashed in deep to follow-up but The Ex-Angel had the next interaction lined up forcing The Emperor's left fist into submission with a warpy ethereal sky blue ring.
DWONN! Fvyuuun~
The ring extended from Merus' fingertips as he jabbed Cold's wrist and forced it to lock up onto his shoulder and sleek black armour. Cold struggled to break free as Merus' snake jab sent him right back where he came from. Merus stood tall, running his purple wrist under his deeper lavender coloured chin, bruises, blood, and sweat marking his face. Cold's face strained before he let out a pompous but still distinctly booming laugh.
"What a dramatic technique! Is this how you capture criminals? I love it!"
The halo-like ring stuck to Cold the more he wriggled and writhed, a warping pressure locking his wrist onto his shoulder in a clearly uncomfortable contortion. Merus eyed the battlefield and took stock of two things, Cold kept trying to shake out the clear mixed feeling in his right forearm and the fact that the planet didn't have much time left to spare, every step and beat of the fight forcing the rupture to further, and there was only half a planet left.
"I've been down this road before! Consider it a handicap! I'll eradicate you with one arm!"
ZOOOOFFFF!
"Unreal…" Jaco protested, the Telekinesis still bearing down on him. "How in the world can someone be so strong..?"
Fshuu!
"It doesn't make any sense… How is Merus keeping up? Has he been holding back this whole time..?"
Merus kept it compact, jumping from hold to hold and cube to cube as Cold beared down on him with another spearing high jump kick.
WHACKK! Vyuunn~
The crust crumbled under the weight of The Emperor but Merus had it calculated, rounding the outside and placing the cuffs on his ankles this time, locking them together in a binding ring just like his foe's wrist. Cold pogo'd and pivoted off the air as Merus rushed in to pressure, caught lacking utterly by another whipping tail smash.
Da-DAMM! Fwstt! Whap-Whopp!
The Ex-Angel rebounded off several holds trying to stop the momentum as gravity totally didn't exist as a concept on the 'planet' they inhabited. Instead of linear attacks, The Emperor just spun around like a killer saw blade, whipping and carving through the sky like a demon, cackling pompously.
"You DO Have A Flair For The Dramatic! We'll Get Along Just Fine! I Haven't Had This Much Fun In Ages!"
Merus dodged out of the way of several blows as he spawned another False Attendant Staff, twirling it and preparing for impact.
"Nonsense!"
THUMMM! Crrrrrack!
"Damn!" Merus let out unintentionally as the staff caved a second time.
Cold roared like a beast howling at the cosmos, his epic yell at the sky seeming to shift the stars to his will as he broke free from his bottom-half restraints in an show-stopping scissor kick. The kicks weren't exactly attacks as much as they were to liberate his being, he stomped onto the leftovers of land and barraged Merus with shot after shot of right overhands until Merus saw the angle and scooped out the gem cavity overlaid on his right forearm.
Eeeeeeeaaarnnn~
The strange oval jewel sounded off like searing metal but strangely, Cold didn't gasp, or yell, almost no signalling of pain until:
Krackk! Squelltt!
"ERYAGHHH!" The Emperor blurted with vitriol, his right arm spasming as the oval gem cracked like glass then spilled limply onto the rock with all the consistency of a water balloon. There was no blood, and there wasn't really a wound either, just an empty cavern with a piece missing.
Cold's asymmetry was at an all time high, deep veiny scar on the right side of his neck, left horn cut off at a slanted downwards angle and his right arm missing its gem. His regal purple cape flailed wildly as he stared down Merus once more. He overlaid his footing and assumed the pose a second time. Merus' eyes widened and he conjured a Katchin spear, sending it like a tribal man. The cubic planetary structure willed itself into action and barred the javelin's path at at every junction, slowing it down until:
SHWINGG~DUNDUMMDUNDUNDUMTONN! Snnk~
All it managed to accomplish was force Cold's hand.
"There We Go!" Cold bellowed into the cosmos, breaking free from the chain binding his left arm as the golden shell formed over his being properly this time. His black armour popped off his chest and the purple cape floated off into the still vacuum of space. "You're Forcing Me To Try A Little Bit! High Marks!" The Emperor laughed it off, spinning the weapon around and throwing it back with more accuracy and more power, parting the sea of cubic debris in the process.
As Merus dipped out of the way for a dodge, Cold yelled.
"I'm Going To Try Now! Let's Hope You're Not Like The Rest!" His voice shouted across space, his glimmering golden form available from miles away.
Buh-BOOOOMMM!
Cold kicked off the launchpad and the destruction spread until he finally landed the hit he needed, or rather, the response. Merus dipped, ducked, and dove all around waiting for the right moment, Cold's outstretched hand looking to grab at his throat.
"HAKAI!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as Cold lunged forward, just in the nick of time, Cold used the cube underneath him to dip downward, altering his path of action in a teardrop dip and coming from below instead.
Merus' eyes widened as Cold came from underneath and:
SQUELLTTT!
"OHRRR!"
SLAMM!
"Brutal! Fahkin' brutal maite! Heheheheh~"
Merus fought back while speared through by Cold's remaining right horn as Jaco struggled to his feet. The remaining Galactic Patrol officer scampered to his location and pulled out his piece.
ByuuVyuuVyewByewWyew!
The lasers ricocheted and bounced off Cold's body like nothing as Merus attempted to break off the horn with karate-style chops. The Emperor didn't have it however, parrying the attempt of The Ex-Angel's left with his own, grabbing around Merus' elbow with the left and his wrist with the right.
Sklll~LATTT!
"Heheheheheh~"
Bardock and Turles laughed their asses off along with Jeice as the others just raised a brow at their antics.
"That'ssss pretty fucked up."
"DAH!" Merus screamed in bloody murder, using his only remaining arm to blast a Kiai, forcefully detaching himself as his noodly guts flailed on the wind and assuming the position.
Va-Vzzwerr~
SKLATTT!
During his cast of Instant Transmission, Cold pierced him right through with the onyx black blade of his tail, walking the hall with him as Merus dropped them off in space, not all that much farther than where they were from, C.O.1 still visible in the vacuum. Cold locked eyes with Merus, a calculating grin forming over his face.
"No one can beat me, you know. It's fun that you tried and all but I did warn you, I make it a point not to lie. I have to hand it to you though, you have a flair for the dramatic. Not as good as me of course but the strong-silent type is a pretty good gimmick you've got going."
Blood bled from The Ex-Angel's mouth as ki flared up in his being.
"Dawww~ sore loser?"
"I don't Lose."
Snapp!
The radio signal was lost over the tablets and the crew kicked, grumbled, and guffawed around the table, causing a ruckus in the back half of the club and drawing more ire than they already had from their previous outbursts. A few patrons got up and left, paying their bills and getting the hell out of there sooner rather than later.
"Thassit? Come onnn~ that's a loada' diicks. I don't even get to knor if Cold died or not."
"Cold's not biting it like that~" Turles sloppily stated as he stood up and then fell on his face, falling asleep on the floor.
"Does that mean Oi whun?" Jeice cheesed, his competition snoring on the carpet.
"Ssssupossse sso." Burter cackled out as he slapped Jeice's armour from the back.
Salza and Guldo threw the tablets back into the suitcase he brought and the group were left to finish their meals and ask for the ticket.
"Who's paying?"
"I got it." Ginyu shot out. "This one is on me."
"You're not paying for me." Bardock asserted.
"How are you gonna pay, Bardock? Unless you have some hidden Yardrat-acceptable funds then I don't know what to tell you."
"You gotta use different money?"
"Putain d'enfer~ Yew really put such a ape-brain on zhe squod?"
"At least I don't sound like I'm gargling toothpaste and a load a coom everytime I open my mouth."
"Coum? Zhat's what you call it?"
"Nah. That's just what you be garglin'."
"At least I can speak three languages. Where are youre accolades, monkey?"
"Three lays, three kids, I ensured the Saiyan race survived for another generation. Where are your concubines? I don't see any blue hobbits running around here worried about their hairdos." Bardock responded as he stood to full height. "I'm gonna go take a leak, gotta make sure to flush quick so that Salza doesn't get any ideas for dessert."
"Chienne! All yew singes do is throw turds and expect civilised peopul to respect yew."
Bardock just flipped him the bird as he placed his hand on the door in the back.
"Captain?" Recoome inquired.
"Well, this is what we played for. We can safely assume that The Galactic Patrol has suffered great casualties at the very least. You saw what happened out there. Even if that one guy survived~ doubtful~ but if he still got the arrest we're all set and if he didn't we're under very little pressure to conform. I'd say this is one of the best possible outcomes. We can plant trees, recruit, and build as much as we want, provided that we do it within these next couple of years while The Galactic Patrol is rebuilding their resources."
Recoome shook his fist in victory, a smile forming on his lips.
"Great idea as always, Captain."
"The universe is a big place boys, we know we're not the top dogs. We gotta work smart, not hard because we won't get very far with that attitude."
"Thissis whoiy Oi fahk withya' Cap'n."
Whumpp!
"Thanks Jeice." Ginyu grinned as Jeice fell over Turles' limp body and knocked himself out.
"Knnnn~" Jeice snorted. "Mimimimi~ Knnnnn~ Mimimimimi~"
Guldo said nothing, only eyeing The Captain as he filed out of the booth with everyone else.
"Our next op is building a home base. We had The Cold Estate to rely on for wherever we renovated but now we have to find someplace worth constructing an HQ. Not an easy task, we're gonna want someplace that already has the resources to support life and it's not gonna be a walk in the park unless we want to completely wipe some races from the map, which I'm not opposed to~ it'd just be kinda fucked up."
The group huddled together as Recoome picked up the drunkards and Bardock filed out of the restroom.
"Heh-heh. Looks just like his dad. That's how I was half the time with Gine, woman didn't even give a shit either."
Cui's whiskers twitched and he shook his head at the passing comment as the group passed through the double doors and their Captain yelled back.
"Thanks for the great meal!"
Recoome also took the time to show gratitude as well, bowing his head. Guldo did the same as did Salza and then subsequently Cui.