As the smoke cleared, the young Saiyan lowered his hand as he turned back toward the other teens, who were crowding around the injured Toma. Rushing over, he heard each of them talking in a panic.
"Shit! This is bad! This is bad! What do we do?!" Rota frantically stated.
"Calm down, Rota! He needs immediate medical attention! Gingal, keep him still! I'll get his pod remote." Pappor yelled as he carefully reached inside and under Toma's chest plate.
"Uhhh…s-sure thing! " Gingal stammered out.
As Pappor grabbed the remote and began to type away on it, the young Saiyan knelt down next to his injured teammate.
"Toma! A-Are you ok?!" The young Saiyan asked, his voice full of worry.
"As good as I can be. *Cough* That bastard…got a lucky shot off. Did you kill that freak…Mato?" Toma questioned as he started to cough up blood.
"T-Totally. Sent that guy straight to hell." Mato nodded as he gave a small smile.
"Good….I'm glad to hear it. *Cough* A sneak attack is such a disrespectful way to try and kill someone. If we want to kill someone, *Cough* we just do it." Toma continued. Tapping his shoulder, he turned to see Pappor handing him the remote.
"Here, I called Toma's pod. I recommend you call yours and the two of you can head back to Planet Vegeta. The docs will fix 'em right up. We'll take out any other stranglers that are still kicking. We should be back sometime tomorrow morning." Pappor stated.
"Ughhhh!!! This sucks! Just when we were ahead of schedule, now we have to waste our free time, hunting for survivors!" Rota said in an irritated tone as he crossed his arms.
"At least we'll still be on time to that big meet up on Vegeta. Frieza's calling everyone back by tomorrow afternoon, so we don't have to worry about that. Last thing I want is to be on his bad side! I heard that he sent Zarbon to absolutely pummel the last squad who ignored his direct orders and decided to go swing by some bar next to Sargasso." Gingal added.
In the sky, a white pod zoomed from the horizon, through the air, before stopping down as it hovered in the sky above them all. As it lowered to the ground, the pod's door opened with a *fsssh* noise.
As Mato pulled his remote out and typed in his current coordinates, he saw Pappor and Gingal help lift Toma into the pod. Quickly, his own pod landed next to Toma's pod. Walking toward the pod, he turned to face Toma, whose pod door was beginning to close.
"Stay strong, big bro." Mato said aloud.
"Heh. See you on the other side, little bro." Toma replied back with a smirk.
As Mato stepped inside his own pod, the door began to close automatically. The padding of the pod's insides did little to ease him, as sat in silence. As the two pods rose upwards, the twin spaceships blasted off into the sky.
Watching out the pod window as he soared higher and higher, he heard a robotic voice call out as he entered the upper atmosphere of the planet.
"Hyperdrive activated. Initializing sleep mode. Now dispersing sedatives."
A blue-ish gas dispersed throughout the pod, as Mato fell asleep.
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Suddenly, Mato awoke from his sleep as he heard the small robotic voice talk again.
"Now approaching Planet Vegeta. We will be landing momentarily."
As the pod entered the atmosphere, Mato could see the various sights on the planet's surface: The royal palace, tall buildings containing many of the planet's operations and jobs, the low and middle class residential areas, vast fields filled with spires of rock, and the landing docks. The sky was a beautiful purple as the sun was beginning to set. Slowing down, the pod came to a complete stop as the doors opened.
Stepping out of the pod, Mato was face to face with an adult Saiyan. Looking around, he saw Toma's pod to his right.
"Hey, how was the-" The Saiyan asked.
"My brother! He's injured and needs help!" Mato quickly stated as he interrupted the man. Sprinting over to Toma's landing pad, the adult Saiyan quickly informed the Saiyan who was standing at Toma's pod. The same Saiyan flew toward a small nearby building. As the doors on the pod opened, the other Saiyan reached inside and pulled Toma out. Bringing out a gurney from the building, the two Saiyans lifted Toma onto it.
As the two Saiyans began to wheel Toma into a nearby building, Mato approached the two and jogged alongside them.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Mato questioned.
"From what I can tell, the blast didn't hit anything too important. I'd say a night in one of the healing tanks should be enough." One of the Saiyans explained.
"Heh. See, little bro, everything's going to be ok. It's going to take a lot more than that to keep me down." Toma joked as he raised his head toward Mato. As the group entered the building, the two Saiyans wheeled into a room with a large metallic pod with green liquid inside. In the room were various doctors who began to examine the injured Saiyan. As the two adult Saiyans and Mato were escorted out of the room by one of the scientists, the doctor handed Mato a paper ticket.
"Give this to the receptionist up front when you come back tomorrow morning. You'll need it in order to come and get your teammate." The doctor said aloud.
"Sure." Mato replied back as he grabbed the ticket and headed out the building.
Flying through the air, Mato gazed up into the sky. Numerous space pods entered the atmosphere alongside a few larger spaceships.
"What exactly is Frieza going to do tomorrow, anyway? Here's bringing every Saiyan back here for something important. Then again, that pompous creep might just be doing all of this to just brag about all of the planets he now owns. Planets where we did all of the hard work and took over ourselves." Mato thought to himself.
Eyeing a particular house, Mato descended from the sky and landed in front of it. The house, like most Saiyan houses, had a circular opening with no door as its entrance. The building was rather small, but comfortable. Numerous green circular windows jutted out of the house in various areas.
Entering the building, Mato reached for a collection of narrow jars. Grabbing one, he placed it on a nearby table as he walked toward a wooden cupboard. Opening it up, he grabbed a stone glass for himself. Carefully pouring the clean water from the jar into the glass, Mato drank the cool liquid in one go. Walking into a short nearby hall, he saw two bedrooms. Entering the one on his right, he placed his scouter on a nearby nightstand. Taking his armor off, Mato laid on the soft surface as he pondered to himself.
"Regardless of whatever Frieza's up to, Toma and the rest of us will keep on going! I'm sure of it." Mato thought to himself as he fell asleep.
Waking up, he saw the sun glaring through the window on his right. Reaching over and placing the scouter on his head, he examined the built-in clock, stating that it was past noon.
"Crap! I overslept!" Mato exclaimed as he jumped out of bed.
Putting his uniform back on, he rushed out of the house and leaped into the air. Flying back to the hospital, Mato quickly entered the building as approached the receptionist. Handing her the ticket, she pressed a button as the doors to Mato's left unlocked and opened up. Heading through them, Mato reached the room that held his brother, only to find it empty with the exception of two doctors inside.
"My brother was in here last night. Is he-" Mato inquired toward one of the doctors.
"Oh, don't worry. He finished healing earlier this morning. He left about two hours ago, I would say." The blue-skinned scientist explained.
"Thanks." Mato casually said as he began to walk back toward the main entrance.
"If he's not at the house, where could he…oh, I think I have an idea." Mato pondered.
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Entering the bar, Mato walked past the numerous Saiyans who were talking with one another, eating, or drinking their cares away. Approaching the bartender, Mato sat down on one of the stools. As the bartender slid over to him, Mato turned to face him.
"Hey, my brother just got out of the hospital earlier today, and I was wondering if he happened to stop by here for a quick drink." Mato explained.
"Heh heh. Yeah, you missed him by like 30 minutes. Man, you should've seen it, Mato! Toma was relaxing just over there, enjoying a pint, when all of a sudden, Bardock shows up! Dude was absolutely beaten and bloodied! My guess is that he had one too many to drink at one of the other bars and got into an absolutely crazy fistfight! Anyway, the guy comes in and starts telling everyone that Frieza's going to kill us all and destroy the planet!" The bartender said aloud.
"Really?! As if. The Saiyans are a huge chunk of his army! Why would Frieza do something stupid like that?" Mato said.
"That's what I'm saying. Oh, it was so funny! Everyone started laughing at him, well, everyone except Toma. He just kept sipping his drink. I imagine that he probably was still recovering from his time in the healing tank. Then, Bardock called everyone a bunch of jackasses and walked out." The bartender continued.
"Did Toma say where he was going, by chance?" Mato questioned.
"Hmmm….No, I don't think so." The bartender added.
"Dang, well, thanks for the help anyway." Mato replied as he waved goodbye and began to walk out.
"Anytime! See you around!" The bartender called out.
Walking down the long corridor, Mato navigated past other Saiyans as he kept on moving.
"If he's not at home, not at the hospital, and he's not at the bar, then where is…" Mato questioned himself as he heard his scouter go off. Examining it, he noticed it was an incoming call from Toma!
Placing his hand against the scouter, he answered the call.
"Toma! Where have you been?! I've been on a wild goose chase looking for you!" Mato yelled out.
"I was just grabbing some lunch. If you meet me at our usual training spot, I'll bring some over for you too! You better head over here, quick or it's going to get real cold!" Toma said as his voice came from the scouter.
As his stomach rumbled, Mato continued talking into the device.
"Fine. Just…don't go anywhere else. I've had enough excitement for one day." Mato mumbled out.
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, little bro." Toma finished as the call ended.
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Flying over to their training spot, Mato was filled with nostalgia. The two of them had trained and sparred in this place countless times! Their fights, on occasion, would last until the stars appeared in the night sky, and the stay would just sit there and unwind.
And there, sitting on a nearby cliff's edge was Toma holding two wrapped up meals in his hands. As Mato landed, Toma turned to face him with a smile.
"Hey! And here I thought you weren't going to show." Toma said.
"I grabbed something from the local butcher's shop. I know you'll love it!" Toma continued as he extended his open palm outward for Mato to accept. As the young Saiyan reached for it, he noticed some large writing scribbled onto the paper that the meat was wrapped in:
Take your scouter off!!! Act Normal!
"So, where exactly have you been today?" Toma questioned as he removed his scouter.
"Oh…well I stopped by the hospital, then I went over to the bar you frequent, and then you called me up." Mato explained as he removed his scouter, and placed it on the ground. Unwrapping the paper, Mato saw a piece of cooked, seasoned meat on a bone. Taking in the delicious smell, Mato began to dig into the meal on the cliff side.
"Man, you weren't kidding, this is delicious!" Mato said aloud.
"Yep. Although, it's not like there's much that you wouldn't absolutely devour in a heartbeat." Toma replied as he began to eat his own meal.
As the two finished eating in silence, Mato leaned toward the older Saiyan.
"So, what's going on? Why did you bring me over here?" Mato asked.
"You see…while I was at the bar, Bardock showed up and started talking about how Frieza is planning on destroying the planet. Practically everyone else laughed him off, but it got me thinking. Frieza has clearly stated his hatred of the Saiyans on multiple occasions, and we're not exactly showing any kindness back toward him either." Toma stated.
"Well yeah, but that's just how things have been for a while. What's that got to do with this? Are you actually thinking that Bardock's right?!" Mato claimed.
"Well, after I left the bar, I started going around, asking some of the Saiyans about any rumors and speculations. From what I've heard, a lot of the Frieza soldiers are keeping their distance from us Saiyans for the most part. They've also heard them asking about the Super Saiyan." Toma continued.
"Wait, you mean like the one from the legend. Why would they be asking about that?" Mato questioned.
"I think that Frieza's worried that the legend might be true, and that us Saiyans are becoming strong enough to the point where we don't need Frieza bossing us around anymore. And Frieza is not going to take that chance." Toma finished.
"So what do we do!? We can't just stay here and die! W-We got to warn everybody! I'm sure that if all of us Saiyans band together, we'll beat-" Mato pointed out.
"It won't work! Frieza has brought multiple army's worth of troops to the planet! It doesn't help that no one else seemingly believes Bardock. I mentioned what happened at the bar, played it off as a joke, and everyone I talked to started laughing. Even if we try to warn everyone and they do begin to band together, Frieza will just send out his armies or blow up the planet immediately!" Toma interjected.
"Then what can we do?" Mato inquired.
"I have a friend that works at the landing docks who owes me a favor. Tonight, we'll sneak into the pod containment unit and get our pods from there. Bringing anybody else with us drastically increases the chances of us being found, so only the two of us can go. I've already talked with my friend, so he'll keep the doors unlocked so we can grab the pods easily. We'll then sneak back over here, and then we launch the decoy." Toma elaborated.
"Decoy?" Mato asked as he cocked his head to the side.
"Yeah, while we're over at the pod unit, I'll connect a second space pod to my remote. Once we're ready to go, we'll launch the decoy pod from inside the unit. I'll set it to go fly over to the over side of the planet. There's going to be a lot of Frieza soldiers patrolling around the planet to make sure that no one escapes. Considering how far our spot is from the main city, when we launch the decoy, all of the Frieza soldiers will be busy going after that pod. They'll be too busy to the point where they won't see us make our getaway."
"You got any idea of where we're going, though?" Mato questioned.
"I checked the star charts of the known galaxy. From what I can tell, there's this one solar system with a planet that's capable of sustaining life. The planet is so far out that it's at the very edges of Frieza's sphere of influence. The planet's name is called Terra from what I can remember. Plus, the planet is so primitive that they haven't even started communicating with the neighboring planets in the solar systems next to it. I wouldn't be surprised if they've never even heard of Frieza before. It's the perfect planet for us to lay low and not have to worry about Frieza, or his forces, trying to find us. Once we land, we're going to train non-stop. We are going to get strong enough so that one day, we'll head out into the galaxy and kill that bastard once and for all!" Toma declared as he held out his hand.
"Sounds great!" Mato agreed as he took Roma's hand and shook it.
"What do we do until then?" Mato continued.
"For now, we head back home until dark. Then, we launch our plan." Toma said aloud.
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As the neighborhood fell silent, two figures snuck out into the night. Staying low to the ground, the two Saiyans leaped from shadow to shadow. Approaching the long complex, the two men quickly entered the building. Closing the door behind them, Mato created a ki orb and illuminated the room.
There, on the floor and numerous metal shelves were countless circular space pods. Patting the older Saiyan on the back, Mato turned toward him.
"Toma, you're a genius!" Mato said.
"Heh. Hey, what can I say, it's a gift." Toma replied back as he shrugged his shoulders.
"Keep that ball lit as I connect my pod remote to one of these." Toma continued as he pulled out his remote. As the remote beeped, the pod next to Toma did the same.
"Looks like Rota's going to finally be helpful after all, albeit in a bizarre way." Toma said as he dragged the decoy pod into the center of the room.
"I'll look for my pod, while you look for yours." Mato responded as he examined the shelves. The shelves were arranged in alphabetical order based on the name of the person who owned the pod. Scrolling over to the M section, Mato found his pod sitting there on the shelf.
"Found it!" Mato pointed out.
"Same here!" Toma replied back from further into the room.
Flying up, he grabbed the hefty pod as he brought it back to the ground. Returning to the front of the building, the two Saiyans, with their pods secured, opened the door.
Looking outside for any patrolling soldiers, the two grabbed their pods and retreated into the shadows. Eventually, the tall buildings and houses of the city soon shifted into the crowded stone towers and pillars that littered the landscape as the two Saiyans approached their training spot. Setting the pods under some makeshift cover, Toma turned toward Mato.
"I'm going to set the destination from inside the pods, I'll start with yours. You keep a lookout for any patrols coming by, ok? They could be coming from any direction so let me know." Toma stated.
"You got it, big bro!" Mato said as he gave a thumbs up.
Staring out in space Mato saw numerous stars shining out in the night sky. Behind him, he could hear Toma interacting with the pod's computer terminal, as it let out various booping and beeping noises. Walking around the small space, Mato saw, in the distance, a group of Frieza soldiers flying towards them.
"Toma! They're coming!" Mato whispered out, as he ran under the cover that Toma and the pods were under. Instantly, Toma stopped his work on the pod as the two went silent. In the skies above, four soldiers zoomed past them and continued forward.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Toma whispered back, "Thanks for the heads up, little bro. I got your pod set up, let me do mine."
As Toma quickly interacted with his pod, Toma turned toward Mato.
"It's all finished. We're all set to go." Toma whispered to the young Saiyan.
As the two brothers dragged the pods out into the open, Toma grabbed his pod remote.
"Alright, it's time to launch the de-" Toma quietly announced. However, before he could finish, a ki blast was fired and destroyed Toma's space pod.
Looking to the skies, they saw the same patrol of soldiers from earlier.
"See! I told you guys that I saw something." The red-skinned alien said aloud as he pointed toward the two Saiyans.
"Ok, we get it, Cheru! You can shut up about it!" The blue-skinned alien shouted. A tall yellow-skinned alien with green hair flew in front of the other three aliens.
"Well, well, well! What have we here? Two stupid Saiyans trying to run away? We can't have that, can we boys?" The yellow alien called out, with the other aliens agreeing. Handing one of his hands behind him, Mato charged up a ki blast.
"Avock, call up-AGH!" The yellow alien yelled out as Mato quickly launched the ki blast, which separated into four small streams, destroying each of the crew's scouters.
"You think we're just to let you do that, and get away with it? How stupid do you think we are?!" Mato exclaimed.
"Yeah, you should've just kept flying, because now, you have to deal with us." Toma pointed out as he cracked his knuckles.
Powering up, the two brothers flew into the air, toward the four men. Toma soared into the sky, delivering a devastating uppercut to the yellow alien leader. Flying up to Cheru, Mato dodged his kick before sending two quick punches to the face, followed up by an elbow to the face as well. Getting sent flying backward into the blue alien, the blue alien pushed him away.
"Get off me! Put your head into the fight!" The blue alien stated as he pointed toward Mato.
"Whatever, Barred." Cheru said as he rolled his eyes as the two aliens charged toward Mato.
The green skinned alien attempted to grab Toma, but the older Saiyan charged up a massive ki blast, firing it and eviscerating the alien in one attack.
"Avock! You asshole! I'm going to-EUGHH!" The yellow alien declared before promptly being punched to the gut by Toma as he continued to wail on him.
Back with Mato, the young Saiyan flew all around the duo of aliens, launching numerous ki blasts and keeping his distance. Getting desperate, Cheru pulled back his fist and flew toward Mato. Sidestepping the strike, Mato placed his left fist into his right palm and smashed it into the alien's head, sending him careening toward the ground. Quickly, Barred closed the distance and began to wail on Mato. Toma, after punching the yellow alien repeatedly, grabbed him by the arms and chucked him into the ground, smashing into Cheru in the process.
Looking back toward Mato, Toma zoomed ahead toward his fellow Saiyan. Seeing Toma flying toward him, Mato blocked one of the punches before pushing Barred off him and into Toma's punch, which pierced through Barred's chest as purple blood coated Toma's hand. As the life began to leave Barred's eyes, Toma tossed the blue alien aside.
"Let's finish this already!!" The yellow alien shouted out.
"You got it, Ponep!" Cheru replied back.
As the two aliens began to fly back into the sky, Toma turned toward Mato.
"You heard what he said. How about we wrap this up? Let's give them something to remember." Toma said as he placed both his hands in front of himself.
"Yeah!" Mato responded as he did the same.
Both Saiyans began to charge up their own ki blast as the energy began to shift from yellow to red. As the aliens flew ever closer, the pair shouted out together:
Crimson Cannon!
In a beam of red energy, the blast engulfed the two remaining aliens, killing both in the process.
As the smoke cleared, the two Saiyans descended back toward their ships.
"My ship's fried! Oh, this is a load of shit! This thing probably can't even get off this planet, let alone fly out into space!"
"Can't we go get another pod? We still have time!" Mato pointed out.
"No, now that we killed these guys, everyone's going to be on high alert." Toma added as he shook his head.
"Well I'm not leaving without you! C-Come on, Bardock is one of the stronger Saiyans around! Maybe he rallied some other Saiyans together. If we join him and take the fight to Frieza, I-I'm sure we can win!" Mato hesitantly claimed.
"Mato…You have to go, now-" Toma sadly stated.
"NO! I won't let you die! We're brothers, and we don't leave each other behind, you got it!?" Mato snapped back. As the two stood in silence momentarily, Toma took a deep breath before smiling.
"You're right! Come on, we'll take the fight to Frieza! You ready?" Toma questioned as he raised his eyebrow.
"Absolutely! Let's do this!" Mato exclaimed. But as Mato attempted to fly off, he felt a sharp pain spread throughout his body. Practically paralyzed, he shifted his head slightly to see that Toma had grabbed ahold of his tail with his left hand.
"T-Toma…what are you-" Mato asked.
"I'm sorry, Mato, but you have to go." Toma interjected as he looked at his brother with a somber expression. In Toma's right hand, it began to charge up and be covered in yellow energy.
"I'm not going to let my brother die, not when I could have done something about it. I hope you can forgive me." Toma said.
"Toma, please! Don't do this! T-There's got to be another way!" Mato roared out.
"There is no other way!" Toma shouted back. In an instant, Toma sent his right hand down on Mato's neck, causing the young Saiyan to fall to the ground. Carrying him into the pod, Toma placed Mato inside.
As the doors began to close, Mato weakly raised his arm toward the window. Inside the machine, he heard the device begin to power on. Looking out into the glass, he saw Toma press a button on his pod remote.
"There. I just sent out the decoy. Now it's your turn." Toma said as he walked up to and pressed his hand against the glass.
"Please…Don't go…" Mato pleaded.
"It'll be alright, little bro. Remember, you have to get stronger. Stronger than me, stronger than Frieza, stronger than everybody else if you're going to defeat that bastard. You're a member of the strongest warrior race. You're a Saiyan! Remember what you're fighting for. Never forget that! Goodbye Mato." Toma sincerely stated.
As the pod began to rise into the air, Mato watched on as his ship rapidly accelerated into space. As he left the planet's atmosphere, Mato saw something horrible. On the other side of the planet was Frieza's massive spaceship. Quickly, a small red dot by the ship quickly expanded into an enormous sphere of death.
"No…Toma!" Mato yelled out.
Watching helplessly, he saw the gigantic orb be launched toward the planet. Almost as quick as it began, Planet Vegeta was blasted into nothing but fiery debris and space dust.
"TOMA!" Mato screamed as loud as he could in his current state. In the nothingness of space, he could a sickening voice ring out, laughing.
"Hahahahahahahaha! Oh my, what a wondrous display!!! Zarbon!? Dodoria!? Are you seeing these beautiful fireworks!?"
Furious at what that monster just did, Mato briefly heard a familiar robotic voice play in the background:
"Hyperdrive activated. Initializing sleep mode. Now dispersing sedatives."
"Hahahahahaha…………………………………."
Listening to the sound of that horrible laughter, Mato passed out and fell asleep. A lone survivor of Planet Vegeta, drifting through the endlessness of space.
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And now we know what happened. I've been so excited to release this chapter! I liked how I incorporated aspects of both the original Bardock special and the DBS: Broly opening. Let me know your thoughts on the story and how you're enjoying it so far! I should have the next chapter released either this Friday or Saturday.