Dragonball M, Chapter 2: Lighthouse! Across the Shores of Shattered Time!

[Yun Lao]

OOC: In case this got lost in the mix.

"Amazement can wait!" Charco reminded her as he rushed to the commander quickly in order to deliver a dropkick onto the pommel of the Nagadarr's weapon, seeking to drive it further into the invader's abdomen. Hitting the ground, he instinctively rolled backwards, putting some distance between them in case the commander the quick with his recovery time.

Briefly turning to her, he smirked, "That was pretty cool, though," Turning back to the Nagadarr, he awaited the soldier's reaction.

[Tami]

"Amazement can wait!" Charco reminded her as he rushed to the commander quickly in order to deliver a dropkick onto the pommel of the Nagadarr's weapon, seeking to drive it further into the invader's abdomen. Hitting the ground, he instinctively rolled backwards, putting some distance between them in case the commander the quick with his recovery time.

Briefly turning to her, he smirked, "That was pretty cool, though," Turning back to the Nagadarr, he awaited the soldier's reaction.

OOC: Sorry, I should have responded sooner

IC: The knife penetrated the armor, but was quickly pulled out by the Nagadarr's Commander and tossed aside. As he did this, his second, the Sub-Commander who had joined the fight, pulled out a weapond that was holstered to his leg. As he fired it, the bullets exploded on contact with whatever they hit.

Cyanna let out a yelp as one narrowly missed her, she managed to just avoid it by leaping into the air. As she did, she summoned her Ki into both hands, then shot them upwards into the sky. The energy then fell like rain, only to explode once it came in contact with the Nagadarr below. This was a result of combining multiple attacks, including one that insured Charco wasn't affected by it.

The Commander and the Sub-Commander found themselves thrown off balance by the attack. It wasn't powerful enough to damage their armor, but it was strong enough to distract them and to keep them from attacking.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

On Evangeline's Lookout...

Lieutenant Blizzar was enjoying an apple from the Lookout's kitchen as he surveyed the Earth below. It was certainly a nice view. The planet was indeed beautiful, an opinion Blizzar was sure many of his peers would share had the Galaxy Police payed this 'insignificant' blue planet any attention. Earth, always playing catch up with the rest of the Universe...Things certainly changed once the Pantaloon family reached prominence.

But tarnishing all the positives of this world, was the looming shadow cast by the man know as Grinthorn. Blizzar has always known such shadows. He's lived in the underbelly of the galaxy, even now as he stands in the light, but when he'd met Grinthorn...it was the first time he'd encountered an evil he did not entirely understand. It was the first time he felt an evil that struck him with crush a soul chilling terror. And all Grinthorn had to do to accomplish this was have a friendly chat. Blizzar took a seat upon the Lookout's edge, crunching on his apple thoughtfully as a voice suddenly shouted in his ear.

"Lieutenant, sir!" N-Ten announced, posing dramatically. "We've got an image sent in from GP HQ, sir!"

"Do we now? What's-" Blizzar attempted to utter, but...

"Lieutenant, sir!" X-Bo joined the conversation, sliding into view as he posed coolly. "It's form Lieutenant Stratovarius, sir!"

"Ah. I don't know him well, but-" Blizzar managed to add, however...

"Lieutenant, sir!" P-Cee spoke up swooping in and standing on her brother's shoulder as she posed exuberantly. "We've done a careful analyses of the picture, but we don't know what to make of it, sir!"

"Alright! Alright!" Blizzar, stated, uncharacteristically losing his cool for a moment, more irritated at his thought being interrupted than anything else, as he stood up to face his current charges. "Just...stop with the incessant battle posing."

"But sir, it helps us stay dynamic!" N-Ten explained.

"JUST...show me the image...if you will," Blizzar sighed, devouring the rest of his apple, tossing the core in the air and catching it with his tail so as not to litter. P-Cee nodded and transferred the image to Blizzar's datapad. Blizzar quickly opened it to see what the cause for such an urgent message was. When he opened the picture, he appeared slightly puzzled. "...It's a frog," he shrugged, looking to the Squadron for clarification.

"Well...no, but I've seen similar frogs out and about on the lookout," X-Bo noted. "I don't think they're native to this planet for what it's worth."

"And something else!" P-Cee raised up her datapad. "I did send some inquiries to GP HQ and their response stated that all further questions on this matter should be addressed to Lieutenant Stratovarius as he's headed to Earth now!"

Blizzar was about to respond until he'd heard a notification go off on his datapad. A notification that confirmed P-Cee's statement. "Indeed, he is," Blizzar nodded. Well...best to patch him through, if he believes this is urgent. My thanks, Squadron"

Blizzar quickly looked up Lieutenant Stratoverius' contact information and contacted him. "This is Lieutenant Blizzar, head of the Galaxy Police Earth HQ. You're heading to Earth bearing a message of urgency, I am to understand?"

Lieutenant Stratovarius replies to this saying " yeah I found life on a otherwise dead planet in then North Galaxy." " it's was this Frog Alien frozen in this crystalize structure ." " I don't know who froze the alien or how they wind up on a dead planet buried in sand." " I do believe said alien wasn't actually from that planet and that someone or something teleport her them their."

" I'm analyzing the structure right now and it's 2,000 years old." " the subject frozen in the crystal is still alive it appears that they're of royalty." I'll be heading to Galaxy Police Earth HQ with the frozen body.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

When Parsley was summoned, it was Maiz who gave the call, and Mato who gave her the parameters of her mission. Sarada was claimed to have been under the weather, a phrase that was completely foreign to all of them, but apparently meant she was feeling ill. Again, a term that was completely foreign to her, but apparently meant sick.

Saiyans didn't get sick, unless she had become inflicted with SaiyAIDS. Something was wrong with her sister, and the fact that no one wanted to tell her, even their shared mother, irritated her to no end. Nevertheless, she had more pressing matters to attend to than the health and well-being of her sister. Turrip had been not only attacked, but razed. The population had been wiped out except for four Saiyans who showed up after the fact and managed to survive long enough to send a distress signal to a nearby trading vessel, who in turn relayed that message to Vocado.

Parsley's job was simple: infiltrate the occupied planet and rescue the four Saiyans without alerting the occupying Tuffles. How odd; she thought for sure those vermin had been wiped out. Evidently not. Regardless, this was a pressing matter that required patience and good timing.

Annoyingly, she was to spare any and all non-combatants, and only kill enemy soldiers. Mato was adamant that they not be seen as the enemy to outside eyes. Ever with a mind to PR; she could do nothing but comply.

She was going alone. Good; any more than her was a) unnecessary, and b) increased the risk of raising alarm and bringing the entire Tuffle army down on them. With just one person skulking around, the mission stood a much better chance of succeeding.

It helped that said one person was the second strongest Saiyan alive.

Parsley was given a teleportation device that had enough charge for only two trips. Which meant that she had only one shot at this.

Perfect.

“Good luck,” Maiz offered with a small grimace. “If it seems that you can't bring them back, don't linger longer than you have to. Check in every six hours, regardless of whether you've made any progress or not. ”

The terse advice was tinged with the lingering affection that only a mother (figure) could have for her (surrogate) daughter. Parsley could have rejected that advice, stating that she was an Ultra Elite and that failure wasn't possible when her own opposition were the weakling Tuffles. “Understood.”

In a yellow flash, she was gone, whisked hundreds of millions of miles in an instant. The next instant, she was in the middle of a barren, dilapidated shopping district that she knew was in the middle of one of the largest cities on Turrip. She quickly ducked inside a building and suppressed her power level to avoid immediate detection.

Let's see. If I was hiding out, I'd keep moving from place to place. Staying stationary would only increase the chances of getting caught, especially once the enemy knew they were there – as was the case – and was making a concerted effort to find them – as was also the case. All of that added up to this mission taking a longer time than she anticipated; which was saying quite a bit, as she knew this was going to take some time, hence her focusing on patience and timing.

The first thing she needed to do was find a place of her own to hideout. The teleportation device attached to her wrist also had an updated map of the terrain, including sections of the planet that were highlight different colors to represent Tuffle occupation. Red was the most, and green was the least; areas that weren't highlighted didn't seem to have any Tuffles. She was willing to be that was because they were inhabitable. Those were also her best bet to find the lost Saiyans.

Her plan was simple. She would spend however long as was necessary searching each of the white areas, then the green, the yellow, then finally, if necessary, the red. If she hadn't found them by the time she got to the red areas, she would have to decide at that point whether to report that they had either been captured or dead. Both those possibilities were likely at that point. She didn't think Maiz or Sarada would want her risking her own safety at that point.

She decided to stay in that dilapidated building since she was in an unoccupied area and began her search. Despite sensing that she was alone, she gave the entire area a thorough going over, as also kept her power low. She knew that scouters had a long-range, and knew that she was going to get caught if she powered up too much to make the search go by more quickly.

Hours passed without any signs of life other than her own. Every building was combed, every alleyway, she even searched the sewers as far as her self-imposed limitations allowed. It was only mid-afternoon, so she decided to move on to the next white area. Which happened to be further east, passed a reasonably light, but still green area.

She moved fast, kept her head down, and didn't stop flash-stepping until she was safely in the next white area. She paused for a moment to contact Maiz, as six hours had passed since she arrived. She had nothing to report, so this was merely to inform her that she was still alive. With that done, she continued with the search.

Sarada's reasons for sending her by herself were sound in theory, but in practice, it only limited how effective she was going to be able to search these areas. At the very least, she should have been given a scouter so she could do a scan for any powers, however low and suppressed they may have been. Then again, she supposed the Tuffles would have been doing the same.

It was only going to be a matter of time before those Saiyans slipped up and got caught. At which point, every Tuffle that could hold a laser pistol was going to rain hell down on them. Hm. If that's true, then I should just wait. ...no, that's dumb.

Area two was devoid of life, just like area one. An entire day passed as she had found nothing but the stench of death, decay, and disappointment. Bodies of her fallen brethren were scattered all over the place. If not for the efforts of the CTC to numb her to the sights of death and its aftermath, she would have been too traumatized to continue. As it stood, the only reaction she had was shaking her head whenever she came across someone she knew.

It looked like she only had a few hours of sunlight left, so she decided to search the sixth area – which was green – as that was closer than the third white area, which was four hundred miles away. As low as her power was, it would have taken all day to reach it.

The Tuffle presence was light, but noticeable enough for her to stay cautious. Possibly more so than she would have in a red or yellow area. If she grew lax here, there was a good chance someone was going to alert the greater populous and bring down an entire army on her. As fun as that would have been, it wouldn't have been conducive to her mission success.

Suddenly, she heard three voices up ahead. The accents were Saiyan, and vernacular certainly wasn't either.

Tuffles.

She ducked into a darkened alley and wait and listened. Her senses detected that they had turned down her way, at a calm, lackadaisical pace. Perhaps three friends taking a evening stroll. No matter their purpose, their lives— Damn it. She nearly forgot Mato's instructions to not harm innocent civilians. Damn it.

From the feel of their power, they weren't that strong. The fact that it hadn't taken the Tuffles long to make themselves comfortable on a Saiyan world sickened her, but that was of no consequence at the moment. She needed to figure out how to get out of his bind without alerting anyone and without leaving a trail of bodies.

She opted to wait.

One moment.

Two moments.

The voices grew louder and more pronounced. She even caught snippets of conversation. Nothing worth noting and nothing about the Saiyan survivors.

Three moments.

Four moments.

Five moments.

Six.

The breath she had been holding was released when the voices grew fainter. She dared to peak out of the alley and caught sight of them walking away, continuing down the street. A flash-step and she had put even more distance between herself and them. It was nearly dark, meaning she needed to find a place to sleep for the night. Somewhere safe. Somewhere out of the way where she could sleep in peace.

Meaning she needed to reach a white zone before the moon hit the sky.

****. I'm not sure if the moon is full or not. She was about to find out one way or the other. She'd rather not find out at all and be asleep by the time the moon rose in the sky.

She continued at a brisk pace, content that her senses would have picked up any signatures that seemed Saiyan-like even as she hurried to find shelter.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

One day, two days, three days, four days all ticked by at varying speeds. The results at the end of each day during her tri-daily reports to her care-nurse were all the same. Her searches had all come up empty. She had had several close calls and had to kill several dozen Tuffles. She usually vaporized the bodies to avoid suspicion, but she knew that was only temporary. They had an account of each soldier and where they were surveying. If they failed to report, that was proof positive that they had been disposed of and that there were more enemies on the planet.

In the last two days, the defenses had been at high alert. It was getting more difficult for Parsley to move even through the white zones without difficulty. Eventually, she was going to get caught. It wasn't a discredit to her subterfuge, but rather simple probability. As the safer areas waned and all that was left were the moderately occupied yellow areas and the heavily occupied red areas, the odds of someone seeing her despite all attempt to stay hidden were higher than normal. Add on the heightened awareness after one of the lost Saiyans tripped an alarm in search of food and those odds were only going to increase.

As such, it came as no surprise that she was surrounded by nearly ten dozen Tuffles. On any other day, this would have been child's play. No challenge whatsoever for someone with her kind of power. It would have been a fun test of her ability to kill and kill quickly. It still was, but with the added challenge of sparing the “innocents” and limiting herself to the soldiers. The Tuffles seemed to have noticed that an interspersed civilians into their battalion ranks.

A cowardly move if there was any other.

She grunted and ducked into an alley that ended in a dead end. Energy Vines lashed out at those foolish enough to immediately follow her. They were held in place long enough for a Void Beam to loop around them. The sonic boom that followed splattered their shattered remains across the block, and also managed to disorient those that were too far away to be killed.

**** happened.

That was going to be her excuse when she told Maiz that a few civilians were killed when she was defending herself. Surely someone as reasonable as her would understand.

As she battled the distracted and wobbly Tuffles, she detected four signatures huddled together a block or so away. That must be them! At last, after four days of fruitless searching, she had found her marks. The only things standing between her and leaving this forsaken place and returning home were the Tuffles. Vigor renewed, she fought against the dozens standing against her.

Her mind was focused. Not one taunt or boastful commented left her mouth. Despite her knowing that victory was all but assured against these vastly weaker enemies, she took nothing for granted. Observational Focus had shown her the width and breadth of the battlefield. Nothing the Tuffles had was hidden from her. Even the underground traps laid days ago to catch the Saiyan survivors were detected when her Energy Vines had to root around them to reach the surface. Such paltry defenses would have fooled a lesser fighter, but not her.

Even now, a trio of missiles were hurtling her way, possibly as a last ditch effort to rid themselves of an insurmountable threat. Three simple energy blasts were fired in an effortless attempt to nullify the missiles.

They exploded, as she expected.

What she didn't expect was the white gas that spewed out of the missiles the moment they were blown up by her blasts. The gas quickly spread through the block, filling every crack and every crevice. She held her breath as she quickly flew through it. Even still, she felt herself getting weaker and more tired. Her eyelids felt heavy and it quickly became harder to stay airborne.

I have to... get out... of her... Her lungs were burning. She had to take a breath. Just one breath wouldn't hurt, right?

She breathed in, slowly as if that would keep the gas from intermingling with the fresh air as it entered her lungs for much needed refreshment.

“What... have you... done to me?”

“The gas is working!” the Tuffles cheered.

Parsley fell to the ground. She could feel herself growing weaker by the second. “Need... help... Someone... hel...”

She fell in slow motion, her face hitting the hard pavement with a hard thud. Her eyes fluttered closed with the last thing she saw being the Tuffles moving toward her.

“Take her to the lab. We got one.”

[KingofPie]

Lieutenant Stratovarius replies to this saying " yeah I found life on a otherwise dead planet in then North Galaxy." " it's was this Frog Alien frozen in this crystalize structure ." " I don't know who froze the alien or how they wind up on a dead planet buried in sand." " I do believe said alien wasn't actually from that planet and that someone or something teleport her them their."

" I'm analyzing the structure right now and it's 2,000 years old." " the subject frozen in the crystal is still alive it appears that they're of royalty." I'll be heading to Galaxy Police Earth HQ with the frozen body.

"That does sound like an emergency. But, perhaps I've misspoken a tad..." Blizzar admitted, scratching his chin. "We do not have an official headquarters, per se. Not yet. Currently, we are situated on the Lookout of Earth's Guardian. However, I'm quite certain there are those at Capsule Corp who would be more than willing to analyze that frozen body for you. I can send you the coordinates, if you'd like?"

[Ptrvc]

"Sounds quiet and peaceful." Held said, nodding his head in understanding, "A bit boring also. No wonder you couldn't find peace in a place like that."




"Hey, as long as he's not ruining my winning streak, he can float around you until the sun burns out." Held replied with a laugh, "I'm not interested in playing exorcist ."



"Say no more." Held replied with a grin, "If the way this week play's out is any indication, we just might end up owning the place by the time we're done."

....I suppose I shouldn't get to cocky until we get there first....Not to mention, I've heard the rumors. Space Vegas can be...Cutthroat, at the very least.

Held pursed his lips slightly, remembering the scores of beings he had heard ruined by Space Vegas. Either entirely bankrupted, enslaved, addicted to the the thrill of the game, or....Well, the darker ones were just rumors.

The Nevadian grabbed the yoke of the ship, pulling the ship away from the lookout, as it slowly faded into the wide blue horizon.

Pressing another button, the ship floated upwards, breaching the atmosphere, entering the darkness of space.

"And here....." He input a command into the auto-pilot.

"We...." The computer beeped, acknowledging the course set.

"Gooooo!"

The Glorious Galloping shot off through the depths of space, sprinting towards greener pastures.

Jack took one last look back at the blue and green planet he had be born on. Before shrugging.

You're probably in better hands now than I can manage. Stay safe till I get back

Truth was. At this point, there were so many high power levels watching his home planet that Jack felt nobody would notice him not being around. Likely as not there were more people to help out here, in the inky black void of space that was empty...and stuff.

And he would help them out. And also make some money.

Yeah.

Turning to Held, after a few minutes Jack asked. "So...how long do these trips usually take? Do we need to freeze ourselves or anything?"

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Grumble...

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"That does sound like an ermergency. But, perhaps I've misspoken a tad..." Blizzar admitted, scratching his chin. "We do not have an official headquarters, per se. Not yet. Currently, we are situated on the Lookout of Earth's Guardian. However, I'm quite certain there are those at Capsule Corp who would be more than willing to analyze that frozen body for you. I can send you the coordinates, if you'd like?"

Lieutenant Stratovarius " yeah that's were I was heading to in the first place but I don't know actually where it is on earth." " so yes I would like the coordinates. " " I was in the North Galaxy because thought I found a possible trail evidence connecting The Black Sheep to David Floyd Skynyrd Sinatra." " it turn out to be nothing but I do still believe that intergalactic Drug lord and mass murder the Black Sheep and the CEO / Founder / fashion designer of the Metric Incorporated Mr. Sinatra are same person."

" there's just not enough evidence to proof it yet." " he has arrested before and now claims to have turn over a new leaf with an legit business." " I pretty sure anyone who was cadet 12 years ago would have know that David is an psychopath. " people like him they don't change ."

" he's just being smarter and covering up his tracks better." " as for my knucklehead brother Sonata him and his crew are assholes." " only ******* would tried start a war with powerful crime syndicates." " sometimes I wonder if he's just an ******* or just plan stupid, I think it's both."

[KingofPie]

Lieutenant Stratovarius " yeah that's were I was heading to in the first place but I don't know actually where it is on earth." " so yes I would like the coordinates. " " I was in the North Galaxy because thought I found a possible trail evidence connecting The Black Sheep to David Floyd Skynyrd Sinatra." " it turn out to be nothing but I do still believe that intergalactic Drug lord and mass murder the Black Sheep and the CEO / Founder / fashion designer of the Metric Incorporated Mr. Sinatra are same person."

" there's just not enough evidence to proof it yet." " he has arrested before and now claims to have turn over a new leaf with an legit business." " I pretty sure anyone who was cadet 12 years ago would have know that David is an psychopath. " people like him they don't change ."

" he's just being smarter and covering up his tracks better." " as for my knucklehead brother Sonata him and his crew are assholes." " only ******* would tried start a war with powerful crime syndicates." " sometimes I wonder if he's just an ******* or just plan stupid, I think it's both."

"That certainly sounds like quite the case," Blizzar replied. "At any rate, you should receive the coordinates shortly."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

"That certainly sounds like quite the case," Blizzar replied. "At any rate, you should receive the coordinates shortly."

Lieutenant Stratovarius replies to this saying " thanks ." " by the way I seen an copy of David's Galaxy Police training records." " even through he had tremendous power he didn't make into the Galaxy Police because he was mentally unstable." " I can see why that can of power isn't good if it's in the hands of someone who put their own allies and innocent civilians danger just to get results by any means necessary without consider consequences of his actions."

" understand why my twin brother wants so bad to kill that man." " eleven years six months and seven days ago on my home town Bhazaid Trillot on planet Deoyama in the Disco Star system, David killed no he massacred people who were close to my brother and to me. " he did this on most sacred of holidays on Deoyama, Disco Fever Day." " yeah I know that other lifeforms might find noticing of such a Holiday to be absurd but we Espers take our dancing seriously."

" as well as our fashion , style and art." "Deoyama isn't called the Fabulous planet for nothing."

[MrSandman]

"Perhaps trust can be earned simply by explaining the exact nature of the knowledge you wish to acquire and the means by which you wish to obtain it. You need to understand, I have seen knowledge taken in ways that cause harm, even death. My only desire is to protect those under my auspices. I wish to be certain that you're intentions, well meaning as they may be, will not cause harm to anyone."

"It will."

The voidling statement was blunt, almost absurdly so.

"My intentions are to end those of my own kind to preserve something I cannot properly coexist with. The end result will be to cause harm, to them....perhaps to me. The process to improve you til you are of a level to succeed will also not be gentle.....will you cease? No, that would defy the purpose. Will you be harmed? No doubt....as I have observed all gain comes at a cost of some measure. I must understand you if I am to prepare you. Form, Strength, mentality, limitations, weaknesses. I will observe, test your limits, and determine what can be improved upon to prepare you. If you wish is to protect those under you....my offer is one that can only benefit you, if your willing."

[KingofPie]

Lieutenant Stratovarius replies to this saying " thanks ." " by the way I seen an copy of David's Galaxy Police training records." " even through he had tremendous power he didn't make into the Galaxy Police because he was mentally unstable." " I can see why that can of power isn't good if it's in the hands of someone who put their own allies and innocent civilians danger just to get results by any means necessary without consider consequences of his actions."

" understand why my twin brother wants so bad to kill that man." " eleven years six months and seven days ago on my home town Bhazaid Trillot on planet Deoyama in the Disco Star system, David killed no he massacred people who were close to my brother and to me. " he did this on most sacred of holidays on Deoyama, Disco Fever Day." " yeah I know that other lifeforms might find noticing of such a Holiday to be absurd but we Espers take our dancing seriously."

" as well as our fashion , style and art." "Deoyama isn't called the Fabulous planet for nothing."

"Well, I certainly can't say I knew any of that," Blizzar answered, before quickly following up with, "I wish you a safe arrival on Earth, Lieutenant, but I'm afraid I must attend to my other duties for now. Farewell!"

[Tami]

"It will."

The voidling statement was blunt, almost absurdly so.

"My intentions are to end those of my own kind to preserve something I cannot properly coexist with. The end result will be to cause harm, to them....perhaps to me. The process to improve you til you are of a level to succeed will also not be gentle.....will you cease? No, that would defy the purpose. Will you be harmed? No doubt....as I have observed all gain comes at a cost of some measure. I must understand you if I am to prepare you. Form, Strength, mentality, limitations, weaknesses. I will observe, test your limits, and determine what can be improved upon to prepare you. If you wish is to protect those under you....my offer is one that can only benefit you, if your willing."

Meagan considered this carefully, finally responding, "I will decline your offer. This is my decision alone, I can not speak for anyone else. You are free to ask it of the others, the ones who frequent the Lookout or anyone else you may choose to make this offer to. I will continue to train in my own way, bedsides..." she then glanced at Jinzi briefly, "in two days I will assume my position as Guardian of the Planet Chroma. From that position, I will do what I can to avert this threat that you speak of."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

at the Lookout Qaztoh is practicing meditation with Kai saying " ah you sure this will help with stress?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Parsley's eyes fluttered opened, unveiling to her a blurred world of indistinguishable shapes and blobs. She tried to reach up to rub them, but found that both her hands were tied down. ??? She jerked her arm up to break through the bonds that kept her restrained, but found that her strength was nearly completely sapped. She barely had enough power to struggle futilely, much less actually bust free. What is going on?! Panic started to settle in. Her heart started racing, her head was throbbing as the possibilities of what was to come ran through her head one after the other, each more horrendous than the previous.

She remembered fighting the Tuffles after sensing that the four Saiyans she was looking for were nearby. There were missiles, then some gas, then nothing.

How long had she been unconscious? Where was she? These questions kept repeating in her head incessantly until someone walked inside. “Ah, so you're finally awake. Great; we can begin?”

She tried to speak, to ask who the woman was and how she thought she could get away with this, but all that came out was a string of incoherent gibberish.

“Heh. That gaseous concoction you breathed in earlier slowed your “higher” brain function down, so now you sound like the gibbering baboon you really are.” The doctor laughed derisively, a sound that Parsley had never heard directed at herself before. “There's no doubt that child Queen of yours already knows what happened here, especially if a monster of your acclaim was sent here. As such, we need to be prepared and make sure that when we wipe the rest of your miserable kind from existence, it hurts as much as I hope.”

Unbeknownst to Parsley, that doctor was Appel, the head behind this incursion. Hatred poured out of Appel's eyes as she peered menacingly at the young Saiyan from behind her large-rimmed glasses. Slowly, without ever once taking her eyes off her victim, she circled around the foot of the table to the other side, where a silver platter was waiting. Slowly, as if to prolong the horror that Parsley was feeling in her chest, she perused the assortment of medical tools. Before picking one, she turned to a spot in the room where Parsley couldn't see. “Remove her armor. I don't want her to have a shred of dignity.”

“Hmph. You think being naked is going to bother her?” replied the man.

“Just do it. And I didn't say anything about her being naked. I'd like to keep my lunch where it is, thank you.”

Parsley was powerless to stop the handheld saw from cutting through her Super Elite armor. It was cut down the middle, then roughly snatched out from under her. She was left in her black tights. Another soft mumble escaped her, which elicited another harsh laugh from her captor. “Don't bother trying. Your brain isn't evolved enough to form coherent sentences on a normal day, let alone after breathing in the Brain Dead Gas.”

She picked up a syringe filled with a noxious green liquid. Without a word, she plunged the needled into Parsley's arm and squeezed down.

Immediately, her arm felt like it was on fire, a sensation that gradually spread through her entire body. A soft, weak moan left her mouth.

Parsley was unstrapped from the table and literally dragged to a nearby room. It had originally been a sleeping quarters for the scientists who had lived there previously, but now it was only four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. She was flung against the wall, where the back of her head smacked against the unforgiving steel. Intense pain pulsated through her skull, beating in a rhythm like a bass drum. Her hands were lifted and chained to the wall.

The men who took her left without a word, closing the door and leaving her in the dark.

As the minutes turned to hours, the heat in her body that resulted from the green concoction she had been injected with turned into an intense, mind-numbing pain that covered every square inch of her body. Sweat dripped from her face like a leaking faucet, running down her chin and dripping to the floor, where it coalesced and formed a puddle of increasing size.

At some point, she found her voice when her soft, unassuming moans became full-throated screams of sheer agony. She screamed unrestrained until her lungs burned more from lack of air than the serum pumping through her body like acid. Even without air, she persisted until she lost consciousness, either from lack of air or from the immense pain. It was like every cell constructing her being had been dipped in lava. It was worse than Sarada's Agony Matrix.

Parsley woke up some time later to find her entire body felt numb. She wasn't in pain anymore, which was fine, but she couldn't feel anything else. Her vision was bleary, obscured from having just woken up as well as the drops of salty sweat that were dripping into her eyes from her eyelids.

She wasn't sure how long she had been out, but she felt grimy, dirty. A shower was desperately needed, but she gave no allusions to them allowing her the time to take one.

The door to her cell opened. “Finally awake,” Appel said. Her heels clacked against the floor as she approached, only stopping when she was within reaching distance. She leaned down and fisted Parsley's hair to yank her head upward. “Hm. Pupils dilated. You got some nasty looking dots on your eyeballs. Then again, I'm just a chemist, not a medical doctor. You lot killed all of them.”

“I... didn't... kill your,” she tried to reply. The strain of just talking was great. It felt like her throat was ripping itself apart with every word.

“Shut up,” Appel snarled before slapping her across the face. “Shut your goddamn mouth!!!” Her fist slammed into Parsley's head, cracking her skull with enough force to draw blood after the second hit. She kept punching until the Saiyan's left eye was swollen shut. “You didn't kill my husband? My daughter? My sons? But your kind did. Those animals in those crude pods fell from the sky and started slaughtering us in droves. I watched my children burn when those giant apes started flinging fire everywhere!” Tears started falling down Appel's face. “You may not have been there personally, but you're just the same as they are. I don't care how 'sophisticated' you make yourselves out to be, you're still the same now as you were then.”

Parsley tried to argue that it wasn't her, that the Saiyans that killed her people didn't even live on this world, but every time she opened her mouth, Appel slapped the taste out of the mouth. “Enough!” She pulled another syringe out of her coat pocket, this one with a bright orange serum. She unceremoniously jammed into the side of Parsley's neck and pushed down.

Slowly, her vision started to blur even worse than it already was. The room started to spin violently, causing her to spew vomit all over the floor.

“Hmph. What an animal.” With that, Appel left.

The room kept spinning and Parsley kept vomiting. Her stomach was already empty from having not eaten in what she assumed to be at least a day, so soon, she started to vomit blood. Her body started shaking, thought whether it was because of the constant emptying of her stomach or the serum, she wasn't sure. Please, she begged silently as tears streamed down her face and her body was wracked with violent sobs, Please, someone help me!

More time passed. Hours, days, weeks? She wasn't sure. It was nearly pitch black in her cell, with the only light being the sterilized white light beaming in from the hallway. Her body was still shaking. She wasn't sure how long it had been since she had had a full meal. At least a few days. Regardless, her body's super-high metabolism caused it to start cannibalizing itself. First, what little fats she had on her body would go first as her nutrients-starved body derived what it could. Then, her muscle mass. When she was nothing but skin-and-bones, then her internal organs.

This would all occur over the course of a few days. Which meant that unless something changed, she was going to starve to death. Only once had she been close to dying, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. But, even that – when she was bleeding to death after having had her throat slit – was better than this. She wasn't close to considering death a welcome release, but she would get there eventually.

“Wake, hm?” Appel stepped inside. “Ugh. What a mess you've made.”

It was then that the grotesque smell of her own bile and excrement hit her nose. She gagged and vomited again.

“Disgusting.” The sheer revulsion in her voice sent a chill up her spine. “I guess you're hungry, aren't you?”

At mention of food, Parsley head raised a touched. It was harder to lift her head than she anticipated, so she couldn't quite see above Appel's knees. “...food,” she begged in a voice so quiet is was barely a whisper.

“Hm? What was that?”

“...food,” she repeated, a touch louder.

“Food, you said? Hungry, huh? Fine.” A tray was wheeled into the room.

The smell of grilled meat, steamed vegetables, and ice cold water wafted into the nose. Her stomached growled with anticipation.

“Mm. Smells good. Enjoy.”

Suddenly, the tray was picked up and tossed at her. It hit Parsley in the face, splattering the food all over her.

“Animals should eat like animals.” With that, she left.

Some of the callously wasted food landed on her face, so she was able to sweep it into her mouth using her tail. The meat was within reach of her handy fifth appendage, so she was able to enjoy its delicious nourishment.

The meal was the only one she got that day, and it wasn't nearly enough to sate the extreme hunger she found herself with. Still, it was better than nothing.