Dragon Ball Adeta: Beginnings

[FrostyFoster 495]

Deep within outer space, four small ships in the shape of spheres headed toward a small green planet, looking like shooting stars as the world’s inhabitants looked up at the skies…

This world was called Adeta, a lush planet filled with jungles, swamps, and only a few rocky mountains. The sky was a shade of yellow that the sun almost blended into throughout the day, strangely giving the water an almost purplish hue. As the only planet in its solar system and located in a “backwater” area of the universe, it seemingly had no value, but Lord Frieza was expanding his empire. He requested Cui, one of his elite soldiers, to conquer the planet, but the warrior decided it would be a waste of his time. Instead, he sent four of his soldiers to mop up the place for him.

Landing atop a grassy knoll, the four ships known as Attack Balls opened one by one.

The first to leave their ball was Paddle. Armed with only his ray gun, the purple being surveyed the area, seeing jungles for miles and miles. “Heh, all of this crappy terrain better not get in our way.” He stated while tapping his scouter. While there was no one in their direct vicinity just yet, he could pick up faint power level readings. “Seems to be an average of 1000. Easy pickings.” Paddle uttered, having a power level of 3200.

As for his squad mates, he knew very little about them, only seeing them right before they’d left their base on Planet Chappar. The wolfman seemed to keep to himself, which Paddle was thankful for, but he worried about the other two. ”A Tuffle AND a Saiyan survivor. This will be interesting.” He thought as he turned to see the other pods open. Very few Saiyans remained in the universe and even less Tuffles, not even seeing one in person until this mission. That being said, he knew of their people’s history and wonder if they’d end up fighting each other instead of the enemy. 

[Judge 236]

Pegras braced himself, fingers digging into the arms of his chair, as the attack ball hurtled towards land and then slammed into it. He hated this part the most. Even though the attack ball was well cushioned against impact, it always made his stomach drop. The drop today felt especially bad, but he reckoned that was because he was already on edge. When word came down that he was being sent on this mission, he was pretty sure he audibly groaned at the Ops guy. Groaning and complaining where someone, especially a member of Frieza’s inner circle, could hear you was very frowned upon and very punishable. But this was Pegras’s least favourite kind of mission. Their job here, on planet Adeta, was to exterminate the wild life—to clear the way for further colonization efforts. As if that wasn’t bad enough on its own, he had to work with one of them.

 

               As the smoke cleared around the pod, Pegras cracked his neck and shoulders. “Who knows,” he muttered to himself. “Maybe this will go quickly. If there’s anything those apes are good at, it’s killing.” It wasn’t much of a silver lining. Really, it was just an irritating reminder of…well, the entire reason he was here.

 

               Pegras punched the button to open the hatch and stepped out into the crater formed by his landing. He wondered what made the sky here yellow. Was it always yellow? What kind of freaky animals lived under such a sky? Cresting the crater, the tuffle soldier looked over at the other craters, waiting for his ‘teammates’. Placing his hands on his hips, Pegras sighed. Planet Adeta. Even the name was annoyingly Saiyan.

 

               This was going to be a real pain in the ass, wasn’t it?

[Roromi 456]

It was enough that they had to cram him inside the battle pod, which seemed barely big enough as it was. It was something else to have it drop from the sky with tremendous force. Cumin practically spilled out of the pod as soon as the hatch cracked open. He was in a near panic as he crawled on his hands and knees away from the blasphemous spacecraft. 

Breathing heavily, Cumin dry heaved and fought to maintain his composure. His actions were truly uncharacteristic for him but he truly hated that awful view from the pod during the descent. Being dropped really from the very edge of the sky. It was a frustrating being so helpless and confined to the technology for his safety along. “I hate that damn thing!” He growled out loud as he took deep breaths. 

Then it occurred to him, that it was over. A sweet scent floated on the alien air that almost immediately nurtured his woes. Shock stole him for a mere moment then a sly grin slowly stretched his obsidian lips. “Mmm this is a lush planet isn’t it?” He mused as he gradually stood up from all fours. 

He finally stood erect, black baggy pants and tunic fluttering in the gentle breeze. His sword was ready over his right shoulder, attached to his armor under the black clothes. It was then Cumin realized his scouter sputtering to life. The device went through a brief diagnostic and slowly sinked up to his impromptu teammates. 

“A wild bunch we ought to be…” Cumin growled under his breath. He briefly got on all fours to lope over to the the purple warrior with the ray gun. Cumin sniffed obnoxiously around Paddle. He had two reasons, one was to simply annoy his comrade. The other was to memorize his scent should it become necessary later to track the bastard down. 

“Got a good reading?” Cumin asked as he tapped his own scouter to register the other to members of their party. He didn’t much care for the scouter himself but he did appreciate the communication value and tracking redundancy the devices offered. Cumin was practical it nothing else. 

Lifting his muzzle he sniffed the air for the scent of his other two comrades. He crinkled his nose in brief disgust. Someone was clearly using too much perfume. He snorted a shook his head as if to get the overly pleasant scent out of his nose. Some beings could be too oblivious it would seem. 
 

He panned his head towards the other member of their little party. A tuffle huh? He mused before allowing a crooked grin to etch his lips. We’re going to spend more time bickering than doing our job. Cumin grimaced at the notion. He wanted nothing more than to scout out the area on foot. 

[Replicator 206]

The door of the last battle pod opened, and a Saiyan immediately fell face first on the dirt. It would seem Cynder had forgotten to fasten her seatbelt and ended up pressed against the hatch upon landing. "Hnnng." she grumbled on the floor, before quickly vanishing and appearing next to Paddle.

She slowly dusted off her shoulder pads, adjusted her cuffs, and tapped her emerald scouter, bringing it to life and linking it to the rest of the squad's. "So, what's the play? I've never been on a planet clearing mission before." She glanced at her teammates with a sly smile.

The wolfman stood on the other side of Paddle, nose like an accordion. She'd met one before on Brench - if he was anything like the last, then his kind were probably a grumpy and miserable lot. She didn't foresee any trouble, though, as long as both of them minded their own business.

The Tuffle survivor standing away from them wasn't likely to engage in friendly banter with her any time soon, either, for reasons even somebody with her knowledge of Saiyans would be perfectly aware of. Looking at him over her shoulder, she teased him with a wink and a smirk. She'd be wise to keep an eye on him.

Only the guy with the giant fin on his head was a complete mystery to her. She'd seen a couple of his kind in passing, never gave them any mind. He was the wild card that could make her mission a little more palatable, or just top off a trio of the Frieza Force's finest conversationalists.

Edited October 19, 2024 by Replicator

[FrostyFoster 495]

Once all of the members were assembled, Paddle turned to them, wondering if Cui had made the right call assigning the quartet to each other. “First off, welcome to the hunt.” Paddle stated to Cynder with a hint of snark. “Your kind does wonders on planets like these.” Making note of the immediate tension between her and the Tuffle, he decided it was best the stay closer to the wolfman for now.   

Paddle thought about Adeta. When they were flying toward planet, the fin head noticed its paltry size. “Population should be low considering its meagerness.” He scoffed. “If we spread out and do our jobs, it should only take a few days.” Suddenly, their scouters flared up as dozens of creatures appeared out of the jungles surrounding them. They were no longer alone.

The species was primitive, with most having a similar shade of yellow fur like their sky. Some were armed with spears while others raised their fists. ”We saw your meteors crash onto our planet.” An Adetan with more decorated spots spoke up while his allies slowly made a circle around the Force. “We do not wish for outsiders. Leave.”

Paddle tapped his scouter. “1,600. Clearly the leader.” Pulling up his arm gun, he sent a thin laser through the Adetan’s temple, killing him instantly. A mix of fear and anger flowed through the tribe as a few began screaming. “Kill this scum!” One yelled, only to be silenced as Paddle sped toward him, grabbing his neck.
 

“That’s our job.” He crushed the Adetan’s windpipe and slammed him into the dirt. The fight was on. 

[Judge 236]

Pegras watched as the others emerged from their pods and gathered a short distance away. A motley bunch, himself included. “Dog-man…ape-man. Fish…man? Dinosaur-man?” he said to himself. Pegras sighed. “All that’s missing is me, purple-man.” Pegras waited a beat then shook his head. “Tch, I’m not even that, am I? Dinosaur-man is more purple than I am. I guess I’m nothing-man. Sounds about right.” Reaching down to his waist, Pegras turned the dial-like buckle to the left. Instantly, he felt the weight of extra gravity ease off of his body. Adeta’s gravity was nothing, in comparison. Feeling light as a feather, the tuffle warrior bent his knees and squatting three times to warm up his legs (still cramping from the ride in the attack ball) and, on a fourth and final squat, leapt high into the air, arcing towards his so-called comrades. As he neared the ground, he fired a short burst of his thruster boots to soften the landing further. Once safely landed, he adjusted his belt back to his default setting—10x the gravity of Planet Plant.

“Yo,” he said, as amiably as he could muster. “Seems like we all drew short straws, hey?” The question went unanswered as purple-ma--er, Paddle, spoke about the mission. Thinking this would only take a couple days was short-sighted to the tuffle, and he would know—somewhat at least. They knew next to nothing about the indigenous people of this planet. For all they knew, this place was inhabited by something worse than the ape-men, some kind of super saiyan or something. As ridiculous, and terrifying, as that specific example was, Pegras wasn’t about to rule these people out.

And here they were, right on cue. Showtime. He saw Paddle’s cheap shot coming, but he flinched nevertheless as the beam sliced through the Adetan that came to warn them off. Pegras sighed again—inwardly this time. He really didn’t want to be here, but this was the job, like it or not. The last thing he wanted was word of his lack of enthusiasm getting back to Frieza.

Cranking the dial on his belt to the left again, Pegras launched himself towards the adetans, seeking the strongest fighter he could find with his scouter. There, power level of 1000. This adetan was standing staunchly, ready for the assault. He and Pegras locked eyes and the tuffle was sure he felt a shock of energy connect the two of them for but a moment.  Kicking his thrusters into life, Pegras pulled a fist back. If he had to fight, he was going to fight like a warrior. It was the least he could do in respecting these people, even as he worked to eradicate them. And if two or three or ten of them somehow survived this, well, nobody was perfect. Not even in the Frieza Force.

As Pegras approached at high speed, the adetan bared its fangs and pulled its head back. What the hell…is he--? It clicked for Pegras a second too late. The two of them collided, the adetan driving his unexpectedly solid head into the tuffle’s face as Pegras’s punch flew wide. The force of the headbutt knocked Pegras off course and sent him tumbling ass-over-kettle, taking the adetan with him as he came to a skidding halt, his body digging a long gouge in the earth until at last he came to a stop. The thrusters on his boots petered out. He was upside down, back against a mound of dirt he had just created and his legs over his head. An embarrassing start—but it proved his point. These people—at least some of the, at least—were tenacious. Maybe they stand a fighting chance after all. The tuffle grinned, baring his own teeth to the creature.

“Alright!” he cried, swinging his legs over him into a backflip to regain his feet. Pegras turned to the adetan and adjusted his gloves. “Show me what your people are made of, cat-man!”

[Roromi 456]

Cumin blinked hard when he saw the newcomers. Normally he didn’t care about one alien race versus another. These Adetans however bore a familiar that was too similar to discount. Memories flooded him of his childhood and the less than friendly manner in which his planet was conquered by the Cold or rather Frieza Force. Had time shifted so much he was no on the other side of the game? The sudden snap of Paddle executing one of the natives drove his attention back to the present, and Cumin jumped back in precaution. 

His scouter flared into a frenzy as it scanned one hostile to the next. His hand flew up to the hilt of his blade but Cumin did not draw, not yet at least. He grimaced as he held back his attacks. He did’t feel right immediately attacking in that moment. On the same hand he wouldn’t let his teammates down, where was the honor in that after all. 

He lifted his left paw in front of him in a defensive posture and scanned his head around in frantic sweeps. He would defend himself, and he would defend his comrades; Cumin held no doubts about that. Instead of flying into a frenzy he focused on raising his power level. He wasn’t a flashy fighter, in truth he hated flaring his ki up. Even when he did so like now, he was measured in his exhibition. A slight purple hue engulfed him as he prepared himself for explosive maneuvers. 

Even as the carnage prevailed around him, he did his best to hide the growing horror he felt creeping inside himself. Was this really right? He never had issues with exterminations before, why now was he being bothered by this assignment? He growled in frustration. 

[Replicator 206]

Cynder smiled as she laid eyes on the natives at last. The first batch had decided to make their job easier by coming to the squad straight away rather than run or hide. Of course, whichever they chose, the outcome would be the same. As Paddle helpfully demonstrated in that moment, they couldn't be reasoned with, much less overpowered.

As the locals lunged at them, she formed a gun with her thumb, index and middle fingers on both hands, and took aim at them. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" she repeated with a playful smile, as she stood her ground and fired thin, focused beams of ki at her attackers, piercing through brains and hearts. Still, she wasn't firing fast enough to kill all of them, and it wouldn't be long before an Adetan pounced on her, with bared fangs and a drawn blade.

Cynder smirked as she grabbed the warrior's throat, before quickly ascending into the sky with him, away from the fight. "You know..." she said, casually talking to the Adetan she was choking, before stopping in midair to have a little time with her victim. "I never got the point of these cleanup missions. If I went planet shopping, I wouldn't want an empty one. What's the fun if there's nothing to hunt?"

She briefly turned off her comm link by pressing a button on her scouter, then brought herself closer to be face to face with the warrior. What she was about to imply could be considered at odds with her mission. "My kind knows... no matter what you try, sometimes pests just survive." She glanced for a moment at her purple-haired teammate from the sky, then back at her prey. "When I buy Cynder No.01... I hope there's Adetans in it. I want nothing but the most beautiful creatures in it to hunt."

Pressing the button once more, she reestablished comms with the rest of her team in time for the end of their conversation. "My, you look pale. I think I'll give you some air now." Cynder finally tossed the poor Adetan away into the distance, for what she hoped wouldn't be too rough of a landing. She spent a few seconds in the air, looking pleased at herself, before a spear suddenly grazed her face, narrowly missing her chin and giving her a cut across the right cheek.

She turned back, looking for the culprit. Her expression had changed. To say the least, whoever messed with her face wouldn't be as lucky as the last one. She laid eyes upon an Adetan with incredibly buff arms, necessary to reach her at that altitude, with such a weapon. As the warrior reached behind his back to grab another spear from a quiver, Cynder licked the blood that ran down from her cheek to her lip. "Alright. Now I'm angry."

[FrostyFoster 495]

Paddle noticed as Cynder got into the swing of things. In fact, she took out most of their attackers. Seeing a buff Adetan almost challenging her, the soldier wasn’t willing to play nice. “Damn cat!” Paddle ran behind the buff warrior and grabbed a spear before he could, jamming it through the back of his chest. Before the creature went down though, he smacked the dino right in his nose hole, shattering his scouter’s lens. “Shit! We just got here!” He screamed, sending blasts into the already dead Adetan.

Cumin had wisely taken the defensive route, as a few of the locals seemed to cause more trouble than expected. Even Pegras, a towering individual, had a bit of a struggle against the group. However, they eventually managed. 30 or so Adetans laid dead near them as the quartet were worn out, slightly injured in the process. Paddle’s statement about this conquest only taking a few days was starting to be less believable…

——

Indeed, Paddle was false. A week had passed on Adeta and only around 60% of the planet had been eradicated. While there had been the occasional warrior to give them a challenge, the main issue had been just how many of the population were fighters, male and female. Spreading out across the landscapes, villages were torn down and ransacked with the group mostly staying separate. Paddle had ran into Cumin twice and Pegras once, but he hadn’t seen Cynder since the first battle. Pegras was clearly holding his own by that point, but he was curious about Cumin’s kill count being so low. It wasn’t as if he was weak, far from it, but perhaps he was holding himself back.

Once night had fallen, Paddle called for his companions to reunite near a dense forest. He had taken a large bag from one of the villages and filled it with meats and other food items, realizing each of them would likely need full nourishment after a week of living off the land. At least, he hoped they felt the same way, as he was in great need of a Medical Machine after all his battles. 

He stared into the sky as two moon lit the landscape. Neither were full moons, which Paddle was thankful for. Not only would a Great Ape running around be quite the inconvenience, but he was unsure if Cumin was the howling type or not. He would find out soon as everyone arrived. “How goes the assault?” He stated, holding the sack over his shoulder.

[FrostyFoster 495]

The Saiyan was looking a bit worse for wear, her armor scuffed and her scouter held together with tape. The ambush where she nearly lost it had taught her not to douse herself in perfume every morning after taking a bath in the river. "Not hard. Just gone on for too long. These long-nosed pests are starting to adapt and I'm not sure I like it." She briefly looked over to the wolfman, noticing the resemblance between the Adetans and his species. "No offense." she said, putting her hands up.

Cumin huffed in contempt and simply looked away. Truth was he hardly partook in the assignment. He had spent most of his time covertly following his teammates and doing mercy killings should it need to be done. Something about this entire assignment bugged him, he just couldn’t place his nose on it. He didn’t want to answer the question if he didn’t have to.

Paddle grimaced as his left leg began flaring up. A duo of Adetans got the best of him, scratching deep into his scaly skin. “Whoever has waist armor here was smart. These bastards are really bugging me.” He turned to the Tuffle. “Anything of note from your side of the planet?”

With the squad reunited in the dark, Pegras took it upon himself to build a fire. This was mostly for his own sake, for his battle robe had been shredded to pieces over the course of the fighting and the tuffle was cold. He had taken what was left of the olive green robe, little more than a long strip, and had tied it around his head.  When the dinosaur-man spoke to him, he tore his eyes away from the flame to look up at him. "I came across some kind of temple. The monks tried their best to stop me, but no dice. Some interesting legends on this planet, though. Saw a couple scrolls talking about a legendary warrior and shapeshifters and what not. Standard stuff, I guess, but a fun read." He looked over at the rest of his squad. "You all do know how to read, right?"

Beginning to panic inside, Paddle attempted to bluff his way through it, but failed miserably. “Yes, of course I, I mean WE all can. How else would we be able to use our scouters?” In reality, that was the ONLY thing Paddle could read. At least, he thought he always read it correctly…

Still, the temple intrigued him. Something clearly wasn’t right about this planet. Their typical conquering affair wasn’t going to plan and there had to be a reason.

Pegras stared at Paddle, without any emotion on his face, as the dinosaur-man tried and failed to convince him. Turning back to the flames, then, Pegras smirked. 

"Oh, good. For a second I was worried that you might be struggling with your scouter, too. It can be a confusing piece if technology for some of the...less advanced races." He turned to Paddle again, beaming now. "But I should've known better! You look like a smart guy!"

”Hah, smartest in the universe.” Paddle responded. “At least I can fight my way through anything. Now let’s eat!”

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Scouters flared as a large wave crashed down onto the group, putting out the fire. Their vision was obscured as they heard a loud CRUNCH close by, the ground shaking in the process. Now wet and cold, the quartet, or rather the trio, saw the bottom half of Paddle’s body flop into a shallow water. A reptile of immense size stood above it on all fours, gulping its latest meal of stolen food and a Frieza soldier down its throat.

12,500 was shown on each of their scouters, a massive increase of power compared to the locals. The trio could flee, but their mission was to rid ALL the wildlife on the planet. Whatever their decision would be, they’d require more than just strength to survive…

 

[Judge 236]

“Yeah well, fighting is one thing. You gotta’ have smarts to if you want to—”

There was a thunderous crash, then, as an immense wave washed over the campsite and its inhabitants. The sickening sound of crunching, cracking bones and ripping and tearing of flesh could just be heard over the rushing of the water in Pegras’s ears. When that fell away, all that was left behind was the sound of dripping and the smacking of lips. In a shallow pool nearby, half of  the dinosaur-man, Paddle’s lower half, twitched with the last desperate firing of nerves telling the soldier’s now separated legs to flee. A grotesque sight, to say the least.

“—Survive. Well, shoot,” Pegras said as he watched the legs grow motionless. A croaking, saurian roar boomed, scaring Adeta’s avian life from their nests and into the night sky. Pegras frowned and turned his sights to the colossal creature that had spoiled their supper, his scouter beeping as it locked on. 12,500—that was a ludicrously high-power level. The highest Pegras had ever seen, aside from Frieza himself, was somewhere in the high 8000s and thankfully, that person was on his side.

Pegras removed his scouter. Ever since the Saiyans and Frieza had started making their own versions of the tuffle technology, corners had been cut to save on cost. The modern scouter was a joke compared to the real thing, and it wasn’t unusual to see power levels that simply didn’t make sense. Case in point here—sure this thing was big but 12,500? He was supposed to believe that this thing was half as strong as Zarbon or Dodoria? Ludicrous. With a grunt of dissatisfaction, Pegras crushed the scouter in his palm and tossed aside the pieces.

“Pal, you picked the wrong day to ruin my dinner. You don’t look like you taste very good, but damn if I won’t find out for myself.” Pegras’s left hand shot up, the blaster disc in his palm glowing brighter and brighter before erupting into a lance of purple energy. “Full Power! Cabernet Crush!” Pegras cried, bracing his left arm with his right as the laser cast it’s vibrant radiance into the darkness.

[Roromi 456]

Cumin was perhaps more convinced now that he really hated his fellow teammates. A notion that hardly surprised him. There wasn’t a single squad he had been assigned to that he did like for that matter. Still, Cumin held a respect for his fellow warriors who served besides him. Even as they all sat down to eat, he remained relatively close by, if not on the outskirts of the group. 

It wasn’t the scouter that tipped Cumin off to danger, it was the stench in the air. After the smell it was the sudden hush the surrounding wilderness displayed, as if collectively holding its’ breath. The fur on the back of Cumin’s neck rose in a tension and he looked around alarmed. Of course, Cumin was jumpy, he always had been. From experience Cumin knew better than to bother his teammates with such passing alarm, he regularly acknowledged. If he always told his squad to “be ready” when he sensed danger then they would never listen to him when there was real danger. Hindsight was twenty twenty however. 

Cumin hissed out a curse as the giant monster jumped up and seemingly ate half of Paddle. The wolf man growled and jumped back and away from the violent display. Automatically his scouter whirled a diagnostic of this alien foe. Cumin wasn’t waiting for numbers, his instincts right now told him to do something or risk peril. He reached into his back pouch and fingered a pair of throwing stars. Humming, he focused his energy on the sharp devices, making them pulse in a purple hue. 

He snarled as he hurled the pair of discs at the creature. It was then he recognized the power level being displayed. He winced, realizing already that his attack may do nothing more than piss off the creature. “Everyone back up!” He bellowed in an attempt to inject some semblance of control in the situation. He didn’t expect either of his remaining companions to listen to him of course, but they did need to be on the same page.

 

The Tuffle seemed to be attacking the creature on his own. Cumin had enough sense to realize that they needed to either attack together or flee together. Though he hesitated now, he needed to know if the Sayin would be up for this fight or not. They had no idea the capabilities this beast had. Despite the peril, Cumin found himself grinning in anticipation of the challenge. 

[Replicator 206]

"Damn Tuffle must think he's better than us. 'Look at me, I'm S-M-R-T!'. Feel like I'm in Brench again..." Cynder was being smothered under the avalanche of the purple wig's intellectual superiority when Adeta delivered a wake-up call to the group, in the form of a giant reptile. The abominable creature wasted no time in consuming as much of her least unfavorite teammate as it could fit in its maw.

Panicking, she flew straight up into of the trees, bumping her head in one of the branches and flailing her arms, throwing unfocused balls of ki at the ground below her. "AAAAHHH! Killitkillitkillitkillitkillit-KILL IT!" The balls landed everywhere, from water to ground, and a few in the trees for good measure, lighting their foliage on fire.

"Can't see- turn on, damn it!" Regaining some composure, Cynder slapped her battered scouter with her palm a few times until it lit up and gave her a more privileged view of her foe in the darkness. "What? It's over nine thousand?!" Convinced that the scouter was malfunctioning due to the damage and unaware that the others were seeing similar numbers, she dismissed the power reading and prepared to take down the beast. "You insolent creature! Do you know what it takes to get this stench out of my armor?!"

Striking up a pose in the sky, she formed a finger gun and pointed it at the reptile, hiding her off-hand behind her back and preparing to unleash her signature technique on the monster. As an amber ball of ki gathered at her fingertips in anticipation of the attack, she announced her move: "GOLDEN... GUUUN!". It was then that she turned the ball into a directed beam of honey yellow energy, pointed directly at the temple of the beast.

Edited November 5, 2024 by Replicator

[FrostyFoster 495]

The first attack to connect were the throwing stars, just barely piercing the underside of the monster’s jaw. Almost like a tickle, Cumin was correct in that the weapons didn’t do any damage, but still stayed within the flesh. Now focused on the Wolfman, the gator didn’t notice the might of the Tuffle’s blast.

The purple lance crashed into the left side of the creature, damaging some of its craggily skin as a few scaly specks plopped into the water below. Now it was incredibly irritated, fire beginning to engulf the vicinity from Cynder’s panic. It bellowed out a roar directly at Pegras, using its little limbs to run toward him. Once again, the dull-witted reptile wasn’t paying attention.

The Saiyan’s energy blast hit the top of the gator’s head, slamming it down to the surface. While the attack didn’t do as much damage, the trio could see two slits the blood gushing from the jaw of the beast. The throwing stars had been pushed deep through its jaw, likely slicing up its tongue in the process.

The giant creature was now furious, turning to slide its spiky tail at the two still near the ground, missing Cynder. The speed of this turn was surprising to say the least, but would they be able to dodge?

Before he realized it, Cumin had drawn out his sword from over his shoulder. It was all he could do to barely bring the sword up in time to ward back the bite of the massive creature, its’ teeth glancing off the weapon. The force of the creature sent Cumin flying backwards until his back hit a tree. Stunned, the Wolfman fought to regain his focus.

Pegras scowled upon seeing that his attack had minimal effect on the creature's scaly hide. All he had succeeded in doing was making it angrier than it was before. The attacks coming from the other two didn't help, and soon the massive beast was throwing everything it had at them. At least they had proved to be no easy meal. It was small comfort, but at least they would make the monster work for it. 

"No, screw that!" Pegras cried. Seeing the massive gator tense its body, Pegras felt reasonably sure what its next attack might be. Anticipating that it's tree-sized tail was about to come crashing down onto them, Pegras adjusted the gravity on his belt, making it exert more force onto him. Planting his feet in a wide stance, Pegras opened his arms and, as the tail came swinging he, grabbed hold, hoping that the increased weight from his belt would keep him from being flicked away like an insect.

After knocking Cumin back, the creature swung its tail, only to somehow be stopped by his companion. Attempting to push harder, the monster could only make the Tuffle budge a little, but he gripped onto the tail tightly. Now trying to pull away, it was clear the alligator was trapped in Pegras’ grasp as it yelled out in fear.

All the while, the blonde Saiyan just stood upon thin air, jaw open in complete disbelief. "I-it tanked my Golden Gun...?! That's impossible..." The sight of Pegras apparently bringing the tail to a full stop and sinking into the ground didn't do much to help. _"This man... is dangerous!"_ Snapping out of it, Cynder saw an opportunity and flew at full speed towards the alligator's back, using her hands to push it down towards the ground. With Pegras in charge of the tail, if she could hold the rest of the creature in place for a little, then maybe Cumin could go in for the kill... "Wolfman, get your sword!"

Cumin gasped for air and strained his eyes to focus on the situation. Pain etched his every fiber from the impact of the blow and his limbs tingled on the verge of going numb. Hearing a voice to tell him about his sword, anchored him in the immediate danger. He snarled, the tingling in his arms replaced with sheer energy. He let out a cry as he powered up. Somehow, he still held his sword in his grip, purple ki radiated off his body in abundance. He seldom powered up so obviously, preferring precise strikes, but this monster really pissed him off. 

“I won’t be tossed around!” He growled as he snapped the sword in front of him. He angled his feet behind him and jumped off the indented tree to give a might swing at the dangerous beast. He shot out like a bullet, sword cutting the air above his head, and trailing a flaming purple haze of his energy. He waited until the precise moment to swing his weapon and energy down like a gavel, he hoped his spike of energy would accent the weapon enough to deal a substantial blow to this vile creature.

With the monster held tight the two Frieza soldiers, it squirmed in agony as it saw the incredibly impressive display of power put out by Cumin. In its last moments, the blinding color of purple reflected across his eyes as the blade sliced deep into the head of the beast. Collapsing completely, the gator’s life began to fade away. In its final act, the monster hacked up something deep within its stomach. The remain of Paddle didn’t appear on the damp grass, but instead an object the trio had never seen before.

An orange orb…

The large sphere, about a third the size of their space pods, glowed as the sky became pitch black. It looked as if lightning burst out of the ball, creating a strange blue animal out of thin air.

I AM THE ETERNAL DRAGON KNOWN AS MODALA

The dragon’s voice boomed across Adeta’s forests as it stared at the trio.

I WILL GRANT ANY ONE WISH YOU DESIRE

Seems the group had received quite the reward…

[Replicator 206]

Just like the rest of the battle group, Cynder stood there in astonishment at the appearance of the magnificent teal dragon, looking straight out of a legend. Unfortunately for the group, she was the first one to recover from the stupor. Without any regard for etiquette or even the dragon's promise to grant only one wish, she impulsively hovered closer to Modala and started pestering him with her countless selfish desires, talking almost at the speed of sound.

"OoooooooadragonIcan'tbelievethisishappening! Okay okay okay, I want uhh... Iwannabeintheginyuforce- NO! I wanna OWN the Ginyu Force! Then I want a planet, no, five planets, actually, give me all the planets, then make me the galactic empress, and I want ten million billions of trillions of pol, a-and make my Golden Gun the strongest attack in the universe, and give me a golden suit of armor with the huuuuugest pair of pads- sh-shoulder pads I mean! Then make me the most beautiful woman in the world no one can resist, but also the strongest, also that no one can resist..."

The list went on and on as every single being on that swamp directed a deathly glare towards her, which she remained oblivious to for ten entire minutes of completely uninterrupted drivel, when she finally showed signs of winding down. "and... ah- and bring back Planet Vegeta, then I also want to own it, and... and I want to be immortal, but I don't want to regret it, make me enjoy it, a-and... and please... a bottle of water..." Nearly talking herself to death, she started descending to ground level to catch her breath.

"Alright guys, your turn now." she said to Pegras and Cumin with a smile and her thumb pointed up, as she landed next to them and sat on a tree trunk, blissfully ignorant that she had already spent the one wish they were all going to get, ten minutes ago.

[FrostyFoster 495]

The dragon’s eyes glowed as his power spread across the universe, a sweat bead appearing on his head from Cynder’s several requests.

ONE WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. FAREWELL.

The majestic creature then disappeared as the sky turned back to normal, but which wish was granted? As for the orange sphere, it became a grayish hue and lost its shape, turning to dust as it blowed away in the wind. Whatever it was, they wouldn’t find it anytime soon. Before the trio could even get their bearings after Cynder’s wish, the speakers on her and Cumin’s scouters blared out.

“Adeta squad! G-Get back to Chappar right this instant!” Cui yelled out, his voice showing a hint of fear. Whatever his reasoning was as to why they needed to leave the planet, the remaining population of Adeta would live to fight another day…

——

The three space pods were authorized to enter the glass dome encasing the base on Planet Chappar as they reached the landing pad. “Planet” was a bit of an overstatement for Chappar since it had more in common with an asteroid than a thriving world. Within one of the craters housed the Frieza Force’s complex which around 80 soldiers called their home. It wasn’t particularly special, having the typical mess halls and barracks of their organization’s bases. For recreation, a batting cage was all they had access to, but one of the machine’s was clearly broken, pelting one of the weaker soldiers with baseballs last week.

“There you are!” Cui called out to the trio. “Where’s… what’s his name? Tattle?” It was clear from his manner of speaking that no one bothered to listen in on their scouters. “Whatever, take his cut.” He handed the group an adequate amount of Pol, the Frieza Force’s currency, thinking they’d completed their task on Adeta. “Tomorrow we’re having some… very important members of our great organization visit us. You WILL be on your best behavior, got it?” He pointed his finger at them, turning away to hide his anxious face.

With time to kill before sleeping, what would each member do?

Edited December 10, 2024 by FrostyFoster

[Judge 236]

Everything happened so fast. By their combined forces, the three of them had managed to fell the great beast. If the beast had simply died, it would’ve saved Pegras a whole lot of trouble. Unfortunately, that was not the case. In its death throes, the creature regurgitated a rather large, glossy orange sphere. Within, a single red star. Pegras had only glimpsed it for a moment when the orb began to glow brightly and the sky darkened around them as the clouds crowded together. A crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning. A beam of light shot into the air and from its light, a vast, snake-like dragon appeared. It called itself ‘Modala’ and it wanted to offer them a wish.

“For real? A wish?” This was highly improbable. Unbelievable, even. Pegras’s mind boggled with the information presented to him. The dragon was not very forthcoming with any rules or guidelines for this wish. How was Pegras supposed to know what he could and couldn’t wish for? Could he wish for anything? If that was the case, it was an obvious choice. He would wish for the revival of the Tuffle race. Anything else would be betraying his own mission. Sure, they didn’t have a home planet, but that could be fixed.

Or could it? Would the dragon summon all the lost tuffles in the middle of open space? Would they be reborn, simply to die again? Pegras stroked his chin. His grandfather had told him stories of wish-granting creatures that tricked those who would use their power. One had to be smart—and specific—in order to get exactly what they wanted. No problem. Pegras would simply wish for all the tuffles killed by saiyans to be reborn as they were on a planet that was safe and could support them. Easy. With a smirk, he turned his attention back to Modala and opened his mouth to speak.

“ONE WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. FAREWELL.”

Pegras’s mouth fell further agape. ‘One wish has been granted’? But he hadn’t even spoken it yet. The tuffle’s eyes snapped to Cynder as the Saiyan floated down toward them, encouraging them to make their wishes.

“You stupid—there was only one wish! We could have wished for anything! We could have wished to…” Pegras clutched his hair with both hands. “AGHHH! You have to be screwing with me! What did you even wish for, you damn dirty--”

There was a crackle of radio coming from the scouters of his companions, loud enough for Pegras to hear. Cui was calling them back. Something had happened. Pegras, still bristling, shot daggers with his eyes at Cynder as he began to stomp his way back to the pods.

--

Cui met the trio when they arrived. He paid them out, including Paddle’s share, and informed them of so-called ‘special guests’ coming to visit.

“Lieutenant Cui, before you go. Down on the planet, Adeta, we encountered a strange—” Pegras stopped midsentence. If he told Cui about the wish dragon, word would undoubtedly reach Frieza’s ears. Who knew what kind of destruction the emperor could wreak with the power of an unbridled wish. Could he subjugate the entire universe with just one wish? Were there more of these dragons scattered across the cosmos?

Cui looked at him expectantly. Pegras grinned stupidly “—a…strange, uh…fruit! Yeah, a strange fruit. It was this big…uh, orange…ball.”

“Are you describing an orange, soldier?” Cui asked, unimpressed.

“I…you know what? I think you might be right. Must have been an orange, but just…really big. Thank you, sir.”

Cui shot Pegras a cold glare before turning away. Once his back was turned, Pegras frowned. “No I’m not talking about an orange, you stupid ass,” he muttered under his breath. The tuffle turned to his surviving squad mates. He cast his gaze around them and, once he was satisfied they were more or less alone, he pulled Cynder and Cumin into conspiratorial huddle.

“Here’s the deal. What we all just witnessed today? That doesn’t leave this huddle, understood? If word gets out about that giant wish ball, then there’s going to be a lot of hell to pay, especially when we have to tell Lord Frieza why we didn’t bring it back to him first. Right? So shut up about it and we should all be fine. Great, even. If there’s one such wish-granting dragon out there, surely there’s got to be more, right? He had to go somewhere. Maybe there’s even some kind of magic-wish-dragon-dimension. If we can find that, think of everything we could do with that power.”

 

 

 

[Roromi 456]

Cumin’s jaw dropped as the damn ape woman blathered out… a wish? If it could even be called that. The wolf man’s incredulous scowl morphed into a hateful glare of sheer disbelief. To say that he was speechless was an understatement. He had hardly any time to consider the implications of what terrific (or terrible) thing had just occurred with the the odd mystical dragon, when he found himself being recalled to the planet Chappar. 

Even as he clambered into his space pod he found himself seriously deciding to dessert the Freiza force, how could he serve with such incompetence? Maybe he could make himself a living as a mercenary? Or bounty hunter? So lost in thought, he didn’t even complain as he was spirted away to the planet where Cui paid him and his comrades, for what? A mediocre performance? Before he could storm off to consider his potential resignation the damned Tuffle brought him aside along with Cynder for a meeting. He found himself scowling as Pegras laid out his plans. “Just what good would something like that prove?” Cumin sneered, letting loose his frustrations at last. “What we saw… means nothing. Even if this one.” He jammed his paw at Cynder, unable to say her name out loud he was so mad, “-even if she somehow becomes the Ginyu force that proves nothing! We had the power to upset the entire balance of the universe and this – this she-ape blew it all away!” Cumin was not holding back now, he scowled from the Tuffle to the Sayin. “I don’t know what either of you are planning but I seriously doubt that dragon was legitimate.” He said skeptically as he glared at Cynder. The glare he shared with both his teammates was sharp enough to trim fur. 

[Replicator 206]

"Hah!" Cynder sneered back at Cumin, "If you believe that, then what are you even so mad about then, you mangy mutt?" She dismissively ran her hand through her hair to make it fly in the direction of the wolfman, before looking at the Tuffle. "I have to give it to him, though... it's not like any of my wishes came true so far." She looked at the handful of metal cylinders they had been handed for their time on Planet Adeta. "This is hardly all the Pol I requested. And one would think all these lowly soldiers would have bowed in deference to their new god-empress by now. Hmph!"

Taking a sip of a bottle of water, she continued rambling. "Dumbass dragon didn't even give me the bottle of water... He probably saw how we dealt with his scaly friend down there and made us an empty promise so we'd let him go. But he looked kinda mystic to me. Maybe he does have the power to grant wishes..." With a devious grin, she looked at both of her teammates. "I say we track the long-tailed prick down and beat him up until he gives each of us infinite wishes. Maybe even some for Piddle... Dawdle... whathisnamewas."

Edited December 27, 2024 by Replicator

[FrostyFoster 495]

With each member of the trio now having their own goals and ambitions in place, the day had passed and morning came. As Cui’s soldiers stood at attention by the landing pad. Knowing of their guests, Cui wanted them to be on their best performance as five pods floated down in front of the battalion.

The logo on each pod’s door was unmistakable. Not only had some of Frieza’s best soldiers arrive on Chappar, but they were THE best soldiers in the entire army. They were…

”RECOOME!”

”BURTER!”

”JEICE!”

”GULDO!”

”CAPTAIN GINYU!”

Cui immediately started clapping at the Force’s wonderful performance, signaling his men to follow along. Once the applause ceased, Ginyu stood tall.

”Thank you. Thank you.”

As his captain began his speech, Jeice couldn’t help but keep his eyes on the Saiyan warrior’s hair amongst the squadron. “She does have it…” He muttered, thinking back to his people and their customs.

”Brave Frieza soldier of Chappar!” Ginyu yelled out. “I have a special announcement to make. Not only have you been graced with our fantastic dance today, but one of you will be leaving with us… as the new sixth member of the Ginyu Force!”

Murmurs began to erupt from the crowd as Cui tried to hold back his tears. “Finally!” He thought. “After all these years, Lord Frieza himself is rewarding me with a spot on the Ginyu Force!” Cui began imagining himself in shiny new Ginyu Force armor, using that pesky Saiyan Prince he’d grown to hate as his own personal punching bag. “Just say the word, I’m ready!” 

“The brave soldier who will be joining our ranks is none other than…”

Cui took a step forward.

”CYNDER!”

”WHAT?!” Cui blurted out, quickly covering his mouth as looks of confusion covered most of the soldier’s faces. The purple alien couldn’t believe it! Cynder? A random warrior with a power level of only 4000? Why would she ever be chosen?

The Ginyu Force walked toward the Saiyan as the Tuffle and Wolfman stood by her. “There was something about you we couldn’t ignore.” Ginyu spoke, pressing a button on a remote to bring down Cynder’s very own Ginyu branded Attack Pod. “Welcome to the Ginyu Force!”

Bringing Cynder into their ranks, Cui held his mouth agape, only for a thought to appear.

“Lieutenant Cui, before you go. Down on the planet, Adeta, we encountered a strange—”

“I knew something was up…” Cui stated under his breath. “Perhaps I’ll need to check out the oranges on Adeta…”

——

Five months had passed since Cynder made her wish. The trio had gone their separate ways since then, with each member growing stronger in their own ways, mentally and physically. In fact, the introduction of training surprised the Ginyu Force. They were mutants and never required the need to train, but gladly built a gym and sparring ring at their base. 

Cynder, Pegras and Cumin had all become better people as the result of their meeting, whether they knew about it or not. While their paths hadn’t crossed in months, the trio would be brought together again soon.

Very soon…

”Hehehe…”