Post by Zerori on Feb 6, 2016 11:42:55 GMT
Three hours out after launching from Planet Vegeta the activity on ship had lessened immensely. Some of the crew that had been captured by the saiyans, or rather held hostage, were enjoying the peace they had from near death or the threat of such. While Zerori had assured the crew that they weren’t going to encounter any more ‘problematic’ stops, she did inform them that whatever was waiting at these coordinates – which were now confirmed as a planet known to it’s system as ‘Kanassa’ – would need to be handled while they were orbiting space. It was argued that if this strange occurrence was actually a tectonic or plasmatic issue, the planet could explode at any time. That meant that if Zerori was trapped there, her death would be inevitable.
For every person that demanded her not to speak such things, she would shut them down with a simple logic; if the ship was powered and ready to swoop in to get her (rather than wasting time on powering the engine and warming them up) she’d be in better hands as they awaited her from above.
However, as well-intent as their concerns were, it had steamed her. She wanted soldiers that just followed. Orders. What was so difficult about that? After an hour of trying to calm herself with an alcoholic beverage, which resulted in her throwing the glass at an unsuspecting science officer and rendering them unconscious, she decided her time was better spent elsewhere.
Like in the brig.
No, not as a prisoner of her own boiling emotions – what bullshit was that?
There were saiyans from the inspection team that didn’t leave The Descent, most likely doing a more detailed sweet of the vessel, and Zerori had found and rounded them up quickly. They weren’t as powerful as her magical prowess and not nearly as fast as her, but one had actually gotten a punch on her nose. Cracked by not completely broken, she’d been wrinkling her nose every this way and that at the slight pain.
At the lowest level of the ship, Zerori came upon the guarded doors of the brig and waved away the two large males that stayed sentinel. Giving a nod, they allowed her in with a hiss of the doors. As she walked in, Zerori would find the various coves of the cells within her sight. She didn’t know how she felt about being able to see the prisoners and then, in turn, the prisoners first sight being the one whom entered. The air in the room was tense, and Zerori had a hand on either hip as she took in the appearance of the three prisoners she had to herself.
Of the three, only one was male and he was a bit smaller than she imagined an inspection team would employ. His physical build was lean, and she could guess that he was only around one seventy in weight. His hair was short and stood up like a fresh cut grass and upon his face was a singular scar that ran from the corner of his lip to the back of his left ear. How did he get such a scar, Zerori would wonder but she moved her gaze to the next. They all worn the same uniformed armor with blue under-armor and half-cut pauldrons, the Solar Saiyan Empire insignia upon the lower leg armor around their thigh to signify a lower class but higher than average rank in the military.
One female was of average height to the saiyans, standing at six feet and some odd inches. Unlike the male, the saiyaness could tell she was built much more durable and likely the higher ranked of all three. Her hair played over her face fiercely and her eyes were stark contrast to the dark of her hair, shining almost light gray or violet. A hybrid perhaps, or just a eye pigment mutation of the species? It didn’t matter to Zerori and she moved her gaze to the last prisoner.
She was small and for some reason, that stuck out a lot to her. She couldn’t be taller than five feet and her musculature was minimal, like she wasn’t even old enough to have stepped from the saiyan academy. Her hair wasn’t entirely like a saiyans’ either as it draped down her shoulders and back in a very straight style. She couldn’t be saiyan.
“What have you come for, Traitor?” The large saiyaness bit out from behind the force field. To add to the effect, she would slam her fist into the field and take satisfaction in the ripples of it’s resistance to her force. She was the one that got the punch in on Zerori’s nose…
Giving her a frown, Zerori walked over to the control panel that kept the cells locked and the prisoners in. Her hand ghosted over it, a code she’d input herself before the fields came down.
All three were baffled by the nonverbal response, the seemingly younger child and the male staying where they were in case of a surprise attack. However, the woman was an opportunist. With a mighty war cry, she dove out of the cell and straight for the demonic hybrid. As the warrior closed the distance between the two, Zerori would turn to her just in time to duck below a fist barreling past her head. As she did so, much faster than the woman could possibly see, Zerori would throw her opposite arm into the gut of the woman.
With a choke, her body slumped over Zerori’s shoulder, frozen in musculature shock. Taking the lull in movement, Zerori didn’t stop her counter assault and went on the offensive, grabbing the woman by the back of her armor with one hand and replacing the other at her gut at the top of her upper armor. With a heave, the woman was thrown clear to the other side of the brig where her back collided with the wall in a large dent.
Her breath was knocked from her, her hand coming up to grasp at her throat in an attempt to gasp for the much needed oxygen. When she looked up and steered her hateful glare towards Zerori, she would be met with an infernal gaze.
Even from across the room, the nearly invisible warp of heat emanating from Zerori was noticeable. Her red eyes were bright smoldering embers as she leveled her focus onto the warrior woman.
“I’m ready, anytime…” Zerori would challenge softly, her body poised and ready for action.
For a moment, the other two saiyans didn’t think that their higher classed leader would get back up from that. Not that they didn’t believe in their comrade but this… this woman was something else entirely. She wasn’t known, per se, for anything against the empire. It was only after her spectacle at the space port that any of them were able to compare facial features to one that matched in their database. The boy was an unwelcome outsider due to the botched invasion of Earth.
But this woman… Years ago, when an incident had revealed that a Royal Enforcer had been caught in the VERY classified files of future military exploits, she had been imprisoned for a hearing and trial by the Hierarchy advisory. During the trial, something wrong had happened and the woman whom had lead many assaults against injustice and traitors of the empire would reveal herself to be a great demoness of power.
Many died that day, though it didn’t take long for the military might to recover. But this woman… was the daughter of that demoness. It was a popular rumor that she was killed off, hardly as powerful as the witch she was born from, and therefore a non issue to the empire.
That was, very apparently, a lie. And now she’d returned for some unknown reason.
Little did the male saiyan know, a feared of Zerori’s unknown power and quick to assume, that Zerori had no intention of ever returning home – much less with ill-intention in mind.
Getting to her feet, the large warrior would hold the wall as she gained her composure, “You’re blight on the empire! If you weren’t such a coward we would have killed you and brought honor to the Royal Guard!” She declared, prompting the Zerori to roll her eyes at her theatrics.
“Dishonor? The hell are you even talking about? If this is about my mother, you can save whatever fucked up excuse she has to do with me with your queen. As far as I’m concerned, the Empire means nothing to me!”
Snarling from where she stood, the woman charged Zerori once more. With a soft ‘tch’, a fire would ignite around the saiyaness hybrid before churning around her in a lethal fire tornado. Grinding to a halt from the intense heat, the tall tailed woman would just raise her arms to protect her face while yelling out, “Half Breed Scum! Fight me with what little honor you have left in TACT!”
And like a string that held back a bull, Zerori had finally snapped and charged the woman. As she closed the distance between the two her flames would extinguish out upon her arm, leaving the rest of her body to crackle and roar as the flames intensified. Grasping her around her neck, Zerori would throw the saiyaness into the wall she was just at and hold her against the metal as it warped from her power.
She snarled in her face, fiendlike and terrifying, “Tell me your name! Tell me so I can end your existence knowing the fool who dared to throw MY heritage back into my face!”
Moments passed between the two, the woman valiantly ignoring the painful heat from the half breed’s flames in favor of growling loudly in her face. Zerori could feel the temptation to simply turn her wrist and snap the woman’s neck where she stood and she would have… she would have, if not for the simple fact that she needed to know something.
Spitting off to the side, Zerori released the woman viciously and stepped back from her to walk toward the door. After about ten paces, Zerori would stop and take a few deep breaths. Slowly, like she was losing fuel to her flames, they would dissipate to reveal the saiyaness underneath. She rolled her shoulder once, cracking her neck to savor the popping and cracking of the cartilage before she turned to the woman.
“You… I ask you again, Saiyan,” She spoke as evenly as possible. “We are out in the middle of space with only hours before we reach our destination. No one will help you here and you will most likely never return home unless I allow for it. So, tell me,” She bit out the words, “-please. What are your names?”
Zerori made a note that if she denied her one more time… there would be blood and lots of it.
~-~-~-~
Kringe was watching over the computer controls, making certain that their course wasn’t deviating or being changed from any locations when a chime caught his attention. Brow knit in confusion, he looked over at his investigations officer and the white haired man shook his head. “What?”
“It’s the captain. She’s got the three prisoners in the Gravity Room with her and… turning the settings up to highest they can go.”
“WHAT?!” Kringe yelled, getting up from his seat to rush toward the lift. He was stopped as the officer at the console reached for him and shook his head.
“Sir, if she has them it should be fine! Don’t bother with her right now and just… let her handle it,” His frown was more cautious and concerned than anything, “You’ve just recovered sir and I, among many others, won’t let you put yourself in certain danger.”
“She can’t handle that much gravity AND-!”
“Three saiyans… three saiyans and you expect us to let you go?” The very realization had Kringe tense his jaw and swallow. It was true. His power wasn’t anything close to Zerori’s but he felt like a dark force was always looming over her. She didn’t want him in her business for one reason or the other, but… he couldn’t leave her to her fate. The path she walked to revive Ari changed her, influenced her decision making since he had met her upon that little girl’s death.
…What if she snapped again?
~-~-~-~
Inside the gravity chamber that had seen it’s own fair share of blood, sweat, tears and break downs, Zerori had turned the gravity up to it’s highest setting. She’d informed them of the possible death associated with the force she was going to inflict upon their bodies before hand after learning their names. A little more had occurred before she’d offered them a deal in exchange for their lives.
”You’re all trained in the gravity systems, are you not?”
The male, now known as Celtuce, would give a nod and respond, “Up to about one hundred.” The young girl shook her head, revealed to be in her very early teens with the name of Chicory.
The largest woman would cross her arms, a grin on her face, “You insult me. For the sake of my Queen I’ve trained in the strongest of gravity.” Her name was obviously the source of her arrogance and drive, being Courgette. It was by pure coincidence, or so they say, that all their names began with the same letter.
Zerori crossed her arms, “Good, then you don’t die like these two-”
“Whoa, what?” Celtuce gaped.
Chicory looked like she was about to cry, “-But, you said!”
Zerori waved her hands, “I know what I said, by the gods! You won’t be on the same level as long as you wear this,” She waved her hand over the circuit on her arm, and two bands seemed to appear in the other. She gave them to the two that weren’t up to standards, “This will alleviate the gravity from your bodies in a very small barrier around her. It’s a… trick I learned from a young girl.”
At their confused expressions, Zerori just threw the bands on the ground and turned away. When she was almost at the door, the hiss signaling her exit, she would turn back around and bark a simple word, “Come.”
And so, they were settled in and the setting on the console in the middle was primed. Zerori pressed a few commands in and made it so that in the next five minutes, the chamber would be placed on the highest setting possible. She turned to Courgette to see if she was ready. Instead of a normal response, like a nod or something – Zerori rolled her eyes at the middle finger thrown her away.
Obviously, neither of them would like the other.
She turned attention to the other gravity defunct saiyans, “Are you ready? If you’re not ready, this is going to likely kill both of you.” The little girl looked at the band on her wrist with fear and trepidation, clearly crying at her predicament. She didn’t want to be here! Celtuce just placed a hand on her shoulder before nodding to Zerori with an angry expression.
“Does she need to be here?” He asked, the concern plain to see.
“You’re not going to escape,” Zerori said simply, giving him a look of annoyance.
“But she-”
“-Will be fine,” She finished for him firmly, shutting him up and crossing her arms.
A few more minutes passed and all but Courgette was outwardly nervous, feeling the apprehension. When finally the gravity seemed to shift, both Zerori and Courgette would immediately feel the change and nearly fell to their knees from the suddenness of the new force upon them.
For Zerori, she felt practically feel her body starting to buckle under the strain – she’d gone past twenty Gs of training in the course of a few days and her body had nary a moment to rest. As she struggled to her body up in the gravity around her, she didn’t notice the quick dash towards her from Courgette in time was slammed surprisingly quickly into the wall just to the left her. She’d attacked her from the side so she hardly had a chance to move before her hip made an audible crack against the metal. “AUGH!”
“I told you, Half Breed! I told you not to underestimate me!” Courgette would snarl against her ear, pushing her into the metal with tons of pressure. With a pained groan, Zerori would only adjust to the pressure for a few more moment as her prisoners quickly turned the titles of ‘Prey’ and ‘Predator’ on her ass. Courgette shifted her hold on Zerori and grasp her under her armor and on her left pauldron before she let out a mighty grunt, “HrUGH!” And with a throw that would have made any grappling master proud, Zerori’s body actually flew from one side of the chamber to the next.
Landing. Hurt. A lot.
As she rolled to the side, her arms falling to be trapped at her sides, Zerori could feel blood start to bubble up in her throat. Oh… man… Even in her mind she was starting to sound disoriented. I need… to get up, She was tried to motivate herself without using the Super Demon form. That’s not what made Gravity effective…
“What’s wrong, Zerori? Am I too strong for you?” Courgette would taunt, walking towards her effortlessly with her arms crossed over her chest. From her position on the ground, Zerori could see something was off about the woman. Her wasn’t gold, but… Her strength was amplified somehow. No, she couldn’t have been used to the gravity.
“Y-You cheater,” Zerori scoffed, a smirk on her lips. “I… am not blind, you fool.”
Unamused, Courgette could only snort at her prey’s attempt at an insult. “Explain.”
“You’re not a Super Saiyan,” She started, giving a slight gag when the blood in her throat slid back down into her stomach. “You’re… something else. But you’re definitely… not in your normal… form.”
“What difference does it make?” She barked, a little upset Zerori caught her. She didn’t quite know what she was, however and that was enough for her.
In few minutes had passed by now and Zerori was getting used to moving now. Pushing her abs to their limit, she sat up with a bit of a struggle. As she got to her feet, muscles twitching this way and that, she would look to the woman with a feral grin. “Because… I’m not weak enough to need a CRUTCH!” Snarling out the last word, Zerori threw a fist towards Courgette and, catching her off guard, got her right across the cheek.
Stumbling back, Courgette found herself receiving another hit straight to the nose – effectively breaking it and fell onto her back with a yell of pain. Grabbing her face, she glared up at the saiyaness hybrid above her with one eye. Zerori was there, leaning over her with shining red eyes and a fanged grin. “Tell me something,” She would ask, out of the blue.
Courgette, untrusting and very much out of her depth, would simply hiss, “-The fuck is it?”
“The Queen,” Zerori didn’t pull any proverbial punches, reaching for the off guard saiyaness before pulling her to her feet. She needed a training partner, not a dummy. “What makes her so great? She invaded Earth and somehow lost but you,” She shook her head, not quite understanding what made them so loyal, “-find something about her redeeming.”
“You would be wise to respect her highness, despite her absence!” Courgette defended, jumping a step back to adopt a fighting stance. Through all of this, Chicory and Celtuce would watch in amazement as the two strongest saiyans – half or no – fought in more ways than one.
Zerori shrugged, feeling her muscle spasm a bit at the forced movement, “I will when I find something to respect about her. You know…I met her once. Well, she wasn’t Queen, then. Ambitious, though.” Feeling devilish, Zerori added in there, “I thought she would have died in that little invasion of hers; guess even Queens know show to tactical retreat, eh?”
“Shut your mouth!” Courgette demanded, jumping off towards Zerori. Getting close, she would place her right legs firmly into the floor and twist her body around to deliver a windmill kick across Zerori’s cheek.
Seeing the attack, Zerori raised her right up to block it, using her left to provide an extra bit of defense. When it impacted, she gnashed her teeth together from the power behind the blow. Yeah… she was definitely holding back before. “Heh, I couldn’t even feel that!”
“NNGH!”
“Hey!” Came a sudden call from Celtuce, drawing Zerori’s attention off of Courgette for a moment before she blocked another hit aimed for her sides.
“What?” She snapped, grappling one of Courgette’s arms just as her fist passed by her head. Turning around, she would twist her arm into a painful position before throwing her opposite elbow out to knock her in the temple. Courgette was pushed back, disoriented and more than a little in pain.
“You have no right to speak such things of our Queen! She’s brought so much to our empire that you can’t even imagine possible in her reign!”
“Look, I can imagine a lot! A kid like her-,” Zerori paused, dodging a blast that she almost didn’t see coming, “Bitch! I can understand Chicory growing up to like Zuccetta but you?! Boy, you need to get your head out of your ass and get a damn girlfriend!”
“I-I’ll have you know that Zucceta is approachable!”
“Yeah, and I-OOF! Fuck you!” She didn’t expect such a hit from the saiyaness below her, nearly falling to a knee from the impact against her crotch. Taking the gloves off, Zerori snapped her fingers at Courgette and ignited the armor she wore. As expected, she started to panic and pat the fire out frantically. While recovering, Zerori glared at the boy as she yelled, “Fine! WHAT is so great about Queen Zucceta!?”
Obviously caught off guard, Celtuce wasn’t really sure where to begin. Luckily for him, Chicory was the first to speak. Her voice was soft but confident, which was odd to hear from a very young teen. “Our empire has become the strongest that it’s ever been! We don’t have to fear from the Arcosian Empire or ANYONE because she’s become a Super Saiyan! And-And! And Super Oozaru! So you should just STOP talking bad about her!” With the final yell, Chicory sniffled from the tears that were elicited from her defense of her Queen.
Zerori, staring at the young girl, felt very… moved, unfortunately. Not that she really believed her, but the fact that the child had such confidence in herself had the hybrid wondering just what the Queen’s intentions were. When I met her back then, she was all about ‘Free the saiyans from the human oppression’, which I’ll admit getting stop for those damn shades were infuriating…
“AAAUGGHH!” It was Courgette charging her, having finally put out the fire. Just as Courgette got close, Zerori’s hair shot upwards into silver and her red warped aura exploded around her. In a liquid movement, Zerori caught her in one hand on her arm and with the other grasped the front of her armor to throw her over shoulder and onto her back. Courgette gasped, wind once again knocked out of her, but as she opened her eyes she would freeze.
Zerori, knife materializing in hand, placed it against her throat. Her silver hair splayed around her in the air as she glared into Courgette’s eyes. “You need to keep your anger in control,” She chastised, receiving a dirty glare in response despite the knife.
Getting to her feet, no longer affected by the gravity in her temporary boost of power, Zerori de-materialized the knife and turned to Chicory. Walking towards her, she took no pleasure in seeing the girl take a step back with a very fearful expression on her face. Just as she was almost completely in front of her, the hybrid’s hand raised to stop her movement and she merely knelt down next to her. Touching the girl would kill her since the gravity level would be shared so Zerori kept her distance.
Staring at her, Chicory tried to give her best defiant expression. Amused and touched by the bravery, Zerori grinned, “Hey… I’ll get you home. Queenie better be grateful she’s got such loyal little shits…” And just like that, Chicory’s defiance was broke and she stared at Zerori in shock before her face started to screw up again. Zerori’s face fell, “Oh, no. Kid, don’t-!”
“WAAAAH!” She burst into tears right there, the rivulets falling down her face as she wailed loudly. Zerori covered her ears, a deadpanned frown while Celtuce just placed a hand over his head in shame. She was always like this…
And as for Courgette? She was still trying to get up, the boost finally running it’s course through her body and leaving her weakened. She just glared up at the ceiling in petulance.