A Deal for Power

“My son,” King Vegeta bellowed, “Why have you returned to me when you have yet to accomplish the task I have given you?” Tarble sat before his father, head hung low in shame. He couldn't look his father in the eye. "A task as simple as to assassinate a lowly Namekian and you manage to fail?" the irritation that resided in his voice grew stronger.

"I'm truly s... sorry father." Tarble apologized, stuttering in an attempt to hold back from crying.

"I don't need to hear such pathetic words," A growing anger began to ring in his words. "You are a Saiyan prince; you shame yourself and our family by behaving in such a manner." King Vegeta rose from his thrown, he was a mountain of a man, and his ki shook the entire room as he stood. "Tarble," King Vegeta called to him. Tarble slowly stood and looked up at his father wiping away any moisture that may have formed around his eyes. "Why can't you be like your brother, Vegeta?"

Vegeta was Tarble's brother and King Vegeta's first born son. At an early age Vegeta learned how to harness his ki and use techniques no one thought possible of a young boy. At the age of ten Vegeta had been given the title of Prodigy; expected from him was the acquisition of power no Saiyan has had for centuries. A power so strong, so powerful it would make rulers of all planets tremble at the mere thought of it, the power of the Super Saiyan. Ever since Tarble could remember, he was always compared with his elder brother, living in his shadow.

"Fine then!" The anger in his voice shook the room as he stared down the young Saiyan. "If all you can do is stand there and do nothing, then I hereby strip you of your royal status."

"But father!" Tarble yelled in a futile attempt to interject.

"No excuses!" Roared the mighty King Vegeta. "If you are so weak as to not be able to complete such a simple mission, then I have no choice but to send you to Friya VII in an attempt to conquer the planet." A sudden silence quickly filled the room. The guards as well as all others in the room stood frozen, fixated on King Vegeta and the words he had said.

Friya VII is a small planet just outside the borders of the Saiyan Empire. Despite the planet's size, the power of its army is and their advancement of technological weaponry is astounding. About six years ago the Saiyans discovered the planet and found it to possess vast amounts of rare materiel and even unknown technology. At first the beings of Friya VII, otherwise known as Frions, seem to be peaceful creatures and not of a battle driven nature like the Saiyans.

Seeing only victory ahead, King Vegeta declared war on the small peaceful planet. He sent several battalions of Saiyan Warriors, however before their ships could even reach the planet, they were shot down by large plasma weaponry.

It would seem as though even if the Frions were not battle worthy, their technology was. The weaponry fueled King Vegeta’s obsession for the planet to a degree in which none have seen. He sent wave after wave of warriors over the next few years, none were successful.

Realizing that his futile attempts to conquer the planet was actually weakening his empire he ceased his efforts. Now, any assaults on the planet are considered a death sentence and an act of punishment.

"But, but father!” Tarble cried out, knowing full well the reputation Friya VII held. “That’s a suicide mission! No one has ever returned from there.” Tarbles voice cracked several times. His body was shaking in fear.

“I know this , Tarble.” King Vegeta said as a look of disappointment swept across his face. “But, you dishonor me and you brother, and for that you must go.” King Vegeta sat back on his thrown, easing the tension in the room. “Everyone leave, So I can talk to my son.” Ordered King Vegeta, motioning for all others to leave. The door to his room slammed shut and he continued.

“I know this is hard for you to understand Tarble, but this is the only way. You must go to Friya VII and you must conquer it. You shall reclaim your honor as well as the honor of the entire race. I know you have the ability to do that.” Tarble stared up at his father unsure of how to respond. “You will be part of a small task force along with four others and you will be using the cloaked space pods so you are not seen.”

“Yes, father.” Tarble responded, knowing he had no other choice

“Good, now go to the launching bay and meet up with the others for your armor and equipment. You will be leaving within the hour.” With that farewell, Tarble took his leave.

After having silently waiting in their pods for five days, Tarble and the other four Saiyans finally neared Friya VII. The alarm sounded inside Tarble's pod to alert him to activate the cloaking device. Tarble flipped the switch and his pod silently hummed as most of the power was shot off.

“So far, so good.” Tarble commented as he and the other Saiyans were able to safely pass the upper atmosphere. Tarble’s pod began to shake and his pod burned a brilliant shade of red as he entered the lower atmosphere. Tarble's pod was the first to crash into the planet. The other two pods followed shortly. Each pod had crashed only a few kilometers from one another, a rather precise landing for such simple ships. A large burst of pressurized air exploded from Tarble's Pod as the door opened. He exited the ship and looked around. He had landed in a small field right beside a wooded area. Tarble had seen four large clouds of dust and dirt to the east.

“That must be where the others landed.” Tarble said as the clouds were quickly washed away by quick bursts of air. Tarble equipped his scouter and switched it on. The scouter bleeped and booped for a couple seconds, loading readouts and planet data.

“Hmm, nothing over five hundred.” Tarble commented with a sigh of relief. Tarble looked around cautiously, so that he can get a well attuned readout of the area. Only a few power levels read as a threat and those were that of his Saiyan brethren.

“I suppose I should go meet up with them, I seem to have landed farthest from a colony.” Tarble flew off in the direction of the rest of his team.

Flying overhead, Tarble could see many of the planets features. To the west there were large mountain peaks spanning hundreds of miles. To the south a large yellow ocean, the salt of which reached even Tarble’s nose. Just below him was thick and lush forest, which appeared to be the home of many exotic plants and animals, the likes of which Tarble had never seen. He enjoyed the scenery much, it was a lot less populated then Vegeta and seemed to still maintain most of its natural resources. His delight was short lived however as a large ki blast erupted only a kilometer away.

“Oh no!” Tarble exclaimed as the blast enveloped a large area, unsure of which side it hailed from. “Did they find us?” Worried, Tarble quickly shot off in the direction of the explosion to investigate.

Tarble arrived at the scene of the explosion to find a small village completed decimated. The buildings were in ruins and there were Frion corpses scattered about. Tarble landed, cautious not to step on anything. There were several holes and craters in the ground and nearby buildings; it was obvious there was some kind of joint attack against the people of the village.

'This is definitely a Saiyan strategy.' Tarble thought, surveying the area. 'But even so, where were the Saiyans who had launched the assault?' Tarble adjusted his scouter to find higher power levels, but after a few tweaks he came up with nothing. In fact his scouter didn't show any life forms with any level of power.

"Damn thing must be broken." Tarble grumbled as he tossed his scouter into the rubble. No sooner had the scouter landed, the earth began to shake with tremendous force. The buildings that managed to survive the explosion now came crumbling down.

“What’s going on here?” Tarble asked as the ground violently shook. All of a sudden the ground below Tarble erupted and some kind of metal monstrosity spewed forth. Luckily Tarble jumped back in the nick of time sustaining only a small injury to his left leg. The machine was headed by a large drill that spun with an amazing speed. The machine ran on treads and the outer hull was of cylindrical shape, made from a metal that shined a bright blue. The drill was bigger than he was and the machine itself was probably the size of a tractor trailer.

“What the hell is that thing?” Tarble asked, not really sure of what he was looking at. He stood only a few meters from the machine and debated with himself on whether or not he should get any closer. A large metal plate on the right side of the machine slid open and a large cannon appeared from the hole, pointed at Tarble. The inside of the cannon began to glow a bright blue. Tarble jumped back a few more meters, preparing himself for such an attack. He wanted to be careful and try not to damage it too much. This machine and those controlling it must live in order for him to find the missing Saiyans. With a sudden shock the cannon shot forth a large ball of ki. Tarble quickly jumped to the right to avoid the attack, however the ki blast took a sharp left following him.

“What the..” Tarble had no time to finish as the strange attack hit Tarble in the left arm and exploding, sending him flying through a building and out of sight.

A bit dazed, Tarble opened his eyes to find himself lying on a pile of rubble. His left arm was badly injured as it hurt to move it a great deal. Tarble slowly rose to his feet and looked around for the mechanical weapon.

“What the hell was that?” Tarble asked himself as he gripped his left arm. “That thing shot a ki blast and could control it. That’s a high level technique. It’s hard for a Saiyan to accomplish that, much less a machine.” Tarble made his way down from the pile of loose stone and brick and back onto solid ground.

“And the power of that blast was amazing.” Tarble walked to the peak of a nearby hill and had spotted the machine below, just a hundred feet or so away. Quickly, Tarble dropped to a prone position to avoid being seen. The machine stopped for a second, but continued on shortly after.

“I have to take that thing out of commission.” Tarble commented as he slowly rose, careful to not be seen. “There is no way I can hold back against this thing.” Tarble realized that if he had any chance of surviving he must use his full strength.

“This is going to hurt both of us.” Tarble commented as he extended his arms in front of him, the pain in his left arm shot through his entire body. “Try my attack you stupid hunk of metal.” A yellow aura surrounded Tarble as he collected the ki within him and focused it all into his open palms. Two small orbs of yellow formed and quickly grew.

“HAAAAAAAA!” With a large grunt Tarble sent the two ki blast hurling toward the machine.The blasts made contact with the outer hall of the machine, however instead of exploding, it seemed to have been absorbed.

“What the hell just happened?” Tarble asked confusingly. Never before as he seen anything such as this happen. The machine quickly turned around facing Tarble and sent several ki blasts in his direction.

“Ughh.” Tarble took flight toward the machine and toward the blasts. The second before the blasts hit, Tarble flew downward, avoiding the attack. He was only inches off the ground flying full speed at the machine.

“If ki won’t hurt it then I’m just going to have to pulverize it!” Tarble drew his hand back and prepared for a one hit knockout punch. The moment before he would collide with the machine, he launched his fist forward, coupling not only the physical strength of his arm but also the kinetic energy generated from flying forward at his fast pace.

As his fist made contact with the outer hull, Tarble realized it not to be such a great idea as he felt a sudden surge of pain from his hand shooting through his arm and the rest of his nervous system. The machine rocked back and forth a bit as Tarble fell backward writhing in pain. Where he had struck a small area of concentrated yellow ki had formed, creating a shield for the machine. It was the same ki it had absorbed once before and now it turned the ki against its original owner.

A huge metal panel on top of the machine opened and a humongous cannon appeared from inside. The cannon slowly gathered energy, but with Tarble in pain he had hardly noticed. Tarble tried standing again, this time with much effort and pain. Tarble turned toward the machine and found him looking down an even larger cannon barrel. Tarble quickly managed to bring his arms up to block as the massive ki blast shot from the cannon in a direct hit with Tarble, engulfing not only him, but the machine as well.

After an unknown time had passed, Tarble slowly started to regain consciousness. He awoke to a dark and cold place. His eyes adjusting to the darkness, many sounds found their way to his ear; the slow drip of water into a small shallow puddle, the flapping and fluttering of wings echoing through the darkness and the sound of a strange humming noise.

“Am I dead?” Tarble asked himself, as all he could see was black. Shifting slightly, the injury to his arms and legs shot a bolt of pain through his body.”AGGGGGHHHH!” Tarble screamed barely enduring the pain that now filled his body. His loud yell echoed through the dark chamber several times. Tarble’s eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, yet he could still barely see a single thing. “Where the hell am I?” Tarble asked as he shifted his head slightly to the left, trying not to hurt himself more than he already has.

“You are in your graaaaaave boy.” A rustic and high pitched voice echoed throughout the chamber.

“What?” Tarble was surprised anyone was in there with him. “Who, who are…AGHHHH!” Being in such a panicked state, Tarble had hit his arm on a rock formation that stood next to him, sending a sharp and monstrous pain up his arm and down his spine.

“It matters not whooooo I am for youuuu will die in this place.” The voice replied. For some strange reason the creature speaking, whatever it may be, extended his vowels which made it creepy beyond imagining.

“No!” Tarble shouted still writhing in pain from the large ki blast he took at point blank. “I will not die in a place like this!”

“Youuuuu seeeem determined young boy.” The voice replied. “But how do youuu expect to escape from heeeeeere with your body in such shaaaape?”

“I will find awAAAAY!” The pain hit Tarble hard mid-sentence and he started to clench his teeth in an attempt to deal with it. “We Saiyans always find a way.” The chamber stood silent for a few minutes, Tarble lie there breathing heavy unsure of which the creature was still there or if he was now alone.

“Weeeell,” The voice replied after a long silence. “If it is truuuue that you are a Saiyan, then perhaaaaaaps we could aid each other.”

“What? And how do you expect to do that?” Tarble replied, the pain lingering in his arms.

“Well you seeeeee, I am a creation of the beeeeeings of this planet. But for reasons unknooown to me, they sent meeeeee deep below the grooooound, to rot in the eternal darkness of this caaaaaave.”

“So this is a..” Tarble was cut short as the pain now hit his chest. “UGHHHHH!!!!”

“Yes, youuu had fallen down here a few days agoooooo after a large explosion on the surface broke a small hole in the rooooooof.” The voice replied. “You have been unconscious fooor the past three daaaays.”

“You said you were created by the Fri…..” Table paused for a second slowly gaining control over the pain. “Frions. Does that make you a machine?”

“Yeeees I suppose I am of an artificial life.” The voice responded “However I feeeeel no pain and no feeear, nor do I feel pity or remoooorse. I aaaam considered by my creators a faaaailed experiment.”

“Then why would I help you?”

“I can heeeelp relieve your pain and perhaps saaaave you from your otherwise fateful deeeeath.”

“How would you do… ugh… that?” Tarble asked, intrigued by the machines offer to help relieve the unimaginable pain he was feeling at this very moment.

“Siiiiimple really. I enter you braaaain and the attach myself to it, forming a type of symbiotic relationship betweeeeeen you and I.”

“And what … ugh … exactly do you get from this relationship?” Tarble asked unsure of the machines motives

“I will live and so will youuuu. You will feel no paaaain or remorse if you wish not tooooo and you will gain the potential to become the strongest of your raaaaace. The grounds of rationality seeeeeem obviously tipped in youuuur favor.” The machine explained.

“But a robot in my mind doesn’t seem.. AGHHHH!” Another spurt of pain shot through Tarble’s spine.

“Ah, but you seeeee, that’s the beauty of it. I meeerge with your brain tissue and we become one. Of course, it would not beeee permanent basis. I wouuuld be able to leave any time I wish leaving youuuur brain unharmed.”

“Sounds too good to be… ugh .. true.” Tarble said as he shifted his head to the right looking for this machine. A glint caught Tarble's eye.

“Weeeell you do need to have the strength and willpower toooooo survive the initial merge, but wiiiiith the pain you are gooooing through you seeeeem to have the will toooo live.”

“Fine, how do we do this?” Tarble asked, as he decided to merge with this machine.

“You must make your way to meeee.” The machine answered. “Endure the pain for just that time and allow meeee to relieve youuu of such things forever.”

Tarble nodded as he turned on his stomach, pain shooting up and down his entire body. “Must endure, must endure.’ Tarble repeated to himself. Slowly Tarble made his way to the machine using his arms and legs to ‘army’ crawl, blood from his arms and legs trailed behind him. The pain with every stride grew stronger and more brutal, the thought of ending this pain reassured Tarble of his decision a thousand times over.

As Tarble neared he could make out a silver liquid type substance in a large glass container. He reached his arm upwards in an attempt to grab the bowl, but could feel himself reaching his limit. With one last push Tarble touched the bowel and the machine shot down his arm and through his ear. One final roar of pain escaped Tarble’s mouth before he passed out.

+++++ 53 Years Ago ++++++

In a large room full of metal instruments and large machines a group of Frions, wearing white lab coats, all stood huddled around a single glass cylinder poking and prodding at its contents.

“Subject 12B was a successful birth then?” One of the lab coated Frions asked.

“Yes, it seems to be self conscious.”

“Shall we move on to the next phase of the project?”

“I think that success at this stage dictates that we must.”

The Frion scientists conversed with one another until they had decided to move their experiment to the next stage. One of the scientists carefully grabbed the glass cylinder with a pair of metal prongs and carefully carried it across the room where a large metallic box had been lying. Inside was an unconscious Frion.

“Now to insert the specimen into a viable host.” The scientist stated as he slowly poured the liquid contents into the ear of the Frion. After only seconds of entering the Frion, the effects of the experiment could be seen. The Frion started to shake uncontrollably as his arms and legs waved about.

“Strap him down! Strap him down!” One of the scientists shouted as the others quickly attached leather straps across the Frion’s body. With one final motion the Frion stopped all movement.

“Did he survive?” One of the scientists asked as they all moved closer to check. The Frion’s eyes shot open and started thrashing about. The scientists all jumped back to a safe distance.

“What a peculiar reaction.” One of them stated as he moved closer to get a better examination of the subject. The Frion stopped thrashing as the leather belts seemed to be stronger than he was. “Well it seems as if the liquid does not make the subject any stronger.” The scientist commented as he stood above the strapped down Frion. The Frion stared at him with such eyes that would pierce the soul of any normal man. “I wonder…” The scientist asked quixotically as he unraveled the harness that bound the Frion.

“Nooo!” The other scientists yelled as they all rushed forward to re attach the restraints, but it was too late. The experimental Frion shot out of the box and stood only a few feet from the scientists.

“You think you can control me?” The Frion asked in a higher pitched voice. “You may have been my creators, but I will not do your bidding.” The voice was cold and harsh.

“So you are not the Frion then?” The scientist who unleashed him asked.

“Yes and no, I am both he and I. He is both himself and me. We are one.”

“Very interesting…” The other scientists stood still, fearful of what their own experiment might do.

“You guys look scared, perhaps I should give you a reason.” The experiment stated as a creepy smile appeared on his face. He launched himself toward the group of scientists as they tried to scramble out of his path. “Too slow!” He yelled as he landed a hard punch directly in the stomach of the nearest scientist. The punch was hard and hit with such force that the scientist started coughing up blood. The Frion experiment then kicked the blood spewing scientist in the head, sending him flying backward and into the others. “Now you all will…” The Frion stopped suddenly as he felt a bullet enter his back. One of the scientists had managed to get around him and grab a weapon. “That’s all?” The Frion asked as he turned around to face the gun wielding scientist. “You crazy little scientist, don’t you understand? The mind of this guy is mine. I feel little fear or pain; I stay clear from that location of the brain.”

“Please spare me!” The scientist begged as he dropped his gun and fell back into the corner of the room.

“Spare you my ass!” The Frion exclaimed as he ran toward the scientist, fist drawn back ready for a lethal punch. The Frion stopped dead only a few feet from the scientist.

“Hmm, interesting…” said the scientist who had originally released the Frion. The Frion fell to the floor thrashing about uncontrollably. “The body must not be strong enough for the experiment.” The Frion body lay limp in its place as one of the other scientist grabbed the glass cylinder and quickly scooped up the liquid escaping from the Frion’s ear.

“We must destroy it!” said the scientist who held the container.

“No, we must keep it for experiments on stronger hosts.” Said the single scientist who had released the Frion.

“We simply cannot allow that.” The other two scientists responded. “It killed Given.”

“Fine then.” The scientist pulled a gun from behind his back and with three quick shots, put a bullet into the chests of the other scientists. The cylinder came plummeting down, and hit the floor with a clang, luckily it did not break. The scientist picked up the experiment. “Don’t worry, soon the right host will come along, I’ll just need to hide you for a while.”

+++++ Present Day +++++

The ground started to rumble beneath the monstrous machines treads. With a sudden burst of raw power the ground exploded as Tarble came shooting out.

“Ah, the wind on my face feels good.” Tarble stated in a voice unlike his own. He had accepted the merger with the experimental consciousness and due to the massive amount of pain he had been enduring Tarble had submitted to it.

“It’s nice to have a body with such potential.” Tarble looked behind him. “And this tail, it’s freakin’ awesome!” Tarble suddenly vanished as a large ki blast had nearly hit him. Tarble reappeared next to the giant tank-like machine.

“So you’re the one who did all the damage to this body.” The machine slowly turned its gaze toward Tarble as the side cannon began to glow.

“A Driigon Tank with absorption plating, how old school.” Tarble commented as he had recognized the old design of the tank. “Tough to destroy, unless you know the weak spot.” Tarble raised his beaten arm up to the cannons opening charging a ki blast of his own.

“Be gone you pathetic tank!” Tarble shot a ki blast down the barrel of the cannon causing it to set of a chain of explosions from inside. The tank exploded with such force that it sent rubble flying in every direction as Tarble escaped flying north.

After only a couple hours Tarble had come upon the capital city of Grinox IV. It was composed of highly evolved technical structures all of which seemed to be suspended in the air by an unknown force. Nearly the whole city was floating; it was surely different from Vegeta. Tarble landed atop a large rock which overlooked the city from a nearby hilltop.

“I’m hooooome!” Tarble declared in a voice that was harsh and cold, the very air about him would send chills down your spine. Tarble flew into the city dodging the flying vehicles at top speed, a creepy grin on his face all the while. Tarble had only one thing on his mind, revenge.

The doors of the building came crashing down with a large bang, several high ranking Frion officials inside the building jumped to their feet. Tarble slowly walked through the doorway in a fashion that one would normally see on drama television shows in which the hero enters a crucial scene.

“That.. that tail!” The Frion who wore the ambassador uniform pointed out. “He’s a Saiyan!”

“That’s right, and I have come to play.” Tarble commented his grin and voice complementing each other in the creepiest of ways.

“Guards!” The High Embassador called out to the machines standing in all corners of the large room. The four machines started flying toward Tarble.

“Class 4 Model 98 Guard Drones.” Tarble stated quickly analyzing the robots that were sent to attack. Tarble rushed toward the nearest one and delivered a quick kick to the bottom sending it flying nearly 90 degrees upward.

“Their weak spot is their underside!” Tarble shouted as he launched a ki blast to the bottom of the machine causing it to explode.

“How does he know?” One of the Frion commanders asked as Tarble quickly dispatched the rest of the drones using similar tactics.

“Well, lets see,” Tarble commented right before he disappeared only to reappear before the Frion. Tarble grabbed the Frion’s neck and held him up high, his toes inches of the ground.

“You did create me with the entire Frion database at my disposal over fifty years ago.” All the eyes of the Frion’s currently standing in that room quickly shot open as they had realized who he was. Three of the five in the room were the scientists who worked on the project fifty years ago.

“What are… you talking about…” The Frion asked gasping for air.

“Oh? So you weren’t one of them then huh?” Tarble’s voice was harsher than before. “Well, I hate getting the wrong guy!” tarble announced as he closed his grip on the Frion’s neck. With a large crack Tarble had broken his neck as he tossed him aside. The few others stood in a corner cowering in fear.

“You guys make me sick.” Tarble announced as he raised his hand to them, charging his ki.

“No please!” They all cried out.

“Too late!” Tarble shot the ki blast into the group with an explosion that took part of the building away with them.

“So you did find a suitable host then?” The Frion High Ambassador asked, now standing alone in the room upon his pedestal. Tarble tilted his head slightly unsure of what the ambassador was referring to. “I am the one who created you. They all wanted to destroy you , but I knew you were destined for greater things.”

“You can’t be serious.” Tarble asked sarcastically. “You lock me up and throw away the key and now your justifying your life because you simply allowed me to live?” Tarble started walking toward the Frion. “I spent years just sitting there waiting to die, you created me to think so for fifty years I sat the thinking, questioning. If I had my mind I would have lost it.” Tarble was now standing a foot from the Frion whose face seemed to get more nervous by the second. Tarble placed his hands on both shoulders.

“You don’t have the right to live.” Tarbles hands started to gather ki.

“But but!” Before the Frion could finish, Tarble quickly snapped his hands together, using his ki as a sort of blade to cleanly cut the head from the Frion’s shoulders. The High Ambassador fell to the floor like a ragdoll, his head rolling down a small set of stairs.

“Welcome home son!” King Vegeta greeted Tarble with an unexpected heart surprise. Tarble knelt before his father, the illustrious King Vegeta as a hero. His memory was hazy to what exactly happened on Freya VII, but supposedly once he returned he had been the Saiyan who had captured Freya VII.

“The pride I feel on this day can be compared to no other. You left a weakling and came back a hero. I humbly restore your royal status and allow you to enter the exams for the Saiyan Elite.” The Saiyan Elite was a title given to only the strongest of Saiyans and one most prove themselves worthy of the title by completing several tasks and gaining respect of the people. It was a title that Tarble had once thought he would never be able to attain.

“Father, my injuries on the planet seemed to have a mental toll as well as a physical as I can hardly remember what happened.” Tarble explained to his father, unsure of the reason he had lost so much memory.

“Ha, ha, ha.” King Vegeta laughed as he patted Tarble on the back. “I am not surprised, for that was a dangerous mission, we are lucky that you even returned to us.” King Vegeta sat on his throne once again.

“Your brother Vegeta even made up an excuse for such a mission and here you are, alive and successful mission. You should take pride in your success Tarble.” Tarble smiled. He had not remembered the last time his father praised him if at all and even more so put him above his brother.

“Anyway Tarble, you have deemed yourself worthy of being placed on missions once again and thus I am assigning you to a squad of potential Saiyan Elites led by a young cunning Saiyan warrior by the name of Diive.”

“Yes father.” Tarble acknowledged the assignment, happy to be a part of the Saiyan squads once again.

“Now go to the rejuvenation room and heal your injuries so that you can be in top shape for your next assignment.” King Vegeta said with a small smile on his face.

“Right away sir.” Tarble answered as he stood and took his exit.

“That boy will be something great one day, I just know it.” King Vegeta assured himself of his young boy’s growing potential.

+++A Few Hours Later+++

As Tarble stood suspended in the rejuvenation tank, the electrolysis of the tanks fluids and mechanisms slowly started to heal his wounds. The sensation one gets in a rejuvenation tank is a pleasant one, it feels as if a thousand tiny hands were messaging you in all the places that needed it the most and the quit hum of the machine could put one to sleep rather fast. Tarble had decided that the rejuvenation tank is one of the many reasons why Saiyans over exert themselves, because not only does a near death experience make you stronger but it also feels damn good.

Slowly, Tarble began to drift off to sleep. His body and mind worn out, it wasn’t long before he had completely fallen asleep.

“Tarble.” A voice called to Tarble. Gaining no answer it called again. “Tarble.” Slowly Tarble started hearing the voice call to him. He tried to open his eyes, but no such luck. “Tarble.”

‘Who’s there?’ Tarble tried to ask, but instead of his mouth moving he said it in his head.

‘Come now, that is no way to greet a friend.’ The mysterious voice replied.

‘A friend?’ Tarble asked. ‘What friend? I don’t know who you are.’

‘Oh now that’s just nonsense Tarble, of course you know me.’

‘Why are you in my head?’ Tarble asked as he had been curious as to why he could not use any external senses.

‘Why am I here?’ the voice replied. ‘Well you invited me don’t you remember?’

‘Invited you? Don’t be ridiculous.’ Tarble replied his mental voice sounded with a certain amount of annoyance.

‘Ahh, but you did.’

‘Who are you really?’ Tarble asked

‘There you go again, asking the same question over and over when you already know the answer.’

‘Well?’ Tarble asked awaiting a response.

‘I’m you!’ The voice replied as a sudden image of his own face covered in blood with a creepy grin and evil eyes suddenly flashed in his mind, causing Tarble to violently wake from his dream as his eyes shot open.

‘Good, just a dream.’….. Or was it?

++++
Word Count || 5,849

195,966 ki pl and zeni
200 bp