“I think you’ve had enough for today,” a breath-catching voice said to Valix as he eased his stance. “I guess,” was Arsel’s fifteen-year-old brother could reply. Both were easily brought to the near edge of their endurance, soaking with sweat and panting like dogs in midday heat. Easing his stance as well, Valix moved a little closer to Arsel, closing the distance between them, but stopping with a wincing facial expression. “Ahh…damnit!” he called out as he placed his hands to his right leg. “What is it? Oh, never mind…I remember,” Arsel questioned, then recalling the blow he’d dealt to his younger sibling. “I guess it doesn’t pay to be on a lower scale than normal, eh?” an outside voice said. With the training room door sliding open, a large, fiercely-built figure clad in Saiya-jin armor said, keeping in a tone of unpreference and almost disgrace. Garick then looked to Arsel with a much more pleasant feature and said, “King Vegeta has requested my presence for something and I’m taking you with me for the experience. Let’s go.” Not arguing with his father, the twenty-year-old Arsel followed Garick out the sliding metal door, leaving the young Valix to himself. “He’s never satisfied, is he? Can’t he see that I’m trying as hard as I can!?” the boy thought, gritting his teeth with a lowered head.

Having returned to his room in the confines of the building, Valix changed out of his much-used training attire and prepared himself in his most common attire, consisting of a light blue sleeveless suit, traditional Saiya-jin armor, and combat boots of the same nature. Finishing off the ensemble with white armbands and a generic bandana, he made his way out into the main hallways to find his father and older brother finishing a conversation with the great King Vegeta. From this, the three had disappeared into the throne room, the gigantic entrance doors creaking shut. Curious as he normally was, the young Saiya-jin made his way past the pillars of the main halls and toward the throne door. However, as he’d reached the center carpeting, something had caught his eye. Off in the direction of an adjacent pillar, a green-lensed eye could be seen sinking quickly into the pillar and then, a silhouette down an opposite hallway. With a changed expression from just barely viewing this, Valix grew all the more adventurous to this darkened matter.

Hours had passed since the low-level boy had caught view of either of his relatives, save his mother, Eria. All the while, she was the only company he’d had, and she proved something of a time-killer. “Mother…has dad spoken of the reason why he’s been around King Vegeta more than usual at all?” Valix questioned. In response, Eria answered, “Garick’s business is usually his own with the King. I’m sure Arsel would be about as much use for asking, so it’s best not to.” Nodding in a reluctant acceptance, the sliding of a metal door could be heard, and within moments, Garick and Arsel graced the two’s sight once more. Disregarding his mother’s advice, Valix stood toward his father and asked, “What’s so secret about King Vegeta that only you and Arsel can know? Usually you tell us things like this, but you’ve been spending a lot of time away.” Scowling down to Valix, Garick took him by the scruff of his Saiya-jin armor and tossed him aside in the general direction of his brother. “What’s it matter to you? It’s not like a weakling could do King Vegeta any good anyway. Best forget it, ‘cause it’s none of your business,” his father replied. As predictability would have it, Arsel was at the ready to keep Valix from a full impact with the ground. Of course, his younger brother was grateful, but for the time being, his eyes were locked on his despicably-acting father. All the while, Arsel managed to drag Valix from the room and into one of the many corridors. “Don’t let him get to you, brother. You know he’s only this way because of your fighting power,” Arsel said to him. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that within time, you’ll be much better,” he continued in assurance. Just then, his expression changed to one of a severe determination. “I will…within time, I will be…and I’ll show him what his son is really made of!” With that thought, Valix headed once more to the training room.

With a loud thud, a twenty-four-year-old Arsel hit the ground at the hands of a familiar figure dressed in fighting attire. Standing up, the Saiya-jin warrior rushed in at Valix, who kept his fighting stance at the ready. The two traded blows at blinding speeds, each to defend the other’s until the general weight of the battle was in stalemate. Both then parted in a jolt of energy and began breathing heavily, but seconds later, they were back at it again. This time, however, they weren’t just using physical attacks. Each fighter had an open hand charging an orb of energy, the other free one clenched in a fist. Now using all their limbs except for the one holding the gathered energy, even fiercer blows were sent back and forth. Flashes of energy from colliding attacks could be seen, but this was nothing compared to what each had in store for the other. After a deep sequence of moves from each warrior, their figures had parted and with controlling arms held up in support, the contained energy blasts were discharged, colliding with one another and erupting in an explosion which nearly ripped the walls apart, not to mention crater the floor.

Panting heavily, Arsel stood looking down the soul of his younger brother. Now easing himself, he saw Valix do the same and again, the two closed distances in the light of a finished bout. “It’s amazing what four years does,” Valix said, the maturity of being nineteen taking more than one toll upon him. “See? I told you that things would get better,” Arsel replied as the two left the training room toward the showers. Things indeed had changed, too. Not only was Valix of much greater strength, but now, King Vegeta was strongly considering the allowance of letting the young Saiya-jin go out on his own missions to conquer planets, albeit weak ones. Garick still didn’t have the respect for him as he did for Arsel, but with the seen improvements, Valix couldn’t complain about the better-than-before treatment he was getting now.

Making his way to the showers, he’d expected to see his kin around. However, he found all stalls empty but the one he was occupying. Casting it off, Valix went about his hygiene and before long, had returned to the presence of his mother, who at the time, hadn’t the most preferable expression for some odd reason. “Mother, what’s wrong?” Valix asked, semi-familiar with this expression, but still wanting her to say it. “It’s your father and Arsel,” she replied, “they’ve gone by highest order of King Vegeta to join in the rebellion against Freezer. Suddenly, Valix’s expression was warped in the spirit of shock. “They’re doing what!?” the Saiya-jin exclaimed, almost as if in disbelief.

The reign of Freezer over the planet Vegeta-sei had been going on for years now. King Vegeta, a Saiya-jin who wouldn’t dare be controlled of course, rebelled against this fiendish action after a short time. At the same time, though, he wished to keep this a secret from his people. However, in time, it became apparent that the inevitable revealing was upon them, as an all-out, full-scale rebellion was taking place. Now knowing that it had come to the King’s own personal guards and soldier, Valix could only seek the King for answers, or if nothing else, a chance to assist his kin.

Racing from their quarters, the greatly improved fighter sought King Vegeta, the massively-sized ruler not taking long to find in all his full-scale activity. “King Vegeta, I must speak with you!” Valix urged. The King looked down to him, silent for a moment, then replied, “Valix…I’d just been looking for you.” Ignoring that for the moment, he continued, “Where are my father and brother?” “They are off fighting against Freezer’s intolerable reign over our people. You needn’t worry about them - they should be fine. You, however, have your first conquering assignment. I need you to gain control of the planet Tsufro. It’s not a very strong planet, so I doubt you’ll have trouble. You’ll leave as soon as possible,” he replied. Not being one to challenge the King’s firm word, and having the actual chance to go on his own mission, Valix stood in silence as his grand superior made his own way.

“Mom, mom!” Valix exclaimed, darting back into their quarters. “I’ve just been given my first assignment. I’m leaving right away,” he continued, Eria acknowledging it to the best of her ability. Moving into his room, he’d quickly went about dressing himself in his common, yet special attire. Within moments, he reemerged from the confines of his residence and headed toward the docking bay. Although he tried desperate to look serious, he was grinning like mad inside, as he knew this was the first step in knowing he was strong enough…and ready enough to prove his worth to his father…and the universe.

Garick and Arsel, were now upon the followers of Freezer, battling alongside the rest of Planet Vegeta-sei’s forces and giving them the force they badly needed. Blinding attacks of both physical and energy-related nature flew back and forth in the sky as numbers from both ends began to decrease. However, with Garick and Arsel among them, the Saiya-jins were starting to hold the upper hand. With bodies and blood raining from the varied alien bodies of Freezer’s forces unto the ground, the two thought that it was now time to enact the plan they and King Vegeta had set into plan years ago.

Darting past the masses of battling warriors in a flame of extraordinary power, the two Saiya-jins made their way onto Freezer’s ship, where he himself was not only observing the explicit rebellion, but participating as well. Landing with a force which easily dented the roof of the gigantic space ship, the two stood tall to the back of the pod-ridden fiend. “A little present from King Vegeta, I see,” Freezer said, sensing their energies, but not turning around to directly acknowledge them. “Enough small talk. Turn and fight us, you freakish disgrace to our planet!” Garick bellowed, dashing forth in a fearsome rage of power. Before he’d managed to get there, though, he was struck upon the back by a wide beam of energy, sending him hard to the ground to slide almost past Freezer’s levitating pod.

All eyes turning, only Freezer was smiling at what was seen. Standing almost beside Arsel was the form of one of the king’s lower-ranked guards, Henkar. “What a pleasant surprise…a rat in your midst, how dreadful,” Freezer commented, as if he was amazed to see such a thing. Arsel turned, half in shock, half in anger to see the subordinate warrior standing there with a satisfied look on his face. “Oh, what people will do for a little incentive. I guess your pathetic Saiya-jin’s code of honor isn’t as strong as you think,” he continued in all his sinister smiling. Almost instantly, Arsel went to a fierce volley of attacks on Henkar, the majority of them reaching his unexpected figure with a devastating force. Overwhelmed by pain, the traitorous Saiya-jin met helplessly with the metallic surface serving as the floor.

Meanwhile, the recovered and ever-raging Garick began powering up in massive segments, going blast for blast with the seemingly-restricted Freezer. However, once returning a beam blast and dodging another, the enraged warrior rushed in and began a flurry of fists to Freezer’s chest, the alien evil somehow barely being hit with the fierce combination. “Hah! No wonder that your planet is doomed! You’ve had a traitor amongst you for an unbelievable amount of time, and now you can’t even carry out your superior’s orders right,” Freezer taunted, sending Garick into a deeper anger, and a higher power. “You’re nothing but an insect getting lucky! I’ll crush you!!” Freezer’s furious opponent shouted, drawing large orbs of energy into his hands and firing them at a merciless rate, point blank into the pod-ridden foe.

Riddled with bruises and open wounds, it was clear that Arsel was managing the upward on his opponent as well. “I don’t know how this all got past the King, but I’ll make sure you rot in the deepest of hells for what you’ve done!” he yelled to Henkar, his figure sinking swiftly through the air, his feet placed together and aimed straight down for the traitor’s ground-ridden body. However, with a phase in image, Henkar avoided the attack, reappearing behind Arsel and wrapping a muscular bicep around his neck. “Heh, don’t run your mouth…it hurts my ears,” Henkar replied, opening his hand in front of Arsel’s face with the glow of a vicious energy upon it. Releasing it with a sick pleasure, the traitorous Saiya-jin watched as he began to tear into his throne-loyal opponent.

Although the blast couldn’t be avoided, Arsel somehow managed to take a severe amount of damage, and in light of this, flung Henkar over his shoulder and, with his free hand, returned the favor into the peak of his opponent’s skull. Barely being able to recover from this, Henkar was slow to stand, but once doing so, the fight proceeded at almost the same pace. Now returning to blinding flurries of punches and kicks, both pairs of combatants continued on, Arsel doing much better than Garick, as Freezer’s true strength was beginning to emerge. With a vicious punch to Garick’s chest, the mighty Saiya-jin was sent flying back a good distance, unfortunately into the back of Arsel, who had just finished returning Henkar to the metallic ground of the spaceship.

Slowly standing to face Freezer, Garick had felt something snap inside him. By now, all but Freezer were bruised, perhaps broken, bleeding, and with their endurance to the bone. However, Garick seemed to be running on pure adrenaline. “I’m tired of this! It’s time I end that miserable life of yours!!” the mighty Saiya-jin shouted. Now hunching over in a power-gathering stance, massive waves of energy could be seen emanating from his body as his true force slowly became apparent to all around him.

Translucent orange flames now were raging up around Garick’s figure with all the more power he garnered into himself. By now, his fists were clenched beyond belief and a low, but rising scream could be heard creeping up from his lungs. Within a short amount of time, this turned into a fear-inspiring yell and as a result, the flames exploded from him, the aura as if a raging wildfire, only without the trees. Arsel was in a growing awe, as was the back-stabbing Henkar. Meanwhile, Freezer simply stood in silence, bearing no emotion as his opponent retained all the more force into his body.

Having finally drawn in all he possibly could, Garick released his stance and rushed forth toward Freezer’s still-set image. In all the energy he’d taken, the mighty Saiya-jin now began focusing it into his hands, more specifically his fingers. Drawing both of his hands back, Garick charged Freezer with an even greater celerity until finally, once reaching him, he thrust his appendages forth unto the fiendish foe’s chest, instantly creating an explosion which nearly stopped any and all warring activity around them. The blast was amazing, blinding light pouring over in the explosion and opaque clouds of dust in the wake of the utterly devastating discharge of power.

Long moments had passed before anything could even remotely be seen. Finally, when all had returned to vision, there stood Freezer, his hand extended toward Garick and the Saiya-jin’s own looking as if he was caught at a dead stop. Both Arsel and Garick looked in pure, trembling shock at this as Freezer simply laughed in reply. “Did you really think you were any match for me, pathetic monkeys?” the surprisingly-powerful enemy retorted. Stumbling back a few steps, Garick’s hands slowly began to his sides, Freezer’s own still-upheld. Now shifting his hand into a gun mock, he grew a wicked grin, small slits of red energy gathering on the tip of his index finger. “I grow tired of these dramatics…be a good boy and die!” he said in final, releasing the energy in a thin, steady beam which pierced clean through his chest where his heart lie.

Garick’s expression went silent, followed by his body coming to it’s knees, and then full to the ground. Screaming out in horrified reaction, Arsel raced to his father’s aid with Henkar still directly behind him. Catching this, Freezer laughed and looked more directly to the son of his previous victim. “All you Saiya-jins are just suckers for punishment, aren’t you?” he heartlessly questioned before performing the same, near-fatal attack on Arsel. Now with two fading Saiya-jin souls at his feet, Freezer now turned to Henkar, who was laughing in all their victory. “This is great. Now I shall get the recognition I deserve as King of this planet!” the spying warrior proclaimed. Just then, a larger hole was blasted through his chest as well, followed by tackling foot to his neck, that limb belonging to none other than Freezer. “What…what are you doing?” Henkar questioned in what he could of breath. “You know what they say about great King’s don’t you? They, with their code of honor, would give their life to fight for their planet…congratulations, your majesty,” Freezer replied before charging up a beam of energy, and then releasing it upon Henkar’s cranium, cleanly decapitating and disintegrating his skull.

Looking back to the two barely living Saiya-jins, the murderous Freezer took both of them by the scruff of their armors and smiled. “Such bravery in light of their King shouldn’t go without reward. I think I’ll let you two die slowly and painfully upon a planet where even the common citizens could decimate you. It’s only fitting,” he said before hopping down from his severely twisted space craft and climbing up the entrance ramp. “Listen up!” Freezer shouted to all his subordinates, who were now seeming to grasp the upper hand in light of Arsel and Garick’s defeat. “I want all of you to wipe out each and every Saiya-jin you find and turn this place to a barren wasteland. Got it!?” he continued in firm command. With all understanding, Freezer’s forces continued their gradual, but successful onslaught of Planet Vegeta-sei.

Now within the secure and launching space pod, Freezer tossed the two battered and bleeding bodies to the side of his control room. “Captain, set a course for…Tsufro,” Freezer ordered, thinking up the planet with an eerie smile upon his face. Obeying, the operator of the ship began its way to the unconquered planet of Tsufro. After a moment of silence, Freezer turned to a small group of his subordinate staff and commanded, “Make sure our rats don’t completely die…I want to have the pleasure of finding out whether or not they’ll utter a wretched scream of death as they collide with the jagged ground of our ship’s destination. The men nodded and went about keeping the dying Saiya-jins in check.

What Freezer didn’t know, however, was that Valix was to be making his own way to Tsufro very soon. Hopefully, he would be able to reach his kin in time to save them from the next dimension…

Having reached the launch pad for the Saiya-jin space pods, Valix smiled in a still figure at the small, orb-like craft waiting for him. “Valix, wait!” one of the doctors said. “The King told me to make sure you were in full Saiya-jin armor and equipped with a scouter. Smirking, Valix simply turned his head to the man and replied, “Gimmie the damn thing…I won’t need the armor, though. I’m good enough without it.” Shocked in the light of Valix’s newfound hint of arrogance, the man simply tossed the portable device to him, the matured Saiya-jin grabbing it effortlessly and attaching it to his right ear. Pressing and prodding the buttons to the machine’s operation, Valix only laughed lightly in his expectations for what was to come, and raced to the open pod, seating himself quickly within it and launching off, the horrid battle below just barely visible out of the window given to the pod door.

The sphere containing Valix soared through the star-littered eternity which was space for the longest time, its course already set by the Saiya-jin who was staring through the window with eager eyes. “Valix, the trip is going to take a couple days. You would be all the wiser to sleep and recover your strength,” a mechanical voice from the pod said to him, seeing his body still active with its sensors. “It might not have been so long if I didn’t have idiots holding me back,” he replied to it. “Don’t be foolish, Valix…Tsufro may be a quaint, weak planet, but it is not simply across the street.,” the voice retorted. “Well if this damn thing were faster…,” Valix began, looking down to the controls. “The course has been preset. Not to mention I’m going as fast as I can. Only advances in technology could change that,” the machine interrupted him. “Yeah, well go about doin’ that,” he said, almost snapping. In silence, the machine simply left Valix to himself within the pod as the journey continued on.

What seemed like an eternity awake was only a matter of time’s short passing while asleep, as Valix now awoke to find the machine speaking. “Wake up, Valix. We have gained a much closer proximity to the planet Tsufro,” it said. “Well, that’s damn great! How long do we have left?” the Saiya-jin questioned in response. “Approximately a half day, I believe,” the voice answered him. “And you woke me up for that!? You could‘ve told me when were like, five minutes from it!” he snapped. “You must come to your senses, Valix. To think what would happen if you went to conquer the planet with half-widened eyes,” the pod responded, as if with advising concern. Mumbling at the machine, Valix now sat there in irritation, nothing but black and white to be seen out the window before him.

Meanwhile, upon Freezer’s ship, the two wounded Saiya-jin warriors and their captor stood, the gigantic, damaged craft now coming upon a fair-sized planet. “Ah, here we are…didn’t take too long, now did it?” Freezer questioned down to the near motionless bodies of his foes, obviously in excruciating pain. With an increasing speed, the pod began to enter the atmosphere of the planet, Tsufro. After a few moments, the pod steadied out and dropped just below the clouds which littered the sky of the planet. Just then , the door of the craft opened and onto the ramp came Freezer, a mortally wounded warrior in each hand. “I won’t make this take forever,” the heartless creature said in a twisted irony. “With no energy, and almost no life, let’s see how fast you fall!” he continued, holding each out by their neck with a sinister grin.

With Freezer’s grasp failing on their necks, Arsel and Garick’s battle-worn bodies began to plummet through the sky, falling with growing speed toward the ground. As they came all the closer to it, though, it could be seen that they would first have a fearsome interaction with a grouping of protruding, mountainous rocks. Unable to stop the descent unto the ground, the two Saiya-jins could only wonder what was to happen when they landed. Suddenly, having reached the rocks, Arsel and Garick began to collide and flop off of the earthen structures like weighted rag dolls. Down the sloping masses, this continued for many a moment, both bodies becoming even further broken and all the bloodier.

Finally, having reached the level ground at the bottom of their fall, the two lay there, bleeding much more profusely from their deformed, almost maimed bodies. Their impact had caused the ground to crack some, and as they lay there, small and steady streams of their life force began to trickle down. With a hand to his ear to hear every sound, Freezer grinned and laughed a little with satisfaction. “The perfect end to a great battle,” he commented, returning inside his pod. “Hmm…well, since I could care less of what happens to the weaklings on Planet Vegeta-sei, let’s go after a real challenge!” the fiendish force exclaimed. His subordinates were, of course in obedience, entered the calculations for what was hoped to be another challenging planet, and out of the atmosphere the oversized ship went, completely oblivious to the fact that another smaller craft was just on its way to where they’d come from…Valix’s craft.

The Saiya-jin space pod came ever closer to the planet Tsufro, it’s pilot the eager Valix. However, something had just managed to catch his gaze from the lock it had on the planet. “What’s that?” he questioned, as if talking to the pod. “Upon scanning, it appears to be a large space craft,” the voice responded to him, showing him a vague outline in blueprint form. “Why, that’s….!” Valix faded off, somewhat in shock. In light of what he’d seen, he commanded the pod to land immediately on the planet, already well knowing that the machine was at its peak performance. “If that‘s who I think it was, I’ve got a strong feeling that this won’t end well,” he thought as his craft now entered Tsufro’s atmosphere.

Slowly coming down and landing with an echoing thud, the door of Valix’s space pod opened with a hissing noise, the Saiya-jin’s image gradually becoming visible. Looking around the planet, his eyes took in the landscape he was delivered unto. Just then, his green-tinted gaze became illuminated with various figures and signs, coming to a direct stop when an arrow had pointed him toward a large mass of protruding rocks. Numbers had followed this arrow, displaying what signified power level readings. “Two readings…,” he commented, his hand to the scouter pressing a button on the paneling. One power level read zero, while the other was fluctuating at a very low number. Prodding another button on his ear-mounted device, his image erupted in a blue flame as Valix took to the air, now headed with fixed eyes toward the fallen bodies. Valix’s expression suddenly lost its calmness, though, as the vague figures slowly began to take form.

Laying there in a wretched, bloody mess were Arsel and Garick, Valix’s image swiftly landing beside them. Running over to Arsel first, he looked him over to find that he unfortunately had already moved from this existence. Closing his eyes in a moment of silence, Valix removed his armbands and applied them to his brother’s wounds, his fists clenched to the point they were trembling. Just then, Garick’s voice came from behind him, calling his name. Turning in something of a hopeful light, he found his father’s heavily damaged body still with some life left in it. “Valix…,” he repeated, his son now at his side. The still-shocked Saiya-jin was removing his headband, attempting at his fastest speed to try and bandage his father’s deepest wound. “Hang on, father! I know you despise me, but you can’t die!” he exclaimed in response.

Taking heavy breaths, Garick gathered the power to speak once more. “Listen, Valix…I don’t despise…you. I…,” he trailed off, Valix looking more to his face. “Father, don’t talk!” he responded, still hanging on the words he’d said just now. “No…you must hear this. I…truly did care…for you. I did what I did…because I had to…I knew that if I pushed you…that you would eventually…surpass even me. I always cared for you…but I wanted to make sure…there would be none stronger than you, my son,” he continued. Valix could only stare at him, amazed, yet moved in his true knowing that his father did care for him. “Before I die, know that…Freezer did this. There…was a spy among us who attacked when we confronted Freezer,” he went on. Valix’s anger simply grew all the more, at both the instability of some Saiya-jin’s honor, and at the vicious Freezer.

Placing his shaking hand on the shoulder of his son, Garick somehow managed a few more words. “Valix…I don’t feel my life lasting much longer. Always remember, though…no matter how things may look, if you are truly striving for the greatest good…nothing can stop you. You are a Saiya-jin warrior…the highest and proudest race in the universe…and you are my son…and I am proud of you,” he concluded. With that, Garick sucked in a heavy breath, and in his spirit’s fading, he released it with closing eyes, his body slowly succumbing into stillness. Calling his father several times, Valix shook him to no avail. Finally in realization of the truth, he simply kept as he was. He shed no tears to the ground, or shook a fist to the sky. Valix simply removed the articles he’d placed on his family in an attempt to save them and reequipped himself with them.

With his appearance now accented in the dark red hue of his family’s blood, Valix stood and looked to the sky in silence. Suddenly, the empty-soul Saiya-jin released a scream which could have crumbled the jagged mass beside him. “FREEZER!!! YOU WILL DIE BY MY HAND FOR YOUR ACTIONS, I SWEAR BY MY FAMILY’S HONOR!!!!!” he devastatingly called to the sky in an unrivaled rage. With his furious call slowly fading into the sky, Valix now went burying his father and brother, this taking almost no time with the pent up rage he felt.

Having now lain down his kin, Valix returned to his pod and began back toward Vegeta-sei. Freezer would be dealt with, but there was someone of greater blame to take care of first.

Valix’s trip back to Vegeta-sei had begun to seem even longer than the trip was starting out. Now with his bands forever tainted red, the enraged Saiya-jin was unchanged from the solemn, intensified look he’d left Tsufro with. Thankfully not wrapped around any vital controls, Valix’s fists were clenched and shaking as his eyes were cast half to the floor, half out the window. “King Vegeta…how could you send my father and brother to fight Freezer and not even go yourself!?” he thought in anger as the pod streaked across the infinite blackness. On the same notion, his thoughts were led also to concern of his mother, Eria. Although she, like all Saiya-jins, had fighting capability, who knew what could be happening in his absence, and at the hands of someone like King Vegeta.

Time had seemed forever in its passage, but finally, Valix had sight of Vegeta-sei once more. His expression was less than preferable, however, as simply the distanced color of the planet seemed dramatically altered. Becoming a little more anxious, he snapped at the machine to go faster again, but could only watch in silence as the pod‘s voice reminded him of its limitations. Once on the ground, though, the angered Saiya-jin was at a loss of words for what lay before him. In all Freezer’s henchmen had done during the time Valix was gone, Vegeta-sei could now only be described as a desolate wasteland. As far as the eye could see, the land was torn and twisted, seeming all the color of lifelessness. Buildings and trees were cut and broken off, their tattered remains sprawled out among even more debris.

Still seeing that the King’s establishment was, for the most part, standing, the infuriated warrior now made his way toward it, stopping once inside from the shocking recollection of his mother. Now rushing into their residency within the palace, Valix had to blow open the warped metal door to gain entrance, his eyes wide with utter speechlessness at what he now saw before him. Impressed into the wall adjacent to the door was his mother’s motionless corpse, light from the outside playing on her figure through a gigantic gap in the ceiling. Rushing up to the fatally wounded Eria, Valix stopped with eyes looking over her fierce, yet fragile figure. Running a hand over her face in a moment of silence, Valix then bowed his head, raising it with tenfold the anger he’d originally arrived back on Vegeta-sei with.

Tearing through the large throne room doors with an energy blast, Valix screamed for King Vegeta to find him in a worn, yet still regal chair. “Valix…so you made it back,” he replied, his voice changed as if somewhat lost. “King Vegeta, explain yourself!! I want to know why you would sit here while having my father and brother, your highest and most trusted of people, to battle against Freezer and then have such a careless nature about my mother to where she has been IMPLANTED into the wall of our quarters!” the angry Saiya-jin replied. “You don’t seem to understand…I did what I had to in trying to gain back my planet against Freezer. Now that he’s seemed to have left, and through his followers’ demise, we can now gather all that are left to go and end his miserable life!” he now said, as if totally ignoring Valix’s question. “The only problem now, though, is that some of our people have become ignorant since this latest change and have split from me, thinking they can go against my omnipotent rule!” he continued, still unresponsive to the asked question.

Now in a fit of rage, Valix screamed out and rushed the throne, taking hold of King Vegeta’s armor and lifting him into the air by it, his free hand now holding a huge ball of searing energy. Looking directly into his unblinking eyes with ones of his own, he let him dangle there for a moment before speaking again. “Were you even listening!? That was my family that DIED FOR YOU!! Does that mean anything at all!?” he questioned. Off guard from this action, the King was in natural hesitation from the question, but gathered his response. “They were small sacrifices for our planet’s greater good - the death of Freezer!” Swearing in pure fury, Valix slammed King Vegeta against the back of his throne, cracking it with ease. “Give me one reason why I don’t kill you right now, you heartless bastard! You’re worse than Freezer himself!!” he screamed. King Vegeta simply laughed at these words and suddenly, his image faded from Valix’s grasp, reappearing behind him. In a jolt of power, he delivered an overhead blow to the Saiya-jin warrior’s backside, now rendering him unconscious. “Because you wouldn’t stand a chance,” he replied, those being the last words Valix heard before slipping into darkness.

Slowly coming to his senses, Valix awoke to find himself upon the ground of the wasteland he’d returned upon, surrounded by nothing for miles around him. “Damnit!” he shouted, pounding a crater into the ground beside him. Thankfully for him, King Vegeta had eluded his grasp through a lucky upper hand. However, things wouldn’t be the same when Valix returned there. Where was he at now, though?

The recovering Valix now stood to try and get a better view of where he was “placed” by King Vegeta. “Nothing but despair,” he commented, slowly unclenching his fists and looking to find the landscape repeating itself, the only variation being the way the buildings fell to their demise. Even still, Valix took to the sky in a burst of energy and headed off in a random direction, his sight taking in slightly altered things now, such as what seemed to be town. One building in particular seemed to have a somewhat acceptable appearance to it. Muttering something about luck, Valix began to release his energy, descending into the surroundings of what could only be classified as a ghost town.

Walking now into the place, he’d realized that the still-standing establishment was a tavern of sorts. “Ironic,” he commented as he looked around, a hint of disgust in his voice. In some aspects, Saiya-jins were just like other species - they believed in eating, drinking, and being merry. However, heavy drinking led to consequences which put Valix against such a thing in the first place. Regardless, he continued to curiously search the tavern for any sign of life, holding the remote hope that there were still a fair amount of people who had survived. Just as his eyes fell upon the bar at the back of the building, the silhouette of someone just in range of view.

Upon closer inspection, Valix had managed to find a couple residing within the tavern, the man’s voice now being easily heard. Stepping more into the room, the Saiya-jin brushed through his auburn hair and cleared his throat, both turning around in a startled nature to see who was there. The man was fairly built, donning heavy fighting armor and an outfit consisting of light blues and white. His hair was black with gray streaks running through it, pulled up into a tail which hung to about his mid back. Upon his face, he wore a thick goatee that covered most of his chin, running up to his lower lip. The woman with him was of little difference, also having dark hair and a fair, athletic build. Her outfit consisted of blue and gray, and for some reason, her hair was short and spiky, as opposed to that of most female Saiya-jins, who have longer and sometimes straighter hair.

Smiling toward Valix, the man turned to face him more directly, multiple piercing now visible on both his ears. “Well, looks like we got one more to the party!” the man said in an outgoing manner. “What…is this place?” Valix replied in question. Laughing, the man answered, “Well, you’re in a bar for one. I can’t remember where we are right now, but gimmie an hour or three. By the way, the name’s Torsh…nice to meet you! This here’s my girl, Frashia.” “Hi, big guy!” she said after the calling of her name, her tone something of a question in light of the previously made statement. “Pleasure to meet you both…my name’s Valix,” the semi-confused Saiya-jin replied.

After shaking hands with Valix and taking another swig from his bottle, Torsh began to inform the lost warrior on what he’d missed in his journey away from Vegeta-sei, the most of it already ingrained in his mind from his confrontation with King Vegeta. With that out of the way, Valix simply sat there as he watched Torsh and Frashia partake in what the town “left behind.” “Can I ask why you do such a thing?” Valix asked. “Huh? Oh, this…’cause it’s the best way to unwind after a wasteland battle!” Torsh answered with a half-intoxicated laugh. In a little irritation, Valix was left to silence for a moment. However, once this passed, he questioned again. “Are there any other survivors like you around here? It sounds stupid, but I’d heard from the King that there were some opposing his new rule.” “Of course, my friend, of course. C’mon, I’ll take you to meet ‘em,” his newfound friend retorted.

Leaving the tavern into the sky, the three headed off with Torsh and Frashia in the front. As he moved his glance from the warmed image of his new friend, he found that outgoing warrior’s mate was still smiling. “You’re awful happy giving the circumstances of what happened,” he commented, his tone as preferable as stones through a glass house. “Well, there’s no sense in being glum about it, right handsome?” she answered. Caught a little by this, Valix returned to silence and let the two lead the way, his mind still riddled with the memories he’d had carved into his eyes upon landing on Tsufro, and again, back on Vegeta-sei.

After a long passage of time, the three Saiya-jins came upon a place that looked of gathered makeshift establishments, Torsh and Frashia a little more eased around this place. Meanwhile, Valix’s eyes were wandering about cautiously for any signs of life. “Don’t be scared, buddy…we’re all for the same cause,” Torsh assured him before calling out to their surroundings. Just then, images began to emerge from the makeshift buildings, each one varying in appearance and attitude, but all with the same gaze upon Valix.

Staring in silence, the group of Saiya-jins, five in all, continued to examine the new image among them. Just then, Torsh spoke up among the crowd in introduction. “This is Valix, a new guy I met at the tavern. He just got back to this planet not too long ago. He also gave King Vegeta quite a scare after getting back too!” he explained, reciting what he was told by Valix in their passage to this place. “Anyone who wants to wring Vegeta’s neck out is a friend of ours,” the largely built man in the middle of them said. Almost all visible parts of his body were riddled with scars from battle, possibly more hidden under the loose gi outfit and traditional Saiya-jin armor he wore. Holding out his hand, the man held a slight smile. “The name’s Farrel…nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to the rest of us,” he said, Valix rotating to stand beside him as he pointed to each warrior.

His appendage was first directed toward a rather oddly-dressed man, this one’s expression one of a self-confident type. “His name is Raz…don’t let his attitude get to you,” Farrel said, Valix taking in the Saiya-jin’s words along with the other man’s attire. Where as the outfit seemed a normal black, his gloves and boots were red and white, his armor a combination type and his hair tied up in a tail like Torsh’s. Next came the acquainting of the gloomy-looking warrior, his image dressed down in loose clothing and a dark cloak. With most of his hair covering his face, Valix could only make out a scar across his closed right eye, the free one open and looking at the two addressing him. “This is Bargo…he’s a man of few words, but he’s one of our best,” Farrel continued. Where Raz only nodded and continued distracting Frashia with a random story of greatness, Bargo looked directly to Valix and nodded to him. “The other two,” the leader finished, “Torsh and Frashia, you’ve obviously met.”

Now sitting down with the leader, Valix looked on as the rest of the warriors went about their business. “So you are the group King Vegeta was talking about that opposes his rule?” he questioned to Farrel in confirmation. “Yes…we are the ones who grew quite sick of his growing insanity. Too many of our people have died under the hand of Freezer and he only wishes to send more in what seems to be a lucky hope of victory,” he answered. “I know that all too well…,” Valix responded in a trailing of silent anger. Observing this, Farrel deduced that he was in the same situation as the rest of them. “I was originally after Freezer for his actions, like the rest of you probably were, but after coming back, I saw our ruler for what he was and I believe he should and will be taken care of first,” Valix picked up after a moment of his anger. Smiling, Farrel put a hand on his shoulder and stood up. “Then you are clearly one who belongs here,” he said, his tone a little lighter now.

Having been left somewhat to himself, Valix simply stared at the ground in thought, multiple things running through is mind. Just then, Raz’s image and voice interrupted his train of thought. “Hey, care to hear one of my great stories. You look like you’re in the mood for some excitement,” he said. With his face still without much emotion, Valix replied, “I think I’ve had enough, thanks.” Casting it off as nonsense, Raz went into a long-winded story about a battle he was involved in before the all-out beginning of the rebellion. Various things of the story seemed a little truth-bending, but still had enough consistency to impress any usual person. Valix wasn’t much of a usual person, however. Barely able to humor Raz at the conclusion of his story, the musing Saiya-jin suppressed his irritated spirit and moved to his feet, now being approached by Torsh.

“So, you got ‘the talk’, eh?” he questioned with a half-amused smile. In his misunderstanding, Torsh explained to Valix with a little more depth about Raz’s tendency to oversize his image with stories of battle. Nodding at the small explanation, Valix laughed a little in pity and stood up, looking around some. “When exactly are you guys planning to take the next action against the King?” he asked, seeming a little anxious. Speaking up, Farrel replied, “Tomorrow, which is why I now suggest we all get rest for the upcoming battle. I trust you are of fighting capability, Valix?” Nodding, the new Saiya-jin looked around to find that night had completely crept up on them. Being given the temporary usage of Torsh’s and Frashia’s quarters, Valix stayed there. His new friend had said something about the two “compensating” their lack of shelter elsewhere. In light of such, Valix slowly drifted off to sleep, only the thoughts of tomorrow circling within his head.

With the rising sun of the next morning, all were found around the center of the surrounding quarters. All seemed ready for battle, but none moved until Farrel finally stepped forth. “Today…we strike back against King Vegeta and reclaim what is truly our planet. Through the rebellion and before, we were trained for this very day…step by step and day by day…whether we knew it or not, we have becoming the very pride of this great species. Now, it’s time we show him the true power of the Saiya-jins!!!” he spoke loud into the sky. With a cheer from everyone about him, save Bargo, the group rushed up into the sky and headed toward the corroded capital of their planet. What would be waiting for them all when they reached King Vegeta? Would they be victorious? And what of the villainous Freezer? Only time will give the answers to such questions...that and the pride and honor of the warriors known as...Saiyajins.

With a heavy overhead punch, Valix was brought from his hands and knees to meet flat with the ground, his opponent one of the many warriors still fighting for King Vegeta‘s cause. Slowly standing to his feet, he managed to catch a foot which was directed toward his face and swung his opponent around, hurling him into a giant mass of rock. However, in light of his recent move, the half-worn enemy came right back with something that proved a severe test for Valix’s endurance of pain. Still, he withstood the flurry of attacks and responded with a devastating blast of energy, ironically most of what he had remaining. Laughing, the man just barely caught the motion of attack and avoided it, much to the despair of the tiring Valix.