" Get up, you weakling!"

The guard looked up at Voma in terror, cradling his shattered arm. With a snarl Voma kicked the guard in the head, sending him sprawling out on the floor of the training center. From the aisles the rest of the fighters watched in nervous anticipation. Voma had been enraged since the break out, and the warriors of the Zarastros were bearing the brunt of his wrath.

Voma eyed the other fighters with contempt as he stalked out of the arena, wiping the blood from his hands on his uniform. They were all worthless, incompetent fools, unworthy of serving a master as great as Zaros. He stormed into his private locker room, grinding his teeth together in fury. Not one of the fighters here could help him train to beat the new Saiya-jin.

The frustrated warrior slammed open his locker, tore off his sweaty sparring clothes, and tossed them inside. Voma reached down inside the depths of the locker and withdrew a small plastic case. With a crack the case opened, revealing a set of fluid-filled glass vials and needles. Carefully Voma pulled out a set of needles and tubes, clicking them together to make a syringe. The proud warrior looked at the purple liquid in the dim light of the locker room, his face a mask of hate. He may resort to using this, but at least he wasn't a vampire like Zaros.

The tip of the needle slid cleanly into the skin under the fur of his arm. Within instants the pain and frustration were gone, leaving only strength. Voma reared back and flexed his muscles, twitching with anticipation at using his new power. He would not lose.

Kakarotto

Finally, he could see the enemy out on the wastes. He had traveled so long, fought so hard, for this precise moment. His body tensed at the thought of the imminent battle, the battle that he had been fighting his whole life.

Kakarotto

With ferocious speed he tore through the air towards his foe, ki pouring off of his body. The transformations came easily, and his body swelled with power. His enemy stood there out in the open, defiant, daring him to attack. He roared as he pulled back his fist to strike.

Kakarotto

The blow leveled his enemy. The air was filled with the sound of a sickening crack as he rose triumphant over his fallen foe. He screamed out to the emptiness, proclaiming his victory to the universe. Finally, after all these years, the pain could stop.

Kakarotto!

He picked up his opponent by the broken neck; wanting one last look at the horror that had filled his life before he blasted it into dust. But something was wrong. This wasn't his enemy, it was the girl, that gentle, beautiful girl, her glazed eyes still filled with terror.

Burori awoke with a start as rough hands picked him up by the chest and threw him through the air. He hit the opposite wall with a thud, the weariness fleeing his body as desperate confusion took control. He opened his eyes in time to see Voma plant a boot into his ribs, flipping him over and rocking his body with pain. Burori tried to stand, tried to fight, but the blows fell upon him like a rain of steel, punishing his every movement. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Krinis huddled in the corner, tears welling up in her fear-filled eyes. She wasn't helping him. His heart sank at the betrayal, his will to resist abandoning him.

Voma lifted the Saiya-jin up with one hand and punched him out of the cell, sending him stumbling out into the corridor beyond. Instantly Burori felt his ki rise up, tempting him beyond hope with its promise of instant power. The ki boiled up inside of him, riding his rage. He hated Krinis for being helpless, and he hated Voma for being a coward. The twin hates intertwined within him, wrapping themselves around his frantic heart. He gave in to the rage, letting himself be tossed about in the storm of hatred that crashed through his mind.

Burori's power fled as quickly as it came, leaving him clutching his chest on the floor. Voma stood over him, holding a small metal controller in his hand. Burori's eyes clenched shut in pain, trying to block out the bitter agony that burned through his body like oily fire. He felt Voma grab him by the hair and drag him down the hall, but he could not find the strength to resist. His ki was useless, unable to block out the pain or give him the strength to overcome his own treacherous heart.

Alien light stabbed into Burori's eyes as Voma opened the airlock to the engine room. The cruel warrior threw the Saiya-jin forward and pressed down on the controller, leaving Burori to gasp for breath. The Saiya-jin rose to his knees, and was shocked by the size and awesome power that flowed through the room. White volts of energy spun off from gigantic coils that worked their way around the reactor, filling the room with shifting witch light. Gathered around the base of the reactor were hundreds of man-sized cells, many of them filled with writhing, pitiful creatures. The reactor itself was a massive structure of metal and crystal, filled with liquids that constantly shifted in color but always seemed to be laced with black. Burori could see that the core of the reactor was pulsating like an enormous, bloated heart. He could feel its power emanating from the reactor like a typhoon, its incredible ki blanketing the room with corrupt power. He felt sick to his stomach that these slavers would dare to blaspheme so greatly as to use a living, nightmarish thing for fuel.

Voma walked up to one of the squat lizard things scuttling around the room, grabbing it by its lab coat and lifting it into the air.

" Goybi, I brought the monkey," Voma grunted as he handed the controller to the tiny lizard thing. " Go to work."

The little lizard nodded emphatically and scrambled over to Burori's side, its eyes wide with nervous expertise.

" Um, excuse me, noble slave," stuttered the lizard as it wrung its hands, trying to find the words to appease this huge, shivering thing in front of it. " It's your turn to give energy to the ship, but I promise that if you don't fight it the process won't last very long."

" You miserable little fiend," Burori hissed as he tried snarled at the engineer. "You're stealing ki and using it for fuel."

" Oh please noble slave, don't be angry with me," Goybi pleaded, his bulbous eyes blinking nervously. " I'm just an engineer. My people were weak, so to defend ourselves we found ways to channel our ki into trained warriors who would do our battle for us. But then Zaros came, and took us as prisoners, and used our technology to run his ship."

" So you're slaves," Burori muttered as he rose to a crouching position. If he could stall long enough, he might be able to gather enough ki to take the heart controller from this pathetic little stooge and make a run for it.

" No, we're not slaves," protested Goybi. " Zaros needs us to run his ship, so..."

" Goybi, shut up and get to work!" roared Voma. " I have a meeting with Lord Zaros after this, so hurry up!"

" Yes, yes, right away, sir," mumbled Goybi as he fiddled with a huge computer terminal in the center of the room. Burori rose up and dashed at the little creature, his ki flowing off his body like water. The huge Saiya-jin leapt through the air, only to be caught in mid-flight by dozens of metal tendrils that wrapped around him and dragged him into on of the chambers at the base of the reactor. Burori roared in defiance as the tendrils began to hum with energy, tightening around his bruised body. His enormous ki rose up, struggling against the powerful machine that threatened to engulf him.

The first sensation was that of being defiled, like something was crawling inside of him and filling his every pore from the inside out. He could feel strange energy probing his body, testing his strength with rough, unfamiliar hands. Then his body began to burn. He screamed, his whole being consumed with internal fire. His ki rippled off of his body, tearing off in strips of living energy. He felt the well of strength inside of him being drained away, his life being torn out of his grasp. For an eternity he stood there, mouth twisted in pain, eyes wide with fury, hands clenched in hate. He tried to fight it, but the more ki he summoned, the more he tried to resist against the insidious machine, the more he weakened.

The reactor's tendrils spit him out, tossing him onto the floor of the engine room. Burori lay there for a while, convulsing helplessly. He felt totally naked without his ki, like a child out of the womb. He could sense the tiny wisps of ki slowly returning to him, his body trying to summon up the strength to survive the massive shock of what had just happened. He wanted to curl up and die. Without his ki he was nothing.

Voma strode over to Burori's side and stepped down on the Saiya-jin's back. The alien fighter laughed as the fallen warrior coughed pitifully, unable to give even the slightest resistance.

" You may be tough, monkey, but no one threatens me," Voma growled as he dragged Burori out of the engine room. " I will promise you this though: one day it'll just be you and me, freak, you and me. That's when I'll open up your busted chest and teach you how to die."

Burori shuddered, incapable of responding to Voma's ranting. All he wanted now was to lie down and wallow in pity. He wanted to see Krinis. He wanted to know why she hadn't helped him.

As he was dragged down the cellblock, Burori saw a strange creature in the cell next to his. It looked vaguely familiar, with rubbery green skin and fleshy antennae. The creature sat cross-legged, deep in meditation. As he passed it, Burori could almost feel the creature's thoughts peering into his own mind. He remembered the battle on New Vegeta, where a strange bug thing had helped the Saiya-jins, given them aid when he was on the verge of ultimate victory. Now he recalled what that thing was. His ki began to flicker, growing stronger off of his remembered hate.

Voma opened the cell grate and hurled the Saiya-jin inside. Burori tumbled into the cell like an abused toy. Voma sealed the grate and stalked off down the corridor, laughing cruelly. Burori rolled over on his side, watching Krinis tend to her aging father with contempt.

" You didn't help me," he gasped before consciousness deserted him.

Zaros sipped his drink tentatively, relishing in the rich, coppery flavor. Once again all was calm in his private quarters. Once again all was going according to plan. All he needed to do now was make a few minor corrections.

Voma entered the room quietly, his eyes kept low on the floor. Zaros admired his humility, silently chuckling at how such a proud fighter could be subservient to such a little tyrant. Voma bowed deeply, never once daring to look his master in the eye.

" Sire, you have summoned me, and I have come," the fighter stated, his voice humble.

" I can always count on your loyalty, Voma," Zaros rasped as he set down his glass. " You are an excellent fighter, Voma. That no one can deny. However, you have become rather bold as of late in regards to contradicting my decisions."

Voma swallowed hard, sweat beading up on his forehead. He knew that his alien master could kill him with hardly a thought. He tried to collect his thoughts, organizing a defense for the accusations to come.

" You know, Voma, I can't really blame you for questioning me," Zaros cooed in his scaly, unnatural voice. " After all, you've been following me for years now without knowing why. Well, I am going to tell you why, Voma."

Zaros strode across the room, taping his claws against his armor. Voma shuddered, knowing well that the master's lectures were to be taken with deadly seriousness.

" You follow me, Voma, because you live to fight. Battle is all you have. Without me, you would be a petty warlord on some third-rate planet, wallowing in your own harems and filth, unable to tap into your true potential." Zaros turned, examing his kneeling servant. " Don't think I'm unaware of how much you hate me. That hate makes you strong. You strive to surpass me, to usurp my throne and become captain of the Zarastros."

Voma used all of his willpower not to whimper. It was impossible. The wretched mechanical monster somehow knew his every thought.

" I admire you for that, though. You must have thought yourself awfully clever, training behind my back to take me by surprise one day. Unfortunately, Voma, I am far more powerful than you. Power is control, Voma, and I control you more than you can ever know."

Voma tensed himself, ready at an instant to strike or flee. Both were futile, but they were better than being slaughtered here by this mocking little fiend.

" I am not afraid of you Voma, and that is why I am not going to kill you," Zaros hissed. " In fact, I admire your ambition. Ambition drives us, makes us stronger, better than we ever would have been otherwise. And because my ambition is the greatest, I am destined to be the strongest of all."

Zaros lifted his glass from the table to his lips, the hot crimson contents pouring down his throat. His eyes burned with passionate insanity, and Voma could not help but fear this awesome being.

" I have plotted for too long to let a fool like you interfere, Voma. Never forget that you are replaceable. Everything is replaceable, except for the Saiya-jin and me. He is the key. With him, it all falls into place."

Zaros turned his back to Voma as he gazed out the window into the vastness of space beyond. He rapped his talons along the windowsill, lost in thought.

" Sire, may I speak?"

" What, Voma?" Zaros demanded.

" Sire, what if we were to lose the heart controller? How could we stop that mad thing from destroying the ship?"

" You are astute indeed, Voma," Zaros rasped as he tapped his talons together. "However, I did not get this far by being careless. I have contingencies in place. The Saiya-jin will not dare harm us when he knows what we can do to him." Zaros smiled, and it was a cruel, hideous thing to behold. " I think you give the stupid monkey too much credit."

Voma held his tongue. The master had laid down the laws, and he was grateful to escape with his skin intact.

" I'm done with you for now, Voma," Zaros hissed. " Remember well that I could have killed you on this day."

" Yes, sire."

Voma rose to his feet and cut another deep bow before he exited the room. Zaros ignored his passing, far more intent on his own mad dreams.

From deep within the bowels of the ship, Goybi turned off the audio recording equipment that he had rigged onto the central computer of the ship. With the twisting of a few wires the old engineer managed to undo the tap that he had made into the microphone in Zaros's private quarters. He knew that he'd be dead if the ship's captain found out, but Goybi was not a stranger to risks. The recordings he had been making for the past year were crucial to the success of the mission. Gathering up his tools the little lizard slipped into the darkness, eager to deliver his payload.

He was sailing through dark seas when the voices descended upon him. They attacked him with fury, mocking him for his petty hopes, scorning his attempt to find happiness in his dark world. He would not have friends. No one would ever love him. He was still the killer, the stalker, the monster. The ghosts tore into him hungrily, sinking their bitter fangs deep into his flesh. He tried to scream, but his body was no longer his own. The nightmare machine had raped his soul, stripped from him what had remained of his identity.

The hated foe rose from the ashes of the barren waste, flying high above the ruined battlefield. He looked at his enemy, and he remembered the old wounds of battles long lost. Memories of scars and floating on the verge of death swam through his mind, washing over all other thought. All that was left was hate.

Stop this madness

The voice rang loud and clear throughout the darkness, like a chorus of church bells. The voice was not his own, and the ghosts recoiled from the sound of it. His nemesis roared in pain at the sound, and soon the screaming resounded across the dreamscape like cannon fire. He grasped his head in pain, the power of the old memories overwhelming his senses.

Saiya-jin, hear me

He was a child again, thrashing in his crib. Screams rocked the entire world. Knives lunged from the darkness, gouging his soft pudgy body. Heat seared his body as smoke and ash covered him, rolling down his tiny lungs like gravel.

I am Azlan

The voice tore apart the world, rending reality like a hot blade cutting through fat. He stood helpless, petrified, enslaved by bonds that had been forged by his mad father. His father came behind him, his breath smelling like rotting meat. He wanted to scream, wanted to fight and rend and destroy, but he could only stand passive as his father's hands came down upon him, groping his body, exploring and violating him. The hate boiled in his mind, tearing down the walls of sanity.

I can help you

He was alone. The darkness was absolute, save for a small light that hovered a few feet away from him. The light pulsed with strange life, comforting in the black void. The hate lingered in the back of his skull, gnawing on his conscious thoughts, but the light seemed to push the rage back.

Saiya-jin, you must fight

The light began to grow, spreading out into arms, legs, until it formed a luminous body. The light faded, and where it had been stood a tall, slender being with green skin and gray, prophetic eyes.

Fight

The world became an ocean of flames. Through the blaze he could see thousands of enemies of the past, all writhing and screaming in pain. Above the din stood a new nemesis, one made of wires and scales and metal.

Somewhere, deep inside, he felt the flicker of ki warm in his chest.

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