In the time of Frieza's rule...
"Greetings, Master Frieza - we have returned from the planet Shick. Everything was done, as you desired. They have pledged loyalty to your throne after three short days."
Vegeta, Nappa, Radditz, and Tsuki knelt before Frieza and, unfortunately, in front of Zarbon and Dodoria, as well. They had just arrived from their mission - to conquer the planet Shick and to destroy any who opposed. Having accomplished this in only three days, they were expecting a rather large reward. The four saiya-jins awaited Frieza's response.
"Hmm, did they really?" Frieza said, unimpressed. "I'm surprised it took you so long."
Nappa and Radditz looked up in stark disbelief. Vegeta and Tsuki scowled in disgust.
"Very well," Frieza smirked. "You may go away now."
Nappa quickly stood up. "Hey, wait! Is that all you're going to say to us?!" Zarbon and Dodoria moved themselves in front of Frieza, just in case Nappa were to try anything - though with Frieza's level of strength, it was completely unnecessary. Radditz now stood beside Nappa as Nappa continued. "We just crushed a whole race of people in three days, and all you can say is... is..."
Frieza turned his head towards Zarbon. "Tell me, Zarbon - how long do you think it would take you to conquer a planet like Shick?"
Zarbon smiled and turned to face his master. "Well, I imagine one full day would be enough."
"Really? A day? It is a small planet, isn’t it?" Frieza laughed. Zarbon faced the saiya-jins once again and, smiling, joined in his master's laughter. Dodoria placed a huge grin on his face as he, too, started laughing. Vegeta tensed, struggling to contain his rage. Tsuki clenched her right fist and growled in fury. Frieza quieted his laughter. "Is there anything else you'd like to report to me? You two understand that I have more significant matters to attend to."
Nappa balled his fists and growled. "Why you little-" Nappa yelled as he charged at Frieza. Vegeta stood, knowing that Nappa's life was in serious danger.
"Nappa!" he shouted. Nappa froze in mid-stride. Frieza and his men began their irritating laughter once again, finding the entire display rather amusing - the four in front of them all had their great saiya-jin pride crushed. Even more humorous was the fact that all four were too weak to do anything about it.
"Please excuse us Master Frieza," Vegeta said before turning and walking away. Nappa and Radditz followed. Tsuki stood and followed the others. Zarbon chuckled:
"What more can you expect," he laughed, "from a monkey!"
Tsuki whipped around, fists balled in rage. Vegeta tensed, angered as well. He then stopped and walked to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Leave it - you're not strong enough yet," he whispered in her ear. Tsuki finally turned and began walking again, followed by Vegeta. Zarbon's laughter echoed down the hall after them as they left.
"I am strong enough to take him on."
Tsuki and Vegeta were sparring in the training grounds. Vegeta jumped back, dodging a punch from Tsuki.
"No, you're not. Look at yourself now - you can't even get the best of me. Believe you me - I of all people want to get him." Vegeta knelt, thinking. He balled his fist and stuck the ground - creating a deep crack. "Especially Frieza."
"Are you done thinking yet, oh, my dear prince?" Tsuki said sarcastically.
"You should learn some respect," Vegeta growled. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Tsuki, ready to give a forceful blow. He stared in amazement as Tsuki caught his hand in mid-punch - he hadn't even seen her hand move. Vegeta jumped back again.
"Yeah," Tsuki said. "I can't even get the best of you." She turned and left. Vegeta stared at his hand, shocked at Tsuki’s abilities.
Tsuki stepped out of the shower and dried her wild black hair with a towel. Being the only female in Frieza's force besides Nashi, she had a rather large room. All the rooms were big, but she only had to share it with Nashi - Vegeta had at least Nappa and Radditz in his - that was bad enough. "Ugh," she said, thinking about a room full of male saiya-jins. Tsuki threw the towel onto her bed before tying her hair back in a loose ponytail and pulling on her tight-fitting black pants and long-sleeved shirt. She felt at the bottom of her neck to make sure her small pendant lay beneath her shirt. The old necklace's pendant looked like a strangely cut tear, or even a heart that was missing its other half. No need for anyone else to know about this, except... Tsuki stopped that thought and sat on the floor by her bed to put on her white armor-tipped boots. She reached her hand beside her and felt for her gloves. She turned and, seeing that they were not there, looked about the room. She looked under the bed and heard something fall from the table. She yelped as that 'something' landed on her exposed tail. Tsuki jerked her head up and hit it on the bottom of the bed. She sat up and rubbed her head and her extremely sensitive tail. Grumbling, she stood and walked to the closet. After searching for a moment, she found some gloves and placed them on her hands. She turned and looked for what had fallen on her tail. Nashi's scouter. What more can you expect from a Kobitian? With that thought, she turned and left the room.
Nashi opened the door and walked into her room. She stopped and looked around her at the messy chamber. Ugh, she thought, saiya-jins...
Tsuki stood in the doorway to the sparring room as she watched Zarbon train as he quickly defeated a weak opponent. He turned and said something to Dodoria, who was also in the sparring room, then glanced at the doorway and saw Tsuki standing there. He grinned. "Heh, it's the monkey," he said to Dodoria. Tsuki shivered as a wave of rage swept through her. "Hey, monkey-girl – how about you getting me a towel!" he mockingly ordered her. To his surprised, Tsuki went to the towel rack and brought back a towel.
"Your towel, good prince." She held the towel out. Zarbon chuckled and reached for the towel. As he did, Tsuki looked at the towel and caused it to burst into flames. She dropped it upon the floor. "Your towel, good prince," she repeated. Tsuki turned and began to leave.
Zarbon watched her and gritted his teeth. “Damn saiya-jin,” he growled under his breath. She was a constant irritating thorn that refused to come out of his side. As Tsuki was about to exit the room, Zarbon flashed in front of her.
"You have been a pain long enough," he said. Tsuki took up a defensive stance and smiled.
"Come on, then - let's see how tough you really are!"
Nappa burst through the door into his room. He looked around and saw Vegeta and Radditz. "Zarbon's fighting Tsuki!" he exclaimed.
"What?!" Vegeta and Radditz said simultaneously. Nappa turned and ran back down the hall to watch the continuing battle. Vegeta and Radditz scrambled out the door and took off after Nappa.
Zarbon took a step back and wiped his face with his hand. He looked at his hand to see blue blood – his own. He looked up at Tsuki. "You'll pay for that, girl." He raced at Tsuki.
Vegeta and Radditz ran into the room where a sizable audience had formed. They looked at the fight to see that Tsuki was actually holding her own. Vegeta shook his head. "No, she's not strong enough," he said quietly.
Radditz turned to him. "What do you mean? It looks like she's doing a pretty good job."
"She's strong - almost as powerful as I," Vegeta stated, "but not powerful enough to beat Zarbon. Not yet!"
The two saiya-jins turned to see Tsuki block a few blows. Tsuki swung at Zarbon's face, but her fist contacted nothing but air. She turned to see Zarbon above her. Zarbon slammed her into towards the ground with a double-fisted punch. Before she hit the floor, Zarbon caught her with his knee to her stomach. He spun around and kicked her, sending her into the floor. She moaned and coughed up an amount of blood.
"Tsuki!" Radditz exclaimed. He took a step towards her, but Vegeta held out his hand to stop him.
Tsuki attempted to sit up, but Zarbon placed his foot to her chest. "This is the last time," he said. Zarbon shifted his weight to Tsuki's chest. She yelled as she felt more than one rib break. Zarbon laughed as he applied more pressure. Suddenly, a breeze blew by the two of them and Zarbon was slammed into the wall. He shook his head clear and looked up. "Master Frieza!" he gasped in shock. Tsuki painfully looked up.
"That's enough, Tsuki, Zarbon. You've had your fun," admonished Frieza. Tsuki winced as she got to her feet. She stood at attention before Frieza. Zarbon stood up as well and walked next to Tsuki. He stopped and stood at attention, as well.
"Zarbon, come with me - I have job for you." Frieza annoyed. "And the rest of you," he said, addressing all of those who had gathered to watch the brawl. "Get back to your stations!" Frieza shouted before leaving the room. Tsuki grinned as Zarbon's face reddened as he stood to loyally followed Frieza out of the room.
Radditz and Vegeta watched as Frieza and Zarbon left. They then turned to see Tsuki slowly lower herself to the ground, falling the last bit. Radditz ran over and knelt beside her shaking and battered form. "Tsuki?" he asked. She said nothing. Radditz moved around to Tsuki’s other side where he could finally see her face clearly.
"Tsuki, are you all right?" he asked. He helped her to sit up. She continued to laugh, wincing every now and then when she moved in a painful position. "Tsuki - what's so funny?"
Tsuki continued to laugh as she looked to Vegeta. He stood, shaking in rage. She pointed to Vegeta. "I think he knows." Vegeta growled and kicked her fiercely in the side. Tsuki cried out in pain before she began laughing again, even louder than before. Vegeta stormed off. Radditz, still confused, looked at her. She shook her head. "Baka! What happens every time you are injured? You heal - and you get stronger. I'll heal. I'll be much stronger. Even stronger than Vegeta - that's why he's so enraged." She paused. "I'll even be stronger than Zarbon." She chuckled, and then groaned. "But, now, if you don't mind helping me to a healing tank - I am in a considerable amount of pain..."
A year passes...
"And what are you getting all dressed up for?"
Vegeta looked up and saw Tsuki. Tsuki had been walking down the hall and had seen that Vegeta's door was open. She peeked in to see him putting new armor on and testing a new scouter.
"You mean, you don't know?" Vegeta said, confused.
"No. Why? Should I?" Tsuki walked into the room and sat down on the bed. She wrinkled her nose. It smells in here. Ick - male saiya-jins. Vegeta stood up, surprise on his face.
"You're not going?"
"Where?"
"Well, that's strange..." Vegeta lowered his head in thought.
"What are you talking about?!" Tsuki exclaimed.
Vegeta looked at her. "Frieza's sending Nappa and me on a mission. Radditz was sent to get some other saiya-jin from earth - his little brother."
"I didn't know Radditz had a brother." Great, she thought. Another one. "So that's why I haven't seen him around here for a while."
"Why aren't you going? Did Frieza tell you anything?" Vegeta asked.
"Well, I did get a little promotion - fifth in command. Hmph, I don't see why not any higher - I'm stronger than Dodoria, Zarbon, and Nashi. I guess I'm staying here."
"Well, omedeto for your new rank." Vegeta turned and picked up his scouter from the table. "Do me a favor while we're gone - kill Zarbon for me."
Tsuki laughed. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." Tsuki thought for a moment. "Why would Frieza want to split us up like this?"
Vegeta faced Tsuki again. "What did you say?"
Tsuki opened her mouth to respond when her eyes grew wide as she realized what she had just said. "He's - he's splitting us up." She thought about how Radditz had gone earlier - only now were Vegeta and Nappa were going. She thought how she had risen in rank, but, even though she was strong enough, she was still below Dodoria, Zarbon, and Nashi. And, she thought about the rumor that Frieza had destroyed their home planet, Vegetasei, because...
"He's afraid of us." Tsuki said.
Vegeta thought about her proposal, then scowled as he realized that it was true. Frieza was afraid of Saiya-jins. Tsuki stood.
"Vegeta, take care. I don't know what Frieza has planned, but be careful - we don't want to aid in the extinction of our people." Tsuki began to leave, but was stopped as Vegeta grabbed her shoulder.
"And don't you go challenging anyone to fights that you cannot win," Vegeta said. Tsuki smiled sheepishly. "Get stronger. Then, when we all come back, even with the new saiya-jin, we'll take care of Frieza."
Tsuki gave a curt nod, and then left the room. Vegeta looked around.
"Lights off," he said. He was immersed in darkness as he left to go to meet Nappa in the launch area, thinking silently about the discussion he had just had with Tsuki.
