"More! More!" A male voice shouted harshly, belonging to a muscular man with a bald head. He was wearing a green training robe that only covered the right half of his chest, and a loose red belt tied around his waist.
However, his muscular physique, which looked superhumanly bulky compared to even bodybuilders on Earth, wasn't his most glaring feature. Instead, it was his third eye, which sat in the middle of his forehead.
"I'm… trying!" Another equally as bald man huffed, being much shorter than Tien Shinhan as he lunged forward, lashing out with his fist. He met nothing but air as Tien dodged, stepping around Krillin with a grunt as his fist shot forward, slamming into the shorter man's side and sending him stumbling back. He eventually fell back, his legs giving out as he backpedalled, and he fell onto his ass.
"Again!" Tien grunted, reaching up and wiping a bead of sweat off his brow, and he was clearly exhausted despite his words. His shoulders were hunched, his feet dragged on the concrete below, and his breaths were coming out in pants.
"I need a… rest, Tien," Krillin responded wearily, equally as tired as he leaned back fully, falling flat onto his back as he stared up into the dark sky overhead.
"There's no time to rest!" Tien countered harshly, straightening his back as he pushed away his exhaustion, "Get back up, Krillin. We're not nearly strong enough yet!"
"Our bodies need rest," Krillin refused, still panting as he forced himself to sit up again, locking eyes with Tien, "You know what Master Roshi says, right? We must work hard, study well, and eat and sleep plenty! The second half is just as important as the first!"
"Not right now it isn't," Tien shook his head, his three eyes staring into Krillin's, "The time limit is almost up! That monster is coming back in only a few weeks, and we can't just rely on Goku to save the day! We have to do our part!"
"We want to win just as badly as you do, Tien," A different voice entered, belonging to a long-haired man calling over from a couple of dozen feet away on the Lookout, "But rest is important, too. We've been working our asses off, y'know? We shouldn't push ourselves too hard."
"How can you, of all people, say that, Yamcha?" Tien huffed, looking over with a stony gaze at the former bandit, who was panting and drenched in sweat as he stood across from Piccolo, "That monster took Bulma - took your girlfriend, and you want to rest?! We need to be prepared to take her back!"
"She's… fine," Yamcha sounded a bit uncertain with his response, "Bulma is smarter than all of us combined, y'know? She traveled around the world looking for the Dragon Balls just like the rest of us, and the alien said she'd be unharmed. She's fine."
"Hah! You believed that shit?" The crude and unapologetic voice of Piccolo responded before Tien, the Namekian smirking cruelly at Yamcha, "I thought Goku was the only naive idiot, but you're one of them too?'
"Naive idiot?! What do you know, demon?!" Yamcha huffed back, glaring at Piccolo, "You just think everyone's evil because you are! Not everyone is a lying scumbag!"
"And you think everyone is good and pure because you are," Piccolo countered bluntly, smirking wider as he only pissed off Yamcha more, "You felt that alien's power, didn't you? Even his energy felt evil! You think a guy like him just took your woman to have a nice conversation with her?"
"W-What are you talking about?!" Yamcha sounded even more uncertain, but wouldn't back down, "H-He didn't seem that bad! Bulma is fine!"
"'He didn't seem that bad'? What about all the things Kami told us about him?" Piccolo didn't let up, still staring down Yamcha as the man's confidence wavered, "That 'Kai' guy whose training Goku told Kami all about him. An evil overlord who conquers entire galaxies? Who destroys entire planets? You think he just took the woman to have a nice picnic with her?"
"W-What are you getting at?!"
"He's fucking your girlfriend, idiot."
"Y-You! I thought we had a common threat, but you're still just making up lies to get in our heads!" Yamcha stuttered, his eyes showing a bit of worry at Piccolo's words despite his angry shout, "We should've never given a demon like you a chance!"
"Give me a chance? I'm the one giving you naive idiots a chance," Piccolo scoffed, shaking his head casually, "I should've just taken the boy and trained him on my own. I only brought him here because that bastard is so powerful, and it'll take everything we have to take him down, but he'd be making more progress training with me than you softies."
"Who are you calling soft?!"
"You, obviously, and he's correct." It was Tien who butted into the conversation again, causing Yamcha to spin around and look at the man with shock.
"T-Tien?! You're really agreeing with this guy?!" Yamcha shouted, gesturing incredulously at Piccolo, "This demon that tried to kill Goku?!"
"Whether he's a demon or not has nothing to do with him being correct," Tien said simply, not saying what Yamcha wanted to hear. "Both of you are too soft. I learned a lot from Goku, and a lot from being around you guys. I learned how to be kind, how to fight for fun and not to destroy, and how much good there is in this world. But…"
Tien's eyes narrowed, becoming so sharp that Yamcha took a step back instinctively, "That doesn't mean I forgot what I learned at the Crane School. Not everyone is kind, not everyone is good, and not everyone is honest. Believing that they are is admirable, but also stupid."
"You mean…" Yamcha trailed off, his eyes wide, "Y-You also think he was lying? That Bulma really isn't fine?"
"I do." Tien said bluntly, causing Yamcha's eyes to go even wider, "That alien isn't someone that can become a friend like I did. He's a monster, a monster who's killed millions and destroyed entire planets. If we're lucky, forcing himself onto Bulma might be all he'll do. If we're not… she might not be the same person she once was when she returns."
"T-There's… no… no…" Yamcha just muttered, his eyes wide as his hands curled into fists, "S-She's…"
"If it makes you angry, then use that anger to train harder," Piccolo grinned at Yamcha's demeanor, and Tien nodded in agreement.
"Our friend is captured, being abused against her will, and possibly tortured. Your girlfriend," Tien said sharply, driving the point home as his eyes bored into Yamcha's, "While you sit here tired, wanting your rest, she's crying - hoping and begging for someone to save her. If you can't push yourself to train harder after knowing that, then there's no hope for you anyway, and you might as well never fight again!"
Tien's words rang out in the dead of the night, causing a short silence to follow as they sank in. Then, Krillin slowly nodded, pushing himself to his feet.
"You're… you're right," Krillin grunted, his face becoming steeled with determination, "Bulma is our friend, and we can't just let this alien do whatever he wants with her! I'm sure Goku's training his ass off right now to save her, and we have to do the same!"
"R-Right," Yamcha nodded, his eyes becoming a bit fiery, "When he comes back, we'll kick his ass, and take Bulma back! I won't cower away like I did last time!"
"Good," Piccolo grinned wider, shifting into a fighting stance across from Yamcha, "Then, come at me like you want to kill me!"
"Got it!"
Tien smiled as he watched the two continue to fight and train, shifting into his own training stance as he turned to Krillin. The Z-Fighters had been inspired to train harder than ever to protect their friend, and there wasn't a second that would go to waste.
Tien didn't know what type of unspeakable things were happening to Bulma at that very moment, but all he could hope for was that she'd be sane when she returned.
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"Ah… It's sooooo good!"
The Z-Fighters were apparently very lucky, because never in Tien's wildest imagination would he think Bulma was eating a juicy piece of meat, practically salivating as she squirmed in her chair with pleasure.
"Right? I didn't know anywhere other than Earth would have meat this tasty," I grinned, watching as Bulma was practically drooling while she looked down at a large slab of meat.
It had been prepared by the inhabitants of a planet my forces had recently conquered, who apparently had a large love for food. Pretty much every one of the little red aliens, who had heads bigger than their bodies, chubby cheeks, and overall looked pretty cute - something that was shared by their inability to fight - were able to cook like a 5-star chef. I assumed that Frieza had simply killed off the entire race in the original series, but I was using them as personal chefs now.
As a result, my taste buds had been opened to a whole new world of deliciousness. My planet conquering had opened my eyes to a lot of nice things within the universe, and I was once again reminded of how much of an idiot the original owner of this body really was. Frieza was lucky he was strong, because he certainly wasn't the best at leading an empire otherwise.
"I didn't either. I'm learning a lot out here," Bulma nodded in agreement, her expression bright as she glanced behind her, "And that mattress! What did you say it was made out of?"
"The fur of a Zettouramos," I said, the word sounding foreign coming out of my mouth, as it certainly didn't sound like a real thing.
We were currently eating at a small table in my room, which was where I frequently ate most of my meals, so she was pointing at my actual bed. This body didn't need much food overall, as with sleep, it was more of a luxury than a necessity, which only drove home how overpowered Frieza's race was. Still, I enjoyed food too much to give it up, so I still ate at least a meal or two every day.
I would've preferred to be eating in an actual dining room instead of my bedroom, but the few times I did weren't pleasant. I was swarmed with kneeling soldiers, and even when I ordered them to leave, they would peek through the door at me. That wasn't to mention the chefs constantly assaulting me with 'Is it to your liking, Lord Frieza?' and 'I can make it better if you desire, my Lord!' It was flattering that they wanted to please me so badly, but I would really rather be left alone as I ate.
Luckily, even if they were ballsy enough to flood me with questions, they weren't stupid enough to enter my bedroom. I'd made it explicitly clear to everyone on the ship that no one other than myself or Bulma was to come in here, and I'd made an example of the first idiotic soldier who'd tried to enter to give me an 'urgent report' by turning him into a puddle of blood.
I didn't like being so harsh, but killing just felt natural in this body, and sometimes making examples was necessary.
"Can we bring some of them to Earth?" Bulma brought me out of my thoughts, still looking at the comfy mattress that was my new massive bed.
"Extinct species, I'm afraid." I simply shook my head at her request, "The morons who lived on that planet had hunted them all to extinction. I just took all the fur that was left for this bed."
I left out that I was nearly pissed off enough to blow up the whole planet for their stupidity.
"Damn," Bulma huffed, looking a bit longingly at the bed, "I'll really miss that. Ha, with this good of food and a bed like that, I wouldn't mind staying here."
"You can," I said simply.
"Huh? I can what?" Bulma blinked, turning back to me, confused.
"Stay here," I clarified a bit, leaning back in my chair casually, "You don't have to leave."
"B-But, the deadline's about to come," Bulma stuttered a bit, "We'll be back at Earth in a few days, right? And then, you'll see how strong my friends are, and leave me there?"
"I'll leave you there if I'm satisfied with their progress," I corrected, locking eyes with her, "And if you want to leave. This won't be my last time coming to Earth, and you don't have to stay there if you don't want to. I'd prefer if you stayed with me anyway."
"Y-You would?" Bulma blinked, her cheeks blushing a bit at my words.
"I'm a man of my word. If you want to leave, and your Earthling friends impress me, then you can leave. But," I continued, nodding at her question, "You've been very helpful in improving the technology in my empire. You're smart, logical, and overall a good counsel to have. But more than any of that…"
I grinned at her lightly, "I like you."
"W-What?" Bulma blushed even deeper at my words, glancing away as she wouldn't meet my eyes, "D-Don't just suddenly say something like that, idiot!"
"I was just explaining my reasons," I chuckled, enjoying the way she was blushing so heavily, "I like having you around. If you want to stay with me, you can."
Bulma didn't answer immediately, just looking down as she wouldn't meet my eyes with a red face.
"M-Maybe," She finally said, still not looking up at me, "I'll… I'll see after we go back to Earth."
I just grinned wider at her words and nodded. Despite her uncertain words, I was confident she would choose to stay with me.
Especially after what I would do on Earth in just a few days.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted in a few days!
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