Dragon Ball Z: The Beast Within - CH37

[Merus POV]

Missing complete.

I walked through the quiet hallway of my ship, the hum of the engines the only thing filling the silence.

So far, I was adjusting well to life as a mortal. Every day was something new, something to learn, making this entire experiment worthwhile in my opinion.

But something about this latest experience… didn’t sit quite right with me.

Escarot. The leader of these Saiyans had mentioned Lord Beerus.

Normally, I wouldn’t give this much of a thought… but what he had said and what I had found in his belongings, did match what Lord Beerus would ask of him.

Nevertheless, I had a role to fulfill right now, and unless told otherwise, I would continue to do so.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I made my way to the command deck to write my report, when all of a sudden, a familiar voice came.

“Merus.”

I stopped in my tracks. I guess this was the ‘told otherwise’ I was thinking.

That must mean the Saiyan wasn’t lying.

Calmly, I stepped into a maintenance closet, shut the door, and made sure no one was around. Then, with a flick of my fingers, I summoned my angel staff.

It floated in front of me, pulsing gently. I raised my hand and tapped the top of it.

Light warped around me in an instant.

A heartbeat later, I was no longer in the patrol ship.

I was standing on soft green grass, with a pink sky above me. The World of the God of Destruction of universe seven, Lord Beerus.

Not far from me, lounging on a pillow the size of a small spaceship, was Lord Beerus; eating what looked like some kind of octopus leg dipped in soup. Chopsticks in one hand, tail flicking lazily.

Next to him, as always, stood my older brother. Whis.

“Merus,” Whis said, smiling pleasantly, “good of you to come.”

“Brother,” I greeted him with a nod. Then I looked at Beerus and bowed slightly. “Lord Beerus.”

Beerus grunted. “About time. You angels sure know how to take your sweet time.”

“You only called me eight seconds ago,” I said flatly, yet respectfully.

Beerus shrugged and chewed noisily. “Still too long.”

I stood there, staff behind my back, waiting.

“Do you know why we’ve contacted you?” Beerus asked mid-bite, his words muffled by food.

“I imagine it has something to do with the Saiyan I’ve captured,” I replied calmly, straightening. “He claimed he was on a mission given to him by you.”

Beerus grinned. “He did, did he?”

“He did, my Lord.”

“Well, that’s technically true,” Beerus said, licking his fingers. “Though I wouldn’t say I gave him the mission personally. I just… strongly encouraged King Vegeta to make it happen.”

“Strongly encouraged?” I repeated, glancing at Whis.

“There was an unspoken threat left in the air had he failed to comply,” Whis said, still smiling. “I believe his exact words were, ‘Either give me the fluffiest pillow in the universe, or I’ll reduce your entire kingdom to space dust. And make sure Escarot is assigned to this mission.”

Beerus huffed. “It was a perfectly reasonable request.”

“I see,” I said.

That explained a lot. This Saiyan didn’t seem like the conquest-driven type, not really. Arrogant, yes. But I suppose being the strongest of his kind does bring about a certain level of arrogance.

“Lord Beerus has a special interest in this young Saiyan,” Whis added. “Which he assures me has nothing to do with the fact that Escarot is his very first proclaimed fan.”

Beerus scoffed and crossed his arms. “Him having great taste doesn’t cloud my judgment, Whis. And besides, I’m not just doing this because he likes me. He shows proper respect to gods like me. That puts him way above the rest of those primitive apes.”

Of course.

“And he can’t do what he’s told if you keep him in a cell,” Whis said with a small tilt of his head.

“I understand,” I said, glancing down at my staff. “Though if it’s about the pillow, I’m certain I can deliver that to you myself, Lord Beerus. His possessions are already in our custody.”

“That’s not the point,” Beerus said, tail thumping against the ground hard enough to crack the dirt. “This is about making sure that sniveling King of theirs gets the message.”

I blinked. “Message, sir?”

Beerus smirked, fangs poking from his lips. “That I can make any Saiyan useful. Even one outside his precious royal bloodline. And that his pride means nothing to me.”

Ah.

There it is.

Whis spoke again. “In other words, my Lord wishes for Escarot to complete this mission, not just for the end result, but for the political and psychological implications it would have on King Vegeta.”

“I want him pissed,” Beerus said plainly. “Fuming. I want him to know his control over his people means less than nothing when I can pluck one of his subjects and turn him into a personal courier. That he rules, only because I allow it.”

“I understand,” I replied.

Beerus leaned back, tail swaying. “Besides… I know that bastard King Vegeta is planning to scam me. Probably send some half-stuffed rock pillow made by low-class rejects and tell me it’s premium, or worse… give me the second best pillow and keep the best for himself.” His eyes narrowed, voice low. “That flea-bitten mutt thinks he’s clever.”

“And having the result of this be completely out of his hands,” Whis added smoothly, “And on Escarot’s, pleases Lord Beerus.”

Beerus smirked. “Exactly. If anyone’s going to humiliate him, it’s going to be me. And that Saiyan brat? He’s the perfect tool for it.”

I looked down. Thought it over.

“And if he fails?” I asked. “He had taken his time to deliver the pillow, instead of doing so immediately, he’s been traveling around, training.”

“I am aware, and that’s completely fine, I gave them a perfectly reasonable timeframe, he’s free to use the time as he pleases as long as he delivers,” Beerus said. “Besides, he knows what’s good for him.”

“And if he runs?”

“No one is that stupid, well… maybe King Vegeta is, but that’s beyond the point,” Beerus said, casually licking sauce from his fingers. “He knows I would erase him and his entire race if he does so.”

I sighed.

Whis looked at me again. “So, little brother. Do you understand what must be done?”

I nodded once.

“Yes.”

“Good,” Whis replied.

Without another word, I tapped my staff and warped away.

Back to the cold, humming corridors of my ship. Back to the holding cells. Back to the Saiyans I wasn’t supposed to be arresting in the first place.

This job gets more complicated every day. Now… How do I make their escape look believable?

—------------------------------------------------------------

[Escarot POV]

I still had no idea what to do.

Of all the places I imagined I would end in this new life, prison wasn’t one of them.

The stupid collar still buzzed faintly against my neck every time I so much as flexed the wrong muscle. Not painful, but annoying enough to remind me of my very poor luck. Like encountering the strongest space cop ever.

Okara was pacing like a caged animal. Garlik was still out cold. And me? I was sitting cross-legged in the far corner of the cell, contemplating whether I should try to break my way out of here and be electrocuted or nap.

"Any bright ideas?" Okara hissed, rubbing her neck for the hundredth time. “Because if I get shocked one more time, I'm eating this collar.”

“Not sure that will work as well as you imagine,” I muttered.

“Don’t care,” she growled.

I exhaled. “Alright. We need to find a way to short out these collars or find someone dumb enough to open the door.”

“And if none of those things work?” she asked.

“Then I chew off your collar myself and take my chances choking on sparks.”

She blinked. “That’s kinda sweet.”

I was about to suggest something reckless involving ki suppression and a well-timed surge of power when the ship lurched. Not a smooth course correction, no. This was the jolt you feel when someone in the pilot’s seat suddenly slaps the console and yells “Oops.”

Okara and I shared a glance.

Then the lights dimmed.

Then the security field around our cell flickered—just once, a quick fizzle and crack.

“What was that?” Okara asked.

I stood up slowly. “Not sure. But if this is a trick, it’s a pretty stupid one.”

I approached the edge of the cell, eyes scanning the seams in the forcefield. Nothing obvious. But something had definitely glitched.

A second later, the field blinked out again—longer this time. Three seconds, maybe four. And during that time, the collar around my neck let out a faint click. Not a zap. A click.

Freedom?

No.

That’d be too easy. Right?

I glanced around. No guards. No sirens. Just the dim humming of the ship’s interior and the gentle hiss of recycled air.

Okara inched closer. “So… wanna risk it?”

I didn’t answer. I closed my eyes instead, gathered just enough ki in my palm to form a pinpoint of light.

No pain.

No shock.

No electricity frying my brain into mush.

“Well, well,” I muttered. “Guess someone forgot to pay the power bill.”

I turned to Garlik, slapped him lightly on the cheek. “Wake up, genius. We’re jailbreaking.”

He groaned. “Nngh… I told you the spicy stew smelled like betrayal…”

“Less dreaming, more escaping,” I snapped. “You’re our tech guy, remember? Time to earn that title.”

The field blinked again. I reached toward the panel by the side of the door. Normally, I’d fry it or smash it open, but Garlik pushed my hand away.

“No need. Watch this,” he muttered, pulling a screwdriver—a literal screwdriver—from inside his boot.

“…You’ve had that the whole time?”

“Standard survival kit,” he replied groggily. “I just didn’t think we’d need it until we were being dissected.”

Okara grinned. “You’re growing on me, nerd.”

Two minutes later, the panel sparked, and the cell door hissed open.

I took a step out, waiting for the inevitable alarm.

Nothing.

No red lights. Nothing. Just... eerie silence.

“This feels like a trap,” I muttered. “Why would a guy that good—that prepared—suddenly make a rookie mistake like leaving us alone with faulty tech?”

“Maybe he’s just dumb,” Okara offered with a shrug.

“No. He’s not,” I said, thinking back to the way he moved, how he read every strike before I even threw it. “This feels intentional.”

“Do you honestly care?” Garlik asked.

“Fair point, I don’t.”

“So, now what?” Okara asked.

“First thing’s first,” I said, yanking at the collar. “Get this off me.”

Garlik nodded, rolling his shoulders.

“That should be easy enough,” he muttered. “Hold still.”

“Don’t fry my neck,” I warned.

“No promises.”

He crouched next to me, popped open a tiny latch on the side of the collar, and got to work. A few quick sparks later, and the whole thing popped off with a sharp click. I tossed it like it owed me money.

“Alright, now hers,” I said, nodding toward Okara, who was glaring at her collar like it personally insulted her ancestors.

Garlik repeated the process. Hers took a little longer—mostly because she kept twitching like she was waiting for it to zap her one last time out of spite.

“Done,” he said, stepping back.

Okara rubbed her neck and immediately punched the collar away. “I hate space cops.”

“Congratulations,” Garlik muttered. “We’re now officially felons.”

“Cool.”

I sighed. “For the record… I still think we were allowed to escape.”

Okara grinned. “Or… we are a squad of badass fugitives who broke out of a max-security galactic cell using nothing but wit and brain.”

Pretty sure wit and brain are the same thing in this context, but I could be wrong.

The halls were empty. We snuck through dimly-lit corridors, stepping over maintenance droids and ducking under low-hanging pipes. 

Every so often, I’d feel a tug, not physical, not even ki-based. Just a sensation that someone was watching from afar.

I hated it.

Finally, we reached the cargo hold. Our pods were parked in the back, stacked neatly like toys.

“Well that’s convenient,” Garlik said.

“Too convenient,” I replied. “But I’m not in the mood to stay here long enough to ask questions.”

We sprinted to the pods. I slapped the controls. The hatch hissed open. Garlik dove into his own and immediately began tapping away like a madman. Okara hopped in hers and grinned.

“Best jailbreak ever.”

“Just shut up and launch,” I muttered, pulling the hatch shut behind me. “Before the generous warden changes his mind.”

“Lauch where?” Garlik asked.

“Planet Vegeta, I had enough travel for a while,” I replied.

Honestly, I didn't want to deal with whatever came next. With my luck, I would find Majin Buu or something if I kept travelling.