Dragon Ball Z: The Beast Within - CH36

[Escarot POV]

Today started like most days on this planet; waking up, stretching, checking Okara wasn’t trying to steal my leftovers… and then heading out to get ingredients for the food of the day.

You couldn’t train properly without the right kind of fuel, and Saiyan fuel requirements were... excessive. I’m talking ten times your body weight in calories just to feel like you had a light breakfast.

Okara had already launched herself into the sea to wrestle with whatever animal she could drag out for dinner. Meanwhile, Garlik was off, scraping salt deposits off nearby cliffs.

As for me? I was foraging.

Not as fun as wrestling a giant fish, I know. But someone had to identify which alien leaves wouldn’t kill us and which ones would just make your mouth feel like it was French kissing a battery.

“This looks delicious... or extremely poisonous,” I muttered, holding up a tiny red mushroom, giving it the ol’ stink-eye. It looked innocent enough, but I’d already been tricked by a potato-shaped root a week ago that tried to bite me, and was also venomous.

So, yeah, trust issues.

The wish that made me the best chef in the universe didn’t come with the ability to tell what was edible and what wasn’t. All it did was make anything I cooked taste incredible, even if it was lethal. Great news for final meals, though. Not so great for long term survival. 

So I relied on smell and instinct.

Which brings me to the present.

I was squinting at a new type of mushroom when suddenly, my body moved before my brain could catch up. I jumped, straight up like a startled cat. Not consciously, just pure reflex.

Half a second later, I was floating above the treetops, blinking in confusion.

“What the…?”

I looked down.

The tree I had been in front of had a hole melted through its base, a slow ooze of molten wood trickling out like it had been cauterized from the inside.

Someone attacked me.

And I didn’t feel them.

Not again.

Not this crap again.

I landed carefully, eyes scanning the surroundings. Whoever it was, I expected them to be hiding. However, much to surprise, the bastard was just… standing there. Out in the open.

He looked young. Lean frame. Purple skin. Grey bowl-cut hair. He was wearing a weird dark jumpsuit with blue stripes and a jacket over his torso and shoulders. On the left side of his chest, some strange insignia I didn’t recognize. And in his hands?

A blaster.

He looked like he was cosplaying anyone from Star Trek.

“Under Galactic Law, I order you to surrender,” the guy said.

Galactic Law? A space cop?

“Why?” I asked, raising a brow.

“For crimes against the universe.”

“What crimes? I haven’t done anything,” I replied.

“No Saiyan is innocent,” he said, firm.

Well that’s mighty racist of him. Or is it xenophobic?

“That’s a compelling argument, space cop,” I said dryly.

To be honest, I couldn’t blame the guy. Saiyans weren’t exactly the golden retrievers of the galaxy. My kind is known to vaporize a few civilizations every hour. Genocide wasn’t exactly frowned upon by our employers, it was encouraged. 

But still. Painting us all with the same brush? Bit harsh. Actually, no, I can’t blame him for that either… if the 99,99% of us is able to commit genocide while litsening to a mix-tape, the universe has a right to profile us.

I’m pretty sure that there were no really good saiyans until Goku came, and he hadn’t even been born yet. Or maybe he had and he was just stewing in his pod. Who knows. All I know is he is sent to earth before Frieza kills everyone else.

“I am Officer Merus, of Sector B-17 of the Milky Way. I recommend you surrender for your own good.”

Milky Way. Interesting. That meant we were closer to Earth than I thought. Good to know.

“Okay,” I said. “But what if… I don’t?”

He fired.

I tilted my head. The blast zipped past, barely grazing my hair.

I honestly admired the balls of this guy.

His power wasn’t even close to mine. And yet he was risking his life for his job.

“Look, I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, dodging another shot. “And I respect your courage, I really do. But there’s no way you’re taking me in. So let’s both pretend this didn’t happen and go on with our day.”

He didn’t answer. Just stared.

Then hoisted his weapon again.

“Glad you could—”

WHACK.

Something slammed into my forehead.

It hurt. Not a lot. But enough for me to blink in surprise and take a step back.

He’d hit me with a stick.

A fucking stick.

“You really want to do your job, huh?” I muttered, rubbing my head. “Alright. Guess I’ve got to knock you out. Sorry in advance.”

I rushed him, aiming for a clean knockout punch.

Just as I was about to connect, he moved.

His stick snapped up, struck my wrist, redirected my punch, and before I could even blink, the other end swept under my legs.

Next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, blinking up at the sky.

“What in the actual fuck…”

I jumped back to my feet, heart suddenly pounding—not from damage, but confusion. He was weaker than me. That hadn’t changed. But he was reading me like an open book. Anticipating everything.

Was I going too easy on him?

“You have the right to remain silent,” he began.

I snorted. “Shouldn’t you say that after you’ve got me in cuffs?”

I powered up.

Screw it. Something was off about this guy, and I wasn’t taking any chances.

“I won’t fail this assignment,” he said calmly.

This time, I aimed for his neck, intending to end it quickly.

He ducked under, blocked my swing—and I snapped his stick in half.

Good.

Now that he has no weapon, I will—

Before I could finish my thought, I was interrupted by the searing flash of heat, suddenly blasting across my face.

His boots!

The bastard had rocket boosters in his heels, and he used them mid-duck to blast me square in the face.

Not enough to do damage, but definitely enough to blind me. My hair was on fire. Not literally, but it felt like it. All I could see was the blast.

I stumbled back, eyes watering.

“I’m starting to reconsider being gentle!” I barked, firing a ki blast into the ground, creating an explosion.

Ok, enough games, time to beat this skinny bastard, so that I can go back to collecting my food.

“Good to know,” I heard behind me, and as I tried to turn, my body locked in place—

Followed by a cold sensation, as something jabbed into the back of my neck. And my muscles began to spasm.

He… tased me?!

I gritted my teeth, trying to stay upright, but that proved to be fruitless, as darkness edged into my vision.

This son of a bitch…

And then everything went black.

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

After who knows how long, I woke up to the cold hum of a ship engine and the tight weight of metal wrapped around my wrists and neck. Not exactly the best way to start a morning. My head throbbed a little, nothing serious, but enough to remind me I’d gotten clocked by a guy built like a noodle, one that I should’ve been able to swat like a fly.

Great.

I opened my eyes fully. Metal walls, thick glass in front of me. A cell. And not just me, Okara was slumped against the far side of the wall, grumbling something about killing that skinny bastard in her sleep. Garlik was nearby, out cold and drooling slightly, which was a bit undignified for a grown man, but I had bigger problems. Like the shiny collar strapped around my neck. Same for Okara and Garlik. Even our wrists had cuffs lined with faint glowing nodes.

“Well, isn’t this cozy,” I muttered.

Outside the cell, I spotted him—the space cop. Merus. Sitting in front of some sort of control panel, flipping through files like this was just another Tuesday. No signs of stress. He didn’t even look back when I stirred.

“Okay, fuck this—” I pushed myself up and powered up. Or tried to, at least.

The collar lit up instantly, and pain shot through my entire body like a million volts decided to throw a rave inside my spine. I dropped to the floor, twitching uncontrollably, mouth clenched shut to avoid screaming.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," Merus said without turning. "Enough shocks and you might forget how to speak or eat, or so I’m told."

Well, fuck me. The collar doubled as a neural zapper, and a way to keep my power at a manageable level. Clever. Painful and… effective.

I gritted my teeth, panting. “What the hell are these things?”

"Special issue," he replied coolly. "Designed to detect energy surges and motion around the neck. The moment you try to power up, or touch the collar for too long, it fires a powerful shock to your nervous system. Built to work on warm-blooded species regardless of strength."

That’s our kryptonite?

The most common type of energy in the universe?!

Electricity?! 

This hurts on so many levels, to think all someone needs to take us down is a glorified dog collar. It’s humiliating… 

“Look, we haven’t killed anyone,” I said, steadying my breathing. “We didn’t conquer anything. My mission is to deliver the comfiest pillow in the universe to Lord Beerus. And I managed get said pillow without bloodshed.”

Mostly a lie. Slug, Bebidi, and a few others were technically... casualties. But no one's going to press charges for dead dark wizards and psychotic Namekians.

Merus didn’t respond. Just flipped to another file on his console.

“Okay, now I’m being ignored,” I muttered. “Fantastic.”

I glanced at Garlik. Still out cold. He was our tech guy, if anyone could get these collars off, it was probably him. Assuming his brain hadn’t been scrambled.

Seriously, what kind of joke was my life turning into? One planet after another filled with problems, ancient tyrants, evil wizards, and now a super cop who is annoyingly good at his job. 

Ok, I can’t shit on Namek, I had fun there. But everything after Namek has been one disaster after the other.

I leaned against the wall, already plotting escape routes. The cuffs were basic; I could break them if the collar wasn’t trying to melt my nervous system every time I flinched. We needed Garlik. And we needed a plan.

“Do I at least get a lawyer?” I asked, mostly for the sake of trying.

"Saiyans are classified as a Category 8-S criminal threat," Merus replied, still without looking. "As such, you have no rights to legal representation, no communication rights, and no right to appeal. Your sentence will be issued at the discretion of the assigned Galactic Judge."

I blinked. “That’s some bullshit.”

“Standard protocol.”

I sighed. “Figures.”

A groan echoed from my right. Okara stirred, sitting up sluggishly.

“What happened... YOU BASTARD—”

She barely got the words out before the collar lit up, and she spasmed violently, teeth grinding, body twitching like a puppet on a short-circuited string, until she finally slumped back out cold, smoke lightly wafting from the collar. 

“I would advise you,” Merus said, calm as ever, “To tell your companion to stop doing that. It’s the eighteenth time she’s been shocked. That can’t be good for brain tissue.”

I growled under my breath. “You counting her shocks?”

“Of course. It’s part of the file now.”

Asshole.