Dragon Realm Meloverse - Enigma Saga

OCs made by The Enigma TNG and HalusaTwin.

DB originally owned by Akira Toryiama. No copyright intended.

Age 720

“I can’t…get him out…it’s hard…”

“Keep pushing. It’s almost over.”

The words of the Saiyan man were soon drowned by the mother’s screams of pain. The Saiyan woman was lying on a woven mat, surrounded by the gray stone walls of a cave. Her husband gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and put his hand on her forehead. The mother’s face was caked in sweat and her brown tail lay still on the ground next to her. She gave another push and clenched her teeth.

“Who knew that giving birth would be so hard?” she said between breaths.

“I wouldn’t know,” he mentioned.

She gave him a glare. “Of course you wouldn’t. I wanted to have a child with you…I just didn’t like the fact that it took so long for me to have one.”

“Nine months is not too long,” said her husband.

“Let me just say that fighting on the battlefield is much easier than this!” she replied as she pushed some more.

Finally, the outline of a head began to appear from between her legs.

“That’s it, just a little further,” said the man.

With a final cry and push from the woman, the baby slipped out into the world in a wet mess.

The man sliced off the feeding tube with a right-handed karate chop. He gently took the baby and washed it off in the stone basin that substituted as a sink. The baby immediately starting crying as the cold water from the curved pipe by the basin ran over him. The father looked and saw that the baby was a boy. He looked like an ordinary baby, save for his thick black hair and his curvy brown tail that was already long.

The father carried the baby back to the mother, who then held the infant in her arms.

“It’s a boy!” she exclaimed.

“Fantastic!” said the father with a grin.

“I bet he’s going to grow up into a great warrior someday,” said the mother.

I agree,” said the father with a nod. “We will both make sure of that.”

She studied him closely. “I can’t tell what his power level is.”

“That’s alright,” said the father. “We will find out soon enough. In the meantime, we should eat and name this little guy.”

“Great idea,” said the mother. She paused in thought, then her eyes brightened. “I have the perfect Saiyan name to give him.”

“Oh, do tell,” said the father.

“His name shall be…”

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud commotion from outside. “What in Yamoshi’s name is going on?” asked the startled mother.

“I’ll go check it out,” said the father. He tightened his brown loincloth around his waist and grabbed a brown club that was leaning against the wall. He stomped out the front entrance, his tail moving left and right.

The father peered at his surroundings and saw the cause of the noise. Nearby the large campfire in the center of the village were a group of men and several women arguing.

“Excuse us for intruding,” scoffed a big burly man with thick black hair and a scar over his left eye.  “But I just saw you cooking some fine meat earlier and I see you have some left. Mind handing it over?”

One of the Saiyans from the village did not look impressed at the visitor. “Don’t play polite with me,” she said, stomping one of her feet impatiently. “We saw the meat first and that means it’s ours. I’d suggest hunting somewhere else.”

The bigger man growled. “In case you didn’t know, our food had been washed away by a recent heavy rain hours ago. Most of the animals are now grazing just past your village. We need to hunt for our food.”

“Not in our territory,” she spat.

The man grabbed a piece of meat from a nearby pile by the campfire, only to have another man slap it out of his hand.

“Get out,” said the man guarding the food.

“You can’t boss me around like that! I’m the chief of my tribe, and I’ll get the food and weapons I need.”

Another man walked forward and touched his own necklace, which was decorated with animal teeth. “Well what do you know? I’m the chief of this village and just so happen to run into the chief of the rubbish clan.”

“Take that back, knucklehead, or I’ll bash your head in and take your place,” warned the large man.

“Come at me then.”

At once, the two groups slammed into each other, shouting threats. There was a flurry of punches, kicks, and the swinging of clubs and spears. During several instances, there were flashes of yellow light that shot from the hands of the Saiyans. An enemy woman came running behind the father, but a hard punch to her jaw knocked her down. The father kicked two more men out of the way. Stepping outside, the mother stood and joined the fight as well.

“Hey, get back inside!” the father called.

“I’m not leaving you to fight on your own,” she replied, sending a blast to an enemy warrior.

“But the baby…”

“I hid him behind the hay pile inside. Things will be fine.”

The father breathed a sigh of relief and headed off deeper into the battle.

No sooner had she said that, when a powerful blast shot forward from the enemy chief’s hand. The blast was aiming straight for the opening of their home. The mother swatted the blast away with her hand and it exploded onto a pillar of rock, knocking the structure down to the ground. In an instant, the enemy’s supplies of food, weapons, and clothing were crushed by the falling rock.

The chief gave his followers who were not fighting a deadly glare. “Which one of you thought it would be a great idea to put our belongings right next to a rock pillar?”

No one said a word. Two men slowly backed away, but the chief caught them. He blasted them backwards with a blast fired from his hand. “Let that teach you all a lesson!” he roared. “Now eliminate the rest of this tribe!” Lightning flashed from the red sky overhead.

The father rushed forward toward the enemy chief, his club over his shoulder. One of the chief’s men blocked his path, but the father’s arms were already in motion. With a might swing, he bashed his club into the man’s face, knocking him to the side. Seizing his chance, the chief fired a blast from both of his hands and hit him right in the chest. The father was knocked backwards to the ground. He picked himself up right when he felt a spear enter his stomach. He gasped in pain and coughed up blood. He was soon on his knees, grunting in pain. The chief fired another blast as the father closed his eyes, bracing himself. The attack never came. Instead he saw the figure of a woman stand between himself and the blast of light.

After a fierce struggle, the mother pushed the blast back toward the enemy chief and managed to knock him onto his back. She ran forward and delivered a final blow with her fist right through his chest.

The mother stood up and turned around. She gave her husband a grin at what she had done. The father had a look of pride on his face, despite being in pain. He could feel his body and vision fading fast. His look of pride then turned to horror when he noticed an enemy Saiyan knocking an arrow into place on a wooden bow. In a quick motion, he fired the flaming arrow into the air.

“Look out!” called the father. The mother turned to look, but not fast enough. The arrow struck her in the heart and she crumpled to the ground.

The father screamed in sadness and agony. Before he could transform into a Super Saiyan, he felt himself being knocked out cold by an enemy sneaking from behind. With a flash of light from the enemy’s hand, the father’s still form disintegrated.

The surviving chief looked on in horror and anger as several strong men grabbed the food and weapons near the fire pit and raced off.

“Get back here, filthy cowards!” he yelled. “You’ll pay for that!”

But the damage had already been done. Both sides had lost many warriors. Burning gaping holes consumed the outer layers of other stone caves.

“Attention!” the chief called. “Grab what you can carry and follow me. We must make haste and gather food before dark. The enemy tribe could return at any moment.”

One of the Saiyans eyed him suspiciously. “Aren’t we just running away from them, then?”

“Are you questioning my orders?” asked the chief, leering in, towering over the younger warrior. “We are not fleeing from them. We will follow them and attack their village after we find a safer place to make camp. Their numbers are higher than ours, so we need as much preparation as we can get. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” said the warrior. The other members followed suit.

“Good. Now let’s get going.”

In everyone’s mad rush to leave, none of them hear the cries of a baby boy curled up on top of a blanket on a bale of hay. No one, that is, except a stern warrior by the name of Kantalo.

“I heard something,” he said in a gruff voice to his comrades. “Wait here.”

He marched into the cave, lighting his surroundings with a ki circle of light from his hand.

“I swear if this is a trap set by you bastards then I will…”

He stopped in shock at what was in front of him.

“Is that…a baby?” he asked himself.

He picked up the infant and observed him. “Where are your parents, boy?” he asked. The baby cried in response.

“Answer me when I’m talking to you,” he scolded. “And stop your crying.”

He walked out with the baby back to his group.

“What, you’ve never seen a baby before?” asked one of his men, noticing Kantalo looking at the boy as if he were a wild stray.

“No I have not, Celery,” he replied. “So what?”

“So, he is also a member of our tribe and thus he must come with us.”

“This weakling will only slow us down,” Kantalo scoffed. “I know strong power when I sense it in children, and he’s falling behind.”

“Probably a late bloomer,” Celery said. “Give him some time and he’ll mature fast. You’ll see.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But somebody is going to be taking care of him and it’s not going to be me.”

“Well you could be his mentor though,” added a Saiyan woman by the name of Sprout. “I’ll take care of him in the meantime.”

Kantalo handed her the baby in response.

“Yeah good luck with that,” Celery said. “Your attention span is that of a goldfish and everything except fighting and eating is boring to you.”

“Shut up!” she replied.

“Let’s get a move on!” shouted the chief. He pointed to the horizon at a group of approaching figures.

The Saiyans increased their speed and made their way across the dry land. Lightning snaked across the sky above them. The baby soon calmed down.

“So what’s his name going to be?” asked Sprout.

“How should I know?” asked Kantalo. “Since it appears that his parents are gone, it is clear that he has no name.”

“That hasn’t happened before,” Celery mentioned. “Babies are named right away, several days after they’re born.”

“I bet this one was just born,” Kantalo added.

“You’re right,” said Sprout.

She looked into the baby’s black eyes. “This little one is quite the enigma.”

Age 725

The young boy was growing up fast. As he grew, his fighting instincts grew with him. He was no longer repeatedly punching at everything, in the hopes of hitting the right target. At this point, he was learning how to be more patient when dealing with opponents. He learned that anticipating an enemy’s movements and standing on one’s feet was important, especially for dealing with tough warriors like Kantalo.

“You’re still a boy,” said Kantalo, looking down on him. “You’ll never learn how to be a great fighter if you don’t keep practicing.”

Enigma hid the fear in his young black eyes and replaced it with a snarl. “I am a great warrior, sir. How else will I learn if you don’t help me practice?”

The middle-aged Saiyan scratched his black beard and ran his fingers through his black spiky hair. His eyebrows were dark and thick, giving him a stern look nearly every time other Saiyans came near him. Like all Saiyans, he wore brown, tattered clothing.

“I have better things to do than train such a weakling,” he stated. “I’m not his parent. Saiyans at this age can usually take care of themselves!”

Celery glared at his leader. “Well unfortunately, he’s not ready to live on his own. Both his parents are gone and we were lucky to escape the enemy tribe. Just because you were forced to grow up at that age doesn’t mean…”

“Enough!” he shouted, grabbing his ally by his brown shirt. “I will ensure that he’s ready to take care of himself. Then I can get back to my regular duties and not have to deal with all this. Got it?”

“Yeah, sure,” muttered Sprout, rolling her eyes and flipping back her dark hair. A dagger hung at her brown belt she wore around her waist. “I’m just anxious to see the little guy fight.”

“Stop calling me little!” protested Enigma, rolling his little hands into fists.

Celery put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright, young one,” he reassured. “I know you have great strength and potential inside you. Just do your best and then you can take a break while I gather some food for tonight.”

Enigma gave a small smile and turned to face Kantalo. “Bring it on, old man.”

It wasn’t the right thing to say. Before the boy could blink, he felt a hard fist make contact with his stomach. He gasped for breath and moved out of the way. Kantalo raised his fist again and this time Enigma blocked it with both of his hands. Kantalo swung his foot at Enigma’s legs and the boy instantly fell to the ground.

“You’re being too hard on him,” Celery mentioned. “Why not have him fight with the other kids?”

“Do you see any other kids around here?” Kantalo asked. “Of course not, because our numbers are dwindling faster by the minute. The sooner we get this boy into shape, the better.”

The boy picked himself up and crossed his arms. “My name is Enigma,” he stated. “And I’ll beat you, someday!”

“Don’t count on it, kid,” said Kantalo. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go talk with the chief about what the next course of action is.”

“Why are the arrogant ones always the ones in power,” muttered Celery.

“He can hear you, idiot,” said Sprout, who mentioned to Kantalo’s glare. “Celery, I’ll deal with you later.” He looked forward and walked away.

Enigma looked at Celery with sad eyes. “Why is he always so mean?”

“Kantalo’s always been like that,” he replied. “He gets too attached to beating people up and every now and then, he drinks as well. He says that senzu juice mixed with the right amount of chemicals helps with his emotions and stress about the war.”

Sprout nodded. “I bet he gets it from the chief himself for being one of his closest supporters. But do I get that juice and praise after battles? No. I have to prepare the meals and take care of wounds and clean up the caves every day.”

Celery tuned out her complaining. “Let’s go eat some food, Enigma.” 

Enigma breathed a sigh of relief and followed his guardian to the fire pit. The smell of meat and fresh berries made his mouth water. He sat on a log next to Celery along with other Saiyans sitting nearby. They listened as the chief came out of his cave to make announcements and tell stories. Enigma listened for a while, but soon found himself losing focus.

Across from Enigma, were two chubby older Saiyan boys who were busy picking their noses and wrapping their tails together in a wrestling game. They were around eight years old. One of the pointed at Enigma who had his head down and his eyes closed. “Hey Veggie, look at that sleeping kid,” he snickered. “Tatoan, isn’t that that same kid who got beaten by that man and abandoned back at that other village?”

“Maybe because he was so weak and puny,” Veggie added. “Correction, he already is.”

Celery nudged him with taps on his back and he opened his eyes. He stared at the two boys, who then broke into fits of laughter. Even in his tired state, he could hear their mocking voices pounding in his brain. Celery stood up and marched toward the two boys. “Apologize to my boy, right now.”

“He isn’t ‘your boy’,” Veggie mentioned.

“Do I look like I care?” Celery spat back. “Say you’re sorry, or I’ll force both of you to leave.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked Aspara the chief from further back. Impatience flared in his dark eyes and body language. He also wore brown clothing, except he adorned a bone necklace to indicate his status.

“These two boys are bullying my son,” Celery stated. “In addition, they are interrupting the ceremony.”

“I see,” Aspara said. He turned to the boys and took a deep breath. “As warriors, we respect one another and acknowledge that each of us learns at different rates. The important part is staying together and doing what we can to survive. We need all the support from each other that we can get during this war. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” both of them said at once. “Sorry,” the bullies said to Enigma without any enthusiasm.

Enigma didn’t say a word. He forced himself to stop glaring at the bullies. The boys were quiet the rest of the ceremony.

The chief then told a story that stuck with Enigma for many years afterward. It was the tale of Yamoshi, the Super Saiyan God.

“Many years ago, back on our home planet, Planet Salada” the chief began, “there lived a man by the name of Yamoshi. Unlike many Saiyans, he had a righteous heart and a sense of morality. He and his five comrades started a rebellion against a ruthless leader and his men. Yamoshi’s five comrades transferred their powers to him in a last attempt to defeat the enemy and save the land. When Yamoshi got cornered by the evil Saiyans, he transformed into Super Saiyan for the first time. This form gave him extra speed, strength, and agility. However, the form did not last long and it took a toll on his energy. He and his comrades were defeated by the evil Saiyans. However, legend says that the Saiyan’s spirit continues to search for six righteous Saiyans to become the next Super Saiyan God.”

Enigma listened with amazement and wonder. Though he had the capacity to fight, he only wanted to defeat people who were mean to him. In the past, he was hesitant to fight Celery out of fear of hurting him too much. Celery quickly bested him several times to remind him not to focus too heavily on his doubts. 

After the ceremony, Celery walked the young warrior back to his home. “I’ll see you tomorrow and I’ll practice some more with you.”

“I wish I could beat that mean old grump,” Enigma muttered.

“Kantalo may be a grump, but he’s still my companion,” Celery mentioned.

“He gave me a black eye for unintentionally lighting his food on fire.”

“Well, sorry to hear about that,” said Celery, looking at Enigma’s now healed left eye.

The two guys shared a side hug and Celery left for his cave. Sprout was sleeping in a separate area in the cave.

Inside his new cave home, on a blanket, Enigma slept soundlessly, thinking of better days ahead.

Age 730: survival of the fittest

The sun rose over the horizon and the sky turned magenta to start the day. Enigma, now ten years old, picked himself up from a recently woven blanket on the floor. There was another blanket made from animal pelts that kept him warm during the winter and a sack of feathers served as a pillow. The warrior yawned and washed himself in the back of the stone cave, using a bucket of cold water from a river. He took great care in saving some for Sprouts, Celery, and other Saiyans in need of a drink. The drought had been particularly bad at this time of the year, ten years since the war between the Saiyans and Tuffles began. Sprouts and the other Saiyan women were lucky enough to gather some water in wooden buckets from the Tuffle’s manmade river before they could get caught.

Enigma changed into his usual clothes and made his way outside. He closed his eyes and silently prayed to Yamoshi. “Oh Great Yamoshi, please let my people win this war against the Tuffles. Keep my clan safe from rival clans. Give me the strength to face my enemies and help me feel like I truly belong with the other Saiyans.” He took a deep breath, ready to face whatever the day brought him.

What the day brought him was several harsh beatings from Kantalo. No matter how many times he fought the man, Kantalo always found a way to catch him off guard. Enigma kicked him hard in the shin, only for Kantalo to seethe through the pain and proceed to grab Enigma’s leg, hard. With a push of his fingers against Enigma’s foot, Kantalo send the young boy to the ground.

“Even after all these years and you still have a lot to learn,” he chided.

“Maybe I would learn stuff if you actually bothered to teach me how to get better!” he shot back.

“You’re not my son. You’re just some kid who got abandoned inside a cave. If I hadn’t found you…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I would have died, I get it,” Enigma said. “And you’re not part of my family. You just had to take care of me because you were ordered to.”

“Like I had a choice,” Kantalo muttered.

Enigma threw a punch at his face and was satisfied when his fist made contact. Kantalo slapped his face hard and it stung.

“Why is this normal anyway?” Enigma asked.

“What’s normal, boy?” Kantalo asked.

“Fighting all the time.”

“We’re Saiyans, it’s what we do.”

“Couldn’t we do other things? Like art, or music, or, I don’t know, go on adventures together?”

“Enigma, you know how dangerous it is in the outside world,” Kantalo said. “Enemy tribes could be lurking around every corner, not to mention that the drought can be deadly, even for the strongest Saiyans. And don’t get me started on those accursed Tuffles. According to our spies, they just keep popping up like rabbits, always bragging about their newest toys and how superior they are.”

“If it’s true that our numbers are so low, then why haven’t you taught me how to fight better?”

“You have a low power level,” Kantalo claimed, thrusting his brown boot forward. Enigma dodged the blow.  “I bet that’s not all. I bet you just want to show off your superiority.”

“So what?” he yelled. His breath smelled of senzu juice let out in the sun.

“So I want to know the truth,” said Enigma. “Something must have happened to you to make you behave like this. What was it?”

“Like I would tell you anything,” Kantalo replied.

Enigma yelled and charged up a ki blast from his hand. “What was it?!”

Kantalo stared at him in shock. “How are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” asked Enigma. He took a deep breath and looked down at his hands, but the blast vanished in a cloud of smoke. “What was that?”

“Energy,” Kantalo said. “You must have observed me doing it once.”

“Yes I did,” he admitted. “Since you were too lazy and selfish to teach me, I decided to observe you doing it in hiding. I’ll say, it’s hard to get the right emotions and hand positions right.”

“I’ll bet,”Kantalo said with a snort.

“Stop underestimating me!” he yelled and charged forward. 

Kantalo stepped on Enigma’s foot and he yelled in pain. He jabbed Kantalo with his elbow multiple times, slowly pushing him back. Enigma blocked an incoming punch aimed at his nose. For several seconds, there was nothing except both fists moving rapidly at the same time.

Celery looked at the fighting Saiyans and gently put down the bag of fish he was carrying on his back. “All right, you two, that’s enough.”

Both Saiyans ignored him.

“The ceremony will start in an hour and we must get ready!”

He was still ignored.

“I said enough!” he yelled. 

Celery fired a blue blast at the two men. Out of the corner of his eye, Enigma saw the blast coming at him in slow motion. Firing up extra yellow ki he didn’t know he had, he pushed the blue blast back away from him. The blast moved back to Celery and he didn’t have time to react. The blast hit him in the stomach and he fell backwards. Kantalo was pushed back and he covered his eyes.

“Celery!” Enigma cried. Ignoring Kantalo, he ran over to Celery. There was a smoking hole in his brown clothes. 

“No, no, what have I done?” Enigma asked, shaking his head.

The response was a cough from the man on the ground. “I’m okay, Enigma-san.” He pushed himself up and groaned. Sprouts soon arrived at the scene. “What did you do?” she glared at Enigma. “It was an accident, I swear!” he said, holding back tears.

Sprout lifted up Celery who starting yelling in pain. “Let’s get you to the healing cave,” she said. She was strong enough to carry him and they headed off to the left toward a circle of caves.

Kantalo was taking shaking breaths, looking downcast. Enigma started to say something, but Kantalo held up a hand. “You want me to tell you what happened?” he asked with a glare. “Fine. But don’t expect me to go easy on you afterwards.”

Kantalo continued. “Back when you were just a baby, I was a regular warrior just like my friends. But I had a son of my own, Ryce. He was about eight years old or so, very arrogant and cocky. My father pressured me to raise him to be a tough warrior. Taking his advice, I made Ryce practice more, to fight and hunt without mercy. He would be able to take down anyone, except the chief and elders of course. He was taught how to greet them, respect them, and obey every order they gave out. The enemy tribe descended upon our land and the chief ordered him and his comrades into battle.”

“What happened to your father?” asked Enigma.

“He died of a heart attack,” Kantalo replied. “Some say it was the sudden stress of the war. In his words, he said he ‘couldn’t handle the stress of raising a weak, indecisive son.’ That was me.”

Kantalo sighed gravely. “Ryce got so angry in the fight that he was able to fire up a bright ki blast of his own. I was proud of him in that moment. Then, the ki blast became erratic. He didn’t know how to control it. He accidently blasted himself in the face with it. With him on the ground, the enemy chief saw his chance, raised his club and…”

Enigma thought he heard quiet sobbing from the older man.

“Anyway, I taught you about the world the same way my father taught me. With your weak, un-Saiyan personality, I figured that you didn’t have enough willpower to properly control your powers.”

“Yet I still learned them anyway,” Enigma replied.

“Yes.”

“And I proved you wrong?”

“Also correct.”

“Look, I’m sorry that all of that happened to you. I really am. But it’s still not a good excuse to treat me so horribly!”

“Old habits die hard,” Kantalo replied.

“Then try to find a way to defeat those habits. Then once you do, go teach the other Saiyans!”

“The chief would banish us the instant he found out that our customs were being changed. Change a man’s thoughts, you change his attitude. Change a man’s attitude, you can change the thoughts of others. Soon, you can change an entire culture, especially a small one like this.”

Sprout came stomping back. “I hear you jabbering about ‘men this’ and ‘men that.’ Enough of that already!”

As Sprout got into her rant, Kantalo turned to Enigma. “Go help out the others before the ceremony.”

Enigma didn’t need to be told twice and quickly ran off.

Enigma wiped tears from his eyes after the encounter.  He heard the sound of laughing not too far away and decided to investigate.

A gang of twelve year old boys were busy wrestling each other in the dirt. A smaller boy briefly held his large friend against the ground, but was quickly pushed off by the larger fellow. Although both of the boys were yelling and pulling each other’s tails, they were laughing with enjoyment. The larger one looked at Enigma and called, “Hey come join us!”

The shy boy pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Yeah of course,” grunted the smaller boy, trying to lift the larger kid off of him. Both of them were wearing torn brown clothing like the other Saiyans wore. To make himself stand out, Enigma had painted his clothing black with black berry juice several days ago.

“What’s your name?” Enigma asked.

“Lettus” said the smaller boy, still trying to get up. “What’s yours?”

“I didn’t get a name, so I call myself Enigma.”

“Not very Saiyan but still cool,” Lettus replied.

Enigma sighed. It was better than being met with disdain by Veggie and other adults who disapproved of his name.

The larger kid moved off of Lettus and walked to Enigma. “I’m Beet.”

Lettus glared at his brother. “You’re the one who kicked my butt and you say you’re beat?!”

“That’s my name, you fool,” Beet replied. Lettus just shrugged with a playful grin on his face.

“Speaking of beating,” Beet said. “I’d like to see how long it takes for me to beat you in a friendly battle. I bet it won’t take long.”

“In your dreams,” Enigma replied with a grin. He was anxious to fight someone other than Kantalo, who always went hard on him and Celery who often went too easy on him. At this moment, he was thankful that he had a long practice with Kantalo the other day, considering he was gradually becoming more accustomed to his style.

Beet charged at Enigma in the blink of an eye and thrust his fist into Enigma’s chest. Barely flinching, Enigma used his left hand to move Beet’s arm out of the way. Seeing an opening, Enigma head-butted Beet in the stomach, causing him to move backward with an “Oof!” Beet charged again, but this time, Enigma dodged both of his punches that were coming at him fast. One of Beet’s fists hit Enigma’s right ear, but that didn’t faze him. They both punched each other’s cheeks at the same time. After turning around, both of them caught their breaths for a moment.

“Hey, you’re pretty good,” Beet mentioned.

“Thanks,” Enigma replied.

“Have your parents taught you how to fly yet?” asked Beet.

“Or shoot ki blasts from your hands?” added Lettus.

Enigma sadly shook his head. “They aren’t really my parents. Kantalo thinks I’m a weakling, and Sprout always seems too busy to teach me anything. She just scolds me every time I ask her too many questions.”

“That’s kind of harsh,” Lettus said. “My father and mother are the same way, except I do have my brother here to keep me company.”

Beet grinned. “He means keeping him in his place every day, the loser’s spot and the moron’s room.”

Lettus responded with a hard playful punch to his brother’s shoulder. “You’re so fat, other Saiyans mistake you for a boar.”

The three boys laughed and threw handfuls of dirt at each other.

“Hey I have an idea,” said Beet, when they finished. “Let’s go hunting together.”

“I’m in,” said Lettus, punching his right hand with his left fist.

Both of them looked at Enigma.

“Sure…I guess,” he replied with hesitation.

“I’ll be fun, plus some great practice,” said Lettus.

“Is there any problem?” asked Beet, eyebrows raised slightly.

Enigma thought back to several days ago when Kantalo had dragged him out of the cave and took him far out into the badlands in the hot sun. Once they reached the forest with thin trees and green-yellow grass, Kantalo pulled out a series of nets and traps to show him.

“Some of us don’t know how to fly or shoot ki blasts accurately from our hands, not that I would expect anything like that from you,” Kantalo had said. 

Enigma crossed his arms and muttered, “Can we go back now?”

“No,” said Kantalo. “Not until I show you how to hunt. It's an essential skill to survive in these harsh lands.”

Inside the forest, Kantalo showed him how to put together traditional round sharp traps that were hidden deep within the grass and dirt. “Remember where you set each one, and watch where you step,” Kantalo instructed.

Then Enigma reluctantly listened to Kantalo discuss other types of hunts. “You are old enough to go on group hunts, now,” he explained. “We Saiyans hunt in groups to take down larger animals such as bears, wolves, and mountain lions. More often than not, we have to fight them physically, so it’s important to remember to watch out for the sharp teeth and claws of the animals. Also, watch where you move your tail. You don’t want it to be sliced off.” 

“What happens if it does fall off?” Enigma asked.

“You’ll be powerless forever.”

Enigma shuddered. “Now I really want to go home. It’s so hot out here.”

“Quit your whining and pay attention,” Kantalo reprimanded. “To become a man, you have to learn essential skills in order to survive out here.”

“When can we move to the fertile lands?” asked Enigma.

Kantalo sighed. “Once our fight with them is finally over.”

Enigma knew what “them” Kantalo had meant: the technological Tuffles. Still to this day, Enigma did not understand why he and his people were forced to live under harsh conditions while the Tuffles lavished in air-conditioned luxury in the city.

After the lecture had ended, Kantalo took a large piece of meat from a sack he had carried over his shoulder. “Watch me,” he said. Enigma watched as Kantalo tied a thin, almost invisible wire from the meat to a nearby tree. He fastened a loose strand of rope to a tree that had metal bells attached to it. Enigma and Kantalo crouched low behind a large bush. “Now we wait,” Kantalo whispered.

After twenty minutes of waiting, Enigma started to yawn. “I’m so bored!”

“Keep your voice down,” Kantalo seethed. ‘You don’t want to ruin this mission.”

“Mission?” Enigma asked.

“The chief wants all Saiyan kids to be proficient at hunting in case the Tuffles drive us back from the city again.”

“Why can’t we hunt them instead?” Enigma asked.

“They outnumber us greatly,” Kantalo answered. “Besides, we may be Saiyans but we aren’t cannibals…at least decent ones aren’t.”

Enigma darted his eyes around the forest. “You don’t think any cannibals live here…do you?”

“They very well might,” Kantalo said, without emotion. “A Saiyan must be prepared for anything. Oh look.”

Kantalo pointed to the clearing in front of them. A gray wolf with matted fur was walking soundlessly toward the large piece of meat. Enigma lifted his head up, but Kantalo yanked him down. The wolf bent down and ate the meat in several bites. Moments later, Enigma heard a clang and a yowl of pain. 

“That’s it,” said Kantalo. “Follow me!” 

Kantalo raised out of the bushes and held his brown club at the ready. The wolf had triggered the trip wire and his paw was now caught in the sharp metal trap. The wolf snarled loudly at Kantalo and swiped his paw at him. Kantalo dodged and landed a sharp blow to the wolf’s side with his club. The wolf stepped on the Saiyan’s brown tail and Kantalo winced in pain. The wolf opened his jaws wide but Kantalo knocked the sharp teeth out of the animal’s mouth with a mighty punch. The wolf struggled some more and spit out blood. Enigma made a sick face. Kantalo landed punch after punch to the poor beast and soon the wolf gave up fighting back. His right front paw was now dark red with blood.

“Can we end this now?” Enigma asked.

“Not just yet. We have to make this last a little longer. It’s all part of the fun!”

“You…you call this fun?” Enigma asked in shock and disgust.

 “Besides, you haven’t attacked it yet. Come on over here and finish it off.”

Enigma knew that several hard punches could end the wolf’s life in an instant. In a few moments, they would carry the beast back home and have a wonderful fresh meal. Even Sprouts would be impressed with Enigma’s deed. He would be that much closer to manhood.

But as the boy looked into the wolf’s sad yellow eyes, he felt a lead of guilt that he had not felt in a long time. Tears crept to the edges of Enigma’s eyes. He shook his head violently and said, “No.”

“What did you say?” asked Kantalo, anger brimming in his eyes.

“No, I’m not doing it. The creature is hurt enough as it is, so stop it.”

“You think you can get away with disobeying me?” he asked. “I don’t think so. You are going to finish this job like a real Saiyan. Can you even call yourself a Saiyan?”

Emotion flooded Enigma’s mind. His hands started to shake and his head grew hot with anger. He was tired of being looked down upon by this man who wasn’t even his real father. In fact, if he was pretending to be a father figure to him, then he was doing a poor job at it. 

“Yes. I. Can!” Enigma stated. He ran over and raised his fist not at Kantalo, but at the metal trap around the wolf’s paw. “Stop!” shouted Kantalo, but his order fell on deaf ears. Enigma brought down his fist into the trap. It broke apart in an instant. The wolf lifted up his paw in surprise, then quickly limped off into the shadows. Aside from a couple of new cuts on his hand, Enigma was alright. He turned to look into the burning eyes of the older Saiyan. “You will kill an animal and do two hundred pushups, or we will stay here all night.”

Fear crept into Enigma’s gut, but he held onto the still warm rage that flooded through him. In one quick motion, he ran off. “You bastard, boy, get back here now!” Kantalo called. Enigma ignored him and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. He jumped over logs and pushed tree branches out of his way. To his right, a ball of white light came crashing to the ground with a boom. Another ball of light hit the ground to his left, much closer this time. 

‘Monkeyfeathers!’ Enigma cursed to himself. ‘He’s throwing blasts at me! I bet he could do that all along and he never bothered to teach me!’ He burst out of the forest opening and sprinted down across the desert, Kantalo not far behind. Kantalo stretched out his arm and hand, almost reaching Enigma’s back. ‘This is the end,’ he thought. 

Then a deeper thought spread to his head and was followed by him taking a deep breath. ‘No, this is not the end.’ Enigma let out a loud scream and used up the last of his energy to propel himself forward. He did not look back and kept running. The Saiyan village got closer and closer. ‘How is it getting so close so fast?’ he asked himself. Enigma looked down and saw that his feet were nearly off the ground. There were sparks of energy by his feet and he almost felt like he was flying. He looked back and he saw Kantalo in shock, far behind. “Yeah!” he cheered. “So this is one of the powers of a Saiyan!” The village got closer and Enigma found it hard to slow himself down.

“I…I can’t stop!” he cried, his excitement quickly turning to terror.

“Oh look, it’s that loser wimp!” called Veggie, who was sitting with his friend, Taton. “Running away from his so called ‘Dad.’ What a coward!” He and Taton laughed and taunted him…until they saw their victim running at them at high speed. “Veggie look out!” cried Taton in shock. Enigma pushed Veggie out of the way, sending him crashing into a nearby wall. Enigma kept running and dodging other Saiyans doing their everyday activities, mostly fighting and eating. “What the…” asked the chief in mid-sentence as he saw the boy zip past him.

“Sorry sir,” called Kantalo, following close behind.

Enigma looked ahead at a large rock formation and tried to turn around, but it was too late. He rammed into the rock, shattering the structure instantly. He fell to the ground and clutched his head. The dust cleared and Kantalo and other Saiyans looked at him in curiosity. “Wow! That was incredible!” Sprout said, proud for the first time. “I didn’t know you had it in you kid.” 

Then she glared at him. “Did you steal my stash of senzu juice?” 

Enigma would never drink even if his life depended on it. He could hear Veggie and Taton laughing at him as Kantalo carried him back to the cave. Enigma’s cheeks grew red with embarrassment and his breathing was rapid from exhaustion.

“Hey buddy? You listening?”

Enigma shook his head and looked at Beet, who had snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Oh sorry. Just remembering something that happened a while ago.”

“Well stop daydreaming and let’s go!” said Lettus.

Enigma followed his new friends into the desert.

“Where are we going anyway?” Enigma asked as they walked across the dry ground. A hot wind blew dust in their faces and they had to close their eyes for several moments.

“You’ll see,” Beet replied. “Oh by the way, I brought a friend with us. She lives just up ahead.” They walked some more then stopped at a small wooden hut just outside the caves in the village.  Beet went up and knocked on the door, which was made out of tree bark. “She is the fiercest hunter in our tribe,” Beet explained. “She also grows herbs to help heal wounds. Some suspect that she also grows poison to use against her enemies, so, best to stay on her good side.”

Enigma silently gulped. “So is she a witch doctor or something?”

Lettus laughed. “No. She’s a warrior just like us.”

The sound of a door creaking open interrupted their conversation. A tall woman with large muscles stepped out. She wore brown furry boots and carried two knives in her belt. Her black eyes looked down at the shorter male Saiyans. Long, jagged scars decorated her face and arms.

“What can I help you runts with?”

Enigma seemed anxious to leave for obvious reasons. Lettus stood silently, not getting involved. Beet, however, gave her a grin. “JalaPeppa, it’s great to see you too.”

“I told you to call me General Pinach,” she growled. “Is that hard to understand?” Lettus and Enigma stepped back from the glaring warrior. “How did she get so tall?” Enigma whispered.

“How should I know?” he whispered back. “Genetics? Being active? Eating snakes for dinner?”

“She eats what?” asked Enigma in horror.

“Josh, I’m just kidding,” Lettus laughed. “It would explain how sexy and strong she is.”

“I heard that, you pinhead!” Pinach yelled. 

Despite her well-shaped body and her honorary scars, Enigma didn’t find anything attractive about this teenage woman.

Pinach spat to the side. She checked her sack to make sure she had all the supplies she needed. Inside there were more knives, a woven basket filled with berries and vegetables, and a wooden container filled with water. “So, what is it you want?” she asked.

Beet smiled. “We’re going on a hunting trip together for fun. And we could use such a skilled, beautiful huntress such as yourself.”

“Enough with the flatter, Beet” she deadpanned, holding out her palm. “I would be glad to come along, but shouldn’t you guys be back at the village to help gather new wood for the fire?”

“Well, Lettus and I were doing that earlier,” Beet said, while Lettus rolled his eyes at his lie. “But then we ran into our friend, Enigma who wanted to go hunting with us.” Lettus pushed him forward.

“Enigma? Is that his name?” Pinach asked. She observed his painted clothing. “Sounds kind of strange.” Then she grinned playfully. “Back when Beet and I were younger friends, I used to call him Obvious since he was so blunt all the time. I’m guessing you are the opposite of him then?”

Enigma grabbed his black hair with his fingers. “Can we not keep going into this already?” he asked, clearly annoyed.

“It is the name he likes,” Lettus added. “Show some respect, why don’t you?”

“Sure whatever,” Pinach replied, waving her hand, while Beet stifled a giggle. “She made that up, by the way,” he said under his breath.

“Let’s just get going, before you guys get caught,” Pinach sighed.

Enigma looked back toward the village in the distance. He saw a figure that looked similar to Kantalo appear to look in his direction. No doubt he was planning on giving Enigma another punishment and a grueling workout. There was no way Enigma could feel sorry for him if he didn’t own up to his cruelty. Enigma quickly nodded and said “Yes, let’s get going.”

Together, the young Saiyans ran off across the desert. After several miles, they reached a wall of gray mountains, which were not very high. They were more like rocky hills.

“I heard that just beyond these hills lies another forest with fertile land. It has tons of animals to hunt and eat. I’m surprised that no one else from our tribe has gone past them.”

“You’re right,” said Beet. “It’s not that hard of a climb. Look.”

He grabbed hold of a crack in the wall and hoisted himself up. He reached for another crack in the wall, but lost his balance and fell to the ground.

“Dragon boogers!” he cursed.

“Follow my lead, clumsy nut,” Pinach said. She walked along to the side of the mountain and examined the rock.

“What are you doing?” Lettus asked.

“Finding ourselves an easier path to get up,” she replied.

“Couldn’t we just destroy the rock instead?” Enigma asked.

“And have falling rocks crush us and alert unwanted attention? I don’t think so.”

“But we’re Saiyans,” Enigma protested. “We can do stuff like…”

“Shut your mouth and follow me,” said Pinach. Pinach grabbed hold of a hanging root ledged into the cliff and lifted herself up.

Enigma seethed in anger and tensed up his shoulders. His hands grew hot as he clenched his fists. His hands lit up and a small ball of yellow ki appeared in his right hand. Enigma looked at it in shock. ‘How did I do that?’

He looked up at Pinach, who was already halfway up and smirked. How satisfying it would be to shoot her in the back and send her and her terrible attitude crashing down to the ground. He craned his neck up and raised his right hand. “How do you shoot this thing?” he asked himself, quietly. Before he could figure it out, he found his arm being forcefully shoved down by a large hand. The blast hit the ground like a firecracker and disappeared. Enigma turned to see Beet, who was shaking his head in disapproval.

“Try and attack my friend again. I dare you to find out what happens.”

Knowing that messing with Beet was a bad move, Enigma mumbled an apology and began climbing. Several times, Enigma almost lost his grip, but he kept pushing himself further and further up. Finally, the group of Saiyans reached the top.

Enigma dusted himself off and rubbed his hands. “Yes, we did it!” said Lettus. “Wow,” said Pinach. “Check out the view.”

The view was, indeed, spectacular. The sun was beginning to set, turning the lower part of the sky a golden hue. A cool breeze blew through their clothes and hair for the first time since yesterday. The area was lifeless except for a flock of blue and black birds flying in a V shape across the magenta sky. Enigma looked up and saw a white rocky orb in the sky.

“The moon is close to being full,” Beet mentioned. “If what the chief and King Vegeta say is true, then we might be able to achieve a victory over the Tuffles.”

“And finally live better lives,” said Pinach. “Send those spoiled midget brats to the ground where they belong.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Enigma.

“You don’t know?” asked Lettus.

“Know what?”

“The full moon, of course,” explained Lettus. “It happens once every hundred years or so. The Saiyans have been tracking its course throughout the years and never before has the moon been so close to getting full.”

Enigma still looked confused.

“You idiot,” said Beet, knocking him in the stomach with his elbow. “He still doesn’t get it.”

“I wasn’t done explaining, you fat pig,” Lettus retorted.

“What these two mean to say,” Pinach interrupted, “is when Saiyans look at a full moon, it triggers an intense transformation that increases their power tenfold. Saiyans turn into Great Apes, their primal forms. However, they have no control over their actions, so they mostly destroy anything, and anyone, in their path.”

“You mean to say…that if I look at the moon, I turn into an uncontrollable monster?” Enigma asked fearfully.

“That’s right!” Pinach said cheerfully as if it were the same as winning a race. “But don’t worry. The transformation ends at dawn. You hardly remember what you did during the night.”

“I can see why Kantolo didn’t tell me this either,” said Enigma. “He’d say ‘oh you stupid boy, you’d never achieve a form like that. Even if you did, you’d kill us all and be stuck in that form forever.’”

“Man, your caretaker has some issues, even for a Saiyan,” mentioned Beet. “Everyone knows that all Saiyans can turn into Great Apes as long as their tails are intact.”

“Yes,” said Lettus. “You just have to make sure that your tail doesn’t get cut off, in Great Ape form or not.”

“Yeah,” said Enigma in concern. “Then I’d be powerless forever!”

Pinach laughed. “That’s the stupidest claim I’d ever heard!”

Lettus gave her a glare and cleared his throat. Getting the message, Pinach corrected herself. “I mean, that is not true at all. You may be weaker, but you’ll still have your power. That won’t happen, I promise.”

She turned back to Lettus. “Happy now?”

“Guys,” called Beet. “Shouldn’t we head to the forest to hunt before it gets dark?”

“Yes, let’s” said Lettus.

The four Saiyans made their way across the ledge of rock, careful to avoid cracks in the rock. Enigma could then see why they had to climb the mountain to get to the forest. Down below, there was a steep canyon that led down to what was once a river and was now a dry hard bed of dirt. Enigma thought he saw an animal skull down below, half covered in the dirt. The ledge narrowed and trailed across the cliff until it descended down to the ground on the other side.

“Not a very safe bridge,” mentioned Beet. “If you even call it a bridge.”

The clearing became more visible as they made their way higher and higher up to the rocky ledge. “All right,” said Beet. “I know present to you, the glorious, ripe-for-the picking…forest” he faltered.

Beet stood still as a statue and very quiet.

“What is it?” asked Enigma. He was the last one to climb up the ledge. When he stood up and looked forward, he saw what made Beet freeze.

Instead of a lush green forest, there were rows of tree trunks that were lined up in rows where the trees used to be. Logs of wood were being chopped up then ground to pieces in metallic machines. Further ahead, was the distant sound of white machines drilling into the ground for oil and resources. The remains of thatched huts, and its previous occupants, littered the ground, not far from the edge of the canyon.

“One of the enemy tribes were there, I’ll bet,” Pinach muttered. “Sucks to be them.”

“Sucks to be us,” Beet spoke up. “Look what they did to the forest that was there! If this war keeps going on, they may decide to push us farther back to our doom.”

“Blasted Tuffles!” yelled Lettus.

“Keep your voice down!” seethed Beet. Beet pointed straight ahead at Tuffle soldiers with guns who were guarding a nearby field of vegetables and a bush of berries. The sky was now turning indigo.

“Down,” said Enigma.

“What? Sure, we plan on bringing them down,” mentioned Pinach.

“No, get down!”

A pair of white lights moved across the sky in their direction. Without hesitation, the Saiyans jumped down behind the ledge and positioned themselves against the rock face. Without a sound, the circular drone passed over their heads, the red laser just missing them.

None of them spoke again until the drone was out of sight.

“That was close,” Beet said.

“So much for walking all the way over here for a hunt,” Pinach grumbled in frustration. “I thought for sure that forest would still be there.”

“Those Tuffles eat up the land and use up resources very quickly,” said Enigma.

“And we plan on doing that as well, if only they would stay out of our way…permanently,” said Pinach darkly.

Enigma leaned away from her as did Lettus.

“I love it when she gets scary like that,” crooned Beet. A hard slap on the face by Pinach silenced him.

“Hey, you all up there!”

The Saiyans turned around, prepared to fight. They breathed in relief when they could still see the swishing of tails from the people down below. Dread filled Enigma’s gut as Kantalo’s eyes stared into him. “We are in so much trouble.”

“Please explain why you youngsters decided to go off on your own instead of helping out.”

Enigma knew the chief’s stern voice from anywhere. “All of you missed the ceremony and your absence delayed us from discussing the plan for the next week at war.”

“We went off hunting,” Pinach explained. “The boys came to my door and wanted me to come along, so I did.”

“And you all decided to trust her? She has been banned from coming into the village without supervision.”

“So what if my opinions are different from yours? So what if I get excessively competitive at practice fights and drink too much senzu juice? Those don’t sound like good reasons to kick me out!”

“You disrespected me and my closest members,” the chief said. 

“Only because you humiliated my father and mother for not defeating a pair of Tuffles on a mission.”

“Which only proves they were cowards who couldn’t beat easy targets. And so are you.”

Pinach looked ready to spring right down the mountain at the chief below. Thankfully, Beet held her brown tail in place. She forced it out of his grip, but didn’t say a word.

“Also,” said Kantalo, “My boy over there ran off without my permission and disobeyed me. I looked everywhere for him and I was worried sick!”

“Shut up with your pathetic sob stories!” yelled Enigma from above. “And I was never your boy, nor will I ever be!”

“Enough of that!” Kantalo spat. “You three boys are coming back to the village with us. You will face punishment and never be allowed to leave.”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” asked Pinach.

The chief ignored her. “Everyone get down right now or else.”

“Or else what?” asked Beet.

“You will only get one meal every other day.”

Immediately, the panicked Saiyans made their way down the rock wall. “Yes sir,” Beet called.

They Saiyan’s climbed down the wall, but leaned against it when the drone flew back to the left. With the danger past them, they continued their careful decent. Finally, they made it to the ground, landing on their knees, except Enigma who landed with a thud on his stomach. He picked himself up and brushed off his clothes. “Guess I’m not cut out for rock climbing.” He and Beet shared grins, then made their way to the chief, heads bowed in apology. When all was said and done, they made their way back toward their village, adults leading in front, the kids in the middle, and other adults covering the back. Enigma felt trapped once again.

“Well I guess I better get back home,” said Pinach. “Seeing as nobody needs me or anything.”

“But you’re a great healer and a skilled hunter,” said Enigma. “Of course they need you.”

“We don’t need any rebel Saiyans causing too much trouble,” said Aspara. “Something that you four would do well to keep in mind.”

“Yes, sir,” they said through gritted teeth.

“Anyway, I best be going,” Pinach said.

“You’re not going by yourself!” said Beet. “I’ll come with you.”

“I’m a Saiyan. I can handle it. Especially since it’s not so hot out anymore.”

“But it’s dark out here. Who knows what is hiding out there?” mentioned Lettus.

“Are you afraid of the dark, little brother?” taunted Beet.

“The only thing a Saiyan fears is a thing called nothing!”

“Everyone is scared of something,” said Enigma. “The important part is accepting your fear and then conquering it.”

“Well, said, my child.”

Enigma’s soul melted at the familiar voice.

“Celery?” he asked.

“Yes,” he said. His stomach was covered in bandages and he was out of breath, but otherwise, he looked fine. Sprout stayed by his side, saying nothing.

“Why did you come out here?” He ran over and embraced Celery, not caring that people were watching.

“Whoa careful there, Enigma,” he said with a wince. “Sorry,” he replied, stepping back.

“I knew that something was up when you didn’t come back to the ceremony right away. I thought that you were in danger, so I insisted that stubborn Sprouts here that she had to take me with the chief and the search party.”

“He nagged me for hours about it,” she complained.

“But she gave in,” he said with a small smile. “Kantalo was, obviously furious. He wanted you back as soon as possible.”

“Why would he care?” asked Enigma, crossing his arms.

“Hard to believe, but I do care,” Kantalo said, walking over to him. “Yes, I’m an arrogant, selfish, a-hole, I’ll admit that. The story about my son…everything I said was true. When I had some time alone and realized you were gone…I blamed myself for it. If I hadn’t taught you or my son to be so ruthless, then maybe you wouldn’t have run away and he would…still be here.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Enigma. “Well it is in some ways, but your son’s death couldn’t be prevented. Sprouts, I know Kantalo is your best friend. You’ve learned about the world through him and I know that you must be upset too, deep down.”

“Why you little…” she stuttered, but Enigma held up his hand. “Hit me all you want. Say all you want. None of that is going to bring me down. If there is one think I can thank you two for is for pushing me to further improve myself. I may not look like much, but I am a fast learner. Thanks to you, I aim to push myself beyond my limits, to prove both of you wrong. Nothing can stop me.”

Everyone was silent. “That…was…the most inspirational touching speech I have ever heard,” said Sprout. Then she covered her mouth and wiped her eyes. “I mean, that was all right, nothing great.”

Kantalo, however, wasn’t afraid to express his feelings. “You have spoken like a true warrior. It appears that you are the teacher now and I am the student.”

“Well you still have much to learn,” said Enigma.

“Yes, indeed. As do you as well. From now on, I will teach you everything there is to know about war, the world, and carrying yourself. No more secrets. You have great potential in you…” Celery looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you have proven yourself well…Enigma,” corrected Kantalo. He looked at Celery who nodded. “Can Celery teach me some more?” asked Enigma. “No offence to you, but…”

“None taken,” Kantalo interrupted, holding out his palm. “At least I can focus on other things like fighting and celebrating and hunting.”

“Freedom from responsibility is what you wanted in the beginning, right?” asked Enigma. Kantalo didn’t answer.

“Everyone let’s move out!” called Aspara. “It’s already getting dark.” With no further hesitations, the Saiyans were on the move.

The Saiyans were staring ahead, the chief using a ki circle from his hand to light the way.

From the west, the low rumbling sound of thunder could be heard. Droughts were bad enough on their planet, but the rain and wind were sometimes worse. Enigma didn’t know whether it was from a chill in the air, or the long shadows against the dirt from the rock formations against the ground, but something felt off. Enigma could sense it. Apparently the other Saiyans slowly started sensing something as well. Pinach took the opportunity to wonder to the side on a short cut back to her hut.

“Stay with the group this time,” said the chief to her, without turning around.

“But you said earlier…”

“That’s an order.”

Pinach complied and stood with the rest of the Saiyans, looking around.

“I can’t sense much of anything,” said Beet. “The only Tuffles around are those far over there by their gardens.

“There are no wild animals, either,” added Lettus.

“Or incoming storms,” said Celery.

“Let’s keep moving. Stay alert,” said Aspara.

The Saiyans followed their leader onwards. Enigma spotted a pair of small white lights in the sky. They were moving too much to be considered stars. As they walked, he could see the dots slowly move in their direction to the side. ‘The drone!’ he thought. ‘It’s spying on us.’

Sure enough, the drone came with a built in camera with a night vision mode. A robotic voice spoke the coordinates and scanned the area. “Group of Saiyans moving south. May be plotting a plan against our race. Caution is advised.”

Two thin torpedoes appeared from beneath the drone. “Tropedoes locked on targets. Analyzing power levels…”

A series of numbers in shape symbols appeared on the camera screen.

“Enigma, aren’t you coming?” asked Celery. “The drone…it has weapons locked onto us.”

“He’s right," said Beet. "Should we attack?"

“No” said the chief.  “The Tuffles aren’t really the attacking kind. If we leave it alone, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Let’s see how well that plan works,” muttered Kantalo sarcastically, earning him a hard stomp on the foot from Celery.

The circles surrounding the white torpedoes lit up in bright red colors.

“Um, that doesn’t exactly spell ‘friendly’ does it,” remarked Pinach.

“I’ve got this,” muttered Enigma.

He took several deep breaths and imagined his feet being lifted off the ground. He channeled all the anger and frustration that he had felt during the day and let it consume him. His body grew warmer and his heart started pounding. Sparks appeared from his hands, and then, electricity danced around him.

All the other Saiyans stared in awe. “Could…could he be the one?” asked Kantalo between breaths.

“The one who can go super Saiyan,” said the chief.

The warriors waited with bated breath.

“Here it comes,” said Lettus.

Just as quickly as it came, the energy and electricity disappeared, though Enigma still hovered in the air.

“I knew he was always a weak little wimp!” called Veggie, and Tatoan laughed with him.

“You morons don’t belong here,” stated Pinach.

“Neither do girls,” Veggie retorted.

“Say that again,” she said.

“Very well,” said Veggie. “I said that girls…”

A loud punch to his face stopped him mid-sentence. Tatoan joined in the fight, but Pinach outmaneuvered both of them.

“Yeah, you show those jerks, Pinach!” said Beet. Then he added as he watched her fight, “I’m so in love right now.”

“What’s Enigma doing?” asked Sprout.

Through the camera, the androids got a screen shot of his face, Enigma’s black bangs obscuring parts of his face.

“Power level: unknown” read the letters to the side. Without warning, Enigma opened his eyes, which were now glowing a strange green tinge with no pupils or irises visible.

“Power level rapidly increasing” read the data. “High recommendation to attack.”

Enigma charged up a ball of fiery green energy that was a similar color to his eyes. He yelled out an attack and the blast came hurling toward the drone. A snapshot of Enigma was taken and sent before the blast made impact. The force sent the drone off into the distance. It fell downward and exploded right on top of the vegetable garden. The Tuffle guards were lucky to escape the blast.

“Yes!” cheered Beet, Lettus, and Pinach.

The rest of the Saiyans raised their fists in the air in celebration and yelled chants.

“That was amazing!” said Beet as Enigma lowered himself to the ground, eyes returning to their normal black color.

“I didn’t know I had it in me,” he said.

“I did,” replied Celery. "I've always known."

“Me too,” said Beet and Lettus.

Kantalo didn’t say a word, but instead nodded with respect.

“Well done, Enigma-san,” said the chief. “Let’s hurry on back to the village. You’re punishments will be revoked.”

“Yay, we’re not in trouble!” sang Lettus.

“With all day chores and hunting the entire month,” said the chief.

“Boo, we are doomed!” he sighed.

“Uh guys,” said Pinach. “Let’s not celebrate just yet…”

She pointed a shaking finger toward the darkness.

A flurry of lights were moving in their direction. From what Enigma could hear, it was the sounds of marching feet, rolling tanks and the mechanical sounds of androids.

“How many of us are here?” asked the chief.

The Saiyans raised their hands.

“This is not a school,” said the chief.

“We’re here,” the Saiyans all said.

“That’s about a dozen of us,” said the chief. “How many Tuffles?”

“Around thirty,” said Kantalo. “I can’t tell from here.”

“Let’s not get closer. Run!” said Lettus.

“No! We’re Saiyans. We stay and fight them! They’re right there!” shouted Kantalo.

 Nobody listened. He reluctantly followed the group. The blasts of guns rocketed and blasted behind them, gradually getting louder.

Just then, the chief led them off to the right.

“What are you doing?” cried Celery. “The village is straight ahead!”

“We are not going to the village,” the chief said. “We don’t want to put the rest of our clan in danger.”

“But we can fight them off!” argued Kantalo.

“They outnumber us,” reminded Celery.

“Besides, we need the rest of our people to stick with the plan that comes in a week.

“What plan?” asked Enigma.

Beet did an impression of looking at the moon, pounding his chest with his fists and roaring.

“Oh that plan.”

The Tuffles were almost upon them now. “Let’s go!” said Celery.

“I can’t run any faster!” Veggie complained.

“Can you fly?” asked Pinach.

“I don’t know how!”

“Of course you don’t,” she said. “So run and be done, will you?”

Enigma was liking Pinach more and more, despite her crude traits.

“Attention Saiyans!” called a voice from a speaker inside a robot with a machine gun. “Surrender now with your hands in the air, and we won’t hurt you.”

Tatoan raised his hands up with a goofy grin. He got slapped in the back of the head by Beet. “You idiot!” he growled.

“Saiyans never surrender!” yelled Kantalo.

“Kantalo calm, down,” said Celery. “Perhaps they can be reasoned with.”

“If you comply, you will be welcomed into the city again,” said the robot.

“Reasoning? That’s far from possible now,” Pinach scoffed. “Just look at what they did to us!” She turned to them and spat on the ground. “You cut down our forests and stole the rest of our water from us! You sent us into the badlands just because we didn’t meet your “fancy, dancy” expectations. And you expect us to just happily walk off with you into the sunset? Not gonna happen.”

“This is your final warning, Saiyans. Stand down.”

“Not on my watch,” said the chief. Then he spoke in a bellowing voice, “Saiyans, tonight we dine, in Jigoku!”

“Where did that come from?” asked Beet with a laugh.

“He means we will fight or die trying,” Enigma answered.

“Then what are we waiting for?!” asked Kantalo.

The sounds of battle rang through the desert night air. The bullets hit the Saiyans, but they did nothing. Kantalo broke one of the Tuffle’s guns with his meaty hands and threw the Tuffle soldier into the air.

Enigma was effective at dodging the Tuffle’s attacks and spotting sneaky soldiers who came behind him. In quick movements, he knocked down three Tuffles in a row.

The chief burst through the moving robots, dodging the machine gun blasts by doing flips in the air. Pinach struck more Tuffles and swiped them aside with her club.

Veggie was sitting to the side, eating food from Pinach’s sack. “I’m gonna kill you next, punk!” she yelled at the troublemaker. She charged at Veggie with a murderous look in her dark eyes. Something struck her in the back and Veggie barely managed to dodge her club. She kept swinging at him, Veggie dodging close blows until Pinach was hit again. She stood still, flipped him off and fell face first to the ground. “Ha, take that you…” Veggie stopped and stared at the two darts logged in her back. He checked for a pulse but it was faint.

“New weapons!” said Veggie with excitement, picking up the two darts. He tossed them at a nearby Tuffle woman. She pushed a button and a green energy shield formed around her. The darts fell to the ground.

“What? No fair!” complained Veggie, before he was shocked from behind by a white-haired Tuffle man.

“There’s too many of them,” panted Beet.

“Don’t give up!” yelled Kantalo. “This is what we Saiyans were born to do!”

The chief was in a standoff with two Tuffle generals. They were all evenly matched.

Celery got hit in the stomach by a Tuffle and he grimaced. He fell to his knees.

“Celery!” Enigma cried, blasting a Tuffle out of his way. “I’m all right,” he called, even though he clearly wasn’t. “Here, I can help you get out of here!”

“No, leave me. I’ll only slow you down, Enigma-san.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

A nearby explosion flew both men backwards. They landed hard on the ground and Enigma’s ears started ringing.

“Land mine,” said Celery. “The Tuffles set it up.”

“Did it get anyone?” asked Enigma.

“The chief and the two generals,” he said sadly.

“Celery, look out!” cried Enigma. He pushed him to the ground, just before a Tuffle soldier nearby fired his tank. Something sharp hit the back of his leg. He pulled it out and tossed it aside. “Cursed dart,” he muttered. Beet arrived next to Celery. “You’re the stronger fighter. I’ll take him back,” said Beet. “It’s dangerous,” said Enigma. “You can’t fly.”

“I can try,” he replied. He lifted up Celery with much effort.

A stream of electricity headed in Enigma’s direction. He braced himself for the blast. But it never came. Lying down, twitching on the ground was none other than Kantalo.

“No!” he yelled.

“He…he took a blow for you,” said Celery. “That’s a first.”

“Just get out of here!” said Enigma. “And remember the plan…of the month.”

“Got it,” Beet said. He lifted Celery up and ran off. Enigma turned around, just as another dart stuck his chest.

Enigma cursed, pulled it out and tossed it aside.

After defeating more Tuffles, he noticed his head starting to spin. Black spots slowly crept along his vision, but he shook himself awake.

“Tuffles and their stupid medicines and tricks. I’ll be the last person they will ever see.”

Enigma saw a flash of a knife and a brown tail flying through the air. Thankfully it wasn’t his. Veggie screamed in pain. “Ha ha,” said Enigma. “Who’s the loser now?” 

He turned to find that Tatoan had lost his tail to. “Ha, both of you are the losers. Think twice before you bully me! He he he!”

Both of them just stared at him.

“Why…are you looking at me like that?”

The two boys ran off to a hiding place, only for a tank to block their way. A bomb fired in their direction and Enigma covered his eyes at the explosion.

He felt himself falling and he leaned onto a nearby rock for support.

“Enigma!”

He turned to face Beet and Celery. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“We came to rescue you, you don’t look so good.”

“I’m fine, now get out of here.”

“Climb up on my back,” said Beet. “I’ll carry you the rest of the way.”

“I said I’m fine…”

A loud blast pierced the air followed by a scream. Celery fell to the ground, his head rolling to the side. Enigma rushed over to his friend, supporting him up by holding his head. A large smoking hole had replaced large area on his chest. Blood spurted from his mouth and his black eyes rolled back.

“No, no, no, stay with me, man!” Enigma pleaded. Celery took several strained guttural breaths.

“Enigma…” he croaked. “Keep fighting. You must keep going..." His voice started to shake and he wheezed. Enigma heard him whisper his final words. "May your dreams become…reality.”

“Celery? Dad?”

The man became pale and still, his glassy eyes staring at the son he never had.

Enigma bent down and sobbed. Beet had rushed off to fight more incoming Tuffles.

Through his sobs, Enigma heard a series of voices behind him; Tuffles communicating through their scouters, they wore over their eyes.

“That one is dangerous. He seems to be the most powerful one of the group.”

“Far less powerful than their king and chief.”

“But he gains substantial power boasts during extreme emotional situations. He could be of use to us.”

“He is a great threat, though. But now that he’s vulnerable…”

“Ooh, I love new experiments!”

“Just focus and get your last dart ready!”

Enigma turned around and fired a series of blasts that barely missed the Tuffle soldiers. He managed to run to one of the soldiers and pit him in a chokehold. He dropped his weapon and started gasping for breath.

“Go, Enigma, go!” called Lettus. Then he whirled around and started kicking and punching. “Hey there you puny midgets. You hungry for a knuckle sandwich? ‘Cause I have plenty of those to give you…hey, get off of me you bastards…what are you doing? You dare have the courage to face a mighty Sai…argh, not the dragon balls…”

Enigma growled in frustration. Just before he delivered the ending blow, a third dart met its mark at the back of his neck. “F*ck you. F*ck all of you,” he slurred before falling to the ground. He saw Celery’s empty face before his world faded to black.

War: A Saiyan's Natural Element 

Saiyan Enigma’s world slowly came back into focus. He blinked several times and looked ahead. He wasn’t quite sure where he was, except that he was surrounded by metal walls. His arms and legs were strapped to a bunk bed, metallic bands holding his hands and feet into place.  To the right of the bed was a toilet, a ceramic sink, complete with a light pink toothbrush and fruit-flavored toothpaste. He didn’t quite know what it was for, but he made a mental note to paint it black and try to use it to unlock the barred door. A small rectangular window, also with bars between the lower and upper part, was set overhead into the back wall, almost touching the ceiling. A humming sound coming from the bars and brief motion from the doors made the Saiyan realize that the bars were electric.

‘I could fire a blast and break though,’ he thought. ‘If only I got these stupid things off me.’ He concentrated and clenched his fists. The bands would not budge. He tried again, harder this time and was met with painful shocks to his hands and feet. “Blasted Tuffles!” he yelled. Enigma saw a white security camera positioned in the right hand corner of the ceiling. He blew a raspberry at it as he turned his head. He turned his head back around and stared ahead. Through the bars, he could see several Tuffle guards, wearing bulletproof vests, yellow shirts, blue pants, and black belts fit with tools and keys hanging from them. Occasionally, their scouters would light up with a series of beeps and they would answer calls in low tones.

Enigma yelled and screamed and struggled, attempting to annoy the guards. One of the guards pressed a button, revealing a green shield of energy surrounding the bars of the cell. Apparently it was soundproof and a backup plan, should the Saiyan make an effort to break through the electrocuted bars. The blue-haired Tuffle woman gave him an evil grin and turned back around to discuss matters with her fellow colleague.

Enigma almost didn’t notice a circle of small holes in the rough gray ceiling. A speaker. He expected to hear taunting, annoying voices asking him scientific questions. Nothing. He braced himself for loud screeches or other unpleasant sounds. Still nothing.

The noise he finally did hear was far worse than the possibilities above.

It was country music.

Up until this point, the only music Enigma had heard was the enchanting, heart-pumping beats of drums mixed with Saiyan war chants. The sounds had given him courage before every fight, and it sparked hope inside him. In his spare time alone, he would play those songs quietly on the rocks so Kantalo wouldn’t hear him.

Now, however, he couldn’t understand how these sounds qualified as music.

For one thing, it consisted of mixed instruments thrown in a jumble; banjos, cymbals, and the occasional trumpet. If that wasn’t strange enough, then the lyrics certainly were. They sounded monotone, robotic, not like any natural voice would sound. The voice briefly sang in the Tuffle language and Enigma couldn’t grasp it fully. Then, through bits and pieces, he figured out that the song was about peaceful times and the productive lives of Tuffle farmers.

Enigma growled in frustration and pain. “Make it stop, please!”

The song eventually ended and was replaced with an old man’s laughter.

The green energy barrier faded from view and one of the guards typed in a code in the wall. The barred door clicked and slid open. After several guards filed into the cell, an elderly man wearing a white lab coat stepped inside. His assistant followed him; a shorter man with curly blonde hair and glasses. He also had a clipboard with him. Enigma felt his hands and feet being unchained from the bunk bed. He shook his limbs in relief.

‘Good,’ Enigma thought. ‘I won’t have to risk breaking my wrists in an attempt to bust out of those things.’

“Well, then, it looks like my latest guest is finally awake,” said the old man.

“Guest?” Enigma spat. “This is not how you treat guests! I thought you were supposed to be puny and docile.”

“Well we are a docile race,” the man explained, “Until another race wreaks havoc with no concern for others’ wellbeing. My name is Dr. Beri.”

“We only care about ourselves, for obvious reasons,” Enigma growled. “You claim that you welcomed my people in ten years ago, but we both know that’s a lie.”

“The thing is, we did welcome the Saiyans into the city. They were living in an abandoned spacecraft until we came over and introduced ourselves.”

“Were you scared of us?”

“Not really,” answered Dr. Beri. “Merely curious. We Tuffles are always looking to expand our knowledge, and we thought that your race could add to our understanding of how we once behaved generations ago…”

“You dare call us primitive?” Enigma spat. “Saiyans are far beyond any other species in the universe, especially you midgets. You have no right to experiment on us or use us for your own purposes.”

“Ah, but didn’t your people do the same?” Dr. Beri asked, moving his pointer finger mockingly. “From what I’ve learned, you Saiyans were only pretending to be nice to us in order to steal our valuables under our noses. Conquering this land was the only agenda for your kind. We had to act and banish you. You don’t expect us to do nothing, yes?”

“I’d expect nothing less from annoying insects like you,” Enigma answered. 

“True,” said Dr. Beri. “But as you may have noticed, there has not been any sort of confrontation between our cultures for quite some time. It’s not like Saiyans to stay hidden in the shadows for such a long time.”

“It’s only been a couple of weeks,” said Enigma.

“Long time for a battle-loving Saiyan to do nothing out in the desert.”

“You don’t know what we are capable of,” Enigma said darkly.

“Is that so?” Dr. Beri asked. “Do tell us more.”

Enigma paused. “We’ve been hunting and gathering for food, as well as practicing fighting, of course.”

“I’ve noticed that, through our cameras several months ago,” Dr. Beri said.

“Why did you all bring me here anyway?”

“I’ll tell you,” said Dr. Beri. “We noticed that you have exceptional power within you. You may not be the strongest Saiyan off the bat as of yet, but when you do focus your energy, it’s quite powerful in comparison.”

“So, you’re saying you want me to join you? Or extract my power? Not gonna happen.”

“Calm down, and let me finish,” Dr. Beri said, holding up his hands. “We also brought you here because you seem to…shall I say…stand out from the other Saiyans. You’re not really a Tuffle, per se, but you have a more…moral quality to your personality. Please tell me what else your people have been up to, besides fighting and scavenging for food.”

Enigma was silent. “Nothing else to know.”

“Are you sure?” Dr. Beri asked. “Like I said, it is quite unlikely for Saiyans to stay calm for so long.”

Enigma stared defiantly into the scientist's purple eyes.

“Sooner or later, I will find out what I need to know,” Dr. Beri mentioned. “Perhaps then, I can let you go. You have parents and friends I assume?”

Enigma bowed his head, memories of Celery’s lifeless face haunting his brain. He didn’t know whether Beet, Pinach, Lettus or any of the others were alive or dead. He would be thankful if they managed to beat several Tuffles and escape. He prayed to Yamoshi in his head.

“Ah I see. You’ve lost your loved ones?”

“Yes thanks to you,” he seethed.

“Don’t thank me,” Dr. Beri said with a smirk. “I’m just a scientist and researcher. It is our proud army that saw you Saiyans out in the distance. It was the perfect opportunity to study you and see how you would react. It wasn’t surprising when you and your people attacked. I was worried that the Saiyans had grown soft.”

“Shut up, you…you…”

“While you’re thinking about insults, keep in mind of what we talked about. I’ll give you some time to think things through and tell us some more information. And don’t try and escape. You’ll only wear yourself out.”

“Where’s Lettus?” Enigma asked with a yell.

Dr. Beri wasn’t fazed. “Oh, that aggressive fun-loving Saiyan friend of yours? It took several blasts to knock him out but once we cut off his tail, he was much easier to manage.”

“You did what?!”

“Don’t worry, though. He served a great purpose. His regenerative qualities found in his blood and stem cells will provide great benefits for my future research.”

Enigma was silent for a moment. “You…experimented on him?”

Dr Beri pushed his glasses into place. “You make it sound so negative.”

“That’s because it is!”

Enigma rushed at the doctor and raised his fists, only for a jolt of powerful electricity from a taser pushed him back. The guard snapped the device shut with a click.

“My, you Saiyans need to calm down,” Dr. Beri remarked.

Dr. Beri’s assistant finished jotting down notes, then followed him out the door. The cell door shut with a clang and clicked.

“Joining them and giving them information? Not a chance,” he scoffed. “I’d rather die than submit to those puny little know it alls.”

“Enigma, is that you?” asked a voice from across his cell.

“Who’s there?” he asked darkly.

“Who do you think, pea brain?”

“Pinach?”

“Yep,” she replied. Pinach was not chained to her bunk bed, like Enigma was, but her feet were chained to a black metallic ball.

“I’ve tried all the blasts I could. No go. Whenever I try to break the chain, I get shocked.”

“Treating us like misbehaved animals,” Enigma spat.

“Enigma, you’re alive!” called Beet from the cell to the left of Pinach’s.

“Thank goodness you two are,” Enigma said. “I was worried that they would kill you guys off.”

“Apparently, I heard from the guards the other day that they plan on ‘playing nice’ if we give them information about the n-i-g-h-t,” said Pinach.

“Which is not going to happen,” Enigma added.

“They’ll kill us otherwise,” Beet said.

“I’m not scared of death, or their threats,” replied Enigma. “What can they do? Try and beat us in a fight?”

The three Saiyans laughed at the notion, then went silent when they realized that the Tuffles had the advantage of technology.

“Well, there is one way to defeat them,” said Pinach. She made a motion of clenching her fists together, both of them in front of her.

“How is whatever you’re doing going to help us out?” asked Beet.

Enigma lowered his voice to a whisper. “She means destroying their tech. Take away their toys, and they’re defenseless.”

“Why are we whispering?” Beet asked in annoyance.

Pinach mentioned to the white camera in the corner of her cell and pointed to the camera in Beet’s cell.

“Oh right.” Beet and Pinach were able to see each other to the side, if they craned their necks enough.

“Hey where’s Celery?” Pinach asked.

Enigma didn’t speak.

Beet bowed his head. “I’m sorry, man. He wasn’t your dad but you were close right?”

Enigma nodded.

Tears fell out of his eyes, but he didn’t care that his friends nor the Tuffles were watching. He wanted to pretend he was safe alone in that cool dark cave, back with his tribe.

“Don’t worry,” said Pinach. “We’ll find a way to get out of here.”

The Saiyans fell silent as the sounds of boots echoed across the hallway. Beet tilted his head to the side, closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue. Understanding his message, Pinach lay weakly on the floor. Enigma merely lay back down and forced himself to be still. The sounds of tapping and clicks were soon heard. The guards matched into the cells, guns ready.

“Are they asleep?” one of them asked. The man’s name was Melon and his brown hair was in a short braid. Like many of the other guards, he wore blue pants, a scouter over his eye and a dark yellow bulletproof vest with a blue gear symbol of the Tuffles.

“Probably,” said another guard, by the name of Pomegrand. He pressed a button to the side of the door and the shield vanished. He banged loudly on the bars with his baton. 

“Wake up, Saiyans! It’s time for your tests.”

Enigma tried not to flinch at the sudden racket of noise. He had a bad feeling that the tests wouldn’t be the same kind that Tuffle students in schools received, as the chief had claimed.

Two guards entered Pinach’s cell and found her lying on the ground. Pomegrand and Fresha handcuffed the Saiyan’s hands together, then removed the chain from her ankle. “I have an idea,” said the woman. “When this one wakes up, give her the choice between being locked up forever, and giving us the information we need.”

“Perhaps a more effective tactic would be to force her to slice off her comrade’s tails as well as their own” suggested Pomegrand. “It is apparently considered a disgrace for a Saiyan to remove another’s tail. They will be powerless in addition to feeling the guilt if they don’t comply.”

“So that’s why we haven’t cut their tails off yet. Great minds think alike,” Fresha agreed with a grin.

Before the guards could blink, Pinach suddenly jabbed Fresha hard with her elbow. A kick to Pomegrand’s leg made him stumble. She wrestled out of their grip and made a run down the dirty, narrow corridor.

“Stop her!” Fresha yelled.

Gun blasts rang through the underground room. A large metal door to the right blocked the Saiyan’s path. The guards came charging at her down the hall. Looking around, she took several steps back against the wall, then charged at the door with a mighty kick. The metal warped into a dent but did not break apart. She turned around and landed heavy punches at the racing guards.

“Pinach!” Beet suddenly called. “Break the code buttons and open the…”

He was silenced by a blow from Melon. “That hurt, you bastard!”

Pinach ignored him. “You’re a Saiyan. You’ll figure it out. Just try not to die, my friend.”

Two of the guards were soon knocked out cold by Pinach’s attacks. A dart lodged into the wall, inches from her face. The sounds of more guards grew louder from the stairwell outside the prison.

Pinach was running out of time.

Pinach kicked several guards backward, the Tuffles crashing into each other like bowling pins.

“Her power level is steadily rising,” Fresha mentioned as she checked her red scouter.

“Perhaps she could be of use to us for our military,” said Melon as the fight continued.

“I don’t think so,” countered Pomegrand. “She is resistant to our threats and subtle messages. Even the opera music I blasted through the speakers didn’t bother her.”

Fresha rolled her eyes. “Out of all the things you could come up with, you chose music as a method of torture?!”

“Hey, it worked on that dark Saiyan guy,” he mentioned. “Tuffles prefer to use alternative methods as opposed to violence.”

“Let’s just get that Saiyan!” she yelled in frustration.

Pinach made it to the top of the stairs before a well-aimed dark struck her in the foot. Her foot instantly went numb. “Oh, great,” she muttered in frustration. She ran up the stairs and burst through the door, only for a squad of Tuffles to block her path to the outside world. With the last of her energy, she barreled through the Tuffles, knocking them to the side. Pinach mercilessly cracked one of the Tuffle’s neck with a snap. A sharp, blinding pain almost sent her to the floor. Her lower back felt like it was burning, but she didn’t dare look.

She dodged several more darts and ran out into the sunlight.

With freedom so close in her grasp, she didn’t have the patience, nor the time to go back and save her peers. ‘After all,’ she thought, ‘Saiyans always look after themselves first.’

The dart made her foot feel like a heavy stone, but still, she kept on running. Her feet burned on the hot desert earth and an intense heat made her feel nauseous. “I hope there’s water around here,” she said, between breaths. She stared into the bright sun with a new vigor. “Those Tuffles are gonna pay very soon,” she said. “They’ll pay for what they did to us all these years, and they’ll regret the night they ever messed with the Saiyan race!”

Pinach traveled for several more miles until she stopped to rest on beside a rock. She thought she saw her home village nearby and ran toward it, only to run into a cluster of round rocks. She laughed when she saw that the Tuffles weren’t following her anymore.

“So much for those fools,” she said. “They all can burn in Tartarus while I emerge victorious.”

Her stomach growled loudly. Pinach realized that she hadn’t eaten since before the hike she had taken with her Saiyan peers. She took one look at her back and almost gagged. Her tail was missing, replaced by a bleeding hole.

“You Tuffles better give me back my tail!” she yelled out to the distance. “Stop stealing from us.”

After a quick rest, she hiked several more miles. Her arms and legs felt like lead and her throat was as dry as sandpaper. Several times, she saw mirages of ponds and cornucopias of food, only to find herself face-first in the dirt.

After what seemed like forever, she finally arrived at her wooden hut, not too far from the village. She burst through the wooden door, grateful for the shade. Then her relief turned to horror when she saw that there was no food and no water left around.

“I can’t go back to the village,” she said. “They won’t let me in.”

The blanket on the wooden floor suddenly looked very comforting. “Who needs them? At least they don’t have this comfy spot,” she said with a silly grin. She promptly lay down and closed her eyes. “By this time at the full moon, the Tuffles will be done for. And I will be known for helping out my race to prepare for it. My friends never would have made it without me, those wimps.”

She sighed deeply, fully enjoying the taste of freedom and thoughts of vengeance before succumbing to an everlasting rest.

Back underground, Beet had been knocked out by Melon and several sedative darts. Pomegrand scratched his head.

Dr. Beri arrived through the blasted opening. His white lab coat almost touched the floor. He scanned the room with disapproval. “What is the meaning of this?”

“One of the Saiyans escaped and a squad are currently searching for her,” Melon replied.

Melon and Dr. Beri arrived at Enigma’s cell.

“Apparently, they were pretending to be vulnerable when we are about to take them to their… assignments, so they could try and escape,” said Melon.

He turned to the still form of Beet and the helpless Enigma. “Nice try Saiyans.”

Enigma forced himself not to move. The plan could still work.

The sharp pain that Enigma suddenly felt, suggested otherwise. Enigma’s vision became cloudy. He only hoped Pinach had gotten away and that he and Beet would survive this ordeal. Enigma looked over and saw that Fresha was the one who had shot the dart at him through the bars.

Fresha grinned. “Beet will be put through a series of tests; IQ, emotional intelligence, physical examinations.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Enigma said.

Fresha continued, “Then when that’s done, he’ll be sent to the nearest work camp. He knows much about war, so I’m sure he’ll be able to help out with weapons, under supervision, of course.”

“You horrible spoiled monsters!” Enigma yelled, shaking his head, trying to wake himself up. “What are you going to do to me? If you’re going to kill me, do it quick.”

“Nonsense,” said Melon. “You’ll be better off finding a way to help us out.”

“I won’t give you any information,” Enigma growled.

“Maybe not to us,” said Dr. Beri, “but to other great members of our society. Perhaps you’ll be more at ease with a fellow opponent.”

“A Saiyan?” he asked.

 "More or less.”

Enigma glared at him and bared his teeth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Dr. Beri replied.

Enigma found himself being unstrapped, relief flooding his limbs, hands and feet. He was carried out of the cell by two guards and up the stairs. He glanced back at the unconscious Beet, sadly. He prayed to Yamoshi in his head, hoping he was listening. Before long, he was taken outside to an area surrounded by barb-wire fences. The sun was painfully bright and he had to squint his eyes.

At last, the group stopped beside a large artificial tree that provided some decent shade from the sun’s heat. Soon enough, the sedative took hold and his vision went black.

Enigma slowly opened his eyes. He found himself sitting against the tree with two guards standing nearby. Enigma could sense the barrel of a gun on his back.

“Get up,” grunted one of the guards, looking down at the Saiyans. As Enigma slowly stood up, he wished he could unlock his power and blast every one of the Tuffles to smithereens.

“You like fighting, yes?”

Enigma nodded. “Who do you think we Saiyans are? Healers?”

His remark earned him a glare from one of the guards. Dr. Beri stepped forward, flanked by two other Tuffles. He was careful to not step too close to the intimidating Saiyan.

“Originally, I was going to have you fight some of the members of the Tuffle army, to help prepare them for any Saiyan attacks that may come.”

‘Oh there will be an attack,’ Enigma thought. ‘And you won’t be prepared for it.’

“However, I recently got a report that a new Saiyan had arrived and volunteered to help them train. He was very compliant.”

“Brainwashed,” Enigma muttered.

“It was most convenient to do so,” Dr. Beri said. “With you, on the other hand, I’d like to see how you react without any internal influence.”

Enigma was silent.

“Before you ask, the Saiyan wasn’t one of your friends. I got the message that she ran off into the distance somewhere.”

“And you didn’t catch her?”

“No.”

Enigma let out a sigh of relief.

Dr. Beri cleared his throat. “Anyway, we did find one of our newest members of our army to be up for some extra training. He’s a Tuffle, through and through, except with…Saiyan-like strength, if you will.”

“If I beat him, will you let me go?” Enigma asked.

“We both know that I can’t do…”

“I’ll kill you and blast apart this base in an instant.”

“Not with our security system and technology,” Dr. Beri remarked.

“You underestimation of me will be your biggest mistake,” Enigma said, darkly.

“So be it,” he said. “But if your opponent wins, then you will tell us what we need to know and surrender. If not, then you will die.”

“Fine. But let me ask you this, why bother keeping me alive?”

“To see how strong you really are,” Dr. Beri replied. “If our assumptions are true, then your friends will journey here to come and find you.”

Enigma scoffed. “The Saiyans are not my friends.”

“Really? Then what will you do when they fly in and land in our trap?”

Enigma looked straight ahead and heard a faint humming in the distance. He saw small round signal devices mostly hidden in trees and within large rocks.

“Those devices can pick up signs of moment from any direction,” said Dr. Beri. “Electricity will shoot out of them and instantly kill any intruder Saiyans. The force mimics lightning strikes that are further amplified to the 20^th power…”

“Alright, shut up already!” bellowed Enigma.

One of the guards snickered. “Not to mention that we have obtained a blood sample from you that will be quite useful. Apparently, you seem to be a powerful warrior."

Enigma glanced ahead and spotted a vial in Dr. Beri’s side pocket of his white lab coat. 

In that moment, Enigma lost all train of thought. He leaped off the ground and rushed toward the scientist. The two guards stood in front and shot bullets from their black guns, only for Enigma to swipe them out of the way. With one powerful upper cut, he ripped apart the side of the lab coat, sending the vial flying into the air. The vial smashed against the ground, a puddle of red spilling out.

“You vile Saiyan ape!” Dr. Beri shouted at Enigma, sweeping aside the remains of his now smoking coat.

“Enough,” said a voice. “I’m ready to fight my opponent.” A short teenage boy walked on the scene, flanked by robotic guards. He was short with black hair and golden eyes. He wore blue pants, a belt, and a yellow jacket. Enigma turned to look.

“What’s your name?” the boy asked.

“Enigma,” he said. “The last name you’ll ever know.”

“I doubt that,” he replied. “Well, whenever you’re ready, let’s begin.”

“Who are you?” Enigma asked.

He observed the short black haired teen, his blue scouter over his golden eyes. The teen grinned, excited about the challenge.

“My name is Enoki Halusa.”

“That’s a rather pathetic name,” Enigma remarked.

“Not as pathetic as the sight in front of me. Do you Saiyans ever wash your hair?”

“Do you ever get enough sleep at night from playing with your techno toys all day?” Enigma retorted.

Enigma fired a blast off into the distance, missing the sensing devices by inches.

“Enough talk, Tuffle boy,” said Enigma. “Show me your so called Saiyan strength.”

Enoki flew toward Enigma and his fist made contact with Enigma’s cheek. Enoki landed a few more punches to Enigma’s chest before the Saiyan held up his arms to block the attacks. Enoki teleported behind him and gave a swift kick to his back. Enigma stumbled with a yelp, but quickly recovered.

Enoki yelled and powered up with his fists clenched. Instead of watching his hair turn golden, Enigma proceeded to shove the Tuffle teen backwards with a hard thrust. Blow darts from the guard’s guns whizzed past his face. In annoyance, Enigma teleported behind the two guards. As the guards turned around, their faces met green fiery blasts from Enigma’s hands. With the charred remains of their faces, the guards dropped dead to the ground. Enigma then proceeded to dodge the blasts of electricity from the robotic guards. The Saiyan yelled and the force sent the guards into the air. Several crashes were heard in the distance.

Out of nowhere, Enoki appeared in front of him and kicked him hard in the nuts. Enigma yelled in pain and was further knocked to the ground. From where he lay, Enigma saw Dr. Beri run inside the building, taking advantage of the distraction Enoki was providing.

“You get back here, you coward!” Enigma yelled, lifting his head. Of course the scientist didn’t answer.

“You do have some good technique, I’ll admit,” said Enigma to Enoki.

‘You haven’t felt this yet,” said Enoki.

He stomped hard on Enigma’s neck and he gasped. Spit and blood flowed from his mouth. The move would have killed a regular human.

Enigma braced himself for the final blow…which never came. There was a scream and a thud. Enigma looked and saw Enoki squirming on the ground, after being hit with a blast.

“Need a hand?” asked the familiar voice of Beet. He was grinning with a head of thick black hair. His brown clothing was torn in several places.

Enigma smiled and lifted himself up. “You escaped.”

Beet shrugged. “Well yeah. I’m a Saiyan. Once we all got out of our cells, fighting the guards was easy. We just had to dodge their darts and electric blasts.”

Enigma looked and saw his fellow comrade Saiyans break out of the building they were held in. The only traces of the guards were their dead bodies that littered the metallic hallways.

The group of Saiyans flew off toward the northwest. None of them had scouters. Enigma briefly scanned the area…and the realization came a second too late.

He called out, “Hey! Stop! It’s a…”

A zapping sound thundered.

 “…trap.”

In synchrony, the devices beeped and sent streams of white hot electricity at the Saiyans. They powered up and screamed louder than before. After several minutes, the warriors fell to the ground, twitching and soon going deathly still.

Enoki laughed darkly from the ground.

Enigma fired a green blast at the Tuffle, but he teleported away before the impact.

Beet stared sadly at the ground, closing his eyes for a second. After several moments, beams of orange energy shot from his fingers of his outstretched hand. The blasts landed in the distance and the bodies of the Saiyans caught fire.

Enigma muttered a series of prayers to Yamoshi.

“Let’s go,” said Beet, breaking the silence. We have to get ready for the big event.”

The two Saiyans flew off, careful to avoid the devices below.

=== < O > ===

“The Saiyans are invading!” cried the Tuffle soldiers during the fateful night.

The attack was entirely unexpected. The Tuffles did not consider such an invasion in the middle of the night. Even Dr. Beri and his research team were oblivious to the fact. Apparently, Dr. Beri was focused on his research after he had safely sent Enoki home. “So much for trying to recruit a Saiyan warrior to fight for us,” he muttered. “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to my junior scholars Peach and Citran.”

On the monitors in the control room, a red warning appeared in bold letters: “Electric detecting devices destroyed.”

“What?” gasped Dr. Beri, walking toward the window. “That’s impossible! Any Saiyan who flies near them would get fried!”

He looked through a large telescope that also functioned as a 360 degree camera. Sure enough, the rocks, trees and the devices were now broken charred pieces.

“Those bastard Saiyans destroyed my trap! Now I’ll have to come up with a new plan…”

He barely got the words out when a blast of energy shattered the nearby, window, knocking the scientist to the tiled floor. Careful to avoid the glass, Dr. Beri stood up, shaking.

“Well, was not expecting that.”

He took a few steps backward and bumped into something.

Or rather…someone.

“Watch where you’re going, punk,” said a raspy voice. Dr. Beri turned toward the sound and his eyes grew wide. Black eyes from a scared face stared down at him. The meaty Saiyan man held a brown club in both hands.

“Sorry,” stuttered Dr. Beri.

“Sorry?!” asked the Saiyan. “That won’t cut it. You and your staff took away my daughter several days ago!”

“You…you mean Subject 38?” He glanced at an image of a young Saiyan girl with her black hair in a braid.

“She has a name, you know!” the man yelled. “Zalada! She was going to be a great fighter and hunter until you stole her away for your vile experiments.”

Dr. Beri gulped and clutched his lab coat. “She had a kidney infection and a case of hyperactive disorder. We were just trying to fix her…”

The Saiyan thrust his fist into the wall, where the scientist had been standing before he ducked. “We need no fixing! You pests have repressed us long enough. Now it is time for the Saiyans to put this to an end.”

“Please, I’m sorry,” said Dr. Beri, now trembling. “I regret to say that your daughter didn’t survive the procedure.” Dr. Beri ran from the enraged Saiyan toward a metal door. He found the screen to put his finger on to open it. A single blast from the Saiyan’s hand, destroyed the screen.

Now realizing the futile situation he was in, Dr. Beri screamed in a panic. “Anyone! Please help! Open this door!”

The Saiyan leered at the scientist. “I’ll help you open it.”

He picked up the struggling scientist and rammed his head against the door. After several more bangs, Dr. Beri flew through the metal door and hit the hallway floor among metal debris. The formerly well-known citizen of the Tuffles now lay still as dark red blood pooled from his head onto the floor.

Enigma and the other Saiyans banded together on the cliff side, their stone cave houses in the background. Enigma stared ahead at the pristine tall buildings of the Tuffle city. For all of their lives, the Saiyans had lived off what little resources they had in the badland desert. Food was scarce and as a result, the Saiyan tribes would constantly fight over any remains. But on this night, with the full moon shining bright, all the Saiyans came together as one. They all dressed in similar tattered brown clothing and furry boots. Some of them carried weapons, while others raised their fists in the air. A smirking Saiyan female posed for battle with a dagger in her mouth, her brown tail moving side to side.

When all was quiet, King Vegeta gave a signal to his men, and they quietly marched forward. A proud, arrogant king, he moved forward with confidence in every step. He and his men were the few Saiyans who wore Saiyan armor. King Vegeta had dark black hair that rose up in a flame-like shape. His beard and mustache were also dark. His long red cape fluttered in the night breeze. The other Saiyans soon followed their leader.

In the midst of the Tuffle city, a large blast erupted on the street. A vehicle lay on its side, in flames, black smoke filling the air with a suffocating heat. A grinning face of a Saiyan man appeared as the smoke cleared. The Tuffle citizens in bright simple clothing were tiny compared to the Saiyan’s massive height. As the Tuffles ran for their lives, the Saiyan’s laughed and chased after them. Tuffle men and women screamed as they frantically tried to dodge the large hands trying to grab them.

Enoki and his team of soldiers searched the area, their black guns drawn. Enoki spoke in a hushed tone as his blue scouter eyepiece lit up. A ball of green flame suddenly incinerated one of the soldiers on the spot.

“We’ve got company!” shouted one of the men.

The soldiers fired at the same time at the mysterious group of Saiyans. Some of them even had tanks that shot cannon balls forward. Smoke obscured the scene and the Tuffles remained silent with anticipation.

“Did we get them?” one of them asked.

They got their answer when the smoke cleared. The group of Saiyans were still standing in front of them, completely unscathed. They grinned in hunger like wild wolves on the hunt.

“Enigma!” Enoki gasped in shock.

“Miss me, boy?” Enigma asked, standing at the front of a small group of Saiyans.

“We wouldn’t continue to be slaves under you anymore,” Enigma declared. “Your time has finally come to an end.”

A tall Saiyan women added her voice to the revolutionary call. “Your old Tuffle king’s reign is over. You will cower and surrender yourselves to His Majesty King Vegeta!”

Enigma rolled his eyes off to the side. He watched another Saiyan kick a white car down like a toy.

“Not in a million years, barbarians,” said a Tuffle soldier.

The woman grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

While the Tuffles fired again, Enoki ran away as fast as he could, turning safely around a corner. A minute later, the soldiers and weapons were blasted away to nothingness by the Saiyan’s power.

One by one, each Saiyan smiled and looked up toward the night sky. The full moon stood white and clear among the stars. The Saiyan’s eyes glowed a demonic red and each one let out an ear-piercing scream. Fangs grew from their mouths and thick brown hair covered their bodies. The warriors grew larger and larger, their tails moving frantically. In seconds, their pale faces morphed into the hairy monstrous faces of Great Apes.

With a mighty roar, a Great Ape shot a beam of white light from his mouth, blasting apart a nearby building. The other Saiyans followed, shooting blasts from their mouths in every direction. One Great Ape grinned at the tiny Tuffles running away and proceeded to squash an individual under his foot. A group of Saiyan Apes roared and pounded their chests in a fighting frenzy. In separate areas, King Vegeta and Enigma destroyed buildings…and civilians along the way.

An eerie silence fell after the war was over. There was no sound as the sun rose from the horizon, turning the sky a dark blue. The Saiyans had reverted to their original forms, their clothing in pieces.

“We’ve done it!” A Saiyan shouted in victory, which was followed by a hearty cheer from everyone else. Two Saiyan men helped King Vegeta up from the ground. King Vegeta smiled in victory and looked around at the ruined buildings and the dead corpses of the Tuffles. The once dominant population that had oppressed the Saiyans for ten years was now ancient history.

“Well don’t just stand there you morons!” King Vegeta yelled at the two men. “Search the area for gold, weapons, and anything we can use. And fetch me a robe at once!”

“Yes sir,” said the men as they quickly scurried off.

Several hours later, a group of Saiyans came back with a handful of scouters, some technology and a few bags of Tuffle currency.

“This will do nicely,” said King Vegeta. “Now we need to search harder to find more of it. I want my best engineers and workers to get started on my palace early tomorrow.” He called forward the strongest Saiyan fighters and appointed them as lieutenants and members of his new army.

“Gather as many healthy warriors as you can,” he told them. The new Saiyan army must be up and running before the grand feast in a week.”

The king finished addressing his subjects with plans for the new civilization. “From this day forth, this planet shall be named after me: Planet Vegeta!”

“Hail King Vegeta! Hail King Vegeta!” The Saiyans chanted. Enigma did not join in. Instead he disappeared silently into the shadows.

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said, “I have important matters to attend to with my wife.”

Rise and fall of the Saiyan Kingdom

The Saiyan civilization came into being very fast, thanks to the Tuffle’s leftover technology. Now the Saiyans were able to call their entire planet their own. Scouters were fixed and updated and Saiyan armor was improved upon. Their clothing became stronger, durable, and easier to fit into. The armor could even withstand Great Ape transformations. Above the Saiyan houses, stores, and weapon shops, King Vegeta’s white palace stood proudly on top of a large cliff that extended into the blue sky. It was an obvious reminder and reflection of his superior status.

Before long, the Saiyans desire for power, property, and prestige extended beyond Planet Vegeta. At the rate of the evolution of the warrior race, they were one step closer to conquering the entire galaxy. They soon made a deal with an alien race called the Acrosians. They lived on a barren planet and were struggling to survive. The Saiyans agreed to conquer other planets for them to sell to the highest bidder and thus ensure their well-being. In return, the Acrosians gave them hordes of weapons and wealth.

It wasn’t long before the Frieza Force arrived and annexed Planet Vegeta. Saiyans with high power levels as well as members of other races were forced to join Frieza’s army, under the threat that their planets would be destroyed. King Cold, Frieza, and his brother Cooler were all metallic lizard-like aliens with incredibly high power levels. Even King Vegeta himself had to submit under Freiza’s new rule. Several powerful Saiyans by the names of Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz were frequently sent on missions to conquer other planets in Freiza’s name. Not that they had any choice in the matter. Freiza viewed the Saiyans as useful followers; mere tools used to achieve his power-filled goals.

Eventually, Freiza became concerned that the Saiyans would rebel against him, and that one Saiyan would rise to defeat him. It was partly true during this time. King Vegeta and his warriors attempted to kill the tyrant emperor, only for Frieza to kill the king with a single punch. Freiza crushed a button with his foot that had fallen from the king’s jacket, signifying the end of his rule. In another instance, a lower-class Saiyan named Bardock had been receiving visions of Planet Vegeta’s destruction by Freiza. He frantically told the other Saiyans what he saw. Due to his lower status, they laughed in his face and deemed him a fool. Despite witnessing the deaths of his fellow comrades, Bardock would not give up the fight. He stood up against Freiza one last time and fought off dozens of his alien men. As the story goes, Bardock and most of the Saiyans did not survive Freiza’s attack on Planet Vegeta.

Before the planet’s destruction, one lone Saiyan struggled to make his escape.

Why was this so challenging for the young Saiyan Enigma? First and foremost, he was one of many lower-class Saiyans, deemed a weakling in comparison to the elite Saiyans. Due to this, he resided in the poorer living quarters of the Saiyan kingdom. Food around this area was scarce and most of the wealth had been reserved to the elite Saiyans…or more accurately, the Freiza Force. The only good thing about his situation was the fact that he wasn’t forcibly drafted into Freiza’s army as of yet. After all, who would want a shady-looking Saiyan with no family and no friends into the force?  But what if there was a possibility that he could suddenly be taken in against his will? Just the thought filled his soul with dread. If Enigma was forced into obedience by the Frieza Force…No, he wouldn’t let that happen. Death would be a preferable alternative than being enslaved to such a ruthless organization.

Enigma suspected that the various aliens feared him due to his appearance and black eyes that glowed an eerie green whenever he powered up. Sure it wasn’t uncommon for Saiyan’s eyes to glow white when powering up, or their eyes to turn red when turning into Great Apes. Yet, there had been no other reports of Saiyans with glowing green eyes…or a strong religious inclination for that matter. One could say that Enigma had more of what humans called “faith” than most other Saiyans.

Still, Enigma kept his guard up at every turn. His deep breaths only settled his hatred for both King Vegeta and Freiza, temporarily. Though the desire to end the tyrants was prominent within him, he knew they were both too powerful to fight. Even sneaking up on them would be a futile and stupid effort. Deep in his gut, Enigma felt an urge to flee as far as he could. After the last of his friends were killed by Glacin and his men, he knew that something horrific was on the horizon.

It all started several hours prior when Enigma was doing his daily training with Beet and several other of his few allies. Searching for food was not nearly as difficult as it was during their time in the badlands, but the situation was still not ideal. Nevertheless, Enigma still landed some heavy punches to Beet’s gut, causing the young warrior to gasp for breath. Beet responded with a large orange blast from both his hands, which Enigma proceeded to swat out of the way.

“You are definitely getting better,” mentioned Beet. He teleported behind Enigma and raised his hand for a karate chop, but Enigma saw it coming. He grabbed Beet’s hand and pushed him forward. He flew through the air and caught himself before landing on the ground.

“Alright,” said Enigma. “Let’s gather up our things and find a way off this planet.”

Beet looked confused. “What’s the point of doing that? The only spaceships are the ones held by the Frieza Force and the space pods which are reserved for infants.”

“I’m still a young, slender teen,” Enigma replied.

Beet imagined Enigma trying to squeeze himself into a small space pod and burst out laughing.

“What?” asked Enigma, with an annoyed look on his face.

“Id…I’d like to see you try to fit into one of those things,” Beet said in between laughing fits. “Even if you managed to reach a ship, you’d still have soldiers to deal with.”

They both knew that Beet was right.

“You monkeys plan on going somewhere?”

Enigma, Beet, and several other Saiyans turned toward the voice from overhead. Beet cracked his knuckles, as a faint breeze blew through his thick black hair.

Enigma peered and saw a shadow of a figure that looked just like…

“Frieza!” he spat.

He heard some evil laughter and then…

“Wrong. I am one of his lieutenants, Glacin.”

He looked like a smaller, bluer version of Frieza, with a white face, light purple eyes and a white tail. He wore blue and black armor over his torso and legs. He was flanked by two burly armored bodyguards: Blizzer, a frog like man with purple skin and Yogur, a man with orange skin and white hair.

“What are you morons doing here?” asked Beet.

Blizzer let out a throaty chuckle. “Oh we’ve come to defeat you, of course!”

Yogur joined in. “We know that the Saiyans have conquered dozens of planets in Frieza’s name the past several years. Now it appears that he wants all of you dead! We were sent here on his orders…”

He received a hard slap in the face from Glacin. “You selfish, ignorant fool! Lord Freiza sent me on this mission to find any last pieces of Saiyan trash left. You two accompanied me on this mission on my orders. As long as the three of us are here, you will address me with respect. Got it?”

Yogur crossed his arms and growled lowly, which was muffled by Blizzer’s answer of “Yes, sir!”

“I’m watching both of you! Frieza accepts no failures, and neither do I.”

Glacin turned his white head back to the Saiyans, his round blue gems on his head, arms and legs, glinting in the light.

Beet flew forward and landed a hard uppercut to Yogur’s chin. The force was so powerful, it nearly snapped his head off. Blizzer grabbed the Saiyan from behind, trying to pull his muscled arms back. The Saiyan responded with an elbow to his gut. The brute wheezed in response but still held on. 

Beet grabbed Blizzer’s hand and bit as hard as he could. Blizzer let out a pained yelp, allowing the Saiyan to break free. Meanwhile, Enigma was going head to head with Glacin. They landed punches at each other, both of them dodging in midair. Enigma used his knee to land a blow to Glacin, which did not have much effect. Forming a blue ball of energy in his hand, Glacin blasted Enigma backwards, though he did not fall to the ground.

Enigma glanced to the right and saw Beet throwing yellow blasts at Glacin’s bodyguards. One blast hit Yogur in the face and sent him to the ground. Though he was hurt, he lifted himself up, shaking dirt away from his white hair and orange face.

“You’ll pay for that, Saiyan!” he spat in anger.

“Getting beat up by Beet,” laughed Beet looking down at his opponent. His smile revealed white slightly crooked teeth. “Looks like you’re not so elite after all.”

Glacin tilted his head at Enigma in a mocking way. “You still have a chance to surrender. It’d be the smart thing to do.”

Enigma scoffed at the frost lizard’s ridiculous statement. “Saiyans never surrender, especially not me.”

“Well, how do you explain all that?” Glacin asked, moving out his hand.

Enigma looked in the direction and saw, to his horror, his other Saiyan comrades lifelessly on the ground. Several of Frieza’s warriors were seen flying off into the distance.

“Impossible,” he muttered.

“It’s not,” said Glacin. “If you surrender and join the army, perhaps you’ll get the chance to live a little longer.”

“You’re insane,” Enigma spat. “I’d rather be dead then serve such a tyrant.”

“You filthy Saiyan!” called Blizzer from above.

Enigma stared at Glacin, anticipating his next move. But instead of the enemy charging at him, Glacin instead flew up toward Beet. He gave a mighty yell and powered up electricity from his right fist. Enigma sensed his power raising quickly. Beet was busy taunting Yogur and kicking Blizzer to the side.

A feeling of dread entered Enigma’s gut. He saw the look in Glacin’s eyes and knew what was about to happen.

“Beet, behind you!” he yelled.

Beet turned to look…and was met with Glacin’s fist plowing through his stomach. Beet spat out bits of saliva and gasped. Yogur and Blizzer watched the situation with eager in their eyes.

“Beet!” Enigma yelled. Beet slowly turned his head to look at his friend. After several more punches from Glacin, the villain let the Saiyan fall toward the ground. Enigma caught his friend’s broken form and gently placed him on the ground.

“Enigma…” wheezed Beet. “You have to run…”

“No, I’m not running from those bastards.”

Enigma’s eyes glowed green and with a yell, he blasted the oncoming enemies away. Only Glacin remained in place.

Enigma turned back to Beet. “Glacin was sent by Frieza, to kill all of us.”

“I know, but why? It’s because he assumes us to be weak, right?”

“Quite the opposite, actually,” smirked Glacin from above.

Enigma turned back to Beet, confused. “What does he mean?”

“He and Glacin are…scared of us. We keep getting stronger every day. He doesn’t want anyone strong…enough to cause a revolution.”

Enigma glared at Glacin. “Is this true?”

Glacin nodded with glee, his tail moving from side to side.

“Why am I not surprised?” asked Enigma. “From the very beginning, he saw us as nothing more than pawns to use in his power-hungry game.”

A chorus of coughs came from Beet. Enigma supported his friend’s head in his hand. “Don’t leave me…”

“It has been an honor…to fight at your side, my friend…” Beet softly spoke. “Go…”

Beet slowly closed his eyes and his head moved to the side.

Tears formed in Enigma’s eyes as he gently set his unmoving comrade onto the ground. He briefly hoped that his friend was unconscious, or merely sleeping, but deep down, he knew it wasn’t the case.

“You…” he turned toward the three enemies who had returned. Blizzer and Yogur were laughing at his anguish.

“Frieza is going to destroy this planet and all of you on it!” declared Glacin.

“What?!” Enigma yelled.

“Yes! It’s what you pathetic Saiyans deserve.” said Glacin. “Just think how much Frieza’s going to reward me when I tell him I killed…the last low-class Saiyan rebels.”

“What about us?” argued Blizzer.

Yogur also turned to Glacin.

“You two were just there to help with the mission,” Glacin explained. “It is I who shall be rewarded.”

“Then you should reward us as well!” added Yogur.

“Very well! Five-hundred bits for killing that last Saiyan!” Glacin said, pointing at Enigma.

Enigma’s eyes glowed green as he powered up. Though he could not go Super Saiyan yet, he was still a force to be reckoned with.

“This is for my friends and the Saiyan race!” he yelled.

Glacin laughed. “You’ll meet your end soon enough!” He turned to his lackeys. “Finish him!” The frost lieutenant flew off.

“Fight me you coward!” he called. Enigma cupped his hands in a circle, forming a sphere of dark green flames. It slowly grew larger as he spread his hands apart. Blizzer and Yogur yelled as they flew toward him, also powering up.

Enigma released his blast with a yell, making direct contact with the men. Blizzer and Yogur screamed before being consumed by the blast.

“Bastards,” muttered Enigma, after the light from the green blast faded.

Enigma looked up and saw Frieza’s ship hovering in the sky. Fear prickled his neck and his hair stood up. He had to leave.

Enigma flew off and began his search. After a moment, he hovered in place, not too far from the round white space pods situated on the round soft landing sites.

“Where is the king and the elite?” Enigma wondered. “Surely they should be coming out here and evacuating.”

Instead it was eerily silent.

Out of the corner of his eye, Enigma saw Glacin shooting blasts at two Saiyan low-class children. Their parents were already dead.

“Hey, pus lizard!” Enigma shouted. The boy and girl shivered in fear.

Glacin turned to the Saiyan. “Such foul language from a hideous homeless hunk. You need to be put in your place, Saiyan.”

Glacin charged in for an attack as the children ran off.

Punches, grunts, and screams rang out across the barren land.

“I will not let you destroy my race!” yelled Enigma, smacking Glacin hard across the face. With both of his fists, Enigma rammed Glacin to the ground in a blow. Small rocks and dirt flew in every direction when Glacin made impact with the ground.

Glacin laughed. “It is not I who will destroy your race. It is Lord Freiza who will gladly finish the job!”

Glacin’s eyes turned a blinding white. “Sun Flash!”

The move made Enigma shut his eyes and turn away. Before he could open them, he felt a gut-wrenching pain in his chest. He looked down and saw that Glacin had impaled him with his fist. Blue energy flowed around his white hand like a razor sharp blade. He pulled out his fist and Enigma screamed. The Saiyan was already down on one knee after seeing his red blood soaking his black cloth shirt.

“You’re a monster,” he grimaced through the pain.

“An honorable one at that,” Glacin said with a malicious grin. He then got a message through his blue scouter. “Seems like Frieza wants me to report back to him on my ship. It was nice knowing you, Saiyan!”

Enigma clutched at his bleeding chest, his breathing increasingly strained. As he ran to a nearby pod, black spots danced across his vision. Every step felt like his body was on fire. Enigma looked up and saw a ball of orange fiery energy slowly growing larger and larger.

“No, no, no!” he thought in a panic.

After a few agonizing moments, he climbed into a space pod and sat down on the brown chair inside. It seemed like an eternity for the door to close upward. Enigma felt the pod lift from the ground. From out the window, the fiery orange ball began to descend.

Tears fell from his eyes and he prayed to Yamoshi once again.

“I…I have failed you. Is this all that’s left of my life? To live as an outcast, an impoverished warrior, only to meet my end at the hands of a tyrant? But…I will get to see my parents again…right?”

There was no answer.

“Please, just let me live longer. Let me prove myself and avenge my race.”

The pod soon breached the planet’s atmosphere and steadied as it flew into space.

Enigma glanced out the window…and immediately wished he hadn’t. The flaming ball from Frieza’s finger had plowed into the horde of warriors below. It soon made impact with the planet’s surface. Bright yellow cracks snaked across the red surface. Orange columns of light obliterated everything in their path. The pod made it far enough, just before his home planet exploded in a flash of golden light.

Through the physical and mental pain, Enigma screamed.

Everything he had ever known…was now lost. His friends, his parents…his home…

Where was he supposed to go now? He decided to let the pod travel its course.

He closed his eyes and braced himself for the empty, peaceful feeling of death...

Until he noticed a green senzu bean to the side of the ship.

“Might as well enjoy one last piece of food,” Enigma thought.

With shaking hands, he popped the bean into his mouth and swallowed.

His hunger and the pain began to lessen to a dull throbbing. He suddenly felt tired as the pod’s cryosleep function began to set in.

In that moment, he knew that somehow, he was going to make it.

“Thank you, Yamoshi. I will do whatever it takes to restore the Saiyan race unto something better than before. For I am…a mystery…who will prosper…over others…”

He words slurred as he succumbed into a year’s long sleep.

Glacin paced back and forth on his spaceship that was positioned near Frieza’s larger one. He stared out the window and saw a lone white space pod travel into the reaches of space.

“Impossible,” he muttered. “Could that black-haired Saiyan punk be escaping right now? He should already be dead!”

Glacin sighed and then yelled in frustration. After a moment, he took several deep breaths.

 “Frieza must not know of the Saiyan’s escape,” Glacin thought. “If he finds out that I failed, I’ll get fired…or certainly killed. Better to follow that punk and finish him myself.”

His blue scouter beeped and the sound of Frieza’s voice came through.

“Mission report, Glacin?”

Glacin silently gulped and spoke. “It is done, my lord. I have eliminated the rest of those low-class Saiyans who were hiding away.”

“Excellent” said Frieza.

“I have bad news, though. My two soldiers were killed by…”

“By what?” Frieza asked, his tone flavored with annoyance.

“By the low-class Saiyan leader.”

Instead of getting angry, Frieza burst into laughter. “Hohoho! Now that’s one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Bardock is the low-class leader of the Saiyans and he…well let’s say he didn’t fare too well when he stood up against me. How could such pathetic…”

His voice cut off after a moment. “Wait a minute,” he said with suspicion. “That Bardock Saiyan finished off my elite squad members I sent out earlier. Bardock seemed pleased to tell me that. Still he was no match for my power, just like former King Vegeta, foolish enough to try and stop me.”

‘So that’s what happened to the king,’ thought Glacin.

 “Are you saying that another Saiyan is still alive?” asked Frieza with suspicion.

“No, my lord,” Glacin said quickly. As soon as he killed my men, I blasted him to bits.”

“Very well,” said Frieza. “There is another reason why I called. I regret to inform you that Planet Vegeta was hit by an asteroid. The blast proved too much for the Saiyans to handle.

Glacin knew that Frieza was the one who had destroyed the planet and the Saiyan race. Still, Glacin mocked shock and sadness. “Oh my, that’s quite unfortunate. Well, looks like you won this war.”

“Indeed,” said Frieza. “Stuck to the story or there will be trouble your way. Now search the area for any survivors. I want to make sure there are no Saiyans left.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Glacin maneuvered his ship and followed the white space pod. Thankfully, Frieza was traveling in a different direction.

“Coordinates,” Glacin commanded.

The computer screen lit up with a holographic map of space. It appeared that the space pod was going to a far-off green and blue planet. “Earth” appeared in neon green letters above the planet image.

Glacin licked his lips with greed. If he could follow the Saiyan and defeat him, that would be good enough. But a whole new planet to conquer for Frieza…he would be rich and recognized for sure.

On the new planet, a group of Earthling farmers noticed a bright light shooting from the sky and landing with a crash onto the ground. A man was wearing blue overalls and a plaid red and black shirt. He was busy watering a row of yellow corn when he heard the noise in the distance.

“What was that, Robert?” called his wife nearby, who was knitting a wool scarf.

“No idea, Celine,” he replied. “Stay here, I’ll check it out.”

He walked toward a nearby shed and lifted a long brown shotgun from two hooks imbedded in the wall. He stomped in his brown boots down toward the site. On closer inspection, he realized it was not an asteroid nor a meteor like he had expected.

It was a white space pod that had gray smoke fuming out. It had created a hole with slopes of dirt.

“Whoa wee,” he exclaimed. “Someone had a bad crash here.”

He carefully made his way down the hole and up toward the purple tinted door.

He politely knocked on the glass. “Hello? Anyone in here? You’ve landed on my property so I’d suggest that you come out and let us fix this mess.”

No answer.

Using a small pitchfork, he thrust the prongs into the slits of the door. He strained and pulled, worried that his tool would break. With a clang, the door finally fell down to the ground.

He gasped as he saw a large man with thick black hair and a bloody face. He wore torn black clothing and strangely enough, a silver Christian cross necklace.

He tapped the man on the shoulder, whose eyes were closed.

“Sir, can you hear me? Sir!”

The man remained still.

“Rob!” called a voice.

The farmer wheeled around. “Honey,” he said to his wife. “I thought I told you to stay at the house.”

“You know I can’t stand you going to places on your own.” Celine had worry in her eyes. She smoothed out her lilac dress.

“It’s all good. I work and tend to the fields everyday on my own. What’s the difference?”

Celine glanced down at the pod. “Someone must be hurt!”

She walked down the hill and up toward the pod.

“I found this man dead in there,” said Robert. “I don’t know where he came from.”

Celine peered inside. “Yikes!" she gasped. “Poor guy.”

“I think we should bury him soon,” said Robert.

“But what about his family?” asked Celine. “They could still be looking for him.”

“There’s no point,” said Robert, lowering his head.

“Can we at least sing a song to honor him?” She pulled out a banjo from behind her.

“Very well,” said Robert. She handed the instrument to her husband and he began to play. Celine sang a country song she knew since she was a little girl.

The couple almost didn’t notice when the man suddenly opened his eyes. Both of the farmers gasped in surprise, stopping the music.

“You’re alive?” asked the farmer.

The man didn’t answer. Instead he slowly picked himself up and climbed out of the pod. When he fully stood up, he towered over the couple.

“Thank goodness,” said the farmer. “Now pay me to help cover the damage to my lawn and I’ll see if I can get you back to your family.”

The man spoke in an angry low voice, “I have no family.”

“Oh,” said Celine. “I’ll call the police then, see if they can help you out.”

The man turned to leave, but the farmer was insistent. “Hey, we have a deal here! Help me clean up this mess and tell me who you are.”

Celine tried to lighten up the mood by strumming her banjo and singing even louder.

“Silence,” muttered the man.

Celine didn’t hear him. She continued playing and sang, “This will cheer you up, strange one.”

The man turned and glared at her. "I said silence!"

He raised his fist and walked toward her.

“Stop!” shouted Robert. He jumped in front of his wife. “Get back!” he told her. He then fired several rounds of bullets at the man. He caught his breath and stared though the smoke and dust.

They peered as the dust cleared…and saw the man standing there, unharmed.

“What the?” he asked in shock. “How did you…who are you?”

“Enigma,” he answered. He fired up a green blast in his hand and thrust it at Robert. The human screamed and flew through the air against the dirt slope. His body slid to the ground with a soft thump.

Enigma casually glanced at the man’s blackened face. With another blast, Robert was consumed by his attack.

Celine screamed and ran for her life up the hill. She kept running, until she spotted Enigma, who was hovering in front of her in the air.

“Leave us alone or I’ll call the police. Bring my husband back.”

“You can join him instead,” he replied. Celine ran once more, but Enigma grabbed hold of her. With one hand, he carried her back toward the hole in the ground. Celine glanced at her husband’s still form below.

“Word of advice,” said Enigma, turning Celine to face him. “Never wake me up with fucking country music.”

Celine screamed a final time before Enigma sent a blast at her. She fell lifelessly next to her dead husband.

“Weakling humans, I see,” thought Enigma. “I believe I can get used to this new place. No one will stand in my way.” He flew off into the distance. 

Enter New Life

Life on earth was…interesting, to say the least. Enigma, now a grown adult man, had been living by himself for a while. Not trusting the foreign weak humans, Enigma resorted to stealing food from grocery stores, easily evading the police and the military who tried to chase him. In need of new clothes, but fresh out of money, he snuck into a department store and grabbed several black shirts, tight jeans, black boots, and chains to go with it. Enigma was backed up against a corner by a herd of military soldiers, but discovered a new way to escape: instant transmission. Admittedly, as it was his first time, he was only able to teleport to a nearby place outside and he felt dizzy afterwards. When he was not going into the city, he hunted for animals in the forest. He took great care to end the lives of deer, bears, and birds humanely, either using his hands or a blast of ki from his fingers. Before eating, he always prayed to Yamoshi.

For several years, Enigma lived by himself in an isolated dark cave. When he was not eating, he was busy training over a nearby grassland. Soon enough, in his base form, he could do 200 plus pushups, sit ups, and run for miles without any difficulty. Every evening, he flew outside, scouting the area for any signs of Glacin or enemies. None appeared. In addition, Enigma didn’t have a scouter, so he couldn’t communicate with anyone. However, to say he was happy being along would be false. In fact, it was quite common to see the dark Saiyan shed tears from his black eyes before falling asleep on the hard rocky cave floor. How much longer would he have to endure the fact that he may be one of the last Saiyans left?

The day began like any other. Enigma was walking around the area, keeping an eye out for Glacin.

“I will defeat that self-centered jerk, even if it kills me,” he thought. He glanced with disgust toward the city, observing a white blonde-haired man and a bipedal panda male yelling and fighting over a parking spot.

“Then I’ll need to teach those weakling earthlings a lesson.”

To be continued…