Knox tilted his head, glancing at the scouter. He floated closer, his arms crossed.
"Is that so…?" Knox asked lightly. "And what makes you think I'd give a damn about what your commander has to say?"
The soldier gulped, but his trembling faded somewhat as he continued to hold out the scouter. "Because… you might be strong, but you're nothing when compared to Lord Frieza, and our Fleet Commander is his right hand man."
"I see…" Knox said, finger on his chin. "So your leader is a very powerful and scary man, and I'd regret not listening to what he has to say… is that it?"
Slowly, he reached out to take the scouter-
Licking his lips, the soldier finally perked up. "Exactly! Which is why you-"
-but his hand stopped just shy of grabbing it. His glowing eyes flickered with sudden malice as his hand changed trajectory and clamped down on the man's wrist instead. The soldier's eyes widened in pure terror, his cocky grin shattering as realization struck.
"Then why," Knox said, his voice dropping into a low snarl. "would I need you alive for that?"
He barely had a moment to scream before Knox's free hand surged with crackling energy. A searing beam of Ki erupted point-blank, engulfing the man in a blinding plume of pure destruction. The scouter was still held in the arm Knox was currently holding, the rest of the soldier's body disintegrated into ash.
The act was over in mere seconds, but the surge of aggression it elicited lingered.
'Damn it,' he thought, clenching his fists. 'I gave in again.' That urge to blast the man through the face literally was too strong, and his [Evil Aura] latched onto it, nudging him to do it in the most humiliating fashion possible.
He was going to kill the guy anyway, but the way he did it was unnecessary.
Slowly, he turned to glance over at Marzette, feeling the awkward silence as she watched the entire spectacle.
"Uh…" He hesitated, scratching the back of his neck in an uncharacteristic show of uncertainty. "Sorry about that."
"...What?" She stared at him blankly with a tilt of her head before realization dawned. "Oh. I hadn't expected you to start feeling guilty about this. Do you want me to deal with the rest for you if it's too much?"
"No, that's not-" He started, but cut himself off as he realized she had no frame of reference to separate his normal personality from his [Evil Aura]'s influence. From her perspective, he was just like this.
"You know, what? Yeah, sure." He raised the arm in his hand, the scouter still in its clutches. "If you don't mind dealing with them, I'm gonna talk to whoever is on the other side of this thing."
"Affirmative." With that said, Marzette took off toward the next group of stragglers without a moment's hesitation.
Knox watched her go for a moment, her speed eclipsing his own before the level up.
'...I cannot get a read on that woman.'
Shaking his head, Knox let the remnants of the soldier's arm drop from his grip, the scouter clinking softly as he pulled it into his hands. The device beeped as he put it on the side of his head, a faint static filling his ear as it locked into place.
"Is there anyone actually on the other side of this?"
The static gave way to a smooth, refined voice, dripping with condescension. "Ah, so you're the one causing all this… chaos." The man on the other end sounded irritated, yet composed. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Zarbon, Lord Frieza's direct aide and Fleet Commander for this sector of the universe."
Knox was slowly drifting toward the grounded ship as he spoke, but froze in the air as Zarbon announced his name.
'Zarbon?' The voice definitely matched the name. 'Why would Zarbon want a direct conversation with me? I haven't even done that much damage to their organization yet…'
Not that it changed much of his plans now that they were aware of him this early, but it was interesting nonetheless.
With furrowed brows, he continued going to the ship.
"I assume that's supposed to mean something to me? What do you want?" He feigned ignorance.
Zarbon's tone shifted, adopting a calculated faux warmth. "First, I'd like to congratulate you on what I assume you consider a victory. You've gotten your revenge after being enslaved, and I imagine that must feel very satisfying. However, I strongly suggest you take a moment to consider the bigger picture and-"
"Stop yapping," Knox cut him off. "Get to the point."
Zarbon didn't miss a beat, pivoting the subject instantly. "-let me ask you, how well do you understand our power level system?"
Knox quirked a brow but kept scanning his surroundings as he floated into the ship's massive entry hatch. "I get it," he confirmed. "The bigger the number, the stronger I am. Go on."
From the other end of the line, Zarbon chuckled, though the sound carried an edge of disdain. "Ah, but do you really understand? You see, while you may feel unstoppable right now, your power level seems to have skyrocketed to a four digit number since you were last scanned. Impressive by mortal standards, but ultimately insignificant in the grand scheme of things."
'So they haven't scanned my new power level? I guess the scouter would've broken before it could reach that high.'
Knox wandered deeper into the ship as Zarbon's voice continued, the faint hum of auxiliary power flickering through the dimly lit corridors. "Even I am far stronger than you," Zarbon continued smoothly, his tone almost pitying. "And our Emperor, Lord Frieza, is at least fifty times stronger than both you and I. He exists in a realm of power that you cannot possibly comprehend…"
Knox tuned him out halfway through the monologue, his eyes scanning the ship until he spotted what he was looking for. A room with various giant machines that he'd been coveting since the moment he arrived in this world.
The medical pod.
He floated over to it, ignoring the faint stench of burnt circuitry lingering in the air. As Zarbon continued to ramble, Knox pressed a few buttons on the pod's panel, frowning as nothing happened.
"So, to summarize…" Knox said absentmindedly, his focus still on trying to figure out the medical pod, "your boss is some untouchable deity, and I should just bow my head and surrender to the glorious emperor before I get it obliterated? Did I get that right?"
There was a pause before Zarbon responded, his voice laced with irritation. "I wouldn't phrase it so crudely, but yes, that's the essence of it. Resistance is a fool's errand. If you value your life, you'll join-"
"Yeah, cool story." Knox didn't even glance at the scouter as he jabbed another button on the pod's control panel, only for it to emit a disappointing low beep. "How the hell do you work this medical pod? Is there a manual or something?"
The sheer audacity of the question caused silence to fall on the other end of the line.
Knox jabbed another button the machine's console, eliciting yet another low beep. "Sooo…?"
The line was met with silence for a beat, as if Zarbon couldn't process the absurdity of the situation. Finally, his voice cut in, smooth but laced with incredulity. "Are you actually asking me how to operate our machines while I'm warning you of the dire circumstances you now find yourself in?"
"Yup," Knox replied shamelessly, pressing another random button on the panel. "I'm seriously asking. So, gonna help me out, or…"
Zarbon let out a slow, exasperated sigh, clearly trying to restrain himself. "No. Unless you pledge your allegiance to-"
Knox spoke with a completely uninterested tone. "Oh, well, what good are you, then?"
Without giving Zarbon a chance to respond, Knox leaned casually against the cold surface of the pod, crossing his arms. "Anyway," he continued nonchalantly, "as for your offer about me joining… No. Once I get this ship in the air, I'm hunting down every last one of you lackeys and dismantling your cute little planet trade thing with my bare hands."
"...Now, listen here you insolent worm-" Zarbon began, his calm tone breaking into something far more venomous.
"Creed out!" he said cheerily before ripping the scouter from his temple and crushing it in his hand, the faint glow of the device sputtering out as its shattered remains clattered to the floor.
With that, Knox let out a long breath and turned back to the medical pod, staring at the unhelpful panel once more.
'...Why are none of these buttons even remotely labeled? You'd think futuristic tech would be more intuitive than modern technology.'
Leaving the pod behind, he exited the room.
"I hope Marzette hasn't killed them all yet." he muttered, a faint hum of Ki gathering around him as he floated through the ship. "Gonna need to find and bully one of them into teaching me how to use this thing."
__________
In stark contrast to the frustration Knox thought he had caused, Zarbon sat in a pristine, high-tech command room, his expression a perfect mask of calm.
With a faint sigh, he leaned back, tapping idly against the tablet in his hand. The screen displayed a running list of prioritizations and galactic threats. At the top, Lord Frieza's Empire Expansion Initiative ticked steadily toward completion.
"Another day," Zarbon muttered to himself. He scrolled down to the entry he'd just made and typed, his elegant fingers flying across the touch-sensitive screen. "Another new enemy made."
| Designation: Creed
| Threat Level: Low (Pending Review)
| Species: Unknown
| Notes: Displays an exploitable level of arrogance despite being a minor power at present. Has a grandiose sense of self importance due to staggering growth. Highly likely to attempt a systematic campaign against the PTO based on proclaimed intent.
Zarbon's lips curled into the faintest of smiles. He didn't look the least bit disturbed, despite Creed's dramatic parting threat.
"How many times have we heard this exact thing?" he mused aloud. His voice was quiet, smooth and cultured, as though he were commenting on a vaguely interesting piece of art. "Countless upstarts see a 'crack' in our armor and think they have us on the edge of our seats."
With a roll of his eyes, his gaze dropped back to the tablet. He added one final line to the entry, tapping with a precision that spoke of someone used to dealing with this scale of monotony.
| Further Action:Monitor for escalation of threat level. Address as necessary. No priority deviation necessary.
Ending his report, Zarbon shifted the tablet to one side and let out a faint chuckle. Standing from his chair, he gazed at the star-riddled emptiness of space, allowing himself a moment of silence.
"At least this one had the courtesy of giving a name." His voice softened at the edges, trailing faintly as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Assigning numbers to everything becomes so dull after a while."
Either way, it mattered little in the moment. Creed was just another face in a long line. And Zarbon's day would simply go on, uninterrupted.
As it always did.