‘Damn, my head is aching!’ Korosu thought to himself. ‘Where am I? Am I dead? Is this hell?’ His head was filling with all kinds are strange, paranoid thoughts, but he couldn’t come to a conclusion over any of them. His heart pounds hard, as he begins to fear the worst. ‘What the hell happened? I remember an alien…and a building’ his thoughts turned into words spewing forth from out of his mouth. “Dodoria. Damnit! I can’t believe that bastard ended my life! What a way to go!” It was then that he realized that he was swallowed large quantities of fluid as he spoke. He used some of the very little energy reserves that remain in his body, and opens one eye. Before him is a sheet of clear, transparent glass, and in front of that is a control panel…with some doctors! Korosu opens his other eye triumphantly, and a smile begins to form upon his face. He sees bubbles coming from his mouth, then realizes where he is. “A regen tank! I’m alive!” He begins to dance around a little, before having to submit to the pain caused by the tearing muscles in his body. A doctor walks over, and starts speaking into the tank, to Korosu. Most of what he says isn’t received though, because at this present moment in time, Korosu is too busy rejoicing life to worry about anything else. He shuts his eyes, and lets his mind wander, relaxing for the first time since the rebellion had started…

***

The fluid starts to drain from the tank, and Korosu’s eyes open in a flash. He anxiously waits for the glass panel to open for him, and when it does, he bursts out, dancing around, and testing his strength. “I’m alive! I’m really alive!”

“Yes Korosu. That was very close, we thought that we’d lost you for a while. You were in the regen tank for 8 hours!” the doctor said excitedly.

“Damn, I’m pretty lucky to be alive! But…Bardock…”

“He was hurt far worse than you were. His condition is stable at the moment, but we are not sure if he can hold on, and maintain it.”

“Damn! He’d better not die, because if he does…”

“Please, calm down. We are doing all that we can, this is sophisticated stuff, and it is very delicate too, so if you wouldn’t mind waiting outside…”

“I can’t leave Bard..”

“Outside!” The doctor spoke in such a harsh tone that Korosu didn’t want to disagree with him, because he knew that although Bardock may not be stable, the doctors know best, and they are doing all they can for him. Korosu wonders through the long corridors, and out through the huge front door of the infirmary. The saiyan soldier stops, and breaths in a long, deep breath of fresh air, knowing that he has been granted a second chance. He extends his arms, and lets the wind flow freely in his thick, spiked up hair. A smile pulls itself across his heartless face. This man has killed 1,000s without remorse, and all it took to change him was a near-death experience. Korosu has made up his mind. From now on he will be different. He has changed. There is not a single innocent person in the universe that will die by his hand again. His ultimate goal remains the same though…he will meet Frieza in a battle to the death, with one of them meeting their demise in a colossal fight, of absolutely epic proportions.

“Korosu! We…we…thought you were dead! Thank God that you survived! It’s terrible, everyone has gone off to Frieza to avenge your death!” said a short, saiyan woman, fairly well-built, but obviously no soldier.

“Then they are already dead” was Korosu’s reply. His voice wall cold, shrill, emotionless. He wasn’t about to run off to try and save them. He knew the extent of Frieza’s power, and because of that, he knew it would be insane to challenge him. “Bardock…he…he hasn’t recovered yet. He may not make it. If he dies, then…Frieza…you are going to die a slow, agonizing death, for sending your men to kill us!”

“Bardock…I hope he survives, but why do you not care about the rest of our race damnit! They’re all going to fight Frieza, and you don’t even want to help them!”

“It’s not like that!” Korosu roared in reply. “Look, Frieza is more powerful than our whole race combined, there is no point in adding to the casualties. Dodoria wasn’t even a 20th of Frieza’s power! I almost died beating him! He...he is dead isn’t he? There’s no way that he could have survived that. He better not have, because..”

“He’s dead Korosu. Don’t worry yourself with things like that though. If Frieza is as powerful as you say he is, then you’re our last hope. You must train, and train hard. Saiyans strength improves when they are close to death, so you must have got stronger after that fight.”

“Good point. Take my power level, it was 15,000 at my maximum.”

The woman walks over to a small stall, and takes a scouter from the stand. The stall owner has been listening in to the conversation, so he doesn’t stop her, as he is anxious to see the reading too. She puts it over her eye, and flicks a few switches on it. Before she says anything though, her face goes into a look of shock. “30…30,000! How did you increase by so much!?”

Korosu smiles wickedly. “You haven’t seen anything yet, now take it at my maximum!” He starts to charge up, energy being thrown around the street incessantly. An aura of blue, intensive power starts to form around him. He clenches his fists, trying desperately to add an extra bit onto his final power reading. He lets out a cry, then the aura fades, and he glows, illuminating the dingy streets. The look on the woman’s face says it all.

“50,000.”

“Not bad eh?” Korosu boasted. “Still not good enough though. Frieza’s is said to be around 500,000! What chance have I got against that!”

“You’ll beat him eventually, just not yet” a stern voice said, full of prominence, and respect.

“Huh? Who are you?” Korosu and the woman asked together.

“I am a doctor, and I have come to report Bardock’s condition”

“How is he! He’s dead isn’t he! Shit!”

“No, he is alive, and he will be out of the tank in a couple of hours.”

“Brilliant!” Korosu shouted.

“Yes, but I suggest you leave this planet Korosu. You are the strongest that we have got, and if Frieza comes again, then it’s all over. Go to the planet Earth. That is where Kakarot was sent when he was a child, and it seems to be quite a peaceful planet. You can train there for a while, and come back when you are strong enough to beat Frieza.”   

“I will. Thank you for the advice. I shall leave tomorrow morning, with Bardock. In fact, he should be pretty powerful too shouldn’t he?”

“Yes.”

***

Bardock finally awakens in his regeneration tank, and as the cold, callus water drains slowly away, he pulls off the wires connected to his body. His muscles seem to bulge as he steps out, and it takes the saiyan about a minute to regain his stance, as he topples around, grabbing desperately for anything he can. When he finally does regain his balance and stance, he sees clearly for the first time in a while. A smile brightens his face up completely, and glee fills the air. He runs out, testing his improved strength, bouncing off the walls, seeing how fast he can go, almost as if he has just been released from a confining cell. He is greeted by Korosu, where everything is explained to him. They talk for a while about the fight, and spar with each other, then head off to bed, ready to get a good nights sleep, with Korosu being plagued with the though of all the other saiyans going off to attack Frieza. The end of his people is nigh, but he is powerless to stop it. If only he had set off to catch them up though, what difference would it have made? It would have got him killed as well as everyone else. It wasn’t worth it, but now his conscience will eat away at him. Korosu begins to think of how he managed to survive after sustaining such heavy injuries. He thinks back to the fight with Dodoria, as his dreams are clouded with thoughts from the battle…..