The Ape’s Bane, To Take What Was Once One, And To Break It In Twain.

"Excited anomaly, here's a catastrophe; what it is you ask of me, it is quite dastardly, for I am impatient see. Patience is a virtue, but a pain for one like me, one so full of thoughts and itchy fur too. Please mother get here quick, the sin of impatience on my skin is thick, as is what I wish for this tale; end…"

"…here to mend? I can't think of anything!"

Half a year of being babied and being a baby can be cause for insanity for many an adult mind, but Cress was able to trudge through the restrictions of infanthood by exploring the fascinating network of neurotransmissions that is the mind.

His body had developed much faster than a human's would, if allowed, he suspected that he could likely walk in the same capacity as a toddler, not that the fact was particularly impressive considering his current anatomical state, it was noteworthy nonetheless.

He had noticed a strange power flowing through his veins when channelled, it was something that he could feel in every cell of his body and move around without much effort. This – he presumed – was Ki, the near magical life energy that was responsible for the power of every mortal being in this universe… and beyond!

He had woken up today, a day as any other, but he did not expect to be graced by a loving mother.

His mind shouted with joy as Gine ran up to his crib, showering him with kisses and love he had nought of in his tenure as Reginald.

"You're so big now Cress!"

"Awwww! Did you miss me?! I missed you too!"

Gine kept muttering sweet nothings as Cress cringed in her arms, appearing rather adorable as his little face tried its best to articulate his complex mix of discomfort at being babied and happiness at being loved.

He wasn't aware of what was happening as his mother carried him away, even the robot she had argued with earlier merely looked on, eyes empty, a retort lost somewhere in there.

Cress looked confused as his mother's face became increasingly solemn as she carried him towards a large building that looked like a dome, a large white dome with an eery quietude surrounding it.

As they entered the dome, a large area came into view.

'This looks like a training ground, but I'm not a warrior, shouldn't I be prepped for academics? I'm not an infiltration baby… so what is this?'

Cress questioned the situation, resigning to the fact that he'd have to wait for an answer.

"Ah, MD (Meat Distribution Class) Gine, you are finally here. Good, then we can begin."

An ominous feeling gripped his heart as Cress heard the familiar-looking purple humanoid speak.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

One Year Later – Age 723.

In the very same dome, two boys that looked to be at the end of their adolescence stood 10 metres apart, staring at each other with determination clearly visible in their eyes.

On one side stood a child in full-body Saiyan armour, dark-skinned like his father, with spiky, dark and overgrown hair. His expression slightly unhinged, as he glared at the boy standing a little way away from him with increasing intensity.

On the other side however, the boy stood calm, with long black hair that resembled a spiky field of grass, and even more so resembled a combination of his mother's and father's hair. He wore body armour that was similar to his father's, only without the frills, and with his tail freely moving about behind him. He had a serene look about him, but he was just as determined to crush the person in front of him.

"It's about time Cress, that we settle this like men, Saiyan men!"

Said the dark-skinned boy, looking at the purple humanoid adorned in typical Frieza force armour as he emphasised 'Saiyan'.

Cress, standing across from him, scoffed as he replied, now with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Oh Broly, oh my dear Broly! How many times have I told you? You don't need to be a man to win battles, and you certainly don't need to be a woman to be a bitch! A fact you've proven time and time again."

Cress said while taking a good long look at the now infuriated Broly, before continuing. "As for being a Saiyan, I'll promise you this much, Commander Magenta can whip you around with your own tail before smashing you into the ground before you can say 'The Legendary Super Saiyan'. So count your blessings that he won't."

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT THE HYPERITE! HAVE YOU NO PRIDE MAN!" was all Broly could say in response to Cress' insult.

He was used to this by now, insult after insult, each more creative than the last, the one today was actually somewhat sloppy in comparison, but that was to be expected, considering…

"Enjoy it while you can, now that we can finally spar, I really wanna see how you'll have the gall to through shade after I break you!"

Broly shouted excitedly, in fact, it was undeniable that they were both excited, for this was the first time that they'd been allowed to spar since they met. With 'Commander' Magenta barring any infighting until they had trained for at least a year.

"Enough with the foreplay Broly, I love the enthusiasm, but I really want to see how you perform!"

"What?!"

"Okay, that came out wrong, and inappropriate for a one-and-a-half-year-old to say. Apologies, I'm just very, VERY excited to see how this plays out."

As the two Saiyan boys bickered, just on the sidelines, stood two people patiently observing.

Commander Magenta stood alongside a girl who looked to be of a similar age to Cress, albeit slightly shorter. She had skin slightly darker than that of Cress, but lighter than that of Broly, with smooth, black hair almost unbecoming of a Saiyan, and fierce eyes filled with a mix of a determined and relaxed aura.

"Who do you think will win? Your boyfriend, or the monkey?"

Magenta asked casually, hoping to incite some sort of reaction from the girl.

"The one that is capable of shutting the fuck up has this one in the bag."

Replied the girl, clearly annoyed by the back and forth between Broly and Cress.

"Perhaps you're right, I'll let them have this for now though, they've been wanting this fight since they laid eyes on one another. But they're cleaning this dome afterwards, with the weights on."

Magenta sighed as he spoke, 'Why did I expect it to be any different, such a typical rivalry' he thought. Before glancing at the girl beside him.

'It is weird though; she didn't contest once when I let those two have the first spar. After all, considering how much she wants to prove herself, it's a miracle that she didn't start a fucking revolution over my decision."

Magenta considered for a moment, before focusing on the fight again, which looked like it was about to begin.

"Magenta, start the combat run, I'm ready to show this low-level asshole what it's like to make out with the ground."

Before Cress could reply, Magenta quickly responded to Broly.

"Just shut up, the BOTH of you! I'm turning on the combat setting, and if I here another word out of either one of you, I swear that you won't see even a morsel of meat for the next year!"

Both Broly and Cress gulped, the threat felt very real, and even if it wasn't, they wouldn't exactly be Saiyans if they were willing to risk it.

"Good."

Satisfied by their reaction, Magenta began the combat run of the dome, a special simulation that allowed two or more people to spar without having to worry about their surroundings.

The countdown for the spar began. A monotone voice spoke out.

"Battle to commence in 3, 2, 1…"

The tension in the air was thick, both Magenta and the girl quickly focused their attention on the two boys.

"…zero! FIGHT!"

*BOOM*

Broly's body burst directly towards where Cress was standing, the latter was calmly staring as the former cocked back his fist and prepared to punch.

*Swish*

*BANG*

*SLAM*

The fist hit empty air as Cress slightly moved his head to side. Cress then grabbed Broly's hand and threw him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground.

*BANG* *WOOSH* *SLAM*

Broly tried to punch Cress again from the ground, but boy simply blocked the entire force of the punch with his palm. Cress used his other arm to throw Broly into the air, before jumping up, grabbing his leg and slamming him directly onto the ground again.

'FUCK! I can't hurt him!'

Broly thought as he jumped away from Cress, who simply looked at him with an uncaring expression.

In that quick exchange that lasted but a few seconds, Broly was already covered in bruises, with his breathing as ragged as his clothes. While Cress simply stood there, calm, breathing normally and acting as if the fight had never even started.

Now incensed, Broly quickly took up a boxing stance, deciding to copy something he'd seen Magenta do in the past.

'The monkey is learning!'

Oddly enough, both Cress and Magenta thought at the same time, with a surprised expression visible on both their faces. Their surprise, however, was pleasant and short lived.

Cress decided it was time to humour the big bastard and took a stance he had been working on. He placed his left leg in front of him, doing the same with his left hand, his right hand was open and bent so that his palm was facing his left leg. He made sure that his left hand was facing in the direction of his right leg before curling it into a fist.

Now prepared, he shot a provocative look towards the now alert Broly.

Broly looked at Cress, then to Magenta, and then back to Cress, contemplating his next move.

'Fuck it! I should have a higher power level; I need to overwhelm him with strength to break his technique.'

Thinking as much, Broly rushed at Cress with a barrage of punches.

*BANG* *BOOM* *CRACK* *BOOM*

Cress deflected all of Broly's punches with little to no effort and countered with a heavy punch to the ribs.

Broly's ribs quickly broke with a loud crack before his body was thrown into the combat field wall at a ridiculous speed.

*BANG*

"AHHH!"

Crashing into the wall, Broly let out a loud cry, letting a little blood escape his mouth, before falling unconscious.

Seeing this, Magenta casually ended the match remotely with his scouter-like device.

"I've called the medics, looks like the monkey is going to be spending the night in a medical machine. You know Cress, I'm not really surprised that you beat the hairy ape, but I didn't expect you to be so… overwhelming? I'm certain you've never shown this much strength with the Saibamen, so what happened there?"

"Do you even need to ask? I wouldn't hold back either if I had to thrash the big oaf."

The usually quiet and snarky girl spoke out, presumably deciding to display only one of the two qualities.

"Apologies, my dear Silver, for my intention wasn't to break the poor sap. The motivation for my actions was a little more ambitious than that."

"I know what you're getting at, but I'm sorry kid, you were born a low-level Saiyan, and this whole program is led by Paragus. He might not care about his son being beaten to a bloody pulp…"

Magenta covered the microphone in his scouter before continuing, "But he won't just let you become the leader of the squad, you'll have to show your worth on our mission before I can do anything about it."

Cress silently gave a nod of understanding, a tad dispirited, but still determined.

"Before you have that chance though, let's see how well you fare against your fiancé. I'm not letting some half-baked loser take over this squad before I test him first!"

The girl identified as Silver spoke out, gaining a chuckle from Magenta, and an annoyed grunt from Cress.

"It's about time! YOU AND ME, IN THE RING! RIGHT THE FUCK NOW! If I win, you will never call me your fiancé again! Seriously! How old are you!"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Magenta burst out laughing at Cress' outburst, unconcerned with the annoyance of the latter.

To the surprise of both, however, Silver quietly started walking to her quarters.

"Where are you going? Come on! Let's fight!"

Cress shouted out. At this, Silver stopped and slowly turned around, her face completely serious, and spoke with all the apathy she could muster.

"I don't like those odds… honey."

END OF CHAPTER 4