And Then There Were Three

While on his futuristic crib, Cress had calmed down a bit after his moment of joy upon acknowledging Gine as his mother. But immediately after the fact, his mind was once again, in turmoil.

'How can my mind still function as normal? I had a complete emotional breakdown, even if I know what my purpose is now, at the very least, my emotions should fluctuate somewhat… but they're as normal as can be…'

He pondered quietly to himself. It was true, an individual that had suffered such a massive breakdown should not be able to recover so quickly, especially if he could remember it.

Wait.

Could he remember it?

'I think I remember my life as Reginald… but it seems so distant… so, foggy?'

It was hard to describe, it was all there, but they didn't seem like his own memories. It was as if they had been uploaded onto his brain, they were his, but not quite, just like he was there, but not quite.

'Worry makes a man a worrywart, and the worrywart is a dullard of the highest order, just like tea makes a pot a teapot; to dwell on the semantics of crockery is stupid and I should abandon this train of thought…'

Digressing from himself, he realised that his flair for whimsy and rhymes had dissipated significantly, he had lost himself in a tangent as he never had before.

'This must be remedied, I must not, under any circumstances, lose myself to this creativity-starved heathen that I have become… I suppose, time will tell of my countenance, I must grow and grow quick at that!'

Determined now and reinforced by the fact that he was merely an infant at the moment, Cress slowly drifted off to sleep, waiting for his scary mother to return and take him away from this simian hellscape of tailed infants.

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Meanwhile, there was an interesting scene afoot merely a sector away from Cress.

The 'Hyperite' called Magenta was on his way to the command centre of lower-sector 5, grumbling to himself about orders from a 'bigger monkey'.

As he approached the large building, he sighed to himself.

"We never had palaces this grand back in Riverdois, let alone a fucking command centre!"

Magenta was angry that the Saiyans received an overabundance of resources, especially when his own home planet, now know as Frieza Planet 109, did not receive so much as a fraction of that amount.

Choosing to swallow his rage, he slowly walked up the stairs, he could at the very least take solace in the fact that the barbaric Saiyans had uninspired and monotonous colours grace their great agorae.

The great open space in the middle of the centre was used for training and assemblies, and was designated as an 'Agora', a term Magenta deemed too fanciful for the simian idiots to comprehend.

'I guess it's time to find out what Paragus wants, even though he's a monkey, he's sharp; sharp and dangerous. Since he's the one who called for me, I've got to be ready for whatever schemes he has.'

Thinking such to himself, he quickly headed into the commander's office of the centre, a big room with a medium sized door that looked like it had been carved into the metal wall, the inside of which was modest; a desk, a chair and a few bookstands. A series 500 model computer, with a series 250 model green scouter inserted into it. The importance of this room could not be overstated, but it was also sound-proofed, as if to state its importance.

There sat Paragus, an intimidating man with spiky black hair, basic Saiyan armour, and dark, scarily intelligent eyes that he used to pierce into Magenta as he walked into the office.

"So, you are finally here, former leader of the Magenta forces; I must say, it's an honour to meet you."

Paragus spoke eloquently, his gaze digging deeper still into the now confused Magenta.

"You surely jest, I'm nothing special, it is in fact an honour to meet you; Commander Paragus."

"Ah! That is where you'd be wrong, there are hundreds of commanders on this planet. But it isn't often that you find someone responsible for massacring the children of a race, before deciding to work as a technician in their lower-sectors… now is there?"

Paragus calmly stated with a smile before quietly staring at Magenta, letting the tension in the air build, and looking for any change in expression that he could, all while maintaining what Magenta would call a shit-eating grin.

Magenta took a few moments to process what was said, and as waves of memories that he had locked away came gushing back to him, he could not help but angrily shout.

"Shut up! They weren't innocent! They weren't! I did the right thing! Shut your mouth you damn dirty ape!"

Yelling at the top of his lungs, Magenta was out of breath, and extremely glad that the Commander's office was sound-proofed. Otherwise he would be surrounded by angry guards.

Paragus, knowingly opposed Magenta's expectations, and spoke as his grin grew wider.

"I never claimed they were innocent, only you did. But still, I have what I need, and I need you. You will be responsible for a new program I will soon be introducing – so do listen carefully as I give you the details."

Taking a quick breath as he looked at the surprised and somewhat frustrated Magenta, who was thinking to himself.

'I let this bastard get to me, he knew exactly how to push my buttons and I didn't even try to stop him! He's too fucking dangerous, I hate him!'

Paragus, ignoring Magenta's condition, continued.

"You are to be the Team Leader for the first division of the Multi-Force Defence Team that I will be establishing. You will take under your wing 3 pre-selected Saiyan infants and partake in a series of infiltration missions alongside them until you have fulfilled the criteria that I have prepared for you in this scouter."

Saying this much, Paragus handed the series 250 model green scouter to Magenta before continuing.

"That scouter is your lifeline, it contains details about the children, the first mission and a direct line to me. You will contact me daily on the progress of the children, and follow any order that I give you, even if I ask you to kill one of the children… or yourself."

Paragus paused for a moment with a serious expression on his face, letting Magenta process the information, and just as the latter was about to protest.

"Of course, this has been approved by King Vegeta and the relevant Frieza force members, and should you defy any order, or fail to fulfil any of the criteria, you will immediately be designated as a traitor to both the Frieza Forces and Planet Vegeta… so choose your next words very carefully."

A smile once again graced Paragus' normally sullen face, he was enjoying every second of this, if his plan worked… well, he wouldn't even need to worry about that lizard Frieza anymore.

Magenta's face went pale as he considered the consequences. His mind was working rapidly, and he took into account the seriousness of the situation, not even being able to curse at Paragus in his mind for fear that the 'monkey bastard' would be able to read it.

'I don't have a choice, I really don't have a choice in this, I'm fucked… Fine, if commander Paragus wants to control me, then I'll let him. But if he wants to take me down, I know just the monkey that I'll be bringing down with me.'

Taking on an extremely stern expression after this thought, Magenta looked into the scouter and immediately, a smile appeared on his face before it became extremely apathetic.

"Team Leader Magenta reporting to Commander Paragus, Multi-Force Defence First Division mission acquired. I will begin making preparations for the infiltration mission immediately. Training for the recruits will begin in half a year. Launch ETD: Two Years. Recruit positions: Cress, son of Bardock, lower-class warrior. Silver, daughter of Kura, lower-class warrior. Broly, son of Paragus, team captain."

Smiling as he spoke the name of the last recruit, Magenta was slightly astonished as Paragus responded with a smile of his own, and continued, now with a more serious expression.

"Mission details: Infiltrate and annex planet Kanassa."

"Very good, now, leave me alone… my slave."

Gritting his teeth at Paragus' comment, Magenta walked out of his office fuming.

'I'll show you Paragus, I don't care how, and I don't care when, but I will show you what happens when you mess with me you goddamn ape.'

Magenta walked away as he thought to himself. Paragus wasn't just a monkey to him anymore… he was a dangerous ape that had to be brought down a peg.

END OF CHAPTER 3