A loud beep sounded on the rejuvination tank that housed Shikerou, his eyes opened to see the face of a Saiyajin warrior before him. The tank slowly drained of the now purple liquid within it, and Shikerou stepped out. The Saiyajin had a not-so-amused smirk on his face as he handed Shikerou a pile of folded clothes. Shike glanced around and saw multiple other fighters handing similar bundles to recently revived prisoners.

"Wipe yourself off Chikyuujin, you have to be somewhat presentable if you want to live."

The Saiyajin warrior handed young Shike a towel, and it was used to wipe remaining fluids from his face. His hair was still somewhat damp and slimy. The warrior held a chart in hand and glanced down at it as Shike wiped himself off and unfolded the bundle.

"Interesting, it say's here that your power level when Kakarotto found you was 350, strong for a Chikyuujin."

Shikerou gave the Saiyajin a quick stone faced look, and looked at his new attire. On top was an armor chest plate much like the one the Saiyajin in front of him was wearing. It felt almost like plastic, but then it stretched seemingly to no end. Underneath were pants, a shirt, boots and gloves. The pants and shirt were both black and made of a material that made Shike think of spandex. The boots were white with yellow toe caps, and they were made of what seemed to be the same material, only thicker and less flexible. The gloves felt like soft, stretchy leather. He opted to pass up the gloves... they made him look pathetic.

"Put on you clothes and let's go, baka."

"Who the hell are you and what happened?" barked Shikerou as he stepped into his clothing.

"I am a Saiyajin. You are to be tested in a tournament. If you live, you serve Bejitasama, if you die, we use your body to fuel the ship."

Shikerou finished putting on his new uniform. He noticed that on the chest plate was an insignia, it looked somewhat like Earth. Shikerou saw this and cringed as he thought about all the people who had died.

Shikerou exited the pod, and the Saiyajin put handcuffs on him, Shikerou was attached to a chain with a dozen or so other fighters, and Toma led them down a long black hallway. Shikerou didn't know where they were going. He looked around the hall they walked through. It was lit by electric lamps every couple of steps and the surrounding walls were an off-white color, bordering on blue. After a short time, the people in front of him stopped and he looked up. In front of them was a hatch with a strange symbol on it... Shikerou guessed that it was a Saiyago word. The hatch was the same color as the walls, the symbol, a blood red. The Saiyajin pressed a series of small buttons on a control panel to the left of the door that Shike hadn't noticed until just then. With a loud hiss, the door slowly opened and a bright light came through the door. Then he realized why he hadn't seen the panel before. When his captor removed his hand from the immediate viscinity of the panel, it was covered by a small hatch that blended almost entirely with the wall.

Shikerou followed the others into a great hall where hundreds of other such captives, all dressed in similar outfits, stood. A bead of sweat rolled down Shike's forehead and dripped unnoticed off of his pointed chin.

"Now listen here, all of you, it's very important that you follow what is heard here today, or it's quite simple, you will die. Now stand at attention and we will soon be receiving our leader, you will salute him when he enters by placing your right hand over the emblem of your planet. Understood? Good. Failure to comply will result in death. Remember, on this ship you are not important, your roles in your former lives mean nothing, what you do and say here today will determine your future."

"S-Sir? I-I have to... uh... to... to go to the bathroom..."

"Baka!" The Saiyajin reached out and placed his outstretched hand on the captive's forehead... ki glowed slightly around his palm... and suddenly, the man no longer had a forehead... or any sort of head to speak of at all...

After a few moments, the Prince of the Saiyajin entered the great hall. He was closely followed by three other Saiyajin.

Bejita walked up the stairs in the middle of the room to a podium high above the captives, and spoke.

"You are all here to prove yourselves. Should you survive, you will join my royal army and give your lives in battle if you must. You mean nothing anymore. You die in the tournament or you live to serve me... I care neither way. It's been 8 Days since Chikyuusei, the last planet we conquered, was voided of life. Your planets are long forgotten, and there is no need to rebel, you have no where to go. You can, however, live longer if you decide not to kill yourselves tonight. The fighting starts tomorrow."
Shikerou and his counterparts were then led through a door that led into another hallway. This one had hatches going the whole way down the hall. After a few minutes, the Saiyajin led Shike's group into one of them. It was a room with dozens of small bunks and nothing more. The chains were removed and the door shut as the Saiyajin left the room. Shike found a bunk, removed his boots and armor, and lie down. He spent a while meditating and was soon asleep.

"Roll Call!"

Those two words were the alarm for that day. All of the fighters slowly got out of bed and stood at attention. Shike could tell that each was thinking the same thing, Will I survive?. Shikerou donned his armor and boots, and began to survey the room for whom he thought would survive and who would not. Across from him was a large hulking figure, and beside him a small blue alien who was shaking ferociously. Shikerou grinned knowing he was among the best on the ship, obviously the majority of these collected fighters were weak. Shike noticed that there were less fighters today than last night... upon a quick inspection, he noticed two dead bodies... Apparently they had commited seppuku that night. He hadn't thought that Bejita's prediction was actually for real.

"Well men and woman- and both in some cases, today is the day, you will either live or die, it all depends on how you fight. You will be matched up against an opponent and you must kill that opponent in order to survive. Fight with all you have, and you will live, fight and be over confident, and you won't. Shikerou.you will be first, follow me.

Shikerou left this time with no cuffs, he focused his eyes forward, and walked solemnly down the long hallway before him. They went back to the same large hall they had gathered in the night before, but this time, the seats around the arena were filled with Saiyajin and other aliens who were already members of the army. In a high balcony on the far wall, Bejita, and another two Saiyajin observed the battle. Evidentally Shikerou was not the first, for there was a body already smashed into the side walls, and a triumphant fighter walking off. His Saiyajin escort turned on his scouter.

"Power Level 500 on that one, kuso, I missed a good fight."

Shikerou winced at the comment and walked to his end of the stadium, and began to concentrate, and focusing his energy. He opened his eyes to see his opponent, a green warrior. Shikerou began to sweat, the warrior saw this and grinned, Shike knew he was in for a hard battle.

"Your opponent is the lone survivor from when we conquered the planet Namek, they put up a fierce fight for such weak beings, but were beaten nonetheless."

Shike nodded and waited for the orders to begin the fight.

Shikerou situated his trained body into the familiar stance of his dojo as a voice came over a speaker system.

"Shikerou, a Chikyuujin, Power Level 350, will face Brodi, Namekseijin, Power Level 400."

"Ha! You're power is only at 350? I'll make quick work of you."

"350... perhaps you Saiyajin had better double check..."

As he said this Shikerou clenched his teeth and began focusing all his energy, a technique taught to him by his sensei. The voice came over the speakers again.

"Correction, Maximum Power of Chikyuujin Shikerou is 400."

"400? Impressive for a Chikyuujin... now it's all down to technique. I'll kill you yet."

"We'll see..."

"Shi ne!" the Namekseijin yelled as he dashed towards Shikerou at the other end of the vast arena. Shikerou stood his ground and let out a yell of his own and fired a ki blast. Brodi leapt into the air and dodged the blast. Suddenly, the Namekseijin disappeared...

"Nani?"

Brodi reappeared behind Shike and slammed both fists into his spine. Shikerou rolled forward and to the side as he fell and fired a Ki Blast into the chest of Brodi. With a backwards roll he was back on his feet and the Namekseijin slowly floated back to the ground.

"That stung," said Brodi with a grin.

Brodi pushed his arms forward and they stretched an impossible length. One flew out at Shikerou, who sidestepped it, but the second hit him in the chest and grabbed his armor. Brodi pushed him straight back into the far wall. Shikerou let out a yell and blood spurted out along with sound. Shike pitched forward onto his knees and sat breathing heavily. Brodi retracted his arms and made a dash for the downed Shike. Shikerou managed a Ki blast that hit Brodi square in the chest that slowed his run to a clumbsy stumble.

Shikerou wasted no time in beginning another attack, he ran at Brodi and body checked him, feet planted firmly and shoulder hitting the Namekseijin just under the ribs. Brodi stumbled backwards, stunned, and fell onto his back. Not wasting any time at all, Shike jumped into the air and landed on his knees on Brodi's chest. With a loud, sickening crack, a few of Brodi's ribs broke and he gasped a muffled groan. Shikerou extended a hand and charged a large amount of ki... pointing his outstretched palm at Brodi's head. Suddenly, Shikerou was on his face. Brodi stood above him, having out-manuvered him. The Namekseijin let out a powerful ki blast that sent Shike rolling across the floor. Bruised, battered, and burned, Shike laboriously got to his feet, catching his breath and wiping the blood that flowed from a cut on his forehead. He looked up to see his assailent next to him, and he ducked the roundhouse kick aimed at his head. Shike had just enough time to react as Brodi spun all the way around and delivered a backwards kick, this time with his left leg, at his chest. Shike side stepped it to the right, grabbed the outstretched leg under his left arm, and drove his right elbow into the base of Brodi's spine.

Brodi fell to the ground at Shike's feet and spun around to try and trip him. Shike stepped backwards, out of the way of the kick, and Brodi got back to his feet.

"Not bad, Chikyuujin... I felt a few of those attacks. But now it's time to die..."

Shike didn't give him enough time to act on those words and came at him with his right fist and hit him square in the jaw. He then quickly stepped forward half a step, positioned all his weight on his front leg, and, holding his right fist in his left hand, drove his elbow into Brodi's throat.

Brodi stumbled backwards, holding his neck with both hands, tears of pain in his eyes and gasping for breath.

Shikerou took a step toward Brodi as he fell to his knees. Blood began to flow from his mouth in large quantities. A disgusting gurlgling sound filled the air as Brodi tried to breathe. After a few moments, Brodi managed to spit out most of the blood blocking his windpipe and spat out a few inaudible words...

"Nani?" asked Shike.

"I said.... Shi.ne.baka!"

With that, Brodi got to his feet and drove his two hands into Shike's chest, palms outward and fingers facing in opposite directions. With a savage scream, the Namekseijin released most of his life energy directly into Shikerou.

With that, the green warrior fell forward onto his face and didn't move. Shikerou's maimed body flew through the air and landed several feet from his enemy. He was badly injured, but not dead. Had he not gotten a ki shield up in time, he would have come to the ground a pile of entrails and remnants...

Shike slowly... painfully... laboriously got to his feet. Blood was everywhere and the only way he could tell that it was his was from the color... a nice deep red. He wiped his face with his hands and winced at the incredible pain he was in. Holding his broken left arm with his right, he limped toward Brodi.

He somehow managed a smirk as he looked down at the muscular form beneath him...

Brodi slowly rolled over to look into the eyes of his death dealer...

"I could not have lost my life to a more honorable foe. Thank you."

Shike looked straight into Brodi's eyes... took a step forward... placed his foot on his forehead... and kicked as hard as he could... turning the Namekseijin's head abruptly to the side, snapping his spine instantly.

Then the blood loss caught up with him...

Chapter 3