ENSLAVED *Easy*

Gain +1 alignment if you staged the revolt and freed the slaves OR gain -1 alignment if you freed yourself but sold the slaves.

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".....Ugh....." Frozen groaned. A pulsating THROB reverberated through his crystaline skull, faint glints of light starting to pierce through the dark. For the longest time, it was as if he were floating the the middle of a cold, black abyss, the boundless black seeming to cradle him, sap his strength, and it was only just now that he was starting to gather himself. ...But what was this pain...? He... Frozen snapped awake, shooting up. His eyes, still adjusting to the sudden burst of light, focused in upon his surroundings, identifying that THIS... was not where he had been before...

    Frozen remembered... the Arctic... and a mere boy that had pushed him to his third form. He remembered... being exhausted afterwards, contemplating his situation and then... An arch of pain shot through Frozen's skull as if to complete the thought, his hand shooting up to the aching spot upon his cranium and feeling a... light crack upon the crystal. He... had been struck from behind... but who...

    "Finally awake, are ya?" A voice called to him. Frozen whipped around, only just now realizing that he was in a cage. It was a large, slap-dash structure made of scrap both fresh and rusted, cobbled together in such a way that suggested it was built on the spot. Frozen... was no longer in the arctic, but a more temperate plains-like area, flat-lands seeming to carry on for miles with similar cages to his own set up around him. Each one of these cages housed a prisoner of a different race, some were humans... others saiyans, judging by their tails. Some still, aliens Frozen did not recognize.

    "Oi, Changeling! Speak when spoken too!" Flicking his eyes back to figure, he had deep pink skin and pointed ears, his pupils slit vertically like a cat with fangs reminiscent of bats. He wore what looked like patchwork military-esq fatigues over-which was a heavy-coat with an emblem upon the left breast: A red fist over a white moon. Frozen stared at the emblem, recognizing it, an icy cold rage bubbling up over his thoughts.

    "...The Demolition League." Frozen muttered. The cat-eyed man smirked, kneeling down so that he was at Frozen's eye level.

    "Seems our reputation proceeds us, even out here in the middle o' nowhere." He kicked the cage with his boot, causing the fragile structure to rattle. "Welcome to yer new life. Yer gonna be working for us now."

    "From what I recall, The Demolition League are mercenaries, not slavers." Frozen growled, standing so that he was at his full height. "What is the meaning of this?"

    "We had a change o' management." The Man explained, pulling out a cigar from his coat. He placed it into his mouth, snapped his fingers near its end, and caused spark which lit the tip. He sucked in a deep breath before blowing the smoke in Frozen's face, the Changeling flashing a grimace as the man smirked. "Turns out, bounties aren't as common or as profitable as they used to be. Have to change up the business-model to stay in the black, you understand. There's plenty o' worlds out there jus' like this'n, fulla weak, compliant people perfect for the market. ...And if they're not..." He tapped his neck. Frozen blinked, looking down and realizing a metal clamp was wrapped around his throat. "Recommend you don't try to take it off. It's designed to suppress powers like yers-" Without listening, Frozen reached up and YANKED at the collar... only for his nerves to BURST INTO FLAME! He collapsed on the ground YELLING, twitching, jerking as electricity shot through his body, his own ki being siphoned and used against him! The moment he stopped pulling, the collar stopped shocking him, the changeling left on the ground smoking from his nose, skin, and mouth.

    "...One way 'er 'nother." The man completed his thought, taking another long drag off his cigar. "...Since yer a little slow in the head, lemme tell ya what's goin' on: My name is Commander Gausse, and I'm runnin' this operation Earthside. We got jobs goin' on all over this planet and you just became part o' one." He gestured at Frozen's collar. "Thems there supposed to keep rabble like you from gettin' too... rebellious 'fore yer needed. Best not to test 'em. They're designed to hurt more the longer you struggle. So, here's what's gonna happen..." Commander Gausse blew another long blast of smoke in Frozen's face. "Yer gonna sit right there 'till we need ya... Then yer gonna do what we tell you until we say yer done. Start anythin' or don't work fast 'nough, ya get shocked. Attack us, you get shot." Gausse stood aside, showing... the camp was much larger than Frozen had anticipated, many, MANY guards patrolling the cages of slaves.

    "Yer just one o' many... So do yerself a favor and sit tight. Ain't got no use for rabble rousers." With that, the Commander would walk off, leaving Frozen SEETHING IN HIS CAGE. How DARE this man do this...? Not just to HIM, but to these people!? There were few things in this universe more cruel and needless than slavery... and a galactic-scale representation had been inflicted upon this world! Frozen had known of The Demolition League back when they were a small organization of a half-dozen warriors of so. They were a noble lot, soldiers for hire with a specialization in the infiltration and destruction of corrupt governments! He had employed the services of a handful of soldiers in his takeover but now... they seemed to have expanded rapidly! ...And lost their way as a result. Frozen stared out through the bars of his cage, grabbing the bars and pulling... The cage LOOKED easy to destroy, perhaps with his full power at his command... but like this... WEAK... he could barely even rattle the cage! Perhaps if he transformed fast enough, he could overload the collar and-

    "Psst... Hey..." A new voice called to him. Frozen glanced in it's direction, catching sight of a green-haired human-like individual, one eye covered by a patch. He wore a mercenary's outfit as well, a green beard, the insignia of The Demolition League emblazened across the eye-patch. Frozen recognized his race as Cerealian... But his face... "We meet again Lord Frozen..." Instantly, the Changeling's eyes lit up with recognition.

    "An honor you recognize me... I served with you during your conquest of your home world." Yes... Everything made sense now... He was one of the few Frozen had employed when he took over his world but...

    "Why are you here...?" Frozen whispered back, gesturing at his cage. "And why aren't you out there with them?"

    "This whole thing," Cripx gestured at the set up around them. "...Just happened. There was a coup and the less savory members of our organization took over, enslaved the rest of us. They started recruiting about a month ago and are not doing this kind of work... But from what I hear, they're not doing so well financially."

    "They came here because, when they recruited, they ran their finances dry. Too many people, not enough work. They came out here, a generally uncolonized part of space, looking to move into the enslavement trade. This is their first stop."

    "In other words..." Frozen mused, tapping his chin. "If we take care of them here..."

    "...They won't be able to recover." Cripx concluded. He then reached into his sleeve, withdrawing a small remote. He glanced around his cage and, upon noting the absence of the guards, he would toss the remote to Frozen. "...A key to your collar. I swiped it off one of the guards when he came to taunt me."

    "Wouldn't have mattered. Too many of them for me to escape. You, however... Your power is something else. You might be able to make something happen." Frozen eyed the man suspicious. He still wore the colors of the slavers who had taken him and, although Frozen remembered him to be an honorable warrior, nothing seemed certain at this point.

    "How do I know this is not a trick?" Frozen questioned, gesturing to the outside.

    "My lord, I'm afraid you don't have a choice but to trust me." Cripx stated, his voice exhausted. "We're going to be called out soon and worked until we're half dead. By then, key or no key, we're not going to have the strength to escape. Trust me, as you once did... and get us out of here."

    Frozen eyed the key in his grasp, furrowed his brow... and then shrugged his shoulders. He was right. Frozen didn't have any other options. Steeling himself, the Changeling held the key up to his collar, took a deep breath... and pressed the button. He froze, uncertain what to expect, perhaps another shock... but all he heard was a light "CLICK!" Frozen winced as the collar fell off his neck... and the lord smiled. He was FREE. In a flash, Frozen SHOT out of his cage, shooting all the guards around him with a flash of his eyes! By the time they fell and the other guards heard the attack, Frozen had already leveled his finger in their direction, firing Death-Beams through each of their chests, causing them to collapse upon the ground... but that Commander-fellow... Guasse... He was nowhere to be seen... Acting fast, Frozen, using his immense speed, shot around the cages and ripped them off their hinges, freeing their inhabitants with a click of his key. As the slaves dispersed, Frozen turned towards Cripx, the Mercenary... having not yet left. He looked around, almost somewhat somberly at the bodies that now littered the camp, before turning his attention back to Frozen.

    "They were bad men... But good soldiers." He sighed. "What of Gausse?"

    "Gone." Frozen said flatly. "Probably went to another one of his job-sites."

    "...Forgive me for being so bold, my lord." Cripx stated after a moment. "...But would you be in need of a soldier at your side? The Demolition League is not what it once was and I don't know my way around this planet. It would be in both of our best interests to join forces for now, would it not?"

    Frozen narrowed his eyes at the man. So far, Cripx has been a reliable one, getting him and the rest of these poor misbegottens out of their cages... but Frozen wasn't exactly sure if he can trust him yet... The again, Frozen really didn't have anyone else he could say he trusted more than this man on this world and, if The Demolition League has other institutions on this world, then he was going to need all the help he could get to purge them.

WC: 1817