"...The Tree of what?" Marzette cut in, walking up behind him to look over the planet.
Knox glanced at her before he spoke. "The Tree of Might. As it grows, it'll drain all the energy from the planet, leaving it lifeless. Once it's done, it'll bear fruit that contains all the energy it's absorbed. If anyone eats that fruit, they'll gain a huge power boost."
"That... sounds horrible."
Knox nodded grimly. "It is. Sadly, I don't know any way to reverse the process. Destroying the tree will stop further damage and the planet should heal over time, but I don't think it undoes what's already been done. Those who've died..."
"...Won't come back." Marzette's tone darkened. Her eyes briefly darted out the window to take in the towering tree below. "Then our goal is to destroy this vile tree and give the fruit to the people of this planet?"
"If I was really altruistic? That's exactly what I'd do," Knox's lips morphed into a sardonic grin. "But I think I'll eat the fruit myself instead."
Marzette's mandibles hung open. "So that's why you immediately wanted to help them."
"You're making it sound worse than it is," Knox replied with a grimace. "The tree itself isn't evil. It's just a really big tree that needs a lot of energy to grow. But the people who own the seed have been using it to travel around basically eating entire planets. Even if we didn't eat the fruit, you can't honestly think the seed would be better in the hands of space pirates, right?"
"Knox," Marzette's tone made him turn to look at her. "You don't have to justify yourself to me. Until I return home, you are essentially my King. I just wanted to understand your motivation, irrespective of morality."
Silence settled between them.
Knox's mind drifted, unbidden, to flashes of his time in which is [Evil Aura] tempted him to simply let go. To take full advantage of the world around him in search of greater power, turning a blind eye to his own morals.
His throat tightened involuntarily, and he swallowed thickly.
Marzette's voice broke through the weight of his thoughts, startling him.
"...Unless," she began, her tone as measured as ever, "you want me to keep you on the straight and narrow?"
"...We'll talk about it," he muttered, his voice low and clipped. "Right now, we need to focus on getting down there before the pirates get their hands on that fruit."
Marzette studied him for a beat longer normal before simply giving him a nod.
With a deep breath, Knox refocused himself and walked over to a nearby table and grabbed one of the advanced scouters he found on the ship. The engineers managed to modify so it couldn't be tapped into, but it was still a mediocre piece of technology in his opinion.
'I really need to figure out how to sense Ki.' He thought as he attached it to his ear. 'This thing can scan up to 100,000 power level, but that isn't much. Plus, it still explodes if someone powers up too fast.'
Marzette followed suit, putting on the highly defensive armor that was originally made for him. The segmented plating moved with her like a second skin, adding onto her natural exoskeleton's durability.
In contrast to her full armor, Knox was just wearing a black undersuit with Frieza Force armguards, boots, and his gray jumpsuit tied around his waist.
The crocodilian crewmember burst into the room just then, his wide yellow eyes filled with nervous energy. "All clear! Checked the atmosphere. It's stable, and the landing zone is… well, as safe as it's gonna get. You're good to drop!"
Knox walked toward the airlock. "We're going in."
Marzette followed him, her insectoid body clicking against the ground with each step. "Jumping into a planetary hot zone to fight pirates and destroy a tree that's eating an entire world's energy... I wonder if my liege will believe me when I tell her this story."
Knox smirked faintly as they reached the bay doors. The hiss of decompression filled the room as the airlock opened, revealing the planet below.
"Brace yourself," Knox quipped, glancing at her briefly before stepping off the ship.
Knox and Marzette free fell through the atmosphere, the sight of the Tree of Might growing larger with every passing second. The descent was quick, the rush of air deafening as they hurtled through the planet's atmosphere like two dark comets.
Knox adjusted his scouter mid-fall as they approached the planet, the device flickering to life and marking several power signatures in the area.
Marzette's voice cut through his focus. "What's the plan?"
"Simple," he said. "We knock out anyone who gets in the way, grab the fruit, and take care of the tree afterward. Quick and easy, five-minute excursion."
She nodded in response, following his lead.
With a burst of Ki, they shot off toward the tree at blinding speeds. The massive size of it coupled with their speed meant they didn't have to fly for very long before they reached the shadow of the tree's foliage.
Nearly immediately, a voice screamed out at them.
"That's close enough!" they barked, sharp and derisive.
Knox turned to see five figures floating in the air.
Amond stood at the front, his massive frame towering over the others as he cracked his enormous knuckles. Behind him were Cacao, Raisin, Lakasei, and Daiz, all glaring at them with varying degrees of menace.
Amond let out a low chuckle. "A couple of Frieza's lackeys, eh?" he sneered, cracking his knuckles loudly. "This day just keeps getting better and better."
One of the twins, Knox wasn't sure if it was Raisin or Lakasei, snickered. "And they're weak, too! Scouter says they're barely at a thousand."
"Playing with them might actually be fun for once," the other twin chimed in.
Knox didn't acknowledge their jeers, his expression cool and detached. He turned his head slightly toward Marzette and spoke as if the Crusher Corps weren't there at all.
"Go get the fruit. I'll handle these clowns."
Marzette hesitated for only a second before nodding. Her compound eyes flicked toward the tree, analyzing the situation, before darting forward past the Crusher Corps in a blur of movement.
Amond's smirk widened as he gestured casually to the other members. "Cacao, go grab the bug-"
Before Cacao could even move, a thin beam of crimson-black energy shot from Knox's eyes. The cyborg anticipated the attack and attempted to dodge, but the beam zigzagged sharply, piercing through his chest with brutal precision.
A technique that combined his psychokinesis with ki blasts, inspired by the budget Omega Beams the Chitinari used on him.
The other Crusher Corps members stared in stunned silence as the energy burnt through his eyes, his corpse stopping midair and plummeting to the ground below.
[Threshold not Met.]
"Tch. These guys are way weaker than I thought," he muttered, half to himself.
Knox raised his scouter and activated it, watching as their power levels blinked onto his display. He frowned when the numbers appeared, disappointingly low across the board.
"I thought Cacao was supposed to be their strongest," he murmured incredulously. "But these guys don't even reach 5k yet..."
'Maybe it's because they haven't eaten enough fruits yet?' He wondered.
Knox's words seemed to snap the remaining Crusher Corps members out of their shock. Their expressions twisted into outrage, their Ki flaring as they launched themselves at him all at once.
Amond came in with a massive hook, his muscled arm cutting through the air like a sledgehammer.
Knox didn't even flinch, tilting his head slightly and letting the blow sail harmlessly past his shoulder.
He countered with a crushing body shot, his fist slamming into Amond's abdomen with such force that the larger man's eyes bulged in shock. Amond collapsed in a heap, gasping for air.
With a snap, Knox's psychokinesis made Amond look as if gravity had increased a hundred times, his body sent careening toward the ground.
The twins screamed in unison, their attacks coming from both sides as they fired erratic blasts of energy. Knox simply raised a hand and grasped the blasts with his psychokinesis effortlessly, throwing it back at them and sending them hurtling into the ground.
Daiz, practically frothing with rage, charged at him from above with both fists outstretched. Knox raised an eyebrow and held out his hand, catching Daiz's fists mid-swing.
The weaker man snarled, pushing against Knox with all his strength, but he might as well have been trying to shove a mountain.
With a flick of his wrist, Knox sent Daiz flying into a nearby rocky formation, the impact sending stone and dust everywhere.
Knox dusted off his hands with a few claps, looking over the fallen trash.
"I knew they'd be pushovers without the fruit empowering them," Knox muttered, watching as Amond struggled to stand up. "But this is just sad."
He glanced toward the tree for any sign of Marzette. There wasn't any fruit he could see from here, but there might be some on the other side of the tree.
Just as he was about to take off towards her, the scouter screamed in alarm.
The air shifted as something fast and powerful rocketed toward him from behind. Knox turned just in time to see a fist aimed straight at his face.
But even at that speed, it was far too slow.
With calm, deliberate precision, Knox tilted his head to the side. The punch missed him by mere inches, though the sheer force of it made his hair flap in the wind.
"Heh."
Knox released his energy, the rush of black and crimson Ki exploding outward, sending shockwaves of force in every direction.
Turles staggered backward mid-air, momentarily caught off guard by the sudden surge of power.
Turning around fully, Knox watched as his scouter blink in rapid succession, eventually settling on a clean 6385 for Turles' power level.
"Jackpot," He muttered under his breath. "At least one of you were just strong enough to-"
Knox stopped abruptly.
His lips pressed into a thin line, his amusement giving way to confusion as he noticed Turles wasn't looking at him. Instead, the Saiyan's gaze was fixed on his own hand, his brow furrowed and his jet-black eyes narrowed in visible alarm.
"W-what is this...?" Turles murmured, his voice low and shaky as he raised his hand higher. Harsh streaks of black and crimson energy flickered violently around it.
The exact same dark malicious aura that Knox had himself.
Knox's smirk dissolved entirely. His scouter beeped faintly as his eyes locked onto the power rippling on Turles' hand.
'What…? Why does he have that?!'
Before Knox could say anything, Turles' hand began to shake uncontrollably. The black and crimson aura climbed upward, spreading like wildfire as it enveloped his arm, then his chest, then his entire body.
"What the hell is this?!" Turles roared mid-air, gripping his head as veins bulged from his temples. His entire body convulsed violently, his body looking as if he was being possessed.
Knox floated back instinctively, the unsettling scene playing out before him.
Turles froze for a moment, his head jerking up as his eyes flew wide open completely white, devoid of pupils.
Then he screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
The sound echoed through the air, guttural and raw, as his body writhed under the intense waves of energy radiating off of him. His crimson-black aura pulsed wildly, bolstering and expanding outward in violent bursts.
Knox watched in stunned silence as his scouter lit up like a Christmas tree, Turles's power level skyrocketing beyond anything he had previously encountered.
The scouter blinked frantically as the numbers continued to climb:
15,000... 23,000… 34,000...
Turles's screams grew louder, more unhinged as the aura completely consumed him. The veins on his face pulsed violently, his muscles bulging grotesquely as the energy overtook him wholly.
The number locked in at 63,850 for a brief moment... just before his scouter shattered and exploded against his face.
Knox flinched and instinctively swiped the remains away, but his eyes remained locked on Turles, who had suddenly gone quiet.
Floating there, the glow of his corrupted aura still burning brightly, Turles whispered something under his breath.
"Ah..." His pupils had returned, but there was some deeply wrong about them now. As if each of them contained the enormity of the abyss. "I can see it now..."
"The true nature of a Saiyan..."