Zerori had basically grown up on Earth so it wasn’t too odd for her to be relatively up to date with the current events. Honestly, you really would have had to live under a little rock to not be ‘with the times’ these days - especially with how active the current… competition, Zerori was going to call them, was. Her only saving grace ever since the duo of brothers that was Ryme and Zero was that her own modest base of operations was currently situated in East City as opposed to the currently controlled West. Not that she was happy about that, but it at least kept the heat off of her own nightly routines until she could get things rolling.

And right now, Zerori was hauling fucking ass to get things rolling before the two Changelings got even MORE ambitious. At the moment she was glossing over the finishing touches to her magnum opus but she wasn’t ready to reveal it to anyone. There was the very real possibility that everything she’d been working toward could fall apart at any moment, after all. Tucked away in her little office, however, Zerori couldn’t stop running the numbers of the space station if she tried.

The permits were in the works. (Some) Investments in place. All she needed was a little bit more of a push from a few companies (Major ones) and she could begin construction. Still, the task was daunting and the distractions numerous, Zerori bringing a hand up to rub at her eyes with a groan.

“What a fuckin’ nightmare,” She muttered, stuck between wanting to get up and punch something (she called it stretching) or staying still and going over them ONE more time and hope it gives her some kind of inspiration she could use. Thankfully, the conflict was taken out of her hands as a familiar ball of fluff bounded onto her table with a racious meow. She raised an amused eyebrow at Twilight, the cat she’d met a year ago whilst she was… well dying from a bad mission gone horribly wrong. “What’s up, you little bastard?”

Another meow, much louder and seemingly paired with a generous amount of trying to shove his asshole into her face and Zerori was finally on the up and up of what he wanted. She scoffed with a grimace, gently pushing his butt away from her and getting up from the table, “Fine, but don’t throw it up this time! I’m getting sick of stepping in it, you little fiend.”

As if to say ‘but you love me?’ Twilight would give a chirp before rushing away with the urgency of a starving child to show her that his food bowl was tragically empty. Rolling her eyes at his antics, Zerori followed at a distance before finally feeding the needy thing. As he ate, growling the entire time because of course a cat that she’d find would have food aggression, the flat screen in her apartment would replay the news she’d not paid attention to during the day.

Some were old, already sung songs of the newest issues; the attack on Orange City, the announced take-over that had claimed the lives of two that she’d met… while at this moment, she was witnessing something that had her questioning whether she was having a dream or not.

Upon the screen, playing in potato quality, was a clip of someone with a build so large that Zerori knew in an INSTANT that they weren’t human. Her immediate thought was a Changeling but they weren’t pale enough. In fact, they seemed to wear some kind of full-body spandex suit that made them look absolutely ridiculous!

That was, until the report played the audio and Zerori’s heart fucking dropped.

“You will fear the POWER of us Saiyans, no matter where you hide! The Unstoppable Great Ape will make SURE OF IT!” He’d bellow, reaching for an air car a moment later and throwing it in a general direction where the explosion could be heard off camera before it cut off.

“... Are you fucking serious, Korn?” Zerori mumbled, watching the clip play one more time before the reporter went on to explain that this was why it was imperative Saiyans on Earth were ‘tagged and collared’ before the program was switched to a technical screen.

Zerori didn’t give a shit about the racism, that much never changed since the USD’s ‘arrangement’ with Vegeta. What bothered her was that KORN, who she’d known since she;d been on Earth, was making everything worse and doing it while under some very shitty disguise. She didn’t care that Earth was going ‘Anti Saiyan’ - she gave a DAMN about the reputation of her persona being completely muddled by Korn’s disgusting display.

With a sigh, Zerori pinched the bridge of her nose before she turned to the door of her apartment and stomped out.

…
..
.

Within minutes, sniffing out the bastard that ruined the night in with her cat, Korn would find his own evening under the starry night in a forest far from prying eyes to be interrupted rather violently. Laying on his back, hands under the back of his head, Korn would be snoring peacefully one moment with his body still clad in the full-body spandex suit (except his face was exposed this time) - to choking loudly as a fully-armored woman in a red suit and a visored helmet would literally drop in like a sack of bricks with a knee right in his stomach.

His loud groan of pain would be overshadowed by a familiar voice yelling in his face.

“ARE YOU READY TO DIE, KORN?!”

“U-UGH, Z-Zerori-?!” He struggled to wheeze out, her knee still firmly lodged in his gut before he reacted a moment later with a swing after regaining his wits. She dodged the swing with ease, her point more than made as she flipped away from him to land on the ground. He snarled at her, sitting up and holding his abdomen, “What’s got you so bitchy today?!”

“Is that even a QUESTION? What’d you do today, huh?! Get some nice time on TV?!?!” Zerori’s voice would raise with every rhetorical question, almost bordering on a screech as she vented. “I don’t care that you decided to ‘protest’-,” She mocked physically with air quotes, “-the whole ‘Collar the Saiyans’ bullshit. I CARE that you thought this shitty disguise and calling card was a good idea! I am the ‘Red Doll’, Korn - not one of the goddamn Wiggles!” She gave a heavy stomp onto the ground, a red aura seeping from around her like a miasma.

Korn, always lacking the self-awareness, was unmoved by her demands, “That doesn’t make any sense and your outfit is STUPID! I am making you see that!”

“You’re not gonna like what I’M ABOUT TO MAKE YOU SEE!”

He didn’t even see the kick coming, a fact Zerori would later find herself proud of when she realized that the training she’d been doing was paying off. While Korn was never really a threat to her before, his own natural power was always something she had to use her brains to overcome. The absolute ass-kicking Korn received would be both a nice release and a message to him to cause whatever trouble he wanted but with normal clothes ON.

…
..
.

Come morning, however, Zerori would return to the apartment with not just a sense of accomplishment… but a new feeling of dread. Already, she knew that the appeal of the Saiyans was souring, even if they were the ones whom were more or less dragged to the planet. Dropping off her armor in pieces, her helmet landing on the couch as she passed it by, Zerori would slump into a chair at her dining table before looking over at the TV that continued to replay the news.

Well-laid plans for an empire of profit and a safe haven of misdirection felt on the precipice of falling apart before - the lack of inspiration a dangerous trap of stagnation. However, as she watched the people clamor and complain of the impending attacks, a dangerous idea began to breed.

“... Hm. Risk and reward,” Zerori purred, the tired frown turning up into a grin.