There's always a battlefield…

Throughout his memories, no matter how far back he may search, his life has always been stained with boiling mud and dried gore, and thundering with the sounds of explosions and death. Peace was denied him from birth, but nevertheless he has yearned for that which he has never known and will likely never understand even when it comes. He thought he had finally escaped, finally found more. He was wrong.

There will always be a battlefield…

The light of the morning sun, washing over the shimmering heights of Conton City and through the window above his bed, stirred Kuriza awake. The Friezan pushed himself up, let out a throaty yawn, and proceeded to his bathroom.

After splashing water against his scaly face, Kuriza looked up, into the mirror in front of him. Though Kuriza was never one to care about looks, by Friezan standards, he'd have been considered rather handsome. His skin was a pleasant shade of light blue, with a cranial orb (that thing on frieza's head, you know what I mean) that was a complimentary darker shade of blue-green. His jade eyes moved from the mirror to his black and yellow armor that hung by the door out of the bathroom. The armor held two crests on opposite sides of the chest. On the left was the black and white symbol of the Time Patrol, while on the right was a light blue crest in the shape of a star, with the initials A.C imprinted on the front. This marked him as the captain of the time patrol's top patrol team: Alpha Centauri.

Seeing his armor reminded Kuriza that his team was probably getting ready themselves to meet with him at the Conton marketplace. And the captain couldn't very well be the last one to get there, could he? So, Kuriza finished getting ready, donned his armor, and took to the sky from his bedroom window.

Conton city, as usual, was bustling with life. Time patrollers and normal citizens flew from place to place, either of their own accord or using some form of vehicle. Kuriza flew above the crowds of soaring people until he came above the marketplace. He dipped, flew down, and landed feet first. Almost immediately, he felt a soft tapping at his lower calf. Kuriza turned around to find a blind cane, carried by one of his teammates; Sasha. Sasha was a petite human girl of about 20, with long jet black hair, a lime green gi, and foggy grey eyes. Sasha was completely blind, and unfortunately, born that way, so having shenron fix her was out of the question. You would, however, never find her complaining about the bad hand fate had dealt her, which was one of the many reason Kuriza held her in such high regard. "Morning Kuriza," said Sasha. She didn't look up at him to direct her greeting, she didn't need to. She knew where he, and everyone she cared about were, at all times. Her lack of eyesight had somehow made her ability to sense ki stronger and more sensitive than anyone else.

"Good morning Sasha," Said Kuriza. He pressed a button on his scouter, summoning a clock on the screen. "Seems you're the only one on time today. So, nothing out of the ordinary there, at least." Kuriza sighed, they were always late. And something in his gut told him that Sasha had some ulterior motive for always being on time, herself. What it was, he had no idea and frankly didn't care. She was on time, and that was all that mattered.

"Well," Sasha said, stepping closer to him and smiling. "How about we look around the shops for a bit?" Kuriza lifted his hand to stroke his chin, never noticing that Sasha was reaching for it before he did so.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," he said. He had been meaning to get his hands on a new scouter, after Lord Beerus casually flew within a hundred lightyears of Conton and blew his and 500 others to pieces from his mere presence. Before he could move, though, Sasha linked her arms with his and dragged him along toward the market. She had memorized the ki signature of the shopkeepers and their most regular patrons so that she would always remember which shop was which. And dammit all, she was going to take advantage of that forethought and finally get some time with him.

"Hey boss, sorry I'm late," came another voice that practically made steam billow from Sasha's ears. Kuriza looked up and saw the muscle of the team; Trax, floating down to meet them. Trax was a Saiyan, built like the bodybuilding lovechild of a brick house and a slightly bigger brick house. His bald head shone in the sun while a toothy grin danced above a tuft of Saiyan black hair that covered his chin. He landed next to the two, his grin taking on a wry nature as he eyed Sasha's arms linked with Kuriza's. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Sasha practically leapt off of Kuriza, her face bright red while the young woman stuttered for an answer.

"No, Sasha and I were just going to peruse the shops since someone was late," Kuriza said. The freezan was then put into a headlock by the fourth member of the team; Buubles. Buubles was a light navy blue, female Majin who had taken it upon herself to be the surrogate older sister to the entire team. Something the freezan had a hard time wrapping his head around, even after working with her for so long. But it made his friend happy, so he played along.

"Sorry 'bout being late, boss man," said Buubles, who held up a bagged bottle of whiskey. "Favorite brand was on sale, and the line was way bigger than it probably should've been." One of the less desirable traits of his teammate: she was the biggest lush he had ever met. And working in the frieza force had a reputation for turning the soberest man to drink.

Kuriza worked his way out of the headlock and composed himself. "Well, at least most of you are here. Now, where is Kaminari?" it surprised Kuriza none that he would be the latest of all. He almost always was.

A bowl of ramen was suddenly held out in front of Kuriza's face, held up by a green and yellow Namekian arm. "Ramen? Made it myself." Said the eponymous Kaminari Noko. Kaminari was an android, built from the base of a namekian instead of a human. Where the name came from, considering android were usually named after numbers, Kaminari never felt like saying. And Kuriza never felt like prying.

Kuriza held up his hand, denying the ramen. Kaminari shrugged and offered it to Trax instead, who gladly accepted. "At any rate, you're all here, so I suppose we can begin morning routines," said Kuriza. Trax scarfed down the ramen bowl quickly as the team lined up in front of their captain, all standing at attention. Kuriza marched back and forth in front of his teammates, giving them a firm sidelong stare. "Okay team, I hope you have your patrol schedule for today memorized, because it's time for a review." He pointed at Sasha. "Sasha?"

"Sir, I am to patrol the western and northwestern quadrants, sir."

"Trax?"

"Patrolling the southern and southwestern quadrants, sir."

"Buubles?"

"I got the east and southeast, boss."

"Kaminari?"

"North and northeast."

Kuriza nodded, although bristling slightly at how only Sasha addressed him properly. But he had learned not to die on that hill a while ago. At least they remembered their orders. "And I have the main plaza, and I'll be in contact with all of you while doing so. Move out!" With that, the four time patrolmen blasted off into the sky, while Kuriza simply floated off to the main plaza, which wasn't that far from the shopping district.

His patrol was simultaneously easier and harder than his teammates'. On one hand, he didn't have to patrol a very large area, but on the other, the main plaza was where the most people were, so he had to be extra observant. Some would argue that there's no way an enemy could be hiding among the citizens of Conton, considering all the prerequisites required to even access this place. Kuriza would argue that such a mindset availed them little when Demigra wrecked Tokitoki city and forced them to relocate here in the first place. Kuriza shuddered at the memory…

One-year prior…

When Kuriza first arrived in Tokitoki, he thought that the sand in the giant hourglass the city revolved around looked as soft as a pillow. Demigra had proven him so very, very wrong, as this was the third time he had hit the sand with the force of a missile, face first. As he dragged himself out of the sand pit made from his face, his anger flared as Demigra's incessant chuckling reached his ears. The city was in ruins, his team had been hospitalized by the villains Demigra had revived, and Goku and Trunks were nowhere to be seen. It was just him. "You know this is unnecessary," said Demigra, who landed gracefully in front of him, not even kicking up the sand. "You are going to lose this fight. But there need not be a fight. There is a place for you in the court of Demigra. There is a place for all, so long as they merely accept who their master is. I shall ask little else of you but to spread the wonder of my dark gospel." Demigra held out his hand to Kuriza, who simply stood and glared at him.

"You remind me of someone I hate," Kuriza said before powering up. "And I'm not falling for those pretty words a second time!" With that, Kuriza charged the demon god, and the battle recommenced.

After that, Kuriza wasn't taking anymore chances. He had a responsibility to this city, and to the time patrol, as the leader of its most elite squadron.

He landed on a bench, tuned into his teammates headsets, and lounged back for a second, looking up at the passing clouds. Truth be told, everything had been remarkably quiet since Towa and Mira had finally been taken out. None of the time scrolls had been corrupted, and everything was running smoothly. Being a keeper of all space and time was getting dangerously close to becoming, dare he say, boring. This led Kuriza to a new thought: he might have time for himself. Time to just be himself, to figure out lingering threads that he had left hanging all his life, and new ones that had appeared. Threads such as his relationship with Sasha.

Kuriza leaned forward, now looking down at the ground while propping his elbows on his knees. He had seen enough humans so far since they started recruiting new members to know that Sasha linking her arms with his was a…romantic gesture. In truth Kuriza could not say how he felt about Sasha. He knew he cared for her, even more so perhaps than the rest of his team, but…did he even know what love was? Did he even want someone to show him?

Kuriza shook his head, banishing the thoughts. This was no time to be ruminating, they were on patrol. Kuriza sat up straight and put a finger to his communicator, and said, "Team, report findings."

While three out of the five said they found nothing, Sasha had yet to respond. "Sasha, report," Kuriza said, firmer.

"I'm sensing something," said Sasha, "It feels familiar…like…oh no."

Kuriza leapt out of the bench and took off towards her location. "Team, converge on her location, now! Sasha we're coming!" Within seconds, the other members of Alpha Centauri had caught up with their leader, with all four blasting towards Sasha's location.

They found her floating near the western edge of Conton's main island, staring down at it with the intensity of, well, someone with working eyes. Whatever it was had Sasha's complete attention. This was troubling indeed. Kuriza stopped next to her along with the rest of the team. "Sasha, what's wrong?" he asked.

Sasha pointed down to the energy she was sensing, and Kuriza followed it to…oh no. "Team, converge!" At his order, Alpha Centauri flew down around the target. Not to fight, mind you, as she was barely alive, slumped onto the ground after having put everything she had into bringing herself to Conton. Checking her pulse revealed that she was indeed alive but drained beyond measure.

"What're your orders boss?" asked Trax.

Kuriza thought for a moment before groaning and placing a finger to his communicator. "I need immediate medical assistance. Main island, sector 23-alpha-quatros." He looked down at the woman just barely breathing at his feet. "I have Towa in custody."