Chapter 1: Fresh on the scene

Age 852

Cade woke with a start. His alarm blaring now for the 4th time today. 4th? Why had he set so many for today? As his eyes lazily drifted across the room, his mind snapped into focus as he saw his calendar on the wall. Today was orientation day at Orange Star High school and he had under 9 minutes to make it in time for the opening speech. Throwing on a pair of dark blue jeans and his favourite green jacket he proceeded to rushing to the kitchen, grabbing the first thing he found from the fridge. Noticing his reflection on the window he got a good look at the rat's nest that was his hair. With only just over 8 minutes left to go, he doused his har under the kitchen sink. Express heating both his hair and the frozen pizza with a his ki. After washing down the pizza with a glass of water and styling his black hair to be presentable he only had 4 minutes to go. With no other options left he pulled on his shoes and jumped out the window, flying towards the school at top speed.

Thankfully no one was around to bust him for not flying with a license today, but as he made it to the gates of the school they were beginning to close. Going far too fast to change his flight path, Cade knocked over a teacher on his way in. The old man dropping his tall stack of books. Before the teacher had the chance of regaining his bearings, Cade slipped into the crowd that had formed around the stage set up in the school courtyard. As he made his way in further just to be safe, the Supreme Kai of time started the opening speech.

"Welcome all of you to the new school year here in Conton City," the Supreme Kai began. You have all comer here from across the world, some even beyond, to protect and serve as members of the time patrol. While you arrive here today as students make no mistake, you are all today part of the time patrol. That said, please turn your attention to your respective hollo displays for the registration number of your team." With that hundreds of displays came to life, everyone checking their newfound "Patrol ID" tabs.
Opening his display, Cade found his team registration number, A-49. Before he could close his display, he felt someone tap his shoulder. Looking to his right he was met by a tall Namekian with green skin, dressed in a black gi with yellow accents and belt. Raising an eyebrow at the Namekian, Cade's confusing was quickly remedied as he was shown the Namekian's own hollo display which bore the same team registration number.

"I guess that makes us teammates then," Cade said, clearly amused by this happy coincidence.
"I guess it does. A though huh, didn't expect us to rank so high right out the gate," said the Namekian "I guess we must be pretty good."
"Don't know about you, but I know I am," Cade replied with a smug grin.
'Hahaha, I like you earthling. What do I call you?" The Namekian said after letting out a hearty chuckle.
"Cade, and you?"
"Drumdra, Drum for short," Drum answered offering his hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you Drum," Cade replied as he shook Drum's hand.

As the crowd's voices died down, the Supreme Kai of Time continued with the opening ceremony.
"Don't worry if you haven't found your team yet, you will have plenty of time before the first lecture of the day. But first, a short word from one of our finest. Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you our surprise speaker, the Hero of Tokitoki city himself, Ace!"

With that the crowd went wild, students screaming praise and staring in awe as the man whom many considered to be the greatest time patroller and a living legend made his way to the podium. The wild energy vanishing as fast as it came as Ace prepared to speak.

"Before I start, I want to thank each and everyone of you who came here today. The enlist in the time patrol alone is no small feet in itself. Right now all of you probably feel a million things; pride, fear, excitement, the list goes on. But what matters is that you all came here with a desire and drive to serve a cause far greater than any one person, greater even than a single world. You might feel small, insignificant in the grander scheme of things but that couldn't be further from the truth. You are all valuable to our cause and even a single person can make the difference when time calls for it, veteran and rookie alike. We are all capable of more than we think. However, never take this to mean that you must stand alone. Your team and the entirety of the time patrol are now your comrades and in time your friends. From here you will not only develop as time patrollers, but also individuals and I ask only that you take what I have said now today and give it some though. Thank you."

What followed was surprising, shocking almost. The round of applause was far from quiet, but respectful and subtle. The students clearly mulling over what Ace has said. The crowd slowly separated into groups of 5 across the campus grounds, Cade and Drum their way to the classroom designated for team A-49. They were apparently the first to arrive, but before long other students entered the lecture hall. Cade and Drum both taking seats beside each other as the lecture started.


Calling the lecture dull would have been an understatement. The lecturer in question, professor Ratchet, was by no means a bad speaker just painfully thorough even regarding the most minor things.

"Given how long this is taking, I doubt we will have time to find the rest of our team today," Cade half whispered over to Drum, who himself was close to falling asleep.
"Yeah, it's honestly too bad. But seeing as we are receiving our first proper mission tomorrow we will meet them eventually," Drum sleepily replied. His right arm stretched out and coiled into a makeshift pillow for him to lean his chin on.
"I know, I know. But I'm just curious you know? What kind of team did we get-"
"Do you gentlemen have anything relevant to ad or are you simply wasting your own time by ignoring this lecture," professor Ratchet interrupted. "Please, feel free to share with the rest of the class and perhaps I won't give you detention on the first day."
Drum instantly shot up, his arm returning to normal length. But to Drum's surprise Cade remained calm and composed.
"We were only discussing the decimation of the Frieza empire following the Battle of Namek in Age 762," Cade politely.
"Were you now? Then tell me. What do modern historians feel was the largest contributing factor to the empire downfall?" Professor Ratchet said almost mockingly.
"While the deaths of both Frieza and King Cold was the the most notable factor, many agree on that it was Cooler's failed war against the the Hera-Seijin on their new homeworld of New Hera that was the tipping point. Failing to properly prepare to for the war, Cooler's forces were reduced to a fraction of it's numbers. Even in versions of the timeline where he did survive the war, the other races saw him unworthy of King Cold's crown, forcing him to travel to earth where he met his end at the hands of Goku when he attempted to regain the honor of his family." Drum stared dumbfounded at his teammate's historical knowledge. Even the rest of the class was listening in, some out of genuine interest and others because it was infinitely more interesting that going over the year's syllabus.
"Either way, Cooler's death in both scenarios caused the Frieza empire to fragment and deteriorate with no immediate successor. Because of this the remaining royal family was split across the Frieza empire's former territories until it was reformed. No real power plays being made by any potential heirs due to the risk of a civil war spanning the entire empire being a risk no one was willing to take," Cade finished, leaving professor Ratched just as shocked as Drum was.
"Well done my boy. Well done indeed," professor Ratchet said, his surly attitude now long gone. "Tell me, who are you and what is your team boy?"
"Cade sir, of team A-49," Cade replied
"Well son your team is lucky to have you. With a mind for history like that, you will make for an excellent time patroller," professor Ratchet congratulated.
Unbeknownst to neither Cade or Drum, the presentation had drawn more than the professor's attention. 3 individuals eavesdropping into Drum and Cade's conversation.


Thanks for reading the first proper chapter. A bit more exposition heavy than I expected, but action will come next chapter. I'm having a lot of fun writing this so expect more to come.