Author's Note: Hey there guys.

I've recently opened up an account on deviantart under my name 'TheWriteFiction' to display my work from the fanfictions and originals. If anyone is interested to see what the characters in story look like- such as Myra and what Gohan will look like after the seven year gap as an adult- I have posted sketches which I will color later.

Just look up my name on deviantart or through google, since the links on never work. Let me know what you guys think of the pictures and share them.

Also, let me know what you guys think of the story so far. :)

Dragonball Z

Alter Age

Tree of Death

(Several minutes later)

As the Comet pulled into orbit above the terrestrial world of Cooler Planet-179 (CP-179), Salza and the rest of his squad were able to get a closer look at the massive tree growing out of its northern hemisphere. While the Captain remained next to the helm where the pilot Shira was steering the vessel, Gohan and Dore stood off to the side.

With the demi-Saiyan staring in awe at the massive fig poking out through the clouds, his fellow teammate remained beside him with his arms crossed and a rather perturbed expression in play.

"This has got to be some kind of joke, right?" the Beppa-seijin asked, before turning around and looking across the bridge, where he spotted Neiz and Myra standing by the hologram table on the other side of the walkway. "I mean, there seriously can't be a tree that big growing out of the side of the planet. Is that even physically possible?"

"Apparently, it is," Neiz answered, typing into the computer as he watched the electronic table in front of him do a full scan of the enormous, cosmic anomaly protruding out of the planetoid. With the computer giving a few beeping noises, a series of numbers and other results jumped up around the projection, which caused the amphibian to narrow his eyes.

The five-year-old Gohan, turning towards Salza, looked up at his captain inquisitively. "Have you ever seen anything like that before, sir?"

In response, the blue-skinned warrior shook his head, all the while keeping his finger and thumb thoughtfully clinched around his chin. "No. I haven't. I… don't think anybody has." Upon contemplating the sight of the object, then turned towards the hologram table at the back of the bridge and narrowed his eyes on his squad mates. "Talk to me, Myra. What exactly are we looking at here?"

The Hera shrugged as she saw the details jump up around the blue hologram of the massive tree. "Well… it's exactly what it appears to be, captain. There's a literal, giant floral structure of ungodly size and mass protruding out of the planet's surface. Deep thermal scans show that the tree has inserted itself into the planetoid's crust… and that its root system has spread throughout its whole interior, all the way down to the core." After pressing a couple more keys on the panel, the hologram of the tree zoomed out, showing a scan of the entire planet and the roots of said tree branching throughout its entire interior. "Judging from these images and numbers, the tree has wedged itself into the lithosphere and practically become part of the planet. So uprooting it is going to be impossible."

Frowning at this information, Salza then looked across at Neiz. "What about animals? People? Threats? Are we picking up any other signs of life down on that world?"

The amphibian cringed when he saw the numbers all across the screen. "The size of the tree and its massive bio signature is preventing the scouter from getting an accurate read of the area within its immediate proximity. But outer scans show that the rest of the planet, aside from a few animals I can see in the southern hemisphere, has been wiped clean. Other than that, there are no other life forms or people at all. Zip. Nothing."

"I'm not picking up any transmissions from the colony either," the female soldier in the crew pit spoke up, drawing the captain's attention down to the petty officer as she tinkered with the computer terminal she was posted at. "All main radio channels and outgoing frequencies are dead silent."

Salza blinked, "What about the scouts? Are we receiving anything from them?"

The young, humanoid alien girl with red skin and white hair quickly switched over to another monitor and narrowed her eyes on the screen. "It's faint, but the scanner is picking up a small emergency beacon echoing out from near the tree. It's registering on the Cooler Force's frequency."

"Confirmed. I'm picking it up over here as well," Neiz spoke up from the hologram table, alerting the captain's attention and drawing his gaze back over to him. "There's a small blip a few hundred miles southeast of the tree's trunk- just west of Caratopi Ridge and CP-179's capital."

With a nod, Salza then uncrossed his arms. "Then that's where we'll begin our search," he said, before then focusing his attention on Myra. "What's the condition of the atmosphere?"

The young Hera straightened up from his post by the table and nodded, "Slightly stagnant, but it's breathable. It appears that while it was adapting to its surroundings, the tree altered the oxygen concentration levels of its host- forming its own micro climate and atmosphere around it. Probably explains how it was able to grow so large on such a small planetoid."

"Good," Salza replied, before then turning to Shira and nodding to the pilot. "Have the hangar officer Tol ready the Attack Balls for launch and bring the ship over the beacon's location in the thermosphere above the planet. After you drop us off, move the Comet behind the primary moon and keep it out of range for safety. Since we have no idea exactly what's waiting for us down there, I don't want to risk bringing the headquarters to ground."

Shira nodded, "Copy." She then glanced behind her at the communications officer in the pit below. "Comms Officer, Hangar Bay. Prepare five pods for low-orbital launch."

"Roger," the female soldier in the bay answered, before promptly getting in touch with her companion in the chamber below.

Instructions given, Salza then waved his hand towards Dore and Gohan, and proceeded to march down the walkway. "All squad members, with me! Let's get down there!" Giving affirmative nods, the other four members of the team quickly fell in step with their leader and began a quick march down to the hangar bays.

Though the group knew exactly what they were going, the hard truth was that neither of them knew exactly what kind of dangers or enemies- if any- were waiting for them.

OOO

(Several minutes later)

Across the field of colossal roots arcing and stretching out across the countryside at the base of the tree, halfway up the tower's gargantuan trunk, where the edifice's interwoven structure pushed and bulged outwards, there resided an enormous cave system. Hidden beneath the entanglement of wood and overhanging vines, this large, naturally constructed complex sat as a form of air catchment for the massive tree, which helped to maintain the tree's stability against environmental hazards.

It also served as the base of operation and meeting point for the men responsible for the tree's inception.

Standing beside a large, dome-shaped space craft resembling a massive Attack Ball, a group of very intimidating looking aliens of various species could be seen gathered in the center of the cave complex and staring up at its ceiling. There, amidst the entanglement of branches making up the roof of the cave, they could see clusters of orange fruits growing above them.

These round, studded fruits didn't seem out of the ordinary. But considering how intently all of the armored warriors gathered in the cave were staring up at them, it was quite obvious that these items were quite important. You could even say that they were the very reason for why they'd planted the tree in the first place.

This fact was confirmed moments later when the smallest of the group- a plump, purple alien with an ovular, bald head, wearing dark combat armor with accented collar, light blue, bloused pants, and a blue scouter over his left eye- spoke up with a smile. "Looks like the fruits are growing quite well on this planet."

"Yes. Certainly a far better batch than the last two we had," the second tallest in the group- a humanoid male with a punk-rock look, consisting of dark-teal hair tied into a ponytail, wearing earrings and a necklace, and sporting full-body armor set with blue shoulder, torso, side and crotch guards- remarked with his arms crossed over his chest. "That must mean that this planet has an environment and atmosphere more suited for the Shinseiju (Divine Essence Tree/Tree of Might) to grow. Not to mention a richer and fertile landscape."

"Well. That much was to be expected for a planet inhabited by a bunch of filthy, primitive, animal people," the largest of the group- a hulking man with tanned, reddish skin, brown hair tied into a braided ponytail, an 'x' shaped scar at the bottom of his broad jaw, and wearing red baggy pants, a pink scouter, and a set of custom RIT armor- said with a rather cocky grin in play. Eyes narrowing menacingly, the man then chuckled under his breath. "Do you remember how their warriors tried to blast and cut the tree's roots before we slaughtered them all? That was fun, wasn't it Daiz?"

"Heh. Not as much fun as those four scouts that the Cooler Force sent to investigate the planet a couple days later," the mercenary with the punk-rocker look replied, before he then shook his head. "Pathetic. And I thought the soldiers in his army were a lot tougher than that."

"Well… they're about to become a whole lot more pitiful," the hulking warrior spoke again, placing a hand on his hip as he analyzed the fruits growing above them. "As soon as this next batch of fruit is done and we've finished harvesting and consuming them, we'll be able to increase our battle power tenfold. After that, no one in the universe will be able to stop us. Not even the mighty Cold family." He then looked across at the fourth man standing amongst them- a pinkish alien with a body covered in glistening silver armor and cybernetic components. "What do you think, Cacao?"

The robotic, alien warrior scoffed in a metallic sounding voice. "Sounds like a good plan. I can't wait."

"Heh. You and the rest of us," the big male chuckled, before once again looking towards the ceiling. "This time the fruits won't be small or sour. They'll be full grown, plump, and loaded with this planet's vitality… making us the most powerful group of warriors in the cosmos."

As the group was in the middle of daydreaming, thinking about how control of the universe was just within their grasps, the screens on all of their scouters suddenly lit up with numbers. With all four men balking at their units unexpectedly activating and letting out warning sounds, they then all turned in the direction the arrows were pointing, causing their eyes to turn towards the exit to the cave.

There, bursting through the cloud layer many miles away, they saw what looked like five small meteors suddenly break through the atmosphere. At first glance they didn't seem like something for them to be concerned about. But when the men moved over to the mouth of the cave and peered outside, they saw that the objects plummeting towards the planet's surface weren't bits of space debris- but Attack Balls.

Seeing them collide with the tree root quite a distance away, the four males' expressions quickly steeled.

"Looks like we've got more company," the mercenary Daiz spoke.

His hulking companion Amond clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Could be another group of scouts… or a recovery force sent here directly by Lord Cooler to look for their missing troops."

"Hmm," the robotic Cacao murmured as a thoughtful look crossed his bug-like face. "They must've picked up a distress signal transmitted by the first group before we slaughtered them." His scouter beeping erratically as it scanned the location of the pods' landing sight, he then saw the numbers stop crunching, before deactivating the unit altogether. "I don't think these are ordinary soldiers this time. These ones… they're strong."

At that moment, the short, purple warrior at the front turned around and back into the cave, where he then spoke to a fifth, hidden member of their group. "What should we do, Turles?"

When the rest of the group also turned towards the back of the cave where they'd previously been gathered, towards one of the chamber's many walls and cloaked in shadow, a fifth, armor-clad warrior could be seen sitting. Sporting a set of blue-grey and black combat armor with accented shoulder and side guards, a red lensed scouter, and sporting a muscular frame and spiky black hair styled in an eerily familiar manner, the clear leader of the group stared back at the group and towards the horizon, where he too had seen the ships come down.

Keeping his arms folded, the armored, humanoid figure shielded by darkness spoke in a rough, menacing sounding voice.

"What do you think?" the man asked, a wide grin suddenly shining through the blackness of his surroundings. "Go out there and give our visitors a proper greeting."

His instruction put smiles on the group's faces.

OOO

(Several minutes later)

Across the landscape of mountain-sized roots dominating the majority of the landscape surrounding the titanic tree, many miles away the five elite members of Cooler's Armored Squadron had disembarked from their ships. Having left their craft in the five large craters formed in the clearing between two of the large tree's colossal extensions, the mixed group of aliens in matching armor sets and spandex, were now in the process of investigating ground zero and the location of the most recent colony disappearance.

The cause of it- the otherworldly, impossibly large flora growing around them and standing as the dominant lifeform on the continent.

However, as the team proceeded to inspect the area, the group slowly saw that there was definitely some other force at work here. Something dark and sinister.

After running his hand along the side of the root that they'd landed near, an inquisitive Gohan- his own green scouter sitting over his left ear to help him keep radio contact with his teammates, narrowed his eyes on the piece of wood before stepping away from it. "This tree didn't come from this planet, did it? Or any of the other two worlds Cooler-sama mentioned in his transmission."

"No. It didn't," Myra spoke- the Hera standing nearby and also checking out the structure. She even rapped her knuckles against it to check to see if it was hollow. She immediately guessed from the dull taps she received in return that it wasn't. "This… thing… isn't native to this galaxy. None of the worlds in the region have the space, atmosphere, or soil to support such a massive flora. Hell, I don't think it even came from this quadrant."

Dore, standing at the top of one of the roots and checking out the horizon with Salza, overheard what Myra was saying and looked down at her from his ledge. "What do you mean by that?"

"She means that wherever this monstrosity came from, it doesn't belong to any of the worlds in our territory," the captain replied, looking up at his taller companion with a serious look on his face. When the other members of the squad focused on the officer, they saw him point across the cloudy, ruined landscape. "Look around. This tree- or whatever it is- came to this planet, sucked up every drop of nutrients in the ground, and assimilated it into its biomass. Judging from the amount of destruction it has wrought, the sudden change in atmospheric conditions, and the planet's rapid state of decay, all point to the fact that this plant is a voracious and aggressive invasive species. From the way it's rooted itself into the soil and engulfed this entire continent, I'd say it shares more in common with a parasite than a plant."

The green warrior blinked as his brain slowly processed what he'd been told. "So… what you're saying is… this freaky tree is like a leech? A blood sucker?"

"Exactly. Only instead of sucking up people's blood, it sucks up the life blood of planets. Or, to be more precise, planets that can't sustain its enormous form and appetite," Salza replied. If he had to make an educated guess, a tree like this probably would've come from a world that was fertile and rich enough to allow similar flora and organisms to grow on its surface.

As it stood though, this world was practically unfit to host such an extreme species.

Gohan, running through all of this information and everything that they knew, then turned to the captain with a serious look on his youthful face. "But that doesn't explain where all of the people living in the colonies disappeared to."

"Yeah. And that's what has me confused," Myra said, looking down at her friend before then glancing across at the root again. "Even if this thing suddenly grew here overnight, the planet's population would still be here, along with most of the animals." She then glanced towards the sky suspiciously. "Unless the tree's sudden appearance and drastic change in climate conditions affected the ecosystem and killed off most of the native species."

"That probably explains the traces of animal life I picked up on the Comet's scouter a while earlier. All the surviving animals have moved south, trying to get away from the invader," Neiz spoke from the root on the other side of the clearing, the amphibian scrunching his brow as he looked around the area. "Even now I can feel how badly the planet is being affected by this tree. It must've wiped out all of the animals and other creatures in just a few short days."

"Alright. But what about the people?" Dore asked, shrugging at the looks given to him by the others. "What kind of race or species was inhabiting this planet before we got here?"

Salza rubbed his chin, making a murmuring sound that drew everyone else's attention to him. "CP-179 was originally called the planet Toraka… and the race that inhabited it were sentient Vulpes people called Kitsune-seijins. They were a small group of primitives, who were incredibly swift, strong and intelligent, and apparently practiced a high degree of energy manipulation similar to sorcery. Cooler-sama colonized this planet in a hopes that the race would one day become a strong addition to his empire later. He saw value in its people and placed this world under his protection." He then shrugged at the confused look Dore shot his way. "I read the initial mission dossier before we got to this system."

"Well…" Neiz muttered while looking around agitatedly. "As much as it pains me to say this… but it appears that this race won't have a chance to flourish under our young emperor now. Not after this has happened to them."

While the squad were busy lamenting the fact that the people were now gone, Gohan, who'd been listening along with everybody else, suddenly caught a whiff of something in the air. Sniffing when he picked up the trace of a scent carrying in on a breeze, the child wordlessly turned around and began walking towards the arc formed by the colossal root behind him, and quietly followed the cobbled, dirt path formed by the disturbance in the ground.

Myra, sensing the child leave her side, turned around and blinked in confusion when she saw him disappear under the arch. "Huh? Gohan-kun? What's wrong?" she asked, drawing the rest of the squad's attention towards the fact the youngster was wandering off.

"I smell something," the child called back, dropping down onto all fours and sniffing the air closer to the floor. "This way." Following a few inhales, the young demi-Saiyan's eyes immediately snapped in a westerly direction, before the child crouched down and sprang forward, whereupon he proceeded to sprint across the landscape.

Bounding across the ground and under multiple arcing bridges and roots like a wolf, Gohan darted through the winding labyrinth of obstacles across the countryside at a brisk pace. The rest of his squad, quickly falling in behind him, trailed after the child at a low-enough altitude above the ground- making sure to keep him in their sights, while at the same time keeping a lookout for anything else.

Kai knew what else was hiding out here on this apocalyptic wasteland.

Eventually, after covering a stretch of a few kilometers, Gohan leapt into another clearing wedged between a series of towering roots and dead trees. Rising to his feet upon touching down, the youngster then ambled out into the open, shortly before being joined by his teammates landing behind him. As soon as the group of adults arrived in the area, the entire squad's attention quickly locked onto the familiar sight of a small troop spaceship standing at the edge of the clearing- its golden floaters and white hull glinting under the scarce rays of sunlight poking through the clouds.

Neiz, pressing the main button on the side of his scouter, scanned the transport and received an immediate response in the form of an emergency signal and a serial number. "Looks like we found the source of the distress beacon. Must be the ship the scouts used to get here." He then looked around the area and attempted to boost his scouter's signal. "No sign of any of the men though."

Walking ahead of the group as they looked around the clearing, Myra stopped about halfway towards the ship and knelt down. Running her fingers over the collection of footprints in the soil, she then narrowed her eyes when she began making sense of their arrangement. "Multiple sets of boot prints. Judging from their placement, the soldiers grouped here." She then as she saw the boot prints break off and stop. "Then they broke off and took flight."

"Perhaps they went out to scout the area," Dore reasoned with a shrug.

Salza, walking over to where Myra was kneeling, then noticed something else. Further ahead, he spied even more prints on… they were smaller and more scattered. "Paw prints? Looks like they belong to some sort of mammal. Perhaps one of the locals." He then squinted when he attempted to follow them, only to make a second discovery. "Two… no… three sets of paw prints. Another group?"

Standing up from where she was kneeling, Myra saw that Gohan had broken away from their circle again and had begun prowling about the clearing on all fours. Upon seeing him pace about and sniff the floor towards the edge of the grove, the orange-haired warrior tilted her head at the youngster. "Do you still smell something?"

"Uh-huh. It's faint, but close," Gohan responded, creeping forward on his hands and knees as he scanned the vicinity further for any signs of activity. Sniffing the air again and visualizing the trail of the aroma filtering into the area, the boy's eyes widened in alarm before a frown crossed his lips. He then stood back up as his eyes locked onto the impossibly large root forming another tunnel ahead of him- where a fallen tree lay, along with clusters of dead and decaying bushes. The squad noticed the boy's sudden change in mood, which prompted all of them to turn in his direction. "Come on out. I know you're hiding over there."

There was a long moment of silence, in which Myra and everybody else watched the area that their youngest member was currently glaring at. Following a full minute of nothing, Salza and the others suddenly jumped when they saw the twigs and branches of the bushes rustle. Moments later, three small figures suddenly crawled out from under the fallen tree wedged under the root. One after the other the three came out slow at first, acting incredibly cautious. Eventually the creatures came out into the open and shakily stood up.

What the squad found themselves looking at next surprised them greatly. Having initially expected to find no other life forms existing in the area, the elite band of warriors now found themselves looking upon three, perfectly alive and healthy people. Huddled together protectively and appearing scared beyond measure, Cooler's squadron gazed upon three small, foxlike humanoids, each one standing about the same height as Gohan and shivering from head to toe. Each of them wearing two piece tribal cloths, they were a group of three young girls. The one on the left was a vixen with whitish-pink fur covering her entire body, a long bushy tail, a short snout, and fox ears protruding out of a head of long, red hair. The one on the right had dark orange fur, a head of short brown hair, cute fox ears pointing out of the top, and a smaller, bushier brown tail swishing behind her. The last one- who was standing in the center and in front of her friends- was a young kitsune with blue and white fur, with a head of blue hair, and a long, bushy tail, and white tribal markings patterning her coat.

She was the most distinct of the three of them- not to mention the one trying to appear the bravest as she faced down the squad of strong looking men and women in front of her.

Salza balked in surprise when he saw the three youngsters standing at the edge of the clearing. "Children?"

"What in the world are they doing all the way out here, so far from the settlement?" Neiz asked, at the same time reaching up and pressing his scanner, which immediately began crunching numbers. "And why weren't our scouters able to pick them up?" He then frowned when he saw their energy signatures jump up on his screen.

"Maybe because their energy levels are so small we couldn't detect them… or maybe it's because that huge tree is messing up our sensors," Myra answered, making an educated guess as to how they didn't locate them before. When her own scouter activated and took in the trio's energy signatures, the girl cocked an eyebrow. "Each of them is sitting at a power level of 120? That's… quite impressive for a group of kids. They must've been masking them."

Feeling the eyes of the group of armored figures glaring at them, the little blue vixen at the front frowned before barking at the newcomers. "W-W-What do you want?" the girl shouted, sounding both angry and distressed at the same time. "Why are you people here?"

Gohan, shaking out of his surprise at seeing three kids his age glaring back at them, stepped forward and raised his hands. "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you."

"Lord Cooler sent us to your home world to check on the colony and your people," Myra also spoke, figuring that her interjection would help calm the youngsters- one of whom looked like she was about to snap at them while her two friends hiding behind her looked as though they were about to flee. "When we arrived, we found an enormous tree poking out of the clouds. We tried searching for any survivors nearby and the soldiers we sent here a few days earlier… but we couldn't find anyone."

The white fox girl behind the blue one blinked as her head perked up. "C-Cooler-sama sent you?"

Dore smiled while also stepped forward. "That's right."

A nod also came from Gohan, who smiled reassuringly in their direction. "We're here to help."

Looking at one another, the three children separated from each other slightly, with the blue kitsune girl lowering her arms. Sensing their anxiousness and uncertainty fade momentarily, Gohan used that chance to move closer. Ambling into reach of the trio, with Myra also following him, the youngster stopped in front of the trio of anthropomorphic fox girls and looked between them, with the bluenette remaining stiff and on edge.

"I'm Gohan- 2nd lieutenant in the Cooler Force and member of Cooler's Armored Squadron," the boy greeted cheerfully, at the same time beaming pleasantly at the trio.

Straightening up at the disarmingly warm smile the five year old boy was giving her, the blue fox girl blushed for the briefest of moments before quickly lowering her head to him. "I-I'm Kida." She then pointed to the white fox on her right. "This is my friend, Rei." She then gestured to the orange fox on her left. "And this is my other friend, Riko." She then held a hand to her chest and stuttered to the boy. "M-My father was the chief in the village… and the leader of our people."

Myra balked, "The chief's daughter?"

While this information surprised the child somewhat, Gohan kept a level head as he looked between them, before glancing back at the head girl. "Your village is on the other side of the ridge. How did you three manage to get all the way out here?" He was then caught off guard when the girl in front of him suddenly moved forward and wrapped his arms around him in a hug, with the other two following suit. Feeling all three girls suddenly coil their arms around him and squeeze him tightly had the young hero freeze up, as this was the first time he'd ever received such a gesture from a group of strangers on a planet he was just visiting. "Uhh… o-okay?"

The sight of the children swamping Gohan caused Dore to snicker slightly at the surprised look that came over his young friend's face. He was about to make some smartass comment too, until a sharp look from Myra and Neiz shot the Beppa-seijin down and caused him to clear his throat nervously. "Sorry," he apologized in a low voice.

"It… It was horrible," the orange fox girl whispered, hiding her head under the accent of Gohan's shoulder guard.

The demi-Saiyan blinked as he kept his hands around them as the shivering youngsters stayed close to him and nuzzled him for comfort. "What happened?" Hearing the question, the other members of the squadron quietly stepped in, with Salza and Myra keeping their eyes and ears wide open- just in case something happened.

"My… My friends and I… were playing in the village square together… just like every other day," Kida stuttered, moving off of the boy a few inches and looking at his face, which she could see had a look of genuine concern and intent. "We were having so much fun… and were about to go into the hut for lunch. But then… the ground started to shake, the trees in the forest started to collapse… and the earth began to explode all around us." She then turned and nodded towards the giant mound of wood standing behind her. "And then… those things started bursting out of the ground. Everywhere. All over."

"Th-They smashed our homes… destroyed our fields… killed our cattle," the white fox stuttered, her gaze turning to the men standing behind the boy to see Salza and Neiz looking at them seriously. "When we tried to hide… Kida's papa told us to run for the hills… so we did."

"We kept on running. Not looking back," the blue kitsune youngster continued, looking from Myra and then back to Gohan, who she saw blink. "There was so much noise. So much screaming. So much shaking. When we got to the top of the hill… we saw our entire village… and country had been destroyed. And… when we looked towards the north… we saw that thing reaching up towards the sky." She then pointed up to the tree's canopy high above them, with the group craning their heads upwards to see the branches and leaves of the enormous flora casting its foreboding shadow across the planet's surface.

Upon looking up at the colossal arms stretching through the clouds miles overhead, the group then heard little Kida speak again, which drew their attention back to her.

"My… friends and I came here... to try and find out how this monstrous tree came to our world," the blue vixen explained, her expression becoming stern as she gazed upon Gohan's kindly face. "It must have come here from somewhere across the stars... from a place it shouldn't have left. We thought that if it landed here by accident… then there had to be a way to send it back."

"So… you didn't see anything? Like… a meteorite or a comet… or something else that might have crashed or landed on your world?" Salza asked, wanting to ascertain if this tree had come here by chance or by some other manner.

His theory of course was tossed into the air once again when he and the others saw Kida, Riko and Rei shake their heads, with the orange-furred girl with the short ears and tail speaking up. "No. We didn't see anything before the chaos started. And the skies were clear all morning."

It was then Rei spoke next. "When the three of us passed over the ridge, we saw our warriors and Cooler-sama's soldiers fly towards the trunk and try to destroy it. B-But then-" She then trailed off.

Neiz frowned at the look of anxiousness that came over the trio. "Then what? What happened?"

Kida, letting out a shaky breath, looked at Gohan with an expression of fear and terror on her face. "Strangers… pirates… five of them… came out of nowhere, killed our warriors… and destroyed our village. They didn't leave anybody alive."

The hybrid blinked in confusion. "Pirates?" It was then, at that very moment, something close by suddenly tripped his senses, causing his head to snap upwards and his eyes to widen. The scouters on his friends' heads also activated- prompting all of them to glance upwards. "INCOMING! TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH!" Gohan shouted, wrapping his arms around the three girls and jumping out of the way as fast as he could, just in time to avoid multiple flashes of red light that dropped down on his position and utterly pulverized the ground.

The rest of the squadron took flight, leaping out of the clearing in five separate blurs as a salvo of energy blasts came raining down from the clouds. The entire area was lit up by clusters of fiery explosions, which not only ruptured the entire grove between the roots, but also incinerated the space ship that'd been precariously parked there. When the squad of warriors landed atop a large root several dozen yards away and watched the wall of fire and smoke billow up from the clearing that they'd been standing in, Salza saw more numbers pop up on his scouter, which had his eyes snap skywards again.

"CONTACT!" he shouted, noticing the plume of smoke in front of them get blown away by another barrage of pink energy blasts flying towards them. Without even thinking twice, the squad captain sprang into the air and smacked them out of the way with several swift slaps of his hands. Upon sending the beams of ki streaking into the distance, he then dropped back down to the root and glared across the landscape, before then seeing a warning arrow pop up on his green screen.

The same signals appearing on all their scouters, the group of five- plus the trio of girls Gohan had saved- turned their attention to another root standing beside theirs. The moment their eyes landed on it, the team spotted a collection of four silhouettes drop down from the sky and make landfall along its surface. As soon as they appeared, the members of Cooler's Armored Squadron frowned when they saw for themselves the 'pirates' that the three little Kitsune-sei had been talking about.

Standing along the elevated hill made out of hardened, cosmic wood, the heroes and defenders of the quadrant found themselves confronted by the smug, grinning faces of the bandits that'd been inside the tree's naturally formed cave system from earlier. With the shortest members at the front- Daiz and his purple compatriot Lakasei- kneeling on the root, the invaders were able to get their first, good look at the band of newcomers that'd arrived on the famine ravaged world.

"Well now… what do we have here?" the towering, crimson-skinned Amond asked out loud as he grinned menacingly across at the group of identically dressed warriors. "Another group of meat bags to smack around."

A snicker from the short Lakasei echoed up from in front of his towering superior. "You were right, Cacao. They certainly don't look like ordinary grunts this time. Judging from the way they're so smartly dressed, I'm guessing they must be some kind of elite commando unit. How fun."

Blinking as he looked around at the group, Dore straightened up from his fighting posture. "Where the hell did these weirdoes come from?"

"They must've been hiding up in that giant tree somewhere… probably inside of it," Neiz responded, shaking his head a she glanced between the opposing squad. "Since the entire thing is exuding so much energy and distorting the atmosphere, our scouters couldn't get a lock on them."

Myra, clicking her tongue when she scanned the group of four, narrowed her eyes on the biggest amongst them. "I take it you four are the ones responsible for the people and the colony on this planet disappearing."

"Oh, look Daiz. They've got a girl with them… and a hotty too," Amond chuckled, at the same time leering down at the Hera and causing a rather uncomfortable shiver to run up her spine. "Mmm. Not a bad sight at all. She's certainly a refreshing change of scenery from the usual sport we're used to running into on these outings."

"She also appears to be quite sharp as well," the punk-haired mercenary kneeling beside the head of their group remarked, looking the scantily clad adolescent over before grinning lewdly. "Hey there, baby. Why don't you ditch those losers and come have some fun with us? I promise our gang can offer you a lot more than those boring looking sacks behind you, if you catch my drift." He ended his rather mischievous remark with a wink, which caused Myra to recoil in disgust.

Immediately taking offense to this, the rest of the men on Cooler's squadron stepped forward to defend their teammate, with Gohan also moving away from the three Kitsune-sei behind her to stand next to his friend and snarl at the pirates. "You keep your eyes off of her, you scumbag," the hybrid shouted, drawing the group of men's attention to him. Body shaking with quickly bubbling fury, the boy hero snapped again. "She's not interested in going anywhere with you. So back off!"

Daiz blinked, "A kid? What's a runt like that doing with this band of hard asses?"

"Heh. The boys must be on baby-watching duty or something," Lakasei scoffed, at the same time glancing across at Salza and the others. "I guess that proves just how desperate the Cooler Force is for good help these days. How pathetic."

While the rest of his compatriots were busy sizing up their latest prey, an observing Cacao then noticed something behind Gohan. Watching a brown, furry appendage whip about the air at his back, the metallic, pink-skinned warrior in mechanical battle armor narrowed his eyes seriously on the youngster. "That child… he's a Saiyan."

This statement caught the rest of the group off guard, with Daiz glancing behind him at the cyborg in alarm. "What? A Saiyan?"

"That's impossible," Amond replied, glaring back down at the group and focusing on the kid. When he saw the tail swishing behind him as well, the giant of a warrior frowned. "There aren't any Saiyans in this part of the universe. No way."

"Well… it appears there is one now," Lakasei replied with a stern look on his face, which then slowly transformed into a smirk. "Hm. I bet Turles-sama will be very interested to hear about this little gold nugget we've just discovered."

As the group of pirates contemplated this new information, down on their root, as the girls that they rescued remained huddled behind Gohan, an observing Myra felt her glare harden as she looked over the faces of the group in front of her. Upon which she then spoke up to the rest of her team.

"Hey, you guys. This group… they're bad news," she said in a low voice. "They've got a lot of hard cases amongst them."

"Yes. I can see," Salza replied, glancing across at the warrior dressed in silver, metal armor and fitted with the multitude of cybernetic implants. His glare fixated on that warrior as he got a good look at his profile. "That man on the left- the one in silver armor. He's Cacao- a former battle cyborg from the planet Ikonda, turned bounty hunter and gun-for-hire. He did a few jobs for the Cooler Force many years ago, but then suddenly dropped off the radar. We haven't seen or heard from him since."

"Hmph. Well, I guess this answers the question as to where he's been kicking back all this time," Dore answered, his eyes looking from the big warrior to the little one beneath him.

It was then Myra decided to address Lakasei- who she could see was sizing them up along with the rest of his companions. "And that one over there… the small, purple one at the front… if my eyes aren't deceiving me, I think he's a member of the Beenz-seijin race."

"A Beenz? Are you sure?" Salza glanced across at her. "Didn't their race go extinct thousands of years ago when their planet got hit by an apocalyptic famine?"

"Yeah. But it looks like one of them managed to survive. Though how it's still alive after all these years, I have no idea," Myra responded, a bead of sweat running down the side of her head. "And that big one over there. Their commander. I remember seeing his face on a Galactic Patrol Wanted Poster not too long ago. Back on the planet Sappo when we stopped there for a rest and a refuel."

It was at that point that Neiz decided to chime in. "That's Amond. A brigand and outlaw who rampaged across the universe over a decade ago, attacking settlements and cities on multiple, peaceful worlds," Neiz answered, also recognizing the crimson-skinned, brute of a man standing behind the rest of his cronies. "The Galactic Patrol put a price on his head of over ten million credits to bring him in. Apparently he managed to break out of one of their prison facilities on the Planet Nutts after starting a riot, and caused a lot of damage to their forces."

Dore, eyes glancing over all of them, then turned his attention to the scruffy one with the jewelry at the front. "And what about that punk?"

"He's a bigshot as well," Salza answered, narrowing his eyes on the man chilling at the head of the group. "Daiz I believe- a young, warrior prince of the Pukinpa Dynasty of Kabocha. He defended his planet for years from invaders, before his entire kingdom was suddenly wiped out by a full-scale attack from an unknown enemy." The blond narrowed his eyes on the man. "He should be dead… yet here he is, alive and well."

Neiz, narrowing his eyes on the group, then decided to speak up. "Hey! What's the deal, here?! Why is a bunch of mercenaries, criminals, and dead people hanging around on this planet?"

Hearing this, Amond snickered. "Oh? So you recognize the many, charming faces in our group? How very flattering."

"For the record, the four of us know all about your little rag-tag team as well," Daiz spoke up, craning his head as he sneered down at the five gathered on the root and glaring daggers at them. "The infamous commandoes of Cooler's Armored Squadron- the elite protectors of his illustrious Empire. We can tell by the insignia on your chest armor." He then chuckled when he saw their eyes narrow on him. "Your reputation precedes you, great warriors. I heard that the individual battle powers of each of your squad's members is supposed to be astonishing. On par with that of Lord Frieza's."

"Too bad that doesn't matter now," Cacao spoke up in his deep, robotic voice, which blared across the chasm between them and the group. "Not after the… upgrades we've all received."

Amond smirked when he saw the confused looks come over Dore and Neiz's faces. "To answer your earlier question as to why we are here, I think the reason should be quite obvious to you." He then reached up with a hand and pointed a thumb over his shoulder- in the direction of the gargantuan tree behind him. "We're here to harvest the fruits of the Shinseiju- or known better in the common tongue as the Tree of Might- which we planted on this world about two moons ago."

Dore blinked in confusion, "Tree of Might?" What kind of weird name was that?

Eyes widening a little, Myra then glanced across at the massive tower of wood jutting out of the horizon. "Wait. I've heard of that name before. It was from one of the fairytales my teacher told me back at the school on my home planet. 'The tree that grants everlasting vitality and strength to those who seek its divine power. Those who eat from its fruit and drink from its nectar gain the strength and wisdom of the Gods.' In other words, the legendary Tree of the Kais."

"Ah. I see somebody knows their ancient history and legends," Daiz chuckled while shooting the adolescent a dirty look. "Clever girl."

"Yes. That is indeed what the tree is," Amond answered, smirking at the somewhat stunned looks that came over the faces of the men and women on the root below. "Our leader- the Mighty Turles- managed to get a hold of its vessel on a secret mission from his home planet many years ago, when he was sent by his king in search of a 'weapon' that could bring down the invincible Lord Frieza. After years of hunting, following the clues left behind by the Core people, and with our assistance, he managed to locate the Seed of the Tree of Might, which had been sealed away on a faraway world at the edge of the quadrant."

"After securing it, we then began searching for a suitable planet on which to grow the mythical flora," Lakasei informed, grinning as he saw the eyes of the group turn to him. "A world of rich soil, fertile land, and abundant life- preferably one where the lifeforms were primitive and still in the early stages of evolution."

It was then Gohan's expression changed and the boy looked upon the group in shock. "So… those two worlds that were destroyed… and this one… that was because of your group planting that tree?"

Cacao smirked, "Correct." The man's straight answer was enough to cause the hybrid's expression to twist with anger, as well as cause the other members of his squad to clench their hands and teeth in outrage.

Their rise in temper and patience was noted by the pirates, who continued to monologue over their earlier adventures.

"The first planet we planted the seed on had a suitable atmosphere and good soil. But the lands weren't nearly fertile enough and the air was far too thin, which meant that the tree was unable to reach its full size. The first fruits we grew were sour and didn't provide a big enough boost in strength," Daiz informed, which was then followed by him gesturing towards his teammate Lakasei. "However, the essence from the tree's roots was still strong enough to revive our friend Lakasei's petrified corpse- the fossil of which we managed to buy off of the black market in order to test the tree's potency and potential." A cheeky wave from the purple alien caused Cooler's elite to frown in a rather sickly manner.

Seeing the group's eyes snap to him, Amond then stepped forward. "We then considered moving on to the Milky Way galaxy in search of a planet there, inside of Frieza's territory. But along the way, we came across a second planetoid with a thriving colony and a healthy landscape, and decided to do our next experimental plantation there." A chuckle left the big warrior's lips. "And I tell yah, the Tree of Might took to that world far, far better than the one before."

"The earth was much more fertile, as was the quantity and quality of water, which helped to grow fruit that were ten times richer than the last," Lakasei stated with a smug smile, at the same time raising his hand and clenching his fists tightly. "Our battle powers exploded the moment we fed off of the tree, allowing us to achieve heights in strength we never could've dreamed of."

"Once we realized we were on the right track, we packed up and moved on, which then led us to here- a large, outlying world rich in soil, swamps, atmosphere, forests, and sweeping valleys. The colony residing on the continent was small, but strong, which gave us all the information we needed to tell that this was the perfect place to plant our final tree," Daiz stated with a wide, menacing grin.

"It's taking the big sucker a lot longer to funnel through the dense earth and mantel. But once the fruits have achieved ripeness and we've eaten from them once more, we will become the most powerful warriors the universe has ever seen! Even more powerful than Frieza and his pathetic family! Our strength will allow us to usurp their thrones and assume our rightful places as rulers of the cosmos!" Amond exclaimed, clenching his fist in front of him before then holding out his hand and pointing down at the group. The expression that came over him next was one of foul and malicious intent. "But before we kick back and indulge in the literal fruits of our labors… we're going to have a little bit of fun, and slaughter each and every one of you first."

"The last group of so-called warriors and soldiers we fought barely even put up a fight. We took care of them easily," Daiz informed, standing up along with Lakasei and giving the female member of the group a wide smirk. "It's about time we finally found a group of challengers worthy enough of our strength."

Upon hearing the pirates' bragging and story finally come to an end, the elite squadron allowed the information to process and boil for a moment. Once a minute had ticked by and they were forced to endure the arrogant looks of their foes, Gohan then snarled through clenched teeth and a face twisted in outrage.

"You scumbags destroyed three whole planets and murdered millions of innocent people… just so you could eat some stupid, magical fruits," the boy hissed through his lips, drawing glances from the pirates in front of him. Glancing back at the three fox girls behind him, who he could see were all looking on with mixed looks of worry and terror on their faces, the boy then glared back at the bandits. "Kida and her friends lost their homes… their families… and everybody else they knew and loved. They have nothing and nobody left... because you took them away from them. But that all changes now."

"I sure hope you assholes are ready, because we're going to make you pay for all the suffering and destruction you've caused," Myra also growled, backing up her teammate's anger with her own as her expression hardened with intent. "Your spree of sucking planets dry is over."

Cracking his knuckles one by one, Dore sneered. "I'm personally going to enjoy wasting you evil fuckers."

While the pirates gave the two warriors smug looks, Salza then put on a smirk of his own and shot back at the villains in his usual, haughty manner.

"Hmph. I share the same sentiment as my companions. If you fools think that eating some fruit from a mystical tree, loaded with energy stolen from innocent people and worlds, will grant you the strength to bring down the likes of Lord Cooler- let alone us- then you're even more idiotic than you look," the blond remarked, seeing the faces on the bad guys change drastically, which drew a chuckle from the captain, as well as Dore, Neiz, Gohan and Myra. "No one in the universe can stand up to our strength."

"Haven't you heard, dumb assess?" Dore asked with a grin, clenching his fists as he felt another number coming on. "We're the best warriors in the quadrant. The greatest tag team around…"

"And Emperor Cooler's most elite and respected soldiers," Neiz followed up, his own posture straightening as he timed what was. "We're his instruments of justice."

"The blade that he wields whenever evil rears its ugly head," Myra continued, her own smirk returning as she allowed her outrage to fuel her mind, body and soul.

"And the evil that we're going to crush today, will be all of you!" Gohan added immediately afterwards, puffing his chest out and grinning confidently- as his heart started to pump and his blood began to rush. Knowing what was coming next, the boy was now finding himself unable to contain his excitement or his fury- with Kida and her friends noticing his tail starting to wave about behind him even more agitatedly. "You bastards are going down! And we're the ones who are going to make sure that you do!"

With all five stepped towards one another to form a row- Salza in the center, Myra and Gohan on his left, and Dore and Neiz on his right- the entire squad then wasted no time and struck a pose. Neiz and Gohan throwing their arms out and lunging to the side, Dore and Myra kneeling down and striking their hands to the other, and Salza taking on a shoulder-width stance with his hands extended, the entire group formed a full-team battle posture, with their glares fixating squarely on the enemy in front of them.

"Cooler's Armored Squadron!" they all shouted at once, ending with Salza glaring up at the stumped group of pirates.

Staring down at the five posing warriors- completely ignoring the amazed looks on the three young Kitsune-seijin gathered behind their formation- the mercenaries were first at a complete loss for words. However, after several seconds ticked by and a gust of wind billowed over the valley, sending a cloud of dead leaves drifting over their spot, a now thoroughly impatient Amond clenched his teeth and hissed.

"Take them."

In the blink of an eye, the four pirates on the root crouched forward and vanished into four distinct blurs, at the exact same time Salza, Myra, Dore, Neiz and Gohan- all powering up and surrounding themselves in their respective auras while still in their fighting poses- then shot up into the sky at blazing speed in pursuit of their foes. Their take-off was marked by a loud shockwave that echoed across the landscape and sent a blast of dust rippling outwards, their energies leaving five individual vapor trails in their wake.

The moment they propelled themselves into battle, chaos unfolded, and all Kida, Rei and Riko could do was stand together and stare up in the sky in awe, as the group of heroes engaged their foes.

The battle had begun.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: For comparison's sakes, since the change in Alter Age, all groups have been training their asses off. With the Cooler Force being sent on more missions with Gohan and Myra accompanying, there's been a big alteration in strengths and battle powers. Plus it gives me a chance to make some personal amendments, particularly to the Salza and Dore power level differentiation, with the captain's strength being lower than his subordinate's which makes no sense to me:

Original power levels (as found on DBZ wikia):

Cooler's Armored Squadron:

Dore – 185,000

Salza – 170,000

Neiz- 163,000

Turles Crusher Corps:

Turles – 300,000 (after eating Tree of Might fruit)

Amond – 9,100

Daiz – 8,400

Cacao – 13,000

Raisen – 7,600

Lakasei – 7,600

Ginyu Force:

Captain Ginyu – 120,000

Jeice – between 40,000 and 60,000

Burter – between 40,000 and 60,000

Recoome – between 40,000 and 60,000

Guldo – 10,000 (approximately)

XXX

Alter Age power levels:

Raditz Saga:

Gohan – 120 (suppressed)

Gohan – 900 (active)

Gohan – 4,000 (dormant)

Goku (w/weights) – 335

Goku – 420

Piccolo (w/weights) – 322

Piccolo - 408

Raditz – 1,500

Saibamen – 1,200 (each)

Gohan – 990 (vs Saibaman)

Gohan – 1,400 and climbing (as fight continues)

Gohan – 3,000 and climbing (after deflecting Raditz's Saturday Crash)

Gohan – 2,004 (fatigued)

Gohan – 6,000 and climbing (first Zenkai)

Gohan – 6,300 and climbing

3x Saibamen Kamikaze – 7,000

Gohan – 10 (unconscious)

Raditz – 1,007 (fatigued)

Saiyan Saga:

Vegeta – 18,000

Nappa – 4,000

Gohan – 8,000 (second Zenkai)

Gohan – 13,500 (multiple boosts)

Giant Centipede – 12,000

Myra – 115,000

Dore – 105,000

Gohan – 24,000 and climbing (enraged)

Cooler (3rd/Final Form - Suppressed) – 3,900,000

Raider Saga:

Cooler's Armored Squadron (After six months of training and missions):

Salza – 185,000

Myra – 182,000

Neiz – 182,000

Dore – 180,000

Gohan – 170,000

Turles Crusher Corps (After eating first batches of Tree of Might fruit)

Amond – 159,000

Daiz – 158,000

Cacao – 163,000

Raisen – 157,000

Lakasei – 157,000

Turles- Unknown