To be honest, Krillin should be used to the sensation of terror. He had died, after all. But oddly, standing on the stage now, he realized that no matter how many times he had felt fear in his life, he was never going to get comfortable with it.

When he had first met Neka he didn't know what to think. She was cute, had a strange amount of fury, and for some reason, didn't understand how umbrellas worked. He hadn't understood what she was doing with his best friend. Goku didn't like girls, not like most guys did, he didn't really see much of a difference between male and female, he just wanted to fight and get stronger and help those he cared about.

So how the hell did Goku get this beautiful girl following him around?

But then he learned Neka was an alien and so was Goku. The same kind of alien. Saiyans. He learned Neka had a harsher temper than Launch did when she was blond. But most of all, Krillin learned that Neka was incredibly, terrifyingly, brutally strong.

And now, he was standing on the same stage as her as she glared critically over at him, her weird device's screen flickering as she got a read of his power level. Her tail lolled idly behind her. If only she hadn't become immune to it being grabbed. Goku used to become crippled whenever someone squeezed his tail. But Neka had told them the other night how it didn't affect her because, like Goku, she had trained it just like any other limb of her body.

Grabbing it would most likely only piss her off.

And then she would bitch slap him with it.

Krillin cursed under his breath. His luck really was nonexistent. He knew there was no way he was winning this fight. But the way Neka constantly complained about how weak and pointless humans were, he wanted to at least surprise her. It might only catch her off guard, but he was going to prove how strong a human could be. He wouldn't go down without a fight!

"So, little man..." Neka smirked at him. "Feeling confident? No, I can see it your eyes. Just try not to get the stage wet when you piss your pants."

Krillin's face turned red. None of this was fair. If her Scouter thing was accurate, then his power level was 171. And hers was 7,586. It didn't take a math genius to tell him that the odds were against him.

"I'm not going out quietly," he said. He crouched, letting the determination flood away the fear. "Just, you know, don't kill me."

Neka laughed, crossing her arms. "Oh, don't worry, little man," she sneered, glancing toward Goku. He, Yamcha, and Tien were all watching from over by the wall. "Unfortunately, so long as you're Goku's friend and don't make me too angry, I won't kill you." Her eyes flicked back to Krillin. "But he didn't say anything against you going off on a stretcher."

Krillin gulped. Damn it. There goes the determination. The fear was back.

But Krillin had been through worse, he told himself. Hell, he'd died before. If anything, he could have a senzu bean if things got too out of hand. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he had a point to prove.

Stupid, Krillin, a voice in the back of his head scolded. Just walk away now and keep your bones intact.

No, another, stronger voice, said. Humans can be strong. Maybe not as strong as a Saiyan, but we have strengths in other places Neka refuses to recognize.

"Good luck, Krillin!" Goku called.

"FIGHT!" the announcer cried.

"I'm feeling generous." Neka closed her eyes, a smirk coming to her lips. "I'll let you make the first move, little man. Let's see if you can actually make it sting."

Opening her eyes again, she saw Krillin glaring at her. There was the slightest shake in his limbs, but they stopped as he took a breath and grinned.

"You may regret saying that!" he said confidently.

Neka snorted. She would never cease to be amazed at how stupid humans could be.

Krillin lifted his hands, closing each fist tightly. Then he tucked them back by his hips. She heard Goku mutter to Yamcha, "Whoa, Krillin has a new technique!"

Neka perked a brow when her Scouter beeped. His power level jumped from 171 to 245. She blinked in surprise. Could all these humans fluctuate their power like this? Not that it mattered. 245 against her would only scuff her armor. Still, she really liked this armor. It was one of the only things she had of her old life. Best to dodge, she decided, even though his punches wouldn't even hurt-

PSAAA!

It wasn't a punch.

Neka jumped just in time to avoid two powerful energy beams rushing at her, one spewing from each of Krillin's hands. They zoomed under her, a buffet of wind quickly following suit. Neka snorted, hovering in the air.

"That's it?" she scoffed.

Krillin smirked and twisted his hands. Neka looked back to see the blasts had changed course and were veering back around to hit her. She let out a hiss of distaste and held out her own hands, shooting out two blasts to meet Krillin's. They both exploded upon impact, vanishing in a puff of energy. Neka smirked victoriously.

"Was that really all you had-?" she began, but then, Krillin was suddenly beside her.

Neka barely felt the punch, and she stood there, not even her skin had caved from the impact, looking at Krillin as he had his fist to her cheek. His face fell when they made eye contact.

"Crap!" he squeaked.

Neka let out an angry grunt and back handed him, sending him crashing into the stage floor, the tiles cracking beneath him. She was suddenly worried if she might have hurt Krillin, but when she took in how foreign the thought was, she realized it was Goku, not her, who was worried. It seemed the stronger his emotion was, the more it felt like her own. She detested that. She also detested the fact that the little insect human had managed to sneak up on her. Why did her Scouter fail to pick up his energy signature?

The only answer she could think of was that he moved too fast for it to register that he moved at all and had been trying to catch up. Goku's words about how her Scouter was useless pricked at the back of her mind again, but she shoved them away. There was no way the defect could sense energy on his own. If he could, then Neka, who was far more powerful than him, surely would be able to as well.

Krillin was picking himself back up, groaning. He seemed unscathed for the most part. Unfortunate. Neka had held back too much it seemed.

"I let you get your hit in," she snapped down at him, glaring. "Now it's time to end this."

Krillin crouched. "She didn't even flinch from that punch!" he muttered to himself. "Guess I have to kick it up a notch."

Neka shot downward and landed, smirking darkly at him. Tempting. Yes, it was very tempting to end him here. To blast his head clean off his shoulders. It would be so easy. It wouldn't cost her hardly any effort. To see the looks on every one of these weaklings faces- on Goku's face… it would be priceless. A cruel grin came to her lips.

"Neka!" Goku's voice called.

Neka's eyes flicked over to his face to see he was glaring at her with a hard gleam in his eyes. He knew. She gritted her teeth and sighed.

"Yes, yes, I promised, didn't I?" she drawled, letting her muscles relax again. She refocused on Krillin, who looked a little confused at their exchange. He couldn't see the subtle communication that was passing through the Bond. Lucky him, Neka thought dryly.

She would play by Goku's rules for now.

Krillin launched at her, thrusting out his elbow first. Neka side-stepped him with a scoff, but as soon as he landed where she had been, he pushed off the ground to pursue her. Neka perked a brow at his persistence as he lashed out a wild frenzy of punches. Neka blocked them all easily, a bored look on her face.

"Are you even trying?" she asked blandly, kicking up into the air.

Krillin let out an angry grunt and pushed off the ground, jumping up high to follow her. Neka grinned wickedly. Krillin must have realized too late that he was jumping right into an attack of her own. He yelped, but now that he was in the air, a slave to gravity, there was no escape. Neka tucked and flipped forward once before hiking out a leg and slamming the heel of her boot into the top of his head. He was sent sailing toward the edge of the ring where he would land in the grass.

She heard the desperate wail of Goku and Yamcha. A smirk tugged her lips. This match was over. She crossed her arms to watch Krillin land out of bounds.

Krillin stopped falling.

Neka blinked, eyes going wide as Krillin hovered up into the air and landed shakily on the stage again. He rubbed the back of his head with a small laugh.

The little bastard could fly!

Goku was just as shocked as she was. "Krillin! When did you learn how to fly?!"

"You weren't the only one training for the past three years, remember, Goku?" Krillin gloated and looked up at Neka. "You won't get rid of me that easy!"

"Seems so," Neka grumbled. "I'll just have to stop restraining myself so much, then, won't I?"

Krillin seemed to wince a bit, but he remained crouched, determined.

"Heh," Neka scoffed. "Some might say that you're being brave. Me? I say you're being an idiot."

She landed back on the stage, her movements calm and collected. Krillin glared at her, but she could see the fear in his eyes. It made her grin. She slowly aimed a palm at him. Krillin flinched, his determined glare falling completely.

"Dodge," Neka said. A small blast released from her palm.

Krillin jumped just in time for it to miss. But Neka wasn't really trying to hit him. She shot another and another until Krillin was bouncing all over the stage to avoid her projectiles. Neka laughed cruelly as she watched him.

"Well look at that, we found something you're good at! Dancing!" she goaded.

Finally, she intentionally landed a hit on Krillin, catching him in the chest and sending him crashing onto the stage floor. She approached, smirking down at him as he coughed and tried to sit up. She pressed a foot to his chest to push him back down. He let out a tight wail of pain.

"Give up," she sneered.

"N-no!" Krillin grunted.

Neka sighed, still grinning as she removed her boot. She reached down and gripped him by the front of his shirt, holding him up in front of her. She felt a flash of anger from Goku, but she didn't bother to look at him. She was enjoying this far too much. She wasn't going to kill his little friend, but that didn't mean she couldn't toy with him.

"Either way, you're going to lose, why take the hard way out?" she asked.

Krillin smiled at her. "I don't care about losing, it's about going down trying."

"Tch." Neka shook her head. "Even some of you humans have a sense of honor. I guess my respect for you raised up out of the negatives. But not by much."

"Glad to hear it." Krillin laughed weakly as he raised a hand and blasted her in the face.

Neka shrieked, caught completely off guard. Her Scouter had not picked up anything- she had no clue he had been charging that attack. She stumbled backward, dropping him and rubbing her eye which was the only thing that stung. Luckily, it hit her on the side of her face the Scouter was not, so her device was intact. But she was furious nonetheless.

As she recovered, blinking stars out of her eyes, Krillin was rushing at her. She swiftly blocked an incoming kick and then a punch, but her blocks were sloppy from being unable to see properly. With a howl of frustration, she whipped out her arm.

It connected. She caught Krillin on the side of his head, sending him flying off the stage and into the wall where the audience was. It cracked when he made impact and he fell to the grass in a heap.

"Amazing!" cried the announcer. "After a sneak attack from Krillin, it appeared he may have had Neka on the ropes, but she brought it back and rung him out with only one punch! Well I guess we can all say that he went down honorably, refusing to give up even when it appeared he was outmatched! Neka goes on to the quarter finals!"

"Krillin, are you okay?" Goku called.

Krillin tried to get up but fell, laughing and wincing in pain. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be," he said.

Neka glared at him. "Would you prefer I make you eat those words?"

Krillin flinched. "N-no thanks, I'm still hurting."

"That's what I thought." Neka walked off the stage as Goku went over to help Krillin up, pulling an arm around his shoulders.

She heard him talk to him. "Wow, Krillin, you've really improved! That was some great fighting, trust me I know how hard it is to surprise her!"

"Thanks, Goku, but don't let her hear you saying that, I'd expect she might surprise you instead!" He chuckled then cut off, groaning in pain.

Neka decided to ignore their comments. Let them think that they were decent fighters or that they accomplished something. She hadn't been trying. Had she been, Krillin would be dead right now. And there would be no cheery Goku feelings in the back of her mind making her spine itch.

Tien was looking at her with a frown as she reached him and Yamcha.

"Goku wasn't kidding about your strength," he said.

"Did you want to test it, three eyes?" Neka snarled.

Tien's frown deepened. "I used to be just like you, you know. Cocky. Ruthless. I didn't care about anyone but myself. My only friend was Chiaotzu. But Goku helped me see that there's more to life than that."

"If you're trying to make some deep speech, spare me," Neka barked, stalking passed him. "I don't give a shit."

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I think that will be all the matches for today!" the announcer called. "Tomorrow we will see the match between Hero and Junior and then move on to the quarter finals!"

"Here, Yamcha, can you hold Krillin for a sec?" Goku had reached them, and passed his injured friend off to Yamcha for a second before digging in his belt and producing a small pouch. "Here!" He took a small bean out of it.

"Oh, sensu beans!" Krillin said cheerfully.

Goku perked a brow. "You know what this is?"

"Sure, he does," Yamcha said. "Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, and I all climbed Korin's Tower and got his training two years back. We have some too."

"Great!" Goku exclaimed and handed it to Krillin who popped it in his mouth. "We have some to spare then!"

Neka observed as Krillin's wounds closed and he was able to stand on his own again. That was what Goku had used to save her life when she first crashed here. She supposed those would come in handy in case something did happen with Piccolo.

"Goku, give me one of those," Neka demanded.

Goku blinked at her. "What? But why? You're fine, Neka!"

Neka glared at him. "It's in case you get hurt and can't get a bean yourself. That way I can revive you. Now give it to me."

Goku handed one over. "I don't see why-" he began but Neka cut him off.

"It's not just your neck anymore, defect," she snarled, grabbing the front of his shirt. "It's mine too! And I'm going to have some form of insurance!"

"Alright!" Goku laughed. "Just calm down, Neka."

Neka shoved him away from her, tucking the bean in her armor, tail lashing as she turned. "Let's just go. I'm starving."

Goku's mood brightened considerably. "Yeah!" he cheered. "Let's go get some food!"

"Now I know where the appetite thing came from. It must be a Saiyan thing," Yamcha noted.

They found the others and went to a food establishment on the tournament grounds. Several people pointed them out as they went and congratulated Goku, Tien, and Neka for advancing to the next rounds, and even Yamcha and Krillin for putting up good fights. Neka ignored all of them, just eating every plate that was set in front of her. One thing she did enjoy about this world was the food. It was amazing compared to what she was used to back on any of Frieza's planets or space ports. Every dish was packed full of flavor. It was amazing. Neka promised herself she was going to figure out how they made the food taste so amazing so she could do it herself.

Her and Goku had stacks and stacks of empty plates by the end of the meal. The others stared at them as they finally sat back. Neka stifled a burp and hooked an arm back over her chair, looking around.

This planet's people were so boring. Weak, soft. The lived meaningless lives. Hardly any of them actually fought. None of them knew what it was to have true warrior pride and strength. It was depressing. Her race would be able to annihilate all of them in the blink of an eye. They wouldn't even have to transform. It would probably only take two of them. Her and…

Vegeta.

Neka glanced over at Bulma, who had finished her meal long ago and was talking to Launch.

"Hey," Neka snapped, making them both look at her. "Can you fix my transmitter on my Scouter tonight? Without it emitting a track back signal?"

"I was nearly done with it last night," Bulma replied. "I should be able to."

"Good," Neka said, closing her eyes and resting her head back.

She had to know if her brother was okay.

That night, Neka waited in Bulma's hotel room impatiently while she tinkered away. Goku was with her, sitting cross legged beside her, head propped in his hands.

"So who are you trying to contact?" he asked.

"I'm not trying to contact anyone," Neka said. "I'm just going to eavesdrop on some transmissions to see what they're up to."

"The ones that tried to kill you?" Goku prodded.

Neka didn't reply.

Goku sighed heavily. "You know if we're eventually going to go fight these people I think I deserve to know who they are!"

"You're not going to be fighting him," Neka muttered. "He would destroy you."

Goku pouted at her. "That's not fair."

"Goku, he's strong enough to kill me in one hit," Neka spat.

That shut him up for a moment.

"That's… that sounds impossible!" he finally spluttered. "I mean- you're already way stronger than me- so this guy-"

"Yes, so I'm going to train until I know I can defeat him, and you're going to stay behind when I go to do so," Neka told him. "You would just get in my way."

"But-"

"Besides," Neka cut him off. "It's not his Scouter I want to listen in on.. It's one of his men. I'll be able to tell if they really think I'm dead or not."

"There!" Bulma declared and handed the Saiyan Princess the Scouter. "It's set to the numbers you gave me, and I put a cloaking on it. No one will be able to track your signal."

Neka swiftly hooked it back on her ear and hit the button, too eager to even care if the human girl had done it right or trust that she wasn't mistaken.

She entered mid-conversation.

"…ion, sir. The planet is completely clean, and awaiting your troops to reestablish it for selling."

Vegeta's voice. Her twin.

"Very good, Vegeta." That was Frieza. Fury tingled up Neka's spine.

"Neka?" Goku asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. He must have felt her spike of anger.

"Shut up!" Neka swatted him away and listened.

"…pose that it was a simple enough task, even for monkeys." Dodoria. That was Dodoria's voice. "Still, if I had gone down there it wouldn't have taken me three whole days."

"Well what do you expect?" Zarbon's lofty voice came. "Frieza, it was rather brash of you to send this filth to get the job done, if you had sent myself or Dodoria it would have been done within the hour."

"Why you-!" Nappa's angry growl came.

"Nappa!" Vegeta snapped. There was a pause, then Vegeta continued. "Apologies, sir. We promise the next mission will go much faster."

Frieza's laugh was cold. "See to it that you don't, Vegeta. I would hate to send you to on easier tasks like scouting desolate planets… almost like the last mission I sent your sister on."

Vegeta was silent, but she heard Nappa growling.

"Enough, Nappa," Vegeta said in a low tone. "Until your next orders, sir. Come, Nappa, Raditz."

Footsteps for a long while. Then something happened. The sound cut off. It was a little too clean of a silence.

"He's trying to make to where no one can hear his Scouter transmissions," Neka said. "He doesn't want Frieza to hear what he's going to say... Bulma, can you get past that?"

"I can try," Bulma said. "I've gotten pretty familiar with the tech- hacking should be relatively similar to getting into one of our systems here on Earth. Well, our advanced systems..." She took the Scouter back when Neka handed it to her.

She fiddled with it for a few moments. Neka's knee bounced as she restlessly tapped her foot. Goku was looking between Bulma and Neka with a fretful frown.

"What did you hear?" he asked.

"Just wait a second, will you, defect?" Neka snapped at him.

He let out a small groan of disappointment. "I just-"

"Got it," Bulma said, holding out the Scout again.

Neka hooked it back on her ear with such eagerness her fingers nearly fumbled and dropped it. She entered mid-conversation again.

"...keep doing this!" Nappa was shouting. "They're purposely egging us on!"

"They just want an excuse, Nappa," Raditz said. "They're afraid of us."

"You're wrong," Vegeta said harshly. "Zarbon and Dodoria do not fear us, and Frieza only fears what we could become. In the meantime, we're far more useful under his boot. He'll use us until he no longer needs to, or when we become a true threat, but right now we are no match for him, especially the two of you," he added with disdain. "We will bide our time."

"He insulted the Princess," Nappa snarled.

Vegeta was silent for a moment. "The only thing we can do for Neka is honor her memory by destroying him," he finally whispered. "And we can't do that if we're dead. No go rest up. We will continue our training tomorrow."

There were footsteps for a moment, then she heard the feed cut. It was a sound she was more familiar with, a slight burst of static then silence. Vegeta had turned off his Scouter for the night, most likely retiring to bed.

Neka sat frozen.

"Neka…?" Goku gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Neka slowly smirked.

"Should have expected this out of him." She laughed softly and shook her head. "If I really was dead, this would be the perfect way to honor my memory."

"What are you talking about?" Goku asked.

Neka glanced at him. "Don't worry about it. They believe me to be dead, this is good news for us."

Goku was still frowning at her but Bulma said, "So that means we don't have to worry about random super strong aliens showing up and destroying the world?"

"Not yet," Neka said. "If my theory about them possibly knowing about Goku being sent here as a child then they might someday show up anyway to collect him and try to sell the planet." Neka clenched her fists. "But I'll be waiting here when they do." She got up from the bed abruptly. "I'm going to bed."

"Uh! Wait up!" Goku jumped after her. He paused at the door, calling back to Bulma. "Thanks for fixing her Scouter, Bulma!"

Neka continued down the hall toward their room. When Goku caught up to her, she could see him smiling at her from the corner of her eye.

"I'm glad that made you happy," he said.

Neka snorted. "What are you talking about?"

"You were mad at first, but then you heard something that made you happy!" Goku said.

Neka shrugged. "It's pleasing news that they haven't found me out."

"It was more than that," Goku pressed. "It was like… you were proud of someone."

Could Goku really read her feelings so easily through the Bond? Neka frowned a bit. She was going to have to watch it. She didn't like Goku and she didn't want him or anyone on this stupid planet knowing much about her or her past. It was her problem, not theirs, and she didn't need Goku preaching to her about how fighting for someone you care about is strengthening. That's exactly what he would do if he found out she had a brother. She could see him rubbing it in her face: "What would you do for Vegeta?" Blah, blah, blah.

As soon as she could, she needed to find a way to get rid of this Bond. For the first time in her life, she regretted a murder. If she hadn't killed that Xekian, maybe he could have somehow reversed this stupid curse.

"What do you even care?" Neka asked. "Because my anger gives you a headache? Suck it up."

"It's not just that," Goku said, frowning at her. He looked hurt. "I just want to see you happy. I… I can't explain it, but when you smile it's like this weird little flip in my stomach." He touched his abdomen as if to emphasize. "I only feel that when I'm about to have a really good meal! So I guess when a person- when a girl makes me feel like that, you must be something really special." He beamed.

"You're comparing me to dinner," Neka said dryly.

"Sure! I mean, there's no other greater feeling I get!" he laughed.

Neka sighed as she entered their room. Krillin was snoring on his bed. Neka kicked it on her way to the balcony and he yelped, startled awake.

"What was that for?!" he demanded.

"You were snoring," Neka snapped.

"Sorry, Krillin," Goku whispered.

"Tch…" Neka leaned on the railing, looking out at the island. The sun was set now, and the stars shown brightly overhead. Beautiful little droplets of light, as far as the horizon. The Saiyan Princess stared up at them, breathing in the crisp scent of the night.

She felt like she had some peace now. Vegeta was biding his time. He was safe. He would continue to carry out Frieza's orders until he was strong enough to face him. Neka knew now she didn't have to worry about her twin's life. She would start training Goku after the tournament. It was possible that he could become strong enough to be an asset rather than burden in the fight against Frieza. But she doubted it. Saiyan blood needed more than just soft feelings to make it pump. Pride and ruthlessness is what burned them onward. And Goku barely had the former.

One thing at a time, Neka told herself. They had to deal with this Piccolo problem first. Which was irritating enough as it was. She could easily destroy that Namekian in one blast. But Goku insisted on fighting him alone. Idiot. However, his Saiyan pride was actually manage to show itself and Neka didn't have the heart to shove it away. She just hoped he wouldn't get them both killed. Not that she would let it get that far.

After hearing Vegeta safe and sound and training to become stronger just like her… Neka felt like… maybe she could survive this planet- survive Goku- after all. Maybe… just maybe… it wouldn't be so bad.