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"Talking"

'Thinking'

Earth's Protector

Chapter 12: Brewing Trouble

His mom was a complete and utter badass.

Well, that was something that Gohan always knew. No one in his family messed with Chi-Chi. She may be weaker than Goku and Gohan, but they feared her for a reason.

And this dimension, it clearly showed what could have been if she never married Goku after the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament. She clearly never stopped training and just got stronger.

Yes, that's right. After talking with Piccolo, Gohan left to go find his mother because he was missing her so he wanted to see her in this dimension. Everyone's life clearly played out differently here and that included hers.

While he was looking for Chi-Chi to see what she was like here, Gohan never expected to find her by a soldier from Frieza's army being thrown into his path as he was walking. He also didn't expect a second soldier to come flying into the first as he was trying to get up.

Blinking a few times, Gohan looked up to see a version of Chi-Chi that was completely unexpected for him. She was dressed in a blue cheongsam with red armbands and a sash tied around her waist. A pair of red boots covered her feet and her hair was tied back into a ponytail. It was a look he only saw in pictures from the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament. This woman in front of him was truly still a martial artist who hasn't moved on to having a family.

The power he was sensing from her also proved that. His mom rarely trained anymore in his dimension, but this Chi-Chi clearly did it often. She was so much stronger than the Chi-Chi from his dimension. If she didn't know already, Gohan was sure she could learn to use ki with the power level she was at.

And that thought absolutely terrified him. If his mother knew how to use ki, it would be so much harder to sneak out and then she could fly after him. Oh, the thought was terrifying. If she knew how many times he snuck out to go fishing or just to go exploring, he would be in so much trouble.

"Who are you?"

The sharp, crisp tone almost had Gohan jumping out of his skin as he looked up from the soldiers on the ground to see Chi-Chi looking back at him with a suspicious glint in her eyes. Well, there was a look on his mother's face he never thought he would see directed at him. Usually it was a look she shot towards his dad or the Z fighters.

Holding his hands up in a surrender motion, a nervous chuckle escaped Gohan. "Just a kid passing through, Miss."

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, without relying on much thought, Gohan slammed a foot down on the soldier's wrist, effectively breaking it and putting a hold on any type of attack he was planning.

Ignoring his scream of pain, Gohan kicked the soldiers off the path and cautiously edged his way closer to Chi-Chi. "I don't want to fight."

Despite what he said, Chi-Chi still eyed him cautiously as he approached. He would have been offended by that, but he guessed he could understand why she was on edge. With a war going on, it made sense that people would be cautious of strangers approaching. He didn't see it in the city, but out here near Fire Mountain, it made sense. The Ox-King's village and Fire Mountain weren't like West City. It was a small village so it lacked the protection that West City had. That situation would have made the people out here more suspicious and cautious of people.

It was probably for that reason Chi-Chi was the way she was right now in front of Gohan. She was stronger because she had to be. It was because she had to protect her home.

"You shouldn't be traveling alone." Chi-Chi pointed out with a frown. "Frieza's forces are seemingly getting more active with each passing day."

Her statement was enough to tell Gohan she didn't know how to use ki. If she did, she would have been able to sense Gohan's power. He was keeping it low, but not that low that he would seem weak to anyone who could sense ki. "I'm sure I will be fine." He told Chi-Chi with a wide grin. Seeing the version of his mom in this dimension was actually a bit comforting. She didn't seem that different from his mother. She was still a strong, independent woman with a strict, no nonsense attitude. Besides Piccolo, he didn't know what any of his friends here were like. He didn't know if their personalities were similar or not so it was nice to see that his mother was still the same, just without her own family. It made him want to see Kakarot just to see how he compared with Goku of his dimension. "I'm stronger than I look."

Chi-Chi looked down at the child with a frown before sighing and looking past him at the soldiers she just knocked out. "It doesn't matter how strong you. You still need to be careful. Overconfidence is a fatal flaw in battle."

That wasn't a lesson that Gohan needed. He lived that lesson in his battle against Cell. For the first time in his life, he was the strongest person on the battlefield. Sure, his rage bursts boosted his power, but it was never something he could control. The first time he got control and was the strongest, he got overconfident and cocky. It didn't take long for him to learn how big of a mistake that was. His father sacrificed himself to stop Cell's self-destruction from destroying the Earth and then Cell came back even stronger from that. The final battle was so much harder for Gohan because he allowed himself to get cocky.

He wanted to say he wished he met this Chi-Chi before fighting Cell so he could hear her say that, but Gohan doubted it would have done much for him to hear it before his fight with Cell. Understanding that overconfidence was a mistake in battle was something that needed to be learned firsthand. It just sucked that he had to lose so much just to learn that lesson.

Before Gohan could reply, his stomach growled, making his cheeks turn red. He crossed his arms over his stomach as he tried to will his blush away.

"Hungry?" Chi-Chi asked. "Come on."

"Huh?" Gohan started confused, but didn't get a chance to think on it as Chi-Chi grabbed his wrist and pulled him along behind her.

"We shouldn't stay out here much longer. It would be remiss of me if I let a child just wonder around by himself with Frieza's men around." Chi-Chi explained as she pulled Gohan down the path to get back to Fire Mountain. "Besides, you're hungry, right? I can get you something to eat."

Gohan blinked, but didn't argue with her. This Chi-Chi was so much like his mother that arguing with her would be a bad idea. Besides, he knew what his mother was like. She may be strict and argued with his dad a lot, but it was only because she cared so much and wanted what was best for Gohan. That wasn't to say his dad didn't either. It was just that his parents had different ideas of what was best for him.

Even without having a family of her own, this Chi-Chi still had the same caring urge that a mother would. It was a motherly instinct she clearly had as a part of her personality. Despite what all the Z fighters thought, Chi-Chi was actually a great mother and he would argue that it showed in her. Sure, she was a bit over protective with not wanting him fighting, but he could see why that was. The battlefield was a dangerous place to be. She was a bit obsessive with his studying, but it was so he could have a good future and besides, he did like studying and it's not like all he did was study. While his mother was still serious about Gohan studying, ever since his father died, she had changed a bit. It was like she had developed a different way of thinking. Gohan first noticed it when she allowed him to train more. At first, she wanted him to stop fighting altogether, but when she saw that he wanted to keep up his skills in honor of his father, she changed her mind and supported him. She actually helped Gohan find a balance of studying and training. Although, she didn't seem to mind if Gohan skipped out on training to either study or just to relax. As he got older, she slowly gave him more freedom to make his own decisions. It was nice that she was trusting Gohan to make his own decisions.

"Um, miss?" Gohan said as he looked around the small village they were walking through. Unlike the people in West City, the civilians here didn't look calm about the soldiers that just attacked. They looked panicked and on edge. It wasn't all that surprising since this small village didn't have an energy barrier like West City and from what Gohan was sensing, there was no one too strong in this area. Besides Chi-Chi, the next strongest ki after her was the Ox-King from what he was sensing.

"What is it?" Chi-Chi asked, not slowing her stride through the village, even as she nodded at the people as she passed. "And call me Chi-Chi."

Forcing himself to focus on Chi-Chi rather than the scared people was hard for Gohan. These people only had Chi-Chi and Ox-King for defense. While they weren't weak, they certainly weren't as strong as the Z fighters or saiyans for protection. "Well, why did you get involved with the war with the Cold family? It can't be very pleasant to fight like this."

At his question, Chi-Chi's steps faltered to a stop. She lifted her head to stare up at her father's castle in the distance with a frown. "I don't fight because I want to. Martial arts is in my family and I am carrying on that tradition of studying it. If I could, I would love to have a family, but I haven't found the right person yet and even if I did, I can't settle down with my home in turmoil like this. The people here need me to protect them, so I will do everything I can to do that because I refuse to sit by and watch everyone get killed. Sometimes, we have to put what we want to do aside because others need us." She shifted to turn to the side to look back at Gohan. "I would never be able to forgive myself if I just stood by and watch someone die when I knew I could have stopped it so for that reason, I will fight."

Staring up at Chi-Chi and seeing this strong, determined woman had Gohan smiling. Is this what his father saw in her? Chi-Chi always had a feisty personality that seemed to turn some people off, but his father never ran from it. He wondered if this is what made him love her as he did.

"You're very brave." Gohan commented.

"Someone has to be." Chi-Chi started walking once more, leaving Gohan to follow after her. "My people need to see someone with strength that will protect them."

That's right. Technically, Chi-Chi was the princess of Fire Mountain. It was never something he thought about since his own mother threw this life away so she could start her own family without the responsibility of ruling Fire Mountain. This Chi-Chi didn't have that chance because of the war with the Planet Trade Organization war reaching Earth. The Chi-Chi of this dimension chose to embrace her title and instead of hiding away as the princess of this area, she came out and presented herself as a beacon of hope for her people by showing strength and the ability to fight off the invaders that dared to approach.

"So, there's no one else to help? No Namekians? Saiyans? Z fighters?" Gohan asked with a frown.

An aggravated huff came from Chi-Chi. "They are more concerned with protecting the main cities."

As annoying as that was, Gohan had to admit that it made sense. The main cities on Earth were where most of the people lived and also had some of the best minds, like Bulma. It made sense they didn't want to lose that, but it didn't mean the people who lived outside of cities were any less important.

"It hasn't been too bad though. We don't get attacked as much as the main cities do since there is really nothing out here and when we do, it seems to be mostly low ranked soldiers from the army." Chi-Chi continued when she saw Gohan's worried look and felt the need to reassure him. "I haven't come across anything I haven't been able to handle."

"But what about when you do?" Gohan asked instantly, a frown marring his face. Before facing Cell, there was never a battle in which Gohan was prepared for. He was never the strongest on the battlefield so he knew what the consequences of that were. And it was because he knew the pain and destruction that came with being outmatched, he didn't want it to happen to Chi-Chi or Ox-King. They may not be his family in this dimension, but in his dimension, they were and there was a small part of him that couldn't forget that. Everyone in this dimension wasn't exactly the same as the people he knew, but their appearances were pretty close so seeing them was a constant reminder of who they were to Gohan so he didn't want anything to happen to them. Knowing that, it was actually hard for him to stick to his resolve to not get involved with the war to protect them.

"I will never run." Chi-Chi declared, determination coloring her tone with vigor.

*DBZ*

It was with a full stomach and thoughts whirling around his brain that Gohan left Fire Mountain to head back to Piccolo.

"I will never run."

That one line was constantly running through his mind since Chi-Chi said it. His friends, and even Gohan himself, always compared Gohan's stubbornness and refusal to give up in a fight to his dad. No matter how beaten up Gohan ever got in battle, he always got back on his feet until he literally could not stand anymore. It was like when he fought Recoome. He was severely outmatched, but he only stopped when his neck was broken. Just thinking about his neck snapping back then had a shiver running down his spine. It was probably one of the worst injuries he ever received and he didn't like remembering it.

But the point was, when he was in battle, his friends constantly compared what he did to Goku. Maybe that was wrong. Chi-Chi was just as stubborn as Goku about things. She always stood up for what she wanted, like fighting with his dad about Gohan studying and not training. Perhaps some of the stubbornness and feisty attitude he showed in battle came from her as much as it did his father.

"I will never run."

That line held so much to it. It was a motto that Gohan lived by on the battlefield. Even if he wasn't the strongest, he didn't run from the battlefield because even if he isn't the strongest on the battlefield, he always believed there was still something even he could do. That was the reason he stood on the battlefield, despite hating all the bloodshed. He would not run away by himself and leave his friends to suffer alone. He would do everything in his power to protect his friends.

Even if that meant in indirect ways.

Hitting the ground at Break Wasteland, Gohan looked around with a frown. When he was here when he was four, Piccolo didn't allow him to leave because he was supposed to be focused on training. But now, he was twelve and Piccolo wasn't training him so he could go wherever he pleased. He stayed with Piccolo for a week straight so the Namekian could get used to his presence and so he could suggest joining the Z fighters to him. Today was the first time he actually left Piccolo and he only did that because he felt the need to see the Chi-Chi of this dimension.

So of course it made sense that when he did return, Piccolo would be nowhere in sight!

Letting out a huff of annoyance, Gohan crossed his arms and looked around the Break Wasteland. It was strange that Piccolo wasn't here. The only time he left at all during the week Gohan was here was on the first day when he got fed up with presence.

Where could he have gone?

Gohan tilted his head to the side to allow the energy beam to fly past him. "I'm surprised Piccolo hasn't killed you yet." He commented as he glanced over his shoulder to see a purple skinned alien standing there. His skin almost looked like scales which reminded Gohan of all the fish he has caught and gutted over the years. "He doesn't really like people trekking into here."

"I don't know what this Piccolo is and quite frankly, I don't really care. I'm just here to kill anyone I come across." The alien responded.

Eyes narrowing at the alien, Gohan unfolded his arms so they dropped to his side. In his dimension, Frieza and his man seemed to lack the knowledge of ki sensing and judging by the scouter on this soldier's face, it seemed that still held true. The scouter must also be off and this alien just found him by accident since if he hadn't, he wouldn't sound so cocky. Gohan was making no effort to keep his power low as he was trying to intimidate this soldier into backing off. Well, he guessed it was also possible that this soldier was stronger than he seemed so he had a reason for his cockiness.

"That's a bit problematic." Gohan replied, allowing cockiness to enter his tone. Well, if his enemy could be cocky, then he could act cocky as well. He's seen Vegeta do it enough time so he was sure he could pull it off. "See, I quite like living."

"And that's a problem because anyone with any kind of power must be eliminated!" The alien retorted, lifting his hand up as he allowed a ki ball to form.

At this response, Gohan's eyes narrowed. His sentence gave enough information to tell Gohan that this guy's job was to make sure the fraction fighting against the Cold Family didn't have too many strong warriors. Even though Gohan wasn't a part of the war, the fact that he was strong enough for this guy to decide he should be eliminated told him they were looking to make sure the saiyan fraction didn't get stronger by people like Gohan joining. If they wanted to go after people who weren't fighting on the direct frontlines, then that meant that he wasn't the only one in danger. They would target Piccolo…..and his mom too. Piccolo could handle it, but though his mom's counterpart here was much stronger, even she would have trouble if she got attacked by higher ranked soldiers from the Cold Family's army.

If they found her, they would kill her.

That thought alone caused Gohan's hands to tremble in anger. Everyone else they would probably target could use ki and could match up to them, but Chi-Chi relied solely on martial arts. If they used ki against her, she wouldn't be able to defend. She could dodge the attacks to a certain degree, but very powerful attacks were hard to dodge.

He wouldn't let her be killed!

In a flash, he had disappeared and reappeared right in front of the enemy, hand gripping the wrist of the hand that was producing the ki ball. Gohan stared up into those shocked eyes as he applied enough pressure to snap his wrist. "I won't let you do that."

"You brat!"

Without releasing the alien's wrist, Gohan pulled him along with him as he leaned back to avoid the punch thrown at him while at the same time pulling him off balanced. With his opponent off balanced, Gohan brought his foot up to slam into his gut so hard that as he let go of the broken wrist, the alien went flying into the air above him. Kicking off the ground, Gohan followed after the thrown warrior and punched him right across the face before he could right himself.

It was almost too easy.

The soldier didn't even get a chance to put up a fight before Gohan was putting him in the ground permanently.

For the way he acted and how cocky he was, Gohan expected more from the fight. For all the battles he has been in his life, he can't even remember an easy one. Now that he did have an easy battle, he felt kind of bad for how easily he overpowered his enemy. He shouldn't since he was a bad person that might have killed his mom, but this was the first time he felt so much stronger than someone. He didn't really count his fight with Cell since there was a lot of back and forth among the two of them in that fight.

"I am surprised that you were able to kill him without an ounce of hesitation."

Hearing the familiar gruff tone, Gohan felt his brow twitch in annoyance. "Piccolo, where did you go off to? And it's not like this was my first time killing."

He hated to think about it, but being on the battlefield since he was young had made him pretty immune to bloodshed and death. While his father tried to avoid killing unless there was no other choice, Piccolo and Vegeta weren't that soft so he saw a lot of carnage because of them. Well, them and because of all the people they fought on the battlefield like Frieza and the androids. Although the carnage he saw them create caused his blood to boil in anger. They hurt so many innocent people for their own selfish reasons. Maybe knowing of all the horrible things they did was the reason he didn't even flinch when he saw them get killed. They deserved death for what they did.

At the same time though, Gohan understood his father's need to give them a second chance, but at some point, maybe people just weren't redeemable. Vegeta and Picolo were, but Frieza wasn't. That part Gohan didn't understand. Vegeta and Piccolo never killed any of the Z fighters so it was fine to give them a second chance, but the same could not be said for Frieza. Not only did Frieza and his men kill so many Namekians, but he killed Krillin, Dende, and Vegeta as well as nearly killing Piccolo. So why did his dad try to give Frieza a second chance?

Did it make him a bad person for thinking that? Unlike his father, if someone hurt his friends or family, Gohan didn't think he had it in him to give them a second chance.

No.

He knew he didn't. That was proven when he fought Cell. He wanted Cell to suffer and feel the same fear he caused everyone.

Maybe that just proved how different he and his father were.

"That is a dark thing to say for a kid." Piccolo replied. "If you can fight the enemy without hesitation like that, why don't you join the Z fighters, kid?"

"Considering that you aren't part of them either, I don't think you can ask me that." Gohan retorted as he stepped away from the smoldering body and moved towards Piccolo. "And by the way, are you ever going to stop calling me kid?"

A look of disbelief entered Piccolo's eyes as he shot the kid a scowl. "What else am I supposed to call you? Or have you forgotten the fact that you never told me your name."

Gohan blinked a few times before his mouth fell in a small, "Oh." Did he really never tell Piccolo his name? They have known each other for over a week now and Gohan didn't even think it was weird that Piccolo never said his name. He was used to his Piccolo always calling him kid. His Piccolo did say his name, but he called him 'kid' like it was a nickname more often than his name. Still, while he was used to being called 'kid,' even after a week of only hearing that, even he would question it.

After a few minutes of the two just staring at each other, Piccolo could only let out a huff of annoyance. "So, are you going to tell me your name?"

Instead of answering Piccolo's question, Gohan looked around the Break Wasteland with a frown. "Was he the only one that showed up? They might be more lurking around."

"Some appeared earlier. I was disposing of the bodies when you decided to return and decorate the land with more." Piccolo shot the body behind Gohan an aggravated look for desolating his land.

"I can't help it that I was attacked." Gohan grumbled to himself. "Have you been attacked by them before?"

"No." Piccolo shifted his eyes to Gohan to glare at him as if blaming him for this new turn of events. "I've never had a problem before. Are you a trouble magnet?"

Gohan huffed as he crossed his arms. "Why am I to blame? I told you before that you couldn't avoid the war forever." He turned halfway around so he could prod the scouter on the face of the alien he killed. "Besides, they have these scouters that can detect power levels. I'm surprised it took them this long to find you out here. They probably won't stop coming now that they found you."

"Found us." Piccolo pointed out. "You are just as much involved as I am."

Gohan scoffed and shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't get involved in this war." He would do what he could to defend himself because he would not allow himself to be killed here, but he couldn't let himself be involved directly in the fight against the Cold Family.

"And why is that?" Piccolo demanded.

"I have my reasons." Gohan snapped back. "And considering you won't join in the war despite everything that has happened," At this, Gohan motioned to the deceased soldier at their feet. "You can't really say anything, can you?"

At that, Piccolo looked at the body as if contemplating something which he chose not to disclose to Gohan. But it only lasted a moment before the Namekian had shifted back to his neutral stare and changed the direction of this conversation. "Where did you run off to anyway?"

"I just had someone I had to visit." Gohan replied.

"If you know other people, why do you insist on hanging around here?" Piccolo demanded.

"It bothers you." Gohan said simply.

Growling softly to himself, Piccolo turned away from the kid as he mumbled to himself about his missed chanced of killing Gohan when they first met.

Leaving Piccolo to grumble about that, Gohan kneeled down next to the soldier he killed. "The soldiers I've met so far don't seem very strong. I thought for being such a fearsome army, Frieza's men would be stronger."

At Gohan's comment, Piccolo stopped thinking about his lost opportunity to kill him and gave him his full attention. "Tch, Earth is pretty far off his radar. He just sends men here to remind us that he hasn't forgotten us."

Gohan hummed as he glanced up at Piccolo. "For someone not involved in the war, you seem quite knowledgeable. It is curious though. I thought since Earth had dragon balls, Frieza would want to come for them. Well, unless he already got them on Namek." Wait, did Frieza even know about the dragon balls? When Vegeta told him about it, Frieza found out about them the same way Nappa and Vegeta did, which was through Raditz's scouter. The fight with Raditz didn't seem to happen in this dimension, but there were Namekians on Earth which told Gohan that something happened on Namek. If nothing happened on Namek, then there was no need for Namekians to leave their home.

Everything about this dimension was so different. He really needed to stop comparing it to his dimension.

The history here was so different.

Something he said must have been the wrong thing to say because Piccolo's eyes suddenly hardened into a suspicious glare. "You know about the dragon balls?" He demanded.

Brows furrowed in confusion, Gohan turned his attention back to the body on the ground. Was it strange to know about the dragon balls? The dragon balls seemed so common to him. They were always a part of his life. Maybe the dragon balls weren't well known in this dimension? If so, that was weird. There were Namekians all around. Surely, people knew of the dragon balls? Or did the Namekians not tell anyone about them?

"Yeah, I do. Why? Is it a problem to know of their existence?" Gohan retorted.

"You know about Kami as well." Piccolo continued, caution coating his tone.

Gohan sighed to himself. Piccolo was finally starting to warm up to his friendship and now he was suspicious of him? "Kami watches over the Earth and is the creator of the dragon balls. Is it weird to know that?"

"It is dangerous." Piccolo retorted. "The power they possess is something that no one should know about because of how they can be abused. Frieza tried to get them on Namek, but was thwarted only because the Namekian that created them died before his wish could be made and the Namekians chose not to make another set in fear of Frieza getting his hands on them."

"Hmm," Gohan raised a brow as he glanced over his shoulder at Piccolo again. "As I said before, for someone not involved in the war, how do you know so much that happened on another planet?"

At this, a scowl formed on Piccolo's face. "You seem to know so much already. Surely you know this as well. Kami and I share a connection so I know some of what he knows just as he knows some of what I know."

Was that how it was? Gohan personally didn't spend much time with Kami like his friends and father did. In fact, he only met Kami once when they had to fight Garlic Jr. He actually didn't know much about Kami, except from what he learned from his dad since before merging with Kami, Piccolo never liked to talk about him. "Do you think he knows about me then?"

"I wouldn't know." Piccolo snapped. "I try to avoid sharing with him, but I would assume he does. Is that a problem?"

"Not really." Gohan pushed himself to his feet and patted himself off to get dirt off his clothes. "I was just curious."

*DBZ*

"It's strange that they have become so active lately." Bardock kicked the limp limb of a downed body that was next to him.

Fasha stepped over some rubble from one of the buildings that got destroyed in the attack. With all the recent attacks, the barrier to West City was reaching its limit. Even getting it over the city this time took longer than it usually did which allowed more of the enemy to get into city. "Not just that, but why are so many even coming to Earth? This planet is so far out of the Cold Family's reach."

The fact that Earth was so far away was the reason the saiyans and Namekians came here. It was where they chose to hide out and recuperate before continuing their effort to fight the Planet Trade Organization. In the process though, the humans find out about them. They chose to blame that on Kakarot for getting involved with a Namekian called Piccolo who was trying to take the planet over. In any case, getting the earthlings on their side proved beneficial as once their technology got updated to match that of the advanced technology of space, they came up with some incredibly innovative ideas that strengthened their side in the war.

But they should have known it would only be a matter of time before Earth was directly on Frieza's radar. Not only was it a stronghold for their side in the war, the planet was also so prosperous with its land and oceans that it would sell well.

Having already lost their home planet to Frieza, the saiyans were not about to lose Earth, a planet that accepted them and some even called it their home since it was a main base for them, as well. The Cold Family would not get their way anymore.

Crunch.

Hearing footsteps crunch on the rubble behind them, the saiyans whipped around quickly, getting prepared to defend themselves.

But upon seeing that it was just the Z fighters, the saiyans relaxed their stances.

"If we continue to get attacked like this, the barrier won't be able to form at all. It is overworking. We can restore the energy the barrier needs, but it is still just a prototype and Bulma is worried that constantly activating it like this will overheat it and cause it to malfunction." Yamcha said immediately as they continued to approach the saiyans, eyes casting around at the destroyed city. Too many enemies got into the city before the barrier could come down and now a good part of the city was destroyed. Points to the saiyans though for managing to keep the fight isolated in one part of the city.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Bardock growled. "And what are we supposed to do about that? We can't stop them from attacking!"

Krillin sighed. "Well, ending this war would be a great idea, but since I don't see that happening anytime soon, we are just informing you." He cast his eyes around the area, grimacing at the sight of bodies strewn about the destroyed city. They were at war with the Planet Trade Organization so destruction and death were a part of that, but the saiyans took it to a whole new level. No mercy was shown by any of them in battle which resulted in bodies that looked ripped to shreds or actually had limbs torn from their bodies. He didn't think he would ever get used to seeing how violent the saiyans made their battles.

"Bulma suggested that if possible, if we get attacked again, try to lead the battle away from the city." Tien explained. "She said that it is best if we don't have to activate the barrier for a few days."

Borgos snorted. "That is easier said than done."

"Don't saiyans like challenges like that?" Yamcha retorted.

"We like a good fight." Bardock corrected before Yamcha and Borgos could start to argue about it. "Not complicating things."

*DBZ*

Besides leaving to meet Chi-Chi once, Gohan didn't actually leave the Break Wasteland besides that. Perhaps it was because he enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere out here or maybe it was simply his way to avoid the war. In either case, it was no longer effective. Both tranquility and avoiding the war were broken methods as soldiers from the Cold army constantly showed up now. He was blaming Piccolo for this. It may have been partly Gohan's fault because of the power output the both of them gave in their spars, but he would still blame Piccolo just because the Namekian never joined in to help the war. If he was waiting for Gohan to join with him, it would just be a lost cause at this point.

Still, that didn't change the fact that in the past two days, they have been attacked three times already.

It was actually getting annoying to be attacked so constantly. He would have voiced his complaints, but as he looked over at Piccolo and saw his pissed off expression, Gohan wisely chose to keep his mouth shut and tell him after he calmed down a bit. Piccolo didn't really live anywhere, but he spent a lot of time in the Break Wasteland, and yet Gohan never really realized how much his friend liked this area.

The area that was currently full of craters and smoldering grass as the last of the fire died out. Sadly, the soldiers that just attacked them were a bit stronger as they weren't killed as fast which led to the area being a bit…..destroyed.

Suffice to say, Piccolo was not taking his tranquil land being destroyed well.

It was a bit weird. He always thought Piccolo ended up destroying so much when he was evil. Or was that just his father and Piccolo actually didn't cause that much mayhem? Gohan actually couldn't be sure since that was before his time.

In any case, as much as Gohan loved this land, the destruction of it didn't hit him as hard. That may have to do with the fact that not only did he see this kind of destruction a lot as a child, but he also dealt with a planet being destroyed and only just barely escaping it in time.

Seeing some movement out of the corner of his eyes, Gohan looked over to see that one of the soldiers that attacked them was still alive. Before Gohan could even react to stop him, Piccolo held a hand over his shoulder and blasted a ki blast at the soldier, engulfing him completely.

Feeling the wind that developed from the blast had Gohan's hair waving around, bangs blowing in his eyes, blinding him. As the light from the blast died down, Gohan looked back at where the soldier was only to find not a single trace of him left.

Perhaps he underestimated Piccolo's current state of rage. And since he was kind of unsure as to where he stood with Piccolo, Gohan inched away from the Namekian. He didn't want blasted into oblivion as well. "Well, if there are no more enemies, I am going to hunt for some food. I am starving."

Before Piccolo could reply, Gohan turned on his heel and ran off. While Piccolo didn't scare Gohan (he hasn't been scared of him since he was four), he did not want to deal with an angry Piccolo right now.

*DBZ*

"What do you mean the barrier can't go up? I was informed that it was fine."

Bulma glared at Vegeta, hands planted firmly on her hips. "No, what I said was that it could overheat if we continued to constantly use it, and it turns out, it is malfunctioning."

A scowl formed over Vegeta's face. "Damn it, woman. Can't you build something that works?"

"Excuse me?" Bulma snapped back, eyes flashing dangerously. "Without me, you wouldn't even have the barrier or those gravity rooms you beasts love to destroy!" At this point, she shot a glare at all the saiyans in the room, who didn't even so any remorse at that statement. "My barrier would be fine and still working if not for the constant attacks. Tien even said it before that they might be looking for a weak point in the barrier. And it seems they found it. I will need time to work on it to improve it so this doesn't happen again, but until I can fix it, we can't turn the barrier on."

"Well, that is just fucking fantastic!" Vegeta snarled, crossing his arms. "And do you know what I learned today?"

"Why would I know that?" Bulma retorted.

"The Ginyu Force is coming here!" Vegeta growled.

At those words, Bulma's rage died down as she backed up a step, face paling. Ever since Earth had joined in this war, they have learned so much about who they were up against, and that included the top forces of the Cold Family's ranks. The Ginyu Force was the strongest force in the army, just below Freiza, Cooler, and King Cold.

But there was no reason for them to come here, right?

"Why are they coming here?" Krillin asked.

Before Vegeta could get any angrier with the humans, Kakarot interjected quickly. "We don't know. We were just contacted by an informant that they were heading here. There isn't much time before they arrive so get ready." He shot this towards the Z fighters. Quite honestly, he didn't hold them in high regard. They were strong for humans and able to hold their own, but they didn't even hold a candle towards saiyans.

"Maybe it is possible that they are tired of our resistance so Frieza has decided to finally put an end to it." Bulma suggested, still pale at the concept of the Ginyu Force coming, but working hard to put on strong face. This was not the time to be scared. She had to get the barrier fixed to get the city back to being protected before they were all killed.

It seemed she wasn't the only one.

Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu all looked to be pale at what they were just informed, but unlike her, they weren't trembling in fear. They were standing tall, working through any fear they might have to face the coming battles with courage.