Chapter 24 – "Discoveries both good and bad! Cooler makes his move."
Guardians of the Grand Elder…
Rimba and Harp stood outside Grand Elder Esca's domain with their arms crossed, watching ahead. They had their senses attuned to two nefarious individuals making their way to their location, likely based on the earlier assumption that Freeza's henchmen carried devices to locate them throughout the planet.
The one-star Dragonball sat on a silk cushion behind Esca as he paced back and forth nervously, his hand clutching his walking staff more tightly than usual. The impending disaster that loomed overhead on Namek echoed all the horrific memories he shared with his siblings the first time they laid eyes on Freeza.
Even after he was revived from his death, the vivid memory of piercing blood-red eyes staring at him with murderous intent if Elder Muri hadn't cooperated with the tyrant's wish to obtain the Dragonball remained transfixed in his mind.
He and Cargo were still plagued by nightmares of what happened. The last thing Esca remembered before waking up in a cold sweat was the feeling of an energy blast enveloping him from behind, as though he was hit with a giant boulder that crashed into him and crushed him underneath. The feeling of every single organ in his body liquified from the heat of the energy beam made his heart race and his hands shake after he woke up to compose himself. Yet for all that had happened with Freeza and with Moro, Esca could not bring himself to hate what had happened, he had been wracked too much with the feeling of terror to even think of what it would be like to be angry at enemies of astronomical power.
He stopped pacing back and forth and decided to join his guards outside and they both gave him a concerned look.
"Grand Elder, it isn't safe out here. Freeza's men are on their way and could be here within minutes. Please remain inside and keep the Dragonball safe and hidden. We will deal with these intruders," Rimba said, bowing down on one knee. Harp copied him and Esca gave the two warrior-type Namekians a warm smile and he shook his head, sighing.
"I've been walking in that room for 20 minutes frantically collecting my thoughts about repeating our bloodied history," he said and put his hands on his guards' shoulders. They rose back up on their feet and Esca stood in between them, staring off in the distance. He too could sense the two men and his heart sank a moment when he saw the two blips appear over the horizon.
Rimba and Harp raised their hands to shield Esca and they motioned their hands back. Esca nodded and flashed them his most confident look behind them. The two guards seemed to have felt that look and smiled, staring at the two figures growing larger in their line of sight and it wasn't long until they stopped and landed on the grass in front of them.
The bulkier man with green skin and black hair, cracked his knuckles and his neck, while the taller amphibian-looking humanoid with dark red skin stared eye-to-eye with the Namekian warriors with a delightful smile on his face. He seemed to be content that there were Namekians as tall as he was and chuckled at his companion.
"Hey Dore, how does it feel to be the shortest one among us?" he asked him and Dore couldn't help but bark a laugh himself.
"I ain't one to crack short jokes, not with Lord Freeza around," Dore said, punching his open palm with his fist. "I don't think he'd like hearing that unless you value your head. Let's just get this over with and report back to Lord Cooler with their Dragonball. He's been growing impatient the more time we're wasting on this planet."
Dore and Neiz approached the Namekian guards and they both nodded at each other before charging forward with a knee shot to the two henchmen, forcing them to block them.
"Hey! We're the ones who're supposed to get this fight started!" Dore cried and both he and Rimba began their fight, taking theirs to the air. Neiz and Harp began trading blows as well.
Esca kicked a rug off the floor with his foot and revealed a trap door. He unlatched the hook and lifted the door open, setting it aside before he rushed to retrieve the large Dragonball the size of a medicine ball from its cushion and hold it beside him as he lowered himself down the ladder that was attached to a vertical shaft below the trap door. He climbed down several steps and used his open hand to channel energy to form a ball of light to illuminate the tunnel before him. It was his only means to hide the Dragonball, something he thought he and his people would never have to resort to, but with two legitimate threats that have hit them in the past, precautions were necessary to ensure that they'd at least hide the Dragonballs so they wouldn't be able to find them. As long as they couldn't obtain all seven, Porunga would never be summoned. There was also the issue of his lifelink to the Dragonballs. Since he now carries the essence of the Dragonballs and Porunga inside him, his death would mean that they would no longer function and Porunga would cease to exist unless he transferred it to another Dragon-type Namekian. He thought of Cargo or Ocari for that task and have them escape on a hidden spacecraft within the confines of this underground lair, but he was still holding onto the hope that Goku and his friends would be aware of this and find their way here to help them like last time.
Rimba was faring well against Dore, blocking his punches and kicks and Dore flew up to start swarming him with consistent energy blasts, firing them at rapid succession. Rimba deflected and dodged them as they hit the planet's surface, causing several explosions along the landscape. Their fight was far enough not to impact the Grand Elder's residence and Rimba made sure that he'd draw their fight as far away from there as he could.
Harp rocked Neiz with an elbow to the head and an attempt at a chop forced Neiz to tuck his head inside his body via his flexible neck, stunning the Namekian. When his head popped back out, he was able to catch Harp with a few shots while he was still distracted. As he was sent flying from the impact, Harp regained his senses and fired a double energy wave from his palms at Neiz, who weaved his way between the two beams and flew up out of the beam's trajectory and rushed at Harp with an array of roundhouse kicks that Harp was able to block. He countered with a rapid punch as he flew towards Neiz, hitting him squarely in the face and spun around to hit him in the back with the same double energy beam from a moment earlier, sending him crashing into the landscape. Harp grinned as he powered up even more, heightening his strength as a blazing white aura surrounded him and Rimba noticed as well, nodding with a smile on his face.
"Harp doesn't want to drag this out any longer than he should," Rimba said and he too powered up to heighten his energy and the scouter on Dore's head burst from the energy fluctuation.
"His power peaked at over 550 thousand," Dore muttered to himself, stunned at how high the reading was before the scouter burst. Fear bubbled up inside him like a volcano ready to erupt as Rimba stared at him and Dore chuckled a bit, more out of anxiety than from confidence, which ebbed more as Rimba's power increased.
"We learned a great deal from the threats that plagued us over the years and we trained hard to make sure evil beings such as you never harm us ever again," Rimba said and Dore glared at him, flustered and angry.
"Oh yeah? What good will two of you do against the entire Cooler force? Huh? Answer me that, chump!"
Rimba chose not to answer, rather he burst in a high speed move and kneed Dore in the gut so hard his whole body shook. Growling and clenching his teeth, he grabbed the Namekian by the head with both his hands and began to squeeze.
"If I can't beat you, I'll at least pop your head open!" he cried out and Rimba stared at him casually. He raised his hand and grabbed him by the wrist, pulling Dore's hand off his head and with a quick flick of his hand, he snapped Dore's forearm in two from inside and Dore screamed, letting the Namekian go to grab his forearm. Rimba raised his other hand, palm facing outward, frowning with a narrow-eyed stare at him.
"You should not have come to this planet. Burn in hell," he said and vaporized Dore with a huge energy blast, Dore's scream engulfed by a bright pillar of energy that shot over him. Rimba lowered his hand and glanced behind him at Harp, wondering how he was faring against the other one.
Neiz's scouter burst as well from the surge that came from Rimba's vicinity as he glanced to his side in shock.
"Dammit, was that Dore?" he cried and Harp glanced over to that direction as well.
"Looks like your friend didn't fare so well against Rimba," Harp muttered and Neiz gulped, feeling his composure unravel. He was too distracted by the numbers from Rimba and Dore to notice how high Harp's power rating had climbed up to and he glared at the Namekian, building up energy in his hands.
"Lord Cooler must have that Dragonball, above all else!" Neiz yelled and fired an electric wave at Harp. Harp's eyes widened as he was struck and purple-colored light surrounded him and electrocuted him as Neiz chuckled, holding him in place.
"Fry, fry, fry!" Neiz cackled and felt a tapping on his shoulder, the one that wasn't covered by his armor and his head turned a complete 180 degrees due to his flexible neck at the other Namekian and his eyes widened. He let his energy go yet it still kept a hold on Harp as his body spun around to face Rimba and Neiz growled at him.
"I'll make you pay for killing Dore!" he yelled but was rocked in the chest by a palm thrust from Rimba which knocked the air right out of him and he gasped out of shock. Rimba followed with a kick that sent Neiz flying straight at Harp, who grabbed him and sent his own electric wave coursing through him, burning him completely until he was left a charred black husk that fell to the planet surface below. Harp blew a small sigh and stared down at the body as it hit the ground and glanced back up at Rimba.
"That should've bought the Grand Elder enough time for him to hide the Dragonball so Freeza can't get his hands on it," Harp said and Rimba nodded.
"They said something about a Lord Cooler, though. Is he another one associated with Freeza?" Rimba asked and they both stared off in the direction those two came from and their hearts sank as they began sensing Freeza's power, coupled with another equally large power beside him.
"We should hide with the Grand Elder and make sure the Dragonball is safe," Rimba said, Harp nodding in agreement. They both flew back to the Grand Elder's residence and climbed down the trap door to the tunnel to join up with Esca.
Back at the ship, Salza was busy on his communicator and his eyes widened.
"Dore! Neiz! Come in! Come in, now! Dore!" he cried and both Cooler and Freeza were looking at him.
"Er…My Lord Cooler, something must've happened to Dore and Neiz, they're not responding," Salza informed him and Cooler breathed an annoying sigh.
"It would seem the Namekians they encountered gave them more than they bargained for. How unfortunate they couldn't retrieve the Dragonball for us," Freeza said with a gleeful air to his voice, smirking. Cooler stood up.
"Relay me the coordinates from their scouters before they were destroyed, I want a lock on their last known location," Cooler ordered Salza and he ran to the console to look up the sensor display.
"M-my Lord, Bonyu and I will go and find the Dragonball. We're far stronger than Dore and Neiz combined," Salza said, turning to face him but Cooler bore down on him, staring him in the face with a menacing glare.
"What was your scouter's reading of those two large powers before you lost communication with Dore and Neiz?" Cooler casually asked and Salza gulped.
"O-over 550 thousand each, my Lord," he muttered and Bonyu's eyes lit up a moment as well. She was every bit the consummate soldier of the Cooler Armored Squadron and awaited orders from Cooler, but she also served as special attendant to Berryblue upon the elder's request when she needed her aid. For now, she wondered what this bit of news would portend for both her and Salza, waiting for him to answer Cooler's querry.
"Pathetic that I let my men be wiped out by Namekian small fry," Cooler said, standing tall. He began walking towards the doors and they slid open admitting Berryblue, who gave him an upward glance with her signature grin before she sauntered past him.
"Heading out?" she asked, not looking at him. Cooler didn't say anything and continued walking with a scowl on his face. He hated having to do the work of his squadron but he wanted nothing more to do with these Namekian riffraff and insisted on obtaining the remaining Dragonballs as soon as possible so they could draw out Goku and his companions, however many decide to join them.
Berryblue approached Freeza as he watched Cooler leave with his arms crossed and he decided to take Cooler's chair, adjusting himself on it with a smile on his face. The crew eyed him warily with extreme caution and growing fear, knowing that if Cooler found out Freeza was occupying his seat, no amount of fraternal bonding would prevent them from clashing physically.
"Lord Freeza, you would be pleased to know the bio-androids have arrived on Earth far earlier than expected and have made significant progress," she informed him and Freeza grinned a bit.
"Then I expect they won't be complete failures?" he asked her.
"Oh trust me, Lord Freeza. We've made certain they would not fail us when their unique abilities are bearing fruit," she said with a malicious grin on her face. When she heard Glacial inform her that they enacted Project Nion, she felt a great deal of joy burst within her yet her face would never give that away.
"Will they actually carry out my orders to destroy the Dragonballs?" he asked out of curiosity.
"If you asked them to jump into the event horizon of a black hole, my Lord, they would obey without question," Berryblue said with confidence and Freeza chuckled a bit. He wasn't sure how long it would take Cooler to finish what he set out to do, but he eyed his favorite vintage and Berryblue noticed, pouring him a small amount in his glass.
"I often forget the sweet taste of small victories. I very rarely covet them, thinking too much of the grand scheme of it all. That I can finally get my wish granted, knowing that regardless of Goku's attempt to thwart my goal, I will have the means to regain not only control of this universe, but the power needed to conquer every single one of them and establish my business accordingly. Certainly, the Destroyers would no doubt approve of my business model once they see how effective it is."
"Of course, my Lord," Berryblue nodded in agreement.
A rush to Capsule Corporation…
Pan never once looked back after being forced to carry both Bulma and Bulla in her arms back to Capsule Corporation. Abandoning all the Dragonballs Bulma had obtained meant they'd have to come back later to retrieve them from the bottom of the ocean. Pan wasn't sure how deep they had fallen and was a bit reluctant on whether it was worth risking her physical well-being to dive deep underwater to find them.
She often caught her father's lectures or would sit in on his practice speeches as he discussed varying topics to prepare himself for when he gave his seminar to a broader audience. She and her mother would sit and watch attentively, though Pan for the most part tried to listen as much as she could before nodding off. She did catch a few pieces here and there about the subject of archeology and how often the ocean yields so many mysterious items that have yet to be discovered, yet you'd need the proper equipment if you want to survive the incredible pressure of deep water exploration.
She did remember him explaining the aftereffects of diving under heavy pressure and shuddered at the description of what dying underwater dozens of feet below was like and she shook her head, clearing that out quickly before putting in another burst of power to increase her speed. She desperately needed to get Bulla back to the facility and get a senzu bean if they even had some to spare. If she were lucky, she'd have enough for Bulla and for Uub to recover from his fight.
She went red in the face a bit when she thought of Uub and how strong he had become. She lamented her hasty decision to abandon him while he was fighting Choi and wondered if she really should head back to Papaya island to meet up with him and bring him up to speed on what had happened to Piccolo and Tien. When that thought entered her mind, she winced.
"Uncle…"
She felt the emotions well up but suppressed them. Something had to be done to help Piccolo and Tien come back to their senses and expel the evil energy that infected them.
The Piccolo I know would never attack Bulla and Bulma like that, she thought and was infuriated at him for a moment but groaned. Dummy, don't start blaming Uncle for something he has no control over. Papa and Grandpa's gonna take care of this. Please bring them back!
She saw Metro West coming through over the horizon and the massive compound that was Capsule Corporation was front-and-center. She descended as quickly as she could and landed on her feet, being careful not to drop the two. She held onto Bulma as she laid Bulla down on the ground and helped her back to her feet.
"Miss Bulma? Are you still unconscious?" Pan inquired, as Bulma stirred a bit under her arm. She stifled a groan and held a hand to her head, almost losing balance again. Pan held her steady and Bulma opened her eyes to gaze down at the two girls, one with a bloodied gash on her head and the other forcing a smile up at her.
"Thank goodness," Pan said and Bulma slowly knelt down to examine Bulla more closely.
"Please tell me you have senzu beans stored away somewhere," Pan pleaded and Bulma still felt a great deal of dizziness. It was all she could do to stand still a moment while everything was still spinning around her and she suppressed the urge to empty her breakfast on the ground beside her daughter.
"I, I think I do. I can't remember if I have any or not. Let's help Bulla onto a bed and wrap her head first," she said and Pan picked up her friend, holding her over her shoulder. Bulma was still slow to walk inside the building and Pan followed closely behind. She was starting to feel the desperation of going back to helping her family fight off those things and leave Bulma to look after Bulla but making sure they were safe above all else mattered more.
When Bulla was laid down on a bed in the medical wing of the compound, the nurse on site wrapped her head in a bandage and Bulma was eased into a chair nearby, offered a glass of water with a cold compress to help ease the dizziness.
"Damn this age, it really wants to strangle me," she muttered to herself, cursing herself. A thought flashed in her head that if they get the Dragonballs back she'd wish for her youth to be restored but grumbled in frustration as she glared ahead in annoyance. Pan glanced away quickly, averting her eyes to that penetrating look of indignation she always had when her temper flared up. Sometimes she had noticed that in Bulla as well during their training and her power spiked up for that moment when frustration set in. Having the temper of both Bulma and Vegeta made Pan wonder how in the world Bulla is able to control her anger so well. "Papa would tell me to focus my anger into my fighting, like all Saiyans do," Bulla would say and Pan was left a bit awestruck.
Pan didn't want to be distracted and looked pleadingly at Bulma. "Miss Bulma, please try to remember where you kept them, I really need to get them for Bulla and Uub."
"Right, the beans," Bulma said softly and closed her eyes, hand holding the compress to her head. She felt the soothing coolness wash away her nausea and grinned at how relaxing it felt. It was an unusually warmer day in the city and having to bear the increase in temperature when so much work needed to be done meant extra stress she didn't ask for and when she remembered how angry she felt earlier for the failed test of the infinite engine core, realization hit.
"Oh god, what have I done?" she moaned, holding the compress more tightly against her head. She almost added to the pain of her small headache from the pressure but relaxed immediately afterwards and got a perplexing stare from Pan.
"Um, what did you do?" Pan asked.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about. Just angry at myself for something I keep failing to accomplish. You ever just want to give up after trying so many times to achieve your goal only to come up short every single time?"
Pan grinned. "I wanted to during my training. I wanted desperately to become a Super Saiyan like Bulla, but it just wasn't coming. Maybe because I thought I didn't have enough Saiyan blood in me. But in that frustration and desperation, I tapped into an even greater power that was like my father's. I think in my frustration, I stumbled upon something that worked even better in my favor and gave me new determination to succeed. Then I realized I didn't need to become a Super Saiyan since I had this power flowing through me. Funny, it was only during that moment when I let go of my stupid ambition that achieving the transformation became simpler."
Bulma chuckled a bit. She saw the two girls and couldn't help but smile at them. Two really good friends and competitive rivals, always trying to be better than the other. She tried to stand up and felt a momentary wave of vertigo but it cleared up after a few seconds and she nodded.
"Right, time to find those senzu beans."
"What if we don't find any or you realize you didn't have any hidden away?" Pan asked as the two left the room. Bulma shot a backward glance at Bulla for a moment and pursed her lips. She didn't want to leave so soon, but Pan would be lost in this whole compound if Bulma didn't help her navigate the shortest route to her laboratory, where she kept an immense amount of treasures and trinkets she accumulated and collected over the years.
As they walked down the hall, Dr. Briefs and Mrs. Briefs were approaching them from the other end of the hall, leaving the tea room after a brief pause to enjoy some of Mrs. Briefs latest bakery purchases with a delicious cup of oolong tea to wash it down.
"Oh, Bulma dear, welcome back!" Bulma's mother shouted, hands to her face. Bulma gave her a weak smile and Pan gave her a small wave.
"Did you find the Dragonballs?" Dr. Briefs asked and both Bulma and Pan gave each other a look before Pan cleared her throat.
"We kinda sorta have found them but we got a bigger emergency. Do you guys have any senzu beans stored away somewhere?"
"Senzu beans?" Dr. Briefs put a hand to his chin, glancing up. He chewed the end of his unlit cigarette and scratched the back of his head while Mrs. Briefs got closer to the two.
"There's still lots of delicious cakes left over. I couldn't bear finishing them all knowing you'd want some, dear!" she sang and Bulma forced a smile.
"Maybe later, mom. Dad, where did we keep the senzu beans?"
"Hmm, lemme give this one a once-over," Dr. Briefs said, turning to walk down the hall. Mrs. Briefs bent down to pinch Pan's cheeks.
"Oh my, how much you've grown, Pan dear! Your mom and dad must be so proud to see how big you've become!" she said and Pan went red in the cheeks.
"Um, thank you, Miss."
"Do you want a slice of cake? There's strawberry shortcake, carrot cake, cheesecake, Bundt cake…" Mrs. Briefs recited and Pan glanced behind the older woman and swallowed.
"Sorry, I gotta go!" she cried and rushed past Mrs. Briefs to join Bulma.
"Aw, they're gonna miss out," she muttered, a bit dejected.
Pan stifled a few groans of impatience as Dr. Briefs was taking a bit longer to look over the storage bins in their main laboratory. Bulma was a bit more frantic in her search, opening old boxes to see if there were bags still left inside and put them down on the floor. Pan leaned back against a work bench and kept sighing, her sighs increasing in volume as each box was put on the floor.
"C'mon, c'mon…" Pan moaned, clenching her fists. Dr. Briefs was pacing around the room and stopped when she saw the white board that had an array of formulas he and Bulma had been working on during their project to build the infinite engine core.
"Huh? What's this doing here?" he said and spotted a page taped to the board.
"Oh, the grocery list. I was wondering where that had gone off to. Bulma, I'm gonna hand this grocery list over to the assistant, okay?" he said and casually left the room. Bulma sneezed from a cloud of dust that had accumulated from an aging box on a high shelf and she goggled at her father leaving the room, sighing out of annoyance.
"Seriously, of all the times to be doing this," she stood back up and walked over to where her father had been searching and glanced at the white board for a moment. When she saw the area that had been covered by the sheet of paper moments ago, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
"Wait a moment…" she said and nervously drummed her fingers on her cheek. She traced a finger in the air in front of the board and Pan eyed her curiously.
"Miss Bulma?"
"Wait…"
"Wait for what?"
"Shhh."
Pan blinked, watching Bulma work her finger in the air, drawing imaginary lines and numbers and when her eyes went back on that spot once more, she let out a scream, freaking her out.
"How could we have been so blind?!" Bulma cried, turning to Pan. "Dad! GET BACK IN HERE!"
Pan blinked, at a loss for what this all meant and Bulma grabbed her hands, jumping up and down, her movement making Pan sway up and down despite some protest from the girl.
"Miss. Bulma. Please. Stop. You're. Making. Me. Dizzy!" Pan shouted in between each jumps and Bulma started laughing.
"We had the solution the whole time but we hid the essential part of it behind a piece of paper! How did we not notice that before!" she shouted and laughed again. Dr. Briefs shuffled back in the laboratory and puffed a few times from a now lit cigarette.
"What's all the commotion?" he asked and Bulma grabbed his hands.
"The formula! We had it solved! We cracked the code, dad! WE DID IT!" she shouted and pulled him vigorously towards the white board and uncovered the other boards that were draped in greying white sheets and pointed to the area that had the paper taped over it and Dr. Briefs examined it a moment. He nodded and tapped on the section he had covered earlier.
"Yep, I knew something was missing. I taped a grocery list on this last week so I wouldn't forget. Guess I must've forgot."
Bulma's smile broke as her laughing came to a screeching halt.
"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!" her scream could be heard throughout the entire compound, interrupting everyone mid-work and she pointed at the board, glaring at her father.
"You mean to tell me we had this solved for a week now and we didn't do anything about it?!" she screamed, yet Dr. Brief's unfazed reaction caused her to hang her head and sigh heavily.
"I wrecked our engine for nothing!" she slumped down onto the floor, defeated.
Pan couldn't hold back her impatience any longer. "Are we finding the senzu beans or not?! Bulla's life is still in danger!"
Bulma lifted her head and exchanged puzzled looks with her father for a moment before she stood up. She stared down at her with a grin on her face. Pan wasn't thrilled to see Bulma have such an expression and she glared at the two of them.
"How can you two be so calm at a time like this? Don't you care about Bulla's well-being?" Pan cried but Bulma could only snicker a bit under her breath.
"I'm not that worried about Bulla, she took a bad hit but she's not going to die from that," Bulma stated and Pan glared at her.
"How could you possibly know that?!" Bulma walked over to Pan and tapped her on the tip of her nose with her finger.
"Her father's Vegeta, remember? A minor thing like a hit to the head won't keep my strong, smart, and beautiful daughter out of action for very long."
"I, um, I, I guess so," Pan said, too flustered in her state of panic to think straight. She pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering that Bulla was half-Saiyan and carried a lot of resilience with her in terms of fighting ability with all the training she went through.
"I'm sorry, I can't think straight when I'm this worried. The faster I can get those senzu beans, the faster we can get Bulla back on her feet and we'll go back to help my dad and my grandpa."
Bulma paused for a moment, then it dawned on her. "Oh right, now I remember."
"You do? Where are the senzu?"
"We don't have any."
Pan almost fell, holding herself up with the table behind her and she sighed.
"Guess I'll see if I have any back home then," she muttered.
"There's also Korin's tower. You could pretty much get it right from the source if you need them that badly," Bulma said and Pan tilted her head a moment.
"Korin's tower? Where have I heard that name before?"
"The long white spire that's directly underneath Kami's lookout. Big white cat-looking person, kinda odd?" Bulma said and was hoping that would jog Pan's memory.
"Well, I haven't met this Korin guy before, but I do know where the lookout is. I'll be back as quickly as possible!" She darted out of the laboratory and retraced her steps to leave the compound, darting past Mrs. Briefs before she had a chance to ask her to join her again. She wasted as little time as possible and flew straight up, putting as much of her energy into her flying as she could and a white aura surrounded her.
Bulma and her father made their way to the damaged engine and she examined it. Despite some charred pieces from when the transistor blew during their experiment, there weren't many noticeable dents on the chassis and she nodded, tracing her hand along the surface.
"Thank goodness I didn't smash it as hard as I thought I did," she said, then frowned. If I had Vegeta's strength, this thing would've been toast.
"I have replacements on hand for such an incident like this. With the proper calculations this time, we can get this up and running in no time," Dr. Briefs said, putting out his cigarette in its ashtray and Bulma put her fist on her open hand.
"Right, no time like the present. Once repairs are complete I can look and see whether Android 16's transfer is completed and give his new body a test run."
A huge smile appeared on her face, feeling relieved that things were going back on track. She was so engrossed in her assertion that everything had set themselves back in place that she completely forgot about the Dragonballs.
An old technique returns…
It didn't take Gohan very long to lead Tien and Piccolo back to the fight that was still going on between Goku, Tundra, Goten, and Trunks. Tundra was holding his own remarkably well and continued using his sonic wave attack to keep the three at a distance and Gohan frowned.
"That sonic attack of his will be a problem real fast if we don't find a way around it," he thought openly and glanced behind him. Tien and Piccolo began firing energy blasts in rapid succession at Gohan from behind and he spun around to deflect them away, aiming them towards the sky so most of them wouldn't strike the earth below.
He continued deflecting energy blasts that he brought his hands back to respond with a Masenko beam, creating an explosion when it collided with the energy attacks.
"That should buy me some time," he said and powered up for an extra burst of speed to reunite with Goku, Goten, and Trunks.
"Are they safe?" Goku asked and Gohan nodded.
"Yeah, I bought them enough time to escape and lured Tien and Piccolo back here. Goten," he said, getting his brother's attention.
"I'm going to need a hand to help subdue them, we only need to knock them unconscious," he told him and Goten nodded.
"You and dad can handle that jerk, right Trunks?" Goten said, nodding at Tundra and Trunks eyed the android cautiously.
"Yeah, I can hold my own."
"Trunks, I know you had some trouble earlier in the tournament but this is far more serious and I need you to keep your mind sharp," Goku said.
"It won't matter how good you brats are!" Tundra laughed. "The more infected I bring to my side, the better our odds and the stronger our army becomes!"
Tundra's smile widened even more when he caught a glimpse of a silhouette flying from the distance under the sunlight. When Goku and the others caught sight of it, Goku's frown grew and Gohan's eyes widened a bit.
"What the?"
Their eyes caught sight of a feminine figure with similar features that they've been familiar with when dealing with Freeza, only her slender, more curvaceous feature made it hard for them to believe that the members of Freeza's family ever had female genes.
"Splendid timing, Glacial. We can kill them all together," Tundra said and Glacial had her arms wrapped around herself, resting her hand against her cheek in a playful manner. She stared mostly at Goku, stealing glances at the other Saiyans in the vicinity. The Pilaf gang, who had still been doing their best to hide out of sight of the battle, gawked at the second android in the air and Pilaf was freaking out.
"More of those monsters are showing up? They all look like that one guy from long ago when those space goons used my Dragonballs to wish him back to life!" he yelled and Shu gulped.
"Lord Pilaf! Why are we still here?! We'll get killed if there's any more of those people fighting!"
That brought Pilaf's attention back to them and he swallowed as well, nodding. He turned to the big man with them.
"Bao, get us to the nearest shore, we're swimming as far away as possible!" he barked and Bao grabbed the two of them, using the strength of his bulky legs to propel himself down the island towards the beach. A figure landed before them and they stopped, screaming. Pilaf recognized him as Tien and Shu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness you're here. I remember you were one of Goku's friends, right? You gotta help them! Those freaks are too much!" Pilaf shouted at him but Tien's grin and eyes were too wide and full of malice for him to notice yet Bao was the first to catch on.
"Hey boss, that guy has weird looking eyes," he said and Pilaf shrugged himself out of his grasp, turning around to stare up at him.
"Of course his eyes are weird, you idiot, he has three of them!" he shouted and Shu sighed.
"Don't ask how he has three eyes, Bao, we're just glad to see a strong fighter handle this situation so we can get ourselves out of here," Shu said in a more calm voice but Bao had a finger to his mouth, sucking on his index as he stared at the crazed look Tien was giving the three.
Tien wasted no time and charged right at them, touching all three to infect them the evil energy that was inside him. Pilaf and Shu screamed but Bao was more curious than afraid, wondering what was going on. The two small fry fell to their knees, clutching their heads.
"Shu! What did he touch us with? My head!" Pilaf cried and Shu shook his head.
"I don't know, sire! It's giving me a really bad headache!"
After a few moments, the two calmed down and stood up, staring at Tien. They both had small grins on their faces with red lines criss-crossing across their eyes. Bao looked down at them, confused.
"Boss? How come your eyes look like that other one?" he asked and Tien's grin faded a moment.
"You are unaffected. I should make note of this for Lady Glacial. You two, I have need of you."
Pilaf and Shu stood at attention, bowing at him.
"Whatever our Lady Glacial wishes, so shall we carry it forth," Shu said.
"There are three females that have travelled to Metro West, housing one of Earth's largest and most recognized facilities. Use any means you can to get there and begin infecting the citizens, building our forces. Lord Freeza will be gifted a mighty Tsufurian force for his conquest."
"Understood," Pilaf said. "We shall carry it out at once," Shu added and the two turned to Bao.
"You will take us across the ocean to the nearest land mass," Pilaf said, his tone of voice far different than what Bao was accustomed to and this made him even more nervous than all those times Pilaf lost his temper on him. He gulped and stared at the three, eyeing him with that deadpan gaze of theirs.
"B-boss, I think, I think we still have our own aircraft, don't we? Didn't you steal a capsule from that nice lady with the blue hair earlier while we were flying to this place?" Bao asked and Pilaf put his hands in his pockets, pulling out a few items. When he saw the capsule in his hand, he activated it, conjuring a 4-person aircraft from inside and Bao pointed it out.
"Yeah, that one. We can use that to fly out of here," he said.
"A person too stupid to be infected. Interesting," Tien noted to himself and he stared up at the action. Had he been his normal self, he would've been incapable of ignoring the intense pain that was coursing through his body, not only from the physical punishment he had been taking from his earlier fights, but from the overuse of his Kikoho technique. The evil energy that had taken over him and made him claim to be a member of a long dead alien race is all that's sustaining him now and he saw that Glacial had joined up with her brother and nodded.
"The Tsufurians will live again," he said.
"The Tsufurians will live again," Pilaf and Shu responded in unison and Tien flew up to join the battle.
Piccolo had made his way back to where Gohan was, splitting off with Tien when the former noticed a few stray beings roaming around the island that weren't a part of the main group fighting Tundra and the two agreed to part ways for a moment.
He continued moving in a direct line towards Gohan and both he and Goten sensed him coming. Goten was a little apprehensive about seeing Piccolo like this, feeling an equal amount of doubt about whether he should engage him or not. Gohan put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Don't forget, no killing blows," he told him and powered up to move in for a counter, hoping his fist would cause a greater impact on the infected Namekian as he bolted towards him.
Gohan went in for a right hook and Piccolo took it head-on, but shocked Gohan when he wasn't knocked back. There was a strange resilience in his face, his eyes staring at him differently than the way he was used to when Piccolo would look at him normally. Gohan saw Piccolo as clear as the crystal water below them but to him it felt like he was fighting only a shell housing a vile black substance that moved within his body. He felt knots in his stomach, anxious to be fighting his long-time friend in such a way. Goten steeled himself and joined in, and the two brothers went in with fists and kicks that Piccolo was blocking with his one arm and his legs.
"Why hasn't he regenerated his arm?" Goten cried.
"Because whatever's possessing him to do this doesn't care about putting the body through punishment. It's making him fight without any regard for the life that body's expending."
"That's insane!" Goten yelled and Gohan remained focused.
"Try not to think about it too much, we gotta knock him out and bind him so he can't hurt us or anyone else. We also have to be careful of this evil energy. That's what infected Piccolo when he was fighting Tien."
"Right," Goten said and the two took a fighting stance in the air.
Gohan went in for the attack first but sensed an incoming energy blast from below as he saw Tien fly straight at him with the same crazed look on his face he saw earlier.
"Die Saiyans!" he yelled and continued firing energy blasts that Gohan deflected and Goten jumped in to deflect the remaining barrage.
"I got this, you handle Piccolo," he said and quickly powered up a burst of speed to engage Tien.
"Right," Gohan said and frowned at Piccolo, who stared back at him with a look of malice he hadn't seen in him before. He remembered that mischievous look on Piccolo's face before when he first trained with him as a boy and this look was the look of a complete stranger staring back at him and he held a grim expression.
"I'll get you back to normal, Piccolo, I swear it."
Gohan began exchanging blows with Piccolo, who laughed a bit as he was fighting him.
"You're holding yourself quite well, Saiyan," he said and Gohan caught his fist and drove an elbow to his face, knocking his head back. Piccolo reeled back in and fired a blast from his mouth that caught Gohan by surprise and he blocked it with his arms crossed in front of him. Piccolo put two fingers to his head and shot a Special Beam Cannon right afterwards that Gohan deflected to the air and scoffed at how aggressive he was acting.
"No strategy, no organization to this at all. They're just blindly attacking for no reason," Gohan noted and powered up even more, tapping into the deep well of his unlocked potential he had been maintaining through his balance of training and scholarly duties, something he credited Piccolo with helping him for many years, both as a means to keep himself from losing his fighting edge but also to help Piccolo increase his strength and fighting ability. This unorthodox method he was using to fight betrayed all of this and Gohan felt frustrated that this "Tsufurian" that has infected Piccolo is insulting his pride by fighting in such a sloppy manner.
Gohan landed precise blows that would've knocked Piccolo out cold but the Namekian simply laughed it off and Gohan gasped a bit.
Off in the distance, Tundra could be heard laughing.
"Having trouble with them, are you?" he called out to Gohan and Goku and Trunks glanced over.
"Chance!" Glacial called, firing a beam from her finger at Goku, who deflected it away with the back of his hand, glaring at them.
"Stop tryin' to take advantage of my blind spot, it ain't gonna work," he told them and Glacial shrugged her shoulders. Tundra and Glacial nodded at each other and synchronized an intense sonic vibration that showered both Goku and Trunks, causing them to shield their ears.
"Dammit, they can't let us get anywhere near them!" Trunks yelled, crying out from the pain of the intense vibration and Goku growled, then exploded in his Super Saiyan aura, screaming at them. Trunks did the same and they both charged at the two androids. Trunks went after Glacial while Goku tackled Tundra and the two began fighting it out, trading blows that were easily blocked. Glacial was chuckling as she was blocking and exchanging punches with Trunks and he leered at her as they were fighting.
"What's so funny?" he asked but Glacial continued giggling as she was fighting him. She's mocking us as she's fighting us!
Trunks flew to gain some distance and fired off a few rapid energy blasts at Glacial, who weaved her way gracefully through the energy attacks with her hands behind her back, humming and giggling and she moved in a high-speed burst to appear in front of him, tapping him on the nose with a grin on her face. Flustered, Trunks went in for a right hook but was met in the gut with a knee from Glacial, causing him to gasp and she sent him flying down to the ground with her tail.
"Trunks!" Goku yelled and caught a fist from Tundra before rocking him with a flurry of punches that knocked him flying back and he rushed over to Trunks.
"Trunks! Are you alright?" he cried as Trunks slowly got to his feet, dusting himself off.
"Yeah, I'm fine, it wasn't a heavy hit. She's very nimble and will play with your head if you're not careful," Trunks wanted to be sure Goku knew what he was fighting despite taking a hit from those androids and he stared back up at them.
"Trunks, do you and Goten still remember fusion?" Goku asked as he stared back up at them.
"Yeah, it's basically second-nature to us now. I was hoping we didn't have to resort to fusion because I don't want this area to be hit so hard from all the fighting. Gotenks can be pretty rough when we put our all into it."
Goku nodded. "I'll buy you and Goten enough time."
Trunks quickly flew up to join Goten and Gohan. He stopped a fist from Tien and both he and Goten kicked him back hard in the gut but all Tien did in response to the blow was laugh it off.
"What do you say we have Gotenks handle those androids?" Trunks said with a grin on his face, pointing behind him at the androids Goku was engaging with after he took to the air again.
"Fusion would reduce our numbers by one but I think prioritizing those androids are more important," Gohan stated and the two younger Saiyans nodded together, flying down to land on the ground.
"Feeling confident now, Trunks?" Goten asked as he took up his side of the pose, hands raised a specific angle.
"Yeah, lets kick their butts," Trunks responded, mirroring Goten's pose on the opposite side.
"FU~" they both said in unison, two voices speaking together as one.
"SION!" they continued as they stepped towards each other, staring ahead, readying their hands to touch.
"HA!" they shouted as their fingers each tapped against the other. The angles were perfectly symmetrical and the fingers touched where they should as was expected of a successful Metamoran fusion dance. The two went through their movements, symmetrical and perfect as it has always been since they were younger and their forms joined together in a bright flash of light that changed them and merged them as one. Gotenks appeared where the two boys once were and he flashed a victory sign with his right hand.
"Da da da daaaa! Gotenks makes his trumphant return!"
Making quick work…
Cooler saw a structure on top of a rock spire ahead, the spire wide enough to incorporate not only the structure on top of it but at least three or four of the same size, given how much surface it covered. He saw what was left of Neiz's body: charred and deformed. He scoffed at the body and flew over to the spire. After he landed, he walked over to the structure and charged an energy blast in his right hand.
"I'll give you to the count of three to come out here with the Dragonball! One…"
He waited a few seconds and no one showed up. Irritated, he breathed a huge sigh.
"TwoThree," he said in rapid succession and fired the energy blast that obliterated the building in front of him. His eyes focused on the smoke as it cleared and he was a bit surprised to see that no one was inside.
He muttered under his breath and walked over to the destroyed surface, scanning the floor. He saw the shape of a trap door and shoved it off with his foot, exposing a hole in the ground. A grin appeared on his face.
"Clever, creating a hole to hide the Dragonball. Seems these Namekians learned from their tragic history. Shame this one was the only smart one."
He fired an energy blast into the hole and it blew away the spire. He took to the air as it crumbled to the ground and saw a trio of Namekians fly off from the bottom, the one in the middle holding the Dragonball he sought. He made a high-speed burst to reappear in front of the three and frowned at them.
"It's no use trying to hide the Dragonball from me. Hand it over and I might spare you."
"We will never hand it over to the likes of you! No begone!" Harp, the Namekian to the left of the one holding the Dragonball shouted at him. Cooler disappeared and reappeared behind Harp with his hand outstretched and before he realized what had happened, Harp's head rolled off his upper body and fell to the ground, the look of shock etched on his face as the other two Namekians froze.
"Grand Elder, get away from here, as fast as you can! I'll do what I can to hold him off!" the stout, taller Namekian shouted and the Grand Elder powered up to take to the air. Cooler aimed a finger at the younger looking Elder and the other Namekian charged in for an attack. Cooler quickly grabbed him by the neck and held him in the air. It was clear that Cooler stood several inches taller than the Namekian, even though these Namekian warrior types were quite tall themselves and he was gasping for breath as Cooler tightened his grip on the warrior's throat.
"Please, spare the Grand Elder…" the Namekian gasped, his voice getting raspier.
"Oh? Do tell me. I need a good reason since my patience is nearly depleted."
"If you kill him, the Dragonballs…" he gasped, trying to take in any air he could and Cooler lifted an eyebrow.
"The Dragonballs…will…no longer…work…" his eyes were rolling to the back of his head as his face turned blue and Cooler's eyes widened a bit, dropping him.
"Is that so…"
He gazed up at the Grand Elder, who was still frantically flying away and he put his foot down on the Namekian's throat. Glancing down, he stomped down on the throat, crushing it completely and severing the Namekian's flow of oxygen. He then took to the air and flew past the Grand Elder, stopping just above him.
"I commend your warriors for besting some of my top armored squadron but forcing my hand in this matter was a foolish move on your part, Mr. Grand Elder," Cooler spoke calmly as he stared down at him, arms crossed. The Grand Elder held onto the Dragonball tightly against his chest, shaking as his lip and breath quivered. Cooler extended his hand, palm facing up.
"Take it, please! Don't kill any more of my people, I beg you! Just summon Porunga and get your wishes, but please, spare us!" the Grand Elder cried, tears streaming down his face as he thrust the Dragonball forward towards Cooler, who snatched it in his hand, sneering down at him.
"Pathetic. That the noble race of the Namekians would be reduced to simpering buffoons begging for mercy. Look down at the garbage littering your planet before you and ask yourself if mercy is really something I care about?"
The Grand Elder didn't want to see the dead bodies of his guards, warriors he knew very well in the years that he ascended to the status of Grand Elder when Muri was given the title from the old Grand Elder, during a time when Freeza was first wreaking havoc on their old planet. He wished he had the same fortitude as Muri did when he protected him, Cargo, and Dende but staring into those blood-red eyes of Cooler, giving him a look that was far more deadly than the one Freeza gave them and he gritted his teeth, fighting back sobs. Cooler brought the Dragonball up to his face and examined it carefully.
"Tell me, is it true that you can only summon this dragon and make your wishes in your native language? Answer me, twerp!" he yelled and Esca was surprised that Cooler was still floating there in front of him, holding the Dragonball. He had sincerely hoped that he would've left and that Esca would pray to any of the gods listening out there to spare the planet and that these monsters would finally leave. Cooler could pierce his soul with that ice-like stare of his and Esca's hands were shaking as he brought them up to explain himself.
"Th-that's co-correct. P-Porunga can only grant your wish if you s-s-speak our l-language. B-b-but if you've killed all of us, th-there won't be an-n-yone available to make your w-wish for you."
"Your stuttering is an earsore," Cooler said but smiled at the Dragonball as he glanced over at Esca. "However, it doesn't matter how many of you are left, I have someone to make the wishes for me. Consider yourself fortunate you get to live long enough due to this lifelink you have to the Dragonballs, otherwise I'd have you entertain me a bit more."
He fired a blast from his finger into Esca's shoulder, making sure not to hit any vital organs and Esca gasped. Cooler fired another beam, piercing his leg and Esca fell down to the ground, landing beside a headless Harp and he gasped as he saw the corpse up close, his eyes staring into those of the severed head and he wanted to scream, not only out of pain but out of the horrific sight. Cooler landed in front of him and grabbed his robes, lifting him off the ground.
"I can't have you running off on me. I'm making you my 'backup' in case something was to happen," he said, grinning down at him and he held him to his side as he flew back to his ship.
When he entered, he tossed Esca onto the floor and placed the Dragonball beside the other four, sitting back down on his hover chair and breathing a sigh.
"What a waste of time that was. Bonyu, take a squad with you to retrieve the last two, I want them back here immediately!" he commanded and the plump red-skinned woman bowed at him, hand to her breastplate.
"It will be done, Lord Cooler!" she cried and waved a few soldiers forward, the group running out of the main deck and out of the ship. Freeza clapped as he approached Cooler and got a dirty look from his older brother.
"Wonderful, I'd expect nothing less from my elder sibling!" Freeza said with a mocking smile and Cooler glared at him maliciously. He stopped in front of Esca and leered down at him.
"What have you brought with you? A new pet?"
"He's this planet's 'Grand Elder', or so they say. Kill him and the Dragonballs become useless," Cooler said nonchalantly and Freeza grinned.
"I see. I remember a time when even I had to spare a Grand Elder before. And look how sloppy you were with this one, injuring the poor lad."
Esca tried to crawl away but the pain in his leg was too much to bear and he frantically looked around, his face pale and wet with the tears he had been shedding. Goku, please! Please come! Come save us, Goku!
Another visit…
Esca's thoughts echoed throughout the aether of space as Whis's ear twitched a bit, causing him to glance to his right. He put a finger to his chin and examined the tip of his staff and blinked as he saw Namek come into view and the chaos that was ensuing on the planet's surface.
"Hm, these Namekians can't seem to catch a break, can they?" he muttered to himself and the image faded away. As much as there was disarray on Namek, all Whis could do was observe casually the goings on of the universe and if Lord Beerus wished it, he would've went and destroyed Namek without a second thought and go back to eating more of Lemo's cooking, a habit he had grown fond of the moment he tasted it. His mouth salivated each time he smelled the delicious aromas of the seafood dishes like a subconscious reaction. Whis could see that the Destroyer was still eating and he walked over to him as he stuffed a large roasted fish down his mouth, cleaning off its bones completely. He tossed it aside and drew a sour face from Whis before he stood behind the window.
"I could taste each herb and spice individually in that fish, Whis, it was heavenly. Hm?" he paused, stared down, and snarled at the two figures standing on the grassy terrain.
"What are they doing back here?!" he shouted and burst out of the antechamber and landed on the grass.
"Hey! What gives you two?! I thought you had scrammed off to your Universe for good!" he shouted and Whis noticed that Barbon and Cae were standing before them when he landed. He glanced over at Vegeta meditating on top of a thin pole. His feet were perched on the tip of it and his hands were placed together in a fashion that gave him balance on the pole.
"Forgive us, Lord Beerus. We are here at the request of the Grand Minister himself, at the behest of Lady Marcarita," Cae informed them as he bowed formally at him. Barbon had a grim look on his face but bowed formally to Beerus and Whis anyway. Whis eyed them curiously and spotted the crystals hanging around their necks, tapping his chin with his finger.
"Cloaking Crystals, how strange. Why would my sister have you wear those?" Whis asked them.
"She said it was necessary to prevent Kelerot from detecting us," Cae told them.
"Who was he again?" Beerus asked.
"The Gardenian from their universe, my Lord," Whis quickly filled him in and Beerus cocked an eyebrow.
"Ah right, the delver. What does that have to do with you two wearing Cloaking Crystals, though?" he asked them, hands behind his back. He was glaring at them cautiously, annoyed that those crystals were masking their energy completely that not even he nor Whis could sense them. They were hiding in plain sight right under their noses and it was irritating Beerus at a growing rate.
"Remind me to have a word with your sister when this is all done. I don't appreciate seeing people hide out on me like this. It makes my ear itch knowing that I can both see and not see these two idiots in front of me." By reflex, he scratched the inside of his ear with his finger and flicked away any ear wax he might have built up.
"Kelerot has mastered the Hakai technique, my Lord," Cae flat out told him and Beerus's face darkened, glaring at him and at Barbon.
"He's become a very dangerous being now, able to both teleport and destroy at a moment's notice," Barbon chimed in and Beerus gave him a look that even made him a bit nettled. Barbon cleared his throat and stood with his hands behind his back as well.
"That still doesn't explain why you've been sent to my planet. Give me one good reason why I don't make up my mind and destroy the both of you for being a nuisance."
Cae swallowed, trying to avert his gaze at Beerus but the Destroyer's look was transfixed on the Kai no matter what and he gave Barbon a look before breathing a sigh, trying to calm himself down. Beerus, as ancient as they come among the destroyer gods, could wait centuries for an explanation before he decided what he wanted to do to you afterwards, regardless whether your explanation was convincing enough but Cae's next words threw him off course rather quickly.
"We are here because the Network of Fates deemed it necessary," he said and Beerus's eyes widened a bit, a cold sweat forming on his brow. He swallowed and turned around, walking back up to his antechamber without saying another word, flying back up.
"Goodness," Cae muttered, feeling a shiver run down his spine. Barbon looked uneasy as he had never seen Beerus react in such a way. Whis sighed, rubbing his right temple.
"Of all the things I expected to hear unravel Lord Beerus, mentioning the Network wasn't one of them," Whis looked back over and stared at Beerus as he calmly entered his antechamber, disappearing from sight. "Nothing makes him more unsettled than not knowing his own fate. Uncertainty about one's own fate can rattle any Destroyer."
"And this does not bother you as much, Whis?" Cae asked and Whis chuckled.
"Me? Of course not. I couldn't care less what fate has decided for me. I quite admire the uncertainty of the future and the many challenges it brings. It helps keep things interesting and keeps Lord Beerus on his toes when it comes down to it."
"Your enthusiasm is encouraging," Barbon smiled for the first time in a while. The presence of an angel was always comforting to him, giving him the opportunity to speak on a higher intellectual level and he glanced over at Vegeta, who was as still as a stone.
"Such dedication to his training," Barbon noted about Vegeta and Whis hummed.
"Honing some of his more recent acquisitions over the years. He's balanced a lot of his spiritual and deific energies to give him strength on par with Lord Beerus now. He's come such a long way from the mortal we first laid eyes on, the differences are much like night and day at this point."
"Remarkable," Barbon said and spotted a large rock to sit own. Whis produced a tea set from his staff and poured a cup for both Barbon and Cae.
"Well, since I am such a graceful host, allow me to offer you some of Earth's finest beverages to melt your stress away," he spoke cheerfully and Cae could smell the herbal aroma coming from the pot.
"I can only hope that Vegeta over there is powerful enough to handle Kelerot. According to our information given by Lady Marcarita, he is the key to a far greater plan. He has to be the one to defeat Kelerot in battle or all will fall into chaos, according to Awamo of the First Universe."
Whis paused before he poured Cae's cup, staring down at it. A frown creased his lips but it was only for a moment before he resumed pouring the tea into his cup and passing it along to him with that same cheery disposition again. When he handed the other filled cup to Barbon, he sat down on a stool he made for himself and poured himself a cup.
"Afternoon tea with the gods, what more could be said?" he sipped his tea and sighed happily at the flavor that slid along his tongue like silk and both Cae and Barbon were equally impressed by how good it tasted.
"Goodness, this almost puts Gowasu's tea to shame," Cae said, almost chuckling when he said it.
"Oh tell me about it. Iwen and Anat constantly boast they'll brew the best blend in the multiverse to topple Gowasu but they haven't been successful as of yet," Whis said with a snicker.
"Those two have the weirdest blend ideas imaginable. I wonder what they will try and create next?" Cae couldn't help but glance a few times up where Beerus flew to and wondered if his words had hurt the Destroyer in any way. He'd had to apologize profusely when he saw him next and Whis set his cup down.
"When you mention that Vegeta has to be the one to defeat Kelerot, are you implying that Jiren won't be strong enough?" Whis asked, staring at Cae.
"I don't know the specifics behind it. I can't be certain whether this means Kelerot will defeat Jiren or he escapes and tries to track us down. All we have for information is that he is to fight Vegeta and Vegeta has to win that fight."
"I'm not very fond of this idea the Network's conjured up. It sounds awfully specific for such a trivial thing. I find it fascinating that father hasn't notified the Omni Kings of this delver and petition to have him destroyed. Is this greater plan that important?"
Cae closed his eyes, frowning. His hand shook a bit holding his cup but he took a deep breath before taking another sip, or rather he downed the rest of the tea completely and set his cup down awkwardly on the saucer.
"It is. According to Lady Marcarita, Awamo's face said it all. She's known Awamo longer than any of you have and she's never seen him show fear until recently. Something is coming, Whis, something dreadful and we can only put our faith in the validity of the Network to see this through."
It took a lot of courage for Cae to utter that before standing up and walking away. Barbon stared down at the liquid in his cup and set it down on the saucer.
"Forgive us, Whis. We need a bit of a walk to clear our heads. I think it would be best for us at this time if you don't mention any of this to Vegeta. We can't have him lose focus if he has to fight Kelerot. His desire to fight him has to come naturally."
Barbon stood up and walked over to Cae as the angel stared at the two, silently. "It might be for the best, indeed."