Boiled Bananas and Vodka

by The Raven Queen

This is one whacky story. Be afraid Z fighters! Be very afraid. Cos the Earth's under threat once more, and the only hope is one mean green haired gal. What ever shall they do?

9. I'll have a double cheeseeburger and thi...

CHPATER TWELVE: Hollow-the pain of the shell

Piccolo blinked as she bolted past him, He reached out and grabbed her arm, she ignored him so he tackled her instead. This earned him a head butt, but unfortunately for her, it hit the several tonne metal of his turban. She yelped and stopped moving. He got up, trying not to crush her.

"dammit she's fragile!! How am I supposed to train such a weakling?" and lifted her off the ground

"Control yourself girl" he growled at her, her face had returned to the empty look it always bore

"Three weeks" she said dreamily, he scowled disgustedly and dropped her, she landed with an annoyed growl but he was already gone

Goku mentally counted down the minutes, he could sense the occasional burst of ki from the chamber, this surprised him, as it had never happened before. He shrugged, ten minutes to go

Dende thought hard, he had sensed her churning mind when she last entered the chamber, he doubted she would handle another six months without losing even the steely will and perhaps even dark, side of her that upheld her against all other things. He frowned, wondering exactly what Piccolo was planning, it was obvious he was going to train her, though maybe not until she convinced him, and he knew she would, she was smart enough to know what kind of trainer Piccolo was. He also wondered what type of training, her mind was in a rather fragile state and he had a feeling there was a raging battle to rival any the Z fighters had faced within her, her pride, her thirst for, power? Evil? Blood? Death? Who knew? And all her pain, her madness, insanity, hurt and sorrow. In the few moments she had let her guard down to tell him her past h had picked up part of what made her the way she was. He frowned, wondering what state she would be in when she exited, he thought briefly about telling Goku to return her to Capsule Corp or Kame house, before she went in with Gohan, the risks of her snapping completely were high, but he had a feeling she would fight to the death for her right to be strong, to be the best. This was perhaps her deepest need; to be the best, to be in control

The door opened slowly. Gohan gaped at what he saw. Miko was standing with Piccolo's arm slung over her shoulder blades, she hauled his weight with her, she grunted with the effort and dumped Piccolo on the tiles, the green man coughed, sending a purple trail of blood onto the tiles. Gohan gasped

"What happened?" he asked. She was watching him, her eyes cold and hard

"We fought" her expression did not change

"I won" With that she strode into the early morning sunshine

Goku looked up to see a very battle weary Miko step outside. Her face was grim and expressionless. He blinked as she sat down on the tiles and attacked the food before him, he had asked Mr Popo for something to eat and received a feast to fill even his saijin stomach. She polished off three plates before turning to smile warmly at him

"Long time no see" she said, sounding rather cheery for some one who looked as if they had just come off the wrong end of a kamehameha blast

"It was a special beam cannon actually" she said reading what must have been extremely obvious thoughts

Miko scolded herself, she was better than this. Her acting skills had failed her abysmally in the past few weeks in the outside world, in the time chamber they were all she had, she knew they were starting to have doubts about her sincerity, she knew how to ease that, but she did not have he energy or the will power at this point, so she kept up her bright expression

"Why so happy? You look pretty worn out" she grinned wider

"Oh nothing" she said smugly

"I just beat the crap out of a certain green jackass for the first time in my life" she added triumph to her voice. The fact was she could have sliced he green man in half long ago, she had the means, the skills and the motives, but this did not necessarily mean hat she would tell any of them that.

Piccolo coughed again, sending a wet trail of blood down his front. Gohan placed a senzu bean on his lips and he swallowed it, feeling his body right itself. He growled as he got up, ignoring Gohan's hand

"What happened?" he growled to himself

"Over did it in training" he growled, he had no intention of telling the kid exactly what had happened, and he doubted Miko was planning on being all that truthful either. He scowled; she could fight, dam she could fight.

*

later on.

Miko smiled to herself as she hummed quietly, knowing she was on the last leg of her journey. She did not feel the need to do anything except sit there and hum. She rocked a little, tapping her toes to the lullaby that would always put her to sleep, she knew she looked as dirty as the strange little girl who acted like a stray cat, only older, and most likely worse for wear. She smiled again, sitting on her hair, it was past her rear now, brushing the backs of her highs as she walked, she had never let it grow this long before, it grew about an inch a week, which was roughly four times faster than the average human's hair. She looked up and realised Dende was watching her. For some reason this did not bother her. He stared at her, his eyes suddenly making her uneasy

Tien sat bolt upright, a sudden surge of, he was unsure what it was, deep in the pit of his stomach. He blinked a few times. It was now night and he had been in the middle of a fitful sleep. He shrugged to himself and immediately resumed tossing and turning. He got up and left the house. He lifted into the air to land silently on the roof. He watched the moon glitter as he realised it was full, somehow he just knew Miko would be watching it too.

Miko watched the moon wondering just what Tien would be doing, sleeping most likely. She shrugged to herself; she could sleep for six months if she wanted. But she felt strange it had been over a year since she had seen him. It had become as though her only life was in the suffocating chamber of fallen snow. She hummed softly to herself and heard quiet footsteps

"Watching the full moon?" she looked up to see Dende, Gohan and Goku were currently training in the time chamber and Piccolo was meditating. She shrugged

"I have a sudden urge to go ozuu" she told him thoughtfully. He frowned

"O..k" she could see him searching for words, to tell her something, she was too tired to probe his mind for clues, she was good at that, picking up signals and body language, a lot pointed to the answer

"Miko?" she was looking at the moon again

"Hm?" she heard him exhale then breath in again

"I don't think you should go back into the time chamber"

"Why not?" her voice was stricken, though he suspected that this, like everything else she did, was a ploy

"Not to insult your intelligence I have several reasons, one, it does not seem to have increased your ki too greatly" she said nothing, not even looking at him

"And next, I think it is putting too much stress on you" he said gently

"After all, think of all you've gone through in the past few months in this dimension, and then factor in the time chamber, no one I can think of would have lased this long, not with a soul like yours" he added quietly

"A soul like what?" her voice was calm, lazy almost, but he could sense the rippling power that was boiling under the surface

"Tormented, twisted, corrupted, evil, dark, non-existent" Dende looked up to see Piccolo standing a foot or so back from him

Miko smiled insanely to herself

"You might just be right there" she told him amusedly and found herself drifting off to sleep, the cold night air seemingly not bothering her.

Piccolo frowned, this was possibly the most open she had been the whole time they had known her. He noticed Dende watching her and realised with an annoyed jolt that she was asleep. He growled to himself and strode back into the palace.

Tien couldn't take it anymore, he glide up the stairs and slipped into her room, her scent hit him as he stood in the doorway, breathing it in. For some reason he could not understand he had not been able to get the occupant of this room out of his mind. He breathed in her scent for a few minutes before returning to bed, and falling into an oddly peaceful sleep

Miko awoke slowly, it was just dawning, this told her she had only a little time before her last leg of the journey into the endless realm of time. She smiled tiredly and got up feeling all her stiff muscles, she saw Gohan emerging looking sleepy

"Hey" he called when he saw her. She smiled, fighting the urge to rip out his throat while she could

"PaTience" she told herself. He blinked at her, she scolded herself for losing control of her expression for a second

"I was just coming to wake you, we're up next" he said, almost sounding suspicious, she inwardly gave herself twenty lashes. She followed him inside and into the chamber for the last time. She knew if she survived this without blowing her cover she would either be raving mad or just plain crazy.

Authors note: Bare with me! Please? It'll all be over soon and then I can sink my teeth into the fun stuff, well not the fun stuff, but I give you a hint, *giggles* lean in close *whispers* it's really, really cool..

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Blood and lust-equals bloodlust, or does it?

Dende frowned worriedly. He scolded himself for not making sure Miko went in with Piccolo last, and Gohan second, this would make it safer for both of the younger pair. He knew Gohan was attracted to Miko, it was rather obvious when you were a guardian. And he also knew that Miko was bordering on insanity, possibly running even deeper than that streak of steely resolve that made her a formidable opponent in any case. He did not know how Gohan would handle it, after all she most likely already had him twisted around her little finger, his unease about her motives was beginning to grow every time he saw her, he supposed it was because now he was wary of it, but that did not set his mind at ease as he thought of Gohan's trusting ways and naiveté.

*

Miko sat with her head in her hands, she was very sore. She blinked a few times to hear Gohan come in, he looked strange, she thought for a second and it hit home; he liked her even more than she had thought

"Geezuz! God is every man this desperate!!!" she thought furiously, unable to believe she had not picked it up before, she had too much of this to deal with. He grinned

"You ok?" Basically her time with Gohan had passed exactly as it had with Goku, with the exception that Gohan would be perhaps smarter than his father but he was still not a challenge, she found easy ways to manipulate the Son males, with Goku it had simply been food to get him talking, to learn his rather complex personality, Gohan was essentially the same.

*

Dende looked up, two minutes to go

*

Miko practically ran for the door, Gohan walked slowly behind her. She needed air, she needed freedom of movement. She shoved open the door to bright sunlight. She blinked a few times as Gohan came up behind her. Strangely enough she did not feel any closer to any of the three more powerful warriors. She rushed out of the palace and took and gulped greedily at the air. It was so gloriously easy to breath. How she longed for it to be night. On impulse she lay down and stretched out on the tiles right in the centre of the lookout. There was a chuckle and Goku's face came into view

"Good to be outside?" she shrugged, instant defences building around her, in her haste to free herself of the constricts of the time chamber she had completely forgotten about Goku, Piccolo and Gohan

"I'm sleepy" she said, taking the first option that came to her head. He grinned and walked away. She closed her eyes.

Gohan grinned, from the looks of it Miko was asleep, it was strange, at one point he had found himself attracted to her, he wondered how many of the Z fighters could actually say they hadn't, his father and Piccolo would be a two exceptions and 18 was not a Z fighter. But it had somehow faded with the time he spent with her, as though something told him she was too much, nothing to do with age but she did not come across as your average teenage girl, she acted and looked so much older, mature would be the word, in a twisted sort of way. And despite the time he had spent with her he knew little to nothing about her. And somehow she knew all about him. It scared him really. He blinked as she got slowly to her feet. Her movements were slow and careful, he knew non stop training with Piccolo did that to you, when he and Miko had been training they had basically just sparred in their time

Miko got slowly to her feet, enjoying the feel of the wind buffeting her calf length hair. It somehow remained easy to manage despite how thick it was

Miko headed straight for the kitchen, she was starving but living with Goku had put her off food in a bad way. She opened the freezer and pulled out a two litre tub of ice cream, she had never been one to eat or gain weight when she was depressed, though she was not prone to mood swings as some females were, she just wanted to put the fattiest thing she could find into her systems and regain ten pounds, she did not like being bone thin as it left her with little padding when she fell, and it made her appear delicate. She grabbed a spoon and headed for the living room, Tien was sitting on the couch

Tien grinned as he saw the ice cream in her hands

"Hungry?" he asked teasingly, she grinned and tossed him a spoon

"I just couldn't bring myself to eat around those saijins, they eat worse than you and Yamcha and Goku drooled all the time and-Ugggh" she made a face and plonked down next to him, she opened the lid and began feeding her face

Miko noticed Tien staring at her, she blinked, it had been a long time to her since she had seen him and she had forgotten al about the time on the roof, it suddenly came to her, she blushed bright blue and bowed her head to the task of demolishing the last of the ice cream Tien had barely touched. She leant back on the couch and smiled, her stomach fuller than it had been in a while

Tien grinned as she patted her stomach

"Well this should add a few pounds, man I feel like a dam skeleton" he nodded

"You look like one too" he noted her arms had increased ever so slightly in definition, though not to the point of looking out of place on her toned body. She was wearing ragged track pants, (one leg had been ripped of at mid thigh, he wondered how that had happened) and a sports bra, it too looked worse for wear. She grinned a little, noticing his gaze; he blushed and looked at the ceiling

"I haven't forgotten you know" she said quietly, Tien felt a little tremor run through her from the point where their elbows met. The bright mid afternoon sunshine alone interrupted the calm and still, Tien wondered what to say

"Forgotten what?" he asked shakily, she smiled and he found her chin resting on his shoulder, her breath warm in his ear

"Don't pretend" she said softly, he found nothing to suggest she was toying with him in her voice.

"So, umm." she smiled and got up, he blushed furiously and caught a glimpse of her face, she was blushing also, well blushing blue if you could call it that, he stared at her retreating back until she disappeared out the door

Authors note: Ok, so it contradicts what happened before but she is half nuts and as we all know she is very prone to changing tactics.

Chou!

The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages

CHAPTER FOURTTEEN Time calls on me-breaking my heart in two

Miko breathed deeply as the wind swept back her, making her hair billow out behind her, a year and a half's growth bringing it down past her knees, it had surprised her that it did not stop growing once it reached her waist. Intrigued by this she had not cut it once. But now it was annoying, it looked bizarre to have green hair past your knees, she decided to slice off to her waist and get Rona to restyle it, it bothered her that it was this long, it was like having a cape on all the time, she didn't like capes. She sighed to herself as the wind washed away all her cares, she relaxed her forever-ready tongue and heart. She suddenly opened her mouth and screamed; screaming so hard she felt her lungs would burst she threw off her coat and clenched her fists. Screaming so hard and so long she ripped her throat to shreds. She strangely did not feel the need to cry. As she rooted down through her emotions as she screamed. She rooted past the confused surface, travelling past all her confusion, coming to rest finally at the steel shell that hid her soul, and her one goal now, it overpowered everything else. She smirked to herself, her plan was starting to fall into place. When she was in an evil mood she found it rather easy to fly. She lifted off the ground and left the little seaside cliff, not wanting to bestow such darkness as hers on one of the few places sacred to her

Rona looked up and grinned as Nokia entered

"Hey! Long time no see, oh my! I love the colour!" she smiled, remembering the last time a girl with no name had last entered. Nokia was wearing her classic sloppy clothing that she always did on her days off

"What can I do for you?" she asked pleasantly, the supermodel smiled, looking rather tired

"Whatever you can do for the hair, and I need to look like a model again" Rona noted the ragged chips nails, the slightly dried skin, the lack of facial products on her skin and she had lost the tan somehow, though she did look in much better shape. Rona also noted that there were a few scratches on her arms and shoulders where the boat necked old top stopped, revealing the now pale skin.

"You need the works"

"Whatever, start an account and send the bill to my agent or something" she said. She looked sleep deprive and appeared in no mood to argue, Rona took the opportunity to finally work all her powers on the now famous woman. She wondered if Nokia would mind a sign that said she had been here the same day she became famous. She made a note to ask her. She also note the long, long hair and wondered just how it got there, after all, it had would have only had time to grow to her shoulders and maybe slightly longer, she shrugged and got to work, Nokia was full of surprises

Nokia smiled relaxedly after several hours of pampering she would normally have turned down flat. But Sally was rubbing off on her and she had gradually become more feminine, but not in the sharp deadly way that had always been synonymous with her core. Besides it was rather relaxing when you had just ripped your throat to pieces from screaming a lifetime's worth of insanity out of one's core. She sighed and closed her eyes as Rona snipped away at her hair, turning it into another more complicated style, she grinned to herself, Rona had been itching to get her hands on her hair for most of the time she had known her, an with no deliberation from Nokia.

"Done!" She opened her eyes and gaped at her reflection. Her hair was streaked with burgundy red and a touch of crimson over a base that lightened her hair to a lighter green, a close version to Bulma's hair only a foamy green without the tints of blue. Her hair was cut into various ragged lengths, giving a very striking effect. It looked, incredible, and it made her eyes stand out from behind the ragged fringe, she wondered how Rona had managed it. He back of her hair had jagged edges as it ran from where it cascaded onto her shoulders, up to meet the thick long strands that still fell to past her elbow, framing her face perfectly, she stared at herself, not recognising who she was

"How the hell did you manage it?" she choked out, wondering if anyone would recognise her. She shrugged to herself, it only made her purpose easier. She listened wide-eyed to Rona's response

"Well as soon as I cut your hair the first time I kept thinking up stuff I could do with it, and I sort of formulated this" she indicated Nokia's head

"And I've been waiting and waiting until it was long enough, then I had to convince you, you made it easy though, I thought you'd freak out at so much fuss made over your hair" Nokia grinned

"I got the flu, it hit me really hard, I couldn't go back to work looking the way I did, so I came to a professional" Rona grinned, savouring the compliment from such a star

"You know you're actually really famous, you don't realise it but when you walk in the streets people stare, like they know who you are, you're face is all over the city, and you just walk around ad if you're a nobody" Nokia frowned

"You might be right there. But I have a whole other life away from work and all this stems from the time I spend in the city. So I guess since I don't really live here I just don't see it" Rona grinned and shrugged

"You're strange, you know that" Nokia laughed and grinned at her reflection

Tien shifted uncomfortably; yet again he was thinking about Miko, she occupied all his thoughts. He sighed and made a note to speak to her when she returned, he knew she would, she always did. He wondered just how it felt to spend a year in another life. He felt about for her ki but found nothing, he had gotten used to not being able to sense her. He sighed frustratedly and went outside to train, contemplating her life, it was so much more varied than his; she had a job, a social circle, a whole other world to his, he on the other hand, did nothing but train sleep and eat

And think about her

*

Nokia smiled to herself. She, Rona and Sally linked arms and strolled into the large building, it was a social event, the one Nokia had been invited to, it hadn't taken much to bring Rona because Sally and Robert had already been invite because of their involvement with her. Nokia smiled, Sally gave her arm a squeeze

"You look amazing girl, not hot, not pretty, beautiful" Nokia smiled appreciatively, she was not in her element here but she could be in the driver's seat wherever she was, with renewed confidence she handed the invitations to the man in a velvet suit by a table. His eyes widened when he saw the name

"G-go right in" he whispered, his eyes following her until they disappeared into the large double doors

"Told ya" Rona hissed, Nokia turned to smile elegantly. Sweeping across the huge room filed with tables and people.

Yamcha watched as Tien trained, he was distracted, Yamcha had a feeling he knew who it was, though he tried not to think about it, after all, he had his eye on Miko as well, and Tien had not said a word. He shrugged and turned to the TV Master Roshi was glued to. It was coverage of a social event, one where all the rich and famous people went. The ball was an old tradition, the presenter told them. He grinned as the camera panned around the room, showing a room full of hot babes, well there were plenty of ordinary people too, but there were a lot of models he recognised from magazines and various adds and things like that. Suddenly a striking head of hair caught his eye. It was almost hidden by the crowd but was so eye catching you couldn't miss it

"Go that way" he gestured, telling the TV, Master Roshi gave him a funny look and shrugged, as if on cue the camera flicked to the presenter

"It has just come to our attention that supermodel and explosive star Nokia is here" Yamcha jaw dropped

"Little is known about the elusive beauty, and this would be one of the few times she has been seen in public outside of a photo shoot, though throughout her incredible rise to fame, she has done countless good deeds for various charities, donating large amounts of money, and is even said to know the great saiyaman"

"Well where is she?" he demanded of the screen

"We would have seen her head, it's not exactly easy to miss" he told Master Roshi this time

Nokia blinked as a microphone was shoved under her nose, she blinked

"Hello Madam, we are just doing a few interviews" she blinked then flashed a dazzling smile, she saw the presenters eyes travel up and down her shape, she ignored it

"So, what brings you here Ma'am? I can't say I recognise you" he asked, the microphone still right in her face, she raised a gloved hand to lower it so she could speak without the risk of having it shoved down her throat

"Just interested" she said casually. The presenter persisted

"We are just taking casual interviews, might I ask your name"

Yamcha watched, Tien had just come in "Hey watcha watchin'?" he asked casually. Yamcha grinned

"Some hot babe get interrogated"

Tien sighed; Yamcha was almost as bad as Master Roshi. He glanced at the screed and his jaw hit the ground, the woman on the screen was stunning, even more than Miko, or even Bulma. Her raggedly cut hair framed her face with the amazing colours, her features were familiar and he frowned, seeing her eyes, Golden eyes?

"That's Miko!" he exclaimed. Yamcha frowned and peered closely at the screen

"Hey you're right" he said wonderingly

"She looks so, so, different"

"Beautiful" Tien breathed, thankfully no one heard him

*

Nokia flashed a smile, suddenly Sally jumped in

"This is Nokia" Everyone around them went silent

"Oh shit!" The camera moved much closer to her face

"Nokia? I see you've changed the look yet again, tell me, is this a regular occurrence? You're a hard person to find" She inwardly groaned

"I was invited, I couldn't in good conscious refuse" she said articulately, smiling slightly, not enough to indicate she was enjoying herself

*

Tien stared at the screen. She was wearing an amazing dressing, with black silken gloves up to past the elbow with diamond shapes cut out on each side, an armlet running from the top of her left glove to her shoulder, she had the wrap around from a kimono around her waist and ribs, with a diagonal cut low cut red sleeveless shirt half covering it, and a red skirt following the same lines contrasted beautifully with the black of the waist part. She had diamond earrings and an obsidian pendant and her hair was three different colours. He blinked a few times as she skilfully avoided more than a few questions

Nokia was beginning to regret letting Rona have her way with her hair and Sally with the dress, she stood out way too much, people were snapping photographs, surprisingly there had been no journalists outside the building, they were all inside. She dodged a few more questions and shrank away

Tien blinked as she seemingly disappeared. The presenter yakked for a while about what an achievement it was to find such an elusive superstar. He frowned, searching the crowd for her head; she had somehow just melted in

With the journalists out of her face Nokia had the time of her life. She allowed herself to be led around by Rona and Sally, who were parading her like a prize poodle. She suddenly noticed a certain man in brown and white gi, she groaned

"Oh look! It's Hercule!" Rona cried

Hercule raised his arms and went through his routine poses. Suddenly he spotted a hot babe, actually the room was full of them, but her hair made her stand out, she looked oddly familiar but he could not be sure, he waved his hand and the journalists were removed by security guards. He parted the crowd easily, he noticed the woman he had spotted was being half dragged forward by a pair of moderate lookers, though nothing compared to the one they pulled.

Nokia eventually gave in as Sally and Rona dragged her towards Hercule, she remembered her last encounter with the idiot, she smirked to herself, wondering where Videl was. She almost scowled as he stopped in front of her

"Today's you're lucky day! I am inviting you to dance" he told her, pointing down from his height of perhaps five foot eleven, she could see his eyes mentally pulling away her clothing, she smiled sweetly and extended her hand

"Oh Mr Hercule" she gushed, now thoroughly enjoying herself. She stepped closer as he took her hand

"You know" she said quietly

"We could always." she winked, then tightened her grip on his hand. His eyes widened and he started to gasp. She smiled again and applied a little more pressure

"Well it was nice to meet you Mr Hercule" she said in her ditziest voice. He nodded as she realised his hand, she saw tears well up in his eyes and almost snorted in disgust.

Master Roshi grinned, while Hercule did poses for the camera, he could see clearly the big man's hand was bruised and sore from the way he hid it from view.

"Looks like our Miko caught the eye of the world champ" he chuckled

Tien tensed angrily for a second before he realised what he was doing

"I guess she showed him" Yamcha grinned

"I just wish I coulda' been there to see it" They all laughed

*

Three hours later Nokia stepped into the cool night air, the function had been quite fun over all, Hercule had left her alone, she had found some rather prospective eye candy in the form of male celebrities. She closed her eyes and jumped, her half bare legs propelling her up and onto the roof. She smirked to herself and sprang into the air.

*

Yamcha yawned and heard the door open none too quietly. He sat up and gaped. Miko was standing in the doorway, she looked even more incredible than on TV, she dumped the small hand bag and shot upstairs. He grinned as Tien and even Chou zu, who slept the heaviest of them all. Groaned and sat up

Miko shot downstairs in normal clothing and no make up (Sally had had a field day) Her hair was pulled up into the sloppiest of buns, but the jagged strands made it look as if she had slept with it that way. She looked at the lounge and cursed, she had forgotten how much noise she was making, Master Roshi, Tien, Chou zu, and Yamcha were all grinning at her. She scowled and headed for the kitchen for some real food.

*

Tien yawned and strolled outside, it had become a tradition of his to watch the moon every week or so.

Miko sat watching the moon, her hair flying about her head in the light breeze. She sighed; Tien would be up in a second. All of a sudden, her goal did not seem so appetizing; she had lost sight of it.

And now her heart was divided in the greatest battle she had ever fought.

Authors note: Now we start to get somewhere, ok so the party thing was a bit amateurish, but I thought it would be cool to dress Miko up, hey it works for certain Z fighters does it not? Anyways, next time. Miko starts to put her mysterious plan into action

Chou!

The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Time calls-getting closer

Miko sat down on the sand, she did not have work today and most likely would not for a week. Her contracts fluctuates a lot depending on how bogged down she was at a certain point. She had gotten straight back into the swing of things. She sill remembered the look Dende had given her when she left the lookout for hopefully the last time. She knew that every now and again he was watching, and this she did not like. She sighed, soon her plan would have to be put into action, whether it hurt them or not. She calmed the raging madness that came with anger by thinking of all the pain they would feel when the time came. She licked her lips, so much pain, so much hurt, hey would know her pain, know what it was like. She licked her lips again, but this time for the bowl of ice cream Yamcha happened to be carrying. She smirked to herself and decided to put stage one into action

Yamcha looked up and started; Miko was right in front of him, in her usual training gear, though her hair was definitely not usual

"Hey" she purred, he could not pick it up but there was something slightly different in her voice, something more than friendly, he inwardly whooped, maybe she was interested. She seated herself next to him, a little closer than she normally would, not once sustaining eye contact.

Miko inwardly smirked, she knew from the kind of bastard he was he thought he could read signs, so she simply gave him what he wanted to see

"Yamcha?" she purred, an old trick of hers, it was actually a hunting technique use by tigresses when they stalked prey, it confused the game and often it ran right into the huntress's mouth, just what she wanted

Yamcha felt a small tremor run through him, he realised she was blushing a little; waiting for him to make the first move. He grinned; he had her right where he wanted her

"Hey, Miko?"

"Yes?" she said instantly, showing her eagerness. He wondered how he could have missed this before

"Would you like to come to my next baseball game?" he noticed her eyes light up, but instead she simply giggled demurely and took the spoon right out of his mouth

Miko brushed her lips against his for a fraction of a second, she felt his hand move around her and suddenly knocked the ice cream over her front "accidentally", they both jump back and blushed, she loved being able to make herself blush, she blushed blue because of her blood so it was a nifty trick

"Oh, I'm sorry Yamcha, I'm so clumsy" she half moaned, thoroughly enjoying herself. He quickly came to her "aid" leading her inside and insisting on wiping away the ice cream himself. She allowed him to do this but did not appreciate it, he came on stronger even than she imagined, but nothing she couldn't handle

Yamcha blinked as she disappeared up the stairs as was her traditional exit

Miko showered ad changed her clothes quickly, careful to put on something a little more revealing this time, she still had plans for the others and, Gohan would be coming up, and possibly Vegeta. She smiled to herself, now fully in the swing of plotting.

* Tien looked up to see Yamcha strolling towards him. He grinned as the smaller man plopped onto the grass, his face was flushed and he looked as if he had been hit by a train full of sensu beans

"What's up man? You look weird" Yamcha grinned

"Miko likes me" he sang out. Tien felt a tiny pang of jealousy but it was soon overwhelmed by worry

"Yamcha, is it a god idea to date her? I have a funny feeling about her, her motives may not be genuine" Yamcha frowned

"What girl wouldn't wanna date me?" Tien could list a few he knew of but chose not to

"OK, but just be careful, she is not as trustworthy as you think" this was the first time Tien had shared his views about Miko with anyone else.

"OK man, and Tien?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok with this?" Tien blinked

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm just lookin' out for ya man" he said more cheerily than he felt

Miko ran into Yamcha on her way out of the house, his hand went immediately to her arm and she knew she had him

"Listen Yamcha, as much as I hate to say it, you aren't my type, I'm really sorry if I gave you the wrong idea" He blinked, his face screaming shock. She slipped out of his grasp and ran straight down the beach, heading for the water.

Yamcha leaned against the wall in disbelief. She had turned him down. After all the signals. How could this happen? He continued to question himself for a long time after that.

Miko dived into the water, noticing Tien's eyes follow her suspiciously. She shrugged to herself as she spun about through the water. She laughed maliciously, the only thing to show for it was a large bubble, she had him nicely confused, now maybe it was time to see to the guardian.

Dende blinked, he now checked on Miko more than once a day, but when he saw Kame house he could sense her but not see her, and something was wrong, suspicion and a jumble of mixed emotions were swirling about the house. H frowned

"So it begins" he murmured. Noticing Piccolo watching him from the corner of his eye

"She had begun then" he stated. Dende nodded

"Only time will tell what she plans to do with this new power she has over the Z fighters, all I can say is it is not good"

"You do know there is only one option then" Dende sighed and nodded again

"I know you got quite close to her Piccolo, don't let your resentment of that cloud your judgement, we have to wait, of yet she has done nothing wrong"

"We cannot let her get a strangle hold on their emotions, if we're not careful she could get our strongest fighters under her thumb! Even me" he murmured the last word so quietly Dende could barely hear it. Dende nodded

"We have to wait, if we ca salvage he trust, or whatever is driving her to do this I may be able to heal her mind. If not, then." he sighed and continued even more quietly

"We have only one choice"

Yamcha jumped, Miko was sitting outside next to Tien, he felt a flash of jealousy, the bastard had stolen her, he had three eyes! How could she want him Tien over him, he was Yamcha, famous, handsome, the list went on for a while until she turned and waved at him, there was no trace of attraction now. He scowled and strode over to her

"What do you think you're doing! First you come onto me and then you go and flirt with him!" he said angrily, taking her arm, she squeezed her eyes shut and yelped in pain

"Let me go! I wasn't, alright! I sit next to all of you!" she started pulling away, he was surprised, he was not holding her too hard, was he?

"In that!" he pointed at the skimpy bathing suit. Suddenly she scowled, her eyes flashing

"Yes in this! I will sit next to whomsoever I please! Naked if I want to!" she began pulling at his hand. He did not let go

Tien heard a cry of pain and turned around to hear Yamcha yelling. Miko was trying to undo his grip on her arm, her face taught with pain. He jumped up and strode over

"Leave her Yamcha" he said quietly

Miko inwardly cursed; it had not worked as well as she had hoped, no matter, she would fix that.

Tien took Yamcha's hand and removed it from Miko's arm, Yamcha scowled darkly and then stalked into the house. Tien jumped as a sobbing Miko fell into his arms

"He just went crazy" she sobbed. He awkwardly patted her shoulders

Dende cursed loudly

"Dammit!" Piccolo looked up, slightly amused by his outburst

"What is it?" he demanded

"I can't get a signal to King Kai, or anyone else, her twin, she's blocking it" he sighed frustratedly

"We're on our own"

Miko sobbed for a few minutes while Tien tried to calm her down. She smirked to herself as he spoke soothingly, gently rubbing her back, his hand sometimes unconsciously moving a little lower

"I-I. Maybe I should go stay somewhere else" she sniffed a little. He nodded

"Yeah, give Yamcha a chance to cool off" she nodded

"I'll go pack" she paused, her eyes begging

"Will you come with me? To pack I mean, he's in there" she allowed herself to tremble a little. He nodded after a brief pause. She inwardly scowled; he wasn't as smitten as she wanted, obviously he was not as trusting as he appeared. She mentally shrugged and went to pack

Goku blinked and picked up the videophone

"Hello?" a strained voice at the other end made him more aware

"Hi, is Chichi there?" He blinked

"Yeah, I'll get her" he said faintly

Chichi blinked as the phone was handed to her

"Hello?"

"Hi Chichi, it's me, Miko, listen can I stay with you for a while" Chichi frowned

"Sure but why?" there was an intake of breath

"Oh, Yamcha.we kinda.he asked me out and I said no, and it's really awkward" Chichi smiled

"Yeah sure" she said. There was a sigh

"Thank you so much. I'll be there in an hour or two" Chichi smiled at the thought of female company and went to prepare a spare room

Tien shouldered the bag Miko handed him, it was small, full of her few possessions, she kept most of her outfits capsulised for she rarely wore them unless going to work, where he still flew her most days

"You gonna be ok without me?" he asked carefully. She smiled weakly and nodded

"Yeah, I'm sure Gohan will fly me in on his way to school or something and maybe I can convince Goku to spar with me or something." Tien grinned

"I'll stop by every few days to see how you're doing, after all, I was the one who promised" she smiled again, more fully and hugged him

"Thank you" she whispered, almost tearfully, he noticed again that apart from a little blue in her eyes, there was no sign at all she had been crying

"How do you do that?" he asked as he took her by the waist and lifted into the air

"Do what?" she asked as he shot forward, her tightly tied hair coming loose straight away, the many different length tickling his face. He sneezed out to the side and found to his relief she had restrained most of it in her hands and was stuffing it down the back of her shirt.

"Hide any trace of tears!" he yelled over the wind. She smirked at his third eye as it watched her

"Trick of the trade" she yelled, he barely caught the word before the wind whipped them away.

*

Chichi sat waiting in the kitchen, she had prepared a small meal, Bulma had told her Miko did not eat much, but then again, she could sometimes rival Goku, and that was a record. She smiled, glad of company, she had not had a female friend stay for a long time. She heard the familiar sound of flying and looked out the window to see Tien land.

Tien set Miko on her feet and she hugged him quickly, this was not contact he was used to from her. He blinked as she pulled away

"Thanks" she whispered. She waved to Goku who was training above in the air

Miko knocked to find the door open instantaneously. Chichi grinned

"Come on in" she said welcomingly. Miko suddenly felt bad about her plan, she pushed it away; Chichi would never know until it was too late.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room" Miko followed the older woman down a corridor and into a small tasteful room, she smiled

"It's beautiful" she said, exaggerating for effect. Chichi smiled

"I redecorated a while back, I've been waiting for some one to use it" Miko smiled and placed her bag tidily in the wardrobe. She knew the quickest way to Chichi's heart was tidiness

"I hope it's ok, but I brought over some capsulised meals for a week or so, I know I kinda just turned up out of the blue, so I thought it would be a good idea if you're not planning to shop for a while" She pulled out a few capsules, each containing a fridge. Chichi smiled

"How thoughtful, I'll put these in the fridge and you make yourself at home" Miko smiled and nodded. Chichi left the room



"Oh don't you worry, I will, I will"

Authors note: Figured out who's evil and who's not? Believe me, even I don't know *_*! The plot is leading me at this point so sorry if you don't like this side of Miko. Personally, I think she's a real B*beep* oh yeah I can't swear in the notes can I? Oh well, you know what I mean. Next time, Hmm, as to that I have no idea

Chou!

The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Things fall into place-heart break and heroes

Miko sat on the rough hewn bench, watching Goku and Gohan train through narrowed eyes, they were both in super saijin level two, their power making the dust and dirt fly up and around

Goku blinked and paused in mid flight

"Gohan, wait a sec" Gohan blinked

"Yeah dad?"

"Power down" He shrugged and obliged as Goku did the same

"How come?"

"Because we're going to blow Miko away" Goku indicated the girl who was sitting on a bench, her hair looking rather wind blown, but other than that she did not seem hurt

"She must be pretty powerful to even be still there"

Miko scowled as they turned and shot away, they thought she could not handle their power, she thought to herself, she would let them believe that then. She took off at the run faster than the eyes could see. The sound of continuous blows one after the other echoed to her ears. She stopped below the two golden warriors and called up

"HEY!!" they both stopped flashing in and out of sight. Goku dropped to the ground

"What is it Miko?"

"I have a favour to ask, I have nothing suitable for training left, do you have anything I can wear?" she indicated her jeans and tank top. And she was not lying, her few intact outfits suitable for training would not be appreciated by Chichi, they revealed a lot of skin, and though Miko knew this would only help her cause she did not want to ruin it because of one factor. Goku frowned

"Umm, Maybe Chichi will make you something, but until then, I suppose I could lend you one of gi outfits" she grinned

"Thanks, I guess I'll just have to find a belt or something, I can always ask Bulma for some armour later" Gohan landed

"What's wrong?" she grinned at him, he felt a sudden jolt run through him, there was more to that smile than meets the eye he realised, some of it he liked, and some he did not

"Oh, Goku just said he'd lend me some gi, since you two and Piccolo destroyed over a hundred pairs of track pants and tops" Gohan almost blushed, remembering how much skin her outfits usually showed

"Umm, hang on, Dad's probably a few size too big, maybe some of my old stuff will fit" She smiled warmly, this time he blushed for real

"Thanks" she said happily.

"Ask my mum, she'll get you something" She nodded and as she turned away he could have sworn he saw her wink, but it was so quick and so indistinct he was not sure.

Chichi looked up to see Miko stick her head around the door

"Hi Chichi" Chichi grinned

"Come in, don't be shy" She was busy sewing one of her more battered Kimonos. Miko grinned and did as she was told

"Hey, I have a favour to ask?" Chichi smiled

"Shoot"

"Well, I have nothing I can really were for training or work, most of my stuff is wrecked or made for the city, Gohan said you might have some of his old stuff that might fit me" Chichi smiled, it was slightly forced this time she did not like the idea of Miko fighting, she seemed rather delicate in the form fitting jeans and tank top, but Chichi knew a warrior when she saw one and Miko fit the bill to a tee, even her neck was toned, no sign of indulgence showed anywhere on her slender frame. She was well built but her figure was delicate and evened out by her height. Chichi decided to have a word with her husband and son about restraint

"I'll go have a look" She said obligingly.

Miko smiled to herself as she wandered around the small sewing room, it was sunny and bright and full of materials. She had no idea how to sew but decided to learn. When she was honest she hated the female home maker stereotype, but if it would please Chichi then she would be happy to play Suzy home maker, for a while anyway. The happier she got the woman the easier it would be to go through with her plan.

Chichi re-entered with a pile of cloths in her hand, she had shirts from when Gohan was just twelve, she knew Miko was tiny compared to Gohan across the shoulders, but as for the other half her legs were very long, almost disproportionately so, almost. So she had anything from when he was thirteen to eighteen

"Some of these might be a little loose, but I can always bring them in" she realised Miko was absorbed in a pattern book. She looked up and smiled

"Will you teach me to sew?" Chichi suddenly smiled

"Of course" She was a girl after her own heart, besides the fact she was a warrior. Miko jumped up ad took the pile of clothes

"Great! Can we start tomorrow, obviously you're busy, sorry to interrupt you" She darted out of the room. Chichi grinned and got back to repairing her kimono

Miko tried on a shirt, it was too large, so large in fact it revealed her black lace bra. She scowled and tossed it aside, she was not the neatest of people but she was so versatile she could become any person for anyone. And Chichi was best pleased with scrupulously clean, modest people. She pulled on another to find it was too small, it was purple and appeared to be a smaller version of Piccolo's outfit top. An idea came to her. She began rooting through the pile on the perfectly made bed. She grinned as she found a pair of purple pants

"How cute, he takes after Piccolo, hang on, Piccolo trained him, and Piccolo-SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!!!! Dammit!! Dam you Piccolo, I should've known!!" She fought the urge to destroy the house in her fury. She now knew this household was out of her reach. She cursed under her breath. Time for plan B. She sighed. Sitting down. This was not going to be easy



"You've only made it harder for them Piccolo" She sat down to sort through the strewn clothing.

Gohan looked up to see Miko exit he house, she had an oddly controlled expression on her face. He grinned to see her attire, she was wearing the orange gi top he had worn in his early teens and the long loose pants he had worn similar to the ones he wore now, only smaller. It was an odd combination and he knew she did not like it particularly, though he was sure it was easier than training in jeans. He didn't know, he had never worn jeans before. She grinned at him, he also noted the gi sash was the blue one he had worn when he fought Cell, it occurred to him just how small her waist was.

"Hey, you look different" he told her cheerfully

"Yeah, yeah, let's get started before I get a wedgy" she sounded just right speaking in such a way. He heard a chuckle and his father landed beside him

"Lookin' good" he complimented good-naturedly in his completely innocent way

"Don't start" she said exasperatedly, Gohan also noted the tight blue singlet top underneath the gi shirt, she was wearing a pair of his mother's boots

"Ok then" They both rose into the air, Miko somewhat unsteadily and they began

Gohan fielded his father's blows and found Miko was actually making it easier on him, they had paired up against his father because he had the most experience but he found Miko was actually more skilled than himself, though she did have trouble staying in the air. Twice he had caught her by the ankle or hand as she fell. A large fist connected with his face and he shot backwards.

Goku grinned stupidly and suddenly found himself propelled after his son, they collided with an earth shaking crash and landed just metres from the house. He got off a groaning Gohan to see Miko land unsteadily. He wondered how she had managed that. She staggered over to them and plonked onto the ground

"Phew, that was fun" she said breathlessly. Goku gaped, there was not a bruise on her. Both himself and Gohan had trained her yet she still surprised them.

Miko smiled at their surprise

"New move combination" she explained, the real fact was she was no longer training to get stronger, though it would help, she was training for another reason, therefore she had no problems with taking out her aggression on the pair of unwitting saijins, it did not bother her if they got suspicious, what would they do? Kill the only hope for the earth.

Tien blinked. Yamcha had started speaking to him again but deep down there were cracks of anger and jealousy in their friendship. He shrugged to himself, he had warned him. He wondered how Miko was doing. He thought about her more and more, but now his thoughts were filled with fear as to what she had meant to achieve by her stunt, it was too well set up, she got off the island too easily. Suddenly it hit him, she did not want to be around him. He sighed dejectedly, that had to be it.

Miko yawned and sat up. She jumped out of bed and pulled on some clothes, not noticing she had her shirt on inside out. She ran a brush through her ragged locks that were already beginning to show the tiniest hints of regrowth. She smirked at her reflection, still not noticing her shirt. She sprinted out the door and skidded to a halt in the kitchen to nearly throw up; her worst nightmare come true

Goku looked up from feeding his face and pointed to a spare seat. Miko looked stricken, as if she were about to bring up her internal organs. He chuckled at the rather graphic mental image and continued eating

Miko blanched, she could not cover her distaste for this with acting. She took a seat and avoided looking at her transportation as he copied his father. She smiled weakly at Chichi who handed her a bowl of cereal. She smiled, at least Chichi did not expect her to eat a hot air balloon full of food. She and the older woman ate in silence, she noted Chichi also, did not look at either of the male population at the table. There was a yawn and Goten joined the table. She had not met him of yet

"Hey Mum! Who's the girl?" he asked in a voice hauntingly similar to Goku's, he grinned

"Hey cool hair, you must be a saijin for it to be that weird" he commented, stealing the bowl Goku was eyeing up

"Hey!" he protested. But it was already down the boys throat. Miko jumped up and ran outside. Gohan blinked and followed Miko as she sprinted for the door, having no idea what she planned to do. The sound of throwing up and groans explained this, he was glad he stayed inside while she brought up what must have been a years worth of food. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. She stepped back inside looking rather sick, at the sight of him she immediately steppe outside and repeated the unsettling process.

Miko jumped violently as some one patted her back. She groaned and saw Chichi

"You feeling ok?" she asked. Miko shook her head

"It's just-" her stomach heaved again

"I hate the way they eat" she held her sore stomach, it does the muscles a rather large amount of damage to throw up so much bile when there is little food in the stomach. She stood up and went to the outside tap, Chichi still following her

"I don't like it either, but I got used to it"

Chichi felt sorry for the deathly white girl. She looked terrible, her hair making her appear like a vampire with a bad hair day, or night as the case may be. She handed the girl a towel as she doused her head in cold water. Miko took I and rubbed her head dry

"Thanks, looks like my ride will be a while yet" the sound of eating continued. Chichi smiled as Miko closed her eyes and dashed through the corridor, staying right away from the kitchen

Miko took a shower and changed her clothes. She stepped outside and found some guy in a black body suit and some sort of green tunic and a helmet. She blinked

"Uhh, Gohan?" the visible mouth opened in shock

"You recognised me!" he shrieked, sounding very much like a girl. She bent so as to look up under the rim of the helmet, with a flicking motion of her hand it flew off his head. He was standing there, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open

"Well you have the same build and no one else lives around here" she reasoned, he relaxed and placed the helmet back on his head

"You ready?" he asked. She nodded. He rose into the air and took her hand. She forced her ki to her legs and lifted with him.

Gohan blushed a little, her hands was warm on his arm. He blinked, remembering how he liked Videl and focused on not flying into a mountain. The city came into view. He swooped down a little lower, he noticed Miko kept her own weight airborne easily enough but did not steer at al. He supposed this was the problem; adequate power, but her fear of heights sopped her from steering

Miko allowed Gohan to steer. Suddenly a craft came into view

"GOHAN!!" she yelled over the wind force, he looked over and saw what she was looking at. One dark haired girl of possibly sixteen years was flying an air copter towards them

Videl grinned

"I've got you now Saiyaman" she blinked, seeing the figure next to the green one, wearing all dark clothing, she frowned, thinking back to the cell game videos. She shrugged and suddenly they disappeared.

Miko let go of Gohan's arm and he shot into the distance. She forced her energy into staying airborne. She heard the whirr of engines after her and realise Gohan was too fast for the copter; therefore she was the target. She growled to herself and contemplated blasting it. But she could not without killing the girl, at least not yet, she sorely wanted to though. She skyrocketed upwards and suddenly an idea came to her. She stopped in mid air. She windscreen of the craft collided with her feet. She reached down and grabbed the dark haired girl by the scruff of the neck and the air copter in her other hand.

Videl shielded her face as the windshield shattered on the woman's booted feet. She felt a hand roughly grab the back of her shirt and was hauled upwards. She struggled wildly but found she could not escape. She blinked and saw the air copter floating below her.

Miko scowled as she hurled the craft past the outer limits of the city and right into the wilderness. Then turned her attention to the furious girl trying to free herself of her grip. She thanked the heavens her face and hair were hidden under her hood. She roughly pulled the girl under her arm and shot downwards, her anger fuelling her precision

Videl thrashed but found whoever it was, was even stronger than her father. She blinked as the hand suddenly released her. She looked up to see a woman, she knew it was a woman thanks to the tight clothing revealing the slender figure. She narrowed her eyes to see she had been dropped onto the roof of the school

Miko turned back and dropped onto the roof a few feet away from the girl

"Who are you!" The girl demanded, Miko smirked from behind her hood

"Your worst nightmare" the dark haired girl scowled, reminding her strongly of Chichi

"And just what is that?" she yelled

"Some one you do not want to challenge" the hidden face growled. Videl could almost see it twisting into a snarl

"Oh really, then why do you hide under that hood?" she yelled

"Because, I don't feel like being known as a murderer if I kill you" Videl snorted

"There are few things that could kill me" there was a mirthless laugh

"Yeah whatever kid, keep dreamin', I could count over twenty who could kill you with one finger, that is not counting myself" Videl was getting annoyed

"You have committed more than one crime! I should haul your ass downtown" there was another mirthless laugh

"Do you really think you could beat me? Go on then, take a punch" the voice invited. Videl smirked

"I might just take you up on that"

Gohan stopped in mid air as he felt Miko's ki flare up

"Oh no" he said aloud

"She wouldn't,

actually,

they both would" he turned around and shot to his right, his second breakfast forgotten

Miko calmly took a hit to the face, it did nothing other than knock her hood off. She chuckled again as the girl's face blanked out. She made a slow seep kick that sent her crashing to the concrete beneath them. She smirked and pulled her hood back up before the girl saw her face

"Next time, go for the knee, then back it up with a double punch kick combination, don't go for the head until your opponent is blocking all three of your other limbs" she told her nonchalantly. Videl jumped to her feet and charged again. All her hits impacted but the girl did nothing but hold her hood on, the blows seemingly not hurting her. She swung around and landed a kick that saw the girl leap into the air. There was a flicker of movement and suddenly Saiyaman stepped between them

"Hey! Get out of my way!" she yelled, attacking him instead

Miko laughed her evil laugh and took off

"Have fun squirt" she called, her hood flying away with the force of the wind, but the girl was too busy trying to get past Gohan who just blocked her way. She grinned to herself and headed to work

Gohan dodged Videl's attacks and sighed, he took both her wrists and lifted her off the ground, she kneed him hard which did nothing at all. He felt Miko's energy fade into the distance and sighed in relief, taking off after her, leaving an enraged Videl. It was then that he realised he was late.

One week later.

Chichi looked up and saw Miko land, she looked rather annoyed at something. Chichi grinned and waved

"Hey Chichi" she said tiredly

"You alright?" Chichi had learned to read Miko quite well and had the feeling it had something to do with Gohan, after all, the girl might look twenty-two, twenty-five, but she was only seventeen.

"Yeah, just really, really tired, some girl keeps following us on the way to work, I'm slower so she ends up following me, I've totalled three air copters so far, she just won't give up! And to top it all off, she's forever trying to fight me!" Chichi shook hr head

"Just try not to hurt her" Chichi had sparred with Miko once out of curiosity and had lost in less than ten seconds without landing a blow, that was even quicker than when she trained Goten or Gohan.

"I try" Miko walked wearily into the house

Miko glanced at the TV and saw an ad for the world martial arts championships. She grinned; she was planning to enter. She blew a strand f hair out of her face and sat down to watch, groaning at the sight of Hercule brandishing a belt that belonged to pretty much anybody except him. She smiled to herself and decided she would get the die stripped from her hair first. She didn't wan to show up any more than she already did.

Goku walked in to see Miko curled up with a cushion in a large chair in front of the TV. She looked up and grinned

"You gonna enter the world martial arts championship?" she asked. He grinned

"Why so you can throw me into a different kind of ground?" she nodded and burst out laughing

"Actually I was hoping to throw Vegeta into a different kind of ground" at this thought Goku snickered s well, though h would never admit it, he always found it funny to look back on the times Vegeta had gotten his ass kicked. He smiled and noted the entry deadline

"It's pretty soon, we may not be able to get places" he commented. Miko grinned

"I know some people"

Videl smirked as she ripped the band-aid off Gohan's face

"So it is you then!" he blinked then his face collapsed into defeat

"Please don't tell anyone" he pleaded

"I have to protect my family's privacy" he pleaded like this for possibly ten minutes before she stated her demands

"You enter the world martial arts championship, I've been wanting to bat you up since the day I saw you fight" he sighed

"Ok, just don't tell anyone" she narrowed her eyes

"And one more thing" he cringed

"I wan that girl you fly with all the time to enter too, and I want her name" he blinked

"I can't do that, please don't tell" she smiled sweetly

"Well you'll just have to get used to publicity then"

"Please, I can't tell you, it's not my right, if I did she would probably kill us both!" Videl scowled

"Well if she's a criminal she should be behind bars"

"Not literally, well maybe me" Videl scowled

"Those are my terms" He sighed

"Fine, I'll ask her to enter, but I can't give you her name, I don't even know her last name anyway" Videl scowled but agreed

"Fine, you better show up though, and tell your dad he better enter as well, I don't want to miss the former champion"

Gohan cringed and winced, he was stuck between a very large rock and a much harder place and possibly several painfully sharp stones.



"This just keeps getting better and better"

"WHAT!!" Miko and Chichi screamed in unison

"Why the little" Miko looked as if she were about to strangle him, only his father standing nearby made him feel slightly safer, maybe the two of them could survive if they worked together, he wasn't sure which one was looking more murderous, Miko or Chichi.

"I will not surrender my name to that little." Gohan noticed Miko had not sworn once the whole time she had stayed, this surprised him greatly, he began to wonder as they yelled at him whether or not it was because of his mother

Goku defused the situation gradually, Miko was still furious, he was not sure who she planned to kill first, Videl or Gohan. Either she was not best pleased. In the end he grabbed Gohan and dragged him outside, preparing for a serious lecture, he had to make sure Gohan knew how dangerous Miko was

Gohan blinked as his father hauled him outside

"Listen Gohan" he hissed, Gohan had never seen his father so mad and so scared at the same time

"Miko is dangerous, very dangerous, what you have done is putting us all at risk, we have no idea what she plans to do, so listen to me. From now on you keep a close eye on her, when you're not with her, you're with Videl, she could be in danger, I'll watch your mother, and keep an eye on Miko when your busy" Gohan frowned

"But Dad, she's not insane or anything, sure she might beat me up but she wouldn't go-"

"Gohan, listen. We have to play it safe, as strange as it sounds Miko is not all she seems, there angry your mother's way and then there's her way and there is nothing, nothing, more dangerous than that"

Goku was unsure as to why he was so afraid for the lives of his wife, son and Videl, but something in Miko's eyes told him to be very, very careful

Miko was in fact plotting murder, but not the kind they thought. A new idea had occurred to her that no even Piccolo could have anticipated. She smirked evilly and channelled her pissedoffedness into forming the plan.

*

Videl blinked, noticing the way Gohan was forever glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes, and just as the bell rang he was immediately walking beside her

"Come with me" he hissed. His hand pulling her into an empty classroom

"I'm not changing my mind" she told him flatly. He shook his head, glancing around nervously

"Do you have any idea what you have done? You have put yourself and my family in danger" Videl frowned

"How so?"

"You annoyed a powerful woman, and she is after blood, mine yours, anyone's" he was hissing the words furiously

"Who? I'll fix her"

"No you won't" he told her sternly

"Listen to me, you have endangered everyone close to you, do you understand, there is nothing you can do so stick close to me and pray you survive" Videl raised an eyebrow

"And just what are you going to do?"

"If you live you will see"

*

Miko smiled to herself, immediately noticing how Goku was suddenly wary of her. She decided to put his mind at ease, she knew he thought she was planning to kill some one, though this was to extreme, even for her, well, almost.

"Goku?" he jumped, sweating profusely

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to ask if you could go and get me some river water, I'm cooking for Chichi tonight and it has to be particular"

Goku winced, he nodded weakly and shot away, he figured he could sense her energy if she planned anything against Chichi, but it also worried him that her ki was always level, never going upwards except for massive power surges.

Miko smirked to herself as she began coking vegetables and rice. She was actually jus cooking stuff out of a packet but no one else would know that. She placed a tiny nutrient pill into the pot, this would mean small amounts would fill even the saijin stomach. There was a crash and Goku burst through the door, tense and ready.

Chichi looked up and smiled

"Hello Goku, you didn't take long" She was relaxing while Miko talked her through the recipe, Miko was also a god cook and had already worked her way through half Gohan's old gi to bring it down to her size. She noticed Goku watching Miko warily, she shrugged; he was probably scared there wouldn't be enough

Gohan stepped through the door to the intoxicating smell of cooking

"What's for dinner mum?" he asked. His mother looked up and grinned as he entered the kitchen

"Ask the cook" Miko grinned at him and placed a rather small pile of food on his plate

"Try it" she sat down in between Goten and his father, he noticed his father torn between the delicious smell and the possibility it was poison

"What's wrong?" Miko looked hurt

"Nothing!" Goten yelled, diving in

"Goten!" His father's hand caught Goten's before it reached his mouth

"What's wrong with it? Don't you like curry?"

Miko inwardly smirked

"Well if you think it's too hot I can make something else" she plastered a slightly hurt, slightly needy look on her face. She could see everyone's hearts softening

"Of course it isn't" Chichi tucked in before anyone could stop her. Miko shrugged and started to eat. She was full by her third mouthful, Chichi was full after two

"It's so filling" she exclaimed.

Goku realised there had been no harm intended and began stuffing his face. He saw Miko struggling to hold onto her own and stopped

"What's wrong?" he asked innocently, not actually realising his face was plastered with food, she turned her head away. He shrugged and went back to eating.

*

Chichi had words with her husband

"How could you? She went to an effort and you wouldn't touch it!" she hissed. She had seen Miko's well-hidden hurt

"But Chichi-"

"No buts! How could you be so cruel"

Miko dusted off her hands, having calmed several suspicions, she only had one more to do.

"Gohan?"

"Hn?" he looked up from studying

"I'm sorry I got so mad, it's just, I don't like people intruding on my privacy, I'm sure you understand, I had a bad day and I took it out on you, can you forgive me?" she did her best puppy dog face, Gohan laughed

"Yeah sure. I'm sorry too, but she was blackmailing me"

"That's ok, are we friends again?" he grinned

"Definitely" she laughed and hugged him, ending with a kiss on the cheek, she danced him round the room wildly, knowing he thought it was all fun and games to her. It was.

Videl found Gohan no longer watched her anymore, she pulled him into a spare classroom one afternoon

"So what's the deal, was that little act just a ploy to scare me" he grinned and nodded apologetically

"Yeah, I thought I could scare you, but I couldn't" Videl could have sworn she saw him smirk as she stalked out of the room.

*

Miko sat on her bed and considered, her career was prospering, she was entering the tournament and her plan was coming along nicely, soon it would be time to initiate stage three, but how to arrange it?

*

Tien sat on Miko's bed, he sat here sometimes, the room was still full of her scent, her style, and a few of her possessions, there was one stuffed animal, he never found out why she liked it so much. He decide to take it to her, along with her baseball cap, which she had forgotten, it had been roughly a week since he had seen her, he was almost afraid to.

Authors note: So I'm going through the evil stage with her, no body dies, yet, promise, sort of. Umm next, things start to move quicker.

Chou!

The (weak stomached) storyteller of ages

20-8-02 CHAPTER SIXTEEN: My heart breaks, my soul dies

Tien landed outside Goku's house to hear the sound of fighting, He blinked as Miko slammed into the ground next to him, leaving a crater that took the ground out from beneath his feet, he rose into the air to avoid the flying rock and landed as she got slowly up, the mottly gi she wore pretty much shredded

"Hey how's it going?" he asked cheerfully, she laughed and hugged him

"Long time no see" she said in his ear. His breath caught in his throat. She giggled demurely in his ear and pulled away, Goku and Gohan had landed a few feet away. Greetings were exchanged.

Far, far away pale fingers tapped the arm of an obsidian throne

"Oh sister, you are slowly turning to my will, how delightfully evil, and with the little guardian cut off their all on their own" there was a dark giggle

"But I see it is not my will that drives you, no it isn't, it is your own, oh even better" the giggle grew louder

"Oh but sister, what is your purpose? Surely just killing them all would be easier than slowly manipulating them, but for what reason? Oh well, I see your mind is even more twisted than your soul" the huge chamber rang with high mirthless laughter

Dende gasped

"Dammit!" he cursed a few times, Piccolo looked up

"What is it?", the usually expressionless face was showing worry, lots of worry

"She's even blocked Guru out, we are really on our own, I'll keep trying, but I need you to bring Miko here in three weeks" Piccolo frowned

"Why?"

"Her mind is at breaking point, we need her where she won't hurt anybody, there's a chance I can heal her, if not, then." They both knew what must be done

*

Miko sat on the roof looking at the moon, Tien was next to her, Goku had convinced him to stay the night

"Miko?

"Hn?" she did not look at him

"Why do you treat people the way you do?" he turned to frown at him

"What are you talking about?" He frowned

"I watch you sometimes, you change the way you act towards certain people, why?" She had known it was coming

"Well I guess I do it because I'm scared, you know, I spent my whole life acting, so I don't know what's underneath. In some ways I'm afraid of what I'll see" She was telling the truth, in a twisted sort of way.

On impulse Tien placed his arm around her, she flinched and he went to remove it, her hand caught his and pulled him closer. He grinned, his assumption had been wrong. She leaned against him, her breathing slow and quiet

*

Goku grinned to himself as he went to sleep

* Miko crossed off the days on her calendar, it had been three months now, she smiled, three months. Exactly. And the tournament started today. Everyone else was preparing. She had an uneasy feeling, it had been three weeks since Tien first came to visit, and the following morning she had found her old stuffed animal on her pillow, he had come again twice but never mentioned it. She sighed. Then pulled herself up sharply, she wondered just where that had come from, she never sighed, she did but not like that, it was almost..lovesick? She made a face and brushed her hair slowly, the green had come back through but the cut still remained, it didn't look half bad either. She decide to cut it for the tournament, Rona would fix it up afterwards. She twisted the long strands into a plait and made a slicing motion with her hand. The rope of hair hung limp in her hands. She grinned and placed it in the box under the desk with about twelve others, she collected them, she had a purpose for all her plaits. She smirked to herself

*

Piccolo rose into the air, the tournament was starting and he had a job to do. He shot downwards to the meeting point

*

Vic looked up to see his favourite stars enter

"Hey! Goku!" the spiky haired fighter looked over and waved. The small group behind him frowned. Vic decided to drum up some excitement for the crowd.

"Hey guys! You're back, I was starting to think you guys were all dead or something"

Miko raised an eyebrow as a few of the fighters started eyeing her up, most could not seem to decide who to goggle at, herself or 18, she scowled darkly and made a deadly gesture to a few, some averted their eyes, some did not.

"Ok People Now that everyone is here Let's get started, all you have to do is punch our latest machine and the top fifteen highest scores get a place, who knows maybe you'll even get to fight the champ!" there was a cheer from the crowd

(Authors note: I'm gonna fast track through the tournament stuff, you know what happens, I'll stick in the bits that I change k?)

Miko raised an eyebrow as Hercule raised his hands

"Videl I feel so sorry for you" she said disdainfully, she blinked as they Gohan stepped up to the machine. There was only herself and Videl left of their group after that. She grinned as Videl scored a 150

"Next please, A miss, Nokia?" the chatter silenced. She scowled and stepped forward, the whispering started up again, about her now. She drew her fist back and was about to smash it into a wall when Krillin hissed at her

"Take it easy!" she scowled and sighed in frustration. He frowned warningly as she drew her fist back, there were sniggers, in answer to this she scored a three hundred. She smirked to herself, hearing the thuds of jaws hitting the stone floor

"I said take it easy Miko!" Krillin hissed, she smirked

"So what if they get a little scared, I like it that way" she saw Krillin shiver a bit and then move a little closer to his wife, for protection she supposed, she smirked at her fellow female and left at a steady gait

*

Miko sat on a bench in the dressing room, there were two others inside, Videl and 18. She stared at the floor for a while before leaving to find Sheme; Bulma said she would bring him along if he wanted to come.

*

Bulma stood up and waved as She saw Miko exit the off limits section. Sheme started jumping up and down. He had stayed with Bulma for three months now and wanted to see his sister fight again, they spent half days together pretty much every day but Bulma knew if Miko was not so afraid of Vegeta she would have stayed with Sheme. She smiled as Miko look up and waved, Sheme took off through the throng of spectators. Bulma ran after him.

Miko nearly fell over as Sheme tackled her. Smothering her in a bear hug

"Hey! I'm glad to see you too" she gasped, she had not seen him in perhaps three days

"Do I get to watch you kick some but?" he asked desperately

"Sure kid, just go into the stands with Bulma and Chichi and you'll get to see me fight and Trunks and Goten too"

The boring proceedings followed, Miko found she was up against a guy called Kipeto, this did not bother her, the guy was huge, but she could sense his power, it would not be hard to manipulate

Shin took a careful look at the green haired girl. She was sitting on a bench with her head in her hands, he felt about in her emotions, she was thinking dark thoughts, terrible thoughts. He shivered

"I believe Kipeto, that we have found our dark force" he pointed to the girl. His head guard nodded

"What should I do? I am fighting her first" Shin considered, her ki potential was rather high, and he noted how her ki had stayed at a level plateau all the time she had been at the arena, ki normally showed peoples emotions, often too indistinct to see, but though her ki itself was not dark, it was indifferent, which meant none of the emotion she showed on the top was completely real. This worried him. He frowned

"Try not to piss her off, other than that you know what to do, we must find out her purpose"

Miko jumped as the first adult fight was called. She gave Tien a quick hug. He blushed and she noted the other fighters grinning at him. She shrugged it off and whispered some advice

"The guy you're up against, has a weak joint, his left knee, go for that" He nodded quickly

Tien wondered how's she'd gotten that juicy piece of information. He could sense a sizable ki coming from the tall man, he had all grey skin and a large frame. Tien shrugged as they stepped into the ring

Shin eyed the girl, his ears had picked up her advice to the tri clops. She was a strategist, picking up the weak points of any player in the game. He was up against a man called jewel for the fist round. He smirked; the man was weak.

Miko grinned as the grey man landed outside of the ring, she was up next, she nodded to Gohan and the others and stepped out side

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! WE HAVE NOT ONE! NOT TWO!! NOT THREE!!! BUT FOUR CELEBRITIES FIGHTING HERE TODAY! FIRST IS THE WORLD FAMOUS SUPER MODEL!!! NOKIA!!!" the crow erupted into amazed cheers, many wondering just what the model was doing in a tournament. Vic went through little of what was known about the elusive star, which to say the least was a very short speech.

"AND HERE SHE IS PEOPLE!!!!" Nokia placed a smile on her face and strolled towards the ring, her opponent a little way behind her. She wondered why the purple man had been staring at her all day. She shrugged to herself and went up the steps. Vic was rambling on about how size didn't matter and fair sportsmanship, he then went through the rules; no killing, (she did not particularly like this rule) etc, etc

Chichi Cheered as the gong sounded, she frowned; Miko had not moved, she was still standing in the gi suit she had made especially for battle. She frowned

"GET HIM" the crowd was starting to get restless

"Nokia, force of evil, we know who you are, tell me your purpose" Kipeto repeated his rehearsed speech. She raised an eyebrow

"Do you now?" She sank into a battle stance, one remarkably like that of the Supreme Kai, she smirked at his amazement.

"Put your fist where your mouth is" she challenged

Nokia knew he would not make the first move, instead he kept talking as she inched her way around the ring, searching for a weak spot

"What is your purpose? The Supreme Kai wishes to speak with you, there is such evil in your soul"

"Who the hell is the Supreme Kai?" she darted forward, landing a solid blow to the back of his knees, her boots bending easily with her ankles.

Kipeto regained his balance an moved into a fighting stance

"If I win, will you speak with the Supreme Kai?"

"Nah, I plan to win anyway" he frowned, thinking of something that would entice her

"What would make you speak with him?" she suddenly smirked. Driving her heel painfully into his elbow, he blocked her next three moves but missed the ki blast that sent a hole through his shoulder. He grunted and readied himself for all out battle

"I will not allow you to win if you do not speak with the Supreme Kai" she paused

"Whatever" and all out battle began.

Chichi watched, rapt as Miko did battle with the huge man, she seemed to be winning, he was backing away, blocking her lightning fast moves. She cheered as the red man went down

Nokia backed off as he got up, his left arm broken

"Please" she scowled

"Why would I speak to some idiot I haven't even heard of?" his eyes widened

"He is the ruler of the entire universe" she snorted and they began a hit and counter routine

Goku grinned

"She's really going all out"

"No, she is not" a cool, almost sinister voice said behind them

"She does not know how" Goku frowned

"Sure she does, most of us have trained with her at one point"

"She has not powered up before, she uses weak ki bolts, she is barely touching on her power, just as you saijins are" Goku realised this man could read thoughts

"So you know about us then?"

"Yes, mostly, but her" he indicated the girl locked into a hard hit and run routine, she was darting in and out, delivering crippling blows

"I have no idea about her" Goku grinned

"Miko's nice enough once you get to know her" he did not know whether to trust the man or not

"Do not worry, I will not tell"

Shin watched the saijin, he was not the most intelligent man but he had enough of his wits about him. He knew he would get no more out of those around him. He blinked as Kipeto came dangerously close to passing out



"Master, what should I do? She has refused"

"Take the last option, beat her"

"I do not know if I can"



"Try"

Kipeto got slowly to his feet. The crowds were going wild. He wiped away the blood on the corner of his mouth, with a roar he charged. His fist grazed her jaw before she could dodge. She went soaring upwards, and did not come back down

Nokia smirked as she landed neatly on the red man's shoulders, she began drumming her heels into the base of his neck, he grunted and suddenly reached up for her ankles. Swinging her down and into the stone tiles. She gritted her teeth as blood poured into her mouth. She used her hands to propel herself upwards, driving her feet into his face, the metal soles of her boots leaving heavy bruising, and possibly a fracture.

Shin narrowed his eyes, a little intervention was going to be needed, he sent a small invisible tremor to freeze her for a fraction of a second

Nokia found she could not move. In that single split second, Kipeto grabbed her from behind in a strangle hold. She screamed in rage and tried to flip him, of course he simply lifted her off the ground.

"I will release you if you agree" he spoke in her ear. She drove her heels into his front, unsure of where they impacted

"WHOA!! IT LOOKS LIKE KIPETO HAS FINALLY GOT THE UPPER HAND ON OUR CITY'S BEAUTY!! HOW WILL SHE GET OUT OF THIS ONE!!!"

"Agree" Kipeto growled, he was answered by a backwards head butt, she kicked away and swung around. Sending him flying with her heels, he landed an inch shy of the edge

Nokia spaced her feet, breathing hard

"FI-KA-TWIN ATTACK!!" she screamed, throwing her hands forward

"Oh sister! You remember!" a cold voice said delightedly

"That's right, a little more power, don't let him live!" the voice was annoyed now, pale fingers formed a small ki ball

"Here sister, let me help you"

Goku watched in awe as a shining ball of black energy swirled from her hands, straight at Kipeto

"NO!" Shin yelled

"She'll kill him"

Nokia looked at her beam and realised with horror, it was black, swirling and terrible. It blasted forwards from her fingers. She did not want to kill the man

"BLAST RETURN" she screamed. It slowed down but did not respond any further. She cursed, there was not a second to spare. She shot after it

Gohan watched, it was as if in slow motion. Miko shot after her beam, her ki exploding around her in a whirlwind of bright blue. He suddenly realised why she was moving so fast, he could sense her intense power, and the fear that came with it. He also realised just where the blast would go if it did not hit Kipeto

Nokia watched as time slowed down. Gohan was shooting toward her target. She narrowed her eyes and threw herself in front of the beam. Shoving Kipeto out of the way and onto the grass

"ATTACK RETURN!!!" she screamed the words as the black energy impacted her outstretched hands. Soul wrenching pain tore through her. She screamed as her world disappeared

"Miko!!!" Tien screamed

"Leave her!" the shin commanded. A swirl of darkness surrounded the ring for a fraction of a second then disappeared. He saw Miko standing, expressionless, where Kipeto had been less than a nanosecond ago.

Nokia breathed a sigh of relief and then scowled. She turned around to see Gohan staring at her

"You outran your own beam" he said faintly. She realised Kipeto was unconscious on the grass

"AND NOKIA WINS!!!" the announcer cried

Bulma wondered what had happened, Miko had yelled some kind of attack and suddenly Kipeto was out, Gohan was standing by him and Miko was standing where the beam should have hit. She supposed the movement was too fast to see.

Nokia stepped down to cheers and jogged back into the building, she paused to give a contemptuous glare to the Supreme Kai and headed for the hospital wing, no one knew it, but all of her ribs were broken and blood was welling up in her throat, she prayed no one had see her blood, it would be a hellish day if the media got hold of it.

Shin followed the girl as she headed for the medi bay. As soon as she thought she was out of the sight of the others, she looked carefully from left to right then slumped down against the wall. She coughed, and he saw blue blood splatter down her front.

Miko stared blearily at the purple face in front of her

"Need a hand?" she batted drunkenly at the extended hand.

Shin caught her hand easily and pulled, her legs did not straighten and she went nowhere, he sighed and slung her arm over his shoulders and basically dragged her the rest of the way

Miko was vaguely aware of being near death for the second or third time in her life. She was choking on her own blood but did not have the strength to cough it up. She released her breath for what would be the last time. She was seeing the world through a blue haze, she realised that her lungs were not hurting anymore, she smiled through a mouthful of strange tasting blood and her twisted soul died within her

Shin cursed. She was gone

Authors note: This is not the end, I have been toying with the idea of killing Miko for a while, because frankly I don't like her *shrugs* Anyways, I don't know if I'll let her live or leave the Z fighters to battle her villainous twin on their own, after all, in my world, I am GOD. Heh, no need to be scared by little old me.

Chou!

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