To all of you good people that have been reviewing, thanks!
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Korlos placed everything back into the pack and secured the tie-down flaps. He reinitialized the invisibility field on the pack and then put the pack on the top shelf of the closet in the room.
"Nobody will find it up there. It doesn't look like this room has been used in years." Korlos said. "Now, to the business at hand. I will see if I can talk to King Sarmen."
Korlos left the room leaving the guardsmen looking first at each other, then at the closet.
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Katrinka had just finished bathing and dressing when a knock came at her door. Vegeta had thoughtfully placed her room farther down the hall from the other Kladeshians. He placed Roger and Yambia in one room, and Chi-Chi and Abigail in another room, both between the male Kladeshians, and Katrinka.
Chi-Chi had looked into Katrinka's eyes while they were going to their rooms. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was a hidden horror in those haunted eyes. The woman had suffered something foul in her life, Chi-Chi was sure of it.
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Uub was flying towards a familiar ki. Buu had rejoined with him shortly after the fight with Cordell, but about six months ago, while Uub was shaving, Buu reemerged again, hastily apologizing explaining he had something to take care of, then left. Uub hasn't seen him since, even though he was keeping track of his ki.
Uub had decided yesterday that he had waited long enough and would go find him today to see if his friend needed anything. Buu's ki had not moved in several weeks and Uub was worried.
Uub eventually came to the source of Buu's ki and hesitated. He floated over the Satan City cemetery for several minutes wondering why Buu had come here.
Finally, curiosity getting the better of him, Uub slowly floated towards his friend. As Uub got closer, a building came into view. Above a large opening, with large metal doors, was a single word engraved in large bold letters. It read, "SATAN". The doors were wide open, and the lock had been snapped and twisted like tinfoil. Uub landed and walked up close to the door.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you!" Uub turned to see where the whispering voice came from.
"Why not?" Uub said to the caretaker.
"There's something in there, and he's really strong! See what he did to that door?" The caretaker pointed.
"Yeah, you haven't called the authorities?" Uub said.
"I started to, but I didn't have the heart to do it. That creature is so sad." The caretaker said.
"He's a friend of mine. He was also Hercule's best friend when he was alive. I'll try and get him to go home." Uub said and stepped into the crypt.
"Buu?" Uub called into the darkness.
Sobbing was all that answered his call.
Uub moved towards the sound and called again. "Buu?"
"I'm here." The sobbing voice said.
Hercule Satan himself built this mausoleum when his parents passed away. It was also to be his final resting-place. Hercule had tried to explain things to Buu at the time, but even after everything that had happened up to that point, Buu couldn't quite grasp the concept of death. Evil Buu understood all to well what it meant to kill, but to this Buu, it was like a kid blasting away at video game characters, death had no meaning to him, it was a game. It wasn't until he met Hercule that the thought of what he was doing was wrong even entered his mind.
Uub walked closer and Buu came into sight. Buu had been obviously sitting her crying for a long time.
"Buu? Are you okay?" Uub asked.
"Why do humans die?" Buu said. "Why do they have to go away?"
"Well, we age, the parts in our bodies get old and worn out, and after so many years they stop functioning." Uub said. "That's if you die of old age. There are diseases, accidents, and numerous other things that can cause a human to die. Most humans are really fragile, if you get right down to it."
"Uub not fragile." Buu said.
"No, it would take far more than getting hit by a bus to kill me." Uub smiled. "But I'm not your average human. Even so, I will eventually grow old and die. I am mortal after all."
"What means this 'mortal'?" Buu asked.
"It means that you are born with a set number of hours in your life. That you can die. See, you are immortal, a being of mystical power. Unless you get killed by a very powerful person, you will live forever." Uub said.
"He was Buu's first real friend." Buu said after a short pause.
"I know Buu." Uub put his hand on Buu's shoulder.
"See that? Over there?" Buu pointed to another end of the crypt. On the back wall was a series of small caskets, not hardly even a quarter the size of a normal casket. Each one was emblazoned with a name.
BEA
BEA I
BEA II
BEA III
BEA IV
BEA V
Six caskets containing the original Bea, and five of her descendants. Hercule had them interred here with his parents. And ultimately, with himself.
"He was a good man, wasn't he Uub?" Buu looked into Uub's eyes.
Uub thought about the one time sole survivor of the entire human race. "Yes Buu, he was."
"Is Buu a good man too?" Buu looked hopeful.
"Yes Buu. You are a good man." Uub said smiling.
"Will it always hurt? Will I make friends just to watch them die, forever?" Buu's eyes freely began to water again.
Uub thought for a moment. "I will not lie to you Buu, but if you make friends, you will always outlive them."
Buu's head drooped to his chest. "I don't think I can stand that. It hurts too badly."
"Buu, I think that you should come away from this place with me now. It's too sad for you here." Uub said.
Buu looked at Uub and nodded his head. "Okay, Buu come." Buu stood up and followed Uub out the door, looking back one last time at Hercule's casket. "Goodbye my friend." Buu whispered.
Uub and Buu passed the caretaker. "Please contact Trunks Briefs at Capsule Corporation. He is the Trustee for the Satan Foundation. He will cover any repair expenses needed."
"That's already been arranged actually. The Satan Foundation left us a large sum of money years ago to cover maintaining this crypt. We'll call it an act of nature." The old caretaker winked.
"Thank you." Uub said.
Buu looked at the caretaker. "Buu sorry."
"It's okay big guy." The caretaker smiled.
Buu started to take off.
"Wait Buu! Let's walk a while, okay?" Uub said.
Buu looked a bit surprised, but started to walk with Uub.
As the strange duo walked along, they began to see people visiting various gravesites. Some were crying, some were talking, and some were even laughing and talking happily. This puzzled Buu but he kept walking for a while without speaking. Suddenly Buu stopped. Ahead of them was a man at a gravesite. The site was different. There was no grass on top and had obviously been freshly dug. There was no grave marker in place yet. The man was on his knees weeping. There was a car parked next to the site, with two small children in the back seat.
Buu walked up behind the young man. "Why man cry?" Buu asked.
The man turned his eyes up momentarily and saw Buu. Oddly, he wasn't afraid.
"M-My wife died." The man managed to say.
Buu looked at the man, the grave, then the children for several long minutes. Then he walked back to Uub.
"Why that man cry, and those people talking and laughing?" Buu indicated what looked to be a family of four. There was a man, woman, and two male teens.
"The date on the grave marker that family was almost ten years ago, while that man lost his wife very recently." Uub said. "Over time, the pain subsides. Eventually the sadness is replaced by only happy thoughts of the person that has died. You remember all the great things they did, and all the things you loved about them. It's easier to talk about them, and you don't need to cry anymore."
"That man will be happy again?" Buu asked.
"Yes, I believe he will, but it will take many years. He may even find a new wife one day, and his children are bound to be a source of comfort for him in the days to come." Uub said.
Buu looked at Uub and suddenly envied him a lot. "Buu wishes that he could be human, like Uub." Buu said. "Buu doesn't want to be im-mor-tal any more."
"I don't know how that can be done Buu, the Dragonballs are gone." Uub said.
"Goku would know how." Buu said.
"We'll go talk to Vegeta. He arrived back on the planet this afternoon." Uub said.
"Vegeta don't like Buu." Buu said.
"Sure he does, he just has a hard time showing it." Uub lied a bit. "C'mon, let's go!"
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Goten arrived at Capsule Corporation about an hour after Trunks brought everyone there.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to catch up to you when you're popping in and out all over the planet!" Goten irritably said.
"Hey! It's not my fault you never quite got the hang of the teleportation technique!" Trunks shot back.
"I was just five minutes away from you guys! You could have waited that long before coming here! It would have saved me an hour of flying time!" Goten argued.
"Oh shaddup!!" Vegeta yelled. "You idiots are giving me a headache!"
"King Vegeta?" A voice from behind Vegeta said.
Vegeta turned around to see Korlos bowing to him. A sudden memory was triggered in Vegeta's mind about one of the few words of wisdom his father tried to impart to him when he was small. What was it he said? "Never trust a man that bows too much, but always punish the man who refuses to bow."
Somehow, that seemed like an appropriate bit of wisdom in this case.
"Yes?" Vegeta answered.
"I would like to request an audience with King Sarmen at his earliest convenience." Korlos asked.
"Why are you asking me? Go talk to your king!" Vegeta snapped a bit irritated.
"Oh! That would not be appropriate! This is your jurisdiction, isn't it? All such requests should go through you!" Korlos stated.
Vegeta silently fumed for a minute, having been interrupted from instigating a possible sparing session between him, Goten, and his son, but then he relented.
"Alright then, I will relay your message to King Sarmen IV." Vegeta answered.
"Thank you milord." Korlos backed out of the room.
"Who's the snake oil salesman?" Goten asked after Korlos was out of earshot.
Vegeta chuckled. "You may look just like your father, but your judge of character seems a whole lot sharper! Your father can be so stupid some times!"
"Hey Vegeta! Watch who you're calling stupid!" Goten said indignantly.
"You know dad, if you want to spar, you could just ask." Trunks said. Goten looked at his best friend, then back at Vegeta in sudden understanding.
"Sure, I could do that, but that isn't half as much fun!" Vegeta smirked. "So demon spawn of a third class baka, are you going to spar or do I have to start in on your mother's rather dubious lineage?"
"Ohhh.. You are going to pay old man!" Goten said as he flew out the window towards their traditional sparing area.
Vegeta and Trunks followed close behind, each with a smirk on their face.
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Bulma walked in to the cafeteria where Gerald and Jessica was just finishing their meal, or rather meals by human standards.
"So how's the patient?" Bulma asked pointedly looking at Jessica.
"Fine doc, I just had a bit of a turn." Jessica smiled.
"What happened?" Bulma looked concerned.
"Well, let's just say that when you eat apples out of a barrel, you will eventually come across a real rotten one." Jessica said. "Reading minds is like that."
Jessica didn't want to tell Bulma that the mind she was referring to was on Earth and was planning to kill her husband.
"Oh." Bulma said.
Gerald picked up on Jessica's cue. "We're sort of bored Queen Bulma, so we thought we would go to Earth and see what was going on, is that okay?"
Bulma marveled at Gerald. The kid just asked to travel several thousand light years with the same kid like innocence that an Earth child would ask to go out and play.
"Sure kid, that's fine, but report to your father when you get to Earth, so he knows you are there, got it?" Bulma tried to look stern.
"No problem, we intend to talk to him anyway." Jessica answered.
"You sure you're up for this kiddo?" Bulma asked Jessica.
"Yes Ma'am, I'm much stronger now." Jessica said.
Bulma got up to leave. "You two behave yourself." Bulma called over her shoulder.
"We will Ma'am!" Gerald cheerfully answered.
Gerald ran around the cafeteria grabbing a bunch of food and putting it out on one of the tables.
"What are you doing? We are just going to Earth, not some deserted planet." Jessica said.
"It never hurts to bring some extra food, just in case!" Gerald said as he removed a capsule from his pocket, pushed the plunger, and tossed it towards the table. The food was neatly encapsulated.
"I hope they don't miss that table." Jessica smiled.
"Umm... Well, We'll return it later." Gerald said. "Let's go!"
Gerald grabbed Jessica's hand and they both disappeared.
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It took some doing, but after talking with Katrinka for the better part of an hour, Chi-Chi and Abigail managed to convince her to take a tour of the complex. Of course, their conversation hadn't really surpassed the, "How's the weather?" stage.
Katrinka looked pretty disinterested in the tour, but did look like she was enjoying some sunshine and fresh air.
"So, Katrinka, what do you do where you are from?" Abigail asked.
"What do you mean?" Katrinka asked.
"I mean, do you have a job? Do you work?" Abigail pressed.
"No, the men do the work." Katrinka said plainly.
"Oh. Well, that sounds good. Vegetasei is a lot like Earth, the men and women a work." Abigail said.
"Do you have a husband?" Chi-Chi piped in.
"A what?" Katrinka looked surprised.
"You know, a husband, a mate? A man you love and live with and raise your children with and all that?" Chi-Chi asked.
"No, the men and women do not live together on my planet. The main computer selects us for each other, and insemination is done artificially. Men and women do not touch." Katrinka explained.
Chi-Chi and Abigail exchanged horrified glances. "W-Who raises your children?" Chi-Chi finally managed to ask.
"The female children are raised by the female parent, and the male children are raised by the male parent." Katrinka explained further.
"And you live in separate places?" Abigail was bug eyed.
"The women live in the women's facilities outside of the towns and cities. Of course, we get special passes to go shopping and such in town, providing we don't disturb the men overly much." Katrinka smiled.
"Katrinka... Don't you find that arrangement a bit... well... how do I put this? Demeaning?" Chi-Chi asked.
"No! Not at all!" Katrinka said a little to excitedly. "Look, we shouldn't be discussing this." Katrinka looked around furtively
"Why not?" Chi-Chi wanted to know.
"Because!" Katrinka realized her voice was to loud, and lowered it to a murmur. "Because the penalty for heresy is... severe."
Katrinka turned and walked down the sidewalk.
Chi-Chi and Abigail exchanged another horrified look, then walked after Katrinka.
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Kardeem woke up with a start. "What the hell is that?" He looked around at the other guardsmen who also looked shocked.
"T-That's someone's ki!" Kardeem suddenly realized. "But that's impossibly high! How can any creature be generating that much power!"
Kardeem wondered briefly if he looked as scared and shocked as the others.
"I'm going to i-investigate." Kardeem said. "Stay here and out of sight."
Kardeem activated his invisibility belt and flew towards the massive ki he felt. After about five minutes, he came to an open field, pocked marked with craters. The field was obviously the scene of a huge battle. Kardeem heard voices and ducked behind some boulders.
"Come on son! You can do way better than that! You've been slacking off on your training again, haven't you?" King Vegeta teased. He was in Super Saiyan Two form.
Vegeta came within Kardeem's line of vision. Kardeem's jaw almost hit the floor. It was King Vegeta all right, but his hair was a golden color, and he was emitting a level of ki that was almost too much for his senses! He was many thousands of times stronger than any being Kardeem had ever seen!
Suddenly, two more people suddenly appeared in front of King Vegeta. They each were emitting an aura only slightly lower than the King's. Both of them started throwing punches and kicks far faster than Kardeem's eyes could follow.
Vegeta disappeared and suddenly reappeared in back of Trunks. Vegeta grabbed his son in a bear hug, forcing the air out of him. Vegeta then leaned forward and whispered in his son's ear.
"We have a visitor." Vegeta said.
"Really? Where?" Trunks stretched out his ki and found the intruder almost immediately.
"It's one of the guardsmen." Vegeta whispered. "I recognize the ki pattern."
"Should we catch him?" Trunks said.
"No, I want him to go back and report about what he's seen here. Make them think twice about doing anything stupid." Vegeta smirked. "Tell Goten."
Trunks relayed the message through their psychic bond.
Kardeem had seen more than enough already though and he left to make his way back to the others.
Just as Kardeem was about to enter his room, he brain felt another power. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw something streaking through the sky towards the place that Vegeta and the others were sparing. It collided with the King with a terrible force.
