Goku half-shrugged, "I didn't, I guessed. Rae said that there were five of them, and one had to be Garlic Junior. That left Tyler, Sushi, and Cinnamon, and since I already knew who Tyler and Sushi were that only left Cinnamon. I know what you're thinking; that there were two people left and either one of them could have been Cinnamon. That's where I guessed, and apparently guessed right."
Kosha nodded, finally Goku was saying something she could understand.
Serena, Derick, Jake, Cookies, and Jennifer were all waiting together in Detective Kosha's office.
Serena started talking to no one in particular, "I don't believe Goku did all that. Flying, changing his hair, all that kung-fu stuff! I mean, he used to be a nice, normal guy. Now that Vegeta was almost killed, he's tripped!"
Jake added to her thoughts, "I saw it with my own eyes, and I still don't believe it. He seemed like a nice guy at the time."
Serena looked up at Jake, "How do you know Goku?"
"He and I passed on the street this morning, and Cookies here," the dog looked up at the mention of his name, "scared his cat off."
"His cat?" Serena blinked. "Goku doesn't have a cat."
"Oh? Well, he had a black one that he called Meta."
"A black one--Meta," Serena parotted. "Hey! That's what he called Luna! That means that he was really going to keep her as a pet if she didn't belong to someone."
Derrick shrugged, "So what? You shouldn't let your cat run free, anyway. It's harmful to the wildlife, and dangerous for her, too."
Serena wasn't phased, "Luna's never killed anything other than a few daisies, and she can take good care of herself."
Derrick let it drop. Detective Kosha staggered in dazed and confused from the odd incident between Goku and Cinnamon. She took her seat behind her desk, which was kiddy-corner to the entrance, and stared at the four people.
Without warning, she just flicked her hand, "You're free to go. All of you."
"Huh?" Serena's eyes widened.
"But, I thought you wanted to question us about that man," Jake reminded her.
"Yes, yes," Kosha pulled out a large, yellow-paged notebook with a pen and flopped it on her desk. "Please leave your phone number, so I can contact you if I have any questions."
Serena was the first to scribble her home phone number on the paper, "Okay, then, I'll just pop on home and you can call me after school tomorrow!"
Derrick whispered to Jake, "You'd think she'd be at least a little worried about her friend."
Jake whispered back, "You'd think."
Serena left the police department and turned toward home. She was startled by Goku further down the street, when he stepped in front of her.
"Hey, Serena, how'd the questioning go?"
"Oh, Goku, you scared me. The questioning? Um, there wasn't any questioning. The detective just let us go."
"I didn't think she'd continue with her original plans," Goku smirked, pleased with something.
Serena felt lost, and didn't like it, "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing important," Goku shook his head, then turned his side to Serena. "You probably have to go home, right? Here, put your hand on my shoulder, I'll have you there in a jiff."
Serena raised her eyebrows and complied, "Like this?"
"Perfect," Goku reassured her before putting hes first two fingers to his forehead, between his eyes. With the blink of an eye, he teleported himself and Serena to within a block of her home. Serena nearly fell over.
"How, how, how'd you..." She stammered.
Goku merely waved at her and shut his eyes, "You wouldn't understand. Just go on home and get some sleep. I'm sure you'll have to go to school tomorrow now that the power's back on."
A "teardrop" appeared on Serena's head, "Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about school."
"And Serena?" Goku called as she started walking away. "Don't worry about Rae; I'll do everything I can to get her back."
Serena flailed her arms, "AHHH! I completly forgot about Rae! Oh no!"
Goku hooded his eyes as Serena ranted on while running home, "Perhaps I shouldn't have reminded her."
He shrugged and turned to go once Serena was inside her house. Halfway back to the old Museum, be ran across Luna on her way home.
"Hey, what are you doing out, Meta? Should't you be at home with Serena?" Goku stopped to stare at Luna. "Oops! I'm sorry, I forgot that your real name isn't Meta. Oh well, just go on home before Serena gets worried again."
Luna watched as Goku walked on, "Go home? What does he think I am, a dog?
Goku stopped when Luna started to trail him, "I told you to go home. Serena's already worried about Rae, she doesn't need you scaring her, either."
Luna screeched to a halt, "How did he know I was following him? And what is he talking about? What's happened to Rae?"
Goku glared at the cat, "Did you hear me? I said go home!"
She took a step back.
"Go on, go home before Serena gets worried," Goku scowled over his shoulder.
"Luna, reluctantly, left the scene, "What was that all about? I'd better clear things up with Serena?"
Goku continued in his own direction, silently wondering what to do next. Between Cinnamon's plea for help, and Vegeta's desperate need of it, he didn't know where to begin. And what was happening with Dende`? Who wa he going to send to help, and when was it coming? All the factor were starting to get on his nerves, and the fact that Garlic had control of Rae was even more frusterating than anything else. With all the complications that had come up, finding the Red Heart Crystal would have to be put on the back burner; for now. When he finally reached the museum that had come to be his base, he was in for a pleasant surprise. There, sitting just outside the front door, was Krillin.
Krillin popped up on his arrival, "Goku! Hey man, what's been happenin'?"
Goku sighed with relief, "Ah, Krillin, good to see you! A lot of bad stuff has been going on lately, and you came just in time to help."
"Good thing. Dende` didn't have time to explain, and just hustled me here saying that you'd tell me everything."
Goku smiled and nodded, "Yes, I will, but only after you tell me why Dende` chose to send you here."
Krillin looked down, "Well, he didn't exactly choose to send me, the task just kinda fell to me. Ya see, Chi-Chi wouldn't let either of your boys come, it being a school weekend and all."
"Typical," Goku folded his arms.
Still looking down, Krillin continued, "Yeah, and Piccolo didn't want to leave Dende` alone, and Bulma insisted that Trunks is too young to go anywhere on his own. So, naturally, Dende` came to me, and I decided to take the job, being as no one else could."
"Well, I appreciate it. I really need someone I can count on right now, and who better than you?"
Krillin grinned lopsidedly as he looked up at Goku, "You have a point there, old friend."
"Right. Now, let's talk about or position inside. It's getting a little chilly out here."
Once inside, Goku recapped the events that had happened since Vegeta's and his arrival, excluding the encounter with Cinnamon.
Krillin stared blankly at Goku, "Whoa, Dende` was right when he said you were in trouble. And now I know why he wanted me to give you these," he pulled a small brown sack out of his pants pocked and held it out to Goku.
"Senzu Beans!" Goku took the bag from Krillin's outstretched hand. "And a lot of 'em, too!"
Krillin laughed a little, "Yeah, Vegeta will be glat that those came, won't he?"
Goku clapped Krillin's back, "He sure will! First thing tomorrow, we'll give him one and he'll be back on his feet in no time!"
"Good idea. And while we're waiting, we can start looking for your friend. Uh, what was her name again?"
"Rae." Goku smiled weakly, "I guess that means I won't be getting much sleep tonight."
"Guess not," Krillin returned Goku's smile.
Goku pointed a thumb at the door, "Well, are we going, or no?"
"Oh, right!" Krillin started out first.
Goku hung the bag of Senzu Beans from his belt while following Krillin out. "If we start this way," he pointed up the road, "we might have a better chance of finding her. Sushi and Tyler headed in this direction after our little scuffle, so I'm guessing their base is somewhere over there."
"Sounds good to me. Let's go."
Goku and Krillin moved on, unaware of the red shadow that followed them. The two moved on, sensing for auras as they went up and down streets, yet found no trace of Rae or of Garlic Junior's minions. The search went on for close to three hours with no luck, until Goku was suddedly pulled to the back of an alley. Split seconds later, Krillin was hoisted through the air as well. Both of them ended up plastered to the back wall of the alley, and were held, off the ground, by some unseen force. Goku immediately started to struggle, and Krillin picked up his lead. The same red shadow that followed them from the museum dropped down from the roof of one of the buildings, and blinked calmly.
Startled by it, Krillin studdered, "G-G-Goku!"
Goku stopped and looked up, "Huh? Cinnamon?"
The cat's eyes slitted, turning to Goku.
"Cinnamon, what's this all about? What's going on?" Goku inquired. He started getting worried when the cat didn't answer him, "What's wrong?"
Cinnamon stepped closer to Goku, "Can I trrusst him?"
"Who?"
Cinnamon motioned to Krillin with his head.
Goku laughed with relief, "Oh, him! Sure you can; he's just my friend, Krillin."
"Can I trrusst you?" Cinnamon's purring tone sent shivers running up Krillin's spine, and set Goku's hair on end.
Goku tried to act as aclmy as possible, "Of course. Cinnamon, this is me you're talking about!"
Cinnamon was only a few feet from him, "What doess that mean to me?"
