Well, I finally found the time to get this thing done! Whooo yeah! Enjoy!. Please Review when done.
Chapter 31
Sacrifices and Convictions
Thursday June 19th,
Roshi casually walked over to the white van that was parked down the street from Kit's house. As he got closer to it he could hear people inside panicking and then the engine started and it flew away.
'Good, and don't come back. Leave my friends along you scum sucking jerks.' Roshi thought as he glared at the retreating van.
'I can't believe someone would try to use them to get information or gossip on me.' Roshi looked around to see if he could spot anymore vans or things that shouldn't be parked near Kit's house. Not seeing any, he decided that he needed to go find Mariah.
'There is no way in hell I am going to be able to take Mariah out tomorrow night. How could I forget about that?!? I need to find her and get a rain date or something. Cause the way Kit is acting, Mariah already thinks I hate her or something, and if I don't tell her I can't make it and just don't show up, she will never forgive me.'
Roshi laughed to himself as a random thought got stuck in his mind. "Yeah too bad I can't just pack Slip, and Ichigo, and my mother, and Mariah and Kit up and ship them to were ever so that they stop bugging me. Women, I will never get women." He muttered under his breath.
Neither Mariah nor her mother were at home. Three news vans were however. A reporter got out and started to come over to Roshi to ask questions, but Roshi just jumped on his Kintoun and flew away.
'Ok, where to go look now?' Roshi thought to himself. "I know, Mariah's grandparents live in West City!"
Once Roshi was far enough away that no one could see him anymore, he ditched the Kintoun and flew directly to West City. Remembering her grandparents address from before, Roshi landed nearby in a deserted alley, and walked quickly to their house. He could sense that there were only two people in the house, neither of which was Mariah, but he hoped that they would know where she was.
Roshi knocked on the door and then, he waited for someone to answer the door.
After a few moments, a heavy set man of about 70 or so yanked the door open a leveled a rather large shotgun at Roshi's stomach. "For the last time we aren't answering any questions!" he yelled before yanking the gun back and looking at Roshi in shock. "Ah, oh! Ah, you're the Son boy aren't you?"
Roshi blinked a few times not completely sure what to say. "Ah yes Mr. Smart, I am. Is Mariah here? She and her mother were not at their house in Satan City."
"I would say not. The damn vultures have been driving them up a wall the past few days. I'm of half the mind to call the media and tell them you're here so they leave us alone and follow you around."
"I understand your sentiment sir, but I really can't control the media any, and I guess my family is in the spot light at the moment, and since Mariah is my friend she got roped in too."
Mr. Smart seemed to see something down the street. "Well come in, get off that porch!" He said as he waived Roshi in through the door. "Can't have any eavesdroppers now can we?"
"No, I guess not."
"Now son, did I hear you just call Mariah a friend? Just making sure, a friend not a girlfriend?"
Roshi blushed. 'This is remarkably uncomfortable. I think I would rather be fighting Banana again. At least then I knew what I was doing.' Roshi thought as he tried to think of how to answer that question. "Um I would say a good friend right now, not quite a girlfriend but close."
Mariah's grandfather smiled and reached out to shake Roshi's hand. "Good to hear that. I know, I know, I shouldn't be doubting Mariah, but it is just that after I would suspect almost all the girls close to your age claim to be at the very least your friend. Sure was that way at least when I was young and knew Sash." The man said naming Tee's grandfather.
Roshi smiled and his face flushed a bit realizing that Mariah's Grandfather was probably right on more levels then Roshi cared to guess.
"Kai, aren't you going to answer the poor boy's question?" An elderly woman said as she brought in a tray of various cookies and bars.
Roshi couldn't help smiling. 'One thing about Grandmother's is that they always have free food.'
Mr. Smart looked at Roshi and shook his head. "Sadly no, I can't tell you where Mariah is. Her mother is an incredibly stubborn woman and she is determined to make it on her own. So while Mariah comes to visit us quite regularly, this is the last place you would expect to find her mother."
'Crap! I didn't even think about that. These are Mariah's grandparents on her dad's side of the family.'
"Well, then I am sorry to have bothered you. Hopefully the media will go away after a few days. I need to get going." Roshi said as he turned to leave.
"Oh don't worry son. The media is fickle. As soon as they realize that there isn't a story with you and your family they will find someone else to torment until you attract their attention again. I've seen it happen tones of times. The last time it was this bad was when Teddy took over for her mother as President of the CC. Now it looks like the sharks are getting a jump start on yourself and your cousin Slip."
"Yeah, I guess you are right. Well thank you for your time."
"Oh no problem. We hope to see you again. Hopefully under better circumstances." Mariah's grandmother said with a slight wistful look in her eyes.
Roshi quickly closed the door and took a deep breath. 'Why is every woman on the planet either plotting my wedding with themselves or with their daughter's or someone else they have real close personal ties to?' Roshi shook his head. 'Maybe having Ichigo hate me isn't such a bad thing. At least she's safe.'
Roshi blinked a few times. "Ichigo safe? I have got to be loosing my mind! She's about as safe as flying into a black hole."
Finding the alley deserted again, Roshi once again took to flight and tried to figure out what to do about Mariah. 'I can't not tell her, but I can't find her. I hate to do this, but I have to go to Kit's house. At least she will be able to convey my message. She won't like to, and I will owe her, but anything is better then just leaving Mariah in the lurch.'
Roshi got to Kit's house a few minutes later and hovered about a Km above it. "Great, now there are four news vans. Don't these people sleep?" Roshi shook his head in disgust. "Kintoun, come here!" He called out to his cloud.
After the Kintoun showed up, Roshi casually flew down to the front door of Kit's house. It was about 10:30 and most of the lights were off, so Roshi had the Kintoun fly up to Kit's window. Making sure NOT to look in incase she was indecent, he knocked on the window.
A bit later, Kit opened it up. She was still dressed in her normal clothes, so Roshi was relieved that he had not waken her. Kit tended to not enjoy being woken up.
Kit glared at him. "Hovering outside my window again? How many times have I told you that you aren't supposed to do that?"
"About three or four times a month for about four years." Roshi replied honestly.
Kit laughed. "You never will learn, will you? At least you don't try to look in anymore."
"I NEVER!..." Roshi started to say.
"I know calm down. Can't I tease you a little?"
"Well, um, I guess, but I'm getting sick of being called a perv."
"Well come in so we can talk." Kit said before slamming the window shut.
'One of these days, she is going to let me come in through that window.' Roshi thought. 'Yeah right, and one of these days I will actually understand the female sex too. I'm hopeless.'
After Kit let him in, she turned around and gave him a funny look. "Ok, so what brings you back so soon? More stuff to share?"
"Well, not exactly. See, I need to ask you a favor." Roshi said looking at the ground.
"Why do I get the feeling I am not going to like this favor?" Kit replied.
"Because you won't." Roshi said before looking up. "I can't find Mariah."
Kit shrugged, so, it's like 10:35 at night, what do you need to find her for now?"
"I can't take her out tomorrow."
"Excuse me? Oh no, no, no, no, no! You are not doing this to her. She's been waiting for tomorrow since you dropped her off at home Friday night."
"I know, but my dad is coming home tomorrow to deal with the whole Moon business, and then we are having a big family meeting and then I have to do a bunch of stuff with my dad and I'm not going to be able to take her out tomorrow."
Kit sighed. "Ok, I am sure she will show up here tomorrow to show me what she is wearing and all for the date. I will be your messenger of doom, but you owe me. And you owe her big time."
"I know." Roshi replied melancholy. "I guess. I will see you around. Good night Kit, and, thank you for being a friend even when things are not going so well."
Kit smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it. Someone has to keep you on your toes."
* * *
Roshi made it home slightly after 11 pm. He had hoped to apologize to Ichigo for his harsh words from earlier, but she seemed to be sleeping.
'I guess that will have to wait until the morning. Too bad too, I was hoping to get this out of the way tonight. Kit may be stubborn and Mariah may be over reactive, but Ichigo is not the type to easily forgive and the sooner I tell her that I over reacted the easier she will be to work with until she goes away and I can put my life back in order.'
* * *
Roshi allowed himself to sleep in until 8am. He knew that it was going to be a long day, as his father was due to be home around 10am. Meaning their training would begin in earnest today.
'First things first, I need to find Ichigo and apologize for being an idiot.' He thought as he woke up and started to do a few stretches.
After a quick shower and breakfast, he flew to where he could sense her meditating in the middle of his mother's rose garden. 'For a person who prides herself on being all tough and nasty, she sure likes flowers a lot.' Roshi thought as he landed near by.
As soon as he landed she opened her eyes and glared at him. Her eyes were dark like stormy clouds. "Go away, I don't want to talk to you, and if I spend any more time with you, I doubt I will ever get your hypocritical stench off of myself." Ichigo said as she took to the air and flew off towards the waterfall and lake.
"Well, I guess this rules out a simple I'm Sorry." Roshi said to the air as he watched her fly away. 'And what did she mean by my hypocritical stench?' Roshi smelled his pits almost on reflex. 'I can't smell anything. Well, I should go put more deodorant on just in case. But I really wonder just what she meant by calling me a hypocrite? Not like she hasn't been one herself.'
* * *
Roshi had known that it was going to be a very long day. As it turned out, it was going to be even longer. His little outburst in the mall had caused a worldwide panic. People everywhere were sure that the Capsule Corp and the entire Son and Briefs families were just going to pack up and leave. He had suggested people call Ima Gossip. Well people had called Ima Gossip, and left death threats. The Satan City Police arrested one man for attempting to blow up the hotel she was staying in. Someone DID blow up her news van and all her cameras. The rioting in Satan City got so bad, that the Police asked for Capsule Corp to send out some of the very Security Forces that Ima had been bashing. Had Slip not sent them, the rioters would probably have murdered Ima.
Some how, none of this news had found it's way to Roshi. The first he heard of it was when he got back into his house and got reamed by his mother and then had a nice long discussion via the vidphone with his father and then Slip. There was going to be a press conference as soon as Teddy and his father landed. Or promptly at 10am. That was to be followed by a family meeting at the Capsule Corp. Not just a small meeting, but rather, more or less the ENTIRE extended family. Roshi was going to have to apologize to them and then they were going to deal with Ichigo and plan for the attack of the Changeling. Which of course meant he had to get Ichigo to talk to him so that he could get her to the Capsule Corp in time for the meeting.
'What was I thinking?' Roshi thought as he slowly flew to where he could sense Ichigo meditating next to Icarus.
"Go away, I don't care what you have to say." Ichigo said as soon as he landed.
'I guess I would rather have her holding a grudge then blowing up and attacking me, but this is ridiculous.' "Yes you do. Or don't you want us to help you get rid of the changelings that attacked your planet?" Roshi asked sullenly.
Ichigo jumped up like she was spring loaded. "Ok, you have my full and undivided attention. Tell me what you have to say and then leave me alone." She said with a rather neutral tone.
"Sorry, can't leave you alone. My stupid outburst yesterday caused a lot of problems that my dad is going to try to fix. Once he is done with his little press conference, we, as in most of the people with Saiyan blood on Earth, are going to be having a meeting to figure out whether or not it is worth our time and effort to go help you and your people."
Ichigo just about blew up, but Roshi held up his hand to stop her and continued talking. "If it were just up to me I know that we would help, because well it is the right thing to do, but there is no assurances that we will beat the Changeling that is coming here. So, once we are done with that meeting, we are going to be going to Dende's look out and training until the Changeling shows up. Anyway, I need to get to Capsule Corp. If you want help or if you want to train with us you need to follow me" He finished. 'There, save the apology for sometime later when I have more time to try to explain myself.' Roshi thought before taking to the air and heading to Capsule Corp. As he expected, Ichigo followed silently.
* * *
'Stupid Jerk doesn't even realize why I am mad at him.' Ichigo thought to herself as she followed Roshi to the Capsule Corp. As they flew up to the small, yet still huge yellow dome where Slip's lab was located, a large bulbous ship slowly landed near the largest dome of the facility. 'Hmmm, three people on that ship are controlling their ki. I wonder. I bet Roshi's father is on that ship.' Ichigo thought as she followed Roshi into the building and to a large conference room.
There were about sixty or so people in the room. A few had relatively high ki's for ordinary people, but most seemed to just have a bit more then the normal human would have.
Ichigo stopped following Roshi and he disappeared into the mass of people.
Shortly there after, the press conference started, and Ichigo started watching as a woman that She guessed was Slips mother and a man stood getting grilled by reporters. 'As Roshi so aptly showed yesterday, they control this planet. But even though they control it almost totally, they still allow for such stupid wastes of time and energy. On Saiya no one would dare question my father like that.' She thought as the conference was held.
* * *
"What do you have to say about the allegations that you fired Miss Ima Gossip in an attempt to prevent her from implicating yourself and Capsule Corp in the destruction of the moon?" An elderly reporter asked Teddy.
"I was on vacation, so I personally had absolutely nothing to do with what happened Monday night. I have nothing to hide. As far as Capsule Corp is concerned, I admit that there could have been better safety systems at the moon facilities. There were more then enough life pods and ships to evacuate everyone from the moon. There just was not enough time for them to evacuate. For this we are deeply sorry, and we are doing everything we can to make it up to the affected families. We did not cause the deaths of your loved ones, but we feel your loss." Teddy said calmly.
"Yes, but what about the firing of Ima Gossip?" the reporter asked.
"Yes, I want to hear what kind of lame excuse and sorry statement you make up for firing me for only wanting the truth to be told." Ima sneered from her podium, which was placed across from the two that Goshu and Teddy stood at.
Ima and a few other reporters and Government people had been given podiums and were participating in the conference because of their involvement in the last few day's events.
Teddy sighed. "Do you really want the world to know the truth Ima? You may not believe me but I didn't say anything because I was trying not to hurt what little of a career you have left as a news reporter."
Ima scoffed. "I have nothing to fear. It is not as if your lies can do any more then they already have."
"Are you aware that for security reasons every phone call going into and out of Capsule Corp is recorded?" Teddy asked.
Ima's left eye started to tic "So, video recordings can be forged and people can be made to say things that are not true."
"So you want me to show it?"
"Your lies can't hurt me any worse then they already have." Ima replied quickly.
Teddy showed the recording of the phone call. It was shown split screen so that people could see both what Ima saw, and what Teddy, Goshu, Nail, and Piccolo saw. A murmur went through the crowd of people at the sight of the two Namekians. Aliens were not unheard of on Earth, but they were still very rare.
The recording ended. Teddy turned to Ima and asked, "Is this not the phone call as you remember it?"
"I never participated in this fabrication of a phone call. And since we all know that you have the technology to make it look like anything you want it to look like you cannot prove it one way or another. This entire conference is just a farce to make you look good."
Teddy frowned, "Mr. Oyake, the phone transmission had to bounce off of a Government owned comsat to make it to my ship correct?" She asked the Government official.
"Yes, it did."
"And since it was tagged Alpha Priority and Emergency, the Government made a copy of that transmission correct?"
"Um, yes we did. It was encrypted to the point were I don't think we will ever get it decrypted. That and you somehow knew about it and sent us a warning never to do it again as soon as the whole thing ended, but yeah, I have been instructed to be honest here. We copied the transmission."
"And the phone call with Ima was carried by a separate carrier wave then the rest of the transmission right?"
"Yes it was."
"And you copied that as well?"
"Yes"
Anyone who was paying attention would have noticed Ima's facial tic was getting worse, and she was now sweating in a rather un-lady like amount.
"And you have a digital copy of that here now right?"
"Yes, I do." He said as he held up a memory stick.
"Ok, since I have no doubt that Ima will claim I changed the message somehow, I need someone with a laptop computer that can display vidphone calls to volunteer their computer."
Several hundred people held up their computers. "Um, ok to be fair. Miss Gossip, please pick which computer we will use for this." Teddy said calmly.
Ima glared at her. "That one!" She said pointing at a woman holding up her computer, "it is NOT made by Capsule Corp!"
The woman ran up and tried to give the computer to Teddy, but Teddy told her to give it to Mr. Oyake.
"Ok, Mr. Oyake, you are a trained computer specialist correct?"
"Yes."
"Ok, what I need you to do is I need you to open the recording and have the computer show the source code."
"Ok, done."
"Now, I need you to isolate the first three megabytes of data."
"Ok, done."
"Copy that, then paste it to the front of the file. That is the decrypt code send with the original message. Once you have copied it to the front of the file, open the recording and hit play. It will ask for the password."
"Ok done." He said as the computer asked for the password only to tell him that ok done was not the password.
Teddy laughed. "In this case, the password is Speak to me."
Mr. Oyake repeated the password for the computer and it played out the exact same phone call as Teddy had shown a few minutes before.
"Now I should warn you that while the decrypt code is always send with the file, it changes size and location. So I have not helped you in any way shape or form in your attempt to decrypt the rest of the message."
Mr. Oyake shook his head that he understood.
"Ok, one last thing, since the decrypt was part of the original message, could it have altered the message in any way?"
"Not to my knowledge." He replied.
"Thank you, would you please give this to Miss Gossip for me?" Teddy said as she handed an envelope to Mr. Oyake.
"That is a subpoena Miss Gossip. Goshu, Capsule Corp, and Myself are suing you for Libel and Slander." Teddy paused to take a breath. "As you have all seen I fired her not to hide anything but because I was digested by her apparent lack of concern for the victims who died both on the moon and at Homlet on Monday night. I also fired her because I found her lack of respect for Goshu to be absolutely unforgivable. He may be well known for being the current World Champion, but he is also on the board of directors here at Capsule Corp. as well as being a Co-Vice President of the Corporation with PJ Briefs being the other."
After a pause she continued. "Since I would like to think that all news reporters are unbiased and all of you attempt to be honest and caring and truthful in your reporting of the news, I found her actions and words to be contrary to the good of the public that would hear her if I allowed her to continue working at ZTV, so I fired her for being unfit for the job she held. We were as much victims of Monday as the rest of you. We were not trying to hide anything. We could have come forward with what we did know about the attack sooner, and had I been on Planet we would have. My daughter Slip did a wonderful job in my absence. Please do not doubt her for her inexperience at handling an event of such magnitude."
A murmur went up through the crowd, then cheers and clapping.
Ima wasn't through yet though. "That still doesn't excuse the fact that Son Goshu's son was involved in the beating of a innocent man nearly to his death yesterday and then tried to blackmail the world into just letting it go as if nothing had happened! She says I should respect Goshu for more then being a brute that won a stupid meaningless tournament. Well I don't. He is a brute who controls people with his money and his son is even worse. Just a few weeks ago Roshi attacked the same young man in school breaking his nose and fracturing his cheekbone? What do you have to say about your violent son and your own violent ways? Well, I'm waiting!" Ima yelled.
While Teddy and most of the crowd looked like they were ready to see him rip her head off, Goshu didn't look the slightest bit concerned. He slowly adjusted the microphone and looked over the crowd. "It is true that my son had a tantrum yesterday. It is true that he threatened a lot of people and projects needlessly because he was mad and was not thinking clearly.
Son Gohan and his wife Videl, who was the daughter of Mr. Satan, founded the Son Foundation almost five hundred years ago. It has stood the test of time helping build roads, and bridges, Schools, and houses, Towns and even cities. We do this not to control people, although as Roshi has shown, when one is so economically integrated with the world's economy it does look that way. Roshi used the Foundation, as it was never intended to be used, and for that he will be punished. In the mean time, I hope to make it up to the world by tripling the donations and projects that the foundation has underway. Children who had a parent die either on the Moon or at Homlet will have a trust fund set up for their college educations. Homlet will be rebuilt. And I am going to change the way the foundation runs so that now one can ever use it as a tool to manipulate people in such a way again."
Goshu stopped as waves of cheering went up through the crowd. 'Thank Dende for a simple-minded crowd' Goshu thought as he continued. "Now as for the matter of violence. Violence never solves anything and causes a lot of problems. We are appalled at the people who sent you death threats. I am shocked that people have tried to kill you over Roshi's outburst. To answer your questions on my being violent, I have to say that, yes I am the current World Champion, but I fully expect to be beaten by Roshi at the next tournament next May." Goshu grabbed the mic and walked over to a large brick wall next to where the podiums had been set. He then casually drove his fist through the wall. The crowd gasped in shock as the wall collapsed. "If I or any of my students were the violent type, there would not be much to stop us from causing an incredible amount of damage." He continued. "I want to make this point very clear to you all. Roshi is stronger then I am. From the accounts of teachers and school administrators who I talked to after the fight Roshi had in school a few weeks ago, I know that Roshi was trying to protect a young woman who had dropped her books and was being harassed. The young man who ended up with the broken nose threw the first punch. Yesterday, he attempted to assault Roshi and a young woman who is a master martial artist. The fact that the young man is still alive shows you that Roshi and then the young woman who was defending herself yesterday are not violent. I admit that the young man was hurt. Roshi at times does not control his strength as well as he should. And the young woman, well after the lude comments that were made in her direction I am surprised that she held back as much as she did. Mr. Satan, and Goku set standards of strength and behavior that my students and I take very seriously. Few people can punch holes in walls, but having the ability to such things does not make us violent. On the contrary, I would say it makes us quite the opposite. With the exception of a few unfortunate incidents such as what Miss Gossip has mentioned, we have always thought of ourselves as keepers of the tradition of being there for your protection. Mr. Satan saved the world; his descendants try to be there to do the same. As Monday showed, we can't do everything, but we do try. Now if you would excuse us, we have important matters to attend to." Goshu said as he started to walk towards the CC building.
The crowd parted and he and Teddy and the various other people who needed to attend the meeting inside followed. Ima was escorted under police protection to a safe house. Since the press conference was shown to the entire world, there were probably more then just a few people who would not listen to Goshu's words and would attempt to "get even" with her.
'Roshi is probably not going to forgive me for telling the whole world that he is stronger then I am. Everyone expects me to be able to knock down walls. Roshi has spent a good portion of his school life pretending to be an untalented klutz.
Oh well, he tried to put himself on a pinnacle so everyone could admire his greatness. Maybe if his ego catches the limelight for a while he may come back down to Earth.' Goshu thought as he walked into the building.
* * *
Meanwhile, Ichigo had lost interest in the conference. 'I don't like it in here. There are way too many men in here.' She thought as she tried to squeeze further back away from most of the mingling people. Ichigo was slowly sorting things out from what she remembered actually happened Monday night, and from what she had thought was a dream. As she remembered more, she became far less comfortable thinking about it. She hadn't thought it was affecting her much, but now she knew she had been wrong. The sight of so many people that has at least a passing resemblance to Banana sent chills down her spine. Several times she had almost lashed out at various people for simply brushing into her as they walked by. 'It feels like this room is the size of a small box.' An unknown pair of men walked past and bumped into her.
"O, so sorry miss. Um, are you sure you are in the right place?" On of them asked her.
"I came here with Roshi." Ichigo said as she quickly turned and walked away from them. 'No one would be so careless as to even touch me at a gathering at home, but here these people are so informal that they think nothing of it.' A few images from Monday night flashed before her eyes. 'That isn't helping any. I need to calm down, I am in a new place with new customs and new people and I cannot let myself prejudge them like I did with Roshi.'
Ichigo was trying to be as inconspicuous as possible when something tugged twice on her braid. "A..." She almost screamed out in fright, but she clamped a hand over her mouth and spun around to see what had grabbed her hair. By reflex, she whipped her free hand around ready to attack whatever it was that had disturbed her. She stopped her fist about a cm before it would have slammed into the face of a little girl. 'That was way way too close for comfort' Ichigo thought as she looked into the huge green eyes of the little girl. She looked to be all of two or three years old. She had unruly hair that could have been found on any Saiyan, except for the fact that it was WHITE! In one hand she held the end of Ichigo's braid, and in the other a gooey lollypop that was at least twice as big as her mouth. It caused her to have lollypop goo spread all over on her chin and fingers. 'White hair? This girl wouldn't be in this room is she wasn't one of Roshi's cousins, but if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never believed it.' Ichigo thought as she looked up from the little girl to look around the room. She spotted Max, who had brilliant red hair and continued to ponder. 'Yet Maxine has red hair, and that man near her has normal looking Saiyan hair, yet he must be at least 250 kg! I've never in my life seen such a fat man!'
"Youw eefen faster then my brover" The little girl chirped up at Ichigo.
Ichigo just gawked down at the girl. 'Oh no! She isn't going away. I don't know what do to!!! I never had to deal with little kids at home! How do I make her go away and leave me alone?!?!'
"I canna't see. Wiw youww hewp me look for the monser?" The little girl asked sweetly.
'That girl is cute enough to gag one of those reporters that keep following Roshi around. I can hardly make out what she is trying to say with that lollypop in her mouth though.' Ichigo thought as she continued to look down at the little girl bewildered.
"If youw gif me a piggy back wide, I can wook for the monser" The little girl said while tugging on Ichigo's braid.
Ichigo pulled her hair out of the sticky grasp of the little girl. The little girl looked like she was going to cry because she no longer had the hair to hold on to, so Ichigo quickly gave the girl back the end of her braid. 'I wish she wouldn't do that' Ichigo thought as the girl once again tugged on the braid.
Seeing no other route, she kneeled down beside the girl and gently pulled the lollypop out of her mouth. "Ok, what are you looking for?" She asked sweetly.
"The monster!" The little girl chirped back.
'Definitely a Saiyan girl if she is looking for the monster rather then running away.' "Ok, what does the monster look like?" Ichigo asked.
The little girl looked puzzled. "I don't know. Brother said it twied to kill him and was over there." The girl pointed to a wall that was no more then a few meters away.
'I guess that narrows the list of what and where the monster is.' Ichigo smirked. "Did your brother say anything else about the monster?"
"Ah ha, He said it was hot and it was a homis... homisi... da... ah homisi..adaw... He said it was a something mani..ack and then he called it a really bad bad word that I can't say cause mommy and daddy will get really mad at me."
Ichigo glared off in the direction of Tee. 'I am not some liftskirt bitch, how dare he...' Ichigo stopped and took a deep breath. 'He probably thinks of that as a complement. Tee is harmless I can forgive him. However, Call me a homicidal maniac and a monster will he?' Ichigo looked down and smiled at the little girl. "What is your name?"
"I am Nighty Briefs." The little girl said proudly.
"Is your brother's name Tee?" She asked just to make certain that her perceptions were right.
"Ah ha" Nighty smiled a big toothy grin.
Ichigo got an idea. She pulled her braid forward and plopped it on the ground in front of the little girl. "You said you wanted a ride?"
Nighty's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Piggy back ride!"
Ichigo picked her up and put Nighty on her shoulders, and stood up. Nighty grabbed Ichigo's braid and pulled it back over Ichigo's shoulder and then started using it as if it were reins for a horse.
"Giddy up Pony!" Nighty giggled as she tugged on Ichigo's hair and gently kicked her in the ribs.
Ichigo cringed and rolled her eyes. She hadn't the slightest idea what a pony was, but she could guess. 'Me and my bright ideas.' Ichigo thought as she started to search out Tee.
"No, no, no! Ponies are supposed to bounce like they are running!" Nighty whined.
Reluctantly, Ichigo added a slight bounce to her walk as she located Tee and Boxers by their ki and headed in their direction. She walked up behind Tee and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hello Tee. I am helping your sister look for a monster. You wouldn't have happened to have seen a homicidal maniac bad bad word that your sister can't say monster around here would you have?" She said with a glaring smirk and an evilly humorous glint in her eyes.
"Ah..." Tee squeaked before turning around and running out of the room.
Boxers started laughing so hard he almost fell over. Ichigo would have probably allowed herself to do the same if she hadn't been carrying around a little girl.
"Oh, you are just evil!" Boxers said as he slowly started to recover. "But he deserved it."
Ichigo smiled, and former reservations forgotten turned to go bounce around the room with the happily squealing little girl.
* * *
Roshi followed his father into the room. 'My life is over. My life is over. Thanks dad, but I might as well go kill myself, my life is over.' He was trying to make it over to where he had saw Boxers standing, but was intercepted by PJ Briefs first.
"Well if it isn't Roshi! Or should I call you Mr. Foot in Mouth?" PJ asked with a smirk and a playfully chiding tone.
Roshi couldn't help flinching. 'Ouch, being called Foot in Mouth by Tee's dad hurts.'
"Maybe we should rename him One who speaks with foot in his mouth." a well-aged old man said as he walked up. Roshi turned to look at Chief Upa. Upa was a descendent of Bikini, and was also the Chief of the group of Indians who lived near Korrin's Tower.
"Oh, or possibly Child who eats foot. Yes, I like that name." Upa said with a smile. Upa found it funny to name all of his non-Indian relatives with the oddest Indian names.
Upa put a hand on Roshi's shoulder and leaned in close. "Don't worry about what has happened. People like him are just jealous of all the attention you are getting."
PJ laughed. "No thank you! I actually don't mind it a bit that you and your father and of course Teddy like to stay in the warm glow of the spotlights. I think I would get a sunburn." He laughed. "I should be more serious, setting a bad example here for the irresponsible young people such as yourself Roshi." PJ said before changing his tone of voice and becoming serious. "It isn't my place to berate you for your actions, but you sure couldn't have picked a better way to cause a mass hysteria. It is going to take us months to fix all the problems your little stunt caused."
'That's assuming we have months to fix the problems. I won't doubt it, but with a Changeling coming here, I won't hold my breath either.' Roshi thought as shook his head to what PJ had said. "I have no excuse for my actions. I have no doubt that it has and will cause Capsule Corp and my father a lot of problems over the next few months." Roshi said apologetically.
Upa slowly shook his head. "I saw your fight on Sunday, Roshi. I know you saved my village and probably the world. I have no doubt that you did that again on Monday. If the rumors of a Changeling coming are true, I doubt your father called us all here to scold you and worry about such superficial things as money and lost prestige." Upa said looking at PJ and then at several others in the gathering who could be overheard talking about Roshi in negative ways.
PJ swallowed. "Quite right. Go and find Tee. I understand you have been trying to make him useful at fighting. It is a bit late for me to pick up the little amount of training your namesake gave me, but I am glad that you have tried to get Tee to train."
"Ah, thank you. Yeah, I guess I will talk to you later." Roshi said as he quickly walked away towards where he had seen Boxers and Tee. "Hey, where did Tee go? I felt him run out of here a few minutes ago." He asked Boxers.
Boxers broke out laughing. After a few moments, he was able to talk again. "Um, I think he needed to change his clothes. I think Ichigo made him piss his pants."
"Why? What did she do now?" Roshi said grimacing and fearing for the worst.
"Oh, she didn't do anything. Tee was calling Ichigo all kinds of nasty things. He was calling her a monster and stuff. Anyway, Nighty had been standing near by and had heard him. She went to go find the terrible monster, and well, Ichigo turned his words on him." Boxers said pointing across the room to were Ichigo stood hopping from one foot the other bouncing a laughing Nighty around.
Roshi practically had to pick his jaw off the floor. "What the heck is that? She... She... She..." he said lost for words.
"I know," Boxers laughed. "That girl has more sides then this building has rooms."
'I'll be damned Who would have thought a tough and nasty warrior woman would be able to cook AND look like she likes little kids. I don't think I will ever get women. I thought she was confusing before.' Roshi thought as several huge sweat drops formed and fell off of his face.
* * *
Nighty slowly stopped laughing and fell asleep on Ichigo's shoulders. Her head now rested peacefully on top of Ichigo's. 'This is just great. I can't put Nighty down, cause then she will wake up and cause me even more problems.' Ichigo sighed. 'Guess I just get to hold her for a while.' She thought as she watched Goshu walk up to the front of the room.
"I know many of you are upset about how Roshi made us look like arrogant blackmailing control freaks." Goshu said to bring the informal meeting to order.
"Damn straight!" Someone yelled from the back.
"Roshi is not about to get off without punishment for his misuse of the Foundation, but right now it does not matter." Goshu said over the people who agreed with the one who had shouted out. Needles to say, this commentary did not sit well with many of the people in the room. Goshu continued to talk over the murmur. "There is a Changeling coming to Earth. That Changeling is coming here to kill us. If we do not prepare for it then the people who died on the moon and at Homlet on Monday are going to have a lot of company in the afterlife. If we survive, then we can worry about how to fix the problems Roshi has inadvertently caused."
Surprisingly, not a single person said anything. When Goshu stopped talking it was dead quite.
"The other important point of interest is that for the first time since Vegeta died, there is a full blooded Saiyan on Earth. Ah there she is." Goshu said pointing directly at Ichigo.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Ichigo. Ichigo shuddered. 'So much for being inconspicuous.' She thought as she unconsciously tried to shrink away from the people who were looking at her.
Nighty choose that moment to wake up. She opened her eyes to see everyone looking at her. Being a little kid she did what little kids do best. Bouncing her heels off Ichigo's chest, she yanked on her braid and yelled. "Go Pony go!"
This brought a large amount of laughter and caused Ichigo to cringe and turn several shades of red. It also caused five or six of the other little kids who were in the room to come running at Ichigo wanting their "Pony ride." Upon seeing the kids running at her, most of the color drained from Ichigo's face. She quickly put Nighty down, much to Nighty's displeasure, and then floated up out of reach and towards the front of the room. Her obvious retreat in the face of the little kids brought more laughter but she didn't care. 'I am a Princess. I don't need to care what they think about me.' She reminded herself while genuinely feeling very embarrassed.
Ichigo flew up
onto the raised dais but landed a good ten feet from Goshu. He looked over at her and gave her an odd
look. Ichigo shuddered. Ichigo couldn't help but feel vulnerable
with all eyes on her. That, and the
fact that Goshu was about the same age and build as Banana just gave her the
willies.
PJ walked over and tried to shush his whining daughter. Nighty looked up at him with her big tear
filled eyes and asked, "Daddy give me ride?"
PJ kneeled by her. "No, Nighty, Daddy is busy right now. Go play with Panny and Socks," he said as he pointed to two of her similarly aged cousins.
Nighty stomped her foot and cried. "I want my Pony ride back!"
This brought more snickers and several people looked at Ichigo as if expecting her to some how fix the situation.
'I'm not a nanny' She thought as she tried to ignore all the people looking at her.
"Anyway," Goshu said to get everyone's attention again, "I believe your name is Ichigo correct?"
"Yes."
"Ok, just making sure." He said with a glint in his eyes that told her he knew about her earlier deception. "Anyway, Ichigo came here because a group of Changelings has attacked her planet. The planet that our Saiyan ancestors actually came from. The Saiyans who attacked on Monday had followed her here to kill her as they were working for the Changelings. And Dende has informed me that a Changeling is coming here to finish the job if they fail. Well, they have failed, so we can expect the Changeling to come. We need to get prepared."
"I really don't see why." Chichi Gla'mor said as she squeezed her way towards the front of the room. Chichi was one of the most famous actresses in the world. She was the pinnacle of fashion and was used to having people practically worship the ground she walked on. "We could just have Buu kill the Changeling when it gets here. I don't get why Roshi wasn't smart enough to get Buu in the first place."
"He was, but Buu is no longer available. We have to do this alone because there is not going to be anyone else to help us." Goshu said.
Ichigo was very rapidly lowering her opinion of Roshi's relatives. 'Saiyans don't panic like this.' She thought as she watched the entire room go up in an uproar of concern and frantic comments. Several people screamed that they were all going to die. A few others were asking about getting a ship and evacuating before the Changeling got there. Still others were just struck speechless.
Raven, Upa's daughter spoke up, "Why don't we just kick her off the planet? It seems to me that all the problems are because she is here. It would logically dictate that the problems would go away if she went away."
Some of the people looked like they were appalled by the thought, but most of them seemed to like the idea of sending Ichigo away.
Ichigo tasted blood and realized that she had bit through her lip. 'Well I had WANTED to leave, but Roshi said that these morons would help me. These people aren't Saiyans. I knew that from the beginning. No hybrid has ever been allowed to be called a Saiyan before. I shouldn't have started thinking of them as Saiyans. Bunch of worthless cowards.' She had a temptation to kill a bunch of the idiots who were agreeing with the woman who spoke out.
"Actually, what I want to know is why she is even here in the first place."
Ichigo looked over at Goshu to see what he would say. The man looked surprisingly calm for one who appeared to be loosing control of a meeting.
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
"Well, First we have the fact that she did not come here for help. She came here after killing several researchers in space and a farmer on Namek. From what I have been told, she fought Piccolo on Namek and then immediately attacked Roshi here on Earth. He beat her, and then after being given what would have been a deadly wounding gave her a Senzu bean to save her life!..."
'What? Deadly wound my rear! I thought I was hurting him, but after what I saw on Monday, or at least what I can remember seeing on Monday, I know better then to think I hurt the jerk.' Ichigo thought in disgust as she clenched her fists.
Gotan continued, "...According to Upa, during that battle, Roshi threw himself into a ki blast that would have wiped out his entire tribe and their village. Then Roshi in his infinite wisdom lets her stay in Pan's old bedroom where she some how managed to fire several ki blasts into the dinning room floor!" Gotan stopped to let the indignant outcry calm down before continueing. "Not only that, but she lied to us and gave a false name which was only discovered because those other Saiyans came to kill her. I will admit that Roshi fought well, but SHE is the one who blew up the moon. She killed thousands of people when she could have done numerous other things to end that battle. I want to know why she is not locked up in some room were she cannot cause us any more harm. Or better yet why we haven't sent her away already. She showed yesterday that she is prone to lashing out at the weak and defenseless. Why are we helping her? Roshi should have killed her in the first place. The fact that he stupidly risked his life to save her on Monday was noble but it cost over 4000 lives. Was she worth it? Roshi may think he is being the chivalrous knight here, but we have prioritys that need to be looked at, and I say that the people of Earth deserve to be our priority. Teddy said it herself. Our family, even the ones not related to Mr. Satan are looked at as protectors. Well I ask are we protecting the right things?" Gotan asked before turning and replying over his back, "choose what you will, it is not like I will be able to stop you and your all powerful-yet blind to the real world son," as he walked out of the room.
The majority of the room seemed to agree with Gotan.
"You people are pathetic. You call yourselves Saiyans, but you are only a bunch of cowards. I don't need to listen to this." She looked over at Roshi, "you can find me if you actually decide to do anything but cower in a corner." With that Ichigo left the room. A few people tried to stop her, but she just knocked them aside like they were not even there and walked out.
* * *
Roshi couldn't help but feel a sense of immanent doom as the mood in the room continued to shift downward. 'Great, not only does my dad make me the scapegoat to the entire world, but also now I actually am the one who allowed the events to happen. Can my life get any more complicated?' He asked himself.
Then Ichigo spoke and left.
'Yes, yes it can. It can ALWAYS get worse. As much as I realize what I did in the mall was wrong, I know that my other actions have been right. But how do I get them to see that?'
Goshu glanced at Roshi again. 'Why does he keep looking at me? I'm not going to open my mouth. After the crap I've taken no one would listen anyway.'
"I agree with Gotan. Since Buu isn't here to protect us, we need to think about what we can actually do. Roshi should have let her die on Sunday or Monday, but he didn't. It doesn't really matter, I say we send her away now and be done with it." Raven spoke.
"I agree" Chichi said immediately.
Many people started to add their comments to the discussion. There was still some who wanted to flee, but the majority wanted to just send Ichigo directly to the Changelings as a peace gift.
Roshi saw his father looking at him again with an upraised eyebrow.
"What?" Roshi mouthed to his father.
"Don't you have something to say?" Goshu mouthed back.
"No. They wouldn't listen anyway," Roshi mouthed.
"Okay, if you say so." Goshu mouthed before turning back to the rest of the people. "So, you don't believe that we can stop the changeling?" He asked the room.
"How can we?" Raven asked. Most of us have had no training of any kind. We are really just ordinary people. We don't want to get involved in these things. Besides, unless you haven't told us something, there are no Super Saiyans anymore. We can't just blindly hope for the best. The smart thing, the correct thing for us to do is to cut our losses now."
A voice from the back started talking. Roshi realized it was Frank, Slip's father, which surprised him, because only people with Saiyan blood were supposed to be at the meeting. But, somehow, he got in.
"Goshu, I am not really part of this family. I have never understood you people. I dearly love my wife and I have tried to understand, but I don't. What I do understand is that you are not Mr. Satan, or Goku, or Gohan, or any of your other heroic ancestors. Don't let your ego's blind you. You cannot be heroes today, because the world does not need heroes right now. These people" He said as he pointed around the room, "understand that. What the world needs now is strategy and diplomacy. I have no idea what a changeling is, but I have seen what you and your son can do in your so-called sparring matches. If this Changeling worries you, then send the girl away and be done with it. Why take the chance and put us all at risk?"
Roshi looked at his father in wonder. 'Why isn't he stopping this? He could have them doing whatever he wanted in a moment if he only tried to talk some sense into them. And why does he keep looking at me like that?' He thought as he caught another glance from his father.
Roshi listened to the conversations and statements in the room for another minute. Almost none of the people where in favor of even trying to fight the Changeling.
Roshi caught another glance. 'Ok so he is waiting for me to say something. I get it. But why? They won't listen to me. All I have accomplished in their eyes is cause more trouble.
"Yeah, think about what Goku would have done. He wouldn't have put everyone in so much risk just for his own ego. Why do you want to fight the Changeling? Why take the risk?" Someone Roshi couldn't pick out of the crowd asked.
'That's it. I can't take this anymore.' Roshi thought as he walked up to the front of the room.
"Because it is the right thing to do." He said. His voice cracked as he said it and everyone in the room saw that he didn't really want to be speaking.
"Like you have the right to talk to us about what is right or wrong!" Someone from the back scoffed.
"Let him speak. While experience brings wisdom, it also at times brings blindness. He may see something that you all have forgotten." Goshu said calmly before smiling at his son and indicating to continue.
Roshi started shakily but became more sure the longer he spoke. "I may not be as old or a wise as some of you. I know I messed up yesterday. But I know in my soul, in my heart, that fighting the Changeling is the right thing to do."
"The right thing to do would have been to kill the girl after she attacked you on Sunday. Or better, you should have just let those Saiyans kill her on Monday. Your involvement has already cost over 5,000 lives. How many more will it cost before you grow up and learn that the world isn't just rights and wrongs, but shades of gray? We can't risk letting a Changeling come here." Raven said sternly. "If Buu were here, it would be one thing, but he isn't. We need to think about what we know we can do. Not what we hope we can accomplish. Without Buu, we can't beet a Changeling. That is the fact. That is what we need to be concerned with. Not whether or not it feels good to think happy thoughts and hope for the best. We need to think about all the people of the Earth, as well as ourselves." She pointed to PJ and Nighty and continued. "How can we put so many people at such great risk?"
'Crap, how do I say what I need to say?' Roshi thought to himself. He slowly focused his thoughts and put them to words.
"Raven, I see your point. I however, see the risk as acceptable. You wish Buu were here so he could handle it. You wonder why Ichigo is still alive and why she is free and not locked up. Well, I tell you this, Buu is gone for a reason! Were Buu here, Ichigo would surely have died last Sunday. The Saiyans who came on Monday would have died as well. Life here would go on as normal and we would not have any tough things to think about. Well, Buu isn't here. Ichigo is alive, and if we are going to defeat the Changeling we will need her help. I for one, plan on fighting it when it comes here. I am not going to fight to glorify my name in an attempt to become a hero or to become great. I am not fighting because I want to. I wish there was a better way, but there isn't. I am definitely not fighting for Ichigo's sake. I am fighting because it is the right thing to do. If I don't fight. If I allow you to ship Ichigo away, and trust me I have been tempted to do so already, then I would be failing you and her and the people of Earth, but more importantly I will be failing myself. If I don't fight, I will be saying that the sacrifices that Goku, and Vegeta, and the others made did not mean anything. If I do that, I will be giving up on the values that make me who I am. Goku wasn't Mr. Satan. Vegeta hated the public. They never wanted to be heroes. I don't either."
"Oh, and before you once again talk about the chance of us losing everything if we do fight, Goku stepped down in his fight with Cell and had Gohan fight. He didn't know if Gohan could make it to level two! When Buu was still under the control of Babidi, Goku could have killed him. He took a chance that Trunks and Goten would learn the Fusion Dance and be able to beat Buu. He didn't know if they could, but he took a chance that Gohan and Trunks and Goten to become more then they were. As long as Buu was here we were safe. We had our training wheels, our safety net. He protected us, but he also took away our need to take risks and chances. Goku didn't have that luxury, and now neither do we. He took the chances. Because to not try. To not take those chances would have been giving in. It would have been giving up. People who do great things are never remembered for the things that they gave up on. I know we can beat the Changeling. I know it, and I know that I have to try. Not only for the reasons I have just named but because if these things are not worth fighting for, then I really don't know what I have that is worth living for."
Roshi stopped as the room erupted with people who thought Roshi was contemplating suicide, or just giving up on everything.
"I ask you this. If the people of Earth, and the Saiyans on Saiya and just the fact that the Changelings are evil and relentless and will no doubt come here eventually anyway is not worth fighting for? Then what is worth living for? Goku died to save the Earth twice. Vegeta died twice as well. Both times he died fighting for the things he believed in most. There is no guarantee that we can beat the Changeling. But to not take that chance. To not fight is the same as turning our backs on ourselves. Is the illusion of safety worth that?"
Roshi paused to let them think for a while. "I am sorry that the people on the Moon and in Homlet died because I chose to fight. Their deaths were not in vain though. We did beat those Saiyans. It had a terrible price. But we beat them. Now I ask you this. Is sacrificing, forgetting the very beliefs which made our ancestors great, ourselves, Ichigo, and all the Saiyan people without even trying worth the cost it will bare on our souls? How much is a life worth? Frieza killed every single Namekian to get his hands on their Dragon balls. They were no threat to him, but he killed them anyway."
"The reason Ichigo is here in the first place is because the Changelings in the part of the Universe that she comes from are afraid, just as Frieza became fearful of the Saiyans on Vegeta. One is following her through the wormhole she came through. Even if we send her away to die as a peace offering, it won't appease the Changelings long. They will come. Whether we fight now or later they will come. I for one would much rather be fighting on my own terms with my heart in it then fight later knowing how the time between now and later was bought with such an expensive sacrifice. How much value can you place in a life?"
"Whether it is mine, yours, the people of this planet, or the people of Saiya, how much value is in one life? Giving up on any one life just to make our lives easier is wrong. Don't lie to yourselves, Ichigo won't be the only one to die if we send her away. If we send her away, then all hope for her people is lost. If we give up and don't fight then all of the Saiyans on Saiya are dead. If we give up and send her away, then we will truly be living up to the image that Ima made for us. We have lived in the shadows of Goku and Buu too long. We have a chance to do something great. Greatness is never easy. It always has a price. This is a chance to step out of the shadows and become more then we are. Or, we can sell ourselves short sacrificing our very hearts, our morals, our values, and millions if not billions of people on the chance that sending her away will make our lives easier. That is wrong. I know it, and I know you know it."
If you would excuse me, I have some training to do. Good-bye. I hope to see some of you before the Changeling gets here. I hope to see all of you alive after the Changeling has been defeated." With that, Roshi walked out the door.
* * *
Goshu watched his son leave the room. A small smile slowly formed on his face. 'To Roshi nothing has ever been impossible. All he had to do was try, and he could do anything. However, nothing he did ever had consequence before. This past two weeks has been good for him. He has learned that his actions have consequence to himself and to others. He has convinced them with his deep felt words what I could never convince them in a thousand years. We will be fighting now. We always would be, but now, we will have the support and help of the rest of the family. Roshi is also right. Buu was our safety net, without him, we will need all the help we can get.'
Goshu set his thoughts aside and concentrated on the meeting as he sensed Roshi fly off in the direction Ichigo had flown.
* * *
Up on Kaioshin's planet, Goku smiled. "You are right Goshu, nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. Roshi is determined to prevail." Goku shook his head. "He has Vegeta's pride, nothing will stop him now."
Kaioshin walked up. "Nothing but his own fear you mean don't you?"
Goku turned and shook his head. "No, fear can be a powerful motivator too. I have no doubt that Roshi will use it. My only doubts are in the determination of the rest of them. He can't do it alone."
Kaioshin laughed. "You mean he isn't you?"
Goku shook his head. "I was never alone. Even on Namek I was never alone."
* * *
(This AN was written in June when this chapter was originally posted)
There you have it. Thank you for reading. Please Review I really do want to read your comments.
I also could not help but think about the events of 9-11 while thinking about this chapter. It made me think about the loss of life and how we value it, and our ideals.
Therefore, this chapter is being Re-dedicated to all who have been affected by Sept 11. I know it has been over half a year, but the memories remain. What the world needs now more then ever is heroes. Whether they be the Firefighters, Police, Volunteers, the US Armed Forces who are once again being called on to protect the very beliefs and hopes and dreams upon which this county is based, or the made up ones like Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and even Roshi. Our actions have consequence, may we all be heroes to someone. God Bless America, peace be with you.
To those readers who are not American, God bless you as well, peace be with you. May your nations may never suffer for in tragic bloodshed.
Special thanks to Mahonuts (sorry you lost the dedication man), and ST1 who both helped me to make this chapter better. Oh, and to OmegaNY for being honest and telling me that Roshi's speech sucked.
The Smooster.
Ok, to all my faithful reviewers, I have been a lousy reviewer myself. If you have a fic that you would like to have me review don't hesitate to drop me a line on it. I can't promise to like it or be fast about my review, but I can promise you a good honest review or two.
