Chapter 5

Apparently, Katrina's expression dumbfounded the three men on the beach. But then again, her entire body went completely numb after hearing those last seven words. She couldn't feel anything, thus she did not know the expression she was making.

"Did you even hear me woman?" Piccolo asked as he stepped closer towards her.

She finally snapped out of it and backed up. She shook her head. "Don't you dare come near me, Kidnapper!" Anger flared in her coal black eyes. "You listen here, all of you! I did not agree to any of this!! You can't make me do anything! Especially to do a job that's obviously fake!!" When she screamed the last sentence, the whole island seemed to shake a bit because both Krillin and Roshi were on the sand and clutching the ground. Piccolo still stood tall however.

Piccolo seemed unaffected by her words. "To tell you the truth, I could care less." He said. "We never asked because we don't have to."

"What are you talking about?! I have rights, you know!!"

"Your only 17, you're not an adult yet." Piccolo smirked. "Besides, it didn't seem like you were leaving that orphanage any time soon anyway. Good thing you took off running, otherwise I would have never been able to get you out of there."

Katrina bared her teeth. "You've been spying on me?!?!"

Piccolo laughed. "Trust me kid, you're life wasn't that great to begin with. You said yourself that you didn't know what do to when you got out of the orphanage, so here, we're practically giving you a job."

"Saving the world is not a job!! You're just making it up so you can keep me here until a Ransom comes up!" Katrina shouted again.

"For the last time, I'm not a kidnapper!!" Piccolo shouted back, and the ground shook again. This time, Katrina felt it and vacillated back and forth before falling into the soft sand.

Piccolo walked over towards her and towered over her. "Whether you like it or not, you're here and you're going to help us. I will train you, and you will do exactly as I order you to. And when one year is over, you will fight for this planet."

Katrina glared up at him, then turned her head away to look at the deep blue ocean that spanned out for miles.

"You don't have much of a choice, kid. It's either this, or we'll have to kill you for being a possible threat." Then he grinned. "Or we can take you back to your city and you'll be punished by man's law. So what's it going to be?"

Katrina remained silent for a moment, then she muttered quietly, "Kill me."

All three spoke in unison, "What?"

"I said kill me."

Piccolo rolled his eyes. "All right, that was my fault for making that option. We're not going to kill you. Instead, you are coming with me to train for one year's time. Then you will fight with us. So it's either that, or it's back to the city."

Katrina hesitated, then finally stood up and brushed the sand off her clothes. "All right. I'll go with you." She muttered quietly.

Piccolo nodded. "Good." He looked back at Krillin. "I sense that Kami will call for you, Yamcha and Tien soon, so prepare yourselves."

Krillin nodded. "Right."

Piccolo looked back down at Katrina, who wasn't too much shorter than him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, powered up until a white flame came around them, and he took to the air.

Katrina didn't happen to notice a jet pack on him, but at the moment she didn't care. She closed her eyes and pretended that she was back in her dorm room at the orphanage. She pretended that it was sunrise again, and soon she believed that she could start the whole day over again.

But Piccolo's voice soon overpowered her thoughts. "If you want to go back so much, why did you agree to come with me?"

Katrina's eyes opened in a flash and she looked up at Piccolo. "How did—?"

Piccolo's black eyes shifted so they were looking directly at her own. "You're not the only one..."