Chapter 2: Strange Company
With her gurdians now gone from their main residence Alexsandria was free to spend her time as she wished. The day after they had gone she had awoken much earlier than usual and dressed herself in a sky blue jogging outfit. She assembled her hair into a tight hairband at the back of her head. She opened her glass doors that led to her personal balcony on the top floor of the castle. Leaving them slightly open she strode silently to the stone rail and jumped onto it. She smiled slyly as she gazed at the earth beneath. If she had waited for the sun to do what she was to do now she wondered how many faints and screams would come form the prospects now living in the Palace. Alex was five floors away from certain doom - at least, doom for any normal person.
She bounced lightly on her toes for a moment, then taking a stance as if ready to run she plunged off the edge. She let her arms and legs move in a running fashion for half the way down then landed on her feet with a soft THUD. In an instant she was off.
She was making wind and oh! how she loved the feeling! Alex knew how strange her remarkable strength and speed was but she didn't mind it when there were moments like this to be had. She was free from all care, too fast for anything to catch her. She sped up, letting her legs burn with the effort. Already she was miles from her room and ahead lay the ocean. Here layed her real test of speed. There was the water - it was so close - she was almost on top of it...
After her body became rather heated Alex came to a sudden halt. Gravity seemed to deny her presence for many seconds before she sank through the waters surface. She let herself be pulled under while she felt the cooling sensation of the ocean water then began swimming back the way she came. Her swimming was as swift as her running and within moments her feet were planted on the dry sand. She drew in long breaths and let the air flow slowly out again. Alex found the nearest tree and leaned her back against it. Letting her weight slide her back down the trunk she softly hit the ground, put her elbows on her knees and leaned her head against the bark. Small waves rolled onto the coarse sand. She liked the sea. It reminded her of herself. It was able to be so calm and in a minute it could be stormy and wild. A grin crept onto one side of her mouth.
One hand pulled past her face. She pushed out her palm and part of the incoming wave fell back. Again she moved her hand but this time in a small wave and then straight up. A section of water rose above its proper place and moved left, then far above the surface and finally dropping back into the ocean. Alex stood and brushed off some sand that clung to her. She bent low to the ground then in swift movements she moved about the sand, swishing her hands in intricate designs. More water followed the movements of her hands and often her feet. Sometime passed before she let the water stop and she stood breathing somewhat fast. She stopped breathing for a moment.
Somthing moved in the thick brush that was yards away. Alex turned to face the object. It moved again and the she heard hushed voices. People! Had they seen her? Very few people knew about her powers but she knew that they could be trusted. She had to see who it was.
"Come out from there." She called with strength in her command. Nothing happened. "Now!" Someone fell forward out from behind a large tree. She kept eyes on him as she stepped quickly towards him. From the first she could tell it had been a man from his size but now as he stood she knew he could - or at least sould - never be mistaken for a woman. He was brushing off sand from his front as he stood and he was only a few inches taller than herself but it wasn't his height that made him look more a man. It was him body. He had chisled features and arms. His shoulders were broad as was his chest and his waist slim. He wore an orange shirt and pants with a blue shirt under the first. His hair looked unkempt and spiky but it added to his features and Alex blushed slightly when she was close to him. He was a few feet away from her and he was still looking down at his shirt, dusting off the sand. When he finally looked up he had a sheepish smile on his lips. He looked strangly familiar.
"Uh, sorry about that! We didn't mean to snoop it's just that-" He had a kind voice but Alex had to cut him off.
"We? There's someone with you?" There was more moving in the bushes, but at different places this time. There was more than just someone.
"Exactly how many someones do you have with you?" She almost instantly regreted asking. From several places men emerged. All men! At least--she thought they were.
There were eight more, nine total. The first to catch her atention was a very tall and green man. His clothes were the same fashion as the first but the color was a dark shade of violet. He had a type of turban on his head and a strange kind of cape that wraped around long pointed objects on the shoulders. His build was much like the first but his pointed ears and grim face completed his features. The next was of a much smaller stature. His skin was pure white except for two red spots on his cheeks. He had a black cap with a red ball on top, green pants and a white muscle shirt. At his tallest he probably only came up to the middle of her thigh.
Next was another tall man that was a full head shorter than the green one. His clothes were green and his shirt was only half of one which revealed a large chest with a large diagonal scar across it. But what had caught her eye was his third one. Right in the middle of his fore head was an eye that was staring straight at her. He had no hair on his head and Alex quickly averted her studying eyes from his own. Then there was one whose eyes were level with her shoulder but whose hair stood up to her own head height. A tight blue outfit with white boots and gloves is what he wore. His eyes were the severest of all and was followed by the largest and strangest forehead she had ever seen. One of the next ones resembled him somewhat but was her own height. He was wearing a purple jacket, black muscle shirt, dark grey pants, and a sword strapped to his back. Blues eyes accented his face and his head was covered in lavender colored hair.
Then there was a small man with a patch of black hair, a white t-shirt and grey pants. The top of his head came up to her shoulder. The stragest thing that came from him was his lacking a nose. Next was one that was only a little taller than herself. He had short, spikey, black hair that stood on end and orange clothes much like the first. A small scar was on the left side of his chin and on long scar across his right eye. His cheeks were slightly pink and his eyes shifted from her to the ground several times. Lastly, was a boy about her own age that looked almost exactly like the first man except the hair style was shorter. His clothes were blue, yellow and black.
Throughout her life Alex had tried hard to think well of everyone and accept their differences no matter who they were or what they were like, but this was too much. These were the freakiest group of people she had ever seen!
"So, uh..." The first one spoke again. Alex snapped back and looked at him. How long had she been staring at them all? "What were you doing?"
"What do you mean what was I doing? You were the ones spying on me!" Alex now averted her efforts to what she would do about them seeing her powers. "How much did you see?"
"Um, well I think we just saw the last part, but it was still really good." He smiled widely. "I can't do that!"
"Who are you?" Alex asked. The man blinked inocently then held out his hand.
"I'm Goku and these are my friends." Goku? That was a weird name. Alex grasped his hand tightly and they shook. A deep pain hit Alex hard in the chest. She winced a little and pulled her hand away. Goku blinked confusedly.
"I'm Alex Johnson. I hope you won't tell any one about what you saw." She meant for it to be a request but it sounded more like a command. Goku looked confused again, but Alex looked at the others.
"Oh, sorry. That's Piccilo," he pointed to the green man, who nodded.
"That's Choutsu and Tein," he motioned at the small white person and the one with three eyes, "that's Vegeta," the one with the strange forehead let out a 'humph'.
"This is his son, Trunks." The one with lavender hair blushed lightly and bowed his head as a greeting. Alex also colored slightly but she moved her gaze to the next in line.
"That's Krillen," he pointed to the one with no nose.
"Hi!" He seemed rather cheerful.
"That's Yamcha," the one with the scar across his eye, " and this is my son, Gohan." Goku patted the boy on the shoulder. Alex could already see the great bond between them. She smiled to herself.
'He's pretty cute. So is the purple haired one,' she thought. All of the men present had the same large muscles, broad shoulders and thin waists. If they all didn't look so weird they would be the most beatiful men on earth.
Alex shook herself mentaly and moved her thoughts to her present pridicamint. Not all of them had the trustworthy air about them, especially the Vegeta character. His face just screamed discontentment, anger, dislike, and just plain 'I'm evil!' He might tell anyone about what she could do and the news would spread like wildfire. People like her only exsisted in moviesand fantasy novels and those few who did know about her could scarsly believe it themselves. She knew her life would no longer be her own if any more found out. She had to use any means and any threat that would keep them silent. Suddenly she realized they had been whispering animatedly to one another and she brought herself to speak.
"Listen," she commanded. "You can not tell a single soul what you saw. Do you understand?" Alex only had to wait shortly for a reply before Vegeta stepped forward.
"Or else what?" Alex thought she saw him pull himself up to his not-so-amazing full height. "You'll kill us? Lock us up?" He laughed mockingly. "Don't make me laugh, woman."
'I just did,' Alex thought. 'Jerk.'
"Vegeta!" Yamcha hissed.
"What?" Vegeta said calmly back. He turned his back on her. "If she thinks she can take me on then I expect her to back it up."
"Really?" Alex asked with a little mock in her tone. Goku looked a little stunned at what was passing between the two and tried to intervene.
"Vegeta, she's not like us. You know she wouldn't be able to fight you without getting seriously hurt." Goku was now turned away from her also and Alex felt somewhat angry. She'd teach them what she was made of.
In a quick flash Alex dropped down and sweeped Goku's feet from under him, threw herself off the ground with her hands and did a cresent kick at Vegeta's head while she was in the air. Before either of them reached the ground she was standing with her arms folded across her chest and a smirk on her face. Goku was on his back gawking up at her and Vegeta was under the tree he had broken on force of impact, obviously shocked as well.
"I need to go. Don't get into anymore trouble." Alex started to walk past Goku's fallen body and the other standing ones.
A sudden blast of light came from Vegeta as he yelled. "Come back here woman!" He threw himself at Alex with tremendous energy and his balled fist smashed into her left jaw bone.
"VEGETA!" They all yelled in unison.
"What do you think you're doing!" Trunks said.
"You-" said Alex. No one had yet realized that she was standing in the exact same position as when Vegeta had hit her. Her head hed turned slightly from the force of the punch but she now was staring at Vegeta.
"You can fly!" Everyone was taken aback by the question.
"What are you talking about?" Vegeta snickered. "You mean you can't fly? How pathetic!" Alex's expession darkened and her head lowered.
"No I can't." Without another word she started walking through the trees. Why was it that everytime she wanted something or needed something she was pushed away? It was a while before Alex noticed that they were following her. Wanting to be left to her misery she began to run. Somehow they were keeping up with her. Amazed, Alex stopped in the middle of an open plain. The group of misfits stopped in front of her, not one bit out of breath, but then, neither was she.
"Is their something you need?" She asked. Goku was the one to speak up again.
"Well . . ." he looked at his comrades, "we're lost. And until we can find a way back to our home . . ." Now she understood.
"You need a place to stay," Alex stated.
"Yeah!" He had a lot of enthusasium. "Could you help us? At least until we find a way back."
Alex looked over the group again and turned to gaze behind her. Beyond the next hill she would be able to see Heaven. A small sigh escaped her lips and she turned back to face her new aquainteces.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
"Follow me." Alex turned away and walked towards the hill. Goku fell into step with her. As they came to the top, an awe fell over the group. It was an amazing sight. The sun was rising behind the beautiful stone chateau and the stone shone a brilliant white in the bright rays. It was like a dream.
"You can stay here, if you want." She looked over their faces and saw the astonishment in them. "But there's one problem."
"Don't tell me," said Yamcha with severe disappointment in his voice. "It's infested?"
"In a way." Alex continued toward the building with a smile. "It's being used as a hotel. When the owners leave they are usually gone for a long time. Sometimes years. Though they may come back tomarrow for a while to check on things."
The others followed her, listening to her explatation.
"It's a very famous area and people from over the world come to see what it's like. It has almost everything you could want." She paused for a second before asking, "Yes, Piccilo? Is there something you wanted to ask?"
He was taken aback.
"Yes! How did you know?" Piccilo stared down at her though she did not return the look. She continued her desent of the hill and into a tall garden maze.
"I just did."
"Well," he started hesitantly. "Apparently from your reaction to seeing us there aren't any people that look like us in this place. Will we have to sneak in so no one will notice us?"
"Normally, you would be right but it's because of where you are going to stay that you don't have to worry." Alex walked through the maze with ease and it was obvious to see she had it memorized. "See, this place could be considered as the 'Eighth Wonder of the World' because of how famous it is. Personally I don't see what is so wonderful about it," she said sarcasticly. "Anyway, we get all kinds here and often large groups of people visit for long periods of time. There are convents and sometimes gangs but we take care of the trouble makers so it's pretty safe." She put a little more enphasis on the word pretty. She knew very well that she was the most dangerous one living in Heaven, even if she was the one who took care of the trouble makers.
They followed wordlessly and each gazed at the new and exciting things that surrounded the grand castle.
"Wait here," Alex said after leading them all into a large entry way and then to a corner. She left through a small door and they were momentarily left in silence.
"So what do you think is going on, Goku?" Krillen asked seriously.
"Heh!" Goku laghed. "I have NO idea!"
"Come on Kakorrot! Be serious!" yelled Vegeta.
"But I was being serious. I really have no idea what's going on. One minute we were fighting Buu and the next, here I am!"
"I know what you mean," said Yamcha. "I was in the spirit world with all the others and then I showed up here!"
"What are you all talking about?" asked Trunks.
"We haven't seen you for a long time, Trunks! How are ya?" Goku was smiling.
While they waited they exchanged greetings and explained the present plight in their universe. They also discussed the possibility that Babidi might have sent them away somehow so Buu could finish off their world in peace.
Some time passed before Alex appeared again.
"Well, I've talked with the management and your welcome to stay."
Even as she said this Alex was hit with another bout of pain. Trunks noticed the half of her broken necklace as she turned away. He pushed the other half deeper into his pocket.