Chapter 2
Warrior in Black Clothes: This is the place?
Black-Clothed Warrior: Yep. Let's spilt up, we have a better chance of finding it that way.
Age 753
Scene: West City (Destroyed)
Goku and Vegeta find themselves outside of Capsule Corp, but everything around them, including the building they seemingly just came out of, is in ruins, blanketed by a cloudy gray sky.
Vegeta: I stand corrected. That thing wasn't a game or a printer. It was a bomb. Target demographic my ass!
Piccolo: What's this? I seem to have missed one.
Goku: Get down!
Goku and Vegeta take cover, but their fear is unwarranted. Piccolo approaches another figure entirely, one the Saiyan pair somehow failed to notice prior.
Slug: Missed me? Ha! You hit me dead on, weakling. I won't die from a pathetic attack like that. But regrettably, I cannot say the same for my crew. And for that, my friend…you must die!
Slug fires two beams from his eyes at Piccolo, who counters with his own.
Slug: Ho ho! So you're an Evil Namekian too, huh? This should be interesting…
Piccolo: Namekian? You seem to be sorely mistaken. The man who stands before you is the new king of the Earth! And I don't take kindly to interlopers!
Tien: Then I assume you won't take kindly to this! KIKOHO!
Piccolo: Gaagh! More worms? I don't have time to play with you!
After a disgusting effort, Piccolo spits out three large eggs. From them hatch Tambourine, Drum, and Cymbal, who all immediately turn their attention towards Tien.
Vegeta: Three versus one? What kind of cowardly play is that?
Goku: Don't just stand there and complain, come on! We have to help him!
Goku and Vegeta emerge from their hiding place and stand side by side with Tien, battle-ready.
Tien: Goku?!
Goku: Huh? You know me?
Tien: I don't know anyone else with a tail, that's for sure.
Goku: Tail?
Vegeta: H-he's right! You have a tail!
Goku: Hey, you do too!
Drum: If you're done sniffing each other's butts like the dogs you are, it's time for you to get put down.
Tambourine and Cymbal fly into the air as Drum tries to punch down at the group of heroes. The trio jumps away, causing Drum to instead strike the ground, creating small tremors. From the air, Tambourine and Cymbal start to hurl fireballs at their foes.
Goku: Vegeta, follow me! And start charging that Garlic Gun thing you used at the tournament!
Goku flies towards the two airborne demons, his aura shielding him and Vegeta from their blows. Just as Goku's shield begins to shatter, he falls back, leaving Vegeta face to face with the two demons. Immediately, Tambourine and Cymbal find themselves face to face with a powerful Galick Gun, and are completely blown away by the blast.
Vegeta: Heh, I like this 3v1 much better!
Drum: Don't be too sure of those odds!
Drum grabs Tien from behind, slowly crushing the chest of his newfound human shield.
Drum: You two can kill me if you want, but if you do, both of us will die! Well, what will it be? His life, or yours?
Just then, Goku hears an unfamiliar voice telepathically.
Unfamiliar Voice: Raise your hand in the air! Quickly, like you're holding a bomb!
A confused Goku slowly obliges. After a few seconds of waiting with his hand in the air, a Spirit Bomb is charged. Goku throws the ball of energy as hard as he can, sending it flying past Tien and hitting Drum dead-on, destroying him.
Goku: I…I did it! Thanks, Vegeta!
Vegeta: Don't thank me, I didn't do anything. I just stood there the whole time, frozen in thought. Or maybe it was just plain old fear.
Goku: Come on, there's no need to be humble! You really saved my bacon.
Vegeta: I'm telling you, that wasn't my energy! Or yours for that matter.
Goku: I'm not talking about the energy. I only pulled that off because of the training we did. Still, whose energy was that? Probably that voice I heard, but I have no idea who that was.
Vegeta: (Aaaaaand now he's hearing voices. Great.)
Tien: Thank you, I would've been a goner without you.
Vegeta: Keep your head in the game, we're not done yet. Those two Evil Quebecians or whatever they're called are gonna destroy everything if we don't stop them. Goku, can you do that thing again?
Goku: Hmmm…nope, nothing. Whoever sent me that energy before must be all tapped out.
Tien: I see…looks like I have to use it after all.
Vegeta: Use what? Don't tell me you've been holding back.
Tien: The Mafuba is a powerful sealing technique, but at this point, using it even once would kill me. I hope you'll forgive me for not using it earlier, but my aim needs to be perfect or it'll be for nothing.
Goku: Are you crazy?! No! We're not letting you kill yourself!
Tien: Don't worry about me. It's my fault you don't have the energy to perform that technique you just used again.
Goku: No it's not! It's my fault for being so…so weak.
Vegeta: Goku. Out of everyone I've ever fought, you've pushed me the absolute furthest. So what if your ki control needs work? When you need power, you find it. So I will not allow you to call yourself weak, cause that means calling me weak, got it?
Goku: Vegeta…Thank you.
Tien: I'm flattered to have indirectly moved you to such words, but the point still stands. I'm not placing my life above everyone who'll die if this fight continues.
Goku: No. We're gonna find another way. We have to.
Vegeta: Trust me, if Goku says something, it's a promise.
Tien: Yeah, no need to tell me, but "something" isn't gonna cut it. We need a plan. That voice in your head have any ideas, Goku?
Vegeta: Don't bother. I have an idea of my own. We fight.
Vegeta takes flight, charging towards Slug.
Goku: Vegeta, wait!
Tien: You help your friend. I'll take the other one!
As Goku and Tien take to the air. Vegeta knocks Slug away with a kick just as Piccolo would have hit him, striking Vegeta instead. Vegeta flies back, and Goku catches him.
Vegeta: Throw me at him! I'm not through with him yet!
Goku: What happened to fighting together?
Vegeta: Go help triclops if you're so worried about that!
Goku finally obliges, throwing Vegeta right into Slug's gut. Vegeta's head connects, but Slug grabs and knees him. As Vegeta is knocked away. Slug stretches out his arm to grab him again, and throws him towards the ground. He throws a blast towards him, but Tien barely manages to knock it away with a Volleyball Fist. Goku, now fighting Piccolo alone, is overwhelmed. Piccolo laughs.
Piccolo: What can a child like you possibly hope to do on your own? Eternal youth is mine!
Goku: Eternal youth, huh? In that case…
Goku throws a punch towards Piccolo's face. Piccolo tries to block it, but Goku sticks out his pointer and middle finger to poke Piccolo's eyes. As Piccolo recovers, Goku flies away towards Slug.
Piccolo: Don't think you'll get away with that! I'll just incinerate all of you!
Piccolo launches another city-leveling blast at Goku, Vegeta, and a confused Slug. Tien reaches up to grab the two Saiyans, but as the blast draws closer, he realizes he won't make it in time. Quickly, he uses Multi-Form to split into two copies of himself, the second one being launched towards Goku and Vegeta quick enough to pull them out of the way just before the blast hits, destroying both Tien's clone and Slug. As Goku and Vegeta fall the ground, their bodies begin to glow, until they disappear in a flash of light the same way they did when they were sucked into the arcade cabinet. Tien isn't so lucky as to be spared the landing. He hits the ground exhausted and injured, but alive.
Tien: They're gone!? But…I guess I saved them. So what if they disappeared before they could thank me? I was just repaying the favor. Still, I'm no match for Piccolo in this state. I guess this is where it ends…
Goku (Teen): Tien!
Tien: Goku?! But you just-
Goku: You really thought I'd just die like that? The guy who killed Krillin was no match for me.
Tien: But he…and you…then…who was that?
Age 889
Scene: Capsule Corp
Vegeta: What happened? Why are we back here?
Warrior in Black Clothes: I see…the anomaly was resolved, so you two were sent back.
Goku: We must have been sent back because we resolved the anomaly.
Vegeta: Thank you, captain obvious.
Goku: Wait, you're hearing that voice now too?
Warrior in Black Clothes: Wait, you thought-? Ooh, that's embarrassing. I probably owe you a proper introduction, huh?
Vegeta: I want an explanation, not an introduction! What the hell was that? Why did we get sucked into an arcade cabinet? What "anomaly" are you talking about?
Offscreen Voice: See what I mean now? You Saiyans are impossible to deal with. Let me do the talking this time, okay?
Goku: Now whose voice is that? I'm not falling for that again!
Offscreen Voice: Down here! Honestly, the nerve of you two! Acting like you're any taller than me.
Warrior in Black Clothes: This is the Supreme Kai of-
Supreme Kai: I told you, I'll do the talking! *Ahem* I'm the Supreme Kai of Time, and this is my…"assistant," Trunks. Together we are…the Time Patrol!
Goku: …
Vegeta: …
Trunks: What, I don't get to introduce you or myself? And what about Go-
Supreme Kai: Why are you spilling so much information? Are you TRYING to break the timeline?
Trunks: These kids destroyed that anomaly, they deserve to know! Besides, this is a pretty uneventful era of history. We might even be able to make them Time Patroll-
Supreme Kai: And have even MORE Saiyans running around the Time Nest? No thank you!
Trunks: You just told them about the Time Nest.
Supreme Kai: Damn it!
Narrator: As Trunks and the Supreme Kai of Time continue to squabble, with no sign of answers for Goku and Vegeta, another mysterious warrior clad in black draws near. Are these self-proclaimed "Time Patrollers" friends or foes? Find out next time on Neo Dragon Ball Heroes!