Chapter 14

The time between finding Kami's old spaceship and the group ready to depart was long but quick. Zamasu spent most of his time returning to the city, sitting on the roof of the hospital, and pondering. He still wasn't sure what he missed or mislabelled. One was coming to the front of his mind, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. His whole mission, years worth of work, would've been for nothing if his suspicions were correct.

Goku had invited Zamasu to live in the woods with him and his family. Zamasu found himself pleasantly surprised that he could live in the woods again, just like that time with himself and his immortal counterpart. He does sleep outside though. He can't stand being in the same room as a mortal for extended times.

Zamasu, in the middle of his walk back from the lake, pauses. That isn't something he's thought of for a long time. His immortal counterpart, the Goku and Vegeta of the future, his future. What happened? Is the battle over? Who won?

A giggle and another voice enters his mind. "Well, I'll tell you if you complete your mission to become a good kai, alright?" Zamasu frowns, irked, but just nods. He doesn't want to get into an argument with the Supreme Kai of Time.

The kai continues his trek through the woods, softly humming a tune he learned during his time as an apprentice. Then, he feels a power approaching quickly. Only one second is needed for him to realize it is Gohan and Goku coming from the house.

Zamasu stops and watches as the two land in front of himself. Goku raises a hand in greeting, a smile on his face. "Heya Zamasu! Bulma says it's time for the first group to head off. You gonna see them off?"

Zamasu frowns, thinking about it. He sighs. "I might as well. And it will be nice to eat Bulma's cooking again." Goku nods in agreement. Gohan smiles at Zamasu in delight, which despite himself, earns the young half-saiyan the tiniest grin in response. That only makes Gohan beam even more.

The three then depart, quickly flying off to Capsule Corp. Once they arrive, they find everyone waiting, even Chi-Chi and the Ox-King. Chi-Chi runs up to Goku and Gohan and scoops her son into her arms. "Oh, my little boy. Please be safe out there, ok?"

Gohan giggles and returns the hug. "I'll be fine mama. I have Uncle Krillin with me." Chi-Chi nods, smiling fondly at her son.

"Now then, go out there and save Piccolo for us." Gohan nods and walks to the spacecraft. Goku goes to Krillin and grins. "Hey, buddy. You ready for the trip?"

Krillin sighs deeply. "I don't know Goku. I know this is important, but why do I have to come along? Gohan is practically stronger than I am now!"

Goku just smiles wider. "Because I want you alongside me! If people like the saiyans exist, imagine what good people can be out there! I want you right by my side so that we can get stronger together."

Krillin blushes. "W-Wow Goku. That's… actually quite touching." Krillin sighs, then smiles confidently at Goku. "Alright. I'll head on in with Gohan. I think Bulma has something to say before we go." Goku looks over to Bulma, who is looking at him with an impatient stare. The saiyan nods and lets Krillin enter the ship, Gohan trailing right behind.

Goku walks up to Bulma with his traditional greeting, but Bulma's serious expression makes him pause. He tilts his head, confused. "Um, Bulma? Is something wrong?"

Zamasu, who is standing next to Bulma, simply frowns. Bulma groans, then exclaims, "Of all the things you could've done, you let VEGETA leave?!"

Goku blinks. "Yeah. Why? He didn't deserve to die. No one does."

Bulma growls, practically fuming. "But, Goku, Vegeta is stronger than everyone here except Zamasu and you! And we are about to go into space, where Vegeta went. What if we see him again and you or Zamasu aren't there to protect us?!"

The earth-raised saiyan, frowns, then chuckles. "Oh come on Bulma! Space is really, really big! There's no way we'll meet Vegeta at Namek."

Zamasu frowns deeper. "Goku, if you remember, Vegeta and Nappa are the ones that supplied us with the information of Namek in the first place. If Namek has Dragon Balls, and Vegeta wants them, then he can go to Namek for them, which is where we are heading."

Goku pauses, then seems to slump. "Oh, man. I didn't think about that." Zamasu sighs as Bulma shakes her head in exasperation.

The scientist rubs her temples, then says, "Alright. Here's the deal. More likely than not we will see Vegeta again on Namek. More likely than not, he will be there when I, Krillin, and Gohan arrive. As such, we need to have constant communication. I already helped dad with the spacecraft some, so it should be ready in just a couple weeks. You and Zamasu should arrive within a few days of us, instead of the week or so we had planned originally."

Goku blinks, surprised. "Woah! How did you get all that done?" Bulma points at her eyes which have deep bags underneath. Goku chuckles nervously, not comfortable with what Bulma did.

Bulma sighs, then mutters, "I'm going to go now. Please just be ready to leave when the spacecraft is finished, ok Goku?" Goku nods, and with that, the scientist leaves. Goku and Zamasu watch from behind the crowd as the Namekian spaceship lifts up and departs. Everyone pauses, watching as the ship fades from sight. And with that, people begin trickling back into Capsule Corp.

Goku goes to join them, but Zamasu grabs his hand. Goku turns to Zamasu with curiosity, the kai pulling him along to the open area in Capsule Corp's backyard.

The kai-hybrid stops pulling Goku and turns to him, hands behind his back. "Goku. With Vegeta out there we cannot be slack in our training. We must get stronger to face him."

Goku frowns, scratching behind his head. "I dunno. I kinda want to spend time with Chi-Chi for a couple of days. Besides, we can always beat him ag-"

"NO!"

Goku steps back, startled by Zamasu's angry outburst. "We CANNOT wait! We must train, harder than ever before! You need to get stronger in order to defeat Vegeta. You CANNOT depend on me to solve everything!"

The pure saiyan stares at Zamasu for a bit, then nods slowly. "Ok. I get it." Zamasu nods, his anger diminishing. "Good. I don't want to repeat myself."

Zamasu walks to Goku and looks him up and down, humming. Then, he suddenly extends his arm out, right in front of Goku's face, and activates his energy blade. Goku jumps back, eyes wide and instinctively falling into a fighting stance. "Woah! What was that for?!"

Zamasu doesn't move and simply glares at Goku. "I heard from that mentor of yours that you are quite good at copying techniques. However, rarely do you ever master them, beyond the Kamehameha."

The kai tilts his head towards the ki blade. "Copy this. Then, we will refine it until you can get it close to mine." Goku tilts his head, then nods. He looks at the ki blade, eyes wide, staring. Zamasu doesn't move, simply watching Goku.

Then, the saiyan lifts his hand and energy begins humming. A thin layer of blue energy forms over Goku's hand, humming softly. Goku blinks and looks down at his hand. He twists it, looking at the energy in curiosity. "Woah. It feels tingly."

Goku goes to touch his hand, but Zamasu grabs his wrist. Goku looks up, slightly startled, as Zamasu glares at Goku. "That is a ki blade Goku. Touch it and you will cut off your fingers like butter."

Goku looks at his hand again and gulps in slight fear. Goku tries to dissipate the blade, but Zamasu's grip tightens. "No. Not yet. I need to see where we need to start from."

Zamasu leans closer to the ki blade, but not too close for Goku to present a threat. Zamasu hums, then mutters, "It is quite weak. I believe we need to work on your ki attacks more. You do tend to use physical combat more than ki after all."

The kai steps back and begins giving Goku exercises to do with his ki. Anything from creating different shapes to juggle ki balls. All of this and more as night descends. In a couple of weeks they will be on Namek, and they need to be ready for anything.

Anything.

The book closes and Chronoa frowns. "Short chapter. Maybe Spectre can explain." She smiles softly and says, "Good work Zamasu. You are starting to FINALLY understand what being a kai means."

Spectre walks in and waves. "Yo. Can't stay for long. There's a lot of school work to be done. In short, the chapter is short. Yes, I know. The chapter is meant to be more of a connecting chapter than a really long chapter filled with action. Now then." He slumps over. "College is way too time-consuming."

Chronoa smiles in sympathy. "I can imagine." She turns and waves. "Thanks for reading!"