Thank you to all who've read to this point. I have a lot of ideas for this story, and every view helps.
I hope to get every chapter to up to 2,500 words so I can update often, with a plentiful of content to be read. However, I'll try to exceed that, while staying under 5,000 words (In that case, I'll split it into two chapters and post them back-to-back)
Quick note: Faygo is not the main character; This story will focus on each character the (hopefully) same amount.
Another thanks to DarKade33.
Here's chapter two.
Chapter Two
The Reunion
Faygo impatiently drummed his fingers on the bench he was sitting on. It was cool, blue, and perfect for stirring up his anxiety.
He hadn't seen the others in almost a year, which was fairly usual. They talked occasionally when he managed to pick up some service on the cellular phone that Allysa had given him, but even with his modifications, that was a treat more than that of a family dinner.
He huffed with defeat. He really was the nerd of the group; he wasn't ever on time, he was there before it was time.
Faygo rarely thought down on himself, but for now, it was the only thing distracting him from the problem at hand:
Where was everyone?
He bit his tongue. His nervousness only grew as the seconds ticked by, wondering why this was messing with him so hard. They were his best friends, after all...
Maybe that was it; he was nervous to see them after all this time. It had been forever, after all, and he only saw them on occasion- who wouldn't be nervous?
But, then again, they weren't here yet, and it was ten minutes past the designated time they had set. He assumed that Iya, at least, would be here; even with her few words, it would be better to sit with a silent companion than here, all alone.
His watch ticked.
He was at the right place, he knew; the station that would take them to Conton City, home of the time patrol, headquarters for Orange Star High School.
They agreed on this station, right?
He felt his anxiety well up again; what if they were at another station? What if, this time, he was in the wrong? This would be a perfect way to start the new year; being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Hey."
He turned to see a friendly, if quiet, face; Iya, the aforementioned silent one of the group.
He let out a large sigh of relief; so he was at the right place. His fear had no reason to exist.
"Iya," he said happily, "Thank Shenron. I thought I came to the wrong place."
She looked at him with doubt in her eyes. "But it's time to meet up; before time."
"No way; I got here about ten minutes before."
A confused look crossed her face, quickly replaced by a scowl.
"Faygo, how long have you been sitting here?"
The question caught him off guard.
"About an hour, why?"
A look of surprise took her face, replaced again by a scowl.
"Faygo, seriously? I knew you liked to be early, but an hour? What the hell, man?"
The language, along with the fact she was holding a conversation with him, made him steel up a little.
"Wait, what? It was time to meet up about 50 minutes ago."
Iya shook her head in impatience. "No, it wasn't. The meeting time's in 10 minutes."
"That's imposs-" Before he could get the words out, Iya pulled out her phone and showed him.
"But that doesn't... My watch, and phone..."
"Did you change the time zone to Earth's time?"
The words hit him like a hammer; he, in fact, didn't.
"N-no." He felt so stupid; he had sat here and worried for no reason.
"Shenron, Faygo. I thought you were the smart one." He felt the sarcasm, but also... a bit of humor?
"I'm an idiot." He muttered, quickly adjusting the time to fit; eight minutes before time.
She shook her head, taking a seat next to him.
The next few minutes ticked by in silence, Faygo grateful for the other's company.
She had changed a lot since they were younger; her hair, the same color as the rest of her body, was pulled in two pigtails on either side of her head, a large unbound portion falling in front of her right eye.
Her eyes had changed from white with black pupils to black with purple, making her glare all the more stronger. As of the moment, she wore the normal outfit for the Academy; black shoes, a black skirt and white tights and button-down shirt. She also wore a new pair of black gloves. Faygo couldn't help but ponder on it; she had worn the same white gloves since they were twelve.
"New gloves?" he said before he could stop himself.
She glanced at him, then to her hands. She took a moment before she spoke up.
"Yes. For the new school year." she adjusted them neatly. They had a small, white pins in the side, tightening them to her wrist.
He had the same outfit on, besides the gloves and skirt.
Iya tugged at the gloves suddenly. "Do you think there'll be strong people there? At the school?"
Faygo thought for a moment. "I'd assume so. Only the best of the best get into Orange Star."
"I guess. That makes us lucky to be so strong."
He scoffed. "Makes you guys lucky; I've just got well-known parents."
She rolled her eyes. "You're stronger than you think, Faygo. You need to accept that your brains count too."
Before he could respond, they heard a loud "FAYYYYYYYGOOOOO!"
He looked around just to get tackled by a human.
"Oh my gosh! I still can't believe we ALL got in! I'm soooooo excited! We'll be able to be together at the school, not just for the summer!"
Despite nearly being choked to death, he couldn't help but smile.
"H-hey, Allysa. Could you... Maybe...?"
"Oh! Sorry!" She detached from him, a grin on her lips. "I'm just super excited!"
She turned to Iya. "Oh Shenron, everyone's gonna lovvvvve you! This is your first time in public schooling, right?"
Iya looked up at her, then back at the floor. "It is."
The human sat next to her and hugged her. "Don't worry about a thing! You are the strongest of us all; even Kora can't beat you."
Iya shrugged as Allysa pulled off of her; by now, that was just normal Allysa behavior. "You never know."
Faygo studied his human friend; Allysa had always been the "looks-based" one of the group. Her brunette hair now had a professional-made redness to it, and her brown eyes had a hint of make-up to them. She wore the same outfit as Iya, except (at least Faygo hoped) she was wearing shorts.
"I guess not," Allysa said. She turned back to Faygo. "And how have you been? We haven't talked in forever!"
The Frost Demon rubbed the back of his head. "I've been okay, I guess. Nothing really interesting."
Allysa wasn't convinced. "C'mon, nothing? New friends, cool people," she leaned forward, eyebrows raised, "maybe a girlfriend?"
The girl giggled, and he saw Iya smirk.
"Haha. Hilarious. No, my life's been fairly boring, you?"
The girl kept laughing, covering her mouth with one of her hands. "I've been great! Life's peachy."
"You know she only asks because she's on the prowl for a new one," A voice suddenly called."
Everyone turned to see Maur on the way down to where they all sat. He strode to them easily, wearing the same getup as Faygo.
Allysa rolled her eyes. "Shut it, Mark. I'm in a good relationship, you know."
"I bet," he said with a smirk as he walked up to Faygo. "What's up, man? It's been a while."
The Namekian put out his fist, which he brought onto the Frost Demon's. "Nothing, actually."
Maur looked very similar to most Namekians, besides his darker-green skin. His pale red eyes shone with a comedic glint.
Maur smiled as he turned to the girls. "Can't believe I actually got in," he said with a feigned laugh. He rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands, smiling weakly.
"Same here."
Next was the final member of the group, making his way towards them.
Kora had brown hair, dark blue eyes, and was taller than any of them.
"Kora!" Allysa called to him.
Kora wore the same outfit as Maur and Faygo, besides having a much bigger size; he was huge compared to them, at least 2 feet taller than the shortest member of the group, Faygo. He had bright blue eyes and brown hair, along with a scar across his left cheek.
He walked towards them. "Well, look at us. The best of the best, all together."
"You've been busy, we've heard," Iya said as Allysa gave him one of her famous bear-hugs. Faygo looked at him, interested.
He sat. "Yeah. My old man's been on my tail since that fight. No pun intended."
Faygo leaned forward. "Fight? Who did you fight?"
The Saiyan leaned back. "Some idiot who thought it'd be funny to crack a joke. Let's say I cracked his ribs."
The Frost Demon recoiled while Maur let out a laugh. Allysa scowled at him.
"It's not funny, Mark. That boy could have gotten really hurt."
Maur shook his head.
"When's the Shuttle coming?"
Everyone turned to Iya, who glared back. "Well? I'm ready to get a move on."
Faygo looked at his (now correct) watch. "Transport said it'd be here some time after our meeting time." He glanced up. "That should be some time soon, at least."
"How exactly is this gonna work, anyway?" Maur asked. "Isn't Conton in some sort of alternate dimension or something?"
"Alternate Timeline," Faygo corrected. "It's really complicated. We aren't dealing with alternate universes here; this is entirely about timelines."
Allysa put her hands on her hips, tilting her head. "What's the difference?"
"They're very similar, actually," The Frost Demon explained. "The key difference is ability to travel, I think. I don't understand it very well myself, but it all has to do with traveling." He then shook his head. "That didn't make any sense. Let me try again," He took a deep breath. "Within each universe is a main timeline. From that main timeline, there is branches of other timelines that split off due to specific events- an important person dies, an important battle is lost."
Each member of the group leaned forward, but none as much as Iya; this seemed to have peaked her interest a great amount, because she was holding on to every word.
"This means that, while there is infinite timelines, there are a certain amount of alternate universes- in fact, there's only 12 universes, if I'm correct, and each has a certain mirrored one."
Maur whistled. "Damn, Fay. You should be a teacher at the Academy." The others seemed to nod in agreement.
He shrugged. "It's simple when you think about it, but it's still pretty complicated."
"So, I have a question," This was from Iya, so the group turned instantly. "If somebody went back in time to alter an event of the main timeline, would it affect all of the other timelines?"
Faygo nodded. "That's correct, it would. That's precisely what the Time Patrol is for- to stop that from happening. One alteration in the main timeline could cause disaster and ruin for all timelines."
The group was silent.
"Well? That's what we want to be, isn't it?" These words came from Kora. "We're going to be the strongest at Orange Star so we can be the best at the Time Patrol!"
"Yeah, that's right," Allysa chimed in. "We've always wanted to be the strongest at what we do; what's wrong with us all being the strongest?"
"Yeah, I'm with you!" Maur exclaimed. "Even if one of isn't the best fighter, we have skills that set us apart from the others! That makes us the best!"
Faygo stayed silent for a moment, before chiming up. "I may not be the strongest out of us, but I've worked hard to be the best strategist out of us. That's why I got in; I understand it now."
"That's right, Faygo!" Allysa exclaimed. "We all have our own strengths, and we need to use them to our advantage. For example," She struck a provocative pose, "I'm devastatingly sexy."
That earned a laugh from the group, even a small smile from the quiet Majin.
Maur sat. "I've always been the fast talker, and that's a fact. I can defuse any situation."
"Like all the times we did something stupid," Kora laughed.
Maur smirked. "Exactly. I can say anything and make someone believe it."
Kora thought for a minute. "I've got the best punches around; no one can compare to my close-combat." He popped his knuckles, an invitation for some invisible force to dare oppose his words.
"I may not have much," Faygo chimed in, "But like I said, I've always been the brains of this group. I'm with Maur, I guess."
"Plus your loaded family," Maur quipped, getting a laugh out of the group.
Faygo couldn't help but smile, even if the group couldn't see it completely. "Yes, that too."
"And Iya," Allysa butted in, "She always gets people to like her. Never in trouble a day in her life."
They all agreed, turning to the embarrassed Majin.
"I'm still stronger than any of you." She said flatly.
Allysa laughed. "You bet, Iya. You know it."
They all laughed a little, before a loud horn caught their attention.
"The party's here," Maur said. He got up, stretching, and said, "Let's go."
After a small introduction by an overly-excited robot, they were lead to the medium-sized car where their stuff was.
"It's strange how they had us mail our stuff, but they put it here." Kora wondered aloud as he sat on one of the plush seats.
"I had to take mine to the Shuttle Office," Faygo responded.
Maur sat next to the Saiyan, and Allysa sat next to him, crossing her legs and checking her phone. Iya sat across from them (a small table separated the two bench-like seats), and Faygo took his seat next to them.
Maur closed his eyes, as if to doze off. "I think they sent it here, not the dorms."
"That makes sense, actually," Faygo said as he pulled a bag down from above him; it was his Figure collection, the entire thing.
"Oh damn," Kora said, leaning forward, "is that Faygo's legendary figure collection?"
The others perked up; Allysa put her phone to the side, Maur opened his eyes, and Iya raised her eyebrows.
"Uh... It is. I brought all of my Figure Battle stuff," He noted, pulling out another bag with all of his arenas.
"Well," Allysa said, "I have a team I just started putting together; come on, battle me!"
I may add some figure battles in the future, for filler chapters (or maybe an arc?), but I feel it's a little early to put them in.
Thank you all for reading.