Chapter 4

Trapped in the future!? A new enemy with a familiar face!

Jarvis was both surprised and not surprised; the woman, or 'Elizabeth', had felt familiar from the beginning; from her looks to her energy he had felt he knew her from somewhere. Even still Jarvis stood, keeping a firm grasp on his so-called 'daughter', not very convinced. Everything she said made sense but that didn't make it true. He had been fooled in the same way by his brother before.

"Are you gonna freak out if I let go of you?" Jarvis questioned.

She shook her head no and Jarvis released her from his grasp. She rubbed her sore arm and walked a few feet away. Sitting down in front of the burning wood she looked up.

"If everyone will sit down I will explain as much as I can," she stated.

All of them were now sitting around the small fire. The flames flickered and danced through the night. Jarvis was sitting next to his wife holding Jacob as she held Elizabeth. His mind was racing, churning the new flood of information this time's Elizabeth had been vigorously relaying to them for the past two hours. He was not originally an educated man and only recently started taking schooling from his wife. He liked learning and feeling smart but the process of getting smarter was just so… boring.

However, he had no choice as he lost the sparring match they had over it. So he was bound by the code of their family to honor the terms of their agreement and suck it up.

Even with himself being almost three years into it; he still had no leeway in understanding what this Elizabeth was saying when it came to the science of how they jumped timelines. It was something about particles and blowing them up then pulling something through the hole they made in space-time with a paved path to guide them.

The part he did understand was when she told them about a threat to their entire universe and needing their help, which is why they were there. Apparently, there was a Saiyan going rampant, killing and pillaging and plundering as he saw fit. She was the strongest this universe had to offer and she just wasn't enough. She and her forces had attempted several times to kill the Saiyan, using various different means from head-on attack to assassination but nothing stuck. He would get injured then miraculously escape with some technique they had no idea how to stop or counter.

Being a Saiyan meant getting stronger with every near-death experience and extreme adaptability. Therefore every failed attempt to kill him only made him that much stronger and his adaptability meant nothing they tried would ever work a second time if it worked at all.

Jarvis could feel the anger, the pain, the absolute rage that welled up inside of her when she spoke of this. He could tell she was in so much pain but also… sorrow? He could sense how sad she was above everything else. It was like all her other emotions were just fuel for the fire of her sadness. He couldn't help but wonder why, however, he chose not to ask.

Despite her emotions, she was apparently the commander of something known as the 7th galactic defense battalion. It was supposedly a peacekeeping force assigned to protect this sector of the universe. It was part of a private military group known as the guardians. The name sounded a bit cliche but what finally made him speak up was when the woman stated that the founder was him.

"Me? The founder of some private military? I find that incredibly hard to believe." Jarvis stated his obvious distrust of the woman's story.

"It's true! After the countless battles against universal threats, you believed that the universe needed to learn how to defend itself since you wouldn't be around forever to keep fighting for it." She argued.

"I already realized that years ago, I'm resigned to that fact, but my children will be here and their children and so on. There is no reason for me to start up some sort of military and there isn't anyone strong enough to do it if there was."

Elizabeth huffed but gave a small smile whispering something Jarvis was barely able to catch.

"You miss what?" he decided to ask.

She looked up in surprise obviously not realizing she had spoken out loud. "It's nothing, I just…"

She suddenly wrapped her arms around Jarvis and held him firmly. He had no idea how to react, he hadn't even registered what exactly happened. He looked to his wife and she was just looking at him nodding her eyes towards Elizabeth.

He looked back down to the girl as she whispered: "I just missed you."

He decided to place a hand on her back showing what compassion he could whilst still being on edge. However, he couldn't help but ask if he was dead in her time. She didn't respond though and so he decided not to press further.

When the woman let go she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked back to see Jacob. "Excuse me miss but are you ok?"

She smiled saying "I'm fine." she then patted his head almost lovingly.

"Kids," both Jacob and their Elizabeth looked at Salena "Why don't you two go find something to do while your father and I finish talking hmm?"

Jacob didn't need to be told twice; he had wanted to explore since he woke up here. He went and hugged his mother then father and grabbed a reluctant Elizabeth. In no time they were out of sight after flying from the ravine.

Salena then looked back to this times Elizabeth asking "So what happens now, you know, since you brought us here and all to help you fight."

Elizabeth got serious "Well the way I see it, there's a good chance he already knows yours here. So he's either waiting for us to make a move or on his way."

Jarvis raised a brow "So you had no other plan then bring us here and hope he comes to us or to find him out there. Let me ask you this. What exactly is your plan if we can't stop him?"

She looked solemn at that "There is no other plan. Bringing you here was plan C to our plan Z."

Salena asked her own question "What can you tell us about this Saiyan, weaknesses, attack openings, anything that might give us an advantage if needed."

Elizabeth shook her head "Nothing you don't already know."

Jarvis and Salina were confused at that statement and a little concerned. Jarvis opened his mouth to say something but all of them turned their attention to the sound of an explosion not far from them.

Jacob still had hold of his sister as they flew towards a nearby meadow that he saw when looking for a place to stay the night. Elizabeth was not at all interested in her brother's antics, she wanted to talk to the adult version of her. She wanted to know what it was like to be a commander and tell others what to do for once.

Her parents made her go to that boring school and learn things she wouldn't even use much less did she want to know. They were Saiyans, a mighty race of warriors, no one could tell them what to do. So why did her parents insist that they live like humans? She wanted to be free of anyone telling her what she could and couldn't do. She wanted to be in charge.

She just didn't understand why they wasted their time doing such meaningless human things. They weren't even human. Everyone always looked at her tail and her hair like it was weird. Some even made fun of her so she beat them up. Her dad wasn't very happy about that. She didn't do anything wrong though because he told her not to let anyone bully her. So what if she used a bit too much strength? They deserved it! It's not like she killed anybody, though it took everything in her not to.

Her brother was always so sensitive. He never stood up to dad, he never talked back, he never even said a simple "I don't want to." He could never be a Saiyan, he didn't even like fighting. It scared him too much.

They landed in a very open field with small trees and flowers of different colors strewn about. It reminded them both of home. It looked fairly normal, the trees and grass were green. The flowers were a little large but that was fine by him. Jacob was quick to pick a few flowers and hand them to his sister.

She looked at her brother's smiling face and all her anger fell away. She knew that she had to calm down. She always had a problem controlling her anger; even the smallest things could set her off sometimes.

Elizabeth sighed and uncrossed her arms to take the flowers.

"This one is blue! Your favorite color is blue so I grabbed a bunch and made a crown for you!" Jacob said excitedly having used his speed to hastily construct a flower crown that was actually pretty good.

Elizabeth started to smile, taking the crown and putting it on just to satisfy her brother. To her surprise, Jacobe took her hands and interlocked their fingers.

"Come on this was our favorite thing remember?" Jacob asked.

Elizabeth huffed with a smile and started to spin the young boy. She kept it at a normal pace making sure not to go too fast. She loved to see her brother smile. However, after stopping both her and Jacob heard a strange beeping sound. Neither of them had heard it when they arrived. Elizabeth concluded that it must have just started.

Jacob decided to investigate and darted toward the direction of the sound with his sister calling after him as she followed. Crossing over a hill they both saw a sort of pole sticking out of the ground with a cone-shaped bottom to hold it straight. The green light that flashed at the top of the pole seemed to be the source of the beeping.

Jacob practically pressed his face to a glass panel on the side of the cone-shaped bottom.

Elizabeth pulled him back shouting "Don't touch it, you idiot! We don't know if it's dangerous or not!"

"Hey don't call me an idiot!" Jacob fired back.

"Well, what did you think you were doing?!"

"There's weird glowy stuff inside of it!"

"Glowy stuff?" Elizabeth now curious stood away from the glass but peered inside.

There was a sort of, what looked like, liquid undulating inside of the cone. It was glowing yellow and formed a sort of ball that didn't touch the interior of the cone seeming to simply be floating.

Elizabeth noticed that the ball would pulse and make small waves and ripples every time the green light blinked and beeped.

"See I told you- hush." Jacob was cut off by his sister.

"Do you feel that?" She continued "I can sense some kind of energy coming from the ball."

Jacob took a moment to focus on the ball "Yeah I can too. Do you think it's alive?"

"No I don't' think so… it almost looks like Ki." Elizabeth's entire body went rigged; she couldn't believe what she was feeling. There was a new energy now; it felt so incredibly evil. Elizabeth had to hold in her proverbial lunch just by feeling it. Her legs were shaking and every muscle, bone, and fiber in her being told her to run. Her mind raced and her heart cried out only one word… fear.

She had never in her life felt something so vile, cold, or full of hate as this. It just appeared so suddenly like it formed out of thin air. One moment she was fine and the next she could hardly stand.

Elizabeth gathered her thoughts and, as much as her body told her not to, she attempted to focus on the energy. It didn't make sense though. The energy was close, very close, almost as if it were…

"Dad?" Elizabeth could tell her brother was trembling just by his voice alone. She nearly drilled a hole in the ground where she stood as she turned around to her brother's voice.

There he was, a dark figure radiating with that same evil energy she had felt moments before. The figure was a mirror image of her dad. From the way, he stood to the scar on his face and eye. His blue eyes slowly scanned the terrain Elizabeth could practically feel his eyes lock on to her and her brother.

She was paralyzed with fear. This man, this thing couldn't be there dad, could he? This was wrong, he was wrong.

"Dad… what are you doing here?" Elizabeth could hear her brothers' voice crack and almost fizzle out. He was hoping so desperately that this fear was uncalled for, that this was indeed their father, that he would smile and hug him and tell him all is well.

Jacob instinctively took a step back as their 'dad' took a step forward. His body practically acted on its own. There was this look of wonder and confusion in his eye. However, it quickly turned to amusement.

"Hahahaha, so… that's what she meant." He spoke in a dark tone. It sounded just like Jarvis but it was laced with dark amusement.

Elizabeth's mind was racing as she stepped in front of her brother, holding out a protective arm.

"U-um-" she couldn't form words. She didn't have any clue what to say.

Suddenly, a group very familiar to the ones that came with the woman materialized in front of the children. A man, with the largest power out of them all, stepped forward "You'll not lay a hand on them!" he yelled out.

The dark version of Jarvis smirked sinisterly "Oh please by all means" he sharpened his gaze at the group his voice becoming unnaturally low in tone "Stop me..."

The group stood ready, each in their respective stances. The man, Elizabeth guessed he was the leader by now, yelled back to a woman with a red cross on her shoulder to stay back with them. Elizabeth would normally object to needing protection. However, with all that was unfolding in front of them, she was a bit relieved to have someone that might know whats going on with her.

Dark Jarvis stood in an almost relaxed way, simply eyeing the group. Jacob recognized that stance. It's one his father used a lot with him and his sister. That stance meant he knew he was stronger than you in every way. So much so that he didn't even need to be cautious. Jacob wanted to warn his new allies but it was too late.

All of what looked to be about fourteen of them lunged with several disappearing from sight. Dark Jarvis dropped his smile now seeming annoyed. His eyes didn't move from the children as he caught the fist of a woman from the initial attackers. She was the unfortunate first victim as a fist came out of her back.

"I am not here to play games this time," Jarvis said as he turned around and flung the girls' body into one of the men that had disappeared and reappeared behind him. He then opened the fist that went through the girl and fired a large blast that erupted and eviscerated the two.

A smoke screen was created but Jacob and Elizabeth were still able to sense what was going on as they covered their eyes from the blast. The group was still attacking but losing badly. Powers fizzled out one by one; five more were gone by the time the smoke cleared.

Jarvis was seen having not moved from his spot holding a young man by the neck; snapping it. Eight dead, their respective bodies were strewn about either burnt to a crisp or mangled, only six remained to fend off the monster. This wasn't counting the woman still with them.

The leader was bleeding from his nose and mouth obviously having taken a beating. He was breathing heavily, the truth was that he only took about three hits. This must have been why Elizabeth never allowed them to go with her on missions directly involving this beast. They just weren't strong enough to do anything significant. He realized that much too late.

Just then three individuals dropped out of the sky. It was their mother, father, and other Elizabeth. The children's parents landed just in front of them as other Elizabeth landed in front of her soldiers. She took a moment to look around at her fallen comrades and closed her eyes in silent prayer for them. Then her eyes shot open and a large gust of wind blew towards her most hated enemy but doing nothing.

Jarvis was in disbelief, he was staring at himself. Standing just a few meters away. Instantly he could sense the same darkness that his children felt when he first arrived. His fist clenched and his teeth were bared. He didn't know why but this copy of himself enraged him. Their similarities only ran skin deep, Jarvis was certain of that.

They locked eyes, onlookers could almost see sparks of intense energy clash between them. It was like a battle had started that no one could see. The Elizabeth of this time called out to her 'father' catching his attention and ending the small skirmish of wit.

"You're early." She started trying to stay calm.

"You're late." He responded with a snarky tone. Jarvis noted that the women must have known his copy would be coming but that his other self must have known what she was doing.

Jarvis whispered over to his wife "So, who do you think?"

She squinted her eyes "Not sure yet, but he isn't even tense. I'll. have to see him fight first."

Jarvis smirked, "It makes my body tremble just thinking about it."

Salena huffed at her husband "You are a Saiyan through and through."

She had to admit that her blood was boiling too. This copy of her husband was strong, a better challenge then they've seen in a long time.

Grown Elizabeth looked back to her men and questioned the commander " Gaz, I see you kept yourself hidden till now."

Wiping the blood from his chin the man, Gaz, spoke with a little struggle " I'm sorry mam, we had to break cover to protect the children."

Elizabeth grew slightly angry "Gaz I'm getting tired of you always trying to play the hero! The kids were fine, they could have taken care of themselves till we arrived! There was no need to throw away good soldiers for no reason!"

Gaz hung his head "But mam! Their only children-"

"And they are a hundred times stronger than you!" Elizabeth interrupted almost yelling, " We had a plan! I told you to trust me! Look what happens when you don't use your head! She concluded by turning around and ignoring anything else the man had to say.

Her focus was now solely on the copy of Jarvis. The tension between them was immense and everyone could feel the hate radiate off Elizabeth. Every muscle in her body was tense, she was as ready as she could be for what came next. She could only hope that her other family was strong enough for this.

Then a couple of footsteps could be heard walking up and then past Elizabeth. Jarvis had enough of all the tension and waiting. It was time for him to step up. He stood, now the center of attention, looking at his dark copy.

"So… your this other me I've been told about?" His voice alone seemed to flow with power.

The other Jarvis smiled in response looking his newest victim in the eye. Something was different about him. This version of himself didn't seem to hold any fear. Not to say he was brave, he just wasn't afraid. He could remember being like that, not truly afraid of anything. He would break him soon enough though and then fear him he would.

"I seem to be pretty popular around here." This Jarvis spoke with a much heavier accent than his counterpart with a far darker tone.

He continued "Tell me, why you?"

"Hm?" Jarvis was confused by this.

"Elizabeth, why did she choose you? What makes you so special?" He clarified.

"Oh, I have no idea, you'll have to ask her yourself," Jarvis chuckled "but I don't think you'll get that chance again."

Then Jarvis walked up to his darker self; getting right up to his face "You know calling you Jarvis isn't very practical."

"Call me whatever it's of little concern to me."

"Well then how about," Jarvis stopped and put his hand up to his chin, "oh I know I'll just call you black."

"Black?" The darker version was unimpressed but cared little. He didn't even know why he was still engaging with this fool. However, there was nothing wrong with a little fun before the slaughter. After all; it had been a very long time since he was actually excited about a fight.

Elizabeth smiled having to hold in a small laugh. It was almost like the old days again. She loved just watching her father have fun. She looked to her much younger self and envied the life she still had.

Salena could tell her husband was just stalling. He was still trying to get a feel of this new unknown. Whatever was about to happen was out of their hands now. No more time to explain, no more time for talk, this was it, this was why they were brought here. Something was wrong about this. It was almost too soon, forced even. There isn't a way for this to be just that easy was there?