Fleet Commander Sorbet clutched his hands together tightly, sweat dripping down his brow as he ground his teeth. Lord Cooler should have returned by now, this should have been an easy victory, he had trained for this battle intensely, to the point where he was even able to alter his fifth form, he couldn't have lost.
"Sir, maybe the long range scouters are malfunctioning." Tagoma suggested.
"Impossible, Lord Cooler always made sure they were in working order." Shisami growled in response.
"You there...check again!" Sorbet called to the purple skinned being manning the station below.
"At once, Sir!" he answered, nervously punching in commands.
The screen in front of him made a multitude of different whirring and beeping noises, but as with their other attempts, they found no readings that would suggest Cooler, Dore, Neiz or Salza were still alive.
"W...would you like me to check again, Sir?" the being asked, beginning to cower.
"No...no, it's fine." Sorbet answered, turning away.
The soldier at the screen gave his commander a quizzical glance before returning to the screen before him. Lord Cooler would have killed him by now, he thought.
"Tagoma, Shisami, with me." Sorbet said as he walked towards the door, both men in tow. "It looks as if we have to face facts, Lord Cooler, like Lord Frieza and King Cold has been defeated." Sorbet admitted.
"Sir, maybe if we moved to a closer position..." Tagoma began.
"Now is not the time for false hope." Shisami interjected.
"Sir." Tagoma shot, hoping Sorbet would intervene.
"I'm afraid he's right, Tagoma." the Fleet Commander said, turning his gaze downwards. "Maybe we should stop hoping and actually do something."
Shisami and Tagoma took up confused expressions as a grin grew on Sorbet's face.
"Tagoma, find Lord Frieza's logs from his time on Planet Namek, and make sure to gather information on every mention of the Dragonballs." Sorbet said.
"Dragonballs?" Tagoma questioned.
"I was only a soldier at the time, but I heard rumors that Frieza was on Namek to look for a set of relics that could grant any wish, including bringing back the dead." Sorbet explained.
"Right...I'll get to it right away!" Tagoma said, taking a bow before heading off down the nearest hall.
"What of me, Commander Sorbet?" Shisami asked.
"Call back all of our forces. I have a plan." Sorbet said with a grin.
oOo
Kyuuri walked slowly, stopping every now and then to examine herself in a window while she passed, instead of borrowing clothing from Gohan's mother everyday she had decided to have Gohan take her to get something of her own.
"I feel so...unprotected." Kyuuri remarked, looking over the slightly loose green and white striped shirt and well fitting tan pants.
"Well, we can't have you going around in your battle suit." Gohan remarked.
"And why not?" Kyuuri growled.
"Because you have to fit in, y'know?" Gohan answered.
"Why fit in when you could easily just take this place over?" Kyuuri asked, narrowing her eyes at the passing humans.
"Because, my dad grew up protecting the Earth, and he always taught me that was the way things should be, even Vegeta thinks so." Gohan replied.
"Well, with you protecting it, I guess I won't be trying anything." Kyuuri responded playfully.
"Alright then." Gohan said with a laugh.
"Are we almost there?" Kyuuri answered, checking her surroundings.
"Almost, to be honest I nearly forgot how to get to school." Gohan admitted.
"Why do we even need to go?" Kyuuri asked pointedly.
"Just to get an education, contribute to society, you know what I mean?" Gohan asked.
"Does defeating those guys you told me about...Cell and Buu not count as contributing?" Kyuuri asked.
"That's a different kind of thing...it's hard to explain." Gohan replied.
Kyuuri merely nodded as she took in the sights around her. This city, as noisy as it was, seemed so serene and peaceful, full of people that didn't seem to have a care in the world. It was different from her last home where everyone walked around in fear, though she was the cause.
Noticing Kyuuri's sudden silence, Gohan spoke up. "I should've been done by now, but I lost a year because of Buu."
Kyuuri looked up, barely realizing Gohan had spoken. "Oh, Buu, you mean the pink blob with a cape?" she asked.
"Yeah...but he's had a few different forms." Gohan remarked.
"Like going Super Saiyan?" Kyuuri asked.
"Uh, kind of..more drastic though." Gohan explained.
"Like a Great Ape?" Kyuuri asked, her tail twitching underneath the back of her shirt.
"Closer, but not as huge." Gohan said with a laugh. "Anyway, here we are." he said, gesturing towards the large building in front of them, an enormous star emblazoned on it's front, the words "Orange Star High School" below it.
"With the way you talked about it, I expected more." Kyuuri said derisively.
"It's better once you get inside...kinda." Gohan answered.
"If you say so." Kyuuri replied.
Gohan began to walk towards the gate, slowing down when he noticed Kyuuri hadn't moved. "What's wrong? You nervous?" he called out.
"Ah! No!" Kyuuri said, balling her fists. "Just wanted you to lead the way." she hissed.
oOo
Gohan hurried inside, Kyuuri following closely, both looking around at all who passed by.
"Jeez, I must have been gone for a while, not a lot of familiar faces." Gohan said.
Without warning an arm wrapped around his neck, a set of knuckles grinding into his head.
"Heh, there's my guy, thought you were dead, man." a familiar voice said.
Gohan quickly twisted out of the hold, locking eyes with his friend. "Sharpner, it's good to see you again." Gohan said.
"You too, we all thought you were dead." Sharpner said with a laugh.
Gohan's thoguhts immediately went to his fate at the hands of Majin Buu, but he quickly pushed them away.
"Nope, just...took a year off." Gohan responded, Kyuuri looking at him from behind as if he was speaking Namekian.
"Oh, so you don't have to repeat a year...y'know...like me?" Sharpner said.
"Uh yeah, I guess not." Gohan answered.
Sharpner quickly whirled around, a grin on his face, man, who's this?" he said, gesturing at Kyuuri, the Saiyan girl glaring his way.
"Oh...this is-" Gohan began, Sharpner cutting him off.
"You his girlfriend or nah? I can show you around if you want." he said.
Gohan smiled slightly as Kyuuri grew more irritated.
"No thanks, I'll just stick with him." Kyuuri said, nodding towards Gohan.
"C'mon, I don't bite, Sharpner said, placing a firm hand on Kyuuri's shoulder.
"I said no." Kyuuri growled, gripping Sharpner's wrist and wrenching it from her shoulder.
"Wow, you've...g...got a strong grip..." Sharpner stammered.
With a grunt Kyuuri tossed him into a nearby wall, simply turning and starting to walk away before she realized she had become the hallway's center of attention. "What? He was annoying me." she shot as she continued away.
Gohan looked around nervously. "She's uh...not a morning person." he said with a laugh before following.
oOo
Sorbet sat on his chair, examining the two beings that stood before him. They were the only remaining Planet Trade Commanders aside from himself.
"Abo, Kado. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.
"We heard you were recalling all forces...even ours." Abo began.
"We want to know why." Kado added.
"You know why." Shisami growled from Sorbet's side.
"Because Lord Cooler has met his end?" they asked in unison.
"So you do know." Sorbet grumbled.
"Yes, but because you took our forces, the Saiyan Prince was able to escape us." Kabo replied.
"Vegeta was on one of your planets?" Sorbet gasped.
"Not him, the other one!" Abo corrected.
"Sir, King Vegeta did have two sons, he banished his second early on because he didn't excel at being a fighter." Tagoma said, Sorbet sending him a glare. "That's...at least what I heard." Tagoma said nervously.
"He is correct, Prince Tarble is on his way to Earth to enlist his brother's aid against us, and we're going after him." Kado explained.
"If Lord Cooler was defeated, what chance do you think you have?" Shisami growled.
"We still have a few tricks that may surprise you!" Abo and Kado said in unison as they departed.
"Arrogant, that's what they are." Sorbet growled, Tagoma and Shisami nodding in agreement.
oOo
Kyuuri screamed, her ki flaring around her a shockwave blowing through the trees and cracking the ground under her feet.
"You need to feel anger, let the energy that comes from that flow through you!" Gohan called.
Kyuuri recalled the night her father died, the taunting laughs of Salza, Dore and Neiz echoing in her head as they did in the halls. "I AM!" Kyuuri roared, her aura exploding out from around her as every muscle in her body tensed, trees uprooting in the distance, large chunks of the ground tearing from their places and flying away.
"Keep it up! I've got an idea!" Gohan called out, positioning himself opposite from her.
"What are you doing?" Kyuuri growled, growing slightly annoyed at how Gohan could easily walk through the storm she was causing.
"You want to go Super Saiyan, right? This is how my dad taught me." he said with a serious expression before taking his stance. "Get ready! he yelled.
"Whats he doing?" Kyuuri thought as she brought up her fists, her long hair flying upwards as she charged even more ki.
"Ka-may-ha-may-HA!" Gohan roared, a blue wave of ki tearing across the ground and at the Saiyan girl.
Kyuuri gasped, a worried expression briefly flashing across her face. "No, I won't let you scare me." she growled. The Saiyan girl cried out, extending her arms and channeling all of her energy as the kamehameha wave crashed into her. She grit her teeth as she pushed it back, her heels carving two slots into the ground as she held it before her, the blast slowly pushing her back. Old memories of her parents filled her head, she thought of her father's final moments, of the way she was driven away from her home, but first and foremost she thought of Cooler's siege against Earth. Salza, Dore, and Neiz's taunts filled her head followed by her quick defeat and Gohan's efforts to protect her. She released one more yell, her power increasingly drastically and for just a moment her ki and hair assumed a golden hue.
Gohan pushed harder with his blast, suddenly sensing Kyuuri's power spike for only two seconds, but in the blink of an eye, she deflecting his Kamehameha back at him, the half-Saiyan dodging to the side as it went by. "Kyuuri, you had it for second!" Gohan called out with grin. "Kyuuri?" he called again as no one answered.
He turned, seeing the Saiyan girl collapse below him. Gohan rushed to her immediately, catching Kyuuri before she hit the ground.
"I...think I felt it." Kyuuri said as she lay in Gohan's arms.
"You did, you really had it for a second there." the young Half-Saiyan said with a grin. "Here, take one of these, I brought it just in case." Gohan said, placing a senzu bean in Kyuuri's mouth.
Kyuuri immediately sprang up, reenergized. "School is boring, this is worthwhile, can't we just do this instead all day?" she asked.
"Not as long as my mom's around." Gohan said with a laugh.
"Oh, so she's the problem?" Kyuuri asked splaying her fingers as a ki blast charged in her palm, a worried expression forming on Gohan's face. "Oh calm down, it was just a joke. Besides, I'm ready for a break." Kyuuri said.
Before Gohan could answer Kyuuri strode up, placing her mouth over his. "Let's continue later." she said as she pulled away.
"Oh...yeah, I guess we can." Gohan called after her.
"No one's here, right?" Kyuuri shouted.
"Not at the moment." Gohan answered curiously.
"Good." Kyuuri called, pulling her clothing off.
Gohan stood in place, stunned and red-faced.
"I'm going to wash off, you coming?" Kyuuri asked.
"Uh, yeah, be right there!" Gohan called excitedly.
oOo
Outside West City
An enormous dust cloud filled the air as a deafening crash rang out, a pod resting in the resulting crater.
With a whoosh and a burst of steam, two beings exited.
"Well Gure, this is where the readings were coming from." the diminutive man said as he stepped forward, adjusting his scouter.
"My brother Vegeta has to be close."