"YOOHOO! OVER HEEEREE!" boomed Yumi, standing up to her full height.

"Y-you!" spluttered Cabba. "Y-you're that girl!" The one that tried to molest me!

Yumi, slightly miffed at being referred to as 'that girl' huffed and folded her arms. She was now a giant standing at an impressive height of fifty feet, having somehow botched her spell of instantaneously maturing. It was her sudden growth spurt that had caused the entire mall to explode - it simply couldn't confine someone of her caliber of size. I knew I should have brought my spell book. My memory's no good. Oh well. I'll just have to make do with this instead!

Val the demon floated up to Yumi's eye level. "You! What the hell have you done to yourself?!"

"VAL!" bellowed Kale. "OUR FIGHT IS HERE!" Without waiting for a response, Kale's gigantic fist pummeled Val into the ground, sending concrete flying into the air.

Caulifla turned to Cabba. "Mind telling me what the hell is going on here?" This day keeps getting crazier and crazier. It's like we're in a fucking fanfiction or something! How ludicrous...

"It's a really long story," said Cabba. "To put it in short, she won't leave me alone!"

Val chuffed a laugh at Cabba's despair as she removed herself from the rubble. "Foolish mortal. You have yet to see the true extent of my sister's bratiness. Honestly, I would actually feel sorry for you if I cared..." A black fire engulfed her as she powered up. "Maybe if I'm feeling kind I will rid her for you before I kill you. But right now, I'm going to tear this titanic bitch apart!" She pointed at Kale, whose face was twisted in a perpetual snarl.

Cabba rushed to jump in but Caulifla stopped him with one arm. "Don't," she said, gazing intently at the fight. "Sometimes, only a battle can resolve things. Don't get in the way." I'll finally see how far you've come, Kale... That demon is certainly powerful enough to pose a challenge. She crossed her arms and smirked. Good luck, Kale! You are my protégée. You can do it.

"Cabba!" trilled Yumi, fluttering her eyes. "What do you think of me now, Cabba?" Notice me, senpai!

"You look great," Cabba offered lamely. "Please leave me alone..." he mumbled under his breath.

"Only great?" Yumi shamelessly fished for compliments. "What about astounding? Cute? Marvellous? Hot!? Sexy?!" Her face blushed a beet red as she said those last two words.

Cabba sweatdropped. The Megumi girl looked exactly the same: flat as a board and about as curvy as the aforementioned board. The only difference was that now she towered over almost everything in Herculopolis, including Satan Tower, which was the tallest building in the city.

Caulifla elbowed Cabba. "Well? Tell the girl what you think."

"Ehh?!" Cabba gaped at his fellow saiyan. "Why are you throwing me under the Laggerwomp?!"

"Just settle whatever business you have with her and we can all be done with it. Then we'll have one less thing to worry about." She cast a glance at Val and Kale, who were matching each other blow for blow. Each of their attacks caused sound waves to ripple in the air before disspitsting.

"I was very sad when you ran away from me last time," Yumi said, clasping her hands together and looking down pleadingly at Cabba. "It was because I was too young, wasn't it? But look at me now, Cabba! I've grown! Now will you love me?"

No! Cabba wanted to scream. Hell no! I'd rather die and go to heaven than be condemned in hell for being a pedophile! It insteasd, he just spluttered, "Y-yeah... Uuhh... You look... Good. But about the love bit," he paused, "I already have a girlfriend."

Yumi's face fell. "W-what? I don't understand."

Caulifla pinched the bridge of her nose. Cabba, you have absolutely no tact.

"Im sorry!" cried Cabba. "But I don't like you in that manner. Not now, not ever!"

Caulifla facepalmed. ... Why do I get the feeling that this guy has never been laid before? Cabba, you are an idiot. Period.

Val was about to hurl a deadly-looking fireball at Kale when her sharp demon eyes caught the trembling movement of Yumi's lips. She grimaced. This would not end well at all, not for her, not for anyone. Unlike the human she was inhabiting, the demon understood what kind of being Yumi was: a witch. And from what she was sensing, Yumi was a very, very powerful witch indeed. My sister - her sister - is about to blow. And it's not going to be pretty.

While the demon was distracted, Kale punched her in the gut, causing Val to cough up phlegm. The demon glared up at Kale. "Hrrkk... You will pay for that, simpleton!" She grabbed Kale's bulky arm and threw her into a neighbouring skyscraper, making the structure collapse. "Never interrupt a villain during her internal monologue!" Val launched a few more blazing balls of ebony flame at the fallen saiyan for extra measure.

Caulifla was observing their fight out of the corner of her eye before Kale's descent caught her full attention. Those attacks wouldn't keep Kale down for long. As if on cue, Kale emerged from the rubble with a flourish to engage Val in battle once more. Caulifla couldn't help but notice that the demon was fighting more sloppily. It's like she's distracted. But by what? As she thought about it more, she slowly reached an epiphany. She whipped around just as the first bout of tears made their way down the massive cheeks of the giant Yumi.

"WHHHYYYYYYYYY!" Yumi shrieked at the top of her lungs. She started to stamp her foot on the ground in what could only be described as an extreme temper tantrum. "WHY -" Stomp. "- WON'T - " Stomp. "- YOU -" Stomp! " - LOVE MEEEE!?"

Caulifla felt and probably looked like she was performing a one-man fandango as the shockwaves from Yumi's titanic foot hitting the earth bounced her around. Grumbling, the saiyan took to the skies. "She's literally a giant fucking baby."

"You see?!" shouted Cabba, floating next to her. "This is why talking things out was a bad idea!"

"I see that now, Cabba! No need to rub it in my face! Maybe if you had been a little more assertive I would have left you alone."

"Are you kidding me? That'd just give you more reason to want to kick my ass!"

Caulifla cracked her neck and her knuckles and smirked as she beheld a weeping Yumi. "You know me too well. Now what say you about taking her down?"

"Fine. Just don't hurt her too much. Knock her unconscious and that's it."

"Hn. Anymore if that sap, and I would say that you actually care for the girl."

Cabba shot Caulifla a frosty glare. "I'm not a monster, Caulifla. I won't hurt children if I can help it. We knock her unconscious and that's final."

"Have it your way."

The two saiyans flew up to Yumi, circling around her head. Their erratic movement irritated the giant and she moved her hands up, trying to swat them away like flies. Just as Caulifla dived in for a neck chop with intent to knock the witch out, Yumi formed a magical barrier around her body, absorbing Caulifla's attack.

Yumi growled in anger and released a bolt of magic from her hands. The attack missed Cabba and Caulifla but hit the Main Street. At once, three things happened: the water main burst and water started spraying everywhere, a gas explosion occurred and lightning fell from the sky.

"A fire, a flood and an electrical storm!" exclaimed a Jehovah's Witness that was observing the fight. "That's so Old Testament!"

"Harry, please. Let's just run for our lives already."

"Now, now, Linda dear. Everything will be fine. God is watching over us!"

Little did they know, Dende was busy trying to calm a hurricane approaching Papaya Island.

Half-mad with rage, Yumi furiously cast a spell on the Hercule statue in the boulevard, which, miraculously, was unscathed by the ongoing battles. "Come forth my loyal servant!" chanted Yumi, raising her hands in one swift motion. "Arise for your mistress and destroy these little pests!"

"Crap!" hissed Cabba. "That barrier of hers just keeps absorbing our attacks." He glanced at Caulifla. "What should we do now?"

"What do you think?" snorted Caulifla. "We just hit harder!" She flew toward Yumi at Mach 1 speeds. "Hrraahh!" With one swipe of her arm, she shattered Yumi's protective shield. The pieces fell onto the ground before disappearing with a hiss and a pop. Now! Caulifla drove her elbow into the nape of Yumi's neck. The strike was hard enough to render the child unconscious.

Yumi's eyes flitted as she started to black out. I-I failed...? was her last thought before she fell forward, her shadow stretching over a large portion of the city.

Cabba's eyes widened as Yumi fell toward him. "Oh crapbaskets."

Kale roared in triumph as she sent Val spiralling into the ground, shattering the roads of Herculopolis.

The demon snarled and rocketed toward Kale at inhuman speeds and the two traded blows once again. Now that Yumi was down, Val could fully focus on beating the crap out of Kale before she eviscerated her.

There was a resounding noise as Yumi seemingly flattened a quarter of the city. But if one peered closely enough, they could see a super saiyan Cabba holding up Yumi with both arms. Once Yumi was completely out cold, her body began to shrink until she was back to her original size.

"My head..." whined Yumi as she started to come to. When she saw Cabba holding her bridal style, she beamed happily. "Oh Cabba! You saved me! My hero!" She sat up and hugged him tightly, making the saiyan choke on his own saliva. Luckily, Yumi didn't get to go any further before slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Are all the humans this crazy?" Cabba wondered aloud, oblivious to Kale, who had seen the whole thing unfold.

"Maybe it's a Universe 7 thing," suggested Caulifla as she touched down next to him, arms folded across her chest. "Speaking of Universe 7... I just realised something." She frowned. "Why do Goku and Vegeta live on earth? What happened to their planet?"

"I believe Master Vegeta once told me that it blew up," supplied a Cabba. "By a demon named Freeza."

"Freeza," muttered Caulifla. Gold and purple flashed through her mind's eye. "Hmm." Was he a competitor in the tournament?

Before she could think of anything else about the Arcorsian, Kale let out a battle cry fiercer and louder than any other Caulifla had ever heard. The Legendary Super Saiyan threw herself at Val and began to pummel the demon mercilessly.

She's overpowering the demon, Caulifla realized. Judging by the look on Cabba's face, he had come to the same conclusion. They were just about even before. Where did this sudden power boost come from?

Cocoa Amaguri blinked her eyes open. The first thing she saw was Gohan's worried face peering at her. She sat up. "What happened?!"

"I don't know," Gohan said grimly. "But I intend to find out." As soon as the mall had caved in on itself, Gohan had taken it upon himself to protect Cocoa from harm. Thankfully he had succeeded; the worst Cocoa had taken was a small scratch on her otherwise flawless cheek.

Sounds of battle made their way to Gohan and Cocoa. The latter stood up on shaky legs. "Are you going to fight?" Cocoa asked worriedly.

"Of course," Gohan replied. "It's my duty as a protector of the earth." He hoisted Cocoa up on his shoulder and flew her far away from the fighting. "Stay here, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."

"Gohan!" cried Cocoa. "Are you going to be okay?"

Gohan gave the pop idol a reassuring thumbs up. "The Great Saiyaman fights for justice!" He did a few of his infamous Saiyaman poses hastily, making Cocoa giggle slightly. "And justice will always prevail!" With that, he launched himself across the city where the battle between Kale and Val was happening, nothing but a dot in the sky to Cocoa within a few seconds.

Cocoa wringed her hands together, concerned for the wellbeing of her friend. "Good luck, Gohan," she murmured. "You can do it!"

Gohan was seeing two warriors fighting in the air when a golden fist punched him in the face, sending him sprawling backward. "What the heck? What was that?" He hadn't felt any kind of chi signature around that was strong enough to deal him a punch that actually hurt. Val and Kale were still occupied with one another while Cabba and Caulifla watched, alert in their super saiyan forms.

He felt movement behind him and instantly spun around, expertly blocking Hercule Satan's fist from smashing into the back of his head. Gohan blinked in surprise. "Hercule?!"

Hercule floated backward with a smug smile on his face. "That's right, punk! It's me, the great Hercule Satan! The champion of the world who defeated Cell when all those other tricksters couldn't!"

Gohan scratched his head. "Uhh, are you okay there, Mr Satan? And when did you learn how to fly? Has Videl been teaching you?"

"Don't talk about my daughter so casually!" snapped Hercule. "You want to date her, don't you?! Well guess what, ya wuss! She's only allowed to date anyone that's stronger than me! And unfortunately for you, no one like that exists!"

Gohan sweatdropped and Hercule's behaviour. Should I remind him that Videl and I have been married for three years? From what his chi senses were telling him, Hercule Satan was not Hercule Satan at all but Gohan had decided to humor the imposter for a bit. Whatever was shouting at him about his daughter's virginity (or lack of thereof as Gohan knew) was not the proclaimed champion of the world. "Alright, listen up," Gohan said in his 'hero' voice. "Who the hell do you think you are? Hercule's not the brightest guy around by even he wouldn't forget that Videl and I are married with a daughter."

"Lies!" cried the Hercule imposter. When Gohan didn't budge, he chuckled. "You're pretty sharp, kid." A metallic golden sheen enveloped the man and he grew several feet. "You may know me as the once not-alive statue in front of Herculopolis Mall. But my kind mistress has given life to me and I intend to destroy you to protect my mistress!" The statue bowed dramatically before placing his arms akimbo. "You may call me the Golden Warrior!"

"Oh? And how are you going to do that?" Gohan smirked and got into a fighting stance. "You paint yourself gold but it really doesn't do much for you other than making you a walking target." His smirk widened. "How 'bout I show you a real Golden Warrior?" With a shout, golden aura encased Gohan. I'll take off my Saiyaman costume to give him a real scare! He tapped his watch and his outfit reverted to normal. Sure he was dressed like he was going to Sunday School, but his nerdy clothing did little to remove the effect of going super saiyan. I still got it.

The living statue was blissfully unaware of the sheer power difference between him and Gohan. He waved the saiyan off flippantly. "So what, you insta-dyed your hair? Big whoop. I'm going to show you how real men do it! Dynamite Kick!~"

Gohan didn't even bother to move, a layer of chi enough to absorb the impact of Statue Hercule's kick. Yikes, he even fights like Mr Satan. Don't tell me he's going to fake a stomach ache next... Nah, that's just be retarded. Even Hercule knows better than to -

"Ooh!" wailed Hercule, clutching his abdomen. "I-I have a stomach ache!"

Gohan fell over as much as one could when levitating in the air. He quickly recovered himself. Are you serious?!

"Prepare yourself!" Statue Hercule said, faking the pain in his voice. "Once I recover you won't stand a chance!"

"Hooboy..." Gohan sighed, shaking his head. "I'd better end it quickly." He flew further up, Statue Hercule looking baffled. "Sorry Hercule!" called Gohan, forming a powerful energy blast in one hand. "No hard feelings!"

"Waargh!" cried Statue Hercule. "N-now hold on a sec there. Can't we talk this out? You wouldn't hit a guy with a stomach ache would ya?"

"Nope!" replied Gohan. "But you're a statue, right? You're not supposed to feel pain!" The attack was launched and Statue Hercule couldn't move out of the way, paralysed with fear. When the light dispersed there was nothing left of Statue Hercule. "That was a nice warm up, I guess. Why did it have to be Hercule though? Man, it's gonna be awkward when the real Hercule comes over for dinner tonight..."

"Are you sure we shouldn't intervene?" Cabba asked for the umpteenth time as Kale continued to break Val's bones in what was quickly becoming a one sided fight. "I know she's evil, but come on!"

"For the last time, yes I'm sure!" snapped Caulifla. "Learn to trust my judgement, Cabba."

"She'll die," Cabba pointed out, gritting his teeth. "Do you somehow have trouble comprehending that?"

Caulifla did not reply; instead she focused on the fight in front of her, her eyes darting side to side as she followed the deft movements of Kale. Kale... Are you really going to kill her? While Cabba was itching to intervene, Caulifla was taking a different approach. Kale needed to be given a chance to gain control. She grimaced. By now, she was starting to agree with a Cabba - they needed to jump in soon or else Val would be nothing more but a bloody paste on the ground.

"For fuck's sake," Caulifla muttered before shouting,"KALE! GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF! WOULD YOU REALLY FORGIVE YOURSELF IF YOU KILLED HER?!" When Kale didn't show any indication if hearing Caulifla, the latter quickly grew frustrated. Why isn't she listening to me? This has never happened before! Her words were usually enough to quell Kale's rage whenever she turned into a berserker. She decided to try again, "KALE! THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Finally, Kale turned. Val was lying face down in a crater the size of three buses parked side by side, struggling to get up.

Caulifla smiled at the titanic saiyan female. "You've done so well, Kale." She flew up to her protégée cautiously and extended her hand. "I'm very proud of you."

The green aura around Kale stilled to a light glow. Slowly, Kale reached out to touch Caulifla's fingertips with her own. "C-Caulifla...?"

"That's right," Caulifla coaxed gently. "It's me, Kale. I'm right here and I'm very, very proud of you. You can stop now, Kale." There was a pause. "Please?"

"Yes," Kale mumbled, her muscles starting to shrink. "Yes... I will stop..."

A black chi blast hit the side of Kale's head. Below them, Val stood on shaky legs with her arm outstretched. The demon wasn't looking to well. She was bleeding heavily all over the place and one could probably discern that she had multiple broken bones judging by the way she held herself. "Take that..." She hunched over and lurched out blood on the concrete.

Just like that, the beast within Kale was awoken once more.

"VAAALLL!" Kale squalled, her muscles filling out again as she erupted in a flame of sickly lime green.

"Shit!" Caulifla swore as Kale shoved her out of the way to get to Val. "Kale, don't -!"

There was a terrible crunching noise as Kale's fist destroyed Val.

Caulifla frowned at the scene, though she did not find the sight of Val's broken body plastered promiscuously upon the pavement the least abhorrent. At this point, she was just thankful that Yumi had not been awake to see the gruesome fate of her sister.

"No..." whispered Cabba. "... She couldn't have."

"What the hell happened?!" a new voice demanded.

Caulifla and Cabba turned around just in time to see Gohan touch down in front of them.

"Goku's first brat, right?" inquired Caulifla, tilting her head to one side in a feline manner. It felt a little strange to be calling a man that was practically her age a 'brat' and Caulifla made a mental note to avoid referring to Gohan as such.

Gohan glared at her. "Homewrecker, am I right?" he retorted shrewdly.

"Tch. To each their own."

It was Cabba who spoke next to defuse the tension in the air, years of military training coming into play. "Enough. We have other things to deal with right now. Many people have died today and we need to fix it, somehow." He glanced sorrowfully at the wreckage. "Do you think the lives that were taken here today could be restored by the dragon balls?"

Gohan nodded. "Yes, that would work. But we'll have to go to Namek for them since our dragon balls are still inactive. I would rather us wait for one month for earth's dragon balls to be active. They denied us quite... vehemently, last time." He looked up Kale, who was still in her transformation. "Are we going to do anything about her?"

"Do not speak of her as if she is a thing," Caulifla said coldly. "I don't care how strong you are. Do that again and I'll make sure you regret it."

"Don't get so defensive," Gohan told her evenly. "I didn't mean for it to sound that way. But from what I've seen at the tournament, she'll be dangerous as long as she's in that form. So how do we get her out of it?"

"I tried before," said Caulifla. "It worked at first but then things got complicated..." She shoved her hands in her pockets. "Oi, Cabba. Maybe you should try."

Cabba grew flustered. "H-uh? Me? What are you saying, Caulifla?"

"Oh, grow a pair already," Caulifla said crudely. "What kind of saiyan are you?"

Gohan couldn't help but chuckle darkly. "More of a saiyan than you'll ever be, Caulifla. At least he doesn't mess around with other people's families."

Caulifla pointedly ignored him, choosing instead to focus all her attention on Cabba, whose previous bravado had all but disappeared. "Well? Are you going to do something or what? If she ends up destroying the city, it's all on you."

"Fine..." He heaved out a sigh to calm himself. "I'll do it."

As soon as he was gone, Caulifla chose to remark offhandedly, "You know, Gohan, only saiyans with incomplete bonds or no bonds at all could possibly be unfaithful to their mates."

Instantly, Gohan stiffened. "What the hell are you on about, Caulifla?"

"I thought you would appreciate some trivia about our race," Caulifla replied flippantly. "After all, we're a dying race in Universe 7, are we not?"

Gohan was silent but Caulifla could sense that he was seething with anger. But though he was undeniably furious, Caulifla could tell that he was thinking about what she'd said. The half-breed had a mate of his own - surely he could connect the dots?

"What you and my father have been doing is looked down upon on earth," Gohan said icily.

"We are not earthlings." She spared him a glance. "If it makes you feel better, your father and I have agreed not to continue any intimate relations we might have once had."

"So it's true," Gohan muttered, his suspicions confirmed. "Dad, how could you..." He trailed off, thinking of Cocoa's advice. Chi Chi could be ridiculously unbearable at times. Perhaps Caulifla had entered the scene at a bad time. Deep down, Gohan knew that his father and Caulifla were not the only ones to blame.

He could only hope that everything worked out in the end.

"Kale," Cabba said carefully, levitating in front of the girl in question. "Do you recognise me, Kale?"

The destroyer woman simply stared at him with blank white eyes.

"It's me, Cabba. My name is Cabba And your name is Kale."

Kale continued to stare. Then she muttered uncertainly, "Caaba?" The name was pronounced wrongly and drawn out in an ugly fashion but Cabba smiled anyway, relief washing over him.

"That's right," Cabba said encouragingly. "I'm Cabba and you're Kale. Do you remember who you are, Kale?" He wasn't dissuaded by her impassive state. "If you don't remember, then let me enlighten you." He took a deep breath. "Kale is shy, sweet and kind. She loves animals, even though she thinks I don't know that. Kale is always aware of negative feelings so she always tries her best to show compassion. Kale can seem meek and submissive but inside her heart lies the bravest creature in existence. It's all these things about Kale that..." He hesitated, wondering if he should say it or not.

"That what?"

Cabba whipped his head upward. Kale's eyes had somewhat cleared but they were still relatively clouded. "That what?" the girl repeated.

"That..." Cabba steeled his resolve and looked her straight in the eye. "That made me fall in love with her." He felt numb. I said it... I actually said it. But will she remember?

A small, genuine smile made its way onto Kale's face. "Thank you, Cabba." Her super saiyan aura dissipated and she returned to her original form. Her hair, unbound, fell in spiky waves over her shoulders, her bangs falling like curtains around her face.

Cabba caught her before she could fall onto the ground. The girl had spent all of her energy on her rampage and was now lying unconscious in his arms. He felt himself sway a little as he held her close. I think I love you, Kale. I don't care what Lime says; I think I love you.

"My sister's on vacation in the Bahamas!" declared Yumi as she walked side by side with her parents. She had woken up just as the police had arrived and was told by Cabba that her sister, in frustration, had gone off to the Bahamas, but not before explicitly stating that she did not want anyone interrupting her spontaneous holiday. Val would be back in a month's time.

"That girl, honestly," huffed Mrs Megumi. "Always doing this and that without our permission!"

"I'm glad you girls are safe though," put in Mr Megumi. "Would you like some ice cream, Yumi?"

"Ooh! Would I?!"

Niifa's eyes followed the schematics absently, looking over the same parts repeatedly. In her hand, she swirled a glass of gelper, a highly alcoholic beverage. Her eyes were filmy with a drunken rheum, evidence supporting the fact that this was her fifteenth glass of gelper. She had been at this for hours now - studying the blueprints, pouring herself another helping of gelper, forgetting what she had studied and then repeating the cycle all over again.

There was a knock on the door but Niifa hardly registered it, her head swirling with jumbled, incoherent thoughts. All around her quarters blood ran down the walls and pooled in a thick sludge on the floor. She did not know if it was real or if it was a side effect of the moonshine. Neither gave her much reassurance.

The door creaked open and Moblit stepped in, his foot landing in a puddle of crimson - or at least that was what Niifa perceived it to be. Her assistant hardly seemed fazed by the mess at all. Niifa took it as a sign that the blood was only a figment of her imagination.

"Niifa," Moblit started. "It's been days. Please come out, Squad Leader. It's not healthy for you to be cooped up in here all day doing... This."

Niifa stared at him with her cloudy gaze.

"Everyone's been worried about you," continued Moblit. "Muto, Benzert, me, everyone. You haven't eaten for three days."

"Moblit..." Niifa slurred. "What about Yvonne?"

"S-she's, ah, passed on, Squad Leader. D-did you forget?"

"No," murmured Niifa. "Not forget. Never forget. I never forget my own teammates. I was just making sure... That she stayed dead."

"If you don't mind me asking Squad Leader, why would you say that?"

"Because she is too good for this world. Heh. That and I wouldn't want her to see me like this." She yawned. "Pathetic... If she could see me now she'd lose all respect for me. I am tired, Moblit... Please take me to bed."

"Very well, Squad Leader." He picked her up and tucked her into her bed, pulling the blankets over her in one smooth motion. "Did you need anything else, Squad Leader?"

"No... Just leave me be."

"Right." He turned to leave but paused. "Oh, and Niifa?"

"Mmm?"

"Please actually eat the food we leave for you next time instead of throwing it out the window. The garbage boy has been complaining of carforts and whatnot raining down on his head all the time."

"Heh. Duly noted."

"Goodnight, Niifa."

"... Goodnight."

The door closed quietly behind Moblit.

Moblit was returning to the lab to dismiss his squad mates (having been placed in command while Niifa was invalid) when he ran into an armoured soldier. She stood a head shorter than him and he had to crane his neck downward to look at her.

The soldier glared up at him with her single working eye. "Do you always have to do that, Moblit?"

Moblit had to stop himself from staring intently at the scar over her blind eye. "Do what, Chaya?" he asked innocently.

"I know you felt me coming. But you insist on using every opportunity to assert your height over me." She shoved him roughly. "Don't do that, Moblit. You know I don't like it. You may be the taller one but we both know I carry more strength in one finger than you do your entire body. Do you have a death wish or something?"

They weren't close enough for Moblit to laugh it off like he did a lot of things. "No, ma'am," he muttered. "I won't do it again, ma'am."

Chaya stared at him with skepticism, making Moblit sweat. This woman was a wildcard. There was never telling what she might do, even if it meant she had to directly disobey Kafara's orders. She could kill him right then and there and would still manage to weasel her way out of consequences.

Moblit was internally saying goodbye to all his loved ones when he heard Chaya step backward.

"It's 'sir'," she told him, a steel edge in her voice. "'Ma'am' is for nannies. Don't forget that." With that, she walked away, disappearing around the corner.

"Crazy broad," Moblit muttered when she was no longer in earshot. "I swear, everyone on this ship is nuts one way or another. I just hope I live to be a hundred at least."

But he, like many others on this ship, had learned many lessons. It would be unwise to ever hope. But of course there would always be those who thought otherwise.

For them, hope died slowly.

A/N: For those who want to see more Goku/Caulifla, sorry about that u.u

There'll be more of them after we're into the first villain arc.

Some of you are probably used to me updating much faster in the past. But I'm a busy person with a life outside of fanfiction (sorry about that). I try to update as soon as I can :p