Chapter 24: Getting Stronger, Fighting Temptation, and Meeting the Neo-Red Ribbon Army

(Opening Theme: Unbreakable by Fireflight)

Pearl woke up sweating and wet from the dream she had had, and immediately started blushing. She dreamed she had been in the middle of a three-way with Kenshiro and Gohan. And she still felt hot and bothered from the idea of being in the middle of those perfect muscular and sweaty bodies… Pearl slapped her forehead, FOCUS! THERE ARE DEMONS MESSING UP THE TIMESTREAM, A VAMPIRE SERIAL KILLER, AND WARPERS RAPING, MURDERING, AND PILLAGING THROUGH EVERYTHING! THIS IS NO TIME FOR DIRTY FANTASIES! Pearl mentally yelled at herself as she looked through her clothes and was reminded that she and Kenshiro had accidentally ruined half of them, the only clean clothes she had left were her Time Patrol Academy Outfit. Pearl put the outfit on along with her weighted gloves and boots and thought about doing laundry, as well as getting herself some new clothes. I hope this doesn't get Kaoru-san too angry… While Pearl didn't like how judgmental Himura Kaoru could be, she understood her not wanting to expose her little boy to certain things too soon.

Pearl took a freezing cold shower and got ready to see Barit was making scrambled eggs and sausage for them. Barit saw Pearl's outfit and said, "Haven't seen you in that in a while." "These were my only clean clothes left. I keep forgetting to buy more," Pearl admitted. "Kaoru's not gonna like that," Barit said, and used Namekian Materialization to make a purple shirt appear under the Outfit's vest. "Um…thanks," Pearl said. "Consider it a freebie. Kenshiro used to tell me you weren't a big fan of that Outfit. You and your sister are practically opposites," Barit said. "I was the only shy one," Pearl said, "Because I was the weakest growing up. I wasn't all that confident. I never even had a boyfriend before I met Kenny." "I remember that," Barit said with a smile.

One Year Ago

The Namekian and purple Earthling sensed the Majin girl following them down the halls of the Academy. Barit leaned over to Kenshiro and said, "That girl is following us again." "You mean the cute Majin girl?" Kenshiro said. "If that's what you think," Barit said, "What are we gonna do about her?" "I remember the last written test. She had the highest score, and I barely passed. Maybe we should get to know her better?" "You just wanna screw her because she's got glasses," Barit whispered back. "Do not!" Kenshiro angrily whispered, "I seriously think she might be able to help. I mean, come on, Soon appeared yesterday and he looked…disappointed in us. If I can get higher grades, maybe he'll make me his apprentice or something, or maybe I'll even be chosen by the Supreme Kai of Time!" Barit sighed, "Whatever." He then turned around and looked right at where Pearl was hiding behind some lockers. "Come out…Pearl. We know you're there," Barit said. Pearl shakily walked out from behind the lockers, her eyes looking like she was about to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Senpais! I'll just go…go…" Pearl turned around to run away, when Kenshiro said, "Hold on now, Pearl-san." Kenshiro said, and Pearl stopped dead in her tracks before slowly turning around, "Yes, Senpai?" "I saw how good you did in the last test. I was thinking, maybe we could study together? I also saw you barely passed the physical test. Maybe we can trade? I help you with the physical stuff and you help me with studying?" Kenshiro suggested. Pearl almost turned black from blushing so heavily, she looked like she was about to faint before she finally said, "Yes, I'd like that a lot, Senpai." "Alright, let's go, I think our Ki Copying Class is starting," Barit said, as Pearl hurried to keep up with him and Kenshiro. "You can call me Kenshiro if you want," Kenshiro told Pearl. "Thank you, Kenshiro-senpai!" Pearl said as they reached the class room.

Present Day

Barit laughed at the memory, "I never would have thought when we first met that you'd ever become stronger than me." "I had a lot of good teachers," Pearl pointed out. "I guess so," Barit said as they cleaned up the kitchen then headed out, Pearl making sure to grab some Healing Capsules. They headed to the Bamboo District, several people stopped to ask Pearl questions. "Hey, Pearl, what do we gotta do to get stronger like you?" "Hey Pearl-san, can we train together?" That one got Pearl's attention, it was a female Saiyan with pink hair flowing down her shoulders wearing a Raditz outfit, complete with Scouter, and her companion, a small purple male Majin with blue eyes and tentacles shaped like a pompadour wearing a Nappa outfit. "Um…sure," Pearl said, Barit just shrugged. "What're your names?" Pearl asked. "I'm Leek," the Saiyan girl said, "I'm Georgie," the male Majin said. "Alright, if you can keep up," Pearl told them, "Today I'm going to train extra hard, so it'll be extra difficult." "It's okay," Leek said, "My Power Level is a solid two million!" "I'm at uhhh…1.7 million," Georgie said.

"Good to hear," Barit said, as they got to the Bamboo District and saw Kenshin and Kaoru stretching while Kenji watched and Jade was wearing an orange gi with green undershirt and wrist bands. June and Bage were also there stretching, with June's babies strapped to their backs. "Are you sure you can train with your babies here?" Pearl asked. "As long as someone takes care of them while we spar, they'll be fine. I'm using Warper's Will to keep them calm," June explained. "Where is Shurayuki-sensei, Rachel-san, and Beate-san? I thought they'd be back by now," Kaoru said as she looked around. "I guess they're still trying to make Rachel a Warper," Pearl said, "Or she's training with her powers some." "Whatever it is, we're here to train, to get stronger. So, let's all get ready," Barit said. "Alright, we're gonna run, thirty laps around Conton City," Pearl declared, everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "That's gonna be pretty far," June pointed out as she slapped a training seal on herself, then on Leek and Georgie.

"Last one has to do double their usual routine," Pearl said. "Now you're just crazy," Barit pointed out. "GO!" Pearl yelled, and everyone but Kenji took off. For the first ten laps, Leek and Georgie managed to keep pace with Pearl, June, Barit, and Bage, but then started to fall behind after the eleventh lap. Kenshin and Kaoru gave it their best the whole time, but their ki training had just started, and they couldn't keep up with everyone. By the twentieth lap, Pearl and June were in the lead, leaving everyone else far behind. I have to push myself even harder! Everyone needs me to be strong! I need to be strong enough to beat anyone! Pearl yelled as she put on a burst of speed on the thirtieth lap, and reached the Bamboo District five seconds before June. After five minutes everyone had finished racing, with Kenshin being in last place.

"I'll supervise Kenshin-san and Kaoru-san's training," Barit said. "Alright, then I'll lead everyone else!" Pearl declared. "Pushups! Pick a number and do them, do any kind of pushups you want, it doesn't matter, just as long as you push yourself and reach your goal!" Pearl said as she started doing hand stand pushups. "WOW!" Jade said, and seeing Pearl push herself so inspired Jade to do one-handed pushups. Bage did the one-handed as well while June focused on normal pushups, Leek and Georgie did clapping pushups at first, but after ten minutes went to doing knuckle pushups. Barit did hand stand pushups like Pearl. Pearl kept on pushing herself as sweat poured off her body, I have to get stronger! That was 5000, 35000 more to go! Keep going! Pearl's shoulders were burning the whole time, but she never stopped. She was at 25000 hand stand pushups when Jade asked, "Pearl, we're all done with pushups, what should we do now?" "Sit- ups!" Pearl declared as she kept on going.

Everyone paired up and did partner sit-ups while Pearl finished her hand stand pushups, then got on her back to do sit-ups, 40000 just like with pushups. Again, Pearl was the last to finish, and she said, "Now do…leg lifts!" Everyone paired up and started doing leg lifts, Bage and June holding the babies to their stomachs when it was their turn to lie on the ground and do leg lifts. Pearl was a little faster and finished her sit-ups in time to do leg lifts by herself, without a partner with legs to grab it was an even more challenging exercise. She focused as hard as she could, and finished only a minute after everyone else. "Alright, let's break for water," Pearl said, everyone was covered in sweat, seeing her working so hard had inspired everyone to do their best and push themselves. Pearl went out and bought water for everyone while they stretched out, and Pearl handed out water. "Uh oh, I think the babies are hungry," June said as her twins started to wail. "Just give me some time to feed them," she said, and walked away from the others.

"What's she doing?" Kenji said. "She's nursing her babies is all," Kaoru explained. "Oh, like a cow?" Kenji said. Everyone laughed at the young boy, but Kenshin said, "Something like that." "Hey, I just realized, Megumi-san isn't here," Bage said. "Megumi decided to learn about the medicine in Conton City, so she's at the Hospital learning. She said just because she's in another world doesn't mean she can't be a doctor," Kaoru explained. "That makes sense," Bage said, and went over to see how June was doing. After fifteen minutes she handed one baby to Bage and they burped them. Watching the four of them together made Pearl wonder what it would be like, to nurse Kenshiro's children…

"HELLOOOO! EARTH TO PEARL!" Pearl snapped out of her daydreaming with Jade clapping her hands in Pearl's face. "Huh? Wha?" "Cummon, what are we doing next for training?" Jade asked. "Uh…Um…burpees! No! Super Burpees!" Pearl said as she immediately started doing the exercise, and everyone else following suit. The babies were actually giggling as June and Bage went through the exercises with them on their backs, while Kenji watched the exercise with a weirded-out expression on his face. Pearl just did her 30000 Super Burpee when Jade said, "What now?" "Uh…I guess you can go over to the Time Machine Station and spar," Pearl said between Super Burpees, "Then that'll be it." "See you later, Sis," Jade said, and everyone went to spar in the Virtual Reality simulations in the Time Machine Station. Pearl focused on getting her Super Burpees in, but she had already pushed herself really hard, and her weighted clothes were heavier than ever before. Just keep going! Down, out, pushup, in, jump! Down, out, pushup, in, jump! Down, out, pushup, in, jump! I gotta keep trying, I gotta get stronger! Pearl pushed herself as hard as she could, until finally with a triumphant yell she realized that she had did her 40000th Super Burpee. Pearl took a minute to breath, sweat pouring off her, then saw she still had some water left and drank it all.

She decided to head back to her apartment to start the laundry, and when she arrived she saw that her Scouter was going off, she was needed in Guru's House. Pearl switched her glasses for her Scouter and used Instant Transmission to reach the floating platform, and from there went into the Time Rift. Nail ran up to her when she arrived and said, "Frieza himself is searching for the Dragon Balls. Get your hands on all 7 Dragon Balls before he does. You can do this!" "Right!" Pearl said as she and Nail flew off. As before, Time Rift Frieza in his First Form was waiting for them, along with Zarbon, Dodoria, and a foot soldier. Pearl powered up to her full power and charged into the fray, knocking out the foot soldier first before turning around and blasting Dodoria back with Majin Kamehameha. Pearl flew around to Zarbon while Nail battled Time Rift Frieza. "Masenko!" Pearl yelled, blasting Zarbon into Dodoria, leaving Frieza's lieutenants in a heap. She then Instant Transmissioned behind them and yelled, "Mystic Flash!" Her blast wiped out the two of them instantly. She turned back to see Nail was able to keep up with Frieza, barely.

Pearl lifted her fingers up and summoned a Supernova, "Nail-san! Look out!" Nail heard and flew away from Frieza while Pearl sent the Supernova his way. "Let me show you how it's done!" Frieza yelled as he sent his own Supernova at Pearl's. But, Pearl was far stronger, and used her ki to push her attack into Frieza's. Pearl's more powerful attack absorbed Frieza's, and the even larger attack consumed the tyrant. "DDDDAAAAAAMMMMNNNNNNN YYYYYYYOOOOOUUUUUUUUU!" Frieza screamed as he was wiped out completely. Pearl and Nail quickly collected the Dragon Balls, and returned to Guru's House. "Thank you so much for your help," Nail said, "You're a reliable fighter, that's for sure." "Always. Whenever someone needs me, I'll do whatever I can to help," Pearl said as she left the Time Rift. She flew to the Time Machine Station to see that everyone was already done sparring each other. Jade was chatting up a tall, lean and toned Saiyan with blue skin, purple hair, and grey eyes wearing an outfit like Nappa's, without the chest armor.

"Hey guys, sorry I didn't come, but I wanted to start laundry, then I got a Time Rift Alert," Pearl explained as she walked up to them. "Barit-san explained your duties to us," Kenshin said, "We understand." "Thank you. Well, I can tell that you're all tired, so I'll just do a few Parallel Quests," Pearl said. "May we watch?" Kaoru said, "I'm curious about this…Time Patrol business." "Sure, just watch that screen," Pearl said, pointing to the screen. Pearl walked over to the robot and made her choice, a Three Star one, Number 27: Metal Cooler Riot. "You sure about this?" Barit asked her. Pearl confidently smiled, "Definitely." "Alright," Barit said and gave her some room. Pearl knew what techniques she needed to win. In a flash of light, Pearl was in the Archipelago, with about five Metal Coolers waiting for her.

"What planet are you from?" the Metal Coolers asked, then said, "Whatever, it won't matter once you're dead." Pearl focused and charged up her ki to her full power and watched as the Metal Coolers surrounded her. With a vicious yell, Pearl blasted ki all around herself in an Angry Explosion, destroying all five of them instantly. Five more Metal Coolers flew in, and Pearl charged at the one in front. Pearl slammed her kick into its head hard, decapitating it, then bisected a seventh Metal Cooler with Destructo Disc. Pearl was blasted from two sides with Death Beams, but quickly recovered and blasted ki balls at the Metal Coolers to get some distance. She focused her ki and smiled as she destroyed the eighth, ninth, and tenth Metal Coolers with Giant Storm. Pearl's Scouter alerted her to the fact that she wasn't done yet. She saw the five more Metal Coolers coming and used Instant Transmission, then yelled, "Ill Bomber!" Pearl exploded, destroying two of the Metal Coolers, pieces of her flying everywhere.

Pearl quickly reassembled herself behind a tree, using Ill Bomber was harder than she thought it would be. One Metal Cooler saw her and snuck behind her, kicking her from behind while another sent Cooler's Supernova right into her. Pearl screamed from the power of the attack, and was sent flying into the sea. The last three Metal Coolers flew to her, and Pearl focused her ki, just as they reached her she unleashed another Angry Explosion all around, sending sea water flying, and destroying the last Metal Coolers. Pearl rose up panting, and used a Healing Capsule, just as a much more powerful presence arrived. The real Cooler showed up then, in his Fifth Form and with a dark aura surrounding him. "You must really want to die," Cooler said, "Very well. Crumble to atoms before my true might!"

Cooler's massive body crashed into Pearl with Death Crasher, and he tried to follow up with blasts of his dark aura, but Pearl used Instant Transmission to get behind him, grab his neck, pound his head, then stretch back and slam her knees into his back. Pearl launched three Destructo Discs at Cooler, but he easily avoided them all before blasting her with Death Beams. Pearl blocked Cooler's punch and slammed her foot into his stomach before landing an uppercut, only for Cooler to slam his fists on her head, sending her crashing into hard ground. Cooler powered up his own Cooler Supernova, and Pearl got up quickly, barely avoiding the attack. Pearl focused and hit Cooler with Giant Storm, only for Cooler to use Death Crasher on her again, then follow up by grabbing her head and slamming it into his knee before slamming his fist into her stomach and tossing her back into the ground. Pearl got up and spat blood then used another Healing Capsule.

Pearl focused every last ounce of power she had and waited until Cooler came charging at her again, before blasting everything she had out into one last titanic Angry Explosion, destroying Cooler. Pearl sighed and in a flash of light returned to Conton City. "You achieved rank S," the robot running the Parallel Quests said, "You have earned Dore's Scouter, a small mix capsule, 500 zeni, and one Time Patrol Medal." "Thanks," Pearl said as she collected her earnings. Pearl's Scouter went off again, for Majin Buu's House. "Alright, more Time Rifts," Pearl said. "Go on, we'll call you later," June told Pearl. "So, how was your workout?" Pearl asked Leek and Georgie. "Intense. No wonder you're so powerful," Leek said, "We might do this again." "Alright," Pearl said, and flew around Conton City, looking for food to give Majin Buu and his offspring. The Majin girl looked everywhere, and collected twice what she usually did. After collecting the food she went to the right platform and touched the glass dome, entering the Time Rift.

Pearl got out the food and passed it around to everyone. The little Majins all looked guilty, and Ichigo said, "We sorry, but we don't have any presents for you now." Pearl smiled and patted Ichigo's head, "That's okay. Just seeing that you're happy makes me happy." The little Majin's smiled and Sanma said, "I'll make sure to give you a super present the next time you come!" "Thank you, Sanma-chan," Pearl said. The little Majins all ran around playing tag while Majin Buu ate the rest of the food, there was a whole lot. When it was all gone Buu stood up and yelled, "Buu feel it! Time for a lot more family!" Buu concentrated hard, and in an explosion of pink clouds, four little Majins appeared. The first one was red with a single tentacle that reached from back to the front of his forehead, wearing a black Majin Dynamic Strong Suit with magenta highlights and cape, black gloves, and purple boots. "Ha ha ha hee! Call me Naname! Naname too cool for you! You want Naname signature!?"

The second Majin was yellow with sleepy eyes, wearing the little cat-eared hat Trunks wore as a baby with a red shirt, blue jeans, grey gloves, and black shoes with purple socks. The eighth child of Majin Buu yawned and said, "Name Donpachi… Nice…," Donpachi yawned again, "meet you…" The third Majin to appear was blue with tentacles that looked like a mohawk, his face looked like he was ready to fight and he wore a purple scouter, Saiyan armor like the kind Vegeta used to wear, armguards like Nappa's, and purple boots. "My name Kyus!" the little Majin declared, "Kyus serve you, Captain!" "At ease," Pearl said, "Why don't you go play with your brothers?" "Yes sir!" Kyus said, as he and Naname ran off to meet their family, while Donpachi snored on the ground. That left the last one, he was a red Majin with closed eyes and a smile, his tentacles hidden by an Arale hat wearing the traditional Majin outfit, except for handguards and boots like Nappa's. "Umm… Call me Juso… Ummm… Heh heh…" "Aww," Pearl said, "There's no need to be shy, Juso-chan. This is your Papa, and over there are your brothers."

"Are you my Mama?" Juso asked. Pearl shook her head, "No, think of me as your Onee-san." "Okay…Hi…Onee-san. Hi…Papa!" Juso said as Majin Buu bent down to hug him. "Hi Juso! Let's play!" Majin Buu said. Pearl stood aside and watched Majin Buu playing with all his children, remembering how she used to play with her own Papa when she was little. After an hour everyone was tired, but they stood before Pearl and said, "Thank you so much!" "Your welcome," Pearl said and bowed to them before leaving the Time Rift. Pearl sighed, "Phew! And I thought having a family with five kids and two parents was big!" Pearl flew down and took out her phone and called Barit, "Hey Barit, I'm done with the Time Rift. Where are you guys?" "We're at a burger place, I'm outside now," Barit said. Pearl reached out with her ki sense and found him, and Instant Transmissioned right beside him.

"That'd be great for Halloween," Barit said as they went into the burger joint. Kaoru and Kenshin were looking at the burgers they had questioningly while Kenji was packing into his fries with gusto. "Don't worry, you don't have to eat it all at once," Pearl told the Himuras. "Sorry, but…this still seems very strange," Kenshin said as he finally picked up his burger and started eating it, and Kaoru followed suit. "If anything falls out, use the napkins to clean yourself," Barit said and pulled some out for them. Pearl got a burger with caramelized onions and lettuce with a large fry and drink while Barit chose a chicken burger with lettuce and extra tomatoes with medium drink and fry. When they got their food they sat down to see Kenji starting to eat a small burger, and his eyes lit up as he ate. "Thishshogood!" he said through a mouthful of food. "Slow down son," Kaoru said, "You don't have to eat so fast. And don't talk with your mouth full." "Where're June and Bage?" Pearl asked. "They went somewhere else to eat. I decided to introduce them to some different cuisine," Barit explained.

"So, what do you think?" Pearl asked the Himuras as she ate her own lunch. "It's much better than I thought it would be, that it is," Kenshin admitted. "Barit-san warned us about grease in it, so I was skeptical," Kaoru said. "Well, depends on the place," Pearl explained, "Some places practically drown the meat with grease, others, you'd hardly think that it was the same dish." Kenji swallowed, "Kind of like when Tou-san cooks instead of Kaa-san?" "Kenji!" Kaoru yelled, blushing. Barit laughed, "So, I guess that means that you're the better cook Kenshin-san?" "Well…That is…" "Yes," Kenji bluntly said. Kaoru just hung her head in exasperation and pouted, "My own son thinks I'm a horrible cook…" "Well…my Papa is a professional chef, and has written a few cookbooks. Maybe you can find one of them and use those to help?" Pearl suggested. "That depends," Kaoru said, looking at Pearl, "How good is your Papa?" "My Papa is famous around the world, he is Glutto, the greatest chef of the common person!" Pearl proudly stated, "In cooking championships around the world, he has never failed to please the judges, often taking home the gold. He is recognized as the seventh greatest chef in the world, and is ranked the most popular chef throughout the world for 'his humility, dedication to family, and friendliness.'"

"You seem quite proud of him," Kenshin stated. "Papa and Mama always encouraged me and my siblings to work hard for what we want. They're both world famous in their fields, Mama just became the World Champion of the Tenkaichi Budokai for the fourth time only a few days ago," Pearl explained. "Amazing," Kenshin said, shaking his head, "This world, so much accomplished, the technology, the magic, this one doesn't believe I'll ever get used to this." "It could be worse," Pearl pointed out, thinking about worlds like Hellsing, Berserk, Parasyte, and millions of alternate realities that could be happening. It was just then that Elder Kai showed up. "Ah, there you are," Elder Kai said as he saw Pearl. "Good afternoon, Elder Kai-sama," Pearl stood up and bowed, "Is it time for another test?" "Yes, your power is growing at an exceptional rate. It shouldn't be too long before you are worthy of having your Full Potential unlocked," Elder Kai said, giving Pearl the once over. The Himuras all stood up as well and bowed to him, Elder Kai looked quite happy at this.

"Thank you for having us, Elder Kai-sama," Kenshin said. "Your welcome, but you should also thank the Supreme Kai of Time if you get the chance. It was her idea to allow refugees from other worlds into Conton City. Most of them are relocated to other cities, however, when I saw your potential, I convinced her to allow you to stay in Conton City. How goes your training?" Elder Kai asked. "Very well," Kaoru said, "We've trained for two days, and already are much stronger than before." "That is good," Elder Kai said, then looked at Kenji, "I see much potential in your son. Under the right guidance, he could become a legendary warrior." "Thank you," Kenshin said. "Now then, Pearl, let's be off," Elder Kai said. "Can we watch this training?" Kaoru asked. "Very well, follow me," Elder Kai said as Pearl, Barit, and the Himuras followed him to the Academy, and the robot. Pearl approached the robot and in a flash of light was in the Archipelago.

"Alright, just close your eyes and you'll see her," Elder Kai explained to the Himuras, and then said to Pearl, "Alright, Recruit, show us what you're made of!" Pearl's first opponent was Slug. Slug stretched out his arm to grab her, but Pearl dodged him and summoned a large ki ball and hit him in his chest, making the ki ball explode. Pearl followed up by landing three hard punches to Slug's stomach before blocking a kick and using Ill Bomber, exploding everywhere. "Pearl-san!" the Himuras screamed. "Pearl quickly reformed and saw that Slug wasn't defeated yet. "I'm alright, I told you before, Majins are basically blob monsters," Pearl said as she summoned more power and finished Slug off with a Giant Storm. Her next opponent was Android 18, who came in with a powerful Power Blitz.

The attack hit Pearl, but she didn't falter as she quickly blocked Android 18's Deadly Dance and landed a hard punch to her solar plexus then kicked her back. Pearl tried a Destructo Disc only for 18 to dodge it, then use Dual Destructo Disc on Pearl. Pearl flew fast to avoid the large Destructo Discs, and used Angry Explosion to blast Android 18 back before Instant Transmitting behind her and landing a hard elbow into her back. Pearl didn't see Android 18's fist until it hit her face, then 18 turned around and landed a hard hitting spinning hook kick to Pearl's head, sending her flying into the ground. Pearl jumped up in time to dodge 18's Destructo Disc and blasted her with an exploding ki ball, knocking her out. That was when Pearl's next opponent appeared, slamming his foot into her back, Perfect Cell.

Pearl quickly turned around and tried a Destructo Disc, only for the bio-android to dodge it and blast Pearl with a Kamehameha Wave. Pearl blocked Cell's follow up punch and three more punches and kicks before landing two punches to Cell's face then used Ill Bomber. Cell was hurt by the attack, but not too badly, and Pearl reformed far away from him to think of a plan. "I guess it's time to let it out again," Pearl said as pink smoke shot out of the holes in her arms, and she emerged, Purified. Purified Pearl smiled at Cell and pointed at him, "Gonna kill stupid bug!" Purified Pearl flew at Cell like a missile, pummeling him with a flurry of punches and kicks before knocking him into the ground. "Now you die!" Purified Pearl yelled as it threw a Super Vanishing Ball into Cell, obliterating him. Pearl returned to her normal form, feeling more tired than usual. It was harder to turn back to…me this time… she thought as she was returned to Conton City.

"Hmmm… you passed the test," Elder Kai said, looking Pearl over. "Is something wrong?" Pearl asked. "I'm not sure…" Elder Kai said, "But anyway, you did a good job. Just continue training diligently, and you'll be ready to face anything." "I will," Pearl said, and Elder Kai left. "Well then, I can't think of anything else to do," Pearl said, "Would you like me and Barit to show you around Conton City some more, Himura-sans?" "Thank you, we would appreciate that," Kaoru said. Pearl and Barit showed the Himuras around Conton City again, making sure to make some stops so Pearl could buy some new clothes as they went, as well as do some much needed grocery shopping. By the time they were done, everyone had what they needed, and Pearl and Barit dropped the Himuras off at their apartment. When they got to their own apartment, Pearl turned on Ryo vs. the Xenoverse.

Things had gotten much more serious, Ryo was forming a new gang, The X Fighters, to combat the warpers going around messing things up, and Bage had a fiancé! Who was coming to Conton City! "Oh man," Barit said, "I wonder how Bage's fiancé will react when she learns he's stepping out on her." "That is not funny, and completely inaccurate," Pearl told the Namekian, "How was he to know his Dad got him engaged before he was born!?" "Still though…I'm not sure how I feel about another kunoichi coming here…How do you think Shurayuki will react?" Barit wondered. "I don't know, depends on when she, Rachel, and Beate come back," Pearl said. "Still…a lot of this is just plain crazy," Barit said as he started to make dinner. Pearl took out her phone and called Kenshiro. He answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" "Hey Kenny," Pearl said, "How's everything going?" "Well, right now Grandma and Grandpa are napping. Grandpa isn't happy that he can't smoke because of the flu," Kenshiro said. "What about you? Have you been able to keep up with your training?" Pearl asked. "Sort of. I'm wearing my weighted clothes when I work the field, and practicing for about an hour at night, after Grandma and Grandpa go to sleep," Kenshiro told her. "Anything else happen?" Pearl asked. "Nope, just the same Cashew Village as always, get up, eat breakfast, work the field, take care of Grandma and Grandpa, eat lunch, work the field, take care of Grandma and Grandpa, luckily I got done in the field early today, so we can talk," Kenshiro said as Pearl told him all about her day, and what was going on with Ryo. "I'm missing a lot," Kenshiro said regretfully when she was done.

"It's not your fault, you need to take care of your family," Pearl told him. "Yeah, Cashew Flu is pretty serious, until about 18 years ago it was fatal 50% of the time. Ushitora-sensei discovered the cure for it, with the help of notes from my Father. The treatment will take at least two weeks, maybe longer," Kenshiro explained. "Fatal half the time? But…your grandparents didn't seem too bad!" Pearl exclaimed. "The second week is when it's at its worst, plus Tsubaki-sensei caught it early. I don't want to go into details, but it'll get bad, I might not be able to talk much during the second week," Kenshiro said. "Okay, then I'll call you every day while we can talk," Pearl told him. "Good. I gotta go start dinner soon. I love you babe," Kenshiro said. "I love you too," Pearl said, and hung up.

Cashew Village

It was about thirty minutes after Kenshiro started cooking, the rice was done and he just had to add the tofu to it, Tsubaki was starting his Grandparents' daily treatment. His Grandpa told him it involved injections, pills, and suppositories, which he really didn't want to think about. Kenshiro finished the food and placed it on the table, then headed upstairs to help Tsubaki get his Grandparents downstairs. Kenshiro wasn't sure about it, but Grandma Kamiki was stubborn about eating at the table, and Tsubaki told him that a little exercise would be good for them. Kenshiro said his pre-dinner prayer to his Father and was about to get ready to eat when someone knocked on the door. Kenshiro answered it, it was a man and a woman in dark suits, and sunglasses. The man was bald and fat with a mustache while the woman had long green hair, and looked like she was a fighter.

"Good evening," the man said. "We are…representatives of an organization that shall be coming to your village soon. We have gone around your…quaint village asking around, and everyone says that the strongest person in the whole village lives here. Are you Oroshi Kenshiro?" Kenshiro stretched out with his ki sense, the feeling he got from the two of them felt…slimy. And he could tell that the woman was well trained, Time Patroller material possibly. "Yeah," Kenshiro said, positioning himself between the visitors and his Grandparents and Tsubaki. "Ah, we'd like it if you'd join our organization," the fat man said, "It would make things much easier as we come through your village." Kenshiro caught the hint of a threat, and saw the woman reach behind her back, he sensed that she was getting ready to attack if they didn't like his answer. "No," Kenshiro said.

The woman was fast, if Kenshiro hadn't trained in Conton City he would have been gutted as soon as 'No' left his lips. As it was, Kenshiro managed to grab her wrist and twist the knife out of her hand before palm-heeling her chest, sending her flying out the door. "You bast-" the fat man didn't have time to finish as Kenshiro grabbed his arm as it went into his coat and squeezed it until it broke. "AAAAAAGH!" the fat man screamed as Kenshiro tossed him out. "Tsubaki! Get Grandma and Grandpa to the cellar until I get back!" Kenshiro yelled as he shut the door behind him and went outside. The woman jumped back up and wiped her face. She took off her sunglasses to show all black eyes, and tore her coat off to show a well-toned body covered by a black jumpsuit. "Get him Unit 63!" the Fat Man screamed as the woman charged at Kenshiro.

Kenshiro blocked her kick and three punches before landing a punch to her solar plexus. Unit 63 punched Kenshiro's own solar plexus, making him gasp before she landed a hard uppercut, knocking him back. Kenshiro quickly flipped and landed on his face. "Alright, I guess I shouldn't hold back too much then," Kenshiro said as his aura glowed around him. He could sense the woman, Unit 63's, ki. She must have been some kind of cyborg then, but not an Android like 17 or 18. Kenshiro focused power in his hands as he brought them together, and Unit 63 charged again. "Galick Gun!" Kenshiro yelled as he blasted Unit 63 at point blank range, tearing her in half. Blood and oil splattered everywhere. "Vital Functions compromised! Activating Self Destruct Sequence!" Unit 63 yelled. Kenshiro quickly grabbed the destroyed cyborg and yelled, "KAIOKEN TIMES 20!" He tossed Unit 63 up as hard as he could, by the time she self-destructed it was barely a twinkle in the sky. The Fat Man was already running, but Kenshiro sensed his slimy ki signature. Kenshiro flew to him and dropped down in front of the Fat Man.

Kenshiro slapped him to the ground and the Fat Man yelled, "You'll re-" Kenshiro stopped him by shoving his finger into his mouth until he hit the pressure point in the back of his throat, time to see if Hokuto Shinken was as useful as in its home universe. "Who are you?" Kenshiro asked. The Fat Man glared at him, but then answered anyway, to his own surprise, "I am Corporal Franklin Popovitch! HOW DID YOU MAKE ME SAY THAT!?" "Who do you work for?" Kenshiro asked. "The Neo-Red Ribbon Army! WHAT IS THIS!?" "Why did you come here?" Kenshiro asked. "To recruit strong fighters to turn into cyborg super soldiers! And to conquer the village, it and the eight surrounding villages are full of fertile land to grow crops to feed our army! I CAN'T STOP TALKING!" "How many villages have you conquered?" Kenshiro asked, grabbing the Fat Man and lifting him with one hand. "This is the last in the area and the most fertile! Once we have it, we can begin taking over the rest of the region! MAKE IT STOP!" "How many cyborgs do you have?" Kenshiro asked. "124, 123 now!" the Corporal Popovitch answered.

Kenshiro hit a pressure point on his forehead to undo the first pressure point and then tore the Fat Man's clothes off, leaving him in his underwear. "Tell your bosses that Cashew Village is off limits. If any more people from the Neo-Red Ribbon Army show up here, they won't leave here alive," Kenshiro told Corporal Popovitch. "You'll regret this!" the Corporal screamed as he ran away. Kenshiro went through the Corporal's clothes and found the Corporal's ID. It was as he had said. Kenshiro headed back home, and let Tsubaki and his Grandparents out of the cellar. "What's going on, Kenshi-chan?" Grandpa Jinbei asked. "Trouble's coming," Kenshiro answered.

(Ending Theme: Whispers in the Dark by Skillet)