Brusselle's eyes snapped open. Her vision was blurry, but soon cleared up a bit. She saw bubbles floating up around her. She was immersed in liquid. She moved her eyes downward and saw a breathing apparatus strapped to her face. Farther down, she was dressed only in her underclothes. A healing tank, she thought. I must've been in pretty bad shape after that fight. Reaching out with her mind, she sensed seven other people. Guess everyone was.
She narrowed her search. Sam's ki was to her left. Brusselle was relieved that he was alright. Then she felt the fluid start to drain. Her feet touched the floor, and she pulled the mask off of her face. The hatch of the tank opened up, and she made her way out.
To Brusselle's right, the human girl was attempting to exit the pod. She seemed unstable; perhaps she had never had be healed before. She glanced at Brusselle, then at herself, and her eyes widened. She immediately tried to cover herself with her pale arms, despite being clothed in undergarments.
"Brusselle!" called a voice. She looked to her left and saw Samphire, her companion and "bodyguard." Brusselle's father had tasked him with protecting and serving her, despite being weaker than her.
"Sam," she responded, "glad to see you back on your feet."
"The feeling is mutual. Surprised I lasted longer than you."
Brusselle cocked her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"The pods seem to be in order of who dropped out first," he answered. "I saw the girl get beat, and everyone else was still going at it before I was knocked out."
Brusselle leaned to the side in order to get a look at the others emerging from their pods. "So, who did topple the mighty Samphire?" she inquired jokingly.
Sam frowned. "I think the slime girl caught me off guard while I was fighting the Earthling. Shame really." He looked at the human next to him. "I wanted to beat him. How about you?"
"The Frost Demon," she answered. "He had some way of increasing his power. Red glow, shouted something about times four. Otherwise I would've had him."
"He knows Kaio-Ken?" They both looked at the human girl, who had suddenly piped up.
"Yeah, that was it," said Brusselle. "He shouted 'Kaio-Ken times four,' and surpassed level two."
"He surpassed level two?" exclaimed Sam.
"Yeah. He even claimed to have fought Super Saiyans before."
Samphire looked worried. "Brusselle," he murmered, "What manner of people are we dealing with?"
"I don't know," she replied, "But we have to keep our guard up."
The door to the healing chamber opened, and Trunks strolled in. "Good, you're all recovered," he said. "How was the fight?"
"Awesome!" exclaimed the Majin, "It was really fun!"
"The Namekian snorted. "Right, sure it was fun. But what was the point? Did you just want to see us beating the shit out of each other?" he asked.
"The purpose of the test," Trunks explained, "Was to see how powerful you are. Scouters and power-sensing can only tell you so much. It was also a team-building exercise. You're going to need to know how each other fight in order to work together."
"Wait, a team?" The Frost Demon had spoken. "I thought Time Patrollers worked solo?"
"Time Patrollers work together on missions all the time", Trunks answered, "But this is our first official team. We hope it will help lessen hostility between races."
"Yeah right." The Namek had spoken loud enough for everyone to hear, but soft enough for no one to answer. Brusselle thought she heard a pin drop.
Trunks broke the silence. "Get dressed. When you're ready, meet me in the Time Nest. There's someone you have to meet."
