Chapter 060 - A New Guardian
Corset was furious. She'd been out of the Room of Spirit and Time for over a couple of hours and had been given a more detailed account from Trunks of what had happened during the fight with Cell. Now she, her father, Trunks and Tenshinhan waited patiently as Piccolo trained inside the room. Whilst Corset had endured nine months' worth of torture and training inside the room, Vegeta and Trunks had attempted to take Cell down. Cell had already absorbed Android Seventeen and was easily one of the strongest fighters on the planet! She knew what her father had done.
That was why she was furious.
Her father had toyed with Cell. He hadn't considered the Earth's fate to be in danger, depending on him to beat Cell and save everyone. Like the selfish, arrogant man she'd come to know him as, he'd toyed with the monster and had let him absorb the other android. All for his pride and satisfaction; because of these he'd doomed the Earth. She felt embarrassed to be the daughter of the man who'd single-handedly allowed Cell to beat them all. Her father had been the one to put the Earth in the situation it was in now. He'd been more than capable of saving them yet had been foolish enough to mess it up, all because of the challenge! He'd even gone so far as to hurt Trunks who was doing the right thing and trying to stop Cell! Even her brother hadn't been enough once Cell was complete.
Corset glared over to the flame-haired Saiyan Prince, her anger boiling over the more she stared at him. He stood against one of the sturdy pillars supporting the entrance to the palace, cold, stone-faced features moulded into a glare; his typical facial expression. Dark eyes seemed to be focused on the entrance to the palace, so intense they seemed to see through the many walls and straight into the chamber. His arms were folded as usual, fists clenched and muscles tense. He'd impatiently barked at Piccolo earlier to hurry up and take his turn, no doubt so he could go back in for his own training.
He wouldn't have needed to train more if he'd just finished Cell off when he had the chance!
She had to know why; no part of her brain could justify his actions. In the past she'd make excuses for him when the others attacked him over his agenda. This time she could come up with none; what he'd done was out of order.
Temper quietly boiling over, Corset marched over towards her father, a stern and angry look on her face not too distant from her mother's glare.
The Saiyan seemed to notice her approach, eyes shifting in their sockets to focus on her.
For the briefest of moments the two warriors stood toe-to-toe without a sound.
"Why did you do it?" She asked.
"What?" The Saiyan muttered unsure what she was referring to. Even he could see her mother's facial expressions written all over his daughter's face; an expression he'd become well accustomed to seeing from the blue-haired wench. Yet the light blonde, wild hair the girl before him possessed was a stark reminder of her paternal genes; he had been shocked to see her as a Super Saiyan but couldn't deny, in some area of his brain, he was proud.
"Why did you let Cell beat you?" Corset demanded, voice filled with anger. "You could have easily defeated him; why did you let him transform and beat you?"
The small commotion had caught Trunks' interest; he sat over the other side of the entrance steps cautiously peering over to them, looking slightly surprised to see his older... or was it younger...? He was surprised to see his sister confronting her father like that. The Room of Spirit and Time must have done something to her; from his observations Corset was a quiet and modest girl who'd never even dare stand up against her father in the manner she was doing right now.
"Why is that any of your concern?" Vegeta's eyes narrowed.
"Why? Anything that jeopardises the Earth's fate is my concern!" Corset's anger was rising further, fists clenching by her sides as she defiantly kept her eyes on him. "I heard what happened! You were more than capable of taking Cell down yet you chose to let him absorb the android and turn into something that completely overwhelmed you! Did you forget that the Earth is depending on us to beat this fighter? How can you be so selfish?"
"Cell did not defeat me!" Vegeta barked, voice growing louder and more aggressive. "He tricked me, that's all! I am the only one who can possibly beat him!"
"You WERE the only one who could beat him!" Corset knew this wasn't true; Trunks had grown far stronger than their father but didn't want Vegeta to know about this. Corset had promised not to let it slip; she knew how hard it was to gain her father's respect and wouldn't want to ruin Trunks' chances.
"Enough!" Vegeta bellowed. "You won't understand even if I told you! You're manipulated by your stupid Earthling teachings; being a true Saiyan warrior is something you would never be, or even be able to comprehend! I alone understand what it takes to be a great Saiyan warrior!"
"Try me!" Corset retaliated, crossing her arms. "Until you can prove to me otherwise, I'm not so sure I wouldn't be able to understand it! Until you can explain to me what the hell went on in that head of yours when you were given the choice to either finish Cell off or let him absorb the other android, I will never understand you or half of my heritage! For once why don't you actually teach me something?"
The Prince seemed to be slightly taken back by the girl's uncharacteristic aggression towards him, though outwardly this was never shown. It wasn't often this side of her came out; he was pretty sure the magnitude of it showing right now was a first! No doubt it was that fiery mixture of both his and her mother's personalities coming out, albeit right now she sounded just like her mother.
Perhaps it was time his daughter learnt something about her ancestry...
"...We Saiyans prided ourselves as the greatest warrior race in the universe. Our natural instinct in life is to fight; to us there is no greater achievement in life than to grow strong, challenging foes in battle and winning. As you know right from our birth, we are classed by our power readings; the weakest of our kind start off against weak opponents and grow stronger; the strongest are pitted against much more capable foes and grow stronger. That has been the way of our kind for centuries.
"A true Saiyan warrior is one who shows no mercy to any opponent, shows no attachment to anyone. The stronger the opponent, the stronger the Saiyan becomes. The stronger an opponent, the more honour there is of the fight. A powerful opponent whom produces a far greater challenge will make the Saiyan grow stronger; the honour of the fight goes to whoever wins. Honour and pride is what keeps a great warrior going. To beat an opponent who clearly is no match to a Saiyan has no honour attached to it and little satisfaction. The honour and opportunity to fight a powerful opponent is far greater than one to fight trash.
"In this case, Cell was a weakling. The challenge of facing what he might become was far more honourable than finishing him as he was. I wanted the honour of battling that freak at his best with no possibility of him becoming stronger! I wanted to fight him at his true and full power. There is no greater joy for a true Saiyan warrior than that... Even Kakarrot – misguided by his Earthling teachings – will admit even he grows excited at the prospect of fighting a strong, deadly opponent!"
There he stopped, looking down at his daughter.
For a moment Corset looked down in thought. She had not expected an answer like that. She had the information now; what would she do with it?
"... So what you're saying is you let Cell absorb the android so you could face a tougher opponent?" she asked. "... You did it for the honour of fighting and defeating a stronger opponent..."
A small smile emerged on her face and she closed her eyes for a moment, "... That's why I'll never be a Saiyan warrior.
"Don't get me wrong; if it wasn't for my Saiyan heritage then I wouldn't be nearly as strong as I am now, especially since I'm a Super Saiyan... but I could never fight that way. Our reasoning for fighting is totally different. Saiyans fight for honour and the challenge; some Earthlings are the same... but I fight for others. I don't fight for honour; I fight so I can protect those who can't defend themselves. I fight so my mama, my brother, my grandparents, my friends – and you – don't get hurt or killed. Sure, my emotions get involved and if someone were to egg me on, I'd fight for myself... but I would never fight for myself the way you did. At the end of the day, if the Earth is in danger; if those I care about are in danger; I have to fight to save them.
"When you and Nappa arrived, I fought to help save the Earth from destruction. When we fought Freeza and his soldiers, I fought to protect the Namekians, the Dragonballs and to keep the chance of us wishing our friends back to life. When Freeza and his dad returned, I was to fight for the Earth once more... Now I fight to stop the androids from destroying the planet the way they did in Trunks' time. From what I understand, Cell is bent on killing every single human alive. I will fight him to defend this planet and to stop him from hurting anyone else.
"I may currently show the characteristics of a Saiyan but I'm also half Earthling – and I'll fight as an Earthling."
The smile hadn't faded from her as she spoke and at times her eyes gave a sort-of vulnerably weak sense about them, the prince noted, especially when talking about protecting others. Her reasons for fighting sickened him, defying everything he had been taught as a warrior of the Saiyan race. Indeed he'd been right; she would never be a Saiyan warrior... but maybe it wasn't a complete loss. Whether she was aware of it or not, Vegeta had spotted small signs of pride in his daughter. A characteristic both he and her mother had.
As Corset turned on her heels and walked off, the Saiyan prince kept his eyes on her. He'd always classed her as a weakling; a failure warrior who would never become anything special. Yet what he saw defied that. She was a Super Saiyan; she had achieved the pinnacle strength of his race. Her youth just made it that much more commendable. Perhaps that achievement had awakened other Saiyan characteristics in her such as pride and the will to fight.
Vegeta turned away and continued to stare through the entrance to the palace, usual scowl quickly returning to his face.
She had taken her place among her ideals and was developing into a strong, Earthling warrior. He would reclaim his place above Kakarrot and once again become the mighty Prince of the Saiyan race.
The lookout fell quiet once more.
A day had passed since Goku, Gohan and Corset's emergence from the Room of Spirit and Time and finally it was Piccolo's turn to emerge from the room. Corset'd ended up staying at the lookout alongside her father and brother as she had little else to do. Goku'd told her not to push herself over the remaining nine days before the fate Cell Games and although it put her ill at ease being told not to train, she figured Goku would have a good reason behind it all.
Vegeta was impatiently pacing the floor immediately outside the room, arms folded and temper flaring. Both his offspring and a nervous Mr Popo were also present and far more chilled out than the Saiyan Prince was. It was his turn to go back in after Piccolo; this time he would be training alone.
"Bah! What is keeping that Namekian so long?" He finally snapped. "Doesn't he know he's wasting important people's time?"
"Please, stay calm," Mr Popo suggested antsy.
"Calm? Oh I'll show you calm!" Vegeta spat. "I'll calmly knock the door down and calmly drag him out!"
"Father, it's ok," Trunks tried to calm him, "You still have over a year's worth of time left in the room."
"He's right," Corset agreed, "You can afford to be patient, we still have eight more days."
As if on cue the door to the Room of Spirit and Time opened ajar. The three warriors and Mr Popo stood silently watching the door as it slowly opened.
'Piccolo's gotten a lot stronger,' Corset noted as she latched her concentration onto her former mentor's energy signal. It was a relief to feel it much higher than before and knowing Piccolo would be of great help against Cell.
Piccolo emerged fully from the room and strode towards the small group.
"... That's funny..." Vegeta muttered as he began to approach and pass the Namekian, "... Your power didn't increase much. What were you doing, taking a nap?"
Piccolo glared over his shoulder just in time to catch the taunting smirk on Vegeta's face as he closed the door behind him. Corset rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning her full attention back to Piccolo. She had many questions to ask about his training.
A couple of hours passed; Corset spent the majority of this time questioning Piccolo and then sparring with Trunks. To hers and Trunks' surprise, the duo was able to have a fight on equal grounds. Punches, kicks and blocks were exchanged, each working up quite a sweat from the sparring session. In a brief lull the two jumped back to catch their breath.
"Are you holding back?" Corset asked with a smile, impressed she was able to keep up with Trunks at all!
"I could ask you the same thing!" Trunks returned the smile whilst wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, I'll come at you for real!"
Before either of them could charge, Goku suddenly appeared! Corset was a little taken back to see him wearing civilian clothes for once.
"G-Goku!" Piccolo cried.
"Hey guys," Goku smiled, eyes quickly falling on the tall Namekian warrior, "Piccolo, did you go in the Room of Spirit and Time? You're a lot stronger than before!"
"Why don't you just say it, Goku? There's no way I can compete with Cell, right?" Piccolo barked.
"Don't stand a chance!" Goku shrugged his shoulders cheerfully.
Piccolo chuckled, "... I guess I asked for that! So, why are you here?"
"I was here to ask you something," Goku explained. "Is it possible for you and Kami to split in two again? Cell's killed a lot more innocent people and we need the Dragonballs to bring back all those people who died. I have a feeling we'll need them too."
"I see," Piccolo muttered, "Unfortunately once Kami and Piccolo merged, both were aware they would never be able to split apart again. That's why I hesitated so much before we merged."
"I see," Goku pouted disappointed, "That's kinda what I figured."
"... So what now?" Corset asked. "Is there another way we can get the Dragonballs back or something?"
"Hey!" Goku gasped. "I heard from Gohan that the surviving Namekians went to find a new planet right? Surely I could just go look for them! Maybe one of them would be willing to live here on Earth; that way he could become a god like Kami and we could have a new set of Dragonballs!"
"That could work," Corset smiled.
"I'd be so happy to have another Kami here." Mr Popo beamed.
"Right, I'm gonna go look for the Namekians." Goku decided.
"How do you plan to find them; we have no idea what planet they went to," Piccolo pointed out.
"I'll just use my Instant Transmission," Goku replied. "I'll just sense out ki similar to yours."
"Can you sense energy from that far away?" Piccolo asked not sounding totally convinced.
"I think so, if it's not too far," Goku nodded putting his fingers to his forehead. "Everyone be quiet for a minute so I can concentrate..."
Corset watched quietly as Goku scouted for any Namekian energy signals. She admired him for his sureness and confidence; maybe this would work after all.
Goku let his hand drop and grinned, "Well, that didn't work!"
The dumbfound reaction of the others kept the lookout quiet.
"Hey, I'll just go to Kaio's and try to find them from there." Goku gasped excitedly, quickly vanishing as fast as he'd appeared!
"... Is this going to work?" Trunks asked.
"With him, I never know," Piccolo replied.
Goku soon returned with a Namekian, much to everyone's shock. What was even more shocking was the Namekian himself.
"Dende!" Piccolo gasped stunned.
"Dende!" Corset beamed sounding far more excited than her mentor, happy to see her old friend again. The young Namekian child had grown a little since their last encounter five years ago, albeit not by much as Corset was now a little taller than him. His clothes were similar; a long, loose robe of white pinned closer to him only by the wrap-around belt around his midriff, a long, burgundy waistcoat flapping gently in the breeze.
"Wait here and I'll bring Gohan and Krillin," Goku butted in, quickly teleporting away.
Corset rushed over to the young Namekian, "How have you been? It's been ages since I last saw you."
"Yeah, I could say the same to you," Dende smiled, "... Can I ask what you did to your head? You look so different, I almost didn't recognise you."
"Oh, I'm a Super Saiyan now," Corset explained. "I went into this special room with Goku and Gohan and trained a lot and now I'm far, far stronger since the last time you saw me."
"Wow... So then Goku's a Super Saiyan at the moment as well?" Dende asked seeking confirmation more than anything. "He's Gohan's dad, isn't he?"
"Yeah," Corset nodded. "He's the one who defeated Freeza and was the first Super Saiyan. A lot's happened since then though... Some guy far, far stronger than Freeza has appeared and right now we're trying to fight against him." She began to explain to Dende what had happened since the Namekians had left Earth, Dende listening with interest.
Goku soon appeared with Gohan and Krillin in tow. Naturally the two warriors were overjoyed to see Dende back.
"Dende, are you certain you can make Dragonballs?" Piccolo asked.
"The Namekian elder told me that he's great at it," Goku smiled.
"I'm sure I can make the Dragonballs in one-hundred days," Dende estimated.
"One-hundred days?" Goku gasped. "It takes that long?"
Dende seemed to give a little thought before speaking again, "... I could make them right away if we use the Dragonballs you had on Earth that turned to stone." he suggested.
"Perfect!" Krillin grinned. "Hey, would we get three wishes like on Namek?"
"Yeah, I could make them that way."
"Hold on a minute," Piccolo interrupted. "Will we be able to revive more than one person with a single wish?"
"... Well I could make them that way too but it would mean we could only have two wishes." Dende answered.
"Excellent, then we'll do it that way," Piccolo smiled.
"Do you have the model of the Dragon?" Dende asked.
Mr Popo disappeared into the palace, soon reappearing with what looked like a small dragon statue shielded in a glass dome. He placed it down before the small Namekian.
"What an interesting design..." Dende muttered as he outstretched his hands. For a while he was still and quiet; Corset watching eagerly waiting for something big to happen.
A bright glow suddenly came from the dish before them, a blinding flash of light shooting free and splitting into several streaks, bolting around the edges of the lookout before shooting down towards the ground below them.
"There, the Dragonballs should be back now."
"Wow, that fast?" Corset gasped in shock.
"Ok then, I'm gonna borrow the Dragonball Radar off of Bulma and go and look for them," Goku decided, "Gohan, you don't need to train anymore. Stay here with Dende until the Cell Games start."
"W-What? Are you sure, Dad?" Gohan asked surprised.
"It'll be fine," Goku smiled. "See y-"
"Goku!" Corset cried frantically. "S-Since you're heading over to my home, could you teleport me there too?"
"Sure, hold onto my hand," Goku nodded.
Corset did as she was told and grabbed hold of the warrior's hand. In a flash the lookout disappeared. Before she knew it she was standing inside her mother's laboratory. Tools and wires were scattered all across the surrounding area and she was careful not to step on anything dangerous or valuable as she approached the working woman who had her back turned to them, leaning over a desk working on something.
"Mama."
Bulma turned and screamed, almost falling over her own feet when she realised Goku and Corset were there! "W-What have I told you about teleporting when I'm not expecting it, Goku!" She screamed loudly.
"Sorry Bulma, I keep forgetting," Goku laughed.
Bulma stepped back and looked at the duo, eyes wider than before, "Hey... You're both Super Saiyans?"
"Yeah, listen Bulma..." Goku proceeded to explaining to Bulma about the Dragonballs being restored and requesting the Dragonball Radar.
"... So Dende's the new guardian, huh?" Bulma smiled. "Well alright, I guess this is serious. The radar should be in my desk drawer."
"Alright... Which one's your desk?" Goku asked staring at the several desks around the room.
"I'll get it," Corset stepped over the scattered mess, opening the drawers of her mother's main desk. Sure enough the Dragonball Radar was right on top of the small pile of gadgets hidden away. She grabbed it and carefully made her way over to the adults, noticing what her mother was working on as she came back. Corset's face dropped.
It was Android Sixteen!
"W-Why's he here?" She cried frantically.
"Krillin brought him over," Bulma calmly answered her panicked daughter. "Don't worry; he wants to fight on our side against Cell. You know the construction of this android is amazing. Dr. Gero was a jerk but a genius! The plans we were given are incredible high-tech stuff!"
"... Yeah?" Goku mumbled seemingly uninterested. "So, you got the radar for me?"
Corset handed the radar over to Goku.
"See you guys later!" Goku waved, vanishing on the spot.
"... I'll never get used to him doing that..." Bulma sighed. "So how did your training go? Well I hope!"
"Yeah," Corset nodded, "Goku helped me to become a Super Saiyan! He and Gohan were really good sparring partners too... Only now Goku says we don't need to train anymore and Cell's holding a tournament..."
"Yeah? Well if Goku says you don't need any more training then I'd listen to him," Bulma spoke. "Goku knows what he's talking about! He's been saving the world since your mama was a teenager. Trust me he knows what he's doing... As for you, I'm incredibly proud of you!"
Corset blushed and grinned sheepishly. Her mother was never short of praise for her and she liked it!
"So where's Trunks and your dad?" Bulma asked.
"They're both still at Kami's place," Corset replied.
"Did your dad say anything when you turned into a Super Saiyan?"
"No, he didn't say anything to me... He was looking at me at one point though, I'm not sure why!"
"I'll bet he was proud to see his daughter was a Super Saiyan!" Bulma grinned. "He'd never say it of course but I bet he was thinking it!"
Corset contemplated this thought. She doubted her dad really cared; he'd probably still think she was weak!
The young Super Saiyan left the lab and wandered back to her room. It had been a while since she'd slept and she was beginning to feel tired. As she lay herself down a lot played on her mind. Android Sixteen was being repaired in her own house, Cell was holding a tournament, Goku was insisting she didn't need to train anymore and so far, no one had been able to stop Cell... Was everything really going to be alright?