Heya all!
Sorry for the delay, but life got a bit hectic, and I am a lazy ass who has this story planned till the end but finds it difficult to write.
Consciousness slowly started drifting in, the demi-Saiyan became gradually aware of his umbworld.
He was in a sitting position; the distinct metal and slightly cold feel of the floor, as well as a glass like feel on his back, were direct indicators. What is this place?
The meditation practice helping him in curbing the instinct to open the eyes, Gohan directed his senses outwards.
There were four other Ki besides him. Focusing on the girls' first and sensing Videl's comparatively higher ki and Erasa's smaller one, both nonplussed, he felt relieved.
Though, their ki were calm as if in meditation - highly unlikely - or in sleep - most likely. So, they are still unconscious.
Placing the issue aside for a bit, Gohan took in the other two comparatively bigger Ki in the ship. Both were almost equivalent in amount and had a slight wild disposition to them.
But in substance, both Ki were different - in a non-human way.
Aliens? The son of Goku mused, concern beginning to percolate in his mind. Past experiences immediately flooded his mind: the aliens' arrival and subsequent chaos, destruction, and loss leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
Immediately, the urge to go Super Saiyan reared its head, the desire to protect and impede the possible attack overwhelmed his mind, but the rational part of his brain kicked in.
Idiot. Chastising himself, Gohan pushed his senses even beyond, and was, surprisingly, unsurprised to feel a lack of any other Ki beside theirs.
There was no life form around them for miles.
Slowly, parting his eyelids just a bit, he took in the white glass - with a blue tint - surrounding him. Circular in shape, it was most likely his prison of sorts.
Beyond the glass, there was a whitish grey floor connecting a curved wall of same shade, above which a rectangular panoramic window was situated.
From the window, a vast blackness was spread; small shimmering lights, of various colors, not even dulling the darkness in any manner.
They were in space!
But how and when did it happen? He tried rummaging his brain for any moment that could give him a semblance of answer to this strange situation.
Some moments passed.
But nothing came up. The last thing he could remember was walking out of the dojo, with Videl and Erasa.
Glancing around for a bit, Gohan looked to his left, taking in the petite figures of both the girls, in a similar sitting position, surrounded by cylindrical glass - like his own.
Sensing the Ki was one thing but witnessing their bodies for actual was different.
He allowed the bout of relief to wash over him, seeing the normal rhythmatic heaving of chests. Thanks Dende.
Again, closing his eyes, the demi-Saiyan resumed his contemplation of the strange happening that had come to pass.
THEY WERE IN SPACE!
The teenager sucked in a breath, as the ramifications slowly began to settle in. Who knew how far they were from Earth? And for what purpose?!
He could understand his capture - it seemed like one - due to his half-Saiyan constitution and the race's previous activities.
No wonder, if someone decided to extract revenge on the remaining descendants of the now almost extinct race. In fact, in a sick sort of manner, it was long overdue.
But what of humans? Videl and Erasa - the girls were totally uninvolved and harmless. They did not deserve to be here.
But what can I do? Nothing short of turning Super-Saiyan - as their captors appeared to be powerful enough to hold their own - and smashing his way out, seemed to be plausible.
Unless, these guys were also hiding any power augmenting transformation.
That would be a mess. The clash would most likely break the ship, and despite everything, he couldn't survive in space.
Then, there were the girls too - both were helpless. Further, it wasn't any assurance either that only two of his captors were involved.
Who knew, there might be a big warship or even a fleet of them lurking around somewhere?
No, he couldn't…
"Sor, check on 'em."
A grunt bearing the answer was heard before footsteps began approaching them. Gohan closed his eyes, not at all wanting to give away his conscious state while being hopeful to extract some much needed info.
The presence halted just in front of him, stood there but only for a moment before moving ahead. Sparing the girls another couple of seconds, the alien named Sor left.
Focus Gohan. Perking his ears, the demi-Saiyan began to listen attentively.
"All good. The brats are still down."
No response was heard. A nod, most likely. At least, it's a relief they can't sense Ki.
Gohan waited for a couple of seconds but only silence prevailed. Not good. He wanted to gather intel but the current predicament was not helping.
Of course his luck, even his captors would have to be the silent type. Why…
"Why are we even checkin' on them? Ain't like they can escape from here. They can't even break the glass."
It was the one called Sor, the son of Goku mused while slightly lissed on being able to get something from the conversation.
But again, the silence was the answer. So, the other one is the silent type.
"Oi, Zaldor?"
Zaldor… Gohan mentally voiced the name to remember it.
A sigh was heard, obviously of Zaldor, the variegate raspy tone pointing out the difference. "You know very well how the receivers at the empire are."
Empire?!
"Ah, yeah," Sor awkwardly laughed in his slightly heavy voice. "Those bastards sure are picky," The sound of throat clearing was heard.
"How dare you tamper with the parcel? Now, we'll have to deal with the paperwork… But don't think you're off the hook. Your salary is attached till further orders!"
The voice was clearly made to imitate someone - a female. Gohan was amazed at how casually this Sor guy changed his heavy voice to sharp like a girl.
Zaldor's brief chuckle was heard. Then, there was silence.
Waiting for some moments but in vain, the demi-Saiyan commenced the processing of the brief info he had gained.
An empire!
They were being conveyed to an empire! Gohan gulped a bit, slight worry overtaking his visage but he quickly composed himself.
Fretting over the issue wasn't gonna work, rather it was time to work out a solution.
But what empire could it be? Not the cold empire, that he was certain of. The Saiyan Prince had been very tenacious in his endeavours to tear almost all the strongholds of the former tyrant.
That had been productive to Vegeta in achieving Super Saiyan form. The elder Saiyan had narrated his expeditions quite vociferously. Though not once, had he mentioned any other empire.
Nevertheless, his suspicions had landed in the right place. These two captors were only the means to an end which was the empire.
Even if he somehow managed to bail out of this ordeal, what was abating the empire from putting its, apparently, vast resources to use and invade the planet itself?
Though the probability was there of Earth's victory, the vast casualties in the crossfire could also not be refuted.
All things considered, any belligerency was not favorable.
Dammit! What should I do? He just couldn't… Vegeta's face flashed in the front of his mind, and Gohan paused in his musings.
"We Saiyans could only wait while serving under Frieza but were adamant about our intentions."
Despite not having the power to defeat Frieza, the Saiyan Prince had been firm on the point that they were just waiting for the right moment, while serving the tyrant's bid.
The son of Goku also began contemplating. Could he do that?
The possibility was there. He could wait while learning more about the intentions of this empire. Moreover, it wasn't like the others, back at Earth, would just sit and do nothing.
If anything, they were gonna leave no stone unturned. He had that level of confidence in his mom.
More and more he pondered, the chain of ideas started seeming more plausible.
"What do you mean Gohan and the girls disappeared?! People don't just disappear like that!"
Tien, Krillin, Yamcha cringed while Piccolo - standing several metres apart - gritted his teeth at the shrill voice, and glared at the Saiyan Prince who wasn't faring any better.
Not wanting to endure any further, Vegeta directed a sharp gaze at the loud human. "That's what happened, woman!"
A searing gaze was immediately aimed at him. "Don't you dare, Vegeta! The kids are gone, and we don't even know… "
"And you screaming like Kakarot's banshee will bring them back?"
Bulma's face went from fair to red in an instant, cheeks puffing out, fists clenched, and she stormed towards the Saiyan prince, blue orbs - shining with so much intensity - pinning the latter under them.
If not for the situation, Vegeta would have smirked, instead, he settled for rolling his eyes. Here it comes… He parted his arms just a bit before the blue-haired woman collapsed into them and began sniffing slightly.
The Saiyan sighed just a bit. No more. This is the last one. If he had known about these drastic changes induced by human pregnancy, he wouldn't have even agreed to another child, but, unfortunately… or fortunately, the only involvement he had in Trunk's birth was his seed.
Some moments passed.
Nobody interrupted the moment, everyone grateful for the relief paved by the blue-haired woman's near silence.
"Here's the dragon radar," Trunks announced, jumping out of the window, before landing and looking quizzically at the quietness. Then, his gaze landed on his parents, and his nose wrinkled on his own. Mom is weird again.
"Alright, enough," Vegeta slightly pushed Bulma back. Mood swings or whatever, this was the most he could tackle. "We'll wish the brat… "
"Brats," Bulma supplied, sniffing a bit.
"... back," The Saiyan prince glanced at his son. "Trunks," And caught the dragon radar before tossing it to Tien.
No word was spoken, and the humans and Namekian quickly flew away. Vegeta glanced back at his family for a bit, taking in the hopeful visage of Trunks, and simply glared.
The kid immediately deflated, but still maintained eye contact with his father who veered his eyes, for a bit, towards mom. Understanding, he fervently nodded.
Then, the Prince of Saiyans took off towards the skies.
It's almost half an hour since we started passing by these ships and crafts. His previous train of thoughts began running again. Most likely, there was a fleet of ships, or something like that, which was their destination.
And, the leisurely pace of the surrounding crafts was a direct indication of their approaching terminus. Soon, they would come to know of their fate and, subsequently, of Earth. Let's just hope it will be all good in the end.
Sighing a bit, he looked towards his left to check on the still unconscious girls…
Approaching Planet Bana. Repeat: Approaching Planet Bana.
Heeding the computerised voice, Gohan immediately stilled and put his whole attention towards the conversation that was bound to follow.
"Once we enter the atmosphere, I want you to take a position close to the brats.
"Yeah, yeah. Even, I ain't a fan of her bitchin'."
Prepare for the entrance. Repeat: Prepare for the entrance.
The demi-Saiyan immediately directed his gaze towards the window pane, eyes getting glued, seeing the yellow planet as it began to come into view.
Second by second passed, forming into minutes, as the craft began descending, yellowish skies slowly filled his vision, after the heat from reentry.
Footsteps again began approaching, and he immediately closed his eyes.
They or rather their prisons were in movement for a while. Gohan discreetly peeked with his right eye, taking in the metal walls surrounding his glass prison which was slowly moving downwards, while keeping a check on the girls' Ki moving further below him.
The alien duo's Kis were directly above him; both were simply following them.
Then, the group halted for a demi Saiyan took note of the rectangular opening having formed in the metallic wall before the three prisons - his being the last - entered it, while he already took note of the sole Ki present at a few moments distance.
Again, he closed his eye just before they halted in front of the Ki wielder. A couple of moments passed in silence as Sor and Zaldor also settled on either side of the Ki wielder.
"The prisons… "
This was the voice Sor had imitated! And to such perfection… if not for the all-too-familiar Ki fluctuations as a result of speaking, Gohan would have easily named the voice as Sor's.
"... are intact this time," The female huffed for a bit. "At least, I can give you that. Now, did you run the biology scans?"
The son of Goku immediately tensed. Though not at all different on surface, there were monumental differences at the basic level when compared to humans.
Deep scanning could immediately reveal the very high density of bone constitution, the healing and subsequent improving ability of every cell and much more.
"Yeah," Sor was quick to reply. "These humans are too fragile."
Tension left the demi-Saiyan's body like a balloon deflating; his captors words were direct indicators that either they didn't run the scan at all or it was just a rudimentary scan at best. All in all, it was better for him.
"Doesn't concern you," The woman again huffed. "Both of you can leave."
The Ki of both the aliens' flared, indicating their ire, but they were quick to oblige and no later, their Ki vanished from the room.
"Alright, you humans have slept enough."
No later, Gohan felt a soothing sensation wash over his being, and immediately, a strong urge rose to give a loud satisfactory yawn, but he curbed the feeling. Only when Erasa groaned beside him, did he open his eyes, taking in the not-so-alien female and his surroundings.
The female was, to say, simple and boring. Middle aged features like their English teacher - only highlighting thing being her yellow hair - clad in an armor like skirt with black leggings beneath it. Arms crossed, the woman was looking at them with a sneer.
"Where are we?" Videl was quick to voice, while still gathering her wits. The place was not giving her any negative vibes she was familiar with. It was just a plain rectangular white room.
Glancing to her sides, she saw both Erasa and Gohan also bound by a cylindrical prison just like hers. Whereas the blonde girl was clearly scared, the son of Son Goku was fairing quite better. Well, he's the strongest here. These thugs don't even know who they're messing with!
"And why are… "
"Quiet!" The woman's shrill voice cut Videl's like a knife through butter, the blue-eyed girl pausing for a moment. "My work is done here; you can ask whatever you want from Berry," Voicing, she strode away, a seemingly perpetual sneer on her face.
"... Berry?... " Gohan asked in confusion. "Who… "
"That would be me."
The demi-Saiyan blinked when white particles of light, after appearing from mid-air, coalesced to form an white ethereal figure of a girl. Clad in a plain white robe, she was the definition of beautiful; if she were an actual girl, Gohan could easily see her winning every beauty pageant.
"Welcome to Planet Bana."
Out of the corner of his eye, the demi-Saiyan glanced at the girls and waited patiently for their reactions. It would be a lot easier and better to just follow their lead rather than taking the initiative.
"P-planet?! What do you mean by that?!" Erasa nearly shouted at the end, eyes wide and frantic, before sharply swerving towards her best friend. "V-videl… "
"I was of the opinion that your species is advanced enough for space travel, thus, well-versed in the cosmic nomenclature."
To the wonder of Gohan's scientific mind, the ethereal figure even dipped her head rightwards, showing confusion! That was seriously another level tech!
I am an alien, half-alien to be precise…
My father's a Saiyan from planet Vegeta…
If it were some other time, Videl would have believed the girl to be a really good hologram and asked its operator to at least spend on some good weed rather than using cheap one, but now, things were different.
Bardock's confession about his heritage among other things had been a bold giveaway about existence of extraterrestrial life, having smashed any lingering remnants of the world built in her mind influenced by her father's words.
However, even then, their current predicament was a lot to take in. She was confused, scared - no doubt about that - but she was also better oriented with such situations than Erasa and even Gohan. The son of Son Goku, for all things, had lived a sheltered life till recently.
Though, his presence and skills were also a soothing element. Releasing a breath, she decided to follow the standard police protocol to be used in such situations. "Planet Bana? Never heard of it. Could you shed some more light?"
"V-videl… ?"
The blue-eyed girl merely looked at her best friend and gave a confident smile, despite her own inner turmoil, and just nodded - the blonde shakingly nodding in return - before glancing at the son of Goku on her other side who also nodded, clearly signifying his go ahead.
"Planet Bana is one of the five royal seats and the crown seat of the Eastern Empire. Orbiting the star Fructose, it supports a population of 50 billion of different species, and is the largest planet of the Empire."
Okay, this was seriously getting intense. If this was a ploy against her for her father's misdeeds, well, she would gladly pardon the perpetrator because this was a damn good one. However, if this was real, then… "And, how vast is this Eastern Empire?"
"The Eastern empire spans over the entire Eastern Quadrant of the Universe, consisting of 37 major planets and 1256 other planets in total."
Gohan's eyes slightly widened. The entire Eastern Quadrant! These guys were not only able to map out but also utilize the resources of an entire Quadrant of their Universe. This was not something they could easily mess with and hope to win.
No, they needed intel, more intel. Thankfully, Videl was doing a great job.
"Are you guys for real going to believe this?!" Erasa asked in a frantic voice. They were kidnapped by some loons and instead of escaping, both her friends were playing twenty questions with what was definitely a hologram.
"Just a moment, Erasa," Not caring for the response, not even glancing at the blonde, Videl continued. "Who's in the hierarchy?"
"Originally hailing from one of the minor planets, King Varcus is the supreme authority in the Eastern empire. The Crown prince - son of his Highness - Lord Kardon is at par with the Prime Minister."
"Parenthetically, there is a ten seat council consisting, apart from five royal seats, five elected representatives from other planets. These heads lead the great Eastern empire."
"Then how come this empire was ignored by Freeza?" Gohan immediately voiced, ignoring the curious look both the girls sent towards him. There were more important things than his secrets.
If such a vast empire was in existence, there was no way that tailed lizard could have stayed put. He continued. "After all, he was the emperor of the Universe."
"Cold empire was always known more for its boasts than feats. They barely controlled one-third of the Universe."
If it were some other time or situation, the demi-Saiyan would have laughed at the words. Even Vegeta would have cackled, but sadly, this was not it.
"Cold empire's reigns spanned over the entire Northern Quadrant and some parts of the Western Quadrant. Though, their prowess cannot be denied as a direct conflict between both sides could have been disastrous for both."
"Still, your words hold weight. The Cold empire or rather King Cold surely ventured into the Eastern empire, but a duel between him and the mighty grandfather of King Varcus settled the matters. After his defeat, King Cold and his scions decided to stay off from the empire."
"What can you tell about other Quadrants?" Gohan again voiced, hoping to gain as much information as he could.
"Western Quadrant is peaceful and weak, to say the least, but is full of resources thus gaining the attention of the Cold empire. You are from the Northern Quadrant. The Southern Quadrant is a battle space. From small skirmishes to Galaxy level conflicts are a norm there."
"WHERE IS MY BABY BOY?!"
Every male present on the lookout cringed as a deeply scowling Android Eighteen appeared followed by the Ox princess sitting on Nimbus, Goten held tightly in her embrace.
Immediately, Vegeta glared at Krillin. "Why did you tell the Banshee?"
The monk had the decency to look sheepish as he began rubbing his head. "... She deserved to know?"
The tone intimated more of a question rather than an answer causing Vegeta to harden his glare but only for a moment. "Tch," Muttering, the Prince of Saiyans turned his attention away. He was getting soft!
"GOHAN! BRING BACK MY BABY! DENDE!" Landing with an impressive dive, Goten still held in her embrace, Chichi made a mad dash towards the small Namekian who took a step back, a nervous smile on his visage.
Raising his hands towards the quickly approaching woman appearing to be on a murder spree, Dende, getting more and more nervous, voiced. "Ah… Chichi-san… " While he continued to take steps back before colliding with something.
Raising his head, he was greeted with the stern visage of his mentor-cum-former guardian of the planet. Great. "... Uh… " But he blinked when Piccolo shifted his gaze, sternness still present, away from him.
Slowly, he also followed, getting slightly surprised as the wife of Son Goku stilled, her own glare directed at the taller Namekian. Tension rose to palpable levels as everyone waited with bated breath or in Vegeta's case - nonchalance.
And then, Chichi balled her fists, even Goten shielding her ears from the obviously upcoming onslaught, but the Ox princess looked away, to everyone's utter surprise.
"Proceed."
Not waiting even for another moment, quickly heeding to Piccolo's command, Dende quickly turned towards the dragon balls before taking a breath. "Riseforth, by your name, I summon you… SHENRON!"
The dragon balls pulsed in union before a blinding light washed the entire area. When it disappeared, with the background as a dark sky, was Shenron in all his glory. "YOU WHO HAVE AWAKENED ME FROM MY SLUMBER, SPEAK TWO WISHES, AND I SHALL GRANT THEM IF IN MY POWER!"
Dende nodded. "Please bring to Earth, Son Gohan, Videl, and Erasa."
Shenron's red eyes immediately pulsed.
"... that resulted in conflicts in the Southern Quadrant. Further… "
As he listened to Berry explaining the conflicts in Southern Quadrant, Gohan felt a tug at the edge of his mind. In that moment, he felt confused but immediately realized the nature of the tug and allowed his consciousness to get pulled.
Appearing in a plain white plane, he was greeted with two huge shining red eyes. Immediately, he shouted. "Stop Shenron! Don't bring Videl and Erasa here!"
The red eyes stopped pulsing.
The demi-Saiyan sighed in relief before nodding at the eyes of the Dragon. "Thank you Shenron. Now, I know we have been wished back but please can you not fulfill the wish?"
A bout of silence occurred.
"STATE YOUR REASON."
"We have been conveyed to the Eastern Empire, for what... " The son of Goku shook his head. "... I don't know. The empire is quite large, and I am trying to assess if they pose a threat to us or not. You wishing us back will lure the empire to Earth."
"IS THAT WHAT YOU SEEK?"
Gohan nodded. "Yes."
"VERY WELL."
Shenron's eyes stopped glowing. "THE ONE KNOWN AS SON GOHAN REFUSES TO COME BACK… "
"WHAT?! WHY?!" Chichi couldn't help herself. Her sweet baby had given them the same answer her wayward husband had! This was not what she had raised him to!
Shenron's eyes' narrowed, clearly not pleased at the interruption. "HE AND TWO HUMAN FEMALES ARE IN THE EASTERN EMPIRE, AND BRINGING THEM BACK SHALL INVITE THE ENTIRE EMPIRE TO EARTH - A SITUATION HE DOES NOT SEEK."
"Trying to take on an empire by himself?! Is he crazy?" Krillin shouted in disbelief. Gohan was generally a level headed child; what was he trying to accomplish?
Chichi fainted while Goten developed an expression of awe on his face. His brother was so strong!
"DO NOT INTERRUPT AGAIN!" Shenron's eyes flared red, narrowing onto the short human who gulped. "SON GOHAN IS TRYING TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE AIM OF THE EMPIRE. NOW STATE YOUR SECOND WISH?"
"What can you tell about the Empire?"
Every eye turned towards the Prince of Saiyans who was looking uncharacteristically serious. Arms uncrossed, head leaning a bit forward were the blatant signs that the usually nonchalant Prince was concerned.
"IS THAT YOUR SECOND WISH?"
Before anyone could even think of saying something, Vegeta sharply nodded. Seeing this, Dende was surprised. The Saiyan Prince, not counting Namek, was never the one to interfere in the whole wish seeking event. Could he not know about it?
"A MILLENNIUM AGO, COLD EMPIRE WAS AT ITS PEAK, WITH ITS REIGNS SPANNING OVER THE ENTIRE NORTHERN AND HALF OF THE WESTERN QUADRANT. THEN, THE EMERGENCE OF A UNPRECEDENTED WARRIOR BROUGHT IT TO ITS KNEES."
"Super Saiyan… " Vegeta instinctively whispered.
"A SAIYAN DEFIED HIS LIMITS AND OPPOSED KING CHILLED - THE THEN MONARCH OF COLD EMPIRE - AND ALSO DESTROYED MOST OF THE EMPIRE. HIS EMERGENCE CAUSED SEVERAL MONUMENTAL CHANGES."
"TO SOME, IT WAS MOTIVATION FOR RAISING VOICE AGAINST THEIR OPPRESSORS, WHILE TO VARCUS THE FIRST, IT WAS MOTIVATION TO BECOME STRONG TO UNITE THE BATTLING CIVILISATIONS IN THE EASTERN QUADRANT."
"HE TRAINED AND MET THE GUARDIAN OF HIS PLANET BEFORE EVENTUALLY MEETING WITH THE KAI OF THE EASTERN QUADRANT. GROWING IN POWER, HE SLOWLY UNITED A LARGE SHARE OF THE EASTERN QUADRANT."
"HIS DESCENDANTS CARRIED THE LEGACY, AND NOW, IT SPANS OVER THE ENTIRE QUADRANT."
"You also don't know about it?"
While not looking but still heeding to the voice of Crane school master, the Saiyan Prince shook his head. "Neither Freeza nor King Cold ever mentioned about it."
"BECAUSE IT TOOK CENTURIES FOR COLD EMPIRE TO RECOVER AND GAIN ONLY HALF OF THE NORTHERN QUADRANT. CONSIDERING IT TO BE ENOUGH, KING COLD MARCHED TOWARDS THE EASTERN EMPIRE BUT WAS MET WITH A LARGER ARMY."
Everyone, even Goten, was entranced by the tale the Great Dragon was telling, and that too, on his own. I think he also gets bored by sleeping. Yamcha mused to himself.
"ULTIMATELY, A DUEL BETWEEN TWO MONARCHS WAS DECIDED IN WHICH KING COLD WAS UTTERLY DEFEATED. HIS DEFEAT LED HIM TO DEFY THE WARNINGS OF HIS PREDECESSORS - 'BEWARE OF THE GOLDEN MONKEY'.
"HE MARCHED TOWARDS PLANET VEGETA AND ENSLAVED THE SAIYANS. WHEREAS IT TOOK THEM CENTURIES TO EVEN CAPTURE HALF THE NORTHERN QUADRANT, NOW, IN JUST SOME DECADES, WITH SAIYANS IN HIS ARMY, HE CAPTURED THE REMAINING HALF."
"HE WANTED TO CREATE A LARGER ARMY THAN THE EASTERN EMPIRE AND MIGHT HAD UNTIL HIS ULTIMATE DEFEAT AT THE HANDS OF A SAIYAN HYBRID."
"Alright, Enough!"
Berry quieted, heeding to the blonde girl's outburst. Gohan and Videl looked at their friend in confusion. "Erasa?" The blue-eyed girl voiced her thoughts.
"What are you guys doing? We are captured, Kami knows where, and you are playing twenty questions with… with… whatever this shit is!"
"Shit? What is that term?"
"Ugh!" Erasa groaned, but after a moment, looked towards Berry. "Tell us, why are we here?"
Berry blinked. "That is confidential."
"What… "
Before Erasa could even complete her words, an opening appeared in the metallic wall just opposite to them, capturing their attention, and out walked the same female they had met a while ago, two guards following her.
"You three have been summoned… to the Royal Palace."
"Why have they been captured?" Piccolo voiced the thoughts of everyone.
Shenron's eyes pulsed for a bit. "IT IS NOT IN MY CAPACITY TO TRANSCEND TIME IN FUTURE."
"Uh… what?"
"Shenron cannot foresee an event that has not even happened yet, Krillin-san, or in this case, the piece of information that has not been revealed yet. The only way is to bring back someone from the empire but we do not want that nor do we have a third wish."
Vegeta and Piccolo glared at the son of Goku who began rubbing his head. "Uh… Trunks and I also couldn't foresee it?"
"FAREWELL."
A bright light pulsed before Shenron disappeared, the sky returning back to its original color.
As the dragon balls shot into the sky, Goten leaped onto the Nimbus and quickly caught the four star dragon ball they had. "Thank you, Nimbus," Patting the cute cloud and jumping from it, he landed and settled beside his still sleeping mom. Mom is really weird sometimes. Sleeping now?
"What should be the next course of action?" Tien voiced, tension clear from his words.
"We train," Vegeta immediately replied. "With the technology at our use, it will take us at least a year to reach just the threshold of Eastern Empire. Clearly, they are more advanced than us in terms of technology."
"We don't have a wish either to use for transportation," Piccolo took over. " Besides, Gohan has a good head. We need to trust him."
"Yeah," Krillin began rubbing his forehead. "Also, I guess peace time is over, huh? It was the longest," He finished with a nervous chuckle.
Nobody could deny the words.
So, that's that.
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