Vegeta:

Draw lots. Of course, that was a suggestion that had to come from Kakarrot. He looked angrily at Kera. He could tell she wasn't in the mood for this kid stuff either, but she just shrugged helplessly. He resigned himself. Maybe it would at least be over quickly.

"Good. And how shall we draw lots?"

"I planted beetroots some time ago. We just each pull a beetroot out of the ground and whoever has the biggest wins."

Again a glance at Kera. She nodded and also seemed to think that it would all just have to be over quickly. The others, however, who had already signed up to fight, cheered.

"Wait a minute, you're really going to let kids fight?" Tarble looked around questioningly.

"Of course. This one is my son." Vegeta pulled Trunks forward. "He and Kakarrot's son fought a demon not too long ago."

Tarble's jaw dropped and he seemed unable to retort anything.

"Come here. I'll teleport us to my field."

They gathered around Kakarrot and he took them miles away from Hercule's hotel to his field in the blink of an eye. It was not far from his home, what he shared with Chichi and his sons, and nestled on the slope of a cliff. Vegeta rarely went to Kakarrot's house, but he always secretly marvelled at the quiet area in which it was located. He was thankful that the estate he lived in was so spacious that he didn't notice anything of the bustling city. Otherwise he probably wouldn't last long there.

"So let's go. Everyone pull a beetroot!" Kakarrot gave the start signal.

Kera and Vegeta ran to opposite ends of the field. Vegeta looked for a particularly bushy green and pulled hard. A beetroot about as long as his hand emerged.

He cursed inwardly. There were certainly bigger beetroots. His gaze immediately wandered to Kera, whose beetroot was about the same size as his. She raised her shoulders slightly and tilted her head to one side as if asking him to join her.

He complied with her request and stood beside her at the edge of the field. They watched as one by one their friends and family pulled a beetroot. Some were bigger than Vegeta and Kera's, some were smaller. It was not yet clear who would take on the two attackers.

"I don't think it's bad that we're not fighting," Kera began the conversation.

Vegeta only made a vague sound and said nothing further.

"I know you would like to fight. I would also like to fight again. On the other hand, they're probably not very strong opponents and I think we have far more important things to talk about."

"Like what?"

"Well, for example, that I am not his cousin, but probably his sister, and you and he may only be half-brothers."

Vegeta sighed. They should tell Tarble that already.

"Very good, Goten. That's the biggest beetroot yet!" exclaimed Kakarrot.

Goten triumphantly held a beetroot almost as big as he was. Quickly, Vegeta looked for Trunks in the field. He had not yet pulled out a turnip.

"Trunks, you better pick a bigger one!"

Kera beside him snorted in annoyance. He ignored her.

Trunks bent down. The beetroot he pulled out was smaller than Goten's. Frustrated, Vegeta growled. But Trunks pulled even further. Long roots coiled beneath the beetroot. He kept pulling and tugging until finally he had traced the root strand halfway across the field.

"Trunks has won!" triumphed Vegeta.

Kakarrot looked disappointed. "Well ..." He leaned down to his younger son, who whispered something in his ear. Kakarrot nodded and straightened up again. "Trunks and Goten are fighting together."

"What?!" Enraged, Vegeta took a step towards Kakarrot.

"There are two opponents, so two of us are fighting too." Silently he spread his arms as a demand that they all come together again. Kera didn't give him a chance to say anything else, but simply dragged him along.

"Later," she murmured in his ear, and a blink later they were all standing outside Hercule's hotel again.

"I sense two alien energies, hostile," Menka said, pointing upwards. "They'll be here any moment."

"Thank you, Menka," Kakarrot said, turning to Tarble. "Trunks and Goten will take care of that for you."

Tarble, who hadn't made a sound the whole time, just nodded slowly and stared at the spot Menka had indicated.

Kera:

"Tarble, will you please come with us? We want to talk to you."

Kera had gently grabbed Tarble by the shoulder and made him turn to face her.

"What, why? Any minute now, aren't those ..."

"Don't worry. The little ones will take care of that. Vegeta, Kakarrot and I would like to talk to you in peace."

"Why?" Kakarott tilted his head.

"Because," Kera replied, grabbing Vegeta by the wrist to pull him along. They followed Kera back a few yards until they were back at the pavilion where they had been sitting and eating before Tarble and Gure had shown up. Kakarrot reluctantly followed, Gure at Kera's nod, curious.

They sat down together at a table and waiting, they looked at Kera while the fight began on the other side of the meadow.

"I know it's hard for you to sit here with us now, but it's important that we discuss a few things while Tarble is still here."

"Can't it wait until after the fight?" Kakarrot shifted uneasily in his chair. "We may have to intervene after all."

"I understand how you feel, Kakarrot," Kera began. "The children will manage without our help and we can talk in peace."

"Are you sure they will make it?" Tarble looked at Kera with wide eyes.

"Yes. The fighting power of these two guys is quite interesting, but not in a range that could become critical for them."

"Why can you tell the combat power without a scouter?"

"Practice thing," Vegeta replied.

"Can I learn that too?"

Kera smiled. "Sure." She changed the subject. "How have you been these past few years?"

Tarble shrugged. "I was upset that father had sent me away and Vegeta was allowed to stay on our planet with our parents. I'm quite glad of it now, though, because otherwise I probably would have gone down with the planet. The colony where father had sent me was run by Gure's people. Her family took care of me and that's how we met." Enamoured, he smiled at his mate before continuing. "And you?"

Kera cleared her throat and looked from Kakarrot to Vegeta, hoping one of them would start the narrative, but they both pointedly looked away from her. She gave herself a jolt.

"Well, all three of us have been through quite a lot before we got together. Among other things, we found out that Vegeta and I are not cousins, but siblings. Twins."

The silence that followed that sentence spread. Tarble searched for words, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. It seemed to take minutes before he finally said something.

"Twins? The twins from which chaos is born?"

Surprised, Tarble looked at her. "How do you know about that?"

"Those are legends, fairy tales we were told as children."

Questioningly, she looked to Vegeta, who shook his head.

"You probably don't remember them. You always fell asleep so quickly and when you were older you went to bed later, but I hung on every word Mother told me to fall asleep."

"I actually couldn't remember that," she said softly.

Hesitantly, Vegeta began to tell his story, joined again and again by Kera and Kakarrot. Tarble listened open-mouthed as the sounds of battle drifted to them from the distance.

"By the way, your sons have difficulty recognising auras," Kera said after a while. She had kept her senses focused on the battle. The two opponents had multiplied. She could still see two auras very clearly, while others looked like shadows of the original auras. Trunks and Goten frantically switched back and forth between the different manifestations.

Kakarrot and Vegeta glared at her and she stuck her tongue out at them. "You always forget to train your mental powers," she reminded her brothers, then turned back to Tarble.

"So you see, a lot has happened since Planet Vegeta was destroyed."

"So we're not brothers at all?" Questioningly, Tarble looked to Vegeta.

"We can't say that for sure. If you wish, Bulma, my mate, can have your DNA tested. It won't tell us who your parents are, but at least it will tell us how we're related to each other."

Tarble opened his mouth to reply, but an ear-piercing bang silenced him.

Kera jumped up and looked towards the battlefield. A huge cloud of ash was rolling towards the sky. "What in the gods ...?"

"The attackers ..." began Kakarrot.

"... are gone," Vegeta finished the sentence.

"Come on!" Kera ran to connect with Piccolo. He remained silent. Kera quickened her steps. Something bad must have happened or he would answer. She quickened her pace once more and heard Kakarrot and Vegeta close behind her. They were as worried as she was.

She tried to take in the situation as quickly as she could. Her friends and families were all standing with their backs to her in a semi-circle at the battle site. No one seemed to be hurt, as far as Kera could tell. She sprinted to Piccolo and came to a skidding halt beside him.

"What happened? Why aren't you answering? Is someone hurt? It looked pretty good for the boys after all. What ...?"

Piccolo just stared ahead. His mouth was slightly open, as if he had forgotten to close it again after an expression of astonishment. Next to him stood Bulma, who had the same expression on her face.

At last Kera took her eyes off the two of them and looked ahead, at the spot they were all staring at, transfixed.

About three steps away from them, Gine was sitting in the grass, smiling at them. She was covered all over with a greenish, slimy liquid, which didn't seem to bother her.

Kera grabbed Piccolo by the collar and forced him to look at her. "What happened here?!" She over-emphasised each syllable.

Piccolo looked her in the eye, waited another moment as if to make sure she really wanted to hear what he was about to say.

'Gine did it. Gine killed the two attackers.'

Startled, Kera let go of his cloak and took a step backwards. "No! It can't be. How could she have done that?"

"What happened? Come on, talk!" Vegeta had come to stand beside her.

"I'll show you."

Piccolo reached for her hand and she felt him groping for the golden band that connected them.

"Wait. Let Vegeta and Kakarrot see it too."

Piccolo nodded and waited until Kera had taken each of her brothers by one hand. Then they all closed their eyes.

Kera now saw through Piccolo's eyes what he had seen only a short time before. Trunks and Goten had had problems holding their own against the lookalikes, as they had not recognised which of the attackers was the real one. Piccolo and Gohan had given them tips and they had been able to make up ground, but then the two attackers had united to form a new warrior. Before Trunks and Goten had the chance to fuse as well, Gine had suddenly jumped out of Bulma's arms, flown towards the attacker and released a huge amount of energy at close range on the fused attacker that it had exploded. Now she sat on the ground as if nothing had happened.

Gasping, Kera broke free of the connection and opened her eyes. Vegeta and Kakarrot looked as startled as Piccolo.

"This can't be. How can she be so strong? She ..."

"She's just a child. I know that too. But she is also the prophesied chaos."