Piccolo:

"Menka, Reyak! We have to go!" Kera's voice echoed through the house. Piccolo stood outside near the waterfall and looked at the front door.

Kera stepped out of the house and sighed. Reyak and Menka walked right behind her. "And you're sure you're not too warm in that robe?", Kera asked her daughter.

"No, I like it," Menka replied with a snotty undertone.

Piccolo suppressed the impulse to roll his eyes. She'd been difficult lately, he found. At times very sociable and the next moment bitchy and unfriendly. And most of the time, Reyak was the nice and sociable part during his sister's bitchy phases, until they alternated again. Piccolo sometimes didn't understand the world any more.

He wanted to reach for Kera's hand, but she withdrew from his grasp, which stung him. The icy atmosphere that had prevailed between them until Gohan and Videl's wedding because of their quarrel was much worse since their encounter at the wedding. Kera hadn't wanted to talk to him that evening and hadn't looked at him at all otherwise. He wasn't even sure why exactly she was so angry.

"Let's fly off. Otherwise we'll be late," Piccolo said, rising.

"Will Dende be there too?" wanted to know Menka.

"I assume so," Piccolo replied and saw an instant smile spread across Menka's lips. Menka spent most of her time with Dende and Piccolo was no longer so sure that he was really just teaching her. He had intended to have a serious talk with Dende some time ago, but as long as Kera continued to ignore him, he didn't want to add another work site.

During the flight, he kept looking at Kera, who didn't bat an eye at him. He sighed silently. Many years ago, he had had the intention to take over the world and to have no consideration for anyone or anything. Then this woman came into his life and had thrown everything into confusion. Now he was a family father who was getting fed up when his mate ignored him. That stubborn Saiyan!

Kera had reproached him again two days after the wedding for wanting Gine's powers bound without her consent. She didn't want her daughter to grow up in a prison. That was the end of the discussion for her. Every new attempt to bring it up with her ended in a big argument, with the same arguments being brought up over and over again. Piccolo had to admit to himself that they were both stubborn. He just did not understand why Kera did not consider this option. For him, it was important to prevent another disaster like Buu. They had seen that Gine, even though she had been so small, had almost rebelled against Buu. And then the explosion on the day Tarble had arrived on Earth.

In retrospect, that thought frightened Piccolo. How much power was there in this child? If she was always on their side, maybe everything was fine, but what if she was against them for some reason? Kera dismissed this argument as far-fetched. That would never happen, she claimed. But Piccolo was not so sure. Menka was also at a difficult age right now and even the question of clothing sometimes triggered discussions that made the walls shake. It was unthinkable what it would be like if they went through the same phases with Gine and she perhaps unleashed some forces without thinking. Who knows what else lay dormant in this child. And nobody would be able to show her how to deal with these special powers, if they were to break out.

They flew over the Briefs' estate and Piccolo concentrated on the approach. They finally touched down on a huge cruise ship that Bulma had chosen as the venue for her birthday party. Several tables with parasols had been set up on the deck. Arranged in a circle around them were several stalls serving a variety of food. Even a stage had been set up.

Piccolo would have liked to turn around and fly home again, but Kera held him tightly. He couldn't understand why someone could put so much energy into planning a party. He didn't find such social events that exciting anyway. He could easily spend time alone or just with his family. They had all just met at Gohan and Videl's wedding a few weeks ago. That had actually filled his quota of social gatherings enough for the next few months.

But it was important for Kera and the children to meet others as well. Kera seemed lonely at times, Piccolo suspected, but she said nothing.

"Piccolo!" Gohan came running up to him. He was wearing long pants and a shirt, and he wore glasses.

"Gohan, good to see you."

Gohan greeted Kera and the children, then Videl joined him. Menka and Reyak went off to look for Gohan and Trunks.

"Piccolo, Kera, here, for you." Videl handed them an envelope, which Kera accepted.

"Thank you." Kera opened the envelope, looked at the card inside and began to laugh. She held the card out to Piccolo.

He too had to grin, but quickly loosened it when he saw that her laughter did not reach her eyes. She was only pretending to be happy in front of the others. In reality, she was seething. The card she held out to him was the thank you card from Gohan and Videl's wedding. A photo was enclosed, showing the bride and groom and Piccolo and Kera with the children. Piccolo looked as if he had been tortured to make this photo.

Kera put the card back in the envelope and handed it to Piccolo. "Will you put the card away, please? Where's Bulma?" she asked Videl.

"Over there." Videl gestured behind her to one of the food stalls.

"Isn't Goku here?" inquired Piccolo of Gohan.

"No, he's training with King Kai." He cleared his throat. "Mum's not too happy about that."

"Vegeta's not there either, is he?"

"I haven't seen him yet, at least," Gohan said.

Without looking at Piccolo again, Kera turned and walked towards Bulma.

Kera:

"Hey, Bulma!"

Kera had stepped up beside the blue-haired woman. Bulma turned to her, smiled and hugged her.

"I'm glad you're here. Then we can depart."

"Where's Gine?"

Bulma pointed to Chi-Chi, who was standing a few paces away with Yamcha and Bulma's parents. "Chi-Chi is taking care of her right now."

"And where is Vegeta?"

Immediately Bulma's expression darkened. "Not here. Probably he's training. He's in a bad mood."

Kera grinned. "Should I just go get him?"

"You can call him," Bulma said, handing her a mobile phone that was already connecting. Immediately the phone went to her ear and waited for someone to pick up.

"What?"

Vegeta sounded annoyed. His voice was further away, so he was in the gravity room, using the speakerphone.

"This is Kera. It's your mate's birthday. You should get your ass over here ASAP!"

"I don't feel like it," came back the grumpy reply.

"Doesn't count. Obligations apply to everyone. I'm here too, after all."

A pause arose. "I'll be right there," Vegeta growled then.

"Thanks," Kera fluted into the mobile phone before hanging up.

"He'll be right there," she said to Bulma, handing the phone back to her.

Vegeta:

Angrily, he let his hand whiz on the intercom button. Kera had caught him at his most vulnerable point. Obligations. Honour. To his people and especially his family. He had secretly hoped somehow to shirk this solemnity, but his mate was adamant in this regard.

With one last longing look into the gravity room, he turned off the increased gravity and went into the nearest bathroom. A shower would surely still be allowed.

After a quick shower, he flew to the large ship where the party was being held and tried to land unnoticed in a corner of the deck, but he had no luck. Kera immediately came running towards him, Bulma following her.

"There you are at last!", Kera greeted him.

Defiantly, Vegeta crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Panting, Bulma stopped in front of him and smiled. "I'm glad you're here."

"I didn't have any ..." he continued, but Kera interrupted him by clearing her throat loudly. "Yes, I'm here." He wrestled a smile from himself, which he hoped looked soothing. It seemed to work, because Bulma left.

As soon as she was out of earshot, he snapped at Kera. "Did you have to do that? For you to call me and summon me here? I'm not in the mood for this kind of event. You know that very well."

"My mate doesn't feel like being here either, but he's doing it for me and the children's sake. Sometimes you have to put your ego aside," she grumbled back in the same tone.

Vegeta breathed in. He couldn't think of a suitable retort, so he slowly exhaled again and resorted to staring in the other direction in a huff.

"Come on, let's go lie down on the sunbeds back there," Kera said in a conciliatory tone, pointing to a row of sunbeds a few paces away.

Vegeta nodded and followed her. Maybe relaxing once in a while wasn't so wrong after all.

He made himself comfortable, Kera lying down beside him. It then occurred to him that a drink and some food would be nice too and he was about to ask Kera if she wanted something too, when he was interrupted by a voice in his head. Alarmed, he sat up.

"King Kai?!"

Worried, Kera sat up again as well. "What is it?"

Vegeta started to say something to her, by then she was already waving him off, signalling that she too could hear Master Kaio.

"Vegeta, Kera, where are you?"

"At my mate's birthday. On a ship."

"Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction is on his way to you. He was already here on my planet, fighting Goku."

"The God of Destruction?" asked Kera.

"Yes. He is looking for a Super Saiyan God and ..."

"What's that supposed to be?" interrupted Vegeta to the Kaio.

"Don't interrupt me!" the latter roared. Vegeta stifled a remark and waited for King Kai to continue. "Lord Beerus will be with you soon. Do not irritate him, no insults, no typical Saiyan behaviour!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" exclaimed Vegeta and Kera together.

"You know exactly what I mean! So, pay attention."

The connection broke. Vegeta looked to Kera.

"Typical. Kakarrot has once again messed with someone stronger and we have to take the fall," he growled.

Kera nodded at him in agreement. Then she tapped her thumbnail against her front teeth. "Beerus ... I have a feeling I've heard that name before."

"Are you sure? King Kai said something about a god. When were we supposed to have come into contact with a god?"

"I don't know either ..." Kera pondered.

"Prince Vegeta."

Startled, Vegeta turned around. There were two people standing behind him. One resembled a cat with large ears. Around his neck was a wide round strip of cloth. He wore dark blue loose trousers. The other was taller, had a bluish complexion and white hair that fell back in a long ponytail. In one hand he held a long staff on the tip of which floated an orb.

"Who ...?"

"Think carefully about what you say now. You could be dead very quickly too," the feline replied in a condescending tone.

"How do you talk ...?" cried Vegeta, charging towards the strange creature. He didn't get far. Kera grabbed him by the arm.

"Vegeta, I remember him. This is Lord Beerus."

"Butn...?"

"He humiliated your father when he hired him to find the softest pillow in the universe. We had to watch it happen. Do you remember?"

Vegeta thought for a moment. Then suddenly he felt himself transported back many years. He saw the scene in his mind's eye. His father was lying on the ground. Lord Beerus was over him, pushing him to the ground with his foot. Vegeta and Kera had wanted to intervene, but Beerus had looked at them and they had been unable to move.

"Vegeta, this is where you've been hiding?"

"Bulma, go away!" he shouted to his approaching mate.

"Now, now, Prince Vegeta, that's no way to talk to a lady. Please excuse us. Whis, introduce us."

"With pleasure. I am Whis and this is my honourable master, Lord Beerus."

Vegeta's brain was rattling at full speed as he considered how to get her out of harm's way as quickly as possible. Or rather, he would have to get Beerus off this ship somehow. But how?

"Hello, I'm Bulma, Vegeta's wife," she babbled on cheerfully without paying attention to his reaction. "Are these friends of yours?"

Kera cleared her throat. "Sort of. They decided to visit on the spur of the moment. They'll be happy to come back another time, though."

Vegeta's breath caught. That was bold of Kera.

"I see. You're welcome to stay and celebrate with us. It's my birthday today."

"Thank you for the invitation," the tall companion of Beerus said as the God of Destruction nodded curtly.

"Come along. I'll introduce you." Bulma hooked up with Beerus and led him and Whis to the others. "Hey, guys, listen up. This is Beerus and Whis, friends of Kera and Vegeta.

Helplessly, Vegeta watched as Beerus greeted everyone benevolently. Yamcha immediately approached Beerus. He even put his arm around his shoulder.

"Shit! We should go between them," Kera shouted excitedly.

"I don't know if it makes it worse," Vegeta muttered, noting with relief that Beerus moved on after only a few words with Yamcha.

"What are we going to do?"

"I have no idea. We have to get him out of here somehow."

"Maybe we can keep him happy with food. Look, he took some food and stood on the edge."

"Good idea." Vegeta immediately ran to one of the stalls and filled a large bowl with delicacies.

"I'll join you." Kera had rejoined him and had another bowl of food in her arms. Slowly they walked towards Beerus, kneeling down in front of him and offering him the food. Vegeta was loathe to kneel before anyone. He did it only to avert greater harm from the earth.

"Ah, Vegeta, very thoughtful of you. What was your name again?"

"Kera, Lord Beerus."

"I remember. You were always by little Vegeta's side, weren't you?"

Kera nodded. "I'm his sister."

"Sister? Princess Kera. I didn't know there was another of the king's children."

Vegeta cleared his throat. "That only came out a few years ago, too."

Beerus yawned heartily, as if he didn't really care.

"Lord Beerus, I learned earlier that there is a wonderful dessert called pudding that is supposed to be quite exquisite. Shall we go and get some of that?"

"I love dessert," Beerus said, walking back towards the middle of the deck.

"Man, the mere presence of that guy makes me quiver," Kera said quietly as she stood back up.

"Ask me sometime," Vegeta growled, watching as Whis asked for the pudding at one of the stalls and, shaking his head regretfully, turned back to Beerus. Then he pointed to one of the tables.

"No," Vegeta breathed.

Beerus moved to stand at the table where Buu sat, devouring one pudding after another.

"Buu must have the last of the pudding," Kera concluded. She grabbed Vegeta's arm and clawed her fingers into his skin. She was scared. As was he. If he remembered correctly, Beerus had taken her father down then with an ease that was just super-human. Frightening. Disturbing. Not of this world. Easily irritated to boot.

And Buu, next to whom he was now standing, was certainly not the best conversational partner.

There was clapping next to him. Kera had his hands in front of his face. "I can't look," she muttered. Hercule had stepped up to Beerus to stand between him and Buu, for the two had obviously started an argument.

Vegeta also felt the urge to look away. Maybe this was all just a bad dream. Beerus took a swing and swept Hercule away like a pesky fly. He flew several steps before Gohan caught him.

Buu was so enraged by the attack on Hercule that he lunged at Beerus.

"Kera, what do we do now?"

"Waking up would be good," she said quietly as she watched the fight between Buu and Beerus with him. If what was happening in the air above them could even be called a fight. Beerus was literally beating up Buu.

"Piccolo and Dende already have a guess as to who Beerus is," said Kera, who had apparently contacted Piccolo through this strange connection.

"Crap, soon everyone on the ship will know and panic will break out."

And probably Bulma would still hold it against him, as she assumed it was Vegeta's and Kera's friends who were causing trouble here.

"Vegeta!" Bulma came running up to him. "Do something. Your friend is ruining my party!"

He swallowed and looked briefly at Kera. What now?

"We have to try to calm him down somehow. Somehow," Kera said quietly, taking Vegeta's hand and pulling him along.

Beerus hovered over the ship. A purple aura surrounded him. His eyes were narrowed. He looked angry. Furious. Vegeta was still trying to process the fact that the God of Destruction had just snapped over a pudding.

"Please, Lord Beerus, if you wish more pudding..." began Kera.

"Get out of my sight!" he snapped at her.

"Lord Beerus, I'm sure we can find ...," Vegeta put in.

"Get out of my way!"

Vegeta and Kera exchanged a look, then humbly bowed their heads. There was no point. They would all be destroyed. Because of a pudding.

They landed next to Piccolo and Dende.

"Kera, who is this guy?" asked Piccolo immediately.

"You don't want to know," she replied quietly.

"Hey, you purple guy!" suddenly rang out above them. They looked up.

Piccolo and Kera were cursing. Vegeta bit his lower lip. Did it never stop with the bad news?

Trunks and Reyak, as well as Menka and Goten, had merged and were now hovering over the ship as well, ready to attack Beerus.

"You morons, get down from there now!" yelled Vegeta at the children.

But they ignored Vegeta's call and shot towards Beerus. He moved so fast that Vegeta could not follow and had grabbed Renks and Menson each with one hand. The grip was so tight that both were writhing in pain but could not escape from it.

Beerus brought both hands together. The heads of the two merged ones slammed into each other. Beerus let go and they fell tumbling towards the earth. As they did so, the fusion broke loose.

Kera and Piccolo caught their children, Vegeta caught Trunks, and Goten landed in Gohan's arms. Dende immediately ran to Menka to heal her.

"That's enough! Now it's my turn!" Angrily, Gohan sparked at Beerus and began to gather his strength.

"Please, don't do it. It's no use," Kera implored him. Questioningly, Gohan looked at her.

"Lord Beerus!" Whis had been sitting and eating at one of the stalls all this time. "Perhaps you should wait a little longer to destroy Earth. The food here is really delicious!"