Chapter 2: Uub's Dilemma

Two Days Earlier – Saturday 3rd June Age 798

Kasghar Town – Jabayt Island, South of Papaya Island

Uub groaned and walked off down the street, towards where he could see the helicopter slowly descending. Zohra followed.

As they came to the clearing where the helicopter decided to land, they noticed an armoured figure stepping off the helicopter, carrying a heavy looking rifle, while another guard in the exact same get-up remained in the vehicle. With them, was a man wearing glasses, with shoulder length brown hair, that he brushed behind his ears as the helicopter blades slowed. He was wearing a neat suit and didn't appear very threatening.

Upon noticing Uub the man smiled and sauntered over to the fighter, also noticing he was standing with Zohra.

"Mr. Uub, a pleasure to meet you," the man said, holding his hand out for Uub to shake. The armoured man was following him.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Uub asked, ignoring the outstretched hand.

"Oh, forgive me, where are my manners?" the man said, chuckling. "I am Teki Kusanagi, COO of Alpha Industries, and just being here is, uh, not the best idea."

Teki chuckled again and looked to Zohra.

"I know you're already familiar with Zohra here, still a bright young member of the team," Teki explained, motioning to the woman. "I didn't know you would be here. Is this one of your vacation days?"

"Sir," Zohra said, nodding her head as a sign of respect. Uub frowned. "I was just visiting a friend."

Teki smirked and looked back to Uub.

"I suppose you know a little bit about our operation then?" Teki questioned.

"I think I'm piecing some stuff together,"Uub said, looking up towards the guards and the helicopter, with the Alpha Industries logo.

"Look, I just want to invite you to have a meeting with my boss," Teki said, motioning to himself when he said that. "I feel like you and he would be able to find a common ground with everything that's going on."

"And this is regarding…?" Uub questioned.

"Saiyans, of course," Teki said, smiling.

"Of course," Uub said, repeating Teki's words back to him. "Saiyans."

"A meeting, that's all,"Teki said, "But you will have to come with us now."

Uub looked at the guards and then back to the town. He sighed and then sent one last look to Zohra. Her expression said plenty. He could read that she was sorry Uub was going through this. Uub sighed again.

"If it's about the Saiyans," Uub started, looking towards the ground, but then he looked up to meet Teki's eyes. "Then I'm willing to listen."

Despite his initial hesitation and concerns surrounding the odd request from Mr. Teki Kusanagi, Uub didn't dwell on it for very long, and opted to accept the offer to take a ride with the Alpha Industries COO, along with Zohra. Uub wanted to learn the true depths of Zohra's involvement with Alpha, but he couldn't deny the intrigue that he felt when it came to the topic of Saiyans.

Uub had seen a lot that never quite sat right with him, and if there was someone out there that shared at least one iota of that feeling, well, Uub was almost obliged to give them the time of day and hear them out. That was all it was. Uub repeated that in his own head. He wasn't agreeing to do anything, he wasn't signing up for anything, he was not committing to anything.

He was just willing to listen and meet with Teki's boss, whoever that man may be. Uub didn't know a lot about Alpha Industries or how it was run, he just knew of it as a tech company that saw itself as the lead competitor to the dominating Capsule Corporation, despite utilising Capsule-tech itself. Uub never dabbled much with technology, living with the bare necessities, and mostly living off the fat of the land, but that wasn't to say he was a technophobe or completely uneducated in that regard.

It just wasn't something that deserved much attention in his life. Uub was better focussed on working to help his family, his town, and the neighbouring villages, and most of all, Uub was always focussed on his training, on bettering himself.

But here he was, reasonably out of his comfort zone, on a helicopter. He stared ahead at Zohra as she sat and looked out of the window, almost with a disappointed look on her face, or was it guilt? The more he sat there, in that uneasy silence, the more he felt like he should have rejected the offer. However, there had been no evidence to suggest he had done that, he just needed to be patient and focus on things as they happened, learning what he can, and making the right decision when the time came.

He hoped they would arrive soon.

East City – Alpha Industries HQ

Uub could see the tallest building within the large Alpha complex as the helicopter flew towards the city. The building, with its curved shape, and reflective windows, was sprinkled with lights, both from inside the building itself, and from the lights that reflected off the building itself. Uub had not spent a lot of time in the East capitol, so it was a different sight to the other cities he had frequented.

Although none of it really fazed the martial artist. He remained seated, patient, just looking out of the window as the building grew closer. It didn't seem like the helicopter had anywhere to land as it approached the highest floors of the building, but that didn't stop the helicopter from lowering speed. It was when the helicopter began to hover near the building that some of the panels on the side of the building shifted, revealing a platform that extended out from the side.

The helicopter slowly touched down on the platform and the panels began to retract, closing up behind them once they were inside. From the outside you wouldn't have expected to find yourself suddenly inside what looked like an aircraft hangar, but that is exactly what it looked like. There were numerous flying vehicles parked inside. Helicopters, jets, most of which bore the Alpha Industries logo, some of them were blank, unmarked.

The platform they had landed on moved all by itself taking the helicopter to an empty spot where it finally halted. The doors of the helicopter opened, and all the passengers exited. The armed soldiers stepped out first and walked to the end of the path and stood either side, as Teki followed them out and headed up the path, stopping halfway to turn and look back at his guest.

Zohra stepped off and then Uub was the last to exit the helicopter. He was beginning to feel a tiny bit overwhelmed, but it wasn't showing on his face. He remained calm, composed, and focussed, looking ahead at Teki. Zohra looked more shocked than Uub, meaning she was unaware that such a room existed within the tower.

Uub and Zohra continued along the hall, walking towards Teki.

"Follow me," Teki said, motioning with his hand as he turned and continued along the path, passing by his guards as he did.

"You can wait here," Teki said to the guards, and they nodded in understanding.

Uub followed Teki, with Zohra staying close behind, as they headed along the pathway towards the back of the hangar and a set of large double doors. The doors slid open to reveal a hallway, a very plain looking hallway with blank white walls, but it led to an elevator.

Teki pressed his hand to a pad beside the elevator on the wall and it made a beeping sound as it scanned the hand. The elevator door opened and Teki stepped aside.

"After you," he said.

Uub glanced to Zohra, and she offered him a reassuring nod before heading into the elevator herself. Uub followed, looking at Teki as he walked past him. The man simply smiled at Uub, in a typical friendly manner.

"The door will open on the opposite side," Teki said, with both Uub and Zohra turning around without a second thought.

Teki, while their eyes were off him, moved to the side of the elevator, to a panel, and tapped in a seven-digit code which led to a small device poking out of the wall that scanned his eye. It accepted Teki's identification, and the doors closed, then the elevator started to ascend.

The ride up was quiet, with the gentle whirring of the elevator the only sound to accompany their journey. Uub took a moment to glance around at his surroundings, but noticed the elevator was much more comforting that the hallway they had gone through. It wasn't too brightly lit, there were gold railings on the sides, it was carpeted, and the ride was very smooth. Uub could see the panel to the right only had two buttons, suggesting the elevator only had two destinations, which he felt was a little strange, but not something that concerned him.

Whatever it was, the elevator was only intended for special use, which did have Uub dwelling on his thoughts more so than before.

The elevator soon arrived at its destination, meaning Uub had to stop dwelling on his anxious thoughts and instead had to ready himself for whatever happened next. The elevator came to a smooth stop and Teki leaned to the side to press another button on the panel and then the doors opened, revealing a large office.

It certainly looked like it belonged to the big boss of an organisation such as Alpha was, but it had a rather quaint feeling to it as well. It was comfortable, almost homely. Well, homely for someone rather extravagant, and almost certainly rich. There was nothing that stood out as strange, but whoever occupied the office had rather older tastes.

"Go ahead," Teki said, letting the guests know it was safe for them to enter the office.

Uub stepped into the office and took it in. They had entered from the side of the room, and when Uub looked straight ahead he could see a row of bookshelves that lined the whole wall, and on those shelves must have been hundreds of books and a bunch of random trinkets and ornaments dotted around as well. Also on that side of the room was a rather expensive looking grand piano towards the left of where Uub was standing.

To the left were also a large set of double doors again, and as Uub's eyes continued in the direction he noticed a large fireplace with a round coffee table in front of it, and two comfortable looking armchairs. That was the left side of the room, and when Uub turned to the right side of the room he saw there was a very large desk, with two armchairs in front of it and a large chair behind the desk, and behind that the entire back wall was windowed. The room appeared to overlook the rest of East City, the nicest parts of the Capitol.

Although it was too dark to really see anything out there at this time, just the outlines of some buildings and the lights of any occupied rooms.

Once Uub and Zohra had both stepped out of the elevator Teki walked past them and headed across to the other side of the room, towards the bookshelves. Uub watched but stayed in the same position, with Zohra stepping up beside him. Teki looked back as he reached the shelves and saw that Uub was watching him closely, a frown on his face.

Teki took some amusement from that and scoffed to himself as he turned towards an antique lamp, but it was one of those touch lamps that changed in brightness, but it was off at that moment. Teki touched the base once and the light came on, he hit it again and it got brighter, and then, with the third tap, the light turned green. There was a clunk sound and then two bookshelves seemed to push out from the wall and slowly slid to the side, away from one another, revealing what looked like another room, a secret room.

All of this was confusing and intriguing to Uub at the same time, but mostly, it was beginning to get quite concerning. Teki turned back to face the guests.

"I won't be a moment," he said, and then he motioned towards the desk. "Please, take a seat."

Teki stepped inside the secret room as the bookshelves slid across and closed with another clunk, leaving Uub and Zohra standing in the strange room by themselves. Uub didn't bother to move once the door closed, he stayed in that same spot and just stared ahead at the door, his eyes narrowed as he dwelled on the situation again.

Zohra wasn't as intrigued as Uub was and decided to move towards the desk, passing by a bar that the owner of the office had set-up against the same wall as the elevator doors. She just looked at some of the stuff she could see in cabinets behind the bar. It was all stuff that an eccentric rich person might buy or acquire in some other way. There was nothing in the room to suggest the owner had a family.

"This is weird…" Zohra muttered to herself.

"What is?" Uub asked.

"I've just never been in Mr. Oliver's office before," she replied, turning to looking back to Uub.

"Mr. Oliver?" Uub questioned.

"Yeah, he's the CEO, and he owns the company," Zohra replied, as she started to walk away from the bar and approached the desk. "I have met him a couple of times, but he rarely interacts with people within the company. He seems very private."

Uub started to wonder why that might be the case, and he also started to think about what Zohra's role within the company would be if she hadn't been roped into whatever was going on with him. Those were questions for later though, Uub wasn't even sure if her intentions were completely pure.

Fortunately, he didn't have any more time to dwell on those thoughts as the bookshelves started to slide open again. Teki was standing there again, but this time there was someone else with him. An older gentleman, shorter than Teki, but still average height for a man of however old he might be. He certainly appeared to be at least in his 60s.

He had neatly combed silver hair, an old face, with a few wrinkles, but he looked very healthy despite his apparent age. He was wearing the trousers of a dark green suit, with a cream-coloured shirt that had the sleeves rolled up, and a red tie tucked inside the shirt out of the way. The man was cleaning his hands with a rag as he walked out, but upon seeing Uub he held his arms out wide in greeting.

"Ah, there he is, the man I wanted to see. Uub, my boy," he walked towards the fighter as he pocketed the rag and held his hand out for Uub to shake.

Uub took the hand and then the old man brought his left hand in to emphasise the handshake.

"It is a true pleasure to meet such a fantastic martial artist, and hero," the man said.

"I don't think of myself as a hero," Uub replied, still unsure of how he should feel about the old man.

"Nonsense," the man said, letting go of Uub's hand and waving his hand as if to wave away Uub's statement. "I saw just how well you handled those renegade soldiers during the Satan City terror attack."

The man turned to walk towards his desk but stopped and held up a finger, as if to say 'one more thing' before he turned around to face Uub again.

"And I know just how big a part you had to play in keeping West City safe during the recent invasion," he said, with a smirk.

Uub frowned again as he wondered how the man could know that, but he didn't think to ask. He was eager to see what the man had to say. He continued towards his desk and motioned for Uub to follow, but then he spotted Zohra.

"Ah, Zohra, so nice to see you again," he greeted, taking her hand in his, the same way he did with Uub.

"And you too, Mr. Oliver," Zohra said, with a smile, and bowing her head.

To Uub, it almost seemed like Zohra changed up her personality for a moment, entering her work mode. Mr. Oliver winked at Zohra and moved around behind the desk.

"Please, Uub, take a seat," he suggested.

Uub exhaled through his nose but made sure to keep it subtle and quiet. He took a moment to see what Teki was doing, noticing that the other man was simply standing next to the bookcase. Uub, wanting to avoid coming across as rude, moved towards the desk and slowly sat down, with Zohra taking the seat next to him.

Mr. Oliver smiled at them as they sat down and then took his own seat. Teki decided to join them also, walking around behind the desk to stand behind his boss.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself," Mr. Oliver started. "While my employees and fellow executives refer to me by my first name in work environments, as a means to instil a family dynamic, my full name is Oliver Montgomery Garfield, but please call me Oliver."

It meant nothing to Uub. He had never heard the name before. He just remained silent as if pushing for Oliver to continue.

The older man cleared his throat and smirked.

"Could I offer either of you a beverage?" he asked.

"No, could we just get on with this thing," Uub said, getting a little frustrated due to the anxiety. "Why did you bring me here?"

Oliver scoffed and leaned forward.

"I suppose we shouldn't dance around the topic all night," he said, and then motioned to Zohra. "I don't know what Zohra here has told you, but I'm certain both she and Teki have let you know a little bit about what this meeting is for."

Uub looked to Zohra, sitting to his left, and noticed she shifted awkwardly. Perhaps that was guilt for her part to play in this situation. Uub turned back to Oliver.

"I only know it has something to do with the…" Uub hesitated, "the Saiyans.

"That's one part of it, yes," Oliver said, his smile getting a little wider. "I wouldn't say it's the most important part right now though."

Uub's brow furrowed, but he remained silent, giving Oliver the time to follow-up.

"I want to help the people of this planet fight for themselves, to help them protect themselves," he started, maintaining eye-contact with Uub. "I want the perfect team of warriors, soldiers, and fighters to defend our home from future threats."

Uub didn't break the eye-contact.

"It is just one of my initiatives, and something that I've been working on for a long time now," Oliver continued as he sat back in his chair, swivelling to the side ever so slightly so he could glance out of the window. "First it started with weapons development, but now I realise we need to find new ways to help people help themselves."

He turned in the chair once again, back to face Uub.

"I want to take power away from the Saiyans and their allies, people who work outside of the law, of the rules that we all have to live by, and I want to put that power back into the hands of humans," Oliver continued, "In the hands of the true Earthlings."

Uub still kept quiet and slowly looked down as he sat back in his chair, contemplating Oliver's words.

"You know, as well as I do, that we need to limit the freedom that these Saiyans have, to stop them from causing any more trouble and destruction," Oliver stated, drawing Uub's eyes again.

"It sounds like you have a grudge," Uub suggested, "I wouldn't suppose your plan is to get rid of them altogether?"

"Oh, no, of course not," Oliver said, quickly jumping to his own defence. "If anything, I want to keep them in check, keep a close eye on them."

He paused again for a moment to gauge Uub's reaction, but there was very little there.

"I want to give the people assurances that there will be no more death or destruction because of those Saiyans, or any other alien that finds themselves drawn to our pale blue dot."

Uub really wasn't sure if he could trust the words coming out of Oliver's mouth. He spoke with such animosity towards the Saiyans, but in his own words he had made it apparent that he wasn't eager to kill them or get rid of them. Uub couldn't say anything yet, he just had to keep listening.

"Put it this way," Oliver said, leaning forward again, "I want them to see sense. I want the Saiyans to understand our point of view, to know that there are consequences to their actions, to know they cannot have more freedom than everyone else."

He was picking his words carefully, that was for sure.

"I don't want them to be our enemies. If anything, I want them to work with us, to side with us. They should be a part of this," Oliver said, strongly.

Uub found himself nodding, but it was very slight, almost completely unnoticeable. But something came to mind, and he looked up at Oliver again.

"If you're that interested in working with them then why haven't you spoken to one of them, like Noca?" Uub asked, "he is the world champion after all. So, why did you come to me with this?"

Oliver scoffed quietly, still wearing a smirk. Even Teki had to look down to avoid showing that he thought Uub's suggestion was rather amusing. Uub quickly glanced to Teki and then back to Oliver.

"I know that you agree with me, otherwise you wouldn't have come to this meeting," he stated. "Besides, I want a human face for a team. A human to lead this team."

Uub's brow furrowed again, but then his expression softened slightly.

"That's why you wanted me here?" Uub asked.

"Yes," Oliver replied, straight to the point. "I would want you to captain a very special team, a team comprised of enhanced people, elite soldiers, martial artists, you name it."

Uub was about to question further, but Oliver continued.

"And I have some rather special allies who have agreed to be involved," Oliver added, and then he turned to Teki. "Could you let our other guests know they're free to join."

"Right away," Teki said, nodding, and he took a phone out of his pocket as he walked towards the other end of the room.

Uub continued to sit silently as his eyes followed Teki, but he didn't turn his head to watch the man go, he just looked back to Oliver.

"What can you say about those attacks that happened in West City, Satan City, and here, in East City last year?" Uub asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

Oliver scoffed and looked down. He clasped his hands together in front of him.

"There was clear connection between the attacks and Alpha Industries," Uub added.

"We addressed that," Oliver said. "We discovered that there were people formerly of this company, and within this company, acting of their own accord, abusing the knowledge and tech they stole form us," Oliver continued, "but we made sure to make the identities of those people available to the public, so if any of them are to be spotted, they can be brought to justice."

Uub nodded, even though he still felt uneasy about it.

"With the assistance of the King's Special Forces that situation will be handled," Oliver added.

Uub could tell that the man had prepared well for this meeting, and he seemed to know what kind of things that Uub might ask him. He had an answer for everything, and that made Uub feel like he had a valid reason to be wary or concerned about what came next.

However, he didn't have a chance to push that conversation any further. Teki had re-joined them.

"They're on their way up, sir," Teki said, returning to his former position behind his boss.

"So, our guests won't be long," Oliver said, standing up and walking towards the bar. "Are you sure you don't want a drink?"

"No, thank you," Uub replied.

"Zohra?" Oliver asked.

"No, I'm ok, but thanks," Zohra replied, nervously. She definitely felt as if her presence was, well, redundant.

Oliver shrugged as he grabbed a very expensive looking bottle of something, and then he poured it into a small glass for himself and added a single ice cube. He took one sip of his drink and let out a satisfied gasp, then set the glass down, with plenty still left. Oliver reached for a second glass, poured some more, and then set that glass down at the far end of the counter.

Finally, he turned to look at Uub again.

"While the bones of this plan are coming from me, and a lot of the meat, it will be my allies that truly take charge of the assembling of this team," Oliver explained. He stepped away from the counter and approached Uub. "All of this will be bankrolled by Alpha, the weapons and resources will be supplied by us, and we will be taking charge of building brand new infrastructure to assist with making this idea the strongest it can possibly be."

He smiled at Uub, who still couldn't find the right questions to ask.

"However, none of this is possible without the help coming directly from the King, and his Secret Service."

At that moment, the doors at the back of the room opened, revealing that it was yet another elevator. Oliver looked up and over at the elevator, while Uub had to turn around in his seat to see what was going on. He noticed that two more men had joined them. One of them appeared older than Oliver, and he was wearing a dark grey suit with light pinstripes, with his grey hair brushed back. And he also had a big grey moustache.

Beside him was a taller man, taller than average, and fairly slim also. He was wearing a plain black suit with a white shirt and black tie, and he was bald. He wore black tinted sunglasses which hid his eyes, but the way he held himself came across as serious and stoic, like a security guard of some kind. Meanwhile, the older gentleman carried himself with a strong confident and proud energy, like he demanded respect.

"Uub, I'd like to introduce you to Zuger Kirsch, the commander of the King's Secret Service and Special Forces," Oliver said, motioning his hand towards the older gentleman.

Uub stood up, out of respect, and walked around his seat to greet the new arrival. He bowed his head out of respect, but Kirsch simply held his hand up to halt him from doing that.

"You don't need to do that, it's a pleasure to meet you," Kirsch said, with a smile. "I want to personally thank you for assisting my team during the Satan City conflict. They may not have made it through without your help."

"It was nothing, sir. Just doing what I can," Uub said, remaining humble.

Zohra had also stood up to offer her greeting while Oliver headed to the bar to grab their drinks, and then walked over to Zuger Kirsch.

"I have your drink ready for you," Oliver said, handing over the glass.

"Ah, thank you," Kirsch said, taking the glass and raising it to his ally. He took a quick sip, as if sampling the drink and nodded, but refocussed his attention on Uub. "We're obviously all here for a reason."

"Yes, Mr. Oliver has already explained things," Uub said, however the tone in his voice felt dismissive.

"I just want to offer assurances that everything we're doing is perfectly by the book, for the people, with the best interests of everyone on this planet in mind, and with the backing of King Furry," Kirsch explained, and just like with Oliver, it sounded rehearsed and prepared. "Besides, it's more about expanding our current teams. We're aiming to focus on a wider range of people. We're trying to do more to defend everyone."

"Our team is very good at what they do, but we understand that there's so much more we could all be doing, and maybe we're lacking in some areas," Kirsch continued, "this plan has all the approval it needs from the King and his advisors. We have the agreement with Alpha, but we still need the face…"

Uub nodded, his gaze drifting as he stared into the middle distance.

"Uub, you're one of the world's greatest warriors, a formidable martial artist with a pure heart, and we want you to be that face," Kirsch added. "You are already appreciated by so many people, and you've done so much to defend this planet already, but if we work together, we can be better."

"The development of our brand-new Earth Defence Force is very important," Kirsch continued, starting to pace towards the other side of the room, with his hands behind his back. "It needs you."

"I appreciate all of this," Uub started, "I really do, but I just…"

"You have concerns. I understand. You're probably worried about how your allies may be treated because of our plans," Kirsch said, looking back towards Uub. "Please, understand this, we only want what's best for absolutely everyone. We want them to agree, we want them to work with us, and perhaps they will be more inclined to do so after you join."

"And if they refuse?" Uub questioned.

"They become obstacles," Oliver spoke up.

Uub turned to look back at the CEO.

"But we hope it never has to come to that," Kirsch added.

"Saiyans aren't easy to control," Uub said.

"Either they co-operate, or they stay out of any future conflicts," Oliver scoffed, "it's as simple as that, otherwise they would be traitors to the crown. It would be treason."

Uub looked back to Zuger Kirsch, expecting something additional from him, considering he did work for the King, but he said nothing. Uub made a mental note of that. It was clear that the two older men shared ideologies, but he couldn't quite make sense of the power dynamic between them.

After a brief moment of quiet contemplation, Uub looked back to Zuger Kirsch.

"I appreciate that you both believe in me for this plan of yours, but I just don't know," he said, turning to look at Oliver again. "I just feel like I need a bit of time to think about this."

"I can accept that," Oliver said, offering a friendly smile.

"Yes, take the time you need," Kirsch added, "but with or without you, the wheels are already in motion. However, we will wait for your final answer before we ever go public with this."

"I understand," Uub replied.

Uub took another moment to gauge what might have been going through Oliver's mind at that time, but the CEO simply offered a smile. Although, it felt like there was more to that smile, it wasn't necessarily a friendly smile. Uub almost felt like there was a smug feeling behind that smile. He couldn't put his finger on it but there was something threatening there.

"I suppose this brings our meeting to an end," Kirsch said.

"Of course," Oliver said, walking around to Uub again. He put his hand out for another handshake, and Uub reciprocated. "It was a pleasure to finally meet and speak with you. I do look forward to hearing a positive response soon."

"Now, now," Kirsch said, walking over and giving Uub a quick pat on the back. "Let's not put any pressure on the lad. He'll do what he knows is right."

After leaving the Alpha HQ, Uub and Zohra found themselves walking away from the complex towards the city centre, having opted to leave by themselves, without another helicopter ride. Zohra was leading the way, with Uub not really knowing much about the city, but he didn't feel right flying off home and leaving Zohra by herself. He had offered to walk her home.

It was a relatively awkward walk, with both parties walking in silence for the first half of the journey. Uub was deep in quiet contemplation while Zohra just felt fairly awkward after she had been one of the reasons for Uub to find himself in that situation.

All that Uub could think about was the events and topics of that meeting, and he was just processing all of that information. He tried to figure out why they though he really fit into their plans. None of it truly felt right to Uub, however, both of those men were making some sense with some of their ideals. Uub couldn't deny he had thought about the impact of the Saiyans numerous times.

However, after the extended awkward silence, Zohra found her confidence and decided to say something.

"I'm sorry for showing up at your home like that, for intruding on your personal life and disturbing your family," Zohra basically blurted out without warning.

Uub knew she was sorry. He could feel that from her. Besides, it was written all over her face.

"Your intentions were in the right place," Uub assured her. "You were only warning me, or… preparing me," Uub pondered, but he shook his head. "Either way, I don't hold it against you."

Zohra smiled softly, looking away from Uub quickly, as if trying to temporarily remove herself from the awkwardness of the situation. They both continued walking in silence for about a minute more, but then Zohra scoffed quietly to herself.

"You know, I'm really happy that I met you," Zohra said, seemingly off topic and out of nowhere. Uub frowned as he looked at her. "I've learned a little bit about who you really are, and that's nice."

"I appreciate that, although I wish we could have met under different circumstances," Uub said, not realising how it sounded. "I guess, it would have been nice if our meeting at the tournament didn't have that asterisk attached to it, if it didn't have this plan as the motivating factor."

Zohra nodded quietly, accepting that it was true that their meeting had been manufactured and planned, but that didn't mean it couldn't be something more than just business related, or whatever you would call it.

She soon had to drop those thoughts upon realising they were approaching her apartment building.

"Oh, well, this is me," she said, motioning to the steps that led to the front door. "Thanks for walking me back, you really didn't have to."

"It's fine," Uub said, smiling and shaking his head. "It was my pleasure. Besides, it's late and, well, it was the polite thing to do."

Uub bowed his head, slightly, just as a nice gesture. Zohra chuckled softly.

"Would you want to come in for a drink or something?" Zohra asked, doing her own thing to be polite.

"It's a nice offer, but I really should be getting back to my family," Uub replied, as respectfully as he could, "they really should be updated on what's happening with me."

"Yes, of course, that makes sense," Zohra replied, understanding that Uub was right, but she was a little bit disappointed too. "Anyway, see you later."

She raised her hand for a wave and turned to head up her steps, but she only got about halfway before she stopped and turned back. Uub was still standing there, and he was still watching her.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

There was a tone shift. It was almost like her awkward nature had subsided for a moment, but it was a genuine question, coming from a genuine place. Uub knew what she was talking about. Putting aside Alpha and the fact that she was an employee, Zohra was genuinely trying to gauge what was going through Uub's head in that moment.

He didn't reply right away. He just stood silently. He didn't seem to have a reply, because he truly didn't know what he was going to do, he really needed the time to think about it.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked.

"I don't know," Zohra replied, echoing what Uub was thinking. "I just don't want to see them turn on you if you refuse it."

"I'm not saying I wouldn't work with them should they need my help, I'm not saying I wouldn't offer myself up to face conflict if the need arose," Uub said, trying not to get too passionate or loud about what he was saying, no matter how strongly he felt. "I just don't know if I can agree to being the main man of something that I really don't know about."

"I'm just a martial artist, I don't need the extra attention," he added.

"Maybe that's why you're the best person for it," Zohra said, "you're someone that people can relate to, a person with a family, with loved ones, people you want to protect," she walked down her steps as she spoke until she was standing right in front of Uub again. "You're someone they can empathise with."

"The Saiyans have families too," Uub added.

"But you're not a Saiyan, you're a human, you represent Earth," she said, taking his hand in hers. "You represent us."

Uub looked at his hand in hers, thinking about how there was so much more to him than what the people of this planet saw, so much of his personal history that he couldn't tell them. There was so much that even he didn't understand. He sighed, thinking about how there was truth to what Zohra was saying, and how it was clear what her stance on the matter was.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm not trying to sway your decision… you asked what I thought."

"No, no, don't worry about it," Uub said, "I respect your opinion. I know it's coming from you, not them."

Zohra smiled softly at Uub one last time, and decided to go for broke, and she leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on his cheek, and then she turned around to walk up the steps, and she entered her building without saying another word.

Uub watched her go and then a small smile grew on his face. He slowly turned and started to walk away for a little bit before deciding to take to the sky and fly home. He spared a final glance back over the city, all the way to the Alpha building, and his smile faded. He turned and flew off into the distance, heading back home, to deal with his thoughts.