Previously on Dragon Ball AG: Saga 7 – A Promise of Nightmares…
After a series of terror attacks left their mark on West City; Satan City; and East City, Noca found himself drawn into yet another new conflict. This one, like so many prior, featured mysteries, secrets, and foes from Noca's past, as well as a bunch of people who featured in the previous martial arts tournament. Noca and Pan had started living together in West City, in their very own place, but the young couple's lives were just some of the many that were disturbed by the sudden attacks.
As a direct result of these attacks came the emergence of the King's Secret Service, an elite group of soldiers and agents assembled by King Furry and his advisors to tackle threats around the world. While effective, they were still woefully unprepared when coming up again Shai, Joji, Sofia, and Yaiko, who were assisted by their very own mysterious army, with both groups engaging in all-out conflict in Satan City.
Joining forces with the King's special forces, Noca, along with Pan and Holline, managed to overcome the threat, but not without suffering through some turbulent moments of their own.
Noca discovered the true identity of Yaiko, finding out that the teenager was, genetically, his brother. Although Yaiko had been created through scientific methods that utilised the DNA of Noca's parents, along with information gathered from Omega's studies of Noca as a youngster.
In the aftermath of the tough conflict, Yaiko was convinced to stand down and opted to ally himself with the Saiyan that he could call brother. Joining Yaiko in his partnership with the Saiyans was Sofia, who, due to her close relationship with the misguided teenager, decided to stand by him.
However, during the conflict, Noca was heavily injured, a very difficult moment that led towards Pan transforming into a Super Saiyan, for the very first time. The young woman ended the conflict on her terms. And then, with so much happening in those cities, with heavy heat being directed at Alpha Industries, a scapegoat was needed. The attacks were blamed solely on Yaiko and Sofia, along with any deceased, disgraced former Alpha employees, which took all the attention away from the tech company. Noca and his friends were the only people who knew the truth, and they took it upon themselves to find a safe place for Yaiko and Sofia – the Kayu Village, where Noca was raised.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to those youngsters, another tragedy was occurring somewhere else on the planet. There was another attack, but this one came from space. The Lookout was destroyed, taking with it the lives of Dende and Mr. Popo and that left the Earth without the mighty power of the Dragon Balls.
Following the attack on the Lookout, after many months, Noca's extra-terrestrial allies came down to the planet, and they came with a warning: Kuyato was on his way, and he was looking for a fight.
Despite all their planning, Noca and his allies were not fully prepared for the might of Kuyato and his followers, and the ensuing conflict left the group with many casualties, and the fight, as a whole, would be deemed a loss.
Among the casualties: The leader of the crew from space, Guida. The former villain, Majin Buu. And possibly the hardest loss for all to take, the young child of Gohan and Videl, Rei. The young boy managed to sneak on-board the ship used by Noca and the crew to travel into space as part of the mission to stop Kuyato from reaching Earth. The mission never went according to plan, and despite there being moments where the fighters on Earth looked like they had the ability to go on and win, despite Noca bringing the dark lord Kuyato close to his death, they were woefully unprepared.
Kuyato escaped. Barely.
This story picks up little over a week after the events of that final conflict, and the wounds are still far too fresh…
Chapter 1: The Meeting
Monday 5th June Age 798
West City – Capsule Corp. Tower
It was business as usual on the agenda at the Capsule Corp. tower, the skyscraper that touched the clouds above West City. Employees were working hard in their offices, either with fans or air conditioning switched-on and turned up high, as it was proving to be a very hot day in early June. Barely June and it was likely the hottest day of the year, so far. However, that didn't affect the professionalism or the working conditions of the workers in the Capsule Corp. tower. Everyone went about their day like it was any other ordinary day, as if nothing had changed.
Even though, little more than a week ago, there was a near cataclysmic event that took place outside of the city, and partially inside the city. Everyone was aware of what had occurred at this point, it had been doing the rounds on all the news channels, on all the websites, in the newspapers, for those that still read newspapers. Although, with everything that seemed to happen on planet Earth, it was almost like the people had become desensitised to the dangers that were lurking out there.
Not everyone was unaffected though, some people were still feeling the effects of such a tough and eventful day. Two of those people were sitting together inside a cool conference room. One of them was stood at the window, overlooking the city. A young man, just about to touch his twenties, with spiky and messy dark brown (almost black) hair. He was dressed rather casually, despite being inside a conference room at the headquarters of the world's leading technology company. He was just wearing a pair of grey jeans that were a little bit torn, with a black hooded jacket over a random oversized, white t-shirt. His arms were folded, and he continued to look out of the window.
The other person in the room was a young woman, around the same age, with raven black hair, but she was dressed a little more formally. A cream-coloured blouse, with a pair of smart black trousers, although she did opt for a pair of comfortable white sneakers, as was her way. The young woman was sat at the large conference table, basically in the middle, with the glass door and the window-wall that looked into the room on her right, and the window that overlooked the city and the young man on her left.
The young man, Noca, seemed a little unfocused, but there was an air of anxiety surrounding him. It was noticeable because, despite his arms being folded, his fingers were tapping on his arm, almost rhythmically, but mostly randomly. Also, he seemed to be gently nibbling at the skin on his bottom lip as he stared out of the window. The young woman at the table, Pan, seemed very calm in comparison to her boyfriend, but that was only on the surface.
Pan had been feeling incredibly distant, and it did appear that way. She was just staring down at the table, at a simple piece of paper in front of her, and she was aimlessly doodling. Her stare was vacant and unfocussed, and her doodles messy, resembling nothing. The young couple may seem to have different composures, but in reality, they were almost on the exact same page. Both of them were anxious about what was coming their way.
Neither knew exactly how long they had been in that room, in complete silence, but neither of them had spoken as much as they normally would. Not that they weren't speaking to each other, it was just that so much had happened. Pan still hadn't properly processed her loss and had been dwelling far too much on thoughts of her own life, while Noca had been thinking too much about what was expected of him, and what came next.
On the surface, neither of them wanted to be there in that room. Neither of them was ready to address the events of the previous week. They already found it hard enough to talk about it when they were home alone, having to talk about it with other people was the last thing they wanted.
Fortunately, the silence was soon broken by a light tapping on the glass door, which opened immediately after. Pan looked up and Noca turned around as Gohan half stepped into the room.
"Is everything good in here?" Gohan asked, putting on a smile.
"Yeah," Pan replied, softly.
She glanced to Noca at the window and then back to her father.
"We're good."
"Did either of you want anything before they get here?" Gohan asked, "something to eat? Some water?"
"Water would be good, thanks," Pan replied.
"Yeah, water would be nice, please," Noca added.
"Cool," Gohan said, giving them a thumbs up before leaving and heading down the hall again.
Noca and Pan just watched as he walked away, but Pan turned and looked back down at the page of doodles in front of her, and she just stared at them, trying to contemplate what nonsense she had drawn. Noca watched her, quietly, and he noticed the blank expression on her face. It was as if she was almost completely drained of emotion, whether it be self-inflicted, or completely out of her control.
"What are you drawing?" Noca asked, simply attempting to drum up some conversation between them, and wanting to get rid of the strange tension.
"It's nothing really," Pan muttered, continuing to stare at the page, but she pulled back and tilted her head as if trying to get a different angle on the doodles. "I guess it just helps with the nerves."
Noca continued to stare at her, not paying any attention to the piece of paper, or her drawings, but he was focussed on her face. He was just watching her. Pan was still very much keeping her feelings bottled up. While some of it may have come out in the past week in small ways, but Pan wasn't handling the grief all that well.
"What kind of questions do you think they'll ask us?" Pan asked, as she continued to aimlessly scribble on the page.
Noca walked towards the table and leaned on the back of a chair at the head of the table.
"I don't really know what we're walking into," Noca replied, "hopefully it's just our side of the story, filling in some gaps, that kind of thing."
Pan stopped doodling again.
"We can't really tell them everything though," she stated.
Noca scoffed.
"You're right about that," he replied, looking up through the window into the hall, trying to see if anyone was coming their way yet.
Pan had continued scribbling and Noca decided to take a seat beside her. He walked around to her side of the table and pulled out the chair right next to her. Immediately, once he was beside her, Noca noticed that Pan's leg was bouncing up and down, rapidly. Pan's nerves were definitely getting to her.
Noca frowned and gently put his right hand on her leg. Pan's leg immediately stopped moving, and she had even stopped doodling on the paper. She slowly raised her head and moved out of her hunched position, but she didn't turn to look at Noca.
"Are you ok?" Noca asked. "You know, if this feels like it's too much for you then you don't have to be here."
Pan turned to meet Noca's eyes. She tried to force a smile but noticed that Noca wasn't trying to get that out of her. She read his concern as they peered right into each other's eyes. She may not be completely vocalising her thoughts to him, but she could never hide her feelings from Noca, nor him from her. The connection they shared, their love, their friendship, their bond, it all helped to keep Pan at ease in these tough moments. But to Pan, sometimes, it felt like perhaps they both leaned on each other through tough times.
However, in this moment, Noca was telling her that it was ok to feel what she was feeling, and that was something that Pan needed. It helped to know that whatever the situation, Noca would be there to support her, just as she would always be there to support him.
"I can stay. I should stay," Pan said, and that wasn't just her bravado, she was thinking rationally. "I was in direct contact with one of their agents on the day, after all."
Noca nodded as Pan looked back to the paper in front of her and placed the pen down. She brought her left hand down under the table and placed it on top of Noca's hand that sat on her leg. She wrapped her fingers around his hand and squeezed gently.
Their eyes met again, and Pan smiled softly.
"I'll be fine," she muttered.
She leaned towards Noca and planted a soft kiss on his lips, lingering for a moment, released a small sigh, filled with content, and a mix of stress and anxiety.
A black SUV bearing the insignia of the royal family was just pulling up in front of the main entrance gate to the Capsule Corp. tower complex. Even though it was a relatively small complex, and a short drive from the gate up to the front of the building, it was still closed off from the public.
The SUV, which had tinted windows, to ensure nobody would be looking inside, drove up to the gate and stopped. The passenger side window rolled down, revealing the captain of the King's special forces strike team. Cas Babka.
Beside him, in the driver's seat, was a pale-skinned man with blond hair, wearing dark sunglasses and a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. Babka looked out of the window towards a small box on the pillar beside the gate. It was a small screen, which came to life a few seconds after Babka looked at it, revealing a pleasant looking Capsule Corp. employee.
"Hello, and welcome to the Capsule Corporation tower. How may I help you today?" the woman greeted, in a very friendly, almost rehearsed fashion.
"I am Captain Cas Babka, of the King's Secret Service. We have a meeting scheduled with Bulma Brief," the captain explained, sounding a little displeased about being questioned when on the job. He assumed they would see the insignia and let them in.
"Ok, please hold on for one moment," the woman replied, keeping up the friendly demeanour, as she turned to the side.
It was unclear what the woman was doing, but one would assume she was checking a computer screen, trying to see if all the details she had received were correct. Babka scoffed and shook his head, annoyed about being made to wait.
"There's no point getting frustrated, sir," a voice said from the back of the SUV.
It belonged to Hannah Larson, a Secret Service agent, and member of Cas Babka's strike team. Babka didn't react to what she had to say. Beside Hannah Larson was another person, a young woman with auburn hair, dressed in smart, formal clothing. Basically, a plain white blouse with a Secret Service badge on her chest, and a black skirt. Her name was Emelyn Fudge, as she was an assistant. Her main job was simply to deal with paperwork and note-taking in meetings and such.
Hannah was also dressed formally, wearing a navy-blue pantsuit, with a light blue open collar blouse, and she wore her badge on a lanyard around her neck.
The only one of the four people in that vehicle not dressed in traditional formal clothing was the captain himself. He had opted to remain in his combat gear, albeit without the excessive protective armour. The man driving the SUV was more than just a driver, he too was an agent, although not a member of the strike team, simply someone assigned the job of driving and keeping guard of the others on this mission. His name was Leon Wister.
The Capsule Corp. woman soon returned her attention to the guests.
"Sorry about that, I can see your meeting on the appointment list here, but may I ask that you please present some form of identification and confirm how many are in your party today?" the woman asked, politely, continuing to wear her well-practised smile.
Babka pulled his badge from his belt and held it out for the woman to see.
"There are four of us," he half-snapped back in response.
"Thank you," the woman said, turning and tapping something in on her side, and then she looked back to Babka again. "Could you please confirm their identities as well."
Babka's fist clenched, and he released an aggravated sigh, but Hannah acted fast. She rolled down her window and leaned out.
"Hi there. I am Agent Hannah Larson, and with us we have Agent Leon Wister, and Emelyn Fudge," Hannah answered, quickly, but politely. "We all carry I.D. cards with us and we're more than happy to show them at your front desk."
"Ok, thank you for confirming those details," the woman replied, "let me just get the gate open for you."
"Finally," Babka said to himself as the screen went blank.
Hannah sat back in her seat and stared at the back of Babka's headrest, with a scowl. His impatience was off-putting, and she hoped that he didn't bring any of that energy into their meeting, knowing full well that the situation was already very sensitive for everybody involved.
Agent Wister drove the vehicle up and around the road that led them right to the front entrance. He parked up in the first available visitor's parking spot, and all four exited the vehicle.
They ascended the steps up to the front door. As they walked up there were some employees that were standing around chatting, there were a couple coming and going, some people on smoke-breaks, or preparing to start their days, although it was around midday. Either way, the group of four were given a few odd looks from the bystanders. It was obvious who they were based on the insignia on their vehicles, as well as the fact that they all had Royal I.D. badges, and Babka was wearing his combat uniform.
None of the group spared any attention towards the employees and walked on through the front door. They were on the job, and when they were on the job, they would have full focus on their objective. Babka wouldn't have it any other way. As they entered the foyer the group were greeted by the same woman that had communicated with them from the gate.
"Welcome," the woman greeted, bowing her head slightly.
Hannah decided to take point, not wanting Babka to make a meal of things. She walked forward and reached out for a friendly handshake, which was politely accepted by the employee.
"If you wouldn't mind following me this way," the employee said, motioning towards a set of metal detectors that were set-up before a hallway.
Babka stayed back with Leon for a moment as Hannah and Emelyn followed the young woman.
"Wister, wait in the lobby," Babka ordered, turning to the man in the suit.
Leon simply nodded and turned around, walking towards the door but remained inside the building. Babka followed his allies after that, catching up with them before the metal detectors.
"We do request that you leave any weapons here with our security personnel," the woman said, continuing to hold her polite tone, but making it clear that this was a rule. A strict rule.
Babka scoffed.
"We can't keep any protection?" Babka questioned, bringing his hand to the holster on his right hip.
"I am afraid these are the rules set in place by Ms. Brief herself," the woman clarified.
Hannah looked to Babka, with both of her eyebrows raised, as she removed her own weapon from the holster under her jacket. Babka removed the two weapons he had, one on each hip, and all guns were handed to the security personnel.
"Thank you very much," the young woman said.
She bowed her head again and then turned to walk through the metal detectors. Hannah followed with no fuss, and Emelyn was close behind her. However, Babka walked through, and the alarm sounded. It turned out he still had a weapon on his person. A small combat knife he kept hidden under his combat vest. He removed it and handed it to the guard, and safely continued through.
Once the three guests were through the woman continued through the hallway towards a row of elevators towards the back. The door to the middle elevator opened and all of them stepped inside. The employee turned to the wall and selected the number for the floor they need. Then, as expected, the doors closed, and the elevator began to ascend.
Returning to the conference room, high up on one of the executive floors, Noca and Pan remained seated at the table, while Gohan returned, carrying with him a pack of water bottles. He set the pack on the table by the door and opened it up, taking out two bottles and handed one each to the youngsters. Gohan backed away from the table after that and moved towards the door again, keeping his eye out for anyone approaching.
"We might need to run over some things before this gets started," Gohan suggested. "We need to make sure we all stay calm and composed throughout this whole meeting."
"What are you expecting is going to happen?" Pan questioned.
"Well, it's a sensitive time for all of us right now, we don't need to be hot-headed about this," Gohan elaborated.
"That's why we left Vegeta at home," Noca said, half attempting to make a joke, but even he knew it was too forced. "Not that he would have come anyway."
"We can't give them a reason to turn this against us," Gohan continued.
"They already see us as the cause," Pan said, looking down at the table. "We were the solution."
"Which is why we should all co-operate with our answers," Gohan added.
"Don't worry, Gohan," Noca said, looking to Pan and putting his hand on her leg again. "We don't plan to start a fight."
"Good, good," Gohan said, turning to look out of the door again. "Bulma did just let me know they're downstairs now."
Pan immediately grabbed her bottle again and took a big gulp of water.
"Let's just be ready," Gohan said, giving them both a thumbs up and smiling, although nervously. "They'll need us to give a full rundown of all the events of the day, from our perspective."
"Obviously we can't tell them about Talia and the others," Noca added.
Gohan looked back at him and pointed, confirming that Noca was correct about that.
"At least we don't need to dance around Piccolo or Buu being there, they already know about them," Gohan said, but then he remembered something and turned to face the two young Saiyans again. "But make sure to refer to Piccolo as Ma Junior, or just Junior."
"Right," Noca said, nodding.
He quickly glanced at Pan to make sure that she was still listening. Pan could feel Noca's eyes on her and she looked up to him and nodded her head, smiling softly. Noca smiled back and gently squeezed her leg as a small sign of affection.
"We also need to be careful about what we say didn't happen, because they may have had a visual on the area during the conflict and we don't want to be caught lying," Gohan said, bringing his hand to his chin.
Pan frowned and looked up at her father.
"They may not have. When I was talking to their agent it seemed like they didn't really know what was going on," Pan explained.
"We just have to be careful, that's all I'm saying," Gohan added.
He just wanted to be sure that they had all of their bases covered before heading into the meeting. Although, the more they spoke about it, the more it was beginning to feel like the whole thing would be some sort of interrogation.
On that same executive level, right by the elevator, Bulma was standing by, waiting to greet her guests after being informed of their arrival downstairs. Although, based on the expression on her face, you would think she was already bored before the meeting even had a chance to start.
As she stood there, an assistant came rushing over, holding a data pad.
"Ms. Brief, did you need this for your meeting?" the assistant, a young man, asked, while holding out the pad.
"Oh, yes, thanks," Bulma said, almost surprised that she had forgotten the thing. "I can't expect to do everything on just my watch."
Bulma chuckled, but the assistant wasn't sure if he should laugh with her. Although Bulma wasn't one to be strict on her employees for enjoying themselves. The assistant just smiled and nodded awkwardly.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?" he asked, uncomfortably just standing there doing nothing.
"No, I think I'm all good," Bulma replied, tapping on the pad a couple of times. She lowered it and smiled at the young man. "Why don't you take a break? I'll call for you once the meeting is over."
"Oh, ok… um… are you sure?" he asked, getting flustered, almost feeling like it was some sort of test.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Take as much time as you need. Go get yourself a big lunch or something, on me," Bulma said, patting the young man on the shoulder.
"Well, thank you, Ms. Brief," the man said, bowing his head before turning and walking away up the hall.
Almost immediately after the assistant walked away the elevator arrived at the executive floor. Bulma turned to look at the elevator as it dinged, and she had to take a moment to adjust and reposition herself so that she was standing in a formal way. She held the capsule-pad in her right hand down by her side and placed her left hand on her hip.
The doors to the elevator opened and out stepped the employee, along with the three guests.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Brief," the employee greeted, bowing her head as she stepped to the side of the elevator. "Your guests have arrived."
She motioned towards the elevator as the two agents and their assistant stepped out. Hannah continued to take point, and she walked right up to Bulma, wearing a friendly yet professional expression.
"Thank you so much for meeting with us today," Hannah said, holding out her hand, which Bulma took in hers.
"It's not a problem, and it's great to see you again," Bulma said, with a wink.
Hannah was a little taken aback and furrowed her brow, still with half a smile.
"You remember me?" Hannah questioned.
"Of course, I never forget a face," Bulma said, chuckling softly. "You came to the compound to meet with Bra, and you were with that other girl, the one who was a big fan. What was her name again?"
Bulma started sifting through her brain to find the name to go with the face already in her mind, but Hannah quickly came to her rescue.
"That was Magdalena. She'll be very pleased to hear that you remembered us," Hannah said, chuckling softly.
Everything had gotten off to a very pleasant start, although it wasn't going to persist when Babka stepped forward.
"I am Captain Cas Babka," he said, abruptly, stepping into the conversation to draw attention back to the primary focus. He deemed himself the main figure of authority and saw it as well within his right to take point when he thought necessary.
Hannah cleared her throat and quietly stepped aside.
"I suggest we dispense with the pleasantries and begin the meeting soon, we have a lot to discuss," Babka added.
"Certainly," Bulma said, altering her own demeanour to match that of Babka's, showing that she wasn't one to bend to the will of a man who wanted to fling his ego around. After all, she was married to Vegeta. "Follow me."
As Bulma turned, she invited Hannah to walk with her, and Emelyn followed closely. Bulma was eager to find out the name of the young woman too, as she didn't want to lose her manners. The captain remained at the rear of the group, taking in his surroundings as they walked along, as if trying to assess any possible threats. Not that there were any, at least not amongst the employees.
The uneasy feeling inside the conference room remained strong as Noca and Pan sat in silence together while Gohan was leaning on a chair, facing straight down at the table. They knew the group were approaching and that's why they all felt nervous.
There wasn't much longer to wait, as without any further warning, Bulma entered the room and held the door open for the guests to walk through first. Hannah, still at the front of her allies, was the first to walk in. Gohan quickly turned around, ready to politely introduce himself.
"Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Son Gohan," he greeted, remembering all his manners, and bowing his head to greet them.
Hannah bowed her head in return.
"Agent Hannah Larson," she said, introducing herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."
She stepped over to the table where she saw Noca and Pan as they stood up, ready to formally greet the guests. Hannah and Pan both leaned across the table to shake each other's hands.
"It's nice to finally meet you," Hannah said, knowing exactly who Pan was just by seeing her.
"You too," Pan said, finding her voice, and her confidence. Even if it was a forced confidence.
Hannah moved to Noca and shook his hand too.
"Good to see you again," Noca said, also keeping himself composed and confident.
"A shame it isn't under better circumstances," Hannah added.
Emelyn politely greeted everyone as well as she moved through the room, although she was feeling a little bit out of place, but she did wave nicely to Noca and Pan, and stood at the seat beside Hannah, on the senior agent's left side.
Babka was, of course, the last one to enter the room, with Bulma closing the door behind him. Babka turned to Gohan, who remained close. He held his hand out to the Saiyan for a handshake, although it wasn't intended to be a friendly one.
Gohan took Babka's hand in his own and felt the captain was trying his best to go for a tight handshake, almost like a toughness test. It was easy to tell what Babka was doing, intending to showcase that he was in charge of the situation, but Gohan was unfazed. He simply matched Babka's strength and continued to smile, keeping everything friendly.
It was strange for Babka, who stood looking at a man dressed so formally, in a white shirt, with a blue tie, dressed for business. However, the way that Gohan held himself told a completely different story. He was strong, confident, calm, and in control. It was no bluff either. It was a mystery.
"Nice to meet you, sir," Gohan said, pleasantly.
Babka nodded and scoffed. He let go of Gohan's hand and walked over the table, around his allies, and stood behind the seat on Hannah's right side, directly opposite where Noca was standing. He just glared at Noca, but the younger Saiyan man didn't even look at Babka, he just watched as Bulma walked around the room and came to the seat beside him.
It was Bulma, Noca, Pan, and Gohan from left to right on one side of the table, and directly opposite them were Babka, Hannah, and Emelyn, in that order. They all remained standing for a moment, and then sat down once Bulma did. Emelyn handed a briefcase to Hannah and the senior agent began to go through some files, while Emelyn unlocked the tablet in her hand. Bulma had her own Capsule-pad at the ready.
"So, where would you like to start this?" Gohan asked, but then he thought of something and immediately interrupted himself. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask, would anybody like some water, or a hot drink?"
Babka frowned at Gohan, confused as to why the man, who held so much composure during their handshake had suddenly started to get flustered.
"Oh, don't worry about that Mr. Son," Hannah replied.
"It's not a problem, we already have some water in the room," Gohan said.
"And should you require anything else I can always get someone to bring whatever you need," Bulma added.
"Oh, well, then water will honestly be fine," Hannah said, turning to Emelyn.
"Um, yeah, ok, I'll have a water, please," Emelyn said, smiling.
"I'm good," Babka said, arms folded, scowl aimed at Noca. "Thanks."
Gohan quickly stood up and rushed to the table, grabbing a couple of bottles, and bringing the women each a bottle, and offering one to Bulma too, then taking one for himself.
While he did that Babka just continued to focus on Noca, as the young Saiyan sat there and watched Hannah go through her files. Babka didn't like the lack of acknowledgement from Noca, but the reason Noca wasn't paying the captain any attention was because he could sense his negative energy. Pan could sense it too. Babka looked at them both, noticing they were sporting some minor facial injuries, but very minor. The odd small bruise or a healing cut.
"I think," Hannah started, clearing her throat. "It's probably in our best interest to start by identifying everybody in this incident, on your side."
Hannah put forth a couple of printed photographs as she spoke.
"Our drones managed to get some shots, at least while things were happening in the city, and then as the action grew and moved our drones weren't functioning at their full capabilities, although we still managed to see a little bit," Hannah continued.
Pan knew her father would have looked to her if there was no one else in the room, especially after she had suggested they didn't have eyes on the events. Hannah certainly held back that piece of information during the conflict, but it was only fair, especially considering the Saiyans were planning on withholding some of their own information.
"So, if you could identify anyone we see in these photos, and anyone else who may have been involved that we did not see," Hannah requested.
The four on the one side of the table all looked over the photos, but it was Gohan that opted to take point.
"So, from your photos you can include both myself and Pan, Noca was involved in a separate conflict at this time, although that's not here in any of your photographs," Gohan started. He pulled forward another photograph, "of course, in this one you have my wife – Videl, and her father – Mr. Satan. They were both helping to clear the area in the city, to get people to the safe zone."
Hannah nodded as he spoke, and Emelyn was taking down names as Gohan said them.
"We also had some assistance from Ma Junior, a former martial arts contestant who is close with our family, as well as the young martial artist Torai," Gohan continued. "And then there's Mr. Buu along with Uub."
Gohan paused as he looked at those photos.
"Of course, Mr. Buu lost his life during the conflict," Gohan said.
"We're sorry for the loss. We know he was a close friend of Mr. Satan, and I assume, by extension, your own family," Hannah said.
Gohan nodded.
"Is that everyone?" Hannah asked.
"My husband," Bulma spoke up, "along with Noca, my husband Vegeta was also in that part of the conflict."
"Thank you," Hannah nodded and turned to Emelyn, to confirm she had got the names written down.
Afterwards, she seemed to take a moment and looked over the photographs again, as well as the information on the tablet. She looked up at Noca and Bulma, glanced down again, and then turned to face Gohan.
"I don't want to make assumption, but it seems like you and your allies, your team, it all seems very organised and almost prepared for," Hannah suggested. "It all reads like you had readied yourselves for an impending threat but chose not to tell anyone."
There was a pause in the room, but it wasn't long enough to allow anyone else to speak. Hannah took a moment to glance towards Noca and Bulma again, meeting Noca's eyes.
"Also, when I visited the Capsule Corporation compound, I saw something on a screen that suggested you were monitoring something in deep space, and there was, I believe, an estimated trajectory and timeframe," Hannah continued, her tone becoming accusatory.
Noca knew exactly what she was talking about. They all did.
"Based on that fact alone," Babka interjected, glaring right at Noca, drawing the Saiyans eyes. "We should be arresting all of you, not just for the damages to the city, or to our very expensive weapon, but for withholding information from the crown."
Noca stared right at Babka, and his expression grew into a frown, a glare of his own.
"If we didn't step up or prepare for this invasion then things could have been a lot worse for everyone," Noca said.
"And also, your weapon, it didn't do anything, and it wasn't us who destroyed the damn thing," Pan snapped back.
Babka glared at them both, wanting to come back at Noca with something. Fortunately, Hannah cleared her throat.
"I think we could have all benefitted from a sharing of information and resources, we could have co-operated from the beginning," Hannah said.
She made it sound like, even though she was an agent of Secret Service and was on Babka's side, she didn't agree with the calls for them to be arrested.
"However, I still appreciate both of you co-operating with me during the conflict," Hannah added, looking at both Pan and Gohan, "along with the assistance of Miss Bra and Mr. Dominic Kagaku too. I believe it shows we are capable of working together."
"I agree," Gohan said, "it was perhaps ignorant of us to assume we were the only ones who could have done anything during the conflict."
"The King has always been appreciative of the work done by Son Goku to keep this world safe in the past, he always believes that the "allies of Son Goku" are here to help, not hinder," Hannah said.
Gohan quietly scoffed and smiled to himself when hearing that. Hannah cleared her throat again as she looked through the list in front of her and sighed, taking a moment to pause and prepare herself.
"I would like to offer my apologies prior to my next request, but I will need confirmation about the casualties sustained during this incident," Hannah continued.
Gohan's smile faded and Pan's breathing quickened slightly. Noca reached over and held onto his girlfriend's hand. Their hands were on top of the table at this point.
"Please, take your time," Hannah said.
"It's ok," Gohan said. "As stated, we lost Mr. Buu. However, I think Noca can speak more to that one than I can, as I had sustained a heavy injury at that point and wasn't entirely focussed on the conflict."
Hannah turned to Noca.
"I didn't see it, but I know it was Kuyato," Noca said, but then he realised something. "Sorry, he was the invader, we haven't even mentioned the name of the guy responsible yet."
"I was coming to that, but thank you," Hannah said, motioning for Emelyn to take that down.
"I don't know how it happened, but… I felt a powerful surge of dark energy from Kuyato… and then Buu was gone," Noca explained. "We'd have to speak to Uub to know for sure, but I believe that Buu saved Uub's life, and that's what led to his death."
"That's not much," Babka snapped.
Noca ignored him and looked at Hannah.
"I'm sorry that I don't have more information," Noca said.
"That's fine, Noca," Hannah said, nodding and turning to Emelyn to double check something.
While that was happening Babka sat forward.
"And what about the other casualty?" Babka questioned, and he knew exactly what he was doing.
Hannah looked up at the people across from her and turned to Babka but didn't say anything. Pan's breath shuddered and Noca could feel that she was getting angry. He gripped her hand a little tighter and glared at Babka with fire in his eyes. Gohan turned and looked at Babka too, and a for a moment, Noca and Pan could feel a massive swell of power within Gohan, but it quickly faded. He took a very deep breath and released it slowly.
Gohan cleared his throat and continued to stare at Babka, but from the expression on his face you wouldn't know Gohan was angry, because he looked genuinely heartbroken.
"My son," Gohan said, in a tone that held some venom, and it was aimed right at Babka.
The captain looked to Gohan, almost as if he forgot the man was even there. It was like he had forgotten Noca wasn't the only person affected by the topic of their conversation. For a moment, maybe the slightest hint of compassion entered Babka's mind. He had been directing all his energy at Noca.
Pan's breath shuddered again, and she let out a few sobs. Noca let go of her hand and put his arm around her, holding her close.
"Rei was only five years old," Gohan continued.
"I am terribly sorry for your loss," Hannah said, looking to Gohan, and then to Pan and Noca.
Pan nodded and then looked down at the table, doing her best to stop herself from crying about it, she wanted to remain strong in front of these people. Noca looked at Hannah as she mouthed the words 'I'm sorry.' Noca offered her a nod in return and held Pan closer.
Babka scoffed at the interaction and managed to draw all the attention back to himself.
"What is going on here? Seriously?" Babka questioned, a half-smirk on his face, an amused expression. Although, everything about his tone and the way he was holding himself showed that he was less than amused. He wasn't happy at all.
"You're all treating this like it's a friendly catch-up, like you're all old pals," Babka added.
Hannah turned to Babka, frowning at him, while everyone else in the room was glaring at him, sans Emelyn who had her head down sifting through the papers nervously. Babka was glaring back at everyone else.
"This is a meeting," Hannah said, "it is a casual conversation, it's not an interrogation."
"Well, maybe it should be," Babka snapped, turning to face his subordinate. "They should all be handcuffed and thrown in a cell for the way everything went down!"
He slammed the table and stood up.
"They destroyed businesses, homes, a billion Zeni weapon, they damaged the land, and withheld information from us, the King's Secret Service," he reeled off everything that had been said before, all the while pointing at the Saiyans as he spoke. "And then for the casualties, for the lives lost, they need to pay!"
Pan scoffed, drawing Babka's glare.
"The only lives that were lost were people close to us, there were no civilian casualties," Pan snapped back, all the while staring down at the table, but she slowly looked up and glared right into Babka's eyes. "Haven't we already suffered enough without having it constantly rammed down our throats?"
"Pan…" Gohan said, softly, as he tried to reach over and hold her hand in an attempt to calm her down.
Pan noticed him moving out of the corner of her eye and swiftly moved to slap his hand away.
"No, Dad," Pan said, looking at her father, and then she stood up and glared at Babka again. "We only had the memorial for my brother THREE DAYS AGO! And he DIED little over a WEEK AGO!," Pan yelled. "Do you really expect us to just move on and deal with it as if we didn't just lose someone special to us, someone we loved?!"
Babka didn't have a snap-back as Pan spoke, but she also wasn't finished.
"I lost my brother!" she yelled, with tears streaming down her face.
She started to sob and found that her voice was getting stuck in her throat, and it was affecting her ability to breathe comfortably. She just slowly sat down with her head in her hands. Noca cautiously put his hand on Pan's shoulder, and she turned towards him, putting her head into his chest and he wrapped both arms around her.
Noca slowly turned and glared at Babka again, who remained standing, for the moment. The captain remained silent and slowly sat back down in his chair, after being very effectively put in his place.
Hannah, unsure of how to handle everything that just happened, slowly placed her tablet on the table and quietly cleared her throat.
"I can only repeat how dreadfully sorry I am for everything you have been through," Hannah said, genuinely getting choked up herself. "It is obviously the toughest thing to have to talk about the terrible thing that happened to you, which is why I appreciate that you agreed to meet with us so soon."
It was clear that when Hannah was expressing condolences it was only coming from her, which is why she used "I" rather than "we", but none of them were doubting Hannah's qualities as a compassionate person in this moment. She had been kind and respectful the entire time.
"Look," Bulma spoke up, "everybody that was there on the day was there to limit the damage, injuries, and casualties," she started to explain, "but they were under attack, we were being invaded by an unknown threat, and it took Earth's strongest warriors to fend off this attack, and they managed to limit the damage within the city to that one section, and then they moved the fight away from any civilisation."
Hannah was nodding along as Bulma said everything she needed to say, waiting for a moment to respond or add something to the conversation.
"And your weapon," Bulma said, looking to Babka briefly before turning back to Hannah, "that was destroyed by the invader themselves, and that was after the co-ordinated attack that just wasn't strong enough."
Emelyn continued to take down as much information as she could, and it was very fortunate that this was the part of her job she was best at. Hannah finally found her space to move on to the next part of the conversation as well, even though it seemed difficult to continue.
"I wanted to ask about the arrival of the invader ship, as well as something else I caught leaving Earth's atmosphere a couple of days before the attack began," Hannah started. There was no question, but it was clear what Hannah was asking. "The object that left our atmosphere caused some disruption with our satellites, so we were unable to detect what actually caused the issues, and then the arrival of the invader's ship also caused the same problems."
"What was the question?" Bulma asked, trying to see if she could pull more information out of Hannah.
"I'm hoping you can clarify what was detected leaving the atmosphere, why the invader's ship arrived after the invader themselves, and exactly when Noca came into the conflict?" Hannah asked, finally putting forward her question.
Noca knew it was his time to speak again, and to give an explanation. He just had to hope he didn't slip up or overshare with the details.
"Vegeta and I were sent out into space to hit Kuyato before he arrived," Noca started, "to stop the threat before it could ever reach Earth."
"So, it was Noca and Vegeta on-board the object you detected leaving the atmosphere, a new and improved Capsule-ship," Bulma explained.
"How did you fail?" Babka asked.
Noca turned to Babka, managing to keep his serious composure without letting his anger boil to the surface, knowing that it wouldn't do him any good in this situation.
"A mix of reasons really, but Rei snuck aboard our ship before we left and that put everything at risk," Noca started, "as soon as we knew he was there his safety became my priority. But then Kuyato got away and travelled here ahead of us, leaving us stranded in space for most of the fight here on Earth."
"And the bodies we found in the wreckage?" Babka questioned.
Noca frowned for a moment, while Gohan and Pan looked to Babka and to Hannah, almost like they were expecting to hear that they had found Rei's body.
"We found numerous extra-terrestrial bodies," Babka said, which dashed the hopes of everyone on the opposite side of the table. "As well as weaponry."
"Those would have been Kuyato's soldiers," Noca replied, "most of whom were killed on-board the ship."
"And the invader himself," Babka started, "did you kill him?"
Noca's fist tensed slightly, his jaw clenched, and his nostrils flared.
"I'll take that as a no," Babka said.
"We just weren't ready for his power," Gohan said, quickly, before Noca could retort.
"Next time we'll be ready," Babka said, staring at Gohan.
"All of us have to be ready, we won't have a choice," Gohan replied.
"I think it's a little too late for you to be making friends with us," Babka said with a scoff.
"It's never too late to learn from one's past mistakes," Gohan replied.
Hannah stood up as Emelyn started to gather the files together.
"I agree," Hannah said, "which is why I would like to keep a dialogue open between us, so that these things can be handled more efficiently in the future."
Noca nodded, but remained seated, alongside Pan. Although Bulma stood up, knowing it was right for her to be the one to see her guests out. Babka scoffed and stood up, heading towards the door before anyone else could get there, while Emelyn and Hannah continued to gather their things together.
Hannah stopped for a moment and looked across the table at Noca and Pan.
"I really am sorry for everything you have been through," she reiterated.
Pan looked up at her and nodded, smiling softly.
"Thank you," she managed to say, in a whisper.
Hannah smiled to them both again and then turned towards the door, where Bulma was standing, holding it open for Hannah and Emelyn. Gohan walked over to say bye and watched as Bulma walked them down the hall towards the elevator, while Noca and Pan remained seated, waiting for Gohan to give them the all-clear that they were gone.
Babka had gone straight for the elevator, where the same woman from before was waiting. Emelyn was the next to arrive and step in after the captain, while Hannah was stopped by Bulma for a moment.
"Speaking of collaboration, I know that Bra is still very interested in talking to, and possibly working with your colleague, Magdalena," Bulma said, only just remembering that Bra asked her to mention that.
"That's great," Hannah said, with a smile, "I'll have to speak to Magda and the higher-ups and see if that's something we can facilitate."
"I really hope our two organisations could work together in some capacity, Agent Larson," Bulma said, politely and formally, but she added a wink and a chuckle at the end.
Hannah smiled back, said her quick goodbye, and made her way to the elevator to join her allies. The doors closed and off they were. Bulma sighed and turned around, heading right back to the conference room, where Gohan was stood waiting. They both entered the room and closed the door behind them and as soon as that door clicked shut Noca stood up, but he did so aggressively.
"Babka came here looking to antagonise us," Noca stated, loudly.
"I know. That much was obvious," Gohan agreed, "but it was on us to keep our cool and not give them a reason to see us as the enemy."
Pan scoffed and looked up at her father.
"He didn't need any more reasons," Pan said, "and it wasn't so easy to remain calm when he placed all the blame on us from the start."
"I understand," Gohan said, trying to ensure that Pan remained calm now, even though she was entitled to let her feelings be known.
"We didn't even get a chance to talk about Kuyato himself, that meeting was all about us," Noca added, looking to the window. "When he realised that he wasn't getting his way he was out of here."
"If Agent Larson hadn't been here, it may have been a different matter altogether," Bulma added, "without her it would have been an all-out attack, she kept the meeting on task."
"I think now we just have to make sure we stick to our word and work with them in the future, should it ever come to that," Gohan explained, "should Kuyato ever return."
Noca didn't say anything, he just continued to stare out of the window. Pan sighed leaned back in her chair, and she watched Noca as he stood with his back to them all.
"I just want to go home," Pan said, closing her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek again.
At the entrance to the tower, Leon Wister was still waiting by the door for his captain and other allies to return. He could see them exiting the elevator and walking through the lobby, so he stepped forward at the ready, right next to the doors. They were still being led by the same Capsule Corp. employee.
As soon as they made it to the security barriers the employee stepped to the side to let the guest pass on by.
"Thank you for visiting the tower," the woman said as they walked off.
Babka completely ignored the woman as he sauntered through with an air of frustration around him. He made sure to get his weapons back and made a beeline for the exit, paying no attention to anything around him.
Emelyn was next through, saying a quick thank you to the employee and rushed off nervously, and when Hannah stopped to get her weapon, she took a moment to thank the employee for being kind and helpful, making a note of her hospitality. Hannah wanted to leave a positive stamp on the rest of that employee's day.
Leon waited by the door until Hannah was through, and then they both stepped outside together to see that Babka was already entering the driver's side of the vehicle. Leon looked to Hannah for an order.
"Sit in the back with Emelyn," Hannah said as she headed to the passenger seat to sit beside her superior, who's mood had only grown fouler.
"They were hiding information from us, and you didn't even ask the right questions," Babka said, his voice raising as he drove them away from the tower.
Hannah scoffed, loudly, confidently, which even she was surprised about.
"Of course they were hiding information, I was just trying my best to keep control of the situation and being friendly so that I could coax that information out of them, because they should be our allies, not our enemies," Hannah started, "but you barge right in there looking for fight, you fought with them from the start."
Hannah was getting very confident as she accused Babka of ruining that meeting. Babka just frowned and looked ahead at the road, feeling a mix of shock, confusion, and anger.
"Did you forget that they're real people with real problems?" Hannah questioned, even though it was rhetorical. "You didn't let me lead the meeting like you asked me to, or did you really think I'm that much of a pushover?"
"I don't like your tone," Babka said, remaining relatively calm. "You need to remember your place behind your computer screens. I'm the captain."
"You know I do far more than stare at screens," Hannah snapped back. "Magda and her team are still working on repairing those systems we recovered from the site, and hopefully we can access some security logs or something and see if there's more to learn."
"We needed to know what happened on that ship," Babka suggested.
"I wanted to give them the chance to tell us their story, then if we had access to the security systems we could have learned if they were telling the truth or not," Hannah said, looking out of the window. "But they weren't in the right frame of mind."
"They're not your friends," Babka said.
"They're good people," Hannah replied.
"You're far too trusting, we can't work with them in future," Babka said, "they're a liability. And soon we'll never need to rely on their help."
Hannah quietly sighed and shook her head. Babka had clearly underestimated what would happen when he gave Hannah the opportunity to take point on this mission because she had done her research and prepped well to prove herself. She liked how much it had forced her to come out of her shell and even challenge her own superior like that. It helped that Babka knew that she, like the rest of the team, had a unique quality that made her important.
When Pan finally got her wish and was allowed to leave the Capsule Corp. tower, the first thing she did upon getting home was go over to the couch and plop down on her front, feeling emotionally exhausted. Noca walked in after her and just looked at her. He could feel Jessie the cat brushing up against his leg and he looked down at the little creature.
"Hey, girl," he said to the cat, "do you want some food?"
He bent down and lifted the cat up, holding her like a baby.
"Let's get you something," Noca said to the cat, scratching her nose softly. "Do you want anything, Pan?"
"No," Pan said, her voice muffled by the couch.
She turned around, laying on her back, and she sighed. She wanted to get her mind off of the meeting, and Rei, and give herself something else to dwell on.
"When do you go back to work?" she asked Noca as he put some food in Jessie's bowl.
"I don't really know right now," Noca replied, "Bulma said I could take as much time as I needed."
"That's nice of her," Pan replied, staring up at the ceiling. "She said the same to me, although there's work I could do from home if I wanted to, but I might go back soon… even though I don't want to."
"You shouldn't go back until you're ready," Noca said, putting the bowl down on the ground for Jessie, and he walked over to the couch.
He lifted up Pan's legs, sat down, and then lowered her legs onto his lap so that she could still stretch out. He kept one hand on her leg, rubbing gently.
"I think I should keep training," Pan suggested, looking to Noca, "maybe you should do the same."
Noca scoffed softly.
"I thought you didn't like me training, coming home battered and bruised?" Noca questioned.
"I don't like you putting yourself through pain for no reason," Pan added.
"I know, I know," Noca said.
"Although now we know that we have to be ready at any time, we don't know when something big could happen again," Pan said.
"I just really hoped, for once, that we could have some peace…" Noca said, staring into space.
Pan lay her head down again and closed her eyes.
"Yeah, me too."
And we're back! I hope you're looking forward to seeing where I go with this story. It's been a bit too long since I posted and I'm sorry, but as always I'm committed to finishing this story someday and I still have a lot of ideas to execute, and this is just the start of what will be a very eventful arc and saga. If you have any questions feel free to drop them in a review or send me a pm (unless you do so as a guest, because I won't be able to reply to those).
Also, I'm probably not going to do these author's notes at the end as often as I did before, mainly because I don't have anything to say lol. Thanks for your support and I hope you stick with me as we set out on this next step of Noca's journey!