A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to write this chapter, went through a lot of things in life such as an increase in hours at my job and personal issues that took up most of my free time from work. You can checkout my profile for a more detailed update if you want.
We're finally getting into the main event of the Saiyan Saga, and into the meat and potatoes so to speak of this story in particular. Everything up to this point was pretty much just building up for Cress to become a true member of The Time Patrol, and now that she is and is getting official training she's about to face some real challenges. Enjoy!
Cress found herself taking awhile to get used to her strange new life she suddenly found herself living, especially with no active military assignments that forced her to enslave planets for trading purposes. The bed especially was her favorite part, the mattress as Trunks called it being so comfy that she was melted into the bed and groaning in a "I don't want to get up" tone as the alarm clock on the side of the bed chirped, the sun barely illuminating it in the otherwise dark room from behind her curtains. Cress finally reached out and tapped the bell on top of it, shutting off the blaring alarm. Yawning loudly, she sat up, her white pajama shirt wrinkled from her sleep as she stared blankly at the beige wall on the other side of her room, where a small TV sat, currently on and playing the news, as Cress had taken to falling asleep with it on.
"It will be 28 degrees toady in Toki Toki City, that's 82.4 Fahrenheit for those from time periods not using the Metric system and still haven't learned it", the black suit wearing human reading the weather droned on as Saiyan-Tuffle hybrid got up, revealing bare legs which her long white shirt barely began to cover. "So those that are off today might want to think about a beach trip with the friends. The Supreme Kai of Time does want to remind everyone that in order to fly, you need a flying license, so be sure to avoid flying unless you've obtained one."
Cress gave a bit of a huff at that, as she began to brush her teeth in the bathroom of her studio apartment, half listening to the report on the number of unlicensed flyers increasing over the past few months. In her opinion, it was kind of dumb that you needed a license to fly here, though she also witnessed a midair collision between an Earthling and a Namekian occur shortly after arriving here, so at the same time she understood why the licensing was in place.
"So if you don't have a flying license, you can get your cars down at Toki Toki Toyota", the anchor droned on. "Vehicles starting at-" the TV went to static at that before coming back in, though Cress paid no mind to this as driving those screaming metal death-traps disinterested her anyway. "Toyota, moving forward! In other news, while the number of flying accidents have increased due to the number of new recruits not obeying the flying rules, the number of car accidents has-"
The TV screen flickered off as Cress aimed the remote at it and pressed the big red button to shut the channel off, her exhaustion apparent in her face as her deadpan face was reflected off the screen. Her head then turned to a set of double wooden doors, which she opened to reveal a closet, with only a few of the same outfit contained within, though to Cress this was all she really needed, having grown up first with brown messy outfits and then military enforced armor. First, after taking off her white shirt and putting black underwear on, she slipped on her black undershirt tanktop before slipping on a yellow gi top, the turtle symbol on both the front left breast and large on the back of it to show she was Goku's student in the Turtle School Style. Then, she pulled on a pair of baggy, black sweat pants, making sure her gi wasn't tucked into it and could freely move around if necessary. She tied a white belt around her waist, before slipping on two black wristbands, one onto each of her arms. Finally, completing the fighting outfit was her Saiyan boots, which were replicated from her armor, and the only part Cress figured she'd keep, as the other shoes she tried weren't as comfortable for fighting in as the flexible boots of her former life. With a smile to herself in her full length mirror, she turned and opened her apartment door.
Only to see a sight in the hallway which made her tense up. Standing there was a figure which was all too familiar to her, the alien in question having just emerged from the stairwell which her apartment was right in front of. "F-F-F-Frieza!"
At that, the alien frowned. "You must be new here, to call me by the name of that evil emperor."
At that, Cress did a double take. The alien in question did look a lot like Frieza, but upon closer inspection was different from the galactic overlord. His skin was a deep, dark grey; with his arms, feet, legs, tail and upper shoulders and mouth all being the same color. He had on the typical whiteish bio-armor she noticed Frieza wearing under his battle armor, with his covering his upper chest area of his body, wrists and ankle area. His orbs, grown into his body as typical of his race, were a red in color, with one in his head and the other one on his chest. His purple eyes were locked onto Cress, her first impression obviously leaving a bad taste. "I'm so sorry!" Cress blurted out, bowing. "I shouldn't have assumed."
At that, the alien huffed. "It's fine. Not the first time it's happened, and it isn't going to be the last. My name is Zero, by the way. Best you learn that other members of my race are here in Toki Toki City as well, and they won't take as kindly to being called that name as I have." With that, he headed down the hallway, leaving Cress to look after him.
XxXxXxX
"I'm sorry, we should've warned you there were members of Frieza's Race here."
Cress only shrugged as she drank her cup of coffee, sitting at an outdoor cafe with two humans. Although not much free time was afforded to her with her training, she had bonded with two humans that lived on her floor, a light blue haired female human wearing a green dress that extended down to her mid-thigh, with a white sash around the waist. The girl in question looking over at Cress with her blue eyes, watching the Saiyan-hybrid with concern. Although Cress did not know how her dress allowed her to fight, apparently it was designed for that as she was a full fledged member of the Time Patrol. "It's fine, Hazel, honest. I think I would've been caught off guard even with some warning. He seriously looked like Frieza on first glance."
"Yeah, especially since they're rare even around these parts", the male human spoke, his brown skin seeming darker as he sat in the shade of the cafe umbrella over them, his orange gi ruffling as he took a sip as well, the blue belt around his waist swaying as he adjusted himself in the chair, his baggy white pants ruffling in the wind.
"What do you mean, Reeb?" Cress asked, looking confused.
"Well, in Toki Toki City there are five races that have joined the time patrol over the short time it's existed", Reeb explained, ruffling his black hair before holding up his hand and extending three fingers. "The most common are Human, Namekian, and Majin. Humans, or Earthlings as they are more commonly called in our ranks, are the most common; with Namekians coming in at a close second due to New Namek being destroyed in Age 820 and the Namekian population relocating to Earth. Finally, Majin are the third most common, though they begin to get into the uncommon territory since they're rather new race, with all of them being spawned by Majin Buu himself."
Cress nodded, understanding a bit about the Majin already. During her time here, she had learned of a infamous demon named Majin Buu once terrorizing the universe, until Goku defeated him in combat, or rather the evil side of him. The good Buu would later have children of his own after performing fission, and she had already seen a few of their members throughout the city, and had Trunks explain to her what they were exactly. As she thought about this, a light gray Majin and a light blue Majin walked by just then, chatting to one another. "Yeah, but it seems like they're still common enough to be seen a lot."
"Yeah, that's true", Reeb nodded, closing his brown eyes to think for a moment before putting up a fourth finger and opening his eyes again. "Next are the Saiyans. They have mostly been recruited though various points in time, such as yourself, Cress. The reason they're so uncommon, however, is because most of them were douches. Er, no offense."
"None taken", Cress muttered, having no love for most of her fathers race considering how they treated her in the past. "I'm only half-Saiyan anyway. Speaking of, I take it no Tuffles exist in the Time Patrol, then?"
"If they are any, they haven't said anything other then you", Hazel answered, shaking her head.
"But like I said, it takes a certain type of Saiyan to be recruited", Reeb continued, gesturing to where a male Saiyan wearing Time Patrol branded battle armor was sitting with a female Earthling, the two talking and laughing in a manner that Cress knew was rare for the average brute Saiyan warrior. "Trunks, a hybrid Saiyan, is classified as such in our ranks, since his Saiyan genes allow him the strength of a Saiyan already. Then, finally", he extended his final finger on his head, "we got Frieza's Race."
"We have them in our ranks yet don't know their official name?", Cress asked curiously.
"All of them won't tell us", Hazel replied, sighing a little and shrugging. "I don't think they want to talk about themselves much. Frieza's very existence and what he did to strike fear throughout the galaxy caused every other race to fear or hate them, so they seem to have just accepted their place in the shadows. You'll rarely see them out and about around here, with most of them getting their flight license as soon as possible to avoid the streets, having large cloaks to counsel themselves entirely, or even taking it a step further and learning how to use techniques that allow them to teleport."
"Zero especially", Reeb commented. "He's the strongest of them, but also the most distant of them all. I once heard someone call them Frost Demons, so that might be their race name, but I wouldn't directly call them that. I value my life."
Cress had to laugh at that, finishing her coffee before suddenly a approaching power level caught her attention. Since training with Goku, she had learned quite a few tricks that she was unable to learn on the Planet Vegeta, though she found that she had to limit how much she paid attention to power levels as she was constantly surrounded by high energy here in Toki Toki City. Still, intension did catch her attention from time to time, and she knew for sure the power level heading their way was for her, which was proven true when a Namekian landed a few feet from their table, which also caught the attention of her two friends.
"Hey, Escar!" Hazel greeted with a cherry wave. "Are you joining us? Should I ask the waitress for some water?"
"I am not here for pleasantries, unfortunately", replied the buff Namekian, his red Gi wrinkled from his flight over. His black eyes darted towards Cress, as his brown shoes pointed in her direction as he turned his body, his black belt waving a bit as he did so. "Cress, is it? Trunks is summoning you to report to the Time Nest immediately. Says it's an emergency."
"So much for training today, I guess", Cress signed, chugging the rest of her drink before placing the bio-degradable cup on the table and standing up. "I'll catch up to you later, guys!"
"Bye, and good luck", Reeb smiled at her as Escar lead Cress away.
"Since this is vital, I am just going to transport you there", Escar suddenly said, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her. "Hold still, and try not to think about anything else." Before Cress could even reply, Escar had placed a hand on her head and put two fingers on his forehead. Instantly, Cress noticed the surroundings around her shift to that of the Time Nest, where Trunks was standing over a scroll to her left. The sound of the air popping to make room for their suddenly appearing bodies caught his attention, his blue eyes daring towards them as he turned.
"There you are", Trunks said turning to face her as another pop sounded out to note Escar had vanished into the air once again. "Normally I wouldn't send someone who could use Instant Transmission to get you, but we got a problem on our hands. Come, see for yourself!"
Cress gave a firm nod as she walked over and peered into the scroll, noticing an injured Goku panting and covered in blood and wounds as two giant Great Apes loomed over him. The first was wearing black and yellow armor, which Cress instantly recognized as Nappa's armor. The second was wearing yellow and white armor with a blue jumpsuit underneath it, which Cress assumed was a newer model as she had never seen it before now.
"Nappa", Cress muttered, suddenly wishing she hadn't chugged her coffee, her stomach turning just from the sight of his Oozaru form. "I assumed Kakarot fought him in the past, since he was off planet when Frieza blew it up... but I never thought that he would be appearing now."
"This fight occurs one year after the battle with Raditz", Trunks explained to her. "During that one year, Piccolo and the others had managed to train up in order to fight off the Saiyans, but they were no match until Goku arrived after training in the land of the dead. He easily defeats Nappa before fighting against my fa- ...I mean, Prince Vegeta."
"Wait, that's Vegeta the IV!?" Cress gasped, looking flabbergasted at the scroll as it shifted to show the regular forms of Nappa and the price, who matched the former king in almost every way except he did not have facial hair.
"Yes, it is", Trunks nodded, turning back to the scroll. "My fa- I mean, Vegeta, along with Nappa come to Earth in order to get the Dragon Balls. Despite the best efforts of the warriors of Earth, they were no match until Goku arrived after his training, and despite easily defeating Nappa, he struggled against Vegeta. In the original timeline, Goku and Vegeta fight one-on-one since by the time Vegeta transforms into the mighty Great Ape, Nappa had been killed."
"So my job is to delay Nappa until Kakarot arrives so that it can be set correct", Cress confirmed, shivering a little. "Trunks... I'm not ready. I am stronger now since I began training with Kakarot, but I cannot fight Nappa. He's still out of my league, let alone Vegeta. He was stronger then his father as a child, and I was no match for the king!"
"Hey, don't worry about it", Trunks reassured her with a hand on her shoulder. "Like I explained already, no one was strong enough to defeat Nappa until Goku arrived. You just have to even the odds despite the time shifts and delay until Goku can come, got it?'
"...ok, I will try."
"One more thing", Trunks muttered a bit sheepishly, turning back to the scroll. "You need to keep Vegeta alive. If something shifts so that he might be in danger, you might need to prevent it, got it?"
"Wait, why would I-" Cress started to ask before suddenly stopping, her eyes outlining Trunks' facial features before looking back towards the scroll, where Prince Vegeta was visible in a full facial profile. She did a double take from Trunks, back to Vegeta, and back to Trunks again before she realized. "Vegeta is your father, isn't he?"
Trunks looked at her seriously, his eyes looking into hers as the two half-Saiyans let the realization settle for a few moments. "Yes. Are you unwilling to do this mission knowing that?"
Cress sighed, looking back at the scroll where now only Vegeta's face was showing, grinning with evil and malicious intentions. For a moment, Cress almost could see King Vegeta in the prince's own image, but as she turned back to Trunks, his good nature and his half-human status seemed to overwrite her shock and fears that sprang up as she realized Trunks was a member and hair to the Royal Family. "My problems were with King Vegeta, not you or your father. Your grandfather is the one who wiped out the Tuffles and made my life hell and forced me into a life of anguish and torment... however, Trunks, I can't tell you that there won't be any bad blood between us. Nappa is going to know who I am instantly, he was General of the Saiyan Army and therefore when it was revealed that I was half-Tuffle, he would have found out too."
Trunks could only nod as he walked back towards the scroll, the image shifting once again to the stand off between Goku and Nappa, only this time it looked like Nappa was much more powerful and confident at the sight of the low class warrior's power level that Vegeta had seemingly read. "I understand... truthfully, my father never really said anything about the Tuffles to me, so I don't know what his reaction to learning about you will be. However, I can tell you this. That man you're going to see in the past, he is much different then the man I know and love. So please, reserve your judgements about him until you meet the changed him. Ok?"
"...I can try."
"That's all I ask", Trunks replied, holding out the scroll to her with a serious look on his face. Cress braced herself, giving a sigh again before taking the scroll and vanishing on the spot. Once again, the surroundings around her shifted, only this time the light of the scroll cloaked them from her view until she found herself standing in the deserts of Earth, but this time she was alone.
"Dammit", Trunks swore in her ear piece. "I sent you back too early, you're going to need to wait for a bit... Nappa and Vegeta just landed so they will head over shortly, but you might need to have an awkward chat before you do."
"What are you-" Cress was about to say, but she sensed two power levels nearby, and as she turned she saw Piccolo and the kid Gohan standing there, though the Namekian didn't seem to happy to see her.
"You", Piccolo shot at her, glaring. "Who are you?"
So they really did forget about me, Cress thought to herself sadly before she turned to fully face Piccolo and gave a bow. "Hello, my name is Cress. I, er... know about the Saiyans that are coming to his planet, and I am here to help. If, er... that is ok?"
Piccolo gave a huff, "You? What can you do? Look, kid, the warriors we are about to fight are no joke. We already killed one of their allies, and he was enough of a challenge. These two are not going to make it easy, and we've been training non-stop for a year for their arrival. If you really want to help. the best thing you can do is leave so you aren't in our way."
"Mr. Piccolo", Gohan spoke, his voice gentle and polite but with a bit of resolve to it that Cress could sense. "There's something about her... I can't put my finger on it, but I think she can really help us!"
"Your student is right", Cress replied. "I am half-Saiyan, just like he is. And believe me, those two aren't my friends. I'd rather die trying to help then let them get the Dragon Balls."
"Too much information!" Trunks hissed in her ear, causing the half-Tufle to sheepishly blush as she looked over to see the judgmental eye of Piccolo.
"You sure know a lot", Piccolo growled. "And you claim to be half-Saiyan as well? What makes you think we can just trust you knowing that!? I should just kill you right now so there is one less Saiyan to worry about!"
"Wait!" a voice suddenly called out. Cress turned to see that it was Krillin, Goku's childhood best friend and who would become the strongest human on planet Earth. He landed in front of Cress and gave Piccolo a glare. "Come on, Piccolo, where is your heart? Goku is Saiyan too, and Gohan is half-Saiyan! So, what's another one added to our ranks going to hurt? Better yet, maybe with her help we can come out of this much better off then if we turned her away!"
Piccolo thought for a moment, before huffing and turning with his arms crossed. "Fine, but I'll be watching her. She could be a spy for all we know."
"Eh, whatever", Krillin waved him off, turning and looking up at Cress with a smile as Gohan ran over. "Sorry about him. He's not exactly our friend, but he is the second strongest person on his planet, so we have to ally with him till the Saiyans are taken care of at least. So, what about you? You say you're half-Sayian, so what makes you want to ally with us?"
"It's a long story..." Cress muttered, knowing she already revealed too much and that she was already suspected, but also knew that she couldn't just deny their questions, especially since they would just forget anyway. "But, my father was a Saiyan and my mother was from a race that the Saiyans eliminated. I was the only survivor, and was allowed to remain with the Saiyans because of my father, but the Saiyan race never treated me well because I am so different from them. When it was revealed to their other members that I was only half-Saiyan, one of them ripped out my tail and banished me. Trust me, I am not their friend."
"I'm sorry", Gohan replied with a soft voice. "My tail was taken too, but I don't know when it happened. I think an animal removed it when I was sleeping in the wilds." Cress couldn't help but notice Piccolo snort at that, but she didn't question it farther as she felt he must've had a good reason to remove Gohan's tail.
"If you don't mind me asking, can you tell us a bit about the two we are going to fight?" Krillin asked. "The more we know about them, the better of a chance we stand."
"Won't change too much giving them some info", Trunks confirmed in her ear. "In fact, it might help even the odds that are already stacked against us."
Cress gave a nod before thinking for a moment. "Well, there's going to be a big, bald guy named Nappa. He was formally the General of the Saiyan Army before our home planet was destroyed, and was one of the strongest people on our planet. We're going to have our hands full with just him, honestly, but he's also cocky and overconfident. A sort of 'play with his food' type, so we can catch him off guard and use that to our advantage. The second one will be our Prince, Vegeta... unfortunately, we stand no chance against him... I'm sorry. I was no match for our King, and he is stronger then his father ever was..."
"So we will have to wait for Goku to arrive", Krillin mumbled, gripping his fists. "Well, at the very least, we can try and take Nappa down in the meantime. So, let's come up with a plan-"
"No time! They're here!" Piccolo shouted. Cress, Krillin and Gohan all turned to see two figures floating in the sky, which sure enough were Nappa and Vegeta, who were looking down at them smugly.
"Man, can you feel their energy?" Krillin whispered as he watched them land on the ground across from them. "Their aura feels demonic!"
"Have you been waiting for us?" Vegeta asked confidently, his arms crossed.
"That's right", Piccolo replied. "Now, just so we are all clear, what exactly are you two here for?"
"That voice..." Vegeta muttered, though his smug smirk did not vanish. "I see, so you are the one who managed to kill Raditz, aren't you?"
"Voice?" Piccolo asked.
"Didn't Raditz tell you?" Vegeta asked him, pointing to the red scouter on his face. "The scouters on our face double as intergalactic communication devices."
"Hold on, Vegeta", Nappa said, looking Piccolo over. "That one is a Nemekian."
"Yes, you're right, Nappa", Vegeta confirmed, also looking him over. "It makes a little more sense now that he'd be able to beat Raditz in combat. In addition to having an above average power level, Namekians are said to have some mysterious abilities as well. If I had to guess, it would be you who made the Dragon Balls."
"You... know about the Dragon Balls?" Krillin asked in shock.
"Remember, the scouter doubles as a communication device", Cress replied to him. "My best guess is that before Raditz died, he managed to transfer a conversation he had with Piccolo."
At that, Nappa turned and finally noticed her, shock immediately wiping off the smugness that was once etched on his face. "Cress!? What are you doing here!?"
"Cress?" Vegeta turned as well, eyeing her with confusion, his smug grin fading as well. "That is a Saiyan name. Who are you?"
"Vegeta, allow me to explain", Nappa growled as he tightened his fist while glaring at the green-haired hybrid, who was just glaring back at Nappa with hate in her grey eyes. "That right there is Lettus' daughter, the one who mated with a member of the Tuffle species before we wiped them off Planet Vegeta and claimed it as our own. Her father made a deal with your father in order to keep her alive, but she betrayed us and refused to follow orders on her last mission. Your father was going to kill her before Lord Frieza intervened, but Fennelle managed to rip off her tail and leave her to die. I guess she somehow survived and got off planet before it was destroyed."
"I see... so she is half-Saiyan, half-Tuffle", Vegeta muttered. "No wonder why she has a Saiyan name but doesn't look like a typical Saiyan. Lettus' daughter, huh? I remember my father told me that he was a good warrior, but was nothing more then a breed traitor. I see now what he meant by those words. It doesn't matter regardless. We can correct my father's mistake and kill her in due time."
"You'll find that harder to achieve then you think", Cress snarled at them, tightening her fists. "I'm much stronger now then I was back then!"
"Oh, is that right?" Nappa smugly asked, pressing the scouter on his face. "Your power level is at 1500, the same as it was on Planet Vegeta, you liar. The kid is at 981, the Nakemian is 1220, and the midget is at 1083. Ha, you think you can beat us with those power levels?!"
"Take off your scouter, Nappa", Vegeta commanded, doing so and dropping it to the ground. "Those individuals have learned to suppress their energy, therefore these things are useless to us for the moment. I'm guessing Cress also learned the same trick from her time here."
"Yeah, now I remember", Nappa said, doing the same thing and dropping his scouter. "That weakling Raditz got bested because he was caught off guard and relied too much on the scouter."
"W-weakling!?" Krillin gasped, shutting a little. "Great, the guy that Piccolo and Goku barely managed to beat by teaming up was a weakling to these guys... heh heh..."
"As I told you before", Cress muttered, looking at Nappa and Vegeta. "This is going to be a struggle until the one you call Goku arrives..."
"Well, I say we bring out their potential and really find out what we are up against", Vegeta smirked, looking over at Nappa. "We got about six Saibamen seeds, and two Tennenman seeds don't we?"
"Yeah, good call Vegeta", Nappa muttered, taking out a jar where indeed six green seeds and two pink seeds resided, along with some green liquid. "They'll grow nicely in this soil too."
"Tennenman?" Trunks asked in her ear piece, clearly having never heard of them before. "What are those?"
"A stronger, pink variation of the Saibaman", Cress replied under her breath so only Trunks could hear, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. "Picoolo and I might be able to beat one, but... I can't say the same for the others." As she spoke, the eight plant like aliens emerged from the ground to the shock and horror of the three Earth natives, six of them green in coloration with two pink ones with blue looking armor skin appearing at the back. Vegeta and Nappa were grinning, eyeing the four earth warriors in turn.
"Now, I say we do this test properly", Vegeta smirked, looking over at Cress in particular. "I say the six Saibaman will serve as a good judge of the power level of these Earthlings and the Namekian, but if Cress really did serve in the Saiyan ranks and is stronger then that supposed 1500 that was read earlier, then we can't take our chances. Tennenman, get her!"
Cress barely had time to brace herself before the pink Saibaman charged, both of them grabbing her and dragging her into the air. Cress could barely hear the yells coming from both Krillin and Gohan as she had to shut her eyes from being smashed through a mountainside, the plant-like aliens increasing in speed as they dragged her farther and farther away until she vanished completely from the view of Vegeta and Nappa. Vegeta chuckled confidently, turning his attention back to the Namekian, human and half-Saiyan child, who looked back at them horrified at what they just witnessed.
"Now, let's see how many of you will be killed before she comes back, if she even comes back at all."
