A/N: DragonBall Daima comes out soon, and the events of that anime might determine some of what happens in this story. After all, Goku will be venturing into the Demon Realm, and we are dealing with demons here too, plus it is technically a part of his history. However, since I am writing this story while Daima still is not out, take that with a grain of salt. If I do incorporate Daima stuff into this story, it will probably be before Towa and Mira are defeated.
The cover of this story might be due to change soon. I actually have a 'Outfit 2' for Cress that she's going to change into post-Namek saga, so once the cover change occurs and she changes outfits I will be uploading a "V2 ref sheet" to my deviant art. For now, enjoy!
"Cress? Cress! Wake up!"
Cress stirred and opened her eyes, their color back to gray once again. A groan escaped her lips, as now without the increased power afforded by her strange transformation she could feel every inch of her body aching and throbbing in agony. "Trunks... what happened?'
"Gohan", replied the Time Patroller. "Sorry... I should've warned you that he had no control in his Great Ape form, just like Goku as a child. He will attack friend and foe alike. He managed to hit you with a giant rock clean in the head, which knocked you out for a bit."
"Well, that explains the headache", muttered the injured warrior, as she slowly sat up, wincing at every move due to how sore her body was. She watched as Vegeta struggled against the Great Ape, who was now laser focused on him and him alone. "So, explain that one to me. If he has no control, then why isn't he going after me now?"
"Goku managed to get through to him by telepathy", Trunks explained to her. "Though, it won't be much longer now. My farther is a genius after all." Sure enough, Vegeta suddenly formed a spinning disk of energy of his own, which he launched to slice off Gohan's tail, but this time a mistake was made. Gohan had launched himself as Vegeta just before that attack was fired, and a stunned Gohan landed directly on Vegeta before the transformation back into his human form had begun, crushing the Saiyan Prince underneath his massive body. Cress stood up and limped over despite her soreness, looking over at Vegeta who was lying there almost crushed to death. Gohan was completely naked, his outfit nothing more then useless strips of fabric after his transformation.
"D-damn it all", Vegeta panted, taking out a remote and pressing a single button before his arm uselessly fell to his side. "I-I can't believe this... I, the great Vegeta, have been defeated by these weaklings. To think I w-would be forced to run away like this."
"I told you", Cress said to him, as his Attack Ball space ship landed a short distance away. "Don't underestimate the lower class, prince."
"D-don't think this is over", came the reply from the broken warrior.
"No, it will be over!" Krillin declared, limping up as well.
"Krillin!" Cress shouted, holding out her hand to him weakly. "Let him go!"
"But... no, Cress, why!?" Krillin shouted at her. "He killed our friends! He almost destroyed the entire planet! If we let him go, he is going to just come back and kill us all later! SO WHY!?"
"Krillin, please listen to her", came the voice of Goku in their heads, as he spoke to them via telepathy. "Let him go, please... I know it's stupid, but I can't help but think to myself that if I let him go, he will get stronger and come back... and that thought excites me."
"EXCITES YOU!?" Krillin shouted, as Vegeta stumbled into his pod. "If you think he's going to have a change of heart like Piccolo is, you're mistaken!"
You'd be surprised apparently, Cress thought to herself, and she couldn't believe that the prince would change either.
"Just please... let him go", Goku telepathically told him, causing Krillin to slump his shoulders in acceptance.
"Listen here", Vegeta said from within the pod as it began to close. "Next time, there won't be any miracles to save you... the next time we meet, I will slaughter all of you. Count on it." With that, the pod shut completely and took off into the air, leaving Cress and Krillin to watch after it with trembling knees and broken bodies.
"H-hey", Krillin turned to Cress, giving her a small smile. "Thanks for helping us... we could use your help in the future, if you are willing to give it."
"I will", Cress replied with a smile back, though that smile faded as he turned away. "But you'll never remember it," she said in a whisper as her body began to vanish, the light surrounding her and causing her to once again appear at the Time Next. Her legs gave out just then, her body nearly hitting the ground before Trunks managed to reach out and catch her.
"Whoa!" came his voice, as he reached into his black coat and pulled out a small, green bean. "Here, it's a senzu bean! It will get you right back to normal in no time!" Cress eyed the bean for a moment, unsure what exactly this small thing could do for her, but then she remembered that Gohan and Krillin split one in the past and it healed them as well. She opened her mouth and let Trunks insert the bean before she began to chew, the crunch of the bean sounding out in her ears. It tasted like nothing more then a standard raw green bean, but it was when she swallowed it did the miracle happen. Her wounds and tiredness completely vanished, and a surge of new energy filled her body. Trunks helped her back onto her feet, and she was shocked to find that she felt better then she had in her entire life.
"Thanks", Cress sighed in relief, looking over herself. "Man, those things really are amazing!"
"It's why they take so long to grow", Trunks explained to her. "Even in a place like TIme Nest, they need careful care in order to grow properly... I'm proud of you, Cress. You did better then I could have anticipated, and even expected. You should be proud of yourself too." Trunks smiled at her, and the teenage warrior couldn't help but smile back. However, a cleared throat caused her smile to fade and be replaced with confusion, as she and Trunks both turned to the source. Standing at the entrance to the time nest was a small, pinkish purple skinned individual, wearing a strange outfit that Cress had never seen before, which was deep purple with golden trim and a golden sash. A pair of yellow earrings dangled from her pointed ears, her pinkish red hair forming her face as her black eyes glared down at them. Her white, high heeled boots clicked with each step, her hands on her hips as she walked with purpose.
"S-Supreme Kai of Time!" Trunks nervously stuttered under her glare.
"I want to know what exactly you were thinking, Trunks!" she yelled stopping just short of him. Despite her short stature, she seemed to tower over the man though her presence alone. "Sending her off before she was ready? You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"Oh come on, Supreme Kai of Time", came Goku's voice, who followed her into the TIme Nest. "She ended up fine, didn't she?"
"Barely!" she cried hysterically. "We're dealing with people who can mess with time and increase the power of the people we are up against! We shouldn't just send people in assuming they're going to be just fine!"
"Hey, they're right!" Cress spoke up in defense of both her mentors. "Everything turned out ok in the end!"
"And YOU!" came the pointed finger from the elf, and now Cress could see why exactly Trunks seemed scared of her, as under that glare she too felt tiny. "You disobeyed a direct retreat order not once, but twice! When your commander tells you to retreat, you do so! Understand!?"
"Y-yes, Supreme Kai of Time", Cress muttered, earning herself a sympathy look from Trunks.
"W-we are glad you are here, Supreme Kai of Time", Trunks bowed with respect before turning back to the scroll. "We actually want your input on something that happened on this mission. Have you ever seen a Tuffle that entered a red-eyed form like this?"
At that, the Kai looked confused, walking up and peering into the scroll. For a few minutes, no one said anything as she watched the events unfold, before she rolled the scroll back up and turned to them, a deep concentrated look of thought on her face. "No. The Tuffle people were not fighters, so none of them ever displayed this sort of power before. Even artificial Tuffles created for the sole purpose of fighting never displayed such a form... unless..."
"Unless what?" Cress asked.
"In alternative time lines, these machined Tuffle creatures could possess individuals", the Lord of Time explained. "When they possessed Saiyans, their strength was far stronger and created a sort of hyrbid between the two. A sort of 'Tuffleization', if you will. This power seems to be similar to that. i have reason to believe that this isn't a Tuffle form, per say, but a result of your half-Tuffle, half-Saiyan DNA creating a mutation that allows you to access this transformation."
"Tuffleization, huh?" Trunks pondered, crossing his arms and thinking out loud. "I was thinking she was somehow accessing the power of the Oozaru without actually transforming. It would explain why her eyes were red and why she didn't have much control over herself at first."
"No, I know a Saiayn that can do that and his eyes turn yellow, plus she only had an initial doubling of strength which doesn't line up with Oozaru power. I believe that this new form of Tuffleization, or Tuffleized for short, is a brand new type of power", explained the Kai farther. "She started at double her base power, being increasing it to triple and then quadruple, so who knows what the limit of it is... It is just a theory, but it is the best theory I can come up with for what this strange, red-eyed form is. I have never seen it before in my life, and trust me I've lived for almost 75 million years. If there was a natural born Tuffle that could do this, I would know." She turned at that, ignoring Cress' look of shock as a result of the casual age drop she just had. "Anyway, it is a please to meet you at last. My name is Chronoa, but I am more officially known as The Supreme Kai of Time!"
"As I explained to you in the past, the Supreme Kai of Time is the founder and leader of the Time Patrol", Trunks elaborated. "She's also responsible for keeping an eye on all of time, and was the one who initially came to me when... well, let's just say I time traveled without permission, which is how I ended up here in the first place. I created the first alternate timeline, and my eternal punishment is to correct time as a result of my actions."
"But you did so for a good reason, Trunks", Chronoa gently said. "Don't be so hard on yourself... anyway, I'm sure Trunks told you before, but the reason we recruited you in the first place is because, lately, time distortions are occurring more and more rapidly, and we need to investigate the source of it all. We're been stretching our members pretty thin, so we began recruiting as much as possible to cover enough time distortions."
"Does time always have this instability?" asked Cress, confusion radiating off her.
"No, but since there are a few alternative time lines there is always the possibility of them bleeding into one another and causing adverse effects", Chronoa explained. "Originally, our missions were simple enough, just keeping things in check and stopping a few events that occurred differently from recorded history, and when that was the case we could do our missions with only a few members. However, as the days went by, more and more people began to experiment with time and attempt to change history. We began expanding our own members and efforts to combat this. But, what is happening lately is far beyond anything we've ever seen before. I don't know who is messing with time now, but whoever they are, they mean business... and have the resources to really mess things up if we don't stop them!"
Cress nodded at that, sensing how serious this situation really was. "Ok. Just let me know when I need to go next. I'm ready now if you need me!"
"No", Trunks shook his head. "You did more then enough for today. Despite the senzu bean healing you back to full health, you still are going to need your rest. These missions don't just take a strain on the physical body, but the mental and emotional state as well. You need rest, Cress. After that, you can resume your training and missions, ok?"
"Besides, we got a few more members that need to go out on missions, so they can take care of whatever comes up in the meantime", Chronoa said, turning to a opening where a purple, tainted scroll had landed. "As a matter of fact, there's one now!" Holding out her hand, the scroll flew over to her and she caught it, opening it up and peering inside. Cress looked over and saw a Saiyan warrior that looked just like Goku standing there, only he was darker skinned and wearing the actual Saiyan armor, colored gray and black. "Turles... well, this should be a good first mission for one of our new recruits. I already called her over, so no problem there!"
Cress blinked at that, and sure enough she felt an energy source that was incredibly high approaching the time nest, catching her off guard a bit. The energy she felt was stronger then that of Prince Vegeta from the past she had just fought, making her shocked that this was apparently a new recruit instead of just some experienced Time Patrol member. But what shocked her even more is when the source of the energy finally entered the TIme nest, and the face of her most hated rival looked down at them all. "Well now... I had heard that a green haired insect was scurrying around here. Didn't think I'd actually see you again, Cress."
"Fennelle", Cress snarled back at her. The elite had changed since Cress last saw her, no longer having a tail and now wearing a modified version of the Frieza Force battle armor, complete with blue tipped white boots, new gloves and black tights. Her armor was much smoother and lacking the lines the old model had, and seemed to be specially made for her, white and blue in color. Cress continued to glare at Fenelle for a bit, before turning and looking at Chronoa with a distasteful look. "Why in the world did you recruit her of all people? She's awful!"
"She is one of the strongest Saiyans that we could find for recruitment", answered the Time Lord, unnerved by Cress' outburst. "Besides, she's under the watchful eye and training of Vegeta, so I think she'll be ok."
"Vegeta!" Cress gasped, and sure enough when she turned back she could see the prince himself enter the TIme Nest right behind Fennelle. The prince had on battle armor as well, though his was more modified then even Fenelle's was, sporting black under layers with the same lines as the old ones had, though black accents were on the ankle and wrist area, and the chest armor itself sported a yellow tube that wrapped behind his neck.
"Father, you made it", Trunks smiled at him, though Vegeta did not return the smile as he too came down with his student, approaching the area where the others stood. Fennelle walked right up to Cress, looking down at her with an unamused expression on her face, distaste present in her eyes.
"Didn't realize they let garbage into the ranks of the Time Patrol", taunted the former elite of the Saiyan Army. "Do they even count you among the ranks of the Saiyan, cause if so I might need to have a chat with the recruitment force. Clearly they made a mistake letting a bug like you call yourself a Saiyan." Cress snarled at that, her eyes turning red once again, though Fennelle didn't seem to bothered by Cress' increased power level, and only smirked at that. "Hmm, maybe I misjudged you. Seems like you actually have gotten stronger after all, though I guess even polished trash is still trash, isn't it?"
"Why you little-"
"Enough!" Chronoa bellowed, getting in-between the girls. "There is to be no internal fighting in the Time Patrol! If you two have beef to settle, you can do so later, but we have to get back on track. Fennelle, you have a mission to go on. Cress, your orders are to rest after your own mission."
"Hmph, very well", Fennelle turned walking up to the table. "Hmm, Turles, huh? Sounds like a fun challenge, and a much tougher opponent then Nappa was. Wouldn't you agree, Cress?"
"Fennelle, you need to stop taunting Cress like that", Trunks ordered, stepping forward.
"And why should I?", Fennelle replied, glaring at him. "She's nothing more then a half-breed-"
"Excuse you", Vegeta snarled suddenly, causing Fennelle to tense up. "But that is my son you are talking to, and he happens to also be half-Saiyan. Show some respect before I beat it into you."
"R-right, apologies you majesty."
"And stop calling me that. I am no king and the Saiyan society as we know it is no more. Regardless of what her non-Saiyan half is, she has her place here amongst the Saiyan just like my son does, and until you can accept that you'll continue to be treated like a muzzled dog, understood?" Cress was so shocked by what she was hearing and seeing that her red eyes vanished to be replaced with her normal gray. Trunks was right, the Vegeta he knew who was his father had changed drastically from the man she just fought in the past. Fennelle only huffed in response, before taking the scroll from the Supreme Kai of Time and vanishing on the spot, the scroll flying over to the table and opening to showcase what was happening in the past.
"I hate her", Cress snarled. "Please tell me she got a mission where she's going to get her ass beat."
"Fennelle is there to correct time", Chronoa said to her as she shook her head. "Listen, I don't know what exactly happened between you two in the past, but it needs to remain in the past. If it takes time, then that's fine, but at least make an effort to put it behind you. We will make sure Fennelle does the same."
Cress sighed at that, crossing her arms and frowning as she looked over at the scroll. where Fennelle was fighting against Turles. She hated to admit it, but the vast improvement in her rival's ability was impressive. "I can't promise anything... but I will not cause conflict among our ranks. So long as she does the same, I think there will be no issues."
"Good", Vegeta replied which caught her attention. "Like i said, the old society of Saiyan is no more. We are here to correct the flow of time and make sure history remains on course. Nothing else matters other then the missions. To me, it doesn't matter that you are half-Tuffle. What matters is what we have now, regardless of former grudges."
"He speaks from experience", Goku laughed. "Though it took him a long time to get over his grudges with us after we defeated him on Earth!"
"Shut your mouth, Kakarot", Vegeta snarled in annoyance. Cress laughed at that, feeling a bit more at ease. She hated to admit it, but when she heard that both Fennelle and Vegeta were here, the mere thought almost wanted to make her resign from the Time Patrol and go live somewhere in the woods away from everyone else, but seeing Vegeta calmer and more accepting was enough for her to think that if he changed, maybe there was hope for Fennelle after all. Though, she had to admit that the hope she had that Fennelle could possibly change was not high, having first hand experience at how cruel she really was, though she was willing to give her a chance seeing at how much Vegeta had changed despite his own past.
"Cress, take a few days off from missions", ordered Chrona, who smiled at her. "I want you to undergo some weighted training with Goku. Let's get you stronger so that you'll be better prepared for more difficult missions."
"Alright!" Goku cheered, grinning at her. "I can run you through some of the training I did when I was heading to Namek. It might be the best place to start, since we can alter the gravity of the room as required."
"Gravity altering training, huh?" Cress smirked at that. "Are you sure? Planet Vegeta had 10 times the gravity that Earth does. I think it won't be that much of a struggle for me."
"Oh believe me", Vegeta said, looking over at her and failing to hide a bit of a smirk on his face. "You haven't experienced gravity until you've been in one of my wife's gravity chambers."
XxXxXxX
"Ok, I take it back, this is hard!"
Cress was panting as she struggled to even walk, her muscles once again aching with each step she took. Goku was watching her, unbothered by the increased gravity due to his stronger body and power. "You'll get used to it with time. We'll start at 25 times normal gravity, then increase it to 50. Once you can handle 100 times normal gravity, your training will be complete. Let's start slow, though, with you walking around and getting used to the feeling of the gravity before we start with anything more intense, ok?"
Cress struggled to nod, before continuing her walk around. Suddenly, though, she stopped walking and turned to Goku, who looked at her confused. "What's up?"
"Hey, Kakarot", Cress said to him, curiosity etched on her face. "Earlier, Trunks compared that red-eyed form I have to a Super Saiyan... but, it's just a myth right? There really is no such thing as a Super Saiyan, is there?"
Goku stared at her for a moment before turning off the gravity chamber, and Cress couldn't help but sigh a bit in relief as the pressure was lifted from her body. "No, it's real. Maybe not the same legend you heard about in the past, but there are Super Saiyans out there. As a matter of fact, I was one of the first to transform into that form in over 1000 years!"
"W-wait, you're a Super Saiyan?" Cress asked, completely stunned by that reveal.
"Yeah, and so is Trunks", Goku explained to her. "As a matter of fact, Vegeta, Gohan, my other son Goten... they all can transform into a Super Saiyan. Vegeta once compared it to a child's play thing... guess he isn't that far off, huh? I mean, my youngest son achieved it when he was only seven years old!"
"It just seems so unreal", Cress muttered as she let the fact that even Trunks could transform into the form that her father's people once whispered about as if it was nothing more then a fairy tale. Suddenly, she smiled and looked at Goku in amazement. "Ok, please show me! I want to see this for myself!"
Goku blinked before chuckling. "Alright then, you asked for it!" Suddenly, Cress felt the very air around them shift. Goku stood there for a moment, letting a golden aura surround his body, as power began to erupt from within him. Cress could hardly believe what she was sensing, the amount of energy she was feeling was so intense that she nearly fell backwards from it. With a sudden yell, Goku's hair spiked upwards and turned golden, his eyes becoming a bluish-green and looking fierce, a smirk forming on his face.
"Wow..." Cress gasped in awe. "What incredible energy! I've never experienced such a thing before!"
Goku let himself power down, nodding at her. "It is very intense the first time you experience it, let alone transform into it. When I transformed for the first time, it was right after Frieza murdered my best friend, Krillin. After that, I felt this sudden intense anger, and next thing I knew, I was a Super Saiyan."
"So in order to transform, you need to get really angry?" Cress asked, finally realizing exactly that Trunks was talking about when he referred to her Tuffleized state as 'psuedo-Super Saiyan'. "I was really angry when Nappa and Fennelle were taunting me, so why didn't I transform into a Super Saiyan. If Trunks and Gohan could do it, I should be able to as well, right?"
"Not yet", Goku said to her, holding his finger up. "There are two conditions you need to meet in order to transform into a Super Saiyan. The first is your body must be ready to ascend into the form and maintain the power. If you aren't strong enough yet, then your body won't be able to transform into the Super Saiyan form. That wasn't the first time Krillin died in front of me, but when he did so when I was a child, I was not strong enough to transform. Second, anger alone isn't enough. There has to be a purpose to that anger, a need to transform instead of just a desire for the form. Maybe I am wrong on that, but just being taunted isn't enough. When I transformed, my best friend died. When Vegeta transformed, it was frustration at his own weakness and inabilities. I don't think Nappa taunting you over your mother and her people would be enough to trigger Super Saiyan, even if it was enough to make you Tuffleize."
Cress sat down at that, mulling over Goku's words before speaking again. "So that is how you defeated Frieza... so, if I ever need to face him, I might need to become a Super Saiyan as well, huh?"
Goku shook his head at that. "Not necessarily. If you can get that Tuffleized form to it's strongest output, and train your base state to be stronger then I was when I first transformed, that should be enough. Maybe one day, you can transform into a Super Saiyan, but for right now I think we should just focus on getting you up to a point where you can defeat Frieza without needing to transform into a Super Saiyan. So, ready to get started?"
With a goal in mind, Cress nodded, standing up as Goku went back towards the gravity controls. She had a feeling her next fight was going to be against the forces of Frieza, and she had to be ready for anything that came her way, even the one behind the time manipulations.
