Caelus felt himself floating through the void once more. Darkness only surrounded and greeted him within every corner of constellations that shimmered and he was once more lost within his own broken memories. This was not the Astral Express, not where he could even reach his friends. Once more, just as when the Stellaron within him and his sister threatened to release on Herta Space Station, he was stuck in his own begotten fragmented memories of what once had made them whole, just a piece of what they once were.
"Trust them… Really strong… be fine…"
Caelus did not know who was speaking, the owner of the voice both from a man and a woman unknown, but the knowledge that this had to be referring to him. Them…? He and Stelle… He was certain of this fact.
"They certainly are not ready… Too young…"
A chuckle escaped from the lips of the man, and then Caelus could see him when darkness only presented itself to him. A man with spiky black hair that stood up, and an easygoing cheerful grin on his face, donning a long crimson red robe, a bo staff in its holster on its back, and a short young woman with pointed ears and pink skin with her own indigo set of clothes who certainly Caelus knew was not human but exuded a level of authority and control, and demanded such respect with her position. The taller man raised up his hands in a placating gesture as the woman narrowed her gaze at him, a look of both exasperated anger meeting a sheepish look from the man's face.
"Hey, they're tough! I've seen all how my other counterparts are with Gohan and Goten and all our adventures worked up to be pretty much the same! Even when I remained dead in those few instances from those other timelines when Gohan took out Buu! With or without me, everyone managed. I promise they'll be fine!"
The woman's gaze did not drop, and Caelus felt as if he was unsure of what to even remotely do or say as he watched this scene pan out before him.
Then the woman sighed in aggravation, her posture slack. She had seemingly given up or rather just accepted the ludicrousness of the situation at hand and what the man had seemingly presented with a proposition. "Fine, Goku. I sometimes wonder how everyone, even your wife for that matter, deals with you sometimes in decision making with one of your counterparts suggesting that ridiculous Tournament of Power to just appease the King of All. You recommended that they're ready from the Patroller Academy in Conton City even though you already had Beat and Note when they eventually joined up."
"Hey, technically. They're busy already." The man known as Goku, pointed out with a grin. "I mean, no offense, Supreme Kai, but you did kind of send both of them on that mission instead of Goten and Trunks."
The woman with pointed ears sighed, crossing her arms. She did. Damn him. Sometimes, he would really make a good point that somehow proved his point. She empathized with Chi-Chi at times for the few arguments.
The smile from the man vanished. "And besides, both those two learned everything from me and a few of my other counterparts. I can't really teach them anything more, just as what the few versions of me taught Gohan and Goten from those other timelines when both those two stepped up to the plate when I remained dead. And with Fuu, Towa, and the rest of their forces busy causing the disturbances, we need to prepare for them far more."
It wasn't as if he wanted to put them deliberately in harm's way or danger, but he rationalized that danger would eventually come for them regardless, just as it did when Cell and Buu did and he, along with most other versions of himself, had tried to push Gohan and Goten into the forefront of the conflict because he knew he wouldn't even be there constantly to protect the Earth from danger. Best to prepare for them than to get immediately killed or wiped from reality or existence because they weren't strong enough with the very knowledge that relying on the Dragon Balls to fix their problems would just make them too complacent of the situation.
After all, the timeline he originated from was the very result of that after their battle with Omega Shenron.
Caelus remained watching, unaware of the thoughts of the man. He wanted to speak, to interject, but nothing had came out of his mouth.
The pointed ear woman sighed. She hated how many points Goku had made that weren't wrong or could not be disproved at all. "Fine. But they're your responsibility. You're aware you're taking full responsibility for them?"
The grin returned on the face of the man known as Goku. It was clear that he was glad she seemingly "accepted" the response given. "Hey, thanks a lot, Supreme Kai! And I know they aren't going to do it alone! They'll have their friends and a bunch of other people backing them up! And each other! They won't be in danger from all this at the very least, at least not for now or anytime soon."
It won't be easy, he knew. Nothing about their journey would be even remotely easy or be simple. But he knew that they would come out stronger and prepared for what was to come. But at the very least, in the timeline they were sent to with a fresh clean slate with no knowledge of what had transpired or even here and now, it would allow them to grow and develop far away from what he knew would be a war between the Time Patrol and the Time Breakers.
Then the images were gone, fading faster before Caelus even had a chance to ask what had happened. The grey haired amnesiac reached out for them but the images faded before he could even fathom what had happened, golden irises widening, leaving him behind in the darkness.
Caelus found himself now back in the Express, nothing but the sound of his breathing as he stared up at the ceiling of his own room.
Stelle found herself awake from the dream she was certain that it was not.
For a moment, she found herself in a classroom, surrounded by a multitude of people of different races.
An instructor of sorts stood in front of the bickering students, ranging from a few… was that a tail some of them have? Another few had bulky armor that looked frankly ridiculous, and some of them were green skinned and had antennas on their foreheads.
"Settle down class… Now, can anybody tell me what ki is? What are the basic applications of it and what it can be used for, and how is ki fundamental?" The instructor spoke up as the many chatting students surrounding Stelle lapsed into silence.
One of the green skinned aliens, donning a gi, answered in a deep tone. "Ki is derived from one's lifeforce and consists of courage, mind and vigor. It allows us to surpass our limits and enhance one's strength, speed, and the damage one can take far more than what is possible by what can be physically obtained from the standard limitations of one's body. Everyone has the capability to utilize ki, but it depends on various species. For some, it is far easier to discover and utilize it. For others, it requires years before they even grasp the basic concepts of it like flight or projecting it into energy." The alien paused for a moment as if to think, then continued to speak. "Though there are different types of ki as well."
"Exactly. We won't be going into detail for the different types of ki, but as the educational training courses with your instructor have taught you, each and every one of you have already begun harnessing your control over it with sparring matches. We will begin with the metaphysical depths penned to us by Son Gohan, as it is crucial to understand it as much as it is to hone it."
Hushed murmurs of amazement at being taught at one of the greatest Z Warriors and the son of one of the Elite Time Patrollers, surrounding Stelle while she looked around at the class in blank confusion. Who was this Gohan? Whatever he was, he seemed to prove quite a figure in the eyes of this strange class.
If anything, Stelle was more concerned on why she was here and how. Had Kafka had something to do with this, of the unknown past between her and her brother?
The images blurred into nothingness as the class eagerly opened their textbooks, and Stelle found herself lost in the emptiness once more, before she was back on the Express in her own room.
What was that? What had that been?
Stelle could find no answers in the muddled past of her or her brother as she remained awake for the remainder of the time until morning, golden eyes blinking in exhaustion and confusion as she tried to interpret what she had seen.
Breakfast took the minds of the twins off what they had initially been contemplating earlier into devouring the food in front of them, with the rest of the crew watching in both amusement. If there was one thing in common with the twins, they were glutinous and ravenous in a sense that they could eat meals for at least five people and remain fit.
March 7th watched them and knew that Mr Welt had told her that both of them had a very high metabolism, at least from what they could expect. At least they had manners despite their appetites. She knew she would've lost her appetite if they ate like a pack of starving wolves. "Hey you two should slow down! It's not like the food is going anywhere…"
Except maybe your bottomless pits of a stomach…
It was one of the many quirky things they had gotten used to from both twins of brother and sister. From not just diving into dumpsters and challenging each other to see who could find the most useful trinkets, to making jokes even in situations when it was called for attention to detail.
From the first day when both had been discovered, both her and Dan Heng alongside Himeko and Welt noticed many peculiarities of both twins.
For one, when they fought off Nanook's army of Destruction and later, on Jarilo VI, both seemed to have an affinity for fighting that was far beyond what was ascertained. It wasn't noticeable at first initially when they fought off the forces of Destruction laid by Nanook on Herta Space Station due to the very nature of it of trying to evacuate and ensure many researchers survived but later on Jarilo VI, it was as if they enjoyed the thrill of it. Dan Heng had noted both of them were instinctively holding back against their fight with Bronya when they were on the run as "criminals". Even when they faced off against Cocolia Rand, Dan Heng told her he swore he saw a smile on their faces, and when they came back after both were certain they had been killed when both had been disemboweled through the stomach, they returned and became seemingly stronger from the experience.
There was also another matter for them both they later discovered. With their lack of ability to take a situation as serious as it could be, they weren't also particularly bright when it came to certain details. For one, they had an appalling lack of knowledge in education. When Mr Welt Yang had attempted to teach them, both had scored… not so well, with a test they had been given. Even when given material to study for a week and retest the end of it, both still had scored only marginally better.
It was clear their knowledge regarding other topics outside of their own shared interests was limited.
There had not been much on the schedule for the Nameless within the Express of Akivili. Welt decided to check up with Pom-Pom to locate the next Stellaron as they made their way back to Herta Space Station for the time being. It wasn't a concern of fuel, merely to relay to both Asta and Herta of their latest discoveries and to check up on them before they were off once more.
Once they had arrived on Herta Space Station, they greeted Asta, Arlan, and Herta and the many researchers once more. Both Stelle and Caelus, predictably so, went off to find treasure within the Space Station. Himeko went to chat with Herta, while both Dan Heng and Welt checked up on Arlan, with March the last to see Asta.
Pom-Pom, who was both fussing over the next planet they were locating the Stellaron, his breakfast pushed to the side for the moment with him the only one remaining on the Express.
"Huh, this is so confusing… this side of the galaxy makes no sense to me." He muttered as he studied where they were heading next. "North Galaxy… what kind of name for a galaxy is that?"
Yet the next Stellaron was seemingly located on a planet called… Earth?
He checked and double checked. There was no mistaking it.
He needed to speak to Welt and Himeko about this. It wasn't from where the former was from, right? That couldn't be the same Earth.
Initially, I planned for this to be a oneshot but with Sparking Zero's release into what if scenarios with its stories, replaying and rewatching Xenoverse and Super DB Heroes, I made this into a full story instead.
This story will be primarily based on the Dragon Ball Online timeline with heavy Xenoverse/DB Heroes focus and will feature my own story arcs. It will be loosely based on events after GT and Super.