[OP: Granrodeo ‒ Remember Your Passion]

Halfway There! Here Comes the Legendary Turtle Hermit!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"H~n…"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Ha~h..."

Bee-

CLNK!

After stopping her alarm, the young woman got to her feet.

"Right."

"Mornin', Ms. Ayeva!" she called to her mentor from across the space-isolated domicile's hall. Her door mechanically slammed open by itself, and a holographic "HeLLo!" (complete with digital hearts and a smiling mini-Ayeva) popped up from behind her work room, as electronic noises and typing briefly escaped before the door sealed back shut.

The young half-blood giggled a bit, and entered the gravity chamber for some training before school.

Within the other room, analysis of timespace's current stability, when/where/how many likelihoods of rift occurrences, and the nuances of a Gruuvinoid's transformations slowed to a crawl.

"... hm."

The cyborg felt compelled to pause her work and check on Dina.

She exited her work space for the first time in hours and leaned against the dim windows of the gravity chamber, peering in with folded arms.

Within was a 17 year old, practically dancing under a gravitational force 180x that of Earth's, all the while fighting tirelessly against her automatonic double, continuously refining and mastering a fighting style that'd been steadily developed since they were first introduced to each other many months back.

Due to the gruesome incident a month or two prior ‒ Ayeva had never screamed as loud in her life as she did that day ‒ Dina's Saiyan body had received a taste of absurdly-high gravitational forces. More importantly, she lived through the experience, and so grew exponentially in body and, for a reason unknown to the seasoned time detective, mind. (Could it have been the Zenkai? Can Saiyans do that?)

The session was beginning to approach its climax around the time she began spectating. Dina was throwing thousands of jabs per second at D.I.A.N.A, not a single breath escaping her while her sparring mate narrowly blocked everything it could, constantly on the backfoot. During the barrage, however, it gently diverted her hands to the side knuckle edge-first, throwing them off course.

[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ Shut Up ~Go To Hell (1:50)]

D.I.A.N.A. had changed. Due to Dina's sudden jump in power, Ayeva had deemed it fit to set a power output which she hadn't anticipated Dina to reach for, at best, another 4 months.

However, something was made apparent as D.I.A.N.A. dove in for a strong right to the liver.

"Hoh!"

Dina had also changed.

She gave a sharp, strong exhale as she bounded backward; the floor, dwarfed by Katchin alone in hardness, submitted to her sneakers' raw friction and tore apart. The hybrid had not only expected the counter, she anticipated it; by putting just enough force in her jabs not to be staggered by a miss or dodge, Dina wanted to see how the barrage would work as a set-up. She would've dove right back in for a counter hook if D.I.A.N.A. hadn't done likewise and bolted at her from ground position for her waist. Instantly, she kicked ‒ yes, kicked ‒ off the floor, now on the defensive. Her every stride covered between 3 or 4 normal paces, yet she had enough control not to trip on herself or crash into a wall. Then again, it seemed like she was on a collision course at that very moment; however, just as her back hit it, she grinned and lowered her guard, losing every ounce of tightness in her posture as D.I.A.N.A.'s fist prepared for impact. It wouldn't even hit the wall behind her, however; Dina had dove down, delivering a lightning-fast straight punch to center mass and sending it reeling back.

The artificial opposition took a moment to recover as Dina proceeded to take a long-winded breather, before altering its stance and diving back in. The two engaged in a grueling exchange, D.I.A.N.A.'s superior aim and equally-forceful blows eventually forcing Dina to take the back foot briefly. Refusing to give her the time of day, the fighting machine shifted its hands into the form of snakes, and lashed at her side, the hit blocked by Dina's low guard that left her left side completely exposed. D.I.A.N.A. took its free right hand and prepared to once-more try and demolish the girl's insides liver-first.

"eEEEURAA~H!"

Dina shifted her hips, threw her left forearm to the side, slammed her right foot into the ground, pivoted with it alongside the direction and force of the attack, and almost sent D.I.A.N.A's head rolling with a hook.

Ayeva's eyes widened at the maneuver.

"K-rk…!"

Due to the unique nature of the hit, and less-than-optimal reaction speed, Dina still took damage. Still, the added torque given by it added just a tad more oomph to her punch.

"Crud… it's not quite there yet. What's it missing?" She noticed D.I.A.N.A. rise to her feet.

"Eh. I've got a half-hour to find out. How 'bout this stance?" With that, she altered her form: left arm slightly outstretched and over her neck region, right arm wound back in hook form.

She suddenly noticed Ayeva and her expression through the window, gave a coy smile and peace sign, said something inaudible through the glass, got gobbed, and diligently returned to training.

Ayeva couldn't stop the light giggle that escaped her lips. It seemed like she was still learning and growing stronger here, solidifying her fighting style with every session.

Yet still. One environment, with one sparring partner. It didn't exactly sit well with her.

So, she returned to her room, and wrote a note to someone of whom she knew, from personal experience, had more expertise in the field of mentorship than her.

It was a paragraph in length. However, by the time she was done strategically plotting out the pros and cons of every word, all while agonizing over minute details, 30 minutes had passed.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Processing complete."

The electromagnetic, wave-like sounds of an opening gate caused her to spur up.

Dina prepared to head home, wash up, do quick deliveries, and get ready for school. A loud, metallic BANG from Ayeva's workroom made her jump. The now-dented doors of the room proceeded to slide open.

"Oh, Dina."

Ayeva ‒ bleeding from her forehead ‒ held a package.

"Do you mind delivering this before school?" she stated in characteristic monotone.

"Sure, no biggie."

She handed her student the package.

"Dina?"

"Hm?"

"What are you learning, right now?"

"Well since I'm planning on becoming a proper patroller, I dunno… historic events, basics of ki control, maths, physics, other common-core palaver. See, not skipping."

"Hm… how are you doing with Ki Control?"

"... I mean I'm not the worst at it."

"..."

"... I'm at least above Bottom 3, l'right? Geez."

Dina was Number 5 of Bottom 5.

"No need to be ashamed. Maybe you just need different guidance."

"Do you mean… You're right, it IS the teacher's fault! As expected of a top research woman like yourself!"

She received a stern look.

"I kid! I'll just have to work and study a bit harder, 's all." She held up the box. "I'll go take this where it needs to go and head off."

Ayeva reached into her wallet, to Dina's disapproval. "Wait, hold on, you're not a client. This one's free."

"Don't be ridiculous. Just take the zeni and…"

The sound of a distorted metal clink made her look back up.

"... And you're gone." She smiled. "Of course."

She showered, ate, brushed, and picked out her clothes: navy blue jeans, a white t-shirt showcasing an abstract black design, and a striped red/white short-sleeved jacket. She snapped its tab collar around her neck and put on two shoes.

[BGM: skankfunk ‒ Skygrinder]

"Nuh, nuh," Dina hummed before clapping twice. Soon after, a soft whirring noise emanated from them.

They were "activated" via channeling ki into the feet, Dina just liked doing that.

She put on a cap donning her name, looked in her open balcony's direction, gave it a feverish grin, and sprinted towards it.

She jumped, and…

"WOO-HOO!" she screamed, her sneakers breathing translucent blue neon as they slowed her fall and let her cut through the air.

Since she couldn't legally fly yet, they helped her with speed concerns regarding her new, self-employed job delivering things. Curbing across the sides of the rounded buildings, surfing alongside the more parallelogram-esque designs, and grinding across the occasional rooftop, she periodically cut the boots on and off in order to flip herself off a structure or two and lose herself in the feeling of freefall. A few vehicles within the streets ‒ hey, not everyone can fly ‒ slowed to observe the spectacle on their wayward way.

As her destination entered her vision, a particularly large and lavish apartment complex somewhere within the middle of town, Dina began getting carried away: she started getting faster, she subconsciously began losing control, and more importantly, her tricks grew more and more obnoxiously complex. After circling her way to the top of a pole and backflip-somersaulting off its peak, she threw more ki into her soles.

"... eh?"

Only to find that she had hardly any left.

She looked at you, and whipped out a sign saying "OH. GREAT." before plummeting.

The sound of deathly screaming outside failed to draw the receptionist woman's attention from the portable game she clicked away at under the desk. All it garnered was a low groan and a roll of the eyes.

The sound of the revolving door, and subsequent ring of the desk's bell, forced her to attend to her job.

"It was that piece of shit Cell, wasn't-"

The young patroller's face caught her somewhat off guard. The dirt and bruises coating it did no favors.

"That was you outside, wasn't it?"

"no of course not what would possibly give you that impression with no substantiated evidence whatsoever are you mental"

"... your voice and the screamer's are identical."

"... Hi I'm Dina, how are you today, I'm here to deliver a package to someone who lives here. We do the ring-people-up thing here, right? Still sorta new, never been-"

"Yes. Just tell me who it's for."

"(RUDE!) Yeah, it's for a Mrs… Lazul-"

"STOP!"

The receptionist suddenly jolted upward, face contorted in fear as if Dina was a step away from setting off a buried landmine. "THAT'S NOT HER NAME, DON'T SAY IT IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!"

"Alright, LISTEN HERE YOU OLD BAT, all I did was read the bloody package, yet you're throwing a fit! If you have some deep-seated issue with attractive young ladies or whatever, we can take this mess outside and I'll show you just how far our age gap really is, yeah!?"

The "old bat" bolted over the table before Dina could blink. "NO, DUMBASS, I'M TELLING YOU FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! THE LAST IDIOT WHO SAID THAT NAME OUT LOUD ENDED UP HOSPITALIZED WITH A KNEE-HIGH BOOT LODGED UP THEIR COLON! IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU, AND I DOUBT YOU DO, YOU'LL CALL HER-"

"ABABABABA!"

The receptionist looked at her as if she had a screw loose.

"Yeah. Yeah, not so pleasant when you're the one being cut off, eh?"

"."

"'Xactly."

"You know what, brat? Someone like you could use a leather colonoscopy."

"Hey, if you're gonna be a prick," the instigator-extraordinaire retorted as the door audibly turned, "Might's well follow suit. Now if that's out of the way, would you kindly do your job, and ring up Mrs. Lazuli?"

死.

[BGM: Neck Down ‒ Garden of Grace (0:16-0:52)]

"!?"

An unfathomable existence froze Dina where she stood.

It felt like she was breathing through a straw.

"Move… Move… MOVE…"

The receptionist shook her head. "I tried to warn you, kid…"

200, 500, even 1000x. This pressure dwarfed any that nature could produce, or that man could replicate.

"Now then…"

Her feet slowly rose from the ground against her will, as a hand slowly removed the small package from Dina's fear-hardened grip, as if taking candy from a baby.

"Who's the idiot who wrote their own obituary?"

The face, shrouded in a pitch-black void, scanned the delivery's written contents...

And prompt lit up. Revealed were sky blue, ecstatic eyes, and parted blonde hair.

"Oh!"

Ayeva had finally clocked out, and as such, it was growing dim outside. This also meant it was nearing the time she'd listed for she and her associate to rendezvous.

She exited the C.D. facility. After checking her watch, she turned back and gazed up toward the facility's top.

"I failed my original directive… I failed the purpose I made for myself… I don't have a… anything left…!"

She continued looking toward the peak, and smiled.

"That's my point."

It was up there where she'd received a piece of advice that saved her.

"There's nothing left back there, and you can't take back the life you once had. Therefore, make the most of this new one. If the past hurts you this much, then throw it to the wind! Directives, purpose, all of it."

"You're not a unit, or a serial code. From now on, this is Ayeva's path. And it won't kill you to be a bit selfish with that fact."

It would be 5 minutes early, but who cared. She'd wait.

Ayeva ascended toward the tower's head. She passed a familiar face within one of the higher windows and almost fell out the air.

Bolting back downward to investigate, no one recognizable was present within the compartment.

"It's been a while!" called out a mature, feminine voice from up-top.

She was being screwed with. But in that instance, it didn't matter to her.

"It has. Good to see you, Instructor Eighteen."

The indigo-adorned woman joined her blue denim-adorned former instructor on the roof.

"You know, contacting me on such short notice, after all this passed time…" 18 jested, placing a curled finger to her eye for effect. "I feel like I'm owed at least a bit of compensation!"

"Of course, Instructor Eighteen!" Ayeva's hand dove into her wallet.

"(She must think pretty low of me to take that seriously…)"

18 lowered her now-equal's hand. "Take it easy, Ayeva. And we're borderline colleagues, at this point. No need to be so formal with me."

"Hardly… Regardless, the reason I contacted you. I'm having trouble with a… a spottee of mine. The fact of the matter is that they're training in one spot, in one method, with one opponent, day in and day out. I'm concerned that it may be hampering their growth overall, but I'm stumped on what course of action I should take."

"Hm... "

Ayeva waited attentively.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Can't help you."

Ayeva malfunctioned.

"What can I say? I've never had that problem."

With a sigh, Ayeva agreed. "As expected. If only I'd referred to you earlier, this concern wouldn't exist."

"I'm not finished, you know. Like I said, this is a concern unique to you. All I can suggest is that you take what you know about your pupil and form a conclusion from that."

Ayeva opened her mouth.

"You couldn't pay me to say 'spottee,' drop it."

Ayeva meekly nodded.

"Anyway, you love that science junk, right?" 18 asked. "Then treat it like an experiment."

"An experiment… taking my dependent variable and altering its surroundings, then observing how it's affected…"

The raven-haired lady gave a light chuckle. "It's so simple when you put it like that!"

"(wait, that's SERIOUSLY all you needed?)"

"... Say, your student… wouldn't happen to be a plucky saiyan punk with a spiky outward bob, would she?"

Ayeva's smile plummeted.

"oh chronoa what did she do"

18 chuckled. "Again, relax! I like her. She's feisty, and her head's harder than most others on her level. Plus, it's adorable how much she cares about you, Ms. Ayeva!"

Embarrassment slammed into her like a Spirit Bomb.

"To think, you've gone and become a mentor! My little Ayebot's grown up without me…"

She floated away, bright blue hue enveloping her face.

"G-go… I have… retreat…"

"Wait, before you do, there's something I need to know!"

"S-SORRY, THERE'S SOMETHING I MUST ATTEND TO-"

"Why did you call me Lazuli in your letter?"

"..."

[BGM: Norihito Sumitomo ‒ Like That Cloud]

A bit of the overwhelming shame dissipated a bit, as she sailed back down.

"And you could've just emailed me. Would've been quicker than all this."

"Well... for one, this was more personal than an email was worth. And…"

Her hands curled a bit.

"And I don't like writing out that name. As if you're just a number."

18 smiled. "But it isn't. Sure, it's a name given by some decrepit asshole who could care less about me, but Lazuli isn't far off in that regard. And as it's said by people I care about, '18' becomes so much more than just a number. It's me."

She placed a hand on the taller woman's shoulder. "Just like your name is now so more than just an abbreviation. It's you."

Ayeva responded with a shaky smile. She stepped back, and bowed. "Please, forgive me."

"Eh, you had your reasons. Next time, I'll just kill you."

18's former student rose, her smile more confident. "I wouldn't accept anything less, Instructor Eighteen!"

"(come on, at least ACT like that scares you!)"

A ping-like noise sprung from Ayeva's eye, a mini hologram proceeding it. On it was a message from Kaset reading out "pls help."

18 immediately picked up on the subsequent sigh. "Kaset?"

"How did… Yes."

"Adorable how you two are still bugging each other."

"Well, if I don't, he'll wind up dead. That'd be inconvenient for the patrol."

"So are you two still on and off or-"

"I'm leaving. Now. Goodbye."

18 now stood alone.

"... Prude."

She still held the box of seemingly-cliché chocolates that came with the package. However, she smirked.

"I've trained you well, young crow," she said menacingly, flying off to Hercule's place, chocolates in hand.

40 pieces would equate to more than what Conton was paying her. A certain primeval blob would ensure that.

"So like…" Kaset muttered, "You know when you feed a wild animal you're not supposed to…"

"No, I'm not stupid."

"... and it, like, starts clingin' on to you, and shit…"

"I reiterate, I wouldn't know, I bother to read signs."

"... but, like, you know you can't really support it the best, and you know it should be living free and in the wild, but it doesn't care for some reason?"

"Just get to the point."

Kaset opened his door.

"W'sup," Neoru waved, "Train me."

Kaset closed his door.

The enraged banging that came after forced a tactical retreat.

"I don't understand."

Ayeva butted in mid-flashback.

"Not long ago, you were singing the boy's praises, and now, you're afraid of speaking to him? What possibly could have happened between then and now to proc such a drastic reevaluation?"

"Because at this point, I'm scared that he'll push himself too far because of me."

"... what?" The very sentence sounded like blasphemy coming out of the human's mouth to her.

Kaset lowered his head as he sat. "At first, it was exciting. Seeing this kid push himself as far as he has, harder than I've seen most grown saiyans, it made me wanna see how high he could climb, and what he could take on the way up. But last month, I asked him to do somethin' that cut it way too close. It took Stroga to get that through my head. And the worst thing is… it's like he doesn't know his limit, either. I say jump, he asks how high, even if he doesn't have the right legs for it."

"It sounds like he's placed a lot of faith in you."

"That's the problem. He'll end up dead because I overshot his boundaries, and he didn't know it. That's not just potential down the drain... it's a kid's life. This just ain't for me. 'S what I'm saying."

"... Curious. I feel like I'm doing far too little, you, too much. Guess these issues come with mentorship, huh?"

Kaset shrugged.

"... Well, 18 suggested something to me just now. A sort of 'experiment.'"

Her colleague's raised head urged her to continue. "Maybe we can find a proper master for our understudies, and observe the outcome. From there, if we're even needed by then, we can use their experiences to tailor our methods accordingly.

"But it can't be no punk-ass bitch who coddles them, or some moron who throws shit at 'em until they drop dead."

"No, of course not. Absolutely unforgivable."

"Good, we're clear on that… so now the question is…"

"Who…"

Their attention slowly shifted toward the new, floating platforms; quick work and experience allowed the rifts to be isolated into "time miniatures" rather smoothly.

"Well," Kaset tugged his chin hair. "There's a ton of new options on top of the old ones."

Ayeva perked up. "Therefore… we'll simply sample them all!"

[BGM: Norihito Sumitomo ‒ Under the Blue Sky]

Hands clapped together in begging form.

"Oh venerable Turtle Hermit, sir!" Kaset respectfully proclaimed. "We've come to you, in our time of need, as our one and only option to-"

"You were our last option."

"As MY one and only option, to train my-"

"I suggested you as a starting point, and he veto'd the decision until there was no other choice."

"(AYEVA WHAT THE FUCK! STOP!)"

"(He can read minds, moron.)"

The turtle shell-donning old man took a puff from his pipe. "Eh, no need to butter me up. Frankly, I was happy with waiting for this mess to blow over. I doubt there's much left for me to give to the next generation, anyhow…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ayeva countered, to Kaset's surprise. "You've studied the martial way for over 300 years. You've spent decades of intense ki cultivation to create the most prevalent technique used by warriors across the multiverse. In terms of essential knowledge, no one comes close to you, Muten Roshi!"

"(Damn… I didn't really take that into consideration…)" Kaset thought to himself, regaining his admiration for the sage.

Roshi blushed. "We-hell, when a lady as lovely n' filled out as you puts it that way…"

"Stop that."

"All he did was compliment you."

Recapturing his sternness before it could escape, the Turtle Hermit first crossed his arms. "First, I'll need to see these students for myself. Looks alone can tell you all about a person, after all. Bring 'em over, and I'll consider teaching them the Turtle Hermit Way."

The two elite patrollers nodded.

"Consider it done!"

"Be right back!"

While Roshi's words were by no means lies, he had a less-than decent reason for wanting to see his would-be students.

[BGM: Shunsuke Kikuchi ‒ M19a]

Roshi cackled with glee. "The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree, eh!?"

"..."

Dina stared back at Ayeva. "Did you just bring me to some 2-bit nonce on an isle a thousand miles from civilization? Am I being punished!?"

"Don't worry. If it's not for the sake of training, he won't lay a finger on you."

Dark-azure eyes burned a hole through Roshi's skull.

"His existence depends on it."

The old martial arts master bashfully laughed off the death promise. "Like the lady says, I'm no perv, hon!"

"Ignore that. Anyway, despite his lower level of battle power (and decency), this man is far more experienced in ways of fortifying mind, body, and spirit than I am. And while you're far enough in the former 2 regards, if you're able to further your knowledge and manipulation of chi... "

"... Will I get even stronger than I would in the gravity chamber?"

"Much. You might even learn how to transform at will."

Dina thought of the pervy old "illustrious martial arts god" and his haughty, uber-creepy chuckle.

But then she thought of Devine's airheaded laughter.

And then the Voshyo prick's egomaniacal sneers.

And then Kora's unending howls.

And then 18's eldritch cachinnations.

But above them, was a face that didn't even bother to laugh.

Her own.

"I'll do it."

"Remember." Ayeva bent down and rested a hand upon her friend's shoulder. "You can quit at any time you I know you're behind me and I won't hesitate to kick your head off want."

"Wait what was that bit in the middle about?"

"Nothing!" Roshi innocently replied, back on the steps of his house.

Dina paid a glance before giving a sadistic smile. "Don't worry Ms. Ayeva, the old git'll be a cheap source of slapstick at worst. Still, without Diana, who would I use as a sparring partner? Surely not HIM, the fossil."

"Kaset should have that sorted in…"

Almost on cue, 2 people materialized outside the perimeter. The Turtle Hermit's expression tilted when he saw that this one was a boy.

"And this'll be where you're training 'till your exam."

The new boy looked around.

"... Kaset… the hell's this all about?"

"Huh?"

[BGM: Hiroyuki Sawano ‒ sacrificed PIECE]

Neo turned around. "Look, 'm not gonna pretend like I know who the hell 'Muten Roshi' is, or how strong he is, or how useful he is, all I know is that I don't need 'im. All I need ya to do is train me."

"Come on," Kaset retorted, "I told you, I don't have anything left to teach you."

"Then don't teach me, dumbass!" Neoru laughed. "I'll just keep finding inventive ways to get my shit pushed in, find out what I'm doing wrong, find out what they're doing right, and learn like that! All you've gotta do is give me a place to reach, and I'll reach it."

Kaset grit his teeth. "So you're just gonna lose until you learn new shit? You don't hear what's wrong with that?"

"With you, I WON'T lose. I'll be strong enough to find new ways to win as I go along."

"Oh, like you did with that Mei girl!?"

Neoru opened his mouth to respond. But nothing came out.

"I'm begging at this point. Learn a bit from an actual teacher. Man's gotta have at least a bit'a pride, right?"

Neoru looked toward the old man in sunglasses. The latter's face was notably more serious, as he stroked his beard.

"Fine. But if I'm anywhere near the spot I'm at right now in a week, I'm ditching…"

He looked to his side.

Inquisitive red eyes looked back, nearly eye to eye.

"..."

"..."

[BGM: Norihito Sumitomo ‒ Fighting Videl]

"THE FUCK, WHY IS SHE-"

"OH MY WORD, IT IS YOU!"

Dina jumped back. "And here I thought Ayeva had some cute boy brought over to keep me company! I'd've never guessed that Little Baby Neo would grow up this fast!"

"THE HELL'D YOU JUST CALL-"

Next thing he knew, Dina had flanked him, messing with his new ponytail.

"Too bad you're still a manlet, though! You'd make a decent ladyboy, at this rate!"

"THAT'S IT, SHITLIPS, YOU'RE THROUGH!" Neoru roared, flanking Dina and bringing his knuckle down atop her head.

"OI, DICKHEAD, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HIT GIRLS!"

"SOUNDS LIKE SOME PUSSY SHIT A PUSSY LIKE YOU'D COME UP WITH, PUSSY!" the boy yelled, before being knocked upside the head.

"ALRIGHT THEN, YOU RUDE LITTLE TWERP, I'LL SHOW YOU A PUSSY!"

"Heh!"

"BRING IT, FUCKLO!"

"YOU'RE ON, ASSHAT!"

The two proceeded to engage in a childish dust cloud of a skirmish, complete with various profanities.

"I think she's found her sparring partner."

"I think he's found his shit pusher."

The two patrollers shared a quiet laugh.

"Alright, I think it's best if we establish ground rules."

Ayeva's dark-blue eyes shot toward Kaset. "IF I FIND OUT YOUR KID TRIED ANYTHING WITH DINA, THEY'LL NEVER FIND YOUR BODIES."

Kaset lacked any cool, unique-colored irises; his were brown, and he liked them that way.

What he DID have was a wide range of facial expressions. This one looked as extreme as you'd imagine.

"AND IF I FIND OUT YOUR KID TIRED ANYTHING WITH NEO, I'M SENDING YOU BOTH STRAIGHT TO ENMA IN PIECES."

They both shot bloodlusted death glares at each other, while their students threatened to send the tiny island beneath the waves, when…

"Roshi!" shouted a berry-haired lady from the house's window. "Cookies are done!"

Dina stopped strangling Neo with his ponytail. "Cookies!?"

Neoru paused mid-arm breaking. "Oh shit, that's a thing I like now."

The long and curly-haired woman noticed the excess amount of people. "Oh, guests? I'll whip up an extra batch, just in case! Please, come in!"

"Ya~y!"

"Ya~y."

The pleasant aura exuded from her was enough to dispel any murderous intent fluttering about.

And with that, Roshi smacked down his walking stick as soon as the teens entered.

"I've decided!"

The older patrollers snapped in the sage's direction.

[BGM: Shunsuke Kikuchi ‒ M22a]

"I'll take 'em both in. There's just something about two young'ins at each other's throats that gets me pumped every time I see it."

Ayeva shot a-

"No not like that! Geez, what's wrong with you, woman?"

"Ah-I-apologies."

Roshi stroked his beard. "Now, from the sound and looks of it, both need work in spirit control. One significantly more than the other."

Kaset threw a smug Peace-Peace while Ayeva sulked.

"And yes, they're both vastly ahead of me in raw strength, so I'll need to adjust some of my methods accordingly. It's nice to know that they'll be diligent enough to handle it, all the same. And…"

Echoes of "Don't touch my food, fatass!" and "If you want it so much, stop taking those girlish nibbles, you snobbish bastard!" emanated from the home.

"It's just-as assuring to know they'll keep each other from growing too proud and slacking off. They're not too far power-wise, either, are they? Yes… two forces that strengthen, yet bay each other."

He looked back to see the patrollers bowing.

"Thanks."

"It was an honor, Turtle Sage."

"Now, now, all I needed was the thanks. After all, I'm just an old man who's good at hitting things."

The two chuckled, gave a "Take care," and turned to leave.

"..."

"..."

"This is harder than I thought it'd be…!" Kaset choked, teary eyed as Ayeva blew into a handkerchief.

"So are you two gonna be here all day, or what?"

[BGM: Tsutchie ‒ Sincerely]

Stroga's face contorted in confusion. "You two look as if you'd gone through a war."

"Tough day at the office," Ayeva muttered.

"I did," Kaset cosigned. "Yugulian dictator slipped on a banana peel 5 seconds before he should've. Shit domino'd pretty badly after that."

"... Well, I should be returning to my former homeroom sometime this week. Hopefully, Krillin hasn't declared himself dictator-for-life and has the students execute me on the spot or anything, am I right?"

His joke was interrupted, the teacher suddenly being loomed over.

"ASK NEORU HOW HIS DAY WAS."

"ASK DINA HOW HER DAY WAS."

"Er… ok?"

In response, Kaset and Ayeva gave calm, warm smiles.

"Alright, good! Forget and you're dead!"

"If you regenerate, I'll finish you off!"

"(Tough crowd this evening…)"

"So, we're all off work right now, right?" Kaset scratched his head. "Wanna just… I dunno, watch something?"

"What, like a kung-fu movie?" Stroga suggested.

"Only if it's one of the horrendous flicks with blatantly-exposed wiring and lip flaps that don't try to sync," added Ayeva, whom Stroga followed up on.

"Added bonus is that the more we support that industry, the more Mark-y boy seethes as his power fantasy garbage is superseded sales-wise!"

Kaset laughed. "Alright, it's a night!"

Though the pain of sending off their first and only pupils lingered, the cyborg and human found a bit of comfort in the knowing that they'd be staying with a man who knew what he was doing.

The blue-haired woman grabbed a capsule of what was once the pink house.

"So you two typhoons on legs don't blow up my island," Roshi announced, "We're takin' a trip inland."

"If you think I'm carrying you, you're farther gone than I-"

"Don't underestimate me, toots!" the Turtle Hermit shook his staff, before turning to the sea. "I'm a bit more subtle than that!"

Dina's face flushed red, turning to Neoru. "Wha-the hell's 'at supposed to mean!?"

"I'unna, stay on guard or some shit."

"COME TO ME, BABY GAMERA!" the old man called. Before long, the sound of a massive jet filled the air, gale-force winds washing over the area.

Dina's jaw dropped.

Neoru's jaw dropped.

"... oh. Oh, you are not a baby any more, are ya?"

The fanged behemoth of a turtle agreed with an Earth-shaking screech, offering its back in the ocean.

"Alrighty then, everyone hop on." He offered his back to the kind woman holding the capsule. "Launch, since we don't want you getting wet…"

"Oi, Ms. Launch!" Dina piped up. "Hop on, I'll fly you over!"

"Aren't you just the sweetest?"

"OH, THAT'S JUST DIRTY!"

"Not as dirty as you, ya perv…" Dina whispered with a cocky grin.

The four set off for the island on the back of the flame-devouring, children-defending kaiju of justice.

"So Neo," Dina began. "How the hell'd you jump so drastically?"

"Say Neoru," said Neo. "And besides, how'd YOU get so strong outta the blue? I was only gone for a month."

"..."

"..."

"Near-"

"-death expe-"

"-erience that le-"

"-ed to discove-"

"-ering your in-"

"-ner flaws an-"

"-nd change as-"

"-s a perso- OH BULSHIT!"

"I KNOW RIGHT!? WHAT ODDS!?"

"ONE OF US HAS GOTTA BE LYIN'!"

DIna sighed, plopping back down. "Quite the precedent that sets, only seeing a jump after ya almost die."

Neou chuckled a bit. "What, you think power like that should get served to ya on a platter? Color me surprised."

"Oh sod off, just saying it's risky. I'm game to work for what I want at any time, you'd better believe!" She smirked. "And a good thing you're near my level now. Now I can go all out as I use you as a snarky sandbag an' not feel any worse for it."

"Yeah, good luck fightin' a sand bag that doesn't let itself get pounded on and kicks the shit outta ya once it gets bored."

"OH-HO-HO, Baby Neo still comes with jokes, eh?"

Neoru rested his back on the prehistoric turtle's, a small smirk adorning his face all the while. "It's always a joke until it happens."

"Hmph. We SHALL see, won't we." She turned her gaze to the vast ocean blue, given a darker hue by the era's rising sun.

All the while, Roshi felt a fluttering in his heart.

"Yep. That's the spirit, you two."

[ Self-Contained ED: L'Arc~en~Ciel ‒ Driver's High ]

Yo! OP here!

( 6/3/2022 PATCH NOTES: Removed D.I.A.N.A's "Combat Mode" activation buff; saved for significant use in a later point in the story, is unneeded for now. Changed ED from "Weight of my Pride" to chapter-exclusive "Driver's High"; There's just no more hesitation in my heart to use it here. )

If you're wondering why no Christmas chapter, same reason why there wasn't a Thanksgiving chapter; It's about to be a year since then IRL and 6 months in-universe. Yeah. I suck THAT much. Fuck me, dude.

Regardless, this chapter was a rollercoaster to work on. Randomly losing motivation only to have it spark back up out of nowhere. I also rediscovered the virtue of plotting out a chapter's direction with notes, helped me actually remember stuff and only need to fill in the blanks as I go along. Solid.

Yes, Dina Tiger Drop'd D.I.A.N.A.

It's like 5:35 in the morning and I'm running on 2 hours of sleep, so I'm not running at all actually, but it's Christmas Break. Sleep is for the weak. But if there are errors, sorry.

I also reinforced something important while on a binge of Derek Padula's Dragon Ball Culture posts on Twitter: I know literally fucking NOTHING about Dragon Ball. There are so many subtle complexities woven throughout, and yet, it's so damn simple. Genuinely mindblowing how much love and culture Toriyama implements in his series that I, some western kid, or ANYONE that isn't Toriyama himself could hope to emulate in any way. So I'll try not to, and yet I'll try. The cultural, martial art aspects I'll try to get further to the roots of, I guess, and I'll peep follow Toriyama's mastery of subtlety n' shit. Because it's cool, and no other reason. But yeah, Dragon Ball's great. Shoutout to Derek Padula, absolute unit.

Merry Christmas and a... better... New Year... please?

That's about it. See ya.