The New Age Empire v2: Book 2

I came up with the prequel (And So the Heavens Wept) that some people wanted but NO ONE has reviewed it! You can't possibly know how hard it is for me to write serious stuff. I don't even know if people are reading it or not. So if you do eventually read it, humor me with a review. I don't even care if it's a bad one, at least I know that someone read it. Okay, I'm shutting up now.

~Chapter 11: Quelling the Opposition~

A small, almost informal dinner was held after the press conference for the media people and Goku was glad. All that running around town to get his uniform had made him incredibly hungry. As he reached over for a dish, however, ChiChi glared at him fiercely.

"Goku, it's not polite if you don't let the guests go first!" she scolded.

He blushed slightly and slowly drew his hand away. "Gomen nasai."

"I suggest you eat up," Vegeta began dryly, "before Kakarott inhales all of the food."

They made Goku wait until the guests either accepted or declined second helpings before allowing him to eat. By that time there wasn't even enough food for him to even consider it a light snack. He looked sadly at Jakina's hand as the very last rice cracker was about to disappear into her mouth. The small girl noticed him and stretched her hand out with a smile to offer it to him.

"Really? You're going to just give this to me?" To Goku giving away food was like giving away a kidney. There was a lot of pain involved.

"Hai, Goku-san!" She chirped cheerfully. "Someone can always make more."

"Domo arigatou," he said sincerely as he stuffed it whole inside of his mouth and chewed. He was going to say something more but remembered just in time that it also wasn't polite to talk with his mouth full. "I'll bring you back something nice from space, alright?"

"Sugoi!"

The dinner wound down to drinks and, around two in the morning, Vegeta finally stumbled off to bed yawning and semi-drunk. He collapsed onto the couch before he even neared the staircase and decided that it would do just as good as his bed. Mumbling underneath his breath, he finally fell asleep.

Ten minutes after six o'clock on Saturday morning, Jakina came downstairs to watch cartoons. She had a TV in her own room but watching Scooby Doo on a big screen was a lot better so she ventured downstairs. Clad in only her fuzzy blue pajamas with feet she climbed onto a chair and reached for the remote. She didn't even notice her father until a thunderous snore made her jump.

Walking over to kneel next to him, she wondered what he was doing sleeping in the family room. "Papa?" she whispered softly as she lightly patted his cheeks. She got no response from the king. Shrugging Jakina returned to her chair and to the comedic stylings of Scooby and Shaggy. Her father was completely forgotten.

A little after eight o'clock she began to channel surf, trying to find something worth watching. On the local channels she stopped on what seemed to be the news report. Her eyes widened as she spotted where the reporter was on location. A large crowd was gathered in front of large, wrought iron gates holding signs that said things like "Down with alien rule!" and "The bloody beast will never change!". Running over to her father, she frantically began shaking him awake.

"Papa you've got to wake up! They're rallying outside the house!" When he merely snorted and smacked her away slightly she bit her lower lip and turned toward the television again.

"I'm here, in front of the Royal Palace, with angry protesters who, quite frankly, can not tolerate Vegeta-oui any longer. People from all over the world began arriving earlier this week, they say, just to march on the Palace. It began at just seven-thirty at the edge of the city and the group slowly moved through the entire town brandishing homemade signs and gathering support. By the time they made it to the Royal Palace, the small group of thirty had become over three-hundred strong. I have here with me a local man and his reaction to the march."

"I thought Cell was back again," the old man sighed as he pushed up his glasses. "There was so much commotion it was just like when Cell had come to rob everyone of their lives. At first I thought everyone was screaming in terror but slowly I began to make out the words "Down with Vegeta! Down with Vegeta!". I wondered why they would ever say such a thing since he helped us against both Cell and Majin Buu but while some stuck to the main chant, others screamed out that he was a bloodthirsty monster and would kill us all if given a chance. I don't understand."

"Do any of us really understand the situation as well as we think that we do?" He stared hard into the camera. "Bloodthirsty monster or life-giving savior. You be the judge."

Jakina ran to the large picture window and pressed her face against the glass. It was indeed the same sight she had just seen on the television but much worse. Before the people were safely just images projected onto a screen but now they were living, breathing, three-dimensional beings. A fine trembling began to run through her body and she couldn't stop it. Tearing away her eyes from the scene, she ran back to her father and once again tried to rouse him.

"Papa!" she cried. "You have to stop them! You have to stop them!"

One hand came up to his face as he rubbed his eye. Cracking it open slightly, he peered at his youngest in confusion. "What's going on?"

"The Shadow Stalkers have three-hundred people holding signs and chanting outside!"

Her father once again began to shut his eyes, but her words pierced through the fog inside of his brain and his eyes shot open. "NANI?!"

She nodded in ascent. "You can't hear it because they're still outside the gates and Mama improved the sound dampening system yesterday morning." She waved her hand towards the TV. "It's been on the news since eight something. I tried to wake you up earlier but it didn't work."

Taking a deep breath and calming himself, he walked over to the window and took a look. Sure enough there were literally hundreds of people outside on his doorstep and by that time, people had chairs and coolers full of food. It looked like they were settling down for a long wait.

"Jackie-chan, go outside and try to calm them down. You're a cute kid, people like that." He hurried towards the back staircase and she nodded.

"Sure Papa. Maybe I'll sing them a song or something." Frowning, she opened the door and ventured outside into the bright sunshine still dressed in her pajamas.

The media pressed themselves against the fence, trying to be the first to say something to her. "Jakina-hime, where is your father?"

She smiled sweetly at them, trying to dispell her nervousness. "My Papa will be down in a minute. He sent me to entertain you. Would you like to hear a song?"

Several people 'ahhed' at her adorable face and, still smiling sweetly, she began to sing.

"On the good ship, Lollypop,
It's a sweet trip to a candy shop,
Where bon-bons play
On the sunny beach of peppermint bay.
Lemonade stands everywhere
Cracker jack bands fill the air
And there you are,
Happily landing on a chocolate bar."

She danced, singed, and basically looked cute while Vegeta took his time getting ready. Finally he emerged from the house dressed in the dreaded 'uniform of horrors' and at a good time too since Jakina didn't really know the rest of the words. She curtsied to her audience and skipped off to get dressed and return to her cartoons. She felt safe now, her father would handle everything.

Once back inside she was gathered up into a hug by her mother. "Jakina! Don't ever do what your father says again!"

She blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"You could have gotten hurt or kidnapped or," she lowered her voice as if saying it softer would make it less frightening, "killed."

"They're ningen Mama," she said to her. "How would they have done something bad to me?"

"The brat's got a point there, Kaasan," Trunks smirked. "Besides, we've been training her. She could kick a ningen's ass anytime."

"Training her?" Bulma asked in a disapproving tone. She didn't even correct Trunks' language. "You've been training my baby to fight?!"

Frowning and more than a little angry, Jakina broke free of her mother's embrace and stomped off towards the main staircase. "I am *not* a baby!" She practically growled. "I can fight just as well as everyone else!"

"Jakina please!" Bulma said sternly. "Now is not the time to complain. Those damn Shadow Stalkers are going to ruin your father."

She froze at the foot of the stairs and slowly turned around. "I know that Okaasan," she said in a hostile tone. "I do understand things like that. *I* was the one who seen it reported on television, *I* was the one who woke Papa up to tell him about it, *I* was the one who spent time singing to those people! I just about paved the way for Papa's speech! You can at least give me *some* credit!" That said, she ran up the stairs and down the hall.

Her two older siblings and mother were left completely stunned. No one said anything for a while until suddenly everyone began talking at once.

"I better go fix breakfast." "I'm going to wake up Pan." "I should probably get ready for work." With one last shared look, they all split up into different directions. The best thing to do would be to forget that incident never happened.

***

"How many times do I have to tell you people?" Vegeta asked, completely frustrated. "I doing something about all of that!"

"Kids still go hungry!" One woman cried out.

"People are still dying!" Shouted another.

"What about the homeless people?"

Massaging his temples, Vegeta shook his head. "I've only been ruling a little over a month. How in the world do you expect the problems to clear up overnight? Things take time!" He turned away slightly. "If you will excuse me, I have work to do. I don't have time to waste like some people."

Just inside the front door, Bulma had changed her mind about cooking and was seated on one of the elegant couches that lined the Great Hall. Even though she was quiet, Vegeta knew that she was worried about something by the way she twisted her hands in her lap.

"What's wrong onna?" he asked.

Bulma didn't even bother to correct him this time. "Have you noticed something different about Jakina lately?"

He blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? She was fine this morning despite the fact those stupid ningen scared the crap out of her. Someone needs to remind her every day that ningen can't hurt her."

"Well, after I told her not to listen to you anymore because I didn't want her hurt she yelled at me and took off for her rooom."

"Bulma did you make her feel like she was too weak to take care of herself?"

"Iie." She said immediately before she had really thought about it. Then her brow furrowed as she remembered exactly what she had said to her. "Well, maybe..."

"There's your problem. She doesn't want to feel weak anymore so we have decided to train her. Jakina comes from a household where just about everyone can fight on some level. In fact, you, Magori, Moura are the only ones who can't at the moment. It'll take her a while to reach the level Kakarott, the boys, and I are at but she'll get there someday."

"See that's my problem," Bulma sighed. "I don't understand saiyan minds or saiyan genetics. I know it's much more than studying blood cells underneath a microscope."

"I recommend that you use Gohan's library thing. Most of the saiyan studies records were public database. Luckily the scholars of our planet archived them in the electronic library before the planet was destroyed. As a matter of fact, I should make everyone in this house read them. Then they can all know the true glory of the ancient saiyan empire."

"The true story behind your viscous, murderering ways?" Bulma asked dryly.

"We did not begin to exterminate other races until Frieza came along," he sniffed. "Therefore I blame that girlish acting changling. We just were always a competitive race."

"Uh huh," she agreed. "Competitively murderous."

"Am I murderous now?"

"Depends. If you were getting revenge I'd have to say hai. If you were seriously pissed off I'd have to say hai as well. If it comes to defeating Son-kun, I'd have to say that you two were friends."

"I'll eventually come to respect someone if I can use their skills to further my own means."

"Of course." she agreed and then added something else in a fake British accent. "Well then, Vegeta, I will leave you to your duities while I take tea in the living room."

"Cheerio, Bulma my dear," he said playing along, "pip-pip cheerio!"

***

"She completely ruined my Saturday," Jakina muttered to herself as she aimlessly threw a rubber ball against her eastern wall. She half-hoped that she would annoy the heck out of Pan and waking her up too early. "I think I know that Mama meant well but I'm completely able to take care of myself. Maybe not against all of the others yet, but I can beat a ningen!"

The tapping that began at her door was in a special sequence that only three others knew: Bra, Pan, and Magori. She knew it was probably her sister since her little display in the main hall. She wondered why her mother hadn't come up yet. She was waiting for her punishment.

"Jackie-chan, it's me," Bra said. "C'mon, open up the door!"

"Why should I?" she asked.

"You're not mad at me! You're mad at Kaasan!"

"Oh, you do have a point." She unlocked the door quickly and yanked her sister inside. "What did Mama say? Is she going to kill me?"

"Um, I don't think she's going to do anything." Bra took a seat on her bed.

"Why not? I yelled at her! If that had been in front of everyone, she would have freaked out!"

"Papa talked to her." Bra grinned. "It's cool."

Jakina smiled. "Ah, the advantages of being one of Papa's favorites."

"Hai, it's wonderful isn't it?"

"Hey you two! You wanna go the mall today?" Pan shouted through the closed door.

"You want to?" Bra asked.

"Sure why not, I'll just call Papa's private line and leave a message on his voice mail. I know he's busy today. Mama seems like she's not doing anything important."

"Of course she is!" Bra exclaimed. "You know what the Kamoku-jin did that time they were here?"

The smaller girl nodded. "How can I forget?"

"Well, Kaasan's creating beam weapons. You know the kind that can wipe out hundreds of things with one shot? She'll be strategically positioning them all around the world so evil aliens like the Kamoku-jin won't be able to invade again."

"That's a great idea!" Pan exclaimed from the hallway. Bra rolled her eyes and opened the door.

"You know Papa claims he can hear us through the heating ducts when you shout like that."

"Gomen nasai," she said meekly. An irritated Vegeta was a dangerous Vegeta.

"I'll apologize to Mama and meet you two guys at the exit from the lab. I don't want to get into that crowd at the front."

"Yeah I can hear them now, 'Jakina-hime what does you father have to say about all of this?' 'Bra-hime, why is your father avoiding all of our questions?' " Pan laughed. "It's only funny because it doesn't happen to me."

Bra snorted but not with amusement. "Sure it is. Let's go."