The New Age Empire v2: Book 2

~Chapter 9: Battles Among Friends~

Her trainers were merciless and for that she was grateful. She did not desire an easy spar but once that would work her endlessly and keep her mind from other things. So far it was working.

The two demi-saiyans were truly magnificent in her opinion. The way their muscles moved just beneath the surface of their tanned skin, the way their reflexes were precise like the notes of a finely tuned instrument, the way their senses were honed like a feline's...

Kallen's breath was knocked from her then, before she had time to clear her mind and enter the realm of concentration where she often dwelt. Goten paused with concern but the prince continued on as if nothing was wrong.

"Wait a minute, V.J.," he placed a hand on his arm. "I think we should wait a moment."

"On the battlefield, the enemy will not wait for a warrior to recover," he intoned emotionlessly.

"We are not on the battlefield."

"It's alright," she told him with a smile that didn't quite reach her silver eyes. "I understand his logic. He's absolutely correct."

The older hybrid frowned. "Just because he's correct doesn't make it any less wrong."

"You're thinking like your father," Vegeta snorted.

"And you're thinking like a bastard."

"Come on guys!" she halted them right there before the old argument surfaced once more. Honestly, she didn't see how they could stand to be around each other at all. Both contradicted each other completely. Goten, being a creature of light and goodwill, and Vegeta, being a creature of darkness and trickery. But she had both seen and spoken to their fathers and the two older, full-saiyans had a strong bond that puzzled her beyond belief.

Kallen had not completely told Goten and Vegeta the truth before about who she was and how she knew of Agalar. She was an officer of the Imperial Army, sure, but she was also a member of the Sorcerer's Ruling Council. She was not a very strong mage but she could sense enough to know that Vegeta had shadows monitoring his every move. Even his second child had them. She knew not exactly of what sort they were but they were a thick darkness, like tar, and that usually meant they had evil intent.

She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the thoughts from her mind, as Goten shook her gently. His face was so kind, just like his father's, that it almost made her confess her secret. Unfortunately her soul was not drawn to the light -- it craved the darkness.

A war began inside of Vegeta, many different emotions surfacing onto his features until he finally settled on curiosity. Sitting on the metal bench against one wall, he patted the empty place next to him as if inviting Kallen to sit and unburden herself. Sighing, she prepared herself to do just that. The truth would set her free.

"I am descended directly from Chaos," she began instantly confusing the hell out of both of them. "In the beginning of the universe that's all there was. Because I am of his blood, I am fully capable of ruining what the gods have so carefully crafted. There would be Chaos once again."

She took a deep breath. "If Chaos were to once again take over the thread of order would unravel until everything was once again a part of the swirling confusion. Everything would cease to be until the gods put it right once again. Nothing would be the same.

"My mother is decended directly from Order," she smiled bitterly. "Ironic isn't it? What I unravel I can weave once more. Other than that I have little power and I am completely mortal just like the two of you. But if I die childless then I have no idea what would happen. My existence is keeping the balance.

"My reasons for coming with you are simple," she bowed her head, "I must find away to rid myself of mortality so that I will not be responsible for destroying our universe. The creator gods have left our dimension and I don't believe there is a way to call them back."

Glances passed between the two demi-saiyans quickly and she sensed that there was some hidden level of communication going on. "That's a lot to absorb," Vegeta said finally. "As you've said before, we all have our reasons." His face turned sour. "Some just sound better than others."

She understood what that was all about. Goten had spoken to her about why their king wanted them to go. His reasons were purely selfish and the young man had said that was typical of Vegeta. She felt as if the shadows were strengthening at the mere thought.

Climbing to her feet, she resolved to contact her commander. He had a right to know where she was even though currently she was on leave. This trip might take a while.

***

"Press conference," Vegeta said later that day right before the judging. Bulma raised an eyebrow and placed a hand against his forehead.

"You don't seem feverish," she smiled. "I thought you hated those things."

"I do," he said, "but those damn Shadow Stalkers are getting on my nerves. I want to set the world straight."

After his minor confrontation with the Lord Shadows he felt happy. Sort of. It felt good to put that man in his place but now he had work to do before he and his group retaliated.

Three minutes before the art show judging, Goku and ChiChi walked into the gym. Now that he was there, who was guarding his house? He didn't trust those robots to do anything correctly.

"Kakarott..."

Goku's head jerked up and he visually searched for his king. His mental voice was amused when he spotted him. "The house is fine, Veggie. Trunks is there."

"Good. You were lucky this time, Kakarott. I would be so kind again."

"You're putting on your 'Hardened Killer' mask. Who angered you today?"

"That baka Lord of Shadows."

"Ah, I see. Did you kill him?"

He snorted. "In front of whitnesses? Iie, I just creatively insulted him. He's going to spread *something* around by tomorrow so I'm having a press conference. You need to be there."

"Are you going to let me talk this time? I just stand in the background and look intimidating."

"You? Intimidating?" His laughter filled both of their heads. "Are you serious?"

Goku's laughter joined him. "I guess not. But still, Veggie, what am I supposed to do with my free time? We have no major conflicts like alien invasions so all I do is hand you paperwork and remind you to eat dinner once in a while. Oh, I also baby-sit the kids. Personal Assistant is *definitely* not my job description not that I mind doing this but..."

"I understand, Goku." The other saiyan started at the use of his preferred name. "I understand completely. Your warrior's soul is rebelling. You crave some sort of major conflict. The only thing I can tell you is to teleport to Vegeta and Goten. They're bound to get into a battle."

"That's a great idea!" he grinned. "I'll leave right after Panny-chan wins."

"You're so sure she's going to."

"Of course! Well... sort of. If this was a grade school tournament I know she'll win."

"That's another thing, your grandchild is out of control. If you don't stop her, she'll end up beating the crap out of every kid in her class."

"Pan and her temper are not easy to deal with," Goku sighed. "You sound worried about her. Are you worried Veggie-chan?" he added this in a slightly teasing tone.

"Me?" Knowning that the other man would probably discover the truth eventually, he saved him the trouble of searching. "Hai. I guess I've grown attached to her. She is what I wish Bra to be. A lover of battles."

A warm smile spread across Goku's face. "I love Bra too and the rest just like my own children. Especially Jakina, she's just too kawaii for her own good. I'll speak to Pan but it'll probably be her mother who stops her completely."

The mental conversation was halted by the announcement that the judging was about to begin. Vegeta took his place next to Jakina and her perfect picture while Goku and ChiChi searched for Pan and her life-like sculpture. The three judges moved among each class, awarding first and second prizes through each one. By the time they had reached the sixth-grade class Pan was teasing the blond boy by waving her blue ribbon in his face to the horror of her parents and Jakina was jumping up and down while waving her prize as if she had consumed an unhealthy amount of sugar. Vegeta had to pick her up to keep her still.

"Why do children have so much energy?" he questioned Bulma in a whisper.

She shrugged. "I have no idea. But it makes you wish that they didn't."

Slowly the kids began to gather up their things, the ones who won smiling and the ones who didn't being comforted by others. Pan had stopped waving her ribbon but was now skipping around the boy and chanting.

"I'm better than you are! I'm better than you are!"

"Son Pan," Gohan said in a stern voice, his dark eyes narrowing behind his glasses. She froze instantly in mid-skip and lost her balance, falling to the ground. Jumping quickly to her feet, she looked at her father with her best Son smile.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"You're in trouble now," Bra muttered to her on her way past. Pan's eyes widened and she looked for a way out. Nervous eyes settled on Goku and her lower-lip began to tremble with false tears.

"Goku-ojiichan," she sniffed as she ran over to hug him around the legs, "Papa's being mean to me. *You're* not mean to me."

Goku could never stand to see her cry even though he knew she did it for either sympathy or attention. But this time, with great willpower, he gently pried away Pan's hands. "I'm sorry Pan, but you really deserve to be punished for this." He received astonished looks from both of her parents as well as ChiChi.

"I didn't think you had it in you, Tousan," Gohan remarked as he took Pan's hand. She lowered her eyes to the floor in shame and held her sculpture tightly with one arm.

"First I have to take this to the display case on the main floor. It won a ribbon so the principal wants to show it off."

"Of course Pan," he told her. "You know, I'm proud that you won but being a bad winner isn't good."

WIth tearful eyes and a desperate voice, she turned to her father. "You didn't hear what he said about you guys! He was insulting my family. I just couldn't let him do it."

"Gohan, at least she didn't injure the boy." Videl said to him. "Your genes do run wild in Pan-chan."

"*My* genes?" he repeated. "What about yours? You've beat up a lot of people in the past."

"Not as many as you have. At least I haven't killed someone before."

"You know I had no choice Videl!" Gohan exclaimed. "Besides, you make it seem like it was millions like Vegeta. It was only like five."

"Try twelve," Goku not-so-helpfully added. He blinked when everyone his way. "Nani?"

Pan gently removed her hand and her father didn't notice. Taking Goku's she led him out into the hallway. "They're going to be arguing for a while. It's always about who's fighting genes I've inherited."

"I would say Gohan's," ChiChi frowned as she took the baby from Videl. "Look at your ojiichan he likes fighting more than he likes to eat."

The little girl's mouth dropped open. "Really?"

"Really." ChiChi smiled.

"Um, ChiChi?" Goku began nervously. "I have to tell you something. See, I need to go see Goten and Vegeta."

"What happened to them?" she asked quickly. "Is my baby in trouble?"

He shook his head. "Oh no. It's just that I'm getting a little restless on this planet and I need to fight something or I'm going to go crazy."

"You spar with Vegeta every single day Goku," she frowned.

During their talk Pan had disappeared. She didn't want to get in the middle of it. Besides, her obaasan's screaming attracted a lot of attention.

"Vegeta has too much on his mind to be a good opponent. You see what he has to deal with everyday, don't you? Me and whoever's nearby drop loads of paperwork onto his desk and he gets buried behind it, short as he is. Instead of blocking my attacks, he's mumbling to himself about the economy."

"That's a lot of words coming from you," his wife remarked. "But you're right. Vegeta does all the hard work while Bulma does what she likes to do in her lab. Gohan-chan is fully capable of taking over so she can help her husband with the laws. I don't trust that man to do anything right anyway. When are you going to leave Goku?"

He grinned and waved. "Right now."

"Oh no you don't!" ChiChi attempted to grab him but he vanished just before her hand touched his arm. "Kami, I hate when he does that."

***

"AH!" Kallen shrieked as Goku appeared right in front of her. "Goku! You scared me."

"Hiya Kallen," he looked around. "Where are the other two? They can't be far since I teleported to the bridge."

"What are you doing here?" she asked curiously. "Did you get into some kind of trouble on Chikyuu?"

With wide eyes, he laughed. "Of course not. Well, other than the usual. I came here because things were getting a little boring with Vegeta unavailable to spar. All I was doing was baby-sitting jobs."

"What if an alien attacks the planet and you're with us?"

"Then I'll teleport back. I really don't think there's a limit on how far away I can be." He sat down in the seat that Vegeta usually occupied and grinned. "Where are we off to now?"

"The closest place for supplies that isn't controlled by Ankan," Don replied. "That narrows it down from near fifty places to about five." A brief moment passed and he corrected himself. "Make that four. Ankan's just conquered another."

"Great," Kallen frowned. "How many of these are planets?"

"All of them. The space stations and cities fell easily."

"How close is the nearest?"

"Two-point-three light-years. Shall I head for that planet then? I don't want to get into any more trouble..." He trailed off but both could hear the faint amusement in his tone.

"Go ahead Don. You're the A.I. here."

Goku was confused by his last statement. "What's he talking about?"

Motioning for him to follow, Kallen exited the bridge. "It's a long story. You see it all started when Ankan himself attacked us..."