Bulma woke up. She suddenly felt there was no one lying besides her. Quickly she opened her eyes and saw that Vegita had not been sleeping in their bed last night. Not that it was the first time, just that Bulma's heart always jumped in such situations. She got out of her room and went toward the bathroom, taking a voluntary detour to Trunks' room. Once there, she tried to open the door. Unlocked? She peeked inside...No one? Trunks' bed was done, which means...that he didn't come back last night either... "Vegita..." she thought. "What did cross your mind this time? More training?" She sighed and shut the door, going back toward the bathroom.
She got in and undressed. She started toward the shower, but suddenly stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. "What a body! Why didn't I think of that before!?� she said to herself. This Shen Long truly could work wonders...
Once she got out of the bathroom, she headed to the dining
room and then to the kitchen. She started to make breakfast for
herself, Bra...as well as for her...
...Star, she was called...
...Mysterious girl...
She didn't say much during supper last night, as Bra was
constantly complaining...as always. Star did say she was going to
explain everything the day after, which was today. A faint sound,
like heavy breathing and shouts came from the window, breaking the
link between Bulma and the land of her thoughts. She went to the
window and saw that Star was training outside, punching and kicking
in mid-air at an invisible enemy. At the same time, Bra entered the room.
Bulma: "Ohayou, Bra. Breakfast'll be ready in a minute or two."
Bra: "Feels weird..."
Bulma: "What?"
Bra: "Seeing you like that, Mommy..."
Bulma: "You'll get used to it, sweetie."
Bra: "I dunno..."
Bra: "Where's Star-nee-san?"
Bulma: "She's working out, outside. Maybe you can tell her to come in for breakfast."
Bra(^^): "OK!" She dashed outside.
Bra: "Excuse me, Star-nee-san. Mommy told me to come tell you that breakfast was almost ready."
Star: "Breakfast? Really? I mean...uh...I shall be there in a moment."
Bra(^^): "OK!" She went back inside.
Bulma: "You'd better go dress up, Bra, 'cause Goku, Gohan, Goten and Oob are coming."
Bra: "Why are they coming?"
Bulma: "We have to talk to Star about important things, sweetie."
Bra: "Oh..." Bra went away as Star returned. Bulma didn't notice her until she was right behind her.
Bulma(turning around): "Ah! You startled me! Don't you make any sound at all while walking?"
Star: "I don't walk very often...I float."
Bulma(^^"): "That explains it. Too many people have this habit nowadays..."
Star: "Is she strong?"
Bulma: "Who?"
Star: "Bra."
Bulma: "Nah, she hates fighting. One thing's for sure, though, it's that she knows how to fly and she beats anyone I know doing it. Even Goku can't catch her...well, maybe..."
Star: "A sign of potential. I'll scan her when she returns..."
Bulma: "Scan? You mean, with your Scouter?"
Star: "Yes. The Enhanced Scouter lets me see the strength as well as the potential of any individual."
Bulma: "What about me?"
Star: "Well..." She pressed a button on the side of her Scouter.
Star: "Power: 0, Potential: 50."
Bulma: "Huh?"
Star: "Sorry. Your abilities...would not...I mean, you would..."
Bulma: "Alright, I get it."
Star: "I did not mean to insult you."
Bulma: "I asked for it..."
Star: "I am sorry."
Bulma: "So...tell me about yourself."
Star: "All in good time, Bulma-san. I hope everyone will be here this afternoon. I shall explain then."
Bulma: "They're coming over now."
Star: "Now? Well...alright. Once they arrive then..."
Star: "Uh...if I might ask...I'd like to know...uh...how are Son Goshin and Pinkpuff...?"
Bulma: "Who?"
Star: "?! Son Goshin! Pinkpuff! You know..."
Bulma: "No, I..." Suddenly, Star covered her mouth with her hand.
Star: "Sorry. My mistake."
Goku: "Huh?"
Bulma: "This doesn't explain why you stayed with us."
Star: "I know. We had an idea. We just might require your help."
Gohan: "Our...help?"
Star: "Well, your potentials are all great and would help us greatly."
Gohan: "You want us to go back with you to fight a terrible creature in your time, ne?"
Star: "How'd you know?"
Gohan(^^"): "Intuition, I guess..."
Star: "Let's start at the beginning, shall we? It all started with the death of the king. The prince took his place, of course, but that was a mistake. He proved himself to be an idiot...that's monarchy... The way he handled economics and other royal tasks was ridiculous. Ultimately, the world fell to pieces and the king didn't know what to do, so he had a huge computer built, a computer that would handle all the world's problems. The computer, or Main Board as they called it, was in time activated. This will happen in 12 years."
Gohan: "So?"
Star: "So, everyone was marked through the skin by the Main Board. A kind of optical code that would allow the Main Board to know anything it needed to know about anyone. Few were able to avoid this marking, but I shall come back to this later."
Bulma: "Go on."
Star: "Being given so much power, the Main Board somehow took control. No one knows how it happened...it just did. The Main Board created androids, robotic beings with tremendous strength. With such an army, it was easy for the Main Board to make everyone become it's slave, as all were marked and followed carefully. This will happen in 18 years."
Goku: "We would've never let something like that happen."
Star: "That's just it: you weren't there..."
Goten: "Huh?"
Star: "Somehow you, the strongest of this world mysteriously vanished, preventing you from stopping this insanity. Son Goku, Son Gohan, Vegita...all of you...vanished..."
Star: "Few were left. My parents, among others. They hid through the years to keep us from being marked. Ultimately, they were found..."
Star: "From there, Vulcan and I decided we would have to do something. We had to repay our parents for helping us so much and we couldn't let the Earth be controlled by androids. We decided to start a rebellion we called "Freedom Army". We discovered that other people had escaped the marking and had the same goal as we did, so we joined forces with all people we could find. Since the Main Board is aware of us, we have to keep moving and hope they won't find us. Meanwhile, we train, we gather intelligence and we try to devise a master plan to take out the Main Board. Our warriors lack strength and ability, so your help would be a blessing to us and our cause. Please help us."
Gohan: "What do you mean your men "lack strength and ability" ?"
Star: "Well, Vulcan is great. He's the strongest in our group. His power, like mine, is innate. We always had great power since we were born. Raven and Gale are also very strong, but as for the others, well, we're making progress."
Goten: "How many are you?"
Star: "Many of us died during our last battle with the androids, but at last count we were 29."
Gohan: "How many androids are there?" Star slowly turned her head toward him with a deadly, cold look in her eyes.
Star: "At least a 100, and their average power is about like Raven's or Gale's..."
Goku: "If Vulcan's so strong, why doesn't he take care of them?"
Star: "Oh, Vulcan's stronger than any android. He could blow up a few of them in a single night, but alone, or even with our help, he doesn't stand a chance against all of them..."
Gohan: "Tousan. They're stronger than us. We can't just accept without further consideration."
Goku: "I don't care! I've been dying for a good fight!"
Goten: "I'm going too!"
Goku: "Oob! You'll show those androids what you can do, right?"
Oob: "Right!"
Gohan: "Alright, alright, I'll come..."
Bra: "I wanna go too!"
Bulma: "You're not going anywhere, young lady!"
Bra: "But I wanna help Star-nee-san!"
Bulma: "Star-nee-san is going to fight some mean robots in the future. Do you want to go fight too?"
Goku(to Star): "We're ready!"
Star: "We will have to wait for the return of my comrades later this afternoon..."
Gohan: "Then, you can answer some of my questions..."
Star: "Yes?"
Gohan: "How did Vulcan turn Super Saiyajin?"
Star: "Vulcan became a Super Saiyajin when he was 7."
Gohan: "No, I mean, you are Saiyajin!" Star nodded.
Gohan: "How can this be???"
Star: "Pinkpuff and Son Goshin are my parents, but they aren't born yet."
Goten: "That's what my brother wants to know: Who are they?"
Star: "Pinkpuff is the future daughter of Trunks, and Son Goshin...is YOUR future son, Son Goten-san."
Goten: "..."
Gohan: "But...isn't this risky...telling Goten about his future?"
Star: "...right. Enough questions about this time. I'll only answer those referring to my own time."
Bulma: "Here's one: Why do you use Scouters?"
Star: "Somehow, the Main Board seems to be blocking Ki emanations so we can't "feel" another person's Ki. My mother discovered that such a device, which we based on the Saiyajin people's Scouters, could help us determine the power and location of other people and mostly, androids. Unfortunately, our first model could only "scout" strong people and had little range. Later versions have improved over the first model."
Goten : "Can the androids detect your Ki?"
Star : "No, all Ki emanations are blocked. However, they have their own built-in Scouters which have the same effect."
Bulma : "Are the androids human-based or machine-based ?"
Star : "All are entirely machine-based. They also lack many emotions, mainly those which would hinder their fighting abilities, like pity or compassion. Anger and hatred are essential to them..." Star looked at her cup, repressed a tear that was trying to push its way out of her eye, and then remembered her coffee had turned cold. She turned back toward the others.
Star : "No further questions?"
Goten : "Are you free tonight?" Star raised an eyebrow upon hearing his words. She looked down for a second and turned back coldly toward him.
Star : "I am not the mother of your son, grandfather." All turned toward Goten.
Goten(^^") : "Uh...I'm feeling pretty bad right now...uh..."
Star : "No further questions?"
Gohan : "Yes. I heard you say modifying the past was out of the question for you. Why, then, do you have a time machine?"
Star : "Well, when Raven came back to tell us Gale had died, we studied the question of time travel and ruled against it for purposes of modifying the past. As for the time machine, the Book told us where to get it, but we refused to use it. Gale thought otherwise and she and Raven disobeyed our orders by using it."
Gohan : "You just mentionned a Book. What Book?" After a moment of reflection, Star answered.
Star : "About thirteen years ago, in my time, Vulcan and I stumbled on an old cave where we found this Book. It had been written long ago and told everything about the future...this timeline...mine...We read the Book and "understood" many things...Vulcan is a better expert on the Book. You should ask him for details."
Star : "Other questions?"
Gohan : "I think that's enough. Besides, if we have more questions, I suppose you can fill us in anytime...?" Star nodded.
Gohan : "Good. now, let's wait for your brother."
The time machine had materialized near Capsule Corp.. Goku,
Gohan, Goten, Oob, Bulma and Star stood, waiting for Vulcan to come
out of it. Soon, three people emerged from the now opened main
hatch :
Vulcan, the red haired 4th generation Saiyajin...
Gale, the charming and fearless Tigirl...
Raven, the Hawkman with an attitude.
Vulcan : "When we returned, we found that the previous Raven had not "vanished" from time as we had hoped. We were forced to kill him."
Star : "!"
Vulcan : "Not to worry, though. The "real" Raven is here with us. The case is closed."
Star : "But, did you really have to kill..."
Vulcan(interrupting) : "Have the others agreed to join us ?"
Star : "Yes, but we could not find some of them...Son Goku, Son Gohan, Son Goten and Oob will accompany us."
Vulcan : "Very good. Lead them inside. We must leave at once." He turned back, forcing Gale and Raven to go back inside the ship, followed by Vulcan himself.
Star (to the Z senshi) : "Well, will you come?"
Goku : "We're coming! Let's go!"