Chapter Text
Year 773
Adrenaline, bravado, and whatever else had been carrying her through finally gave out and Videl collapsed backwards onto the cool sand of the beach.
Erasa fussed around, kneeling next to her. “Videl are you ok?”
“Fine.” She stared blankly up at the sky. While physically fine she was mentally exhausted. She’d just met an alien soldier, or diplomat, or whatever the hell he was, and her entire world-view had been shattered. What are you supposed to do after that? “Just need a few minutes.”
In the sky above nothing but clouds and endless blue emptiness passed overhead. But there was so much out there well beyond the clouds. Right now people from other worlds were probably exploring the galaxy experiencing wonders she couldn’t even dream of, or fighting and dying in this war that Saiyan was neck deep in. Or just going about their daily lives in ignorance like she had been until an hour ago. She’d always just assumed aliens existed – it was more fun to think that there were other living and breathing worlds out there. Knowing it absolutely was true was a different feeling. A cold shiver ran over her. So many dangers she couldn’t even comprehend.
None of them spoke for a while but eventually she turned her head sidelong towards Krillin, uncaring of the sand working its way into her hair. The man had also dropped down to the sand, and was sat looking at her with a mix of pity, and something else. She hoped not annoyance, but she wouldn’t blame him if it was.
“I’m sorry I didn’t do what you asked.” The girl twisted her fingers together across her stomach. “I have a problem leaving things alone.”
“It’s fine.”
Despite Krillin’s insistence she continued with her own defence, as much justifying it to herself as to him. “I felt sorry for him. Half-dead, with no food or water. Who knows how far he has to go home?” She wasn’t sure how much weight that last bit really carried. The Saiyan hadn’t seemed that worried about any of it himself.
“I’m telling you, it’s fine.”
She was desperate to know what had happened before. “Can you tell me what happened before with Saiyans? Here on Earth that is.” Erasa looked around at Krillin too, waiting patiently for the answer.
Krillin sighed heavily but didn’t look away. “The last time Saiyans were here we lost my best friend’s son.”
Videl sat up. “Oh,” she mumbled. “Sorry.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“When you say lost...?” Dead? Missing?
“We don’t really know if he’s alive or not. They took him.”
“They abducted him? Why?”
Krillin had picked up a modest-sized pebble from the surface of the beach and was rolling it in his palm. “Who knows.” His voice was calm but he crushed the pebble to gravel in his fist, and let the remnants drop to the sand. Dust from his hand merged with the sand below and Videl marvelled at the simple display of his power. Despite that strength he’d been completely outmatched by the Saiyan.
Videl had a feeling he wasn’t quite as clueless on the reason his friend’s son had been kidnapped as he had suggested but didn’t push it. Every now and then she could let someone hide things when they wanted to. Especially when it was something so sensitive, that still ate at him so much. She stared at the sand between her feet thinking back to her interaction with the Saiyan, going over every moment and gesture. “Well if you’d led with that I might not have given him that food!” she shouted, flapping her arms around.
“Don’t worry about it. You did what you thought was right.”
“Still…”
“It didn’t matter anyway, we didn’t stand a chance against him by ourselves. Looking back all of us surviving, and him off this planet was about the best outcome I could have hoped for.” He got up from his sitting position.
“I guess.” Videl stood too, brushing sand off her clothes and shaking a few grains out of her hair, then helped Erasa up.
“Anyway, even though it seems you already know I should formally introduce myself. I’m Krillin.”
“Videl.”
“I’m Erasa.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Krillin shook both of their hands. “Wish it was in less unusual circumstances though. What were you two even doing way out here?”
”I guess you could say I’m a big martial arts fan. I dragged Erasa along looking for Master Roshi. I’ve been trying to talk to old tournament participants.”
“Easier said than done, we do like keep a low profile. Some of us at least.”
“I’ve been trying to find skilled and tough fighters, to see what I can learn from them.”
The short man folded his arms across his chest. “You were pretty tough yourself you know, staring that Saiyan down like that and telling him off.” He giggled cheekily. “Didn’t seem like you were that scared at all.”
The image of an angry, terrifyingly bloody face brought back all the fear and dread she’d experienced, more than she’d ever felt in her life. “I was scared,” she breathed out. Her hands ran over the goosebumps that had risen on her bare forearms. Then the opposite image appeared in her mind – one of a contented smile. “Some of the time. He didn’t seem that bad after a while though. But thank you.”
“Videl is strong. She is the world martial arts junior champion after all.”
Erasa was always ready to hype up her friend supportively but Videl cringed a little with embarrassment. Surely that paled into insignificance in front of someone as accomplished as Krillin, but his face lit up with enthusiasm. “Oh, wow. That’s amazing! No wonder you knew who I am.”
Videl blushed red at their words and accepted the compliment quietly. “Thanks.”
“And the daughter of Mr Satan!” added Erasa eagerly.
“Great.” Krillin had significantly less enthusiasm at that. Videl couldn’t blame him – she knew herself that her dad was nowhere as strong as Krillin, even if he never stopped telling everyone about how much stronger he thought he was. She could forgive Erasa though, she still bought into it all. “Junior world champ though, that’s awesome. Wish there’d been a junior division back when I was a kid. Goku probably still would have beaten me though…”
An hour ago Videl would have been peppering him with questions about old tournaments and fighters but so much had changed in that time. She had to know what was next. Were those friends of Krillin still coming even if the Saiyan had left? “So what do we do now?”
“We should head back to my house. It’s not far and the others can meet us there.”
“Who else is coming?”
Krillin grinned. “Since you’re such a martial arts fan I’d prefer not to spoil the surprise.”
Her mind ran wild with possibilities – she knew Krillin had connections to Master Roshi, Goku (hell he’d mentioned him 30 seconds ago), Yamcha, and others. She could speculate all she liked but the sooner they tidied things up here and got to wherever Krillin would take them the sooner she’d know, so she collected the tattered clothes and armour the Saiyan had left behind. It was bizarre to think she was holding evidence of aliens in her hands. Her eyes glanced back up at the patch of sky where his ship had flown out of sight, wondering how far away he was by now. Holding the armour under her left arm she looked down at her right hand – she’d even shook hands with an alien. Even if he had looked almost exactly like a human it still boggled her mind.
Erasa was watching her. “Wondering if he had space cooties?” she joked.
“No! He better not have…” Tapping at the armour and moving it around in her hands, how lightweight and flexible it was amazed her. The material of the under-layer stretched easily but sprang back into shape perfectly, even the charred and damaged parts. “What should I do with this?” she directed at Krillin.
“Throw it out, keep it, doesn’t matter.” He wasn’t as enthralled by all of this as she was. “Can you follow me if I fly?”
Videl dug her jet-copter capsule out of her pocket and tossed it ten feet away. “Yeah, no problem,” she said as it popped into view. She packed everything away inside within various compartments of her jet-copter, including the armour. Once settled into the pilot seat she leaned over to Erasa who had clambered into the passenger seat next to her. She placed her hand on her friend’s arm gently. “Are you OK?”
“Sure,” Erasa answered quickly and a little too brightly.
Videl squeezed her friends arm. She’d dragged Erasa out on this search for Master Roshi, and put her in what could have been the most dangerous situation imaginable. “I can take you home first if this is too much. I know that was scary. I shouldn’t have put you in danger like that.”
Erasa had a determined look on her face. “I’m fine. I wanna know what’s going on too. Unless another one shows up we’re safe now right?” The blonde ended the thought with a laugh.
Videl nodded and smiled back at her, and started up the jet-copter. Krillin was already hovering in the air waiting for them, and as she directed her jet-copter in his direction he took off over the small waves of the ocean. It was surreal how normal seeing someone gliding through the air had become to her in the last hour.
It barely took more than ten minutes before a small sandy island came into view. A cute red-roofed beach house was settled on a patch of grass in the middle. It couldn’t have been more than a few miles from the co-ordinates Videl had for Master Roshi’s house. Putting two and two together she realised Krillin must either live with Master Roshi, or very near at the very least. They really had been so close after all. As she powered down her jet-copter and jumped out she saw that the cosy looking house had a soft pink walls, with ‘KAME HOUSE’ painted in large letters on the gable.
Reading a book on a beach chair close to the water’s edge was a pretty blonde woman in a sleeveless blue blouse. A pair of large sunglasses covered her eyes, she hadn’t even looked up as they landed. “How’d it go?” she called out to Krillin.
“Not great! If you’d come to help I might not have got my ass kicked,” Krillin said sourly as he stomped towards her.
“It’s better that I didn’t see that happen, honey,” she drolled.
“Yeah, yeah,” Krillin muttered.
“I told you not to bother,” she said as she set her book down on the small table next to the chair and approached them.
“I couldn’t just ignore it.”
“I know.” As she settled into position next to Krillin she kissed him on the top of his head affectionately and hugged him to the side of her body. “You just can’t keep out of trouble.”
The woman released Krillin and removed her sunglasses, and her serious, calculating eyes passed over Videl and Erasa.
“Erasa, Videl, this is my wife, Eighteen.”
The blonde raised an eyebrow as if expecting a question about her name but Videl ignored it, as did Erasa. Someone’s name being a number was way down on the list of strange things they’d seen today. They exchanged pleasantries, before Krillin’s wife returned to her chair and book, obviously not the chatty type, and not particularly interested in why two teenagers had followed Krillin back.
Videl was intrigued though by the idea that his wife’s presence might have made a difference. “Is she a martial artist too?” she asked quietly.
Krillin looked like he wasn’t sure how to answer the question for a second. “Not exactly. But she’s stronger than me for sure.”
Videl was dumbfounded. “How?”
“It’s a long story. One I can’t really get into.”
“OK but just please tell me she’s not a Saiyan?”
Krillin laughed. “Definitely not. Listen, uh, there is one thing I should warn you about. It would be nice if it was a surprise for you but Master Roshi is inside.”
“Master Roshi!” Videl had already figured he must live with Krillin but she couldn’t hide her excitement knowing that the martial arts legend was inside the tiny house just a few feet away.
Krillin grimaced. “Don’t get too excited.” He looked between the two girls. “He’s friendly. But maybe too friendly with young women.”
Videl’s excited smile turned into a frown immediately.
“He’s mostly harmless. But a bit, ugh…”
“Gropey, is the word he’s looking for,” called out Eighteen.
The two teenagers looked around at each other, both of them crinkling their faces in disgust but Krillin led them towards the front door anyway. “Don’t worry, he’ll be on his best behaviour.”
“Don’t be afraid to punch the old man,” shouted Eighteen. Videl and Erasa laughed awkwardly but the look on Eighteen’s face told them she wasn’t joking.
“Hey, can this house be moved?” Videl asked as they walked to the door. “We were searching another island where I thought Master Roshi would be, but it was empty.”
Krillin’s hand was on the door handle and they waited for a moment as he answered. “Yeah the house can be packed into a capsule. We moved islands a few weeks ago for a break. Probably for a few weeks at most. My daughter kept complaining about a weird smell where we normally live. But I think it was just Roshi.”
Erasa nodded knowingly. “Old man smell,” she said. Videl gave her friend a glare as they followed Krillin inside. Erasa only shrugged and mouthed what? back at her.
The front door opened straight into a small open-plan living room and kitchen, with hardwood flooring throughout. The television was playing an exercise class led by a lithe young woman in a full-body leotard, a group of others behind her all stretching their legs up and down in the same fashion. Krillin rushed to the remote and switched it off. “Damn it, old man,” he cursed.
“Krillin,” came the shaky voice of an elderly man from the stairs. “You’re back.” A pair of flip flops and tan, thin legs in white shorts were now visible on the stairs as he descended, followed by a bright orange Hawaiian shirt. He came low enough on the stairway to spot Erasa and Videl, and the old man’s face lit up. “And you brought back some new friends.”
Despite Krillin and Eighteen’s warnings Videl still felt compelled to rush forward and shake his hand with both of hers at the bottom of the staircase. “It’s an honour to meet you, sir.”
His handshake was firm despite his age, although he clung on a little too long for comfort. “My name is Videl. This is my friend Erasa.”
“Such pretty young ladies.” He offered his hand to Erasa who was a little less enthusiastic than Videl but greeted him politely all the same. Holding her hand even longer than Videl’s, it looked like he was about to bring the blonde girl’s hand up to his lips, readying them for a kiss.
“Touch them beyond a handshake and I’ll kill you.” Eighteen was leaning against the frame of the front door, her sunglasses hooked to her blouse, eyes narrowed at the legendary martial arts master.
“What kind of man do you think I am?” Master Roshi protested as he released Erasa’s hand. Videl led her friend away from him, and Krillin pointed them to one of the sofas around the television.
“Krillin, you switched m’show off. Where’s the remote?”
Krillin still had it in his hand and flew up to the height of the kitchen ceiling, dropping it on top of a cabinet well out of ordinary reach. “We’ve got company.”
Master Roshi shambled over to the sofa after them, and sat uncomfortably close to Videl. She could feel his eyes on her even through the lenses of his dark sunglasses. “Oh, I know.”
Eighteen walked past them behind the sofa, smacking the back of his bald head as she walked past. “I’m going to check on Marron.”
Roshi shuffled down to the other end of the sofa, heeding Eighteen’s warning. “She’s napping,” he told her.
“That’s my daughter.” Krillin explained.
“How old is she?” asked Erasa.
“Two.” Krillin pointed out a photo on the window sill. “That’s her.”
Erasa and Videl awwed at the cute blonde toddler in the photo, and Videl left her friend to make conversation about Krillin’s daughter. She was always much better at that kind of thing.
“What happened out there Krillin?” Master Roshi demanded eventually.
“I’ll explain when the others get here. It won’t be long. In fact...”
Almost on cue the face of a dark-haired man of around forty poked its way through the front door. Videl recognised Yamcha immediately.
“Hey Krillin.” He walked straight into the home, clearly comfortable coming and going. “What’s going on?” Then he looked at Videl and Erasa, surprise on his face. “Hey! Videl, right? What are you doing here?”
“We were out here looking for Master Roshi, but things have gone sideways since.”
“Still a Devils fan?”
Videl nodded and Yamcha booed in jest.
“How’d you two know each other?” Krillin wondered.
“Kids are always seeking out my strength and wisdom.”
“Whatever, Yamcha.”
“No, he’s right. He was one of the martial artists I wanted to find. You too Krillin.” Yamcha was one of the most high profile of them, given his career after martial arts as a professional baseball player, and so easy to track down. Being both a junior world champion herself as well as the daughter of the current world champion, she hadn’t been shy in calling in a few favours from mutual connections to get in touch. “I love baseball too, even if Yamcha never played for my team he’s still one of the greats.”
Yamcha beamed and pumped his arms. “See Krillin. Despite what you might think I’m still pretty cool.”
“Maybe to martial arts nerds,” Krillin jibed, managing to tease both Yamcha and Videl at once.
“Hey,” Videl mumbled.
Krillin grinned. “Just kidding.”
“To be honest I don’t think I was any help to her at all anyway,” Yamcha admitted as he sat on a stool in the kitchen, after Videl had introduced Erasa to him.
It was only partially true. The veteran baseball player had been honest with her and told her that ki and all the other crazy skills were all real, no tricks. But he wouldn’t give much away on how it all worked, nor where she could go to learn those powers, and that he himself had long ago given up any serious martial arts practice. Nowadays his only training was for his sports career, and even that was so limited given he was working as a coach these days. He had given her the information which had eventually led her to tracking down Master Roshi’s location though. Even if she had missed him being there by a few weeks.
“Did you ever track anyone else down?” he asked.
“Yeah, I found Ranfan. She made the quarters at the 21st tournament.”
Master Roshi rubbed his hands on his thighs. “Ranfan, yes quite the competitor.”
Yamcha encouraged her to continue. “Just ignore him.”
“She was great, really friendly and helpful. Even though she’d stopped fighting a long time ago she was still skilled and gave me some training pointers.” Videl’s cheeks blushed a light pink. “But I got out of there once she started showing me her ultimate techniques were mostly just flirting with opponents or stripping her clothes off.”
“Maybe that was what the Saiyan was doing when he took his armour off,” Krillin joked.
The old man further down on the couch had been lost in his own memories of Ranfan, but was brought back to the present in a flash at that comment from Krillin. “What Saiyan?” he and Yamcha both yelled.
“Oh crap, I was supposed to wait. Just give it a few more minutes. The others will be here soon.”
“Anyone else?”
“Of people who qualified for the three main tournaments before my dad won, only Nam. Do you remember him?” The other martial artists all nodded. Nam was a semi-finalist from the same tournament as Ranfan, in fact the fighter who beat her in the quarter finals. “He let me stay with his family for a few days, they were all so nice. He taught me some meditation techniques and other stuff.”
“Who else have you been trying to find?” Krillin asked
“I tried tracking down Tien Shinhan.”
“Yeah, he’s hard to find sometimes even for us,” Krillin explained.
Yamcha gave her a knowing wink. “I’m sure you’ll meet him sometime.”
“Jackie Chun was another, but he seems to have disappeared from the face of the Earth.”
Master Roshi gave a hearty laugh at that, but once he’d calmed down he focused on Videl seriously all of a sudden. “I hope you’re careful if you keep doing this. There were a lot of dangerous people at those tournaments.”
“Oh yeah, for sure. I have a list I don’t ever wanna meet.” She started listing them off on her fingers. “Bacterian – more disgusting than dangerous, though; that Tao guy; definitely not Ma Junior. Wasn’t he the reincarnation of–” She stopped talking as Yamcha and Krillin’s faces had dropped. “What?”
“Krillin! What the hell is going on?” a deep voice boomed from outside.
Erasa clutched at the arm of the sofa on one side and Videl’s leg on the other, and both girls screamed as a gigantic green individual ducked his pointy-eared head through the door.