It was darkness around him. Makoto was aware of lingering, throbbing pain on his shoulder.

This…

He blinked his eyes open sluggishly, and realized he was surrounded by liquid, making his vision slightly foggy. He wasn't in that throne room anymore. He was somewhere else, somewhere darker. His mind couldn't make sense of his surroundings yet. He was too groggy.

This is bad.

He tried to move, but his limbs were unresponsive. He glanced around himself, his eyes and head seeming to be the only part of him he could control. There was a mask clamped over his face, giving him oxygen. The only thing he could hear was the ghostly inhale and exhale of his breath. His ebony hair hung out around him in dark waves, and his eyes stung each time he blinked.

Makoto had counted on Cooler swapping him for Marin. Hoped for it. He and Trunks made certain to word everything right, to make it seem like they were taking a great loss in making the switch. And Cooler had to feel more confident now, since he had a much stronger individual of their team under his power instead of the weakest. He probably thought he could take them on now. Knew he could.

But Cooler had already shown his ignorance in many things. And evidently, he was not aware of the power boost a Saiyan received after recovering from a near fatal injury. Makoto just didn't expect it to be so crippling. He slowly managed to gain control of the muscles in his neck and turned his head to inspect his wound.

He blinked in surprise.

It was still there, and looked just as nasty as when it first appeared.

But he was certain this tank was meant to heal him! His father had spoke of such things that Frieza had in his ship! The liquid seemed to be keeping it from bleeding out, but it was certainly not stitching itself shut like a senzu bean would cause.

Shit.

Maybe Cooler was smarter than he thought…

I gotta get out of here…

But no, he couldn't. Not only because he wasn't physically able, but also because he had to wait…

Wait for Trunks' signal.

But then what, smart guy? Makoto thought sourly. Even when he got the signal, how exactly was he going to bust out of here when his entire frame refused to move?

As Makoto's eyes adjusted, he looked around to see that he wasn't the only one in this room. There was something else suspended in a tube not far from him. He couldn't tell exactly what the thing was supposed to be. It was small, child sized, and had smooth, silver skin. Makoto could make out a strange sort of elongated skull that swooped forward almost like a pompadour. Its limbs with slender, and body round. There was a large tag on the tank over the floating form, reading:

RECOVERED FROM PLANET M-2

SPECIMEN OF DR. MYUU

SPECIES: UNKNOWN

OBTAINED UNDER SUSPICION OF SAIYAN RELATION

KEEP CONTAINED, SPECIMEN UNDER QUARENTINE

Saiyan relation? What could that little thing have to do with Saiyans? And who was this Dr. Myuu? Makoto narrowed his dark eyes at the tiny creature. He couldn't help but think with it curled up in a fetal position like that, that it looked just like a baby.

*.*.*

Akita rocketed through the sky with Bulla at her side, their gold and blue auras leaving behind neon streaks. She wasn't sure what these two new power levels were, but she sure wasn't going to let them hurt anyone while she and Bulla were watching over the cities for Marin. And she sure as hell wasn't going to let her other universe nephew mess anything up either!

From what she'd seen of Bardock, he was going to cause more trouble than anything. Sure, he was strong, but he was also reckless. Marin wouldn't be exactly pleased about coming back to see that Akita and Bulla managed to let all of West City get demolished by a… what, was he like, eight year old?

"Look!" Bulla cried.

Akita didn't need her friend to call out. She could easily see the massive explosion bloom to life ahead of them from down in the streets and hear the screams rip into the air.

"That wasn't the kid's chi," said Bulla, "C'mon! Whoever that is, they're killing people!"

Akita nodded and the two of them descended at a faster rate, both transforming in a flash. Things just got really serious. Akita wasn't naïve enough to believe no one died in that explosion.

Landing in the street, Akita spotted little Bardock ahead, the boy running around the corner of a building toward where the fire was coming from.

"Bardock!" Akita called after him, but he didn't respond.

"C'mon, with how much he looks like your Dad, he's gotta be more than a little hard headed," said Bulla before bursting forward, "Let's catch up to him!"

Akita burst into a sprint, and with her and Bulla's speed, they were around the corner within the next heartbeat. Scrambling to a stop, the girls looked upon the sight before them with furrowed brows.

There were two beings in the street, both bearing blue skin. The taller one had long, fire red hair and a bandana tied about his head, and the other had a bright, canary yellow Mohawk with a goatee. They smirked toward the one figure between them and the girls, the small form of Bardock.

"Look at what this world has to offer," laughed the man with red hair, "Children even smaller than those we fought before. And women," his eyes flicked up to Akita and Bulla, "Tell us, are you Saiyan? Or Tygrian?"

Akita and Bulla both exchanged a surprised look, but before they could speak, Bardock slapped on a cocky grin and shouted, "Both!" before bolting forward.

The little hybrid slammed his fist hard into the side of the redhead's face, sending him into the ground before lashing out his foot, connecting it into the Mohawk one's stomach. The latter slammed into the nearby building, letting more screams bloom into the air.

"Shit, he's gonna get more people hurt!" Bulla muttered.

"I'll take care of it."

Akita turned to see damn near the entire group that had been at Capsule Corp had followed them, and Sykaima, the one who spoke, stomped forward.

"Bardock!" she barked.

Bardock winced and glanced back at her, "Aw, c'mon, Mom, these guys are fodder!"

"And you just smashed one into a building and could've gotten someone hurt!" snapped Sykaima irritably.

Bardock rolled his eyes and flew to her side as the two aliens recovered, the redhead stumbling to his feet, the Mohawk man stepping back into the road.

"Who are you?" Gohan asked, narrowing his eyes behind those black framed glasses he so favored, "What do you want?"

"Huh…" the redhead grumbled, "There's a lot more here than I anticipated… looks like that Makoto punk wasn't the only tough one."

"Makoto?" Vegeta now stepped forward, folding his arms as he glared at the alien, "What do you know of my son?"

The redhead looked Vegeta over with a growing smirk, "Ah, so you're the brat's father… I see where he gets his height. And attitude… it seems."

Akita was certain her father was going to drive the redhead into the ground for that remark, but Vegeta remained where he was, his gaze just growing harder.

"Let's just get this over with," said Rilan as he gently sat Bulma on her feet, "We outnumber you, both in bodies and power. So answer our questions, and we don't have to worry about any severe unpleasant experiences for the two of you."

"Awfully cocky," said the redhead with a laugh, then his eyes found Trunks. They narrowed slightly and he placed a hand on his hip, "Huh… you look just like him. Could it be…?" he exchanged a knowing look with his companion.

"What?" Trunks furrowed his brow as he came to Vegeta's side.

"These two must have had a run in with Makoto and the others," said Katima, "They must have met Trunks."

"So then you're him," the redhead, looked over Trunks with an piercing gaze, "The 'other' Trunks. The one from the future. The one who killed Cooler's family."

Vegeta's face fell. Akita felt something in her gut clench at the look of mounting horror in her father's eyes.

"Vegeta?" Katima looked at him, and then her eyes too became wide. She had to have felt whatever Vegeta did in the Bond. Akita was going to have to get used to that.

"No…" Rilan muttered, his fists clenching, "Cooler…? It can't be…."

"Dad?" Bulla frowned over at her father, "What's wrong, who's Cooler?"

"Yeah, those of us out of the loop here would really like some insight," said Bulma bluntly.

"Cooler is Frieza's older brother," said Vegeta in a soft voice, "Much stronger than both him and their father."

"Wh-what?" Videl looked between everyone's faces, "Frieza- Gohan, the one you told me stories about? Since when did he have a brother?"

"This is news to me too," Gohan muttered to her.

"But if Frieza came back around now, it would be cake to beat him right? So what can his brother do?" said Pan, folding her arms.

"Who knows how much stronger Cooler could have gotten over the years," breathed Rilan, his blue gaze stuck on the ground, "And if he's looking for those responsible for killing Frieza and King Cold…"

"Then we crush them," said Bulla with a laugh, "C'mon Dad, I mean, you guys beat Buu! How bad can this Cooler dude be?"

"Bad enough to have defeated your family members you sent off into his territory," said the redheaded alien with a smirk.

All eyes went back to him.

"What do you mean?" Akita demanded, "No one could have beat them!"

"You don't know Cooler," said the redhead.

There was a flash of golden light, and then, quite suddenly, Vegeta was across the street, holding the redhead by the neck, and aiming his other hand at the one with the Mohawk.

"Tell me," Vegeta growled, "What's your name, trash?"

The man actually laughed tightly in Vegeta's grip, smiling at him, "B-Bojack."

"Fine then, Bojack," Vegeta snarled, "You're going to tell me everything about my son and his friends. Or I will paint this street with your insides, whatever color they may be."

*.*.*

This was probably the most idiotic idea Trunks had ever come up with.

He looked around at the expansive laboratory, his blue eyes wide. The ceiling stretched overhead by about fifty feet, domed and white in color. The smooth surface of the walls reflected the glow of the lighting which seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. He couldn't actually find a source for it. Scattered around was machinery of all kinds, some familiar, like the space pod models he'd seen in his mother's lab from the ships Vegeta had arrived on Earth in so many years ago, and others that were all new and complex to him.

This was going to take some time. And figuring out how to build what he needed without Cooler or his men finding out was doing to be even more complicated. He couldn't sense Goten, Marin, or Tarble anymore. Hopefully they listened to him and were heading to where they were supposed to be. He could, however, sense the very faint signature of Makoto. He didn't know exactly where in the complex Cooler was keeping his friend, but he could tell it was below where he was now. Probably in some sinister dungeon or lab or other super villain shit.

"Well?"

Trunks glanced over his shoulder. He'd been escorted down here by a couple of Cooler's lackeys. They were just a couple of low level aliens. One was teal skinned with green hair, the other almost human looking, but he wore a helmet to hide most of his features.

"Get to work," snapped the green-haired one, gesturing to all the equipment with his blaster.

Trunks snorted softly but he didn't talk back. Cooler was confident, sending only these two idiots to guard him. He must know Trunks wasn't going to start shit with Makoto as his hostage. And he was right. At least partially. Makoto getting swapped for Marin was the plan all along. Now came the tricky part.

Trunks stepped into the room and began to examine all the equipment. First thing first. He had to figure out what the hell all this crap did.

*.*.*

"We can't just leave them!"

Goten let out a soft breath as he glanced back at Marin. He was at the controls of the ship, Tarble at his side. Marin was behind them, a look of upmost horror on her face as Goten guided the ship away from the planet they'd left Trunks and Makoto.

"We don't have a choice," said Goten, "Trunks has a plan."

"Cooler is going to kill them!" Marin shouted, "Even if Trunks somehow creates a time machine, Cooler will only let them live as long as it takes to make sure it works! He's ruthless, he'll want every Saiyan and Tygrian dead!"

"Trunks isn't making a time machine," said Goten firmly, going to her and gripping her arms, "I told you. He has a plan."

Marin blinked, looking confused.

Goten sighed but before he could speak, Tarble bounced forward, smiling up at Marin.

"We aren't leaving them, Marin. We're going to where they're going to be!" he said, reaching forward and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Tarble was actually shorter than Marin, and Goten couldn't help but be a little amused at the sight before him.

Marin looked over the little Saiyan with a furrowed brow, "Who are you? You've a tail like a Saiyan."

"Because he is one," said Goten, "This is Tarble… he's…"

"I'm Makoto's uncle!" said Tarble cheerfully, "Vegeta's little brother!"

Marin looked like she was going to fall over, her eyes growing as wide as saucers.

"Makoto's- and Vegeta's- n-no way!" she yelped.

Tarble chuckled, then beamed at her, "Everything will be fine! You can trust us!"

"Tarble, can you go bring Marin something to eat? I'm sure she's starving," Goten smiled at him.

"Huh? Oh sure!" Tarble bowed his head then left the room, tail lolling out behind him like a furry ribbon.

When he was gone, Goten looked to Marin.

"I know, it's hard to believe he's related to Vegeta and Makoto," he said.

"Hard to believe? He's a little ball of sunshine!" said Marin, then she faced Goten fully, "Goten, this is serious, we can't leave Trunks and Makoto with Cooler!"

Goten let out a long exhale through his nostrils.

"Listen, Marin," he said, "Trunks is going to need time to build what he has planned. So, in the meantime, we need to work on what we set out to do. Collect the Black Star Dragon Balls."

"What?!" Marin cried, "Goten- No! You don't know what Cooler is capable of- he sees all species other than his own as trash! He'll only keep Trunks and Makoto alive long enough to make sure the time machine works, then he'll kill them, and that's after maliciously torturing them!"

"Trunks isn't building a time machine," said Goten, getting up from the chair behind the controls and gripped Marin's shoulders, "C'mon, you know he's smarter than that. He wouldn't hand over his future self to Cooler."

Marin blinked, "Then what is he making?"

Goten grinned wickedly, "You're gonna love this."

*.*.*

"Well?!"

Katima rarely saw Vegeta so angry, at least not in the past few years. She stared as he gripped the one called Bojack's neck relentlessly.

"He can't talk if he can't breathe, Papa," Akita pointed out.

Vegeta shot a glare back at her but then he tossed Bojack to the ground. The alien coughed for a good minute before looking up at Vegeta again. Katima wasn't exactly okay with the fact that despite his situation, Bojack still had a smirk on his face.

"Cooler wants to find the ones responsible for taking out his family, wouldn't you?" Bojack asked, "But all he managed to figure out was that it was a Saiyan that defeated Frieza on Namek. And when Frieza survived and left with his father to get revenge, they vanished, along with the coordinates of where they had landed."

"So he wants Goku."

Katima looked around and blinked in surprise to see Uub land next to Akita. Her daughter looked over at his appearance with a big smile but quickly hid it, passing a nervous glance toward Vegeta.

"Ah, Kakarot's little apprentice," said Vegeta, looking toward him, "Where it is you've been, huh? I thought Kakarot trained you to take his place as Earth's protector. Some protecting you've been doing," he gestured to the ruins of the city behind them.

"I was on the Lookout," said Uub, "I didn't have the luxury of already being in the city the aliens attacked. Forgive me."

Akita looked so nervous that Katima was certain her daughter's head was going to pop as she looked between Uub and Vegeta.

"Whatever," Vegeta scoffed, looking back at Bojack, but then his head snapped around to the alien with the Mohawk who was muttering something into a device on his wrist.

"Hey!" Vegeta instantly rushed forward and gripped the blue-skinned man's wrist, "What is this?!"

But instead of the alien responding, a voice spoke out from the device.

"Prince Vegeta… but it has been a long time…"

Both Vegeta and Rilan seemed to stiffen up. Katima looked between the two, a trickle of nervousness slipping down her spine.

"Cooler," Vegeta growled, "What have you done with my son?"

"Makoto… he calls himself… yes?" the voice replied smoothly, "Don't worry. He's alive. I suppose you could call him my bargaining chip."

"We don't bargain with murdering assholes!" Bulla shouted.

"Bulla! Silence!" Rilan barked at her in a commanding tone, making her flinch and shrink back. He then looked toward the source of the voice, "What do you want Cooler?"

"Are you seriously going to bargain with someone related to Frieza?" whispered Gohan, narrowing his eyes toward Rilan.

"If he defeated Makoto, think about how strong he can be," said Rilan in an equally hushed tone.

"Simple," said Cooler's voice, "I merely ask for revenge. I want the one responsible for killing my father and brother."

Everyone's eyes went to Trunks. He was looking at the device with wariness in his eyes as he swallowed.

"I know he's there…" drawled Cooler, "I thought it was going to be a much more strenuous task to get to him… I have his current timeline's counterpart working on a machine for me as we speak. But… if he's already here, well, that makes my life so much easier."

"Wait, he has Trunks? Our Trunks?" Bulma gasped.

"I had all five of them for a time. I could have killed them all. But, you see what a generous individual I am," said Cooler, "I let the female and the two monkeys go… Or I suppose one was only a half-breed… but the one that calls himself Trunks offered a deal in exchange for the female's life. I, of course, still wanted insurance, so I swapped her place with the little Prince Makoto. And now, I'm offering you an even greater deal. Give me the Trunks that is actually guilty of these heinous crimes, and I'll return the two of them to you."

Katima couldn't help but furrow her brow. Five of them? And he called two of them monkeys, one a half-breed, so that had to be Goten… but who was the other? Was there another full-blooded Saiyan out there?

"No way," Sykaima breathed, grabbing Trunks' arm, "I know what you're thinking but there has to be another way!"

"Dad?" Bardock looked up at Trunks with wide eyes.

Trunks shrugged himself out of Sykaima's grip and strode forward. He reached down and gripped the alien's wrist, pulling the device to his mouth.

"Cooler?" he said.

"So strange, you sound just like him," Cooler mused.

Trunks closed his eyes for a moment. Katima stared on with the others, a feeling of terrible conflict in her heart.

Makoto… this monster had Makoto, her son! And he had their timeline's Trunks. They couldn't let this go unopposed, they had to save them. But giving up this Trunks? The Trunks that helped them against not only the Androids and Cell, but Buu too? He'd come back to this world, even though he didn't have to, just to visit, to check up on things, and whenever there was crisis, he would put his all into defending them.

There was no good way out of this.

"We have no way of getting to you," said Trunks evenly, "They took the only ship this world has capable of travelling so far. You'll have to come to us."

Everyone stared.

"Trunks…?" Sykaima said warily.

"Wait, you're going to bring that maniac here, to Earth?" Videl yelped.

"He will come here eventually," said Trunks coldly, glaring down at the device, "I will not be fooled into thinking he will stop at just me. Am I correct, Cooler?"

"I see that you are just as intelligent as your counterpart," said Cooler evenly, "Earth, you say? Very well. We will make the trade there."

"Why still talk about a trade when you just admitted you weren't going to stop at Trunks?" Pan demanded, her face red with fury.

There was an almost silvery laugh from the device, "I didn't admit anything, girl."

The feed cut.

Vegeta was shaking. He whirled, aiming a hand on the still downed Bojack, "You helped, didn't you?! But how? Makoto couldn't have lost to the likes of you!"

"You heard what they said, Vegeta," said Katima, "They used Marin…"

"Krillin's going to be pissed," sighed Gohan.

"I'm going to use the satellite phone to contact Goten and the others on the ship," said Bulma swiftly.

"But you know that it can't reach that far," said Rilan.

"Then I'll boost its capabilities!" shouted Bulma, "That monster has our son! We have to figure out what's going on!"

"In the meantime," Vegeta began to power a blast in his hand that was still aimed at Bojack, "Time to die."

"Wait!" cried Uub, jumping forward, "Hang on! We can use them! They could very well have information about Cooler we could use to our advantage!"

Vegeta's glare clicked over to Uub, "These two had a hand in my son's capture. You think I'm going to allow them to get away with-"

But before anything else could be said, a massive blast burst forth and collided into the alien with the Mohawk. There was a blinding light and piercing scream, and once it finally faded, there was nothing but ash left.

"Father?" Trunks looked back at Rilan, eyes wide.

"Vegeta's right," said Rilan shortly, stepping forward, already transformed into his second ascension, "These two are responsible for giving our blood into Cooler's hands," there was a ferocious light in the Tygrian's eyes, one that Katima hadn't seen since they were on Namek and he was fighting Frieza, "I will not allow that family to take any more from me. They already destroyed my entire race, they will not take any of the family I have been blessed with, THEY WON'T!"

He looked at Vegeta and nodded, his voice like ice, "Do it."

"Wait!" Uub shouted.

But Vegeta wasn't listening. Katima could tell through the Bond that all he needed were those two words from Rilan. He aimed his hand back at Bojack, who merely smirked up at him.

"Well, so much for the entire northern galaxies to myself," he chuckled, shaking his head, "Should've known…"

Then there was yet another blinding flash of light.

*.*.*

Trunks worked his hands over the machinery with deft movements. It hadn't taken him as long as he initially believed it would to figure out how all of it worked. He was already making the skeleton of the machine, and with the speed from his Tygrian blood, that was already almost complete. Every now and then, he cast his senses below to ensure he could still feel Makoto. His friend's power level never changed, still a mere sliver. Trunks was worried about the fact that he wasn't getting stronger, but relieved it wasn't getting any worse. That tank Cooler had put him in must be keeping him alive, but not healing him. Smart move.

Suddenly, the entire room shook. Trunks let out a gasp of surprise as he fell back onto his ass. He looked around in confusion. What the hell? It felt like an earthquake!

"My apologies."

Trunks turned, getting to his feet carefully as the floor beneath him continued to tremble. Stepping into the room was Cooler, his hands behind his back as he approached, muscular tail lolling behind him lazily.

"What's happening?" Trunks asked, bewildered.

"There's been a slight change of plans," said Cooler calmly, "Forgive me, I never mentioned. This entire complex is also one of my mother ships. It is taking us to a little planet called Earth."

A stab of panic nearly made Trunks fall over again. He tried to keep on a decent poker face as he responded.

"Earth? Why?"

Cooler smirked lightly, "My clever friend, there's no need to pretend you do not recognize the name of your home with me. As for why, it seems that the other Trunks you spoke of is there right now. You didn't tell me he liked making visits…"

"What?" Trunks blurted out, eyes shooting wide open, "He-he's- but-!"

Cooler chuckled softly as he came to a halt before Trunks, smiling down at him as if he were but a mere child, "Yes. I was surprised as well. Bojack and his companion delivered the news a little while ago. And I had the honor of speaking to your future counterpart myself. He is the one who offered the trade. You and the mouthy prince, Makoto, for him."

Trunks clenched his fists. No! This isn't how this was supposed to happen! Cooler going to Earth?! What if he just decided to blow it up?

"However," Cooler looked over the skeleton of a machine that Trunks had built, "I still want you to complete this time machine for me. In case your doppelganger decides to flee back to his own timeline… I want a means to follow him."

Trunks felt a small spark of hope at his words. But he took a step back from Cooler. He knew he couldn't seem eager to keep working on the thing. He had to sell this!

"Why should I?" he demanded, "He's already here, and he would never run-!"

A hand was suddenly around his throat.

Trunks let out a strangled choke as Cooler lifted him off the ground and surveyed him with an icy stare, his rounded head tilting to the side.

"Perhaps you have forgotten who is in control here," he said calmly, "I still have your friend's life in my hands, blue child. One snap of my fingers and the device keeping him alive stops. Another snap, and it can heal him back to perfect condition. Now tell me, Trunks… which would you rather I do?"

Trunks kicked out his legs as his airway was cut off. He couldn't respond vocally. His hands gripped the fist around his neck, but Cooler's grip was unrelenting. He couldn't even make the skin on his fingers budge.

"Right," sighed Cooler, then released him.

Trunks landed on the floor, coughing painfully. He rubbed his neck and looked up at Cooler as the alien leered down at him.

"You will continue on the device," said Cooler, "Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Trunks muttered.

"Good," said Cooler briskly, "I expect it to be done by the time we arrive."

With that, Cooler left the room, leaving Trunks to smirk after him.

*.*.*

Katima leaned on the wall of the main living room in the Capsule Corp building, looking toward her husband with a furrowed brow. Everyone had gathered here, it seemed, and calls had been made to Krillin and 18, as well as some talk about hunting down Tien and Chiaotzu. Uub spoke about talking to Piccolo back on the Lookout as soon as possible. Every fighter had to be aware of the coming storm.

"No, absolutely not."

Katima's head clicked around to see her other-dimension daughter and the future version of Trunks glaring at one another.

"Sykaima, you have to at least bring Bardock back," Trunks said firmly, "It's too dangerous for him here."

"No way!" Bardock shouted, "I want to see this Cooler guy! If he's hunting Saiyans and Tygrians, well he can say hello to my fist!"

"Bardock, enough," Trunks snapped, glaring toward his son.

Surprisingly, Bardock winced a little and folded his arms, looking away.

"You know that we only had enough fuel for the quick trip," said Sykaima, eyes slit upon her husband, "Who knows how long it will take to get more, and by then Bardock could be an adult. Not to mention, there is always the chance I'll show up too late!"

"So you're willing to risk his life for that?" Trunks barked.

"Relax," said Vegeta, shooting a sharp look over at Trunks from here he was seated on the back of the couch, "You do realize how many Saiyans and Tygrians are on this planet now, right? I believe we can more than handle anything Cooler can throw at us. How much stronger than Frieza or their father could he have gotten? He's no Saiyan, he can't boost his strength with each defeat. Nor is he Tygrian, where his powers grow over time."

"Speaking of," said Katima, looking toward Vegeta, "Cooler said something about another full blooded Saiyan. Know anything about that?"

She sensed the reluctance in the Bond from him. Vegeta glanced away from her, mouth twitching.

"Wait, there's been another full blooded Saiyan this entire time and you never told us?" Akita asked, eyes shooting over to her father.

Vegeta let out an irritated sigh, "Look… I thought he was dead."

Katima blinked and looked him over as she shrugged off the wall and approached, "Who is he?"

Vegeta folded his arms, "My little brother. Tarble."

Katima stopped dead in her tracks.

"BROTHER?!" about half of the room yelped at once.

"B-but how do you know it's him?" asked Gohan, "Why would he of all Saiyans have survived the planet being blown up?"

"He didn't survive the planet's destruction, you idiot," Vegeta snapped toward Gohan, "No Saiyan did. He was off world when it happened… my father exiled him when he was a child for being too weak. As a King, he had to make certain his subjects knew how much he valued strength. He already had one strong son, why put up with another that refused to fight?"

"You never mentioned a brother," Katima accused, "Ever! You couldn't have forgotten about him!"

"I told you," Vegeta said with a snarl in his tone as he glared around at all the looks he was receiving, "I thought he was dead. I was certain that Frieza knew where he was sent off, and took care of it. Apparently I was wrong. Perhaps father never told Frieza of Tarble…" a sudden look of understanding crossed his face, and then he clenched his jaw, "I see. So it wasn't because he was weak…"

"You think grandpa sent him off to protect him," said Akita, frowning toward her father.

Vegeta merely glared at his knees.

Katima let out a small huff of irritation. She supposed she shouldn't be too terribly surprised. Vegeta had never once spoken to her about his life from before. At least not in detail. She got snippets of Saiyan history and pride, but he never spoke of his father. His mother. His home. And he especially did not speak of the time he spent in Frieza's army.

She'd seen the shared hatred between Vegeta and Rilan, of how much they had truly detested those times when they killed Bojack and his comrade. Cooler coming into the picture brought up terrible memories for both of them, surely.

"So what's the plan, then?" asked Videl, glancing around at all of them, "Just wait until Cooler shows up then beat the tar out of him?"

"It won't be that simple," said Trunks, "He has Makoto and the me from this timeline… we can't risk their lives."

Katima shot her glare to the ground again. The very idea of someone from Frieza's family having hold of her son made her skin boil hot. She would not allow harm to come to her son, no matter what.

"Bulla?" Katima looked back up to see Rilan frowning over at his daughter, "You look like you want to say something."

Bulla glanced around the room nervously before letting out a sigh and fiddling with the hem of her jacket, "I just… I know it sounds heartless and cruel, especially because my own brother is one of them but… taking this on a tactical level… We can revive both Trunks and Makoto with the Dragon Balls, can't we? Or wish them here!"

"Wishing them here is out of the question," muttered Katima, a sudden flood of guilt hitting her, "I just recently used the Dragon Balls… they won't be able to be used again for another year."

"Then we can wish them back to life if Cooler kills them," said Bulla, looking up at her father warily.

"It isn't that simple," Vegeta snapped, his black eyes narrowing in her direction, "Cooler may not know we have the ability to bring people back from the dead, but he would not be merciful to them. He'd kill them slowly. Do things to them you can't imagine. Coming back from the dead or not, they will be scarred in places you cannot see. Do not underestimate the cruelty of Frieza's family."

Bulla's cheeks turned red and she bowed her head, "It was just a suggestion."

"While I'll agree wishing them back should be our last resort, she has a point," said Uub from where he stood by the window, "Bringing this Cooler here is dangerous. How many innocent people could he kill while we're trying to fight him? What's to stop him from just destroying the planet?"

"Cooler is like his brother, and his father, no matter what he says," said Vegeta flatly, "He thirsts for revenge, and he will want to carry it out himself. And slowly," he glanced toward Trunks, "A mere planet obliteration tactic would be too good for the one responsible for his family's death."

Trunks folded his arms, "I am the reason he's targeted your son, and myself from this time… It's my responsibility to take care of things."

"Well you're not doing it by yourself," snapped Sykaima, "And I think I speak for everyone here when I say that."

"She's right," said Katima instantly, "There's no point in sending Sykaima and your son away. From what I've seen, little Bardock is quite the fighter," she grinned down at her other-worldly grandson, "We never stopped Gohan or Makoto or any of the kids from fighting to defend the planet when they were his age. And younger."

"That's because they didn't have another place to go back to," said Trunks, "This is their home. Bardock's home is-"

"Where you are!" Bardock shouted, stepping toward his father with glaring eyes, "And where mom is! You're not sending me away Dad!"

Trunks sighed heavily.

"Being a Dad isn't easy, especially with such strong willed kids," said Gohan, casting a small smile toward his own daughter, Pan.

"Still can't believe ol' cousin Gohan got married and has a kid," Sykaima laughed, following his gaze.

"This means I can fight too, right?" Pan demanded, "I've been training just as hard as anyone!"

Videl looked like she was going to argue for a moment, but then she sighed and shook her head, "Who am I kidding… I want to help too."

"Count me in."

"Mister Piccolo," Gohan grinned over as the Namekian stepped into the room, "Fighting days aren't done after all, huh?"

"Not when the entire world is at stake. Twice over," said Piccolo.

"We need to discuss some kind of plan," said Vegeta, "I'm certain Cooler isn't going to make it as simple as a trade."

"How's Bulma's work on that satellite phone?" Katima asked, looking to Rilan.

He shrugged, "When she's determined she can fix up a machine in no time flat, but she's also a little panicked. Trunks is in Cooler's hands, after all."

"Cooler won't kill them," said Vegeta, "He must know he stands no chance against all of us."

"All the same, we need to train," said Rilan, "If he beat them…"

"He used Marin to win," said Bulla, "Remember? So maybe he isn't strong enough to beat the boys."

"But strong enough to subdue Makoto," Akita pointed out softly.

"Videl, can you call your Dad? We might need Buu for this too," said Gohan, looking toward his wife.

She gave him a firm nod.

"So no strategy?" said Vegeta, eyes flicking between each of them, "We just train and all rush in at once when he arrives, is that it?"

"Since when were you against just running in head first, Dad?" asked Sykaima, "My, you have changed since we last spoke."

Vegeta looked away from her, "Cooler is different than the other enemies we have faced. He is cunning. More so than his brother or father. He will not fall for goading or simple minded tricks. We need to think this through."

"Well, it's going to take him a while to get here," said Katima, walking to her husband's side and gripping his arm, "Training in the meantime won't hurt."

Vegeta sighed and then nodded stiffly. She could feel the turmoil coming from him. Having his son held hostage by the very family that killed his home and father, well… this wasn't easy. And she could tell he wanted nothing more than to jump into a space pod and fly out there to find Cooler and rip his throat out. But he was forced to be patient. Forced to remain here and prepare.

"Very well," he said evenly, "Let's begin."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:::

SAY WHAAAT RED UPDATED THE BOND!

I know. I KNOW. It's been a long time, and I said I was going to pay more attention to this baby, but… novel! NOVEL GUYS! IT'S NEEDS EDITING AND STUFF! Plus I did NOT expect Her Warrior to get such a huge following and it kind of requires more attention plzdontkillmekaythnx*dies* . But anyway. I still want to finish this sucker, granted it still has a long ways to go… I'm glad all of you like my version of GT so much. But there's just so much I wanna do with it, and now that Battle of the Gods came out I wanna do stuff with that too and just omgsomuchwritingimgonnadieagain.

In any case, I hope you guys liked this update, though it wasn't really very action-y but hey! More story stuff! Foreshadowing! Holy shit what is everyone going to do about Cooler coming to Earth?!

Thanks as always for the reads, the reviews, the follows and the favs! For those who have been diligently following my oldest and first story on this site, I love you guys so stinkin' much, you believed in me when I was just a baby in my writing skills! Now I'm an adolescent XD

-Red