People crowded around Gine and Kakarot on the beach in front of Kame House, their collective voices raised in a thousand questions. Kakarot was trying to answer them all at once, but his explanations, as usual, only left them more confused. Gine sought out Grandpa Gohan's comforting, wrinkled face, and the noise fell away as it became clear his questions were the only ones she was going to answer.

"Who was that just now?" Gohan asked. Gine felt her whole body constrict as she fought the tears that sprang up at the very thought. Kakarot answered for her.

"That was my bro," he said proudly. His words caused another burst of noise from the assembled crowd.

"Your what?"

"Was he a Saiyan?"

"Where did he go?"

"What was he doing here?"

"You have a brother?" Krillin said in astonishment. He turned and looked at Gine, and she dashed away her tears. This was not the time for sentimentality.

"Yes, and he brought news," she said. She looked at Gohan as she spoke. "We are not the only Saiyans left."

"That's great!" Yamcha exclaimed. "How many survivors are there?"

"He only mentioned the two," Gine said, her blood turning cold as she realized there might be more; Raditz hadn't made it clear. "And it's not great. It's terrible."

There was a pause as everyone's tentative smiles began fading.

"I would have thought you'd be happy more of you survived," Roshi said, puzzled. Gine shook her head slowly.

"Not these two. Nappa— I think I remember that name. Raditz said he's an elite, and if he's who I'm thinking of he's the Prince's right hand man. He'll do anything he says."

"A prince?" Bulma said with interest, and Gine gave her a sharp look.

"He's no knight in shining armor, Bulma. He and his line were the most vicious, powerful Saiyans of all, which was why they were in charge."

"Is he coming here?" Krillin asked, face white. Gine's tail lashed behind her in sharp, jerky motions.

"I don't know," she said, beginning to pace. "Raditz was going to fake his own death but I don't know if that will be enough to draw them away. When the royal family wants something they get it, and the Prince won't be happy about being defied like that."

"But what does he want?" Tien asked, and Gine looked at her son.

"Kakarot," she said, and Kakarot regarded her solemnly. He looked more like his father when he wasn't smiling. She hadn't thought of Bardock in years, and she didn't want to be thinking of him now. "And me, probably, now that they know I'm here."

"What would they want Kakarot for?" Yamcha scoffed.

"To help them do their dirty work," Gine said, feeling her fists clench of their own accord.

"Well, we can just tell them no thank you," Krillin said. "And if they get rude, Kakarot can show them the door. Although it does seem like a shame your own brother has to run away from these guys. I would've liked to meet him."

Gine stared at Krillin, his little hands on his hips in a cocky stance as he looked up at Kakarot in perfect faith. Somehow she had forgotten that none of them understood how weak she was. Again her eyes found Gohan's, which were calm. He was waiting for her.

"That isn't going to work, Krillin," she said. He only looked puzzled, still secure in his faith in them. Gine breathed in deep and then let it out slowly. "I know all of you think I'm strong, but the truth is I'm the weakest of my kind. If those two Saiyans really are coming here, then we don't stand a chance."

"Come on," Yamcha scoffed uneasily. "You're joking, right? You and Kakarot are crazy strong. You even trained with Kami. What do these guys have on you?"

It was no use. They all thought too much of her. Gine looked one by one at all the faces around her- Yamcha, Puar, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu. Launch and Bulma and Grandpa Gohan. Roshi and Oolong and Turtle. Even Kakarot and Little Gohan- they were all looking at her with hope in their eyes, and she couldn't bear it.

"Why won't you get it through your thick heads?" she shouted, startling them all. "If those two make planetfall we are dead. And we don't even know if they're coming or not."

"We can ask Kami about that," Kakarot piped up, looking at her over Little Gohan's head. "He'll know."

Gine began to argue, but found she had no argument to make. Why wouldn't Kami be able to tell if two aliens across the galaxy had murderous intent towards the Earth? It would hardly be the strangest thing she'd ever seen.

"Fine," she said. "We'll go ask him."

The truth was, she admitted to herself as Kakarot handed Gohan to Krillin and they flew away, she was hoping Kami would tell them she was worried over nothing. That Raditz's plan would work, that Nappa and Vegeta had no interest in Kakarot or herself, that they were safe. But when the old Namekian's eyes opened after contemplating the matter for some minutes, she knew that was not what he was going to tell her.

"There are two powerful energies headed for Earth as we speak," he said gravely. "At their current speed I estimate it will take them a year to get here. And they aren't just powerful: they mean the people of Earth great harm. I'm afraid you are right, Gine."

"All right," Kakarot said eagerly. "When do we start training?"

Kami regarded him with a sad smile.

"You aren't. I have nothing left to teach you."

Gine felt her throat constrict. "What do you mean?"

"You are both far beyond my power now. I have passed on what wisdom I have, and it is up to you to act on it. There is nothing more I can do for you. I'm sorry."

And he really looked it. But, despite more arguing from Kakarot, that was the last word on the subject. Gine and Kakarot descended from the Lookout in grim silence. At first she thought he'd finally come to understand the threat, but halfway there he broke the silence to say,

"Welp, looks like we've got to train on our own."

And of course he sounded excited about it. Gine nearly clobbered him right there in midair, but she made a heroic effort and refrained. When they arrived back at Kame House and relayed the news, everyone went solemn, but still retained the same optimism as Kakarot. It was infuriating, and after a few half-hearted attempts by Krillin and Bulma to come up with a plan that didn't involve relying on Kakarot and Gine to save the day, she stood and addressed Tien.

"I believe you've been wanting to have a match with me."

Tien blinked all three eyes at her, his eagerness warring with his practicality.

"I, ah, that is, yes, but this hardly seems like the time."

Gine craned her neck to the side, cracking it, then tilted it over to the other side.

"On the contrary," she said. "This is the perfect time."

To his credit Tien held his ground.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we have more important things to worry about right now."

Gine gave him a plastic smile. "Trust me, this will only take a second."

Tien didn't have an ounce of bluster in him, but even he would not allow a jab at his pride like that to stand. His face darkened, and he stood.

The two of them went outside, facing each other on the beach, and Gine could feel Tien using all his faculties to feel her out. He was looking for openings, gaps in her stance or her attention to exploit, and she dropped her guard entirely, not only to deliberately give him an opening, but also to teach him a lesson about facing opponents who were inferior in skill but overwhelming in power. To someone like Tien, used to fighting opponents who had spent years honing their skills under the tutelage of a master, Prince Vegeta would not read like a skillful opponent. That apparent lack of skill would cause him to rush in, as he was doing now, and get a nasty surprise, as Gine was about to give him. At least Gine's surprise wouldn't cost him his life.

Tien blew past the place where Gine's defenses should have been, his fingers extended and aiming at chakra points. He jabbed her solar plexus, throat, and forehead several times in quick succession, then danced behind her and elbowed her in the small of her back. All to no avail. She stood, not yielding even an inch, arms lightly folded across her stomach as though she were waiting in line at the grocery store. When he appeared in front of her, breathing hard with exertion, his eyes were wide in astonishment.

"M-my attacks did nothing?"

She regarded him calmly. "Would you like to try again?"

He growled and dashed forward, even faster this time, hitting joints and soft spots, pelting her with blows that had every ounce of his strength in them— with exactly the same result. Gine smoothed the front of her dress where some of his hits had wrinkled the fabric, and then glanced up at him, sighing. He was starting to understand. Now to drive the point home.

With a growl that began deep in her chest, Gine called on the reserves of energy swirling in her core, pulling them up and amplifying them. Like a geyser, the power rose in time with her increasing yell, shooting up and out until the wind was blowing at hurricane speeds around her. The ground shook, and the laconic ocean waves grew erratic and agitated. Tien was driven to his knees, one arm thrown over his eyes as sand whipped everywhere. When her power had reached its full height, Gine let it drop, everything falling to eerie silence after the furious noise of wind and water and earth being whipped into unnatural frenzy.

Tien wasted no time being overawed, and as soon as the pressure of her energy let up, he burst to his feet, ready to resume his attack. He lunged at her again, fist clenched and aiming to kill. At least he'd understood that much. But with one hand she grabbed his fist and twisted it 180 degrees, taking him along with it. Tien slammed into the sand on his back, gasping painfully as the wind was knocked out of him. Gine stood over him, balancing her foot lightly but insistently on his neck. After a moment, Tien lay back in the sand, defeated.

"When I came here I was the weakest Saiyan that had ever lived," she told him, knowing that everyone else had crept out onto the porch and was listening. "Even now my power would make me a solid low-class Saiyan, good for nothing more than routine dirty work. The Saiyans coming here are ten times more powerful than this. Do I make myself clear?"

She removed her foot, ready to help Tien up. But she had not made herself clear, it seemed, because as soon as she extended her hand he grabbed it, obviously intending to pull her off-balance and continue the fight. Faster than Tien could probably see, she twisted in midair and brought her elbow down on his stomach. Tien's eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth gaped wide, spittle flying as he wheezed a painful breath. Launch flung herself off the porch and slid to a stop next to him, cradling his head and calling his name, but he was already unconscious.

"Ya didn't have to go that far!" she shouted up at Gine, who was brushing sand from her dress.

"The Saiyans coming here are ten times more powerful than me," she repeated, her voice calm but her mind in turmoil. She wanted to make them understand, but what favor was she really doing them? Knowing what was coming, instead of it being a surprise— was that kindness? "But they are a million times more cruel. Saiyans have no concept of honor or mercy. They—" Her voice broke, but she forced herself to go on. "They slaughtered entire worlds for profit and fun. Every Saiyan I knew had the blood of billions of beings on their hands. And they were proud of it. That is what's coming here. That is what we have to face. Now do you understand?!"

No one answered her. She couldn't stand to look at them, all shuffling in place and silent, so when Kakarot spoke, it came as a surprise.

"You—" He looked confused, hurt. "You said Saiyans were warriors." His tone was accusatory, pleading, asking her to take it back, deny it, let the world be as it had been before. She had never told him, she realized. Grandpa Gohan had known, but somehow it had never come up around Kakarot. She had never told him much about her people, and he had rarely asked. But somehow she had expected that one basic truth— that Saiyans were bloodthirsty brutes— to be transmitted anyway.

And it hadn't.

"Warriors, yes," she said. "But not good. Not kind. Not a single one of them."

His harrowed expression was a weight on her heart. She hadn't meant to deceive him. She just hadn't wanted to remember.

Tien groaned at her feet, and she stepped away from him, glad to have somewhere else to look. Before she could do anything else, however, she heard Kami's voice speaking in her head.

Greetings. Can you hear me?

The shocked reaction of the crowd on the beach told Gine she wasn't the only one he was speaking to. Aloud, she answered.

"Yes, we hear you Kami. What is it?"

I've been speaking with my superiors and I believe I may have a way to help you after all.

"God has superiors?" Gine heard Bulma mutter in amazement. Kami went on.

There is a martial arts master in Otherworld who is familiar with Saiyans and the threat they pose. He has agreed to give special dispensation for one mortal to train with him.

Gine's mind raced, hope blooming in her chest for the first time since Raditz had given them the news. She heard Roshi saying,

"Who is this master? Is he someone we know?"

No, Kami answered. He is the Lord of Worlds, known as King Kai, and he has agreed to help us face this threat. Whichever person you choose to receive the training will need to come to me, and quickly. We do not have much time, and the way to King Kai is long and arduous. The Lord of the Dead has agreed to allow a living mortal to pass into his realm, but he is not patient, and he may overturn his decision if he is kept waiting.

"The Lord of the Dead!" Bulma cried in horror.

"So whoever does the training's gotta die?!" Oolong squealed.

"He said a living mortal, dumbass," Launch snapped.

"Which one of us should it be?" Kakarot asked, and everyone turned to him, dumbfounded.

"I think that much is obvious," Tien croaked, getting laboriously to his feet. He waved off Launch's attentions and stood gingerly. "You're the one to go, Kakarot."

"Me?" Kakarot repeated dumbly. "But what about you, ma? Don't you wanna go?" He turned to her, his earlier dismay seemingly forgotten. She smiled, despite everything, and shook her head.

"I don't. It really should be you, son."

His frown did not lift.

"But I wanted to train with you," he said forlornly. Gine cupped her son's cheek in one hand, memorizing his face as she realized she wouldn't be seeing it again for a year.

"You need to be ready to protect your home, Kakarot," she said. "Besides, I'll be training the others while you're gone."

The fighters in the group blossomed at this, their hope rising higher than Gine's. She was less certain of their doom than she had been a minute ago, but the thought of coming face to face with the Prince left her cold with dread.

Kakarot was still hesitating, and she pushed him gently away.

"Go," she said. He took a long look at her, slowly handed her Little Gohan, and then hugged her, swiftly but tightly. Then he was gone, and the beach, though still crowded, felt empty.