Author's Note: So I'm moving on with the story to its first major arc. The next couple of chapters will allow for some downtime for the heroes while a situation develops.

And before anyone asks, yes, all of the characters I've used in this chapter and the next one are all taken from the Dragonball Z universe. No OCs, unlike before. I plan on starting out fresh with my own spin on events.

Dragonball Z

Golden Age

Looming Evil

(A few weeks later)

(Mount Paozu)

The events that'd transpired during the privately sponsored Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament proved to the Z-fighters that even with Cell gone, there were far more dangers and threats out there that they didn't know about. The universe after all was vast in size and seemingly infinite in scope, hiding all sorts of monsters and surprises behind every planet and star. When thinking back on their most death-defying space adventures, Frieza and King Cold's branch of the Planet Trade Organization had just been the tip of a much bigger iceberg- the realization of which being a pretty big pill for all of the earth's defenders to swallow.

This of course begged the question- how many more Bojacks were out there, flying around the universe and causing havoc?

How many more alien civilizations and empires with advanced technologies and magic were currently dwelling amongst the stars?

Were there any more aliens with incredible powers living in the far reaches of the cosmos? And if so, what kinds?

And were there any evil forces out there that had Earth as their target?

So many questions with very few answers started bombarding the members of the group from all directions- most notably the planet's newest and youngest defender, Son Gohan.

As if some sort of switch inside of him had been flipped, the events of the Intergalactic Tournament showed the young Saiyan that even in the absence of his father, there were still many other potential villains out there waiting to take the place of the ones that came before them. It wasn't just the people and the entire planet that they wanted to harm either, but Gohan and his friends specifically. The androids and Bojack's arrival were a clear indication of this intent.

It gave Gohan a greater incentive to keep his wits about him, as well as step up his training in preparation of the next threat. Whether it was a giant meteorite on a collision course with the Earth or another monster born somewhere on the planet itself, the youngster wanted to make sure that he was as ready as he could be to face them.

This in turn led to today.

For what was to be the third week in a row, Gohan could be found standing in the middle of an open field with a look of absolute concentration, and the index and middle fingers of his right hand pressed firmly against his forehead. Assumed in the reduced state of his mastered Super Saiyan form and adorned in a dark blue/purple gi that was the exact same design as his mentor Piccolo's, the child was also showing signs of various bruises and smudges on his person- a clear indication that he'd already been through many hours of intense training.

All of the technique and physical work he'd had to endure thus far had resulted in a very fulfilling morning for the hybrid. Not only had it allowed him to touch up on some of his skills, but it'd also helped him to work some much needed stress off of his shoulders. Of course, after all of the hard yards had been done away with, the young half-Saiyan had now resigned himself to a more meticulous form of exercise.

Out of all the skills and techniques he'd studied and practiced in the past, it was this move that was proving to be the most difficult for him to learn. Yet it was one he was determined to master.

"Concentrate. Focus on nothing but the energies around you," Gohan thought, his expression twisting as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his head. "Let each spirit you sense be a marker to guide you across the space like a map." His eye twitched when his head became filled with hundreds and thousands of blips, all of them registering at the same intensity. "But… there's too many signatures. I can sense the entire planet just fine, but I can't transport myself with so many people in the way. It just won't work. Darn it. Maybe I'm doing something wrong…" He then clenched his teeth tightly. "What am I missing? What am I missing?"

Since the crack of dawn the child had been standing in the one spot, focusing on the horizon with his mind while tuning out everything else that was irrelevant. It was like being in a state torn between meditation and problem solving. This meant that while he seemed entirely shut off from the rest of the world, he was still one hundred percent aware of the fact that he was being watched.

Observing from a tree on a distant hill, the distinct, orange-haired form of Zangya could be seen keeping a close eye on the child. With her back against the trunk and one foot propped up against its side as well so that her knee stuck out, the woman was doing everything she could to make herself appear as invisible as possible. Of course, even if she wanted to make her energy completely disappear, her striking appearance made it quite tough for her to blend into her environment.

Dressed in a new dark grey tube top that exposed her taut midriff, white vest with golden trim, black spandex pants held up by a red obi, black arm sleeves, her signature golden boots, and her comrade Gokuha's tri-guarded saber sheathed in a scabbard at her side- the woman kept her blue eyes trained squarely on the young Saiyan as he remained situated in the center of the valley.

His current stance and statue-like state puzzled Zangya somewhat. Though she was quite aware of what the youngster was aiming to accomplish through his style of training- practicing his martial arts, shadow sparring with ridiculously heavy weights, focusing his power, and firing energy blasts into himself- the exercise that he was doing now that required him to stand in one spot for hours on end without moving had her at a complete loss.

It'd already been one and a half hours since he'd started this portion of his training for the day and once again the kid wasn't moving an inch. The Hera tilted her head, thinking that maybe the hero was in some sort of standby mode, which he was using to recharge his batteries. Though it didn't seem like that farfetched of an idea, the woman didn't think it was in Gohan's nature to get tired after only what she'd come to know as a regular morning training session for him.

"Gohan. Such a strange kid," Zangya thought, cocking an eyebrow as she moved her head the other way, as if trying to analyze the boy from a new angle. "How can someone be so brave, strong, and driven one moment… yet be so gentle, down-to-earth and compassionate the next? Seriously. What makes a boy like him tick?" She then narrowed her eyes further as the enigma that was the youngster continued to do tumble-turns in her brain. "What secrets is he hiding?"

It was quite a baffling mystery. Even after everything she'd seen and experienced, this was something that the warrior woman just couldn't figure out.

While she was standing under the shade, putting her mind to work, and keeping her eyes glued on the field at the same time, Zangya wound up becoming so absorbed in her contemplation that she didn't notice the presence that suddenly dropped down directly behind her. It wasn't until they spoke that the Hera was aware she had company.

"I see you've taken up stalking as your latest pastime now."

The gruff voice voicing up over Zangya's shoulder nearly made the Hera jump out of her skin in alarm- with the female warrior's eyes snapping over her shoulder to see who was suddenly addressing her. Almost immediately she spotted the caped form of Piccolo standing on the lawn beside her tree- his arms crossed and a mean glare fixed squarely on her person.

After swallowing her heart back into her chest, the blue-skinned beauty gave a short sigh. "Oh. It's just you, green man." When she saw the Namekian cock a brow at her nickname for him, Zangya smiled gently. "Geez. Keeping your energy suppressed? You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Hmph. Next time keep your wits about you instead of staring off into space," Piccolo replied while moving forward and coming to stand alongside her. "Maybe then you won't get snuck up on so easily."

Zangya chuckled as she looked back towards the youngster she'd previously been watching. "I'll be sure to remember that." With her attention set back on the valley below the hill, the orange-haired warrior smirked. "Although… since I have you shadowing me almost every single day, I don't think I have to worry about being ambushed by some prick wanting to pick a fight."

"Don't get complacent," the former guardian of Earth replied while tapping his arm impatiently. "I'm only keeping an eye on you to make sure you don't cause any problems for the others. I'm not your friend or your bodyguard."

The woman chuckled under her breath, "You still don't trust me yet, do you?"

"No," Piccolo answered in a flat and unamused voice. "It's not in my nature to trust people solely on their words or because they did one good deed. If you haven't noticed already, I'm not as slack or easygoing as Gohan and his family." Though a big case could strongly be argued against the mother of the Son household. That woman would be hostile towards you until you proved your worth and value as a contributing member of society or to her.

Zangya snickered when she heard the Namekian's statement, "I noticed." Following that brief exchange, the pair focused their attention squarely on the boy in the middle of the field.

"So… he's at it again, huh?" Piccolo asked, his tone sounding slightly amused at the situation being an exact repeat of what it was the night before.

"Yeah. I would say this was the… forty-second time in a row I've seen him do this," Zangya replied. After a couple of minutes passed in which nothing even remotely interesting happened, the Hera-seijin frowned. "What is he trying to do, exactly?"

Piccolo narrowed his eyes a little, scrutinizing his student. Upon getting a feel of the state of his energy, the green warrior dropped his head thoughtfully. "I have a hunch. Let's see how this plays out. Raise your energy level a bit."

The orange haired fighter looked up at the Namekian in confusion. "Huh? Why?"

"Just do it," the man replied, his body tensing momentarily as a blue mist slowly started to waft off of him, indicating his ki levels were starting to rise.

Not really knowing what he was trying to do, Zangya shrugged and did the same thing. Instead of a blue mist, a green mist started to rise off of her as she subtly tapped into her well of energy, flexing it in the usual manner. Though from where the pair were standing, this moment of concentration didn't amount to anything. However, on Gohan's end, as he was in the midst of his meditation session, the boy almost immediately picked up the ping on his radar. This in turn caused his eyes to widen and fingers to drop slightly.

"Piccolo? Zangya?" Eyes blinking when he sensed the presences intensify behind him, the boy then smiled and set his fingers to his forehead again. "Wait… I remember now!" Closing his eyes he then took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Okay. Just like dad told you. Clear your mind. Focus on a single presence. Keep the world small. Fold the space. Concentrate your energy, ease it through a point the size of a pinhole…" At that moment, his form started to shimmer and flicker on the spot- until… "…and then… throw yourself at it!" He vanished.

Piccolo and Zangya blinked when they saw the kid's body disappear from the field, leaving only a tiny puff of dust hanging in the air. Before the pair could start looking around to see where he'd gone, the Hera suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder, which caused the young girl to shriek and spin around, along with her Namekian bodyguard- minus the screech. There, standing directly behind the two audience members, they saw a grinning Gohan looking back at them triumphantly.

"Yo," the demi-Saiyan chirped with a wave. "I finally did it."

Clenching her teeth, Zangya- her hair bristling like a chicken's feathers- barked at him, "Damn it! What's with you guys sneaking up on me today? Are you trying to make it a thing?" She then calmed down a moment later and gave the boy a confused look. "Wait… how did you get behind me? I thought you disappeared."

Piccolo, appearing somewhat shocked, then cracked a smile. "You managed to reverse-engineer your father's Instant Transmission technique."

While Gohan nodded excitedly, the startled Hera looked from the youngster to the caped warrior standing beside her. "Instant Transmission? What's that?"

Keeping his arms folded, the green warrior turned around to face his student while proceeding to explain to the woman what it was. "It's a form of teleportation. When executed correctly, it can allow the user to travel anywhere in the world and across the universe instantaneously." Noticing the amazed look that came over Zangya's face had Piccolo smirk in amusement. "His father learned the skill when he crash-landed on a far-off planet called Yardrat after his battle with Frieza on Namek."

Hearing this had Zangya turn to Gohan and stare at the grinning Super Saiyan incredulously. "Wow. That's… actually quite impressive." And just when she thought the boy couldn't get any more ridiculous. Now he'd managed to add teleportation to his list of skills.

The demi-Saiyan chuckled while reaching up to rub the top of his head. "Yeah. My dad taught me the mechanics of the technique while we were training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber together. I figured-" At that moment, Gohan suddenly stopped short- his eyes widening and causing Piccolo and Zangya to balk at his sudden facial expression. "Uh-oh. This isn't going to taste good…"

At first confused by the child's remark, the two alien warriors then realized why the Saiyan had paused when- after seeing his face turn blue- the young hero spun around, bent over, and threw up. Seeing him puke whatever was left of his dinner from last night had the pair of warriors cringe, with Zangya looking up while the Namekian relaxed after seeing Gohan raise his hand and wave weakly back at them.

"It's alright. *cough* I'm okay… I'm okay… ugh…"

Zangya, realizing what must've happened, grinned in amusement at the kid's back when he slowly pushed himself back up. "Slip-space turbulence?" When she saw Gohan nod, the woman snickered. "Yeah. I heard that can be a real bitch for teleporters."

"Must be because this is your first time using the technique for yourself," Piccolo remarked, making an educated guess as to why the kid was now chucking his guts out.

Wiping his mouth clean, the child then straightened up, took a deep breath, and turned back around to face his friends. He then grinned as if nothing had happened. "I learned how to track my dad while we were sparring and playing tag, since he would often use Instant Transmission against me whenever he was losing. And… well… after seeing him use it in his fight against Cell and then seeing Cell copy it after he regenerated following his self-destruct technique… I figured it was about time I learned how to do it too."

He couldn't just let his father's and, by extension, his arch-nemesis be the only one to master it. So, using nothing but his wits and his penchant for problem solving, Gohan had managed to pull it off too- albeit with a little more difficulty than he was expecting. Unlike the Masenko and Kamehameha, the ability to leap across space and time wasn't an easy trick to figure out.

"Neat," Zangya commented, at the same time propping her hands on her hips. "Maybe I should learn how to use that technique too. Could be useful in a pinch."

Piccolo glanced down at her and frowned. "It's not as straightforward as you think it is. According to Goku, he spent an entire year on the planet he was stranded on trying to master its basic form. If we were to factor in Gohan's talent and the months he spent working on it in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber- as well as the last several weeks out here- I'm guessing it probably took him about the same amount of time." He then quickly looked back at the boy, who by this point had managed to shake off some of the queasiness. "Am I right?"

The demi-Saiyan gave a weak nod in response. "Yeah." After burping into his hand following his impromptu expectoration, Gohan then beat his fist against his chest before smiling broadly. "And I finally got it!"

Zangya, smiling at the youngster's excitement over his triumph, then tilted her head towards him. "So what's the plan now? Are you going to use the rest of the morning polishing up the technique so that you can use it more freely?"

Gohan shook his head in a resolute manner. "I've had enough training for today. I'll do that later in my afternoon session. Right now I'm going to head home to have a shower, eat some breakfast, and then fly over to Videl's place to hang out and play." He grinned brightly at the end. "I promised I'd give her another basic energy control lesson today."

It was then an understanding look came over the Hera's cheerful. "Ah, yes. Your new human friend from the island tournament. You've dropped by her place quite a few times over the last few weeks," the orange-haired warrior replied, recounting all the days she'd seen the hybrid fly off in the mornings to Orange City to visit his abovementioned companion. Watching the kid's eyes practically glow in anticipation for his upcoming plans, Zangya then put on a warm smile of her own and cocked her head. "You know, I haven't seen much of what this planet has to offer yet and, to be honest, I'm actually quite curious as to what human civilization is like compared to all the other planets across the quadrant. Do you… mind if I tag along?"

Hearing the young Hera ask him this question had Gohan pause for a few moments, as it was clear he wasn't expecting Zangya to make such a request right out the gate. Even Piccolo appeared quite taken aback. However, after a moment of meditation, the demi-Saiyan allowed his signature grin to come back into play. "Yeah. Sure. Of course you can come." When he saw Zangya's own expression light up, the youngster glanced across at his mentor and best friend of many years. "What about you, Piccolo-san? Want to join us?"

Glancing between his student's hopeful expression and towards Zangya when she glanced in his general direction, the Namekian's frown deepened before a sigh left his lips. "Sure. Why not?"

Gohan felt his spirit give a little hop of joy as he then chirped his response. "Awesome." He then stepped back and promptly placed his index and middle finger against his forehead. When both Piccolo and Zangya saw him do this, they immediately realized what he was going to do, and so proceeded to watch as the boy turned in the direction of his home, which lay just several hills and forest patches away. "Okay… so… mum's energy signature is… there…" Face changing, the boy's body flickered before vanishing with a zap.

A split second later, a loud bang rang out that had Piccolo and Zangya look across the valley to see one of the hillsides explode in a cloud of dust. At first appearing surprised, when they saw the plume fade seconds later, they quickly spotted the trench and crater lying atop of it.

Out of concern, the pair of them leapt into the air, arced over the land, and touched down on the hill. When the pair then looked into the crater, they saw Gohan's legs comically sticking out of the ground- his feet twitching and top half submerged in the dirt.

The sight of the boy's state caused Zangya to snort and snicker when she attempted to hold back a laugh, which was made even more difficult when she heard the boy's pained groan reverberate from the soil. When the orange-haired Hera doubled over and began to laugh into her sleeve, Piccolo also felt a smile of his own tug at his lips.

"Maybe you should stick to flying for the time being, kid," the Namekian said, ignoring the fact that Zangya's cackles were filling the air. "You know… until you've gotten used to the move."

Hearing his mentor through the earth, Gohan groaned back in response. "Y-Yeah… I… think I'll do that…"

Zangya meanwhile, wiping away a tear, grinned down at the child's hapless state. "You know, in hindsight, I'm so glad I'm here right now."

XXX

(Meanwhile, 17 Years in the Future)

(Mirai Trunks's Timeline)

With the destruction of Android 17 and 18 at the hands of the last remaining, active Z-fighter, as well as the defeat of the bio-mechanical abomination known as Cell, a period of long overdue peace had once again been restored to the exhausted Earth. Now that mankind no longer had anything to fear from monsters and cyborgs ravaging their cities and slaughtering their families, the remaining communities across the globe could finally relax and begin rebuilding. Though times were clearly going to be tough for the survivors moving forward, as long as they had hope and a future over the horizon, then they had a chance.

However, around this delicate time, as memorials and monuments on Earth were slowly being erected amongst the various cities being repaired in the wake of the robotic nightmares, far on the other side of the local galaxy cluster in the northern quadrant, another chain of events was slowly beginning to unravel.

The years of terror that'd plagued humanity in the last decade fortunately had no bearing on the universe beyond the Earth's borders. In fact, with the Cold and Frieza Forces eradicated, there was practically no one left to pick up the pieces. Whatever remnants of the Frieza Force that managed to survive the final battles of Frieza's family on Namek and on the blue planet in the Milky Way had scattered themselves across the cosmos in an attempt to evade arrest by the Galactic Patrol- who had become adamant in taking down and dismantling the last of the empire.

Forces under the once defeated and weakened galactic kingdom gradually began retaking and recolonizing systems once occupied by Frieza and his family. Planets that'd been enslaved or decimated were slowly liberated one by one, and commerce between previously hostile or closed-off systems had begun anew, allowing new waves of supplies and emergency personnel to begin mending the bleeds in various civilizations. The leaders under the great king made moves to rekindle alliances previously lost over the last thousand or so years, as well as repair the damages made by the clan of frost demons.

This resurgence of activity in the cosmos meant that members of the Galactic Patrol were slowly becoming a very well-felt presence across the quadrants. However, for those sectors and areas that'd remained occupied by the universal enforcers throughout the dark eras of the last couple of centuries, very little had happened or changed.

On a far-off asteroid, somewhere on the edge of the northern quadrant, there floated a large asteroid field made up of multiple, tumbling rocks of various shapes and sizes. In this deadly field of space debris, there were objects about as big as baseballs and some about the size of small moons. It was in the very center of this perilous area of space where the largest of the asteroids sat in the center, creating a gravity field that kept the rest of the debris in orbit of it.

Down on the surface of these massive brown rock drifting through space, there sat a single, dome-shaped building. With only a handful of windows being visible on the building, as well as the black insignia of the Galactic Patrol painted on its roof, this seemingly insignificant and forgotten facility actually served a very important purpose. This much was clear from the two pairs of tall, muscular, and very intimidating looking Galactic Patrol officers standing guard over the door outside with white blaster rifles in hand.

Inside the main control room monitoring the system and the facilities for any peculiar anomalies, a pair of smaller, alien patrolmen were currently working the two control panels in the center of the chamber. Seated in two office chairs with their backs to each other, the two figures consisted of a humanoid patrolman with black hair, black spandex and purple Galactic Patrol armor, while the other was an alien of Jaco's race, who was wearing yellow spandex and white armor, as well as a large helmet with a purple facial visor that was pushed up.

As the pair typed away the reports for that quarter, as well as double-checking the power planet that was generating important- life-preserving electricity for their station, the small, humanoid patrolman groaned and let his head hang back over his chair's neck rest. Arms dropping to his sides, the young, shorter than average adult made such a noisy exclamation that it caused his fellow patrolman in the seat behind him to glance over his shoulder and away from his work.

"What's up, Tyber?" the pale, skinny alien with yellow eyes asked in a squeaky voice.

"Working on this outpost is so damn boring!" the other soldier groaned out, before looking behind him at his compatriot to see him staring back at him. "Why the hell were the two of us assigned to this rock? I don't remember ever signing up for something like this when I joined the Galactic Patrol."

In response, the smaller alien shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because it was our turn?" He then turned back to his computer screen and continued typing, watching as his report was slowly filled in one line at a time as he went about recounting the asteroid strike they experienced last week. "Just relax, man. It's good to have a little bit of downtime every once in a while. Especially after all those scouting missions we had to slog through in the last couple of months."

"Yeah. True. But if we were going to be given a desk job in this quadrant, couldn't we have been sent to a space port, or a city or something? Perhaps on a planet where there's actual people instead of just the six of us?" Tyber replied, while at the same time throwing his hand forward. "Nothing ever happens on this damn asteroid. It's like being stuck on perimeter duty around the supply shed twenty-four, eight."

In response, the alien behind him chuckled as he continued typing. "Are you saying you want something to happen?"

"Damn right I do!" Tyber replied, while glaring back at the alien in the helmet. "It's only been a month and the only excitement we've had is several asteroid collisions, a clogged toilet overflowing in the mess hall, and a radiation flash from a star going nova a million parsecs away!" He then threw his hands out in disbelief. "We didn't even get to see the stupid star blowing up. All we did was hold the fort while the outpost went into an automatic twenty-four hour lockdown."

Shaking his head at his friend's complaints, the patrolman Chiwak continued typing away. "If you're feeling so restless, why don't you go outside and relieve one of the guards on duty? I'm sure they'll gladly swap places with you after standing out there for the last two hours." He then glanced back at his humanoid companion to see him frowning back at him. "Or maybe go out for some target practice? Shoot some shit. Vent."

Glaring back at Chiwak for a few moments, Tyber then gave a groan of resignation and stood u, his chair giving a metallic screech as it scraped against the floor. "You know what, that actually sounds like a good idea." He then grabbed his helmet from the table next to him and stepped out from the computer station in the middle of the room, being sure to save his work before marching stiffly towards the door. Revealing that he had a brown, furry tail waving behind him, indicating that the slim young man was actually a Saiyan, the man marched on. "Who knows? Maybe a pirate ship will come an attack us."

Chiwak scoffed at that remark. "Like anyone would be ballsy enough to fly through this space." He was of course referring to their current location- floating through an ocean of tumbling rocks capable of obliterating ships on contact. "It's not like anyone's in a hurry to liberate the person we have locked up in solitary."

The outpost that these proud members of the Galactic Patrol were currently stationed on was a top secret, far flung prison facility set on the far reaches of the quadrant. Due to its position in the cosmos, not only was it completely isolated and far from any known populated planets, it was also resting smack bang in the middle of one of the largest asteroid fields the patrol could find. Any pirate, mercenary or force with any kind of clout would either have to be pretty bold or pretty stupid to try and attack their little facility. But why would they?

The only prisoner that this place was currently holding was an unknown, poor sod unable to die, sealed up inside a vault, frozen like an alien Popsicle inside a carbonite freezing capsule. There was absolutely no way anyone was in a rush to break this guy out. Heck, nobody even knew this place even existed.

The complete dullness of the facility and its solitude from the rest of the galaxy was punctuated by the fact that not only was it completely uninteresting and bland- as it was typical for a military installation- but there were only six people sharing a base outfitted for at least twenty. This showed just how seriously understaffed the forces in the organization were.

Wanting to get away from the spirit hazing paperwork and system checks back in the control room, the one and only Saiyan member of the Galactic Patrol and registered B-Class warrior- Tyber- marched his way down the main corridor towards the entrance. Making sure to check his pistol was still in his holster, the man in the purple and black armor breathed a heavy sigh of disappointment as he saw the main entrance up ahead, and waved at the camera through which he knew his pal Chiwak was watching.

"A top secret, Black Site Prison Outpost on the edge of nowhere space. What a dumb, awful idea," Tyber groaned, completely over the fact that he was going to be stuck here for the next two months with nothing but space and rocks to look at. And he was more than happy with making his displeasure known. "I mean, why even bother? It's not like we're expecting any visitors here."

The moment he arrived at the well-lit door, a loud hiss echoed out when the metal barrier slid open, an action that was immediately followed by a strong gust of wind. Being greeted by the regular conditions and atmosphere of the asteroid the base was situated on, the young man gave a miserable sigh before marching across the threshold. Spotting his four fellow patrolmen outdoors- two of them directly in front of the entrance and the other two conversing out in the open- Tyber put on a grin as he approached the one closest to his left.

The amused glint that came over the young warrior's eyes was at the fact that the guards were assumed in rather strange poses- but the patrolman didn't think anything of it and simply addressed them as usual.

"Hey, Sealas. How's it hanging? Long and stiff as usual?" the young Saiyan chuckled, stopping beside the tall, broad form of his companion in the purple and white uniform. "I mean, standing out here in this piss-poor weather, I wouldn't be surprised if you and the other boys were at full mast right now," Tyber chuckled while reaching up to tap on the shoulder. However, the moment his hand made contact with his fellow warrior's arm, the adult Saiyan recoiled sharply in surprise when he felt how tense the man was. "Whoa. Talk about giving a guy the cold shoulder. What the heck's wrong with-" He then stopped when he noticed something was off about his friend.

The guard's body, though normally tall and strong while clad in the enforcer's armor, was completely rigid and motionless. On top of that, his color and texture was no longer smooth and sleek, but grey and rough… almost like his entire body was made of stone. In fact, it was only after moving out to the side for a closer look that Tyber, much to his shock, saw that the guard's body had in fact turned to stone- and was standing there with his rifle raised in a surprised fashion.

"H-Hey… what the hell…?" Tyber stuttered, before turning to look at the other guard on his right, only to see he'd been turned to stone as well. "What's going on?" Was this some kind of joke? Were his squad mates playing some sort of trick on him? Did they replace themselves with statues? When the young Saiyan looked out to the open towards the other two guards standing a few yards away from the entrance, he saw that both of them were frozen in place and turned to stone as well. The sight caused the patrolman to back up fearfully. "Uh… g-guys? What is this?"

Just as Tyber was backing up through the entrance to the base and beginning to panic, a sudden bolt of intense pain suddenly shot straight through him when his chest lurched forward and a black arc of metal unexpectedly punched through the front of his chest. Blood splattering through the air as a loud squelch sound rang out, the young Saiyan spat up blood when his small, athletic body was hoisted off the floor ever so slightly, as what appeared as some kind of bladed weapon had impaled him from behind and was now slowly lifting him off the ground.

Gagging and choking out in fear, the raven haired Saiyan in purple and black armor shakily looked over his shoulder. It was there, from the shadows of the doorway, he saw a slim, purple-skinned man with spiky white hair and a bang hanging over his forehead, wearing black pants, black wraps around his arms, a thick black scarf around his neck, and a maroon belly band around his waist holding up his trousers, crouching behind him and grinning at him through a set of sharp white teeth and blood red eyes.

As Tyber's vision gradually became blurred, the young Saiyan also noticed, the muscular young male had a pair of golden earrings on his pointy ears, a weird black 'M' tattooed on his forehead, and was also carrying a long shaft of black metal with a curved blade on the end decorated by a red crystal- a scythe- which he had used to stab him right through the back.

"They can't hear you, mate," the purple demon chuckled as he continued to hold the stricken Saiyan in place, while at the same time grinning at the blood now pooling at their feet. "In fact, they won't be hearing anything ever again."

Before Tyber could comment, the wounded Saiyan suddenly saw the upper bodies of his two frozen friends out in the open suddenly explode into clouds of dust, as what looked like a black spear cut them in half- pulverizing their petrified bodies. With only their legs still standing, when the cloud of debris quickly dissipated, it revealed a second figure standing in front of the statuesque soldiers- a beautiful young woman with a curvaceous frame, light blue skin, long white hair, pointy ears, wearing a black and red micro-kini set showing off her bountiful cleavage, red heels, and a white, open leg cape hanging off of the waist band of her underwear that is jagged at the bottom.

Aside from the menacing smile she was giving, she also had a black 'M' on her forehead, indicating she was aligned with the scythe-wielding demon.

"W-When did you…?" Tyber gargled out, unable to believe their base had been infiltrated by these two strangers without setting off any of the proximity alarms. "Who… who are you… guys?" He then coughed out again as he was hoisted up higher off the floor.

As his female companion began ambling across the rocky clearing towards them, the purple demon with the scythe chuckled before replying. "We are servants of a higher power," he said in a low voice, before snickering at the end. "Oh, don't mind us. We're not here for you. We've just come to borrow the little treasure you have locked away in your vault. As soon as we have that, the four of us will be on our way."

Tyber, twitching and coughing a couple more times, eventually fell limp against the base of the scythe holding him up. Upon feeling the Saiyan's strength vanish as death slowly came in to claim him, the scythe-wielding warrior then casually swung his weapon around and tossed the Galactic Patrolman's body across the front of the base. When he slammed into the side wall beside the entrance and dropped to the ground like a sack of flour- smearing blood against the steel barrier in the process- the demon killer swung his weapon out, cleaned the blood he'd drawn by flinging it off, and propping the imposing tool over his shoulders in a suave manner.

"Well… that's the chaff taken care of," the man with the scythe remarked, at the same time stepping away from the pool of blood that'd formed in front of him. He then flashed a grin at his scantily clad comrade, who he watched saunter up the steps in a textbook, alluring manner. "Having fun?"

A giggle immediately followed his question. "Loads," the woman replied in an amused voice, stopping on the middle steps before glancing up towards the sky. "The way's clear now, nii-san. We're heading inside."

As if on cue, a third figure suddenly dropped down from the air above the facility and touched down in front of the entrance. White cape flapping down to the ground behind him as he straightened up to full height, the newcomer revealed itself to be an incredibly tall, muscular demon with light reddish-pinkish skin, pointed ears, short horns, black hair and goatee, wearing a tight, blue suit covering his entire body that was open at the front to expose his broad chest and abs, as well as a set of white boots and a long, billowing cape.

In addition to his fearsome look and sharp yellow eyes, the man also had a large 'M' on his forehead, just like his comrades. The moment he saw the pair smile in his direction, the demonic warrior chuckled.

"Good. I'll lead from here," he said, marching across the podium and past his scythe-wielding teammate.

With the white-haired woman following close behind, the pair of demons proceeded to amble down the hallway of the facility and towards the control room. Moving to join them, the purple demon with the scythe looked behind him at the two guards standing side by side, frozen, and with their guns raised. Upon inspecting the figures for a moment, a wicked look crossed his eyes.

Wordlessly taking his scythe into a two-handed grip, the impish warrior then gave out a loud grunt and slashed the weapon across their necks- a flash of silver occurring as he then swung it back over his shoulder.

Waiting a couple of seconds, he then observed as the heads on the Galactic Patrolmen-turned-statues suddenly rolled off of their host bodies and fell to the floor, smashing into pieces on impact. Chuckling at his rather brutal yet childish stunt when he saw the now headless bodies were still standing perfectly upright, the purple demon then began jogging after his two comrades at a brisk pace.

After a minute of walking down the hell-lit corridor of the outpost, the three demonic figures with 'Ms' on their foreheads then arrived at the command center. There, standing by the main control terminals situated on a circular platform in the middle of the computer area, they found not only the last remaining Galactic Patrol soldier- but a fourth figure holding him by the back of the head and above the ground.

The fourth individual was a demon like them- and had apparently moved ahead of the group to stop the last-remaining guard from sounding the alarm. Standing at approximately the same height as their red-skinned leader, this new demon was a pale, blue-skinned figure with a head of short white hair, pointy ears, and with lines on both his cheeks going down from his eyes to his chin. His outfit consisted of a red spandex, full-body suit, white torso armor held up by yellow tubes of some kind, grey gauntlets and cape-like pants, and red boots. With an 'M' also slapped across his forehead, this newcomer was holding a hapless Chiwak above his chair, who was currently kicking the air and struggling to break the man's hold on the back of his helmet.

However, due to the way his fingers were currently digging in through the protective headwear, escape seemed quite impossible.

Upon spotting their fellow demon already in the room, the female demon in the skimpy thong and halter top beamed brightly. "Ah. Mira. There you are," she chirped as she rested her long, black spear comfortably against her shoulder and wrapped an arm luxuriously around it. "Has the room been secured and locked down?"

In response, the serious looking young man gave a stiff nod back to his companion. "It has. None of the alarms have been tripped."

"And… the vault?" the tall, Satan-looking member of the trio asked, his tone deep and booming at the same time. "Where is it?"

When all eyes turned to the helpless Chiwak, the group saw the Galactic Patrolmen in the yellow spandex grab the hand holding him several feet off the ground and snap his teeth at them. "Agh! You can't make me talk! You can't! I'll… never reveal anything… agh… to you scum!" He then yelped in pain when he felt the demon holding him tighten his hold around his helmet, causing more of it to crack and his fingers to start digging into his skull. "GAAH! N-NEVER!"

Finding this whole thing amusing, the three demons that'd just entered the room smirked at each other, before the female member of the group decided to stroll forward.

"Oh, I think you will be revealing plenty to us, my little friend." Walking up to the computer terminals and watching her comrade Mira hold the smaller alien out towards her at eye level, the bewitching young lady stopped before the writhing guard and gave him a sinister smile. "Trust me. In just a few short seconds, I'll tear that resolve of yours down and have you singing like a canary."

"W-What?" the Jaco-alien shouted, at the same time attempting to throw a kick at the woman in a show of defiance. "No! G-Get away from me!"

"Shhh…" the female replied, before holding a hand out to him and leveling it with his face. "Just relax, child." Moments later, a red, ominous glow began to emanate off of her arm as her purple eyes flashed red. Like smoke, the embers of magical energy radiating off of her skin thickened, causing the small alien squirming in Mira's hand to gawk for a moment, before all the vitality in his body seemingly left him at once.

Seconds after the diminutive alien's body went limp, a dazed, empty look came over Chiwak's face as he began staring back into the woman's eyes with his jaw open and yellow orbs hollow. Appearing completely zombified, the patrolman gaped back at the blue beauty as she continued to smile pleasantly, before then speaking up in a deeper voice that seemed to echo with each note.

"Show us the way to the vault," the woman ordered calmly.

His brain slowly processing the command, the now thoroughly dazed Chiwak gave a groan of acceptance. "Y-Yes, Mistress Towa," he mumbled in a slurred tone, before the demon female lowered her hand and deactivated her magical aura. When the woman nodded to her companion, Mira willingly and promptly released the Jaco-alien, allowing him to drop to the floor before staggering out of the control panel area. The four tall and terrifying demons then proceeded to watch as Chiwak stumbled across the room. "Follow me. This way," the little alien mumbled.

Without having to be told twice, the four demons then proceeded to follow Chiwak as he led them down a second hallway.

Arms hanging lazily off of his scythe, which he had propped over both his shoulders, the purple alien snickered as he watched the alien in the yellow and white armor zigzag a little in a clumsy manner. "Man, those charm spells of yours pack a hell of a punch, Towa-chan. Maybe you should've, I don't know… dialed it back a little bit."

In response, the white-haired female walking alongside him shot him a glare. "Shut your hole, Shroom. Unless you want me to do the same to you? My spell worked perfectly."

Sensing the woman's ire on him, the white-haired death-dealing demon leaned away while extending the fingers of his hands defensively. "Hey, I'm just sayin'. With the way he's walking, I wouldn't be surprised if his brain has been turned to mush. The poor fella looks like he's about to pass out on his feet." It was an observation that was further punctuated by the patrolman suddenly stumbling to his right before eventually correcting his balance.

Upon hearing this small back and forth between his two companions as they passed through the large arch way on the other side of the control room, the tall, red demon in the white cape decided to chime in. "As long as it gets the job done, then we have no need to comment or complain. The only thing that matters is getting the prize back to our master before the week's end. Once we do, we'll be one step closer to realizing our goal of laying waste to this entire universe and its inhabitants." He then shot a glare across at his scythe-carrying companion, whom he saw flinch under his menace. "Is that understood?"

While the stoic Mira nodded as he marched along, the previously smart-aleck Shroom exhaled and nodded in understanding. "Yes, Dabura-san."

With all insubordination and distraction thoroughly put to rest, the team walked on. Passing by several doors leading to other parts of the isolated facility, the group eventually arrived at the very end of the hallway, where they found a massive blast door standing in their way. As expected of a prison, the door was covered in caution and warning marks, and aside from being locked shut by a massive, high-tech bolt on the front, it also looked like it was fully hardwired into the building's walls.

This much was made obvious when Mira approached the barrier and attempted to lay a hand against it, only to receive an electric shock from an electrical defensive grid that jumped in the way of his palm. Recoiling sharply when the purple bolt of lightning ran down his arm, the blue demon with white hair frowned and glared back at his three compatriots standing behind him, who he saw were staring at the door curiously.

Dabura, Towa and Shroom then looked down at their tour guide, who they saw was standing slouched over in front of them and swaying on the spot.

Sensing their eyes on him, the charm drunken Chiwak spoke robotically, "This facility… holds… highly dangerous prisoner. Classified: Confined, cannot be killed. Doors… magnetically sealed… and wired to send… emergency signal… if compromised." The poor patrolman then shook his head. "Lock code… unknown."

Towa smirked, "Really? Hm… that's a shame." She then looked up at her companion who'd attempted to touch the door and nodded to him. "Mira… would you be a dear?"

Bowing in understanding, the stoic demon turned and reached out with his hand once again. His palm making contact with the invisible security shield, multiple bolts of purple lightning then began zapping and coursing straight into him, revealing a net of deadly energy running over the seal. Grabbing the currents of electricity as he was literally deep fried by the vault's defenses, the completely unfazed Mira then grabbed the electrical barrier and pulled at it, causing the field of electricity to stretch like a film of plastic over a bowl.

Seconds of being electrocuted later, the demon then gave a low grunt and gave a hard yank of the barrier, causing it to burst and overload the conductors. As the rims along with massive door blasted off one after the other and the lights of the facility flickered from the charge, a loud blaring sound then rang out down the corridor, indicating the alarms to the station had been tripped. Completely ignoring them, Mira then turned and stepped away from the door- appearing completely undamaged by what he'd done.

Room made, Dabura took this opportunity to inhale sharply before spitting at the door, hitting the lock with a loogie. The group of four demons and one brainwashed Chiwak then proceeded to watch as the spit petrified instantly, before beginning to spread across the entire barrier. The door creaked loudly as its metal frame was gradually eaten away by the demon's magic and transformed into a block of brittle stone, the integrity of which became evident from the bits of the once strong barrier beginning to crack and crumble away from the sections already affected.

Taking this as his cue, Shroom calmly ambled towards the crumbling barrier. Taking his scythe into a one-handed grip, the purple demon then sliced it through the air, drawing a wide 'X' across the stone barrier. The moment he stepped away, he and his companions watched the weakened door cascade forwards and slam into the floor into four equally carved quarters- all of which smashed against the steel floor with a loud bang.

With the way clear, the four demons then walked around Chiwak and into the room, with Towa stopping beside the short alien and whispering to him. "Turn off the alarm. If your friends from headquarters call, tell them you're experiencing a computer malfunction and you're trying to fix it."

The brainwashed alien nodded dumbly. "Y-Yes, Mistress Towa. At once." He then clumsily turned around and quickly began stumbling back towards the control room, leaving the female demon to follow her companions.

When the group entered the prison vault, they found themselves in a large, dome-shaped white room with a large, stasis capsule lying on a platform in the center of it. Seeing it was connected to various cables and pipes, Dabura, Shroom, Mira and Towa gathered around the white pod and began inspecting it from a distance.

Cocking an eyebrow at the blacked out window at the top of the pod, which is where he guessed where the prisoner's head was, the leader of the troop then glanced across at his sister. "Is this the artefact that's emitting all of that energy?" Dabura asked.

Towa, reaching behind her cape, removed a white, circular device with a white spike at the top of it and a dial with an 'M' on the front. When she leveled it with the capsule, the blue-skinned female saw the needle on the dial jump up and a loud beeping noise emit from it. When she saw the number the needle stopped at, the demon's eyebrow cocked. "Oh yes. This is it," she then looked up at her sibling and smirked. "The being in this pod possesses a latent power level of over 5000 kili… the exact same power level we detected back on Earth."

This statement drew an impressed whistle from Shroom, who then nodded down at the pod. "That's quite impressive. It's certainly a lot higher than your average mortal from this plane... especially after all the worlds we've visited so far." He then glanced across at Dabura. "Will this be enough to break the seal on the egg?"

Upon feeling his companions look at him, the leader of the demon troop cracked a smile. "It's a start," he said.

Towa, growing even more curious by the prisoner in the pod, then looked down at the information plaque written on its door. "It says here… that this prisoner is an Elite-class Saiyan warrior that was found hiding on the Planet Kanassa- a world formerly populated by a race of psychic aliens blessed with the ability to see and control time," the female demon said, before glancing up at her companions. "The prisoner apparently inherited these same powers from them. When they were captured, they were immediately branded as extremely dangerous and imprisoned here in this asteroid facility by the Galactic Patrol."

"Hmph. That's good enough for me," Shroom grunted while stepping back and smiling across at their team leader. "Do you think Master Babidi will be pleased with our find?"

Dabura felt a smile tug at his lips as he gazed down at the white pod, noticing it was emitting a thin cloud of frost from its surface. "Yes. Once we bring this prize back to Earth, we'll begin syphoning their energy to break the seal surrounding Majin Buu's shell. Though this will only amount to half the power required to awaken him, it shouldn't be too difficult for us to track down other volunteers willing to donate their life forces to our cause," the demon stated. Noticing the smiles appear on Towa and Shroom's faces, the caped warrior then looked up when he heard the alarm echoing throughout the room stop, indicating that their temporary slave had managed to shut it off. "It's time to go."

With a quick wave of his hand, Dabura signaled Mira into action. Without having to be told, the pale, tall demon then knelt down, dug a hand into the platform under the capsule, and effortlessly heaved it up onto his shoulder- ripping it out of its placement with ease. The moment the wires were disconnected, sparks zapped out through the air, an event that was ignored by the four demons as they then proceeded to march out of the holding cell and back into the corridor with their prize.

Passing through the control room, where they found Chiwak still standing by the computer control panel where he'd completed his jobs, Towa waved a hand at him and canceled out her spell. The result was the little alien fainting and collapsing to the floor with a loud thud, an act that the group of demons shrugged off as they marched towards the facility's entrance. Upon reaching the exit and stepping out onto the porch, Dabura, Towa and Mira- the latter of whom was still carrying the large cryogenic capsule over his shoulder- then allowed Shroom to walk ahead of them.

Swinging his scythe forward, the demon slashed his weapon downwards, cutting open a tear in the fabric of space that opened up into a large, glowing purple doorway. The moment he opened the portal, the topless warrior then stepped aside and allowed his companions to pass through. As soon as Dabura marched through after the others, Shroom then gave the facility behind them one last, evil grin, before eventually stepping in through the doorway, which sealed shut upon his entry.

Once the portal closed, the only things left behind in the wake of the four demons' arrival to the asteroid was a trail of bodies and an empty vault. On first glance, it appeared as though their secret mission to this far flung outpost had gone off without a hitch.

However, over by the station's main door where the two headless patrolmen statues stood, the thought-to-be-dead Tyber, who could be seen lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, gave a weak cough before the man shakily pushed his face off of the hard concrete. Blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, the spiky haired, small-in-size Saiyan gave a few ragged breaths, before weakly bringing his wrist to his face and pressing the button on the side of his wrist gauntlet.

The device beeping as it was activated, the barely alive enforcer then wheezed into the receiver. "Th-This is Galactic Patrol officer Tyber… registration number 025… transmitting from the Grey Asteroid Prison Outpost in Sector 4. If you are receiving me… Code Red. I repeat, we have a Code Red," the man groaned out, repeating the same thing again as blood continued to trickle from his mouth. "T-To all Galactic Patrol officers in the quadrant… P-Prisoner 03 has been taken… I repeat… Prisoner 03 has been taken…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: So this chapter is setting up the next arc to come.

To anyone who knows their DBZ lore, all of the characters I've included in this chapter are straight from the Dragonball Z series, from both the manga and games, along with the prisoner. If you were able to spot them for yourselves and identify the prisoner, good on you. But for all those wondering, I'll list them and where they came from.

Galactic Patrol:

Chiwak – A member of Jaco's race (Dragonball: Fusions)

Tyber – A registered Saiyan Galactic Patrol member (Dragonball: Fusions)

Sealas – A member of the Galactic Patrol (Super Dragonball Heroes: World Mission)

Demon Realm Clan:

Dabura – Babidi's right-hand man and formerly the Demon King/Demon God of the Demon Realm (Dragonball Z)

Towa – Dabura's sister and Demon Queen/Demon Goddess of the Demon Realm (Dragonball Heroes and Dragonball Xenoverse)

Shroom – Death God and Demon God formerly from the Demon Realm (Dragonball Heroes)

Mira – Towa's artificially created partner and bodyguard (Dragonball Heroes and Dragonball Xenoverse)

The games opened up so many opportunities for use of the Demon Realm Clan's lore, which I enjoy quite a lot due to its potential. If Babidi was able to take control of Dabura, then it's reasonable to assume that he could also take control of his subordinates and comrades. Considering this is all taking place in Future Trunks' timeline, it has allowed for other changes in the time stream to occur, with Babidi taking on some extra muscle for help.

This means Trunks- and by extension the rest of the heroes- are going to be in for one hell of a shock when he returns to his time in the next coming chapters.