Teleporting to Earth, Lila and I appeared in the middle of a forest, in front of the cabins that I had made for my family and friends. Hearing a gasp, I turn and see that Lila looked as though she was starstruck.
"Wow..." She murmurs, her eyes wide as she looked around at the scenery. "This place..."
"Like it?" I asked.
She takes a deep breath and lets out a deep, satisfied sigh, "The air is so fresh here..."
I raise an eyebrow at her words before I do the same, finding absolutely nothing different about the air here on Earth from the air on Celvana. Sure, it had a more natural, more forest type of scent, but I'm pretty certain that was caused by the fact that we were in an actual forest.
"You probably won't be able to tell, but it's different for us Kais." She says as she sees the confusion on my face. "When you create life and planets, the air has this certain... quality to it. Like a newborn. A Kai created this planet. I can tell."
"Really?" I ask, a little surprised at the small revelation.
I never really looked into the details of Earth beyond that it just seemed to attract every planet buster, star system annihilator, and galaxy destroyer in Universe 7.
Before I can ask her more about it, the sounds of children's laughter causes the both of us to look towards the sky, where we see Kakarot chasing Tarble around in the air.
"Who are they?" Lila asked.
"My little brothers." I told her.
It was her turn now to look surprised. Having heard my voice, Kakarot and Tarble had snapped their heads over toward us. They quickly rushed over to greet me with wide smiles and open arms.
""BIG BRO!"" They both yelled before flying towards me, diving like a pair of kamikaze fighter planes.
I open my arms and catch them both easily, smiling softly at the warm welcome.
"Hey!" I exclaimed happily, looking at the both of them. "Look at you two! You've gotten bigger!"
They did not. They've grown maybe a small bit, but they were mostly still the same size as when I saw them last year.
It was to be expected though. Saiyans don't really grow all that much in their childhood years, not until they hit puberty. To which we then have the growth spurts to end all growth spurts.
Well, most of us anyway. Pretty sure Vegeta is still gonna be short no matter what.
"Where have you been?!" Kakarot asks, looking at me with his usual childlike wonder. "Did you and Cooler blow up some more--"
I hurriedly cover his mouth, stopping him from saying anything that would get me into trouble.
"Shh! Let's just keep that under wraps!" I quickly whispered to him, motioning my head towards the woman standing behind me.
When filling Lila in on the entirety of Saiyan history, I may have "forgotten" to mention a few small details about the more... recent developments that happened after the Saiyans had swapped over to Cooler's command.
And I when I say "a few", I meant I didn't tell her jack shit about anything.
I thought it would be better if she didn't know that I quite possibly had the highest kill count in all of Saiyan history. Call me crazy, but I don't think a Kai would take the fact that I destroyed thousands of planets very well, even if she was an ex-Kai.
Kakarot and Tarble looked over my shoulder at Lila with curiosity, to which she just smiled and waved at the two boys.
"Who's that?" Kakarot asked, tilting his head to the side.
I turn and face Lila, placing the boys on the ground and kneeling down beside them.
"This is Lila." I told them as I placed my hands on their shoulders. "She's my friend."
The two stepped up to her, looking at her with curious gazes. Seeing their curiosity, Lila just smiled and kneeled down like I did, looking at them face to face.
"It's nice to meet you." She said with a calming voice and soft smile.
Kakarot and Tarble looked towards each other with wide eyes before turning back towards Lila and suddenly pointing at her.
""ARE YOU ZYLETH'S GIRLFRIEND?!""
The sudden question caused Lila's face to suddenly turn red as a tomato, and I swear that i could see steam coming out from the top of her head.
"HUH?!" She exclaimed, so shocked that she couldn't really answer their question properly.
"What's going on?" I suddenly heard from one of the cabins.
Looking up, I saw that my mother and father had stepped outside due to the commotion, their faces both turning shocked when they spot me next to the children.
"Zyleth?" My mother asked.
Before anyone could say anything, Kakarot suddenly bolted towards them as if he was on some time-sensitive mission given to him by the president himself.
"Mom, dad! Zyleth's home and he brought his girlfriend!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, mortifying Lila even more.
"Kakarot, wait a damn second!" I yelled, trying to stop him from spreading misinformation.
""GIRLFRIEND?!"" My parents shouted in utter disbelief, looking towards Lila, who was still kneeling down in front of Tarble, looking absolutely broken.
As this was going on, Sela suddenly burst from her own cabin, looking at me with the same desperation she had showed during the call. The moment our eyes connected, she ran towards me and latched onto me with a tight embrace.
"Zyleth! I'm so glad you're here! I didn't know who else to call!" She shouted directly beside my ear.
As this was happening, Paragus ran out of his own cabin, looking around with an annoyed expression.
"What on Vegeta is going on out here?!" He yelled out, wanting to know what all the yelling was about.
That's what I would like to fucking know...
---
After calming everyone down and sorting out a few misunderstandings caused by a couple of loudmouth little shits, Lila and I sat down with the adults in my parents cabin. Kakarot and Tarble were still playing outside as Sela didn't want them to hear our conversation.
"I'm sorry about our children. They are... excitable..." My mother said, looking towards Lila with an apologetic expression. "It's just that Zyleth hasn't brought a girl back home before."
Lila shook her head, a small blush still permeating her cheeks.
"It's alright..." She told my mother.
"Shame too." My father said with a deep sigh. "Zyleth having a girlfriend? Should've known that it was too good to be true..."
"You know that I'm right here, right?" I asked, looking at my father with an annoyed expression.
"Don't say that." My mother admonished, slapping my father in the arm.
"Am I wrong? At this point, Zyleth is gonna spend the rest of his life alone." He replied.
"I am, like, two feet from you! Every word, crystal clear!" I exclaimed.
"What's your point?" He asked.
I let out an annoyed sigh, shaking my head at my father before turning towards Sela, wanting to know why she decided to call for my help in the first place.
"So what's wrong? Why'd you call? I've never heard you so panicked before." I asked.
Sela's cheeks grew a tinge of red before replying with, "As I said, it's Vegeta and the others..."
Her response causes Paragus to let out a groan of annoyance. I raise an eyebrow at his reaction to her words, wondering why.
"This again? I told you that it was nothing." He says.
"And what if it isn't nothing?!" Sela exclaimed angrily, her head suddenly snapping towards Paragus.
Seems like these two have already talked about this...
"Enough!" I yelled out, grabbing their attention before they could start arguing. I had enough of that during my time in the Armored Squadron. "Just tell me what's wrong."
The two Saiyans scoffed at each other before Paragus turned away in a huff, leaving Sela to further explain the situation.
"At the end of every month, I call Vegeta to check in on him. You know this. Your family does the same for you." She says, to which I nodded in agreement, ignoring the teasing smile that I knew Lila had on her face. "But this time, he didn't answer, even though we had scheduled it for yesterday."
"Don't forget the part about him telling you that he was going on a mission." Paragus pointed out as he rolled his eyes before turning his gaze towards me. "As I was telling her before, it's not unusual for missions to run longer than they're supposed to."
"Not for Vegeta! Not for his team!" Sela told him before turning back towards me. "Zyleth, you know better than anyone just how efficient they are. Something must have happened!"
"Nothing happened!" Paragus yelled. "They are the most powerful squadron that the Cooler Force has. Nothing in this universe can stop them."
I let out a tired sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, deciding to just let them argue. Better for them to just get it out of their systems. I swear, sometimes it feels like I'm watching over a bunch of children.
Looking down at the table, I pondering over everything Sela had just told me when I suddenly heard Lila's voice inside my mind.
'What do you think?' She asked.
I flinch a little at the unexpected sound of her voice, but I quickly relax in order not to arouse any concern from the others.
'Y'know, I should be mad about you going into my head without permission, but I actually quite like the sound of your voice. It's soothing.' I tell her.
'Please stop with your childish flirting and start being serious.' She chastises.
I glance over and see that she had an annoyed look on her face, but she was blushing up a storm.
I let out a small chuckle and decided to give her a break from my charming personality before replying, 'I think that Paragus has a point. Some missions tend to end up being longer than expected.'
'But?' She asks, knowing that I wasn't finished.
'Something's definitely gone wrong.' I say to her.
'Are you sure? Like you said, Paragus' argument has some merit.' She says.
'It would if it was any other team of random Saiyans.' I told her.
'But not your brothers?' She asks.
'I trained all three of them myself. With the exception of me, they are without a doubt the most powerful Saiyans in the universe, and that's on their own. If they're not responding, something's gone wrong.'
I disconnected the link between my and Lila's telepathy and turn to Sela, asking, "Do you know where they are?"
Hearing my question, Sela and Paragus stopped arguing and she looked over at me with a downtrodden expression.
"No..." She muttered.
I let out a sigh and stand up, holding out my hand to Lila, who takes it almost immediately.
"I guess I'm meeting back up with Cooler sooner than I expected." I said as I pulled Lila to her feet.
I could just use Kai Kai to teleport right to wherever they were, as Kai Kai didn't just let me teleport instantaneously to any place, but people as well, but I didn't want Lila getting suspicious about how my teleportation abilities actually worked. Plus, I needed to talk to Cooler anyway, so it's a win-win situation anyway.
"Wait, Zyleth, are you seriously going to waste your time on this?" Paragus asked with a confused expression. "It's just a mission running a little longer. It happens all the time."
"If it is then all that'll happen is that I wasted a couple of hours. Not really any sweat off my back." I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I walked towards the door.
As I opened the door, I heard Sela calling out for me.
"Zyleth!"
I look over, seeing that she's now standing up, looking at me with an expression that I can't quite place.
"Thank you..." She says softly.
I nod and head outside with Lila, seeing Kakarot and Tarble running towards us again.
"Are you leaving again...?" Kakarot asked with a sad face.
Tarble also looks at me with the same expression and I kneel down, looking at them with a smile.
"Just for a little bit. I'm going to go bring back our brothers." I told them.
"Really? Promise?" He asks, holding out his pinky, to which Tarble does the same.
I chuckle and I link both of my pinky's with theirs before reaching out and ruffling their hair.
"Promise." I told them.
They nod and run off, giggling happily as they went.
"You're good with them." Lila says.
I look up at her, seeing that she's looking at me with a small smile.
"It's nothing really. All you have to do is just treat them like mini adults." I said as I stood up. "You'll be surprised at how much kids can understand. Then again, you'll also be surprised at just how stupid they can be, so..."
She laughed at my words, "It balances itself out, huh?"
"Oh yeah." I nodded, laughing along with her.
I place a barrier around us to hold some oxygen and hold out my hand towards her.
"You ready?" I asked.
She looks at the barrier with a raised brow but doesn't question it, only giving me a nod and taking my hand without any hesitation.
---
I teleport us out in the middle of nowhere space, floating around aimlessly in the barrier I had encased ourselves with.
"So this is why you brought up the barrier?" Lila asks, looking around at the empty abyss.
"Mhm." I hum with a slight grin. "I don't know about you, but I quite like breathing."
She looks at me with feigned annoyance before she shook her head, a small smile growing on her face.
"Where are we?" She asked, looking around as if she was trying to place where we were.
"Hell if I know." I said with a shrug. "This is the last place Cooler said that he and his forces would be. Every so often he sends me a message telling me where he is and what he's doing."
That was actually true.
Guess it's a way of keeping me informed just in case I ever decided on returning to the Cooler Force.
"And how do you know if he's still around here?" She asks.
"Oh, trust me, he's definitely around." I said with a knowing look.
She looks at me with a raised brow, confused as to how I was so sure about it until a bright spotlight light suddenly shined right down on us. Turning around, she saw a massive ship flying above us, inching ever so closer so that it could pick us up.
Her jaw drops and I have to use everything I have not to start laughing.
"Ready to meet the Emperor of the Universe?" I asked with an amused grin.
[Word Count: 2,514.]