Begin to Lose Control A/N: I don’t know how old Uub is (if anyone does, can they tell me?) but in this story, I made him two years younger than Marron, so that their relationship is more probable. Also, the Tusken Raiders/Ecandlians speak Japanese. Don’t ask me why, they just do! 2: Hope Lost Earth, 20 years later… "We will miss you, Son Goku. Friend, Husband, Father, Fighter. You will never be forgotten." There was not a dry eye, as Krillin made his speech at Goku’s funeral. Gohan stood – ChiChi on one side, Videl on the other, both of them sobbing – his eyes filled with tears that he refused to shed. Goten held his five-year-old niece, as they wept openly for the man they both adored. Bulma sobbed onto Vegeta’s shoulder, while he stared into nothingness. He could not believe that his the man he had called a rival, yet known was a friend, was dead – and would not be coming back. Five-year-old Bra cried on her older brother’s leg. Trunks tried to comfort her, but his own grief would not allow it. Son Goku, the world’s strongest fighter, was dead. Not killed by an enemy, or while defending the earth. He had been killed by a microscopic beast – a heart virus. The same virus that had killed him in Mirai Trunks’ time line. Everyone had thought Goku safe from the virus after the purple haired warrior had come from the future with medicine. But years later, Goku had a relapse. The virus returned – mutated – and there was no way to cure it. The Earth had lost a great man. And – perhaps – their only hope… * * * * * * The planet Nonac… "These people are pathetic!" cried Sakata as she destroyed an entire city. "I thought you said they would be fun to kill. This isn’t fun. It’s just like setting fire to a wasp nest…except the wasps will sting you. These losers just run." "Be calm, Sakata," Thiacin said. He floated beside her. "They do have a military. It just hasn’t been deployed yet. You will have some fun soon. I’ll send out some of the Soldiers, and you can see how long they last." Sakata’s scowl was immediately replaced by a grin. "Oh, Thiacin, you are wonderful!" True to Thiacin’s word, warriors soon appeared. The Ecandlian Soldiers attacked. Sakata hovered above the fight (with three of the Elite in close vicinity). She giggled, and clapped her hands together as she watched the blood bath below. Thiacin had, meanwhile, returned to the Ecandlian base. "Out of my way," he barked at the two guards standing at the entry. They quickly moved. Thiacin stormed to the control room. The remaining Elite were waiting there, along with several Scouts, Soldiers and Warriors. "Who told me Nonac would be a good target? Who deceived me?" The cult members all moved to reveal a small group of Scouts, all looking very uncomfortable. The leader cleared his throat. "They had a considerably strong military, my Lord. If you look at the battle now, you will see that!" Thiacin looked out. The battle was over – and all of the Ecandlian soldiers had survived. Thiacin searched the sky for Sakata. She was still hovering in the same spot…and she did not look happy. Thiacin turned back to the accused Scouts. "Is that what you call strong? They were defeated by our Soldiers! In fact, I am willing to bet that even you Scouts could have won over them! And, you have made Sakata unhappy. Take them to the Cells!" The Scouts screamed in terror as they were dragged away. The "Cells" were a lock-up deep within the ship. Any who were imprisoned there, became "toys" for Sakata – if she was bored, she would choose one, and tear them to pieces. The prisoners were also used in the Elite’s training. "Lord Thiacin!" A Soldier came running into the control room. "The Scouts have returned from the Planet Earth!" "This had better be good," Thiacin mumbled, as he waited for the Scouts. Ten Ecandlians entered the room. They bowed low before their leader. "Get up!" Thiacin ordered. "Tell me of the planet you have returned from…Earth!" "My Lord," said one of the Scouts. "The general people are of quite limited power, only slightly stronger than the people of this planet. However, the do have a reasonable military, and…" "As reasonable as this one!?!" Thiacin snarled. "There is more, Lord Thiacin. As well as their military, Earth has several very powerful fighters. It is home to the last of the Saiya-jin." Thiacin’s eyes widened. He had heard of the Saiya-jin – a race of powerful warriors, who could transform into giant monkey-like beasts at the full moon. But their planet had been destroyed. Thiacin much liked the idea of fighting a Saiya-jin. "Go on." "Yes, sir. Though one has just passed away, there is still one full-blooded Saiya-jin on the Planet Earth. Plus, the offspring of both are very powerful – there are four partial Saiya-jins. Also, there is a Namek of great power, and several humans, who are not like the other inhabitants. They are quite strong." Thiacin’s lips curled into a wicked smile. "I like the sound of this planet." A cry of pain was heard from the corridor leading to the control room. Suddenly, the corpse of a Soldier flew into the room. It was soon followed by a rather angry Ecandlian Princess. Thiacin frowned. "Sakata, how many times do I have to tell you – don’t kill the Soldiers when you’re upset! That’s what the Scouts are for. And by the way, I sent a couple of new ones to the Cells." "Are they the one’s who recommended this worthless piece of shit planet?" she snarled. "Hai." Sakata grinned, like a child who had just been given a candy bar. "Well, then, I’m off to kill them. Be back soon!" "Wait! Do you want to hear about our next Planet?" "No! I want to kill those little chikushos! And you’d better let me go, or I’ll start killing more than just Soldiers!" Thiacin sighed, and let Sakata leave. She was a real bitch when she was angry, so it was easier to just let her have her way. He could tell her about Earth later. They wouldn’t be leaving for Earth straight away anyway. There was still unfinished business here. But Earth’s time would come. * * * * * * Capsule Corp., 2 years later… "Hey, Juunanagou!" Trunks waved to the jinzouningen. After years of living in solitude in the forest, Juunanagou had finally joined with the Z-warriors. He had done it mostly to see his sister, Juuhachigou, again. At first, the Z-warriors had been hesitant in accepting the jinzouningen, but he soon became a welcome member of their group, and his strength and skills were greatly appreciated. On this particular day, Juunanagou had come to Capsule Corp. to spar with Trunks and Goten. Against his better judgement, Juunanagou was fast becoming "friends" with the two demi-Saiya-jins. He enjoyed their company. "Konnichiwa, Trunks," Juunanagou greeted. He noticed that everyone was at Capsule Corp. "Why is everyone here? I thought we were gonna spar." "We are," said Goten. "But Bulma wanted to have a get together, so once we’re done sparring, we can join them. So let’s go! The sooner we finish, the sooner I can eat!" Trunks rolled his eyes. He, Goten and Juunanagou went to the Gravity Room to start their sparring session. * * * * * * The Ecandlian space ship orbited Earth. Sakata and Thiacin looked down on it from the control room. "You were right," said Sakata. "They do have a lot of powerful fighters. Stronger than we expected." Thiacin nodded. "The Saiya-jin and the Namek especially. We will have to change our plans slightly. Strong fighters are good to have, but I won’t take the chance of either of us getting killed. We’ll kill those two first. But before that, there’s something else we have to take care of." "What?" "They will have an unfair advantage over us. They have these…things – Dragon Balls I think they’re called – which allow them to make wishes. And also, some form of food that completely restore their health." "Well, that’s no fun. We can’t have those around. So, how do we get rid of them?" Thiacin grinned. "Quite easily, my love." * * * * * * "Go on, Piccolo!" laughed Dende. "Go to Capsule Corp. and have some fun. I don’t need you here to protect me all the time. You need some time off." Piccolo sighed. The influence of both Kami and Nail made him over protective of the young Namekian guardian. But he did want to see Gohan again… "I’ll go, but only for an hour or so." Piccolo smiled. It has been too long since I saw them all. They must think that I’m really anti-social. But his smiled suddenly faded. Something was not right. He ran out of the small building on Kami’s Lookout, with Dende and Popo in close pursuit. Standing on the outer platform were two figures: one male, one female. The male had tanned skin, and light blue hair, tied back in a small braid. He wore a fighting gi, which was green in colour. The woman had darker blue hair, in a high ponytail, and her skin was slightly pinkish. She wore a bright yellow dress. They both had menacing green eyes. "Who are you, and what do you want?" Piccolo demanded. "Two Nameks?" exclaimed Sakata. She turned to Thiacin. "You said there was only one!" Thiacin shrugged. "That’s what I was told. But it doesn’t matter. That other one is pretty weak." "You haven’t answered my question!" growled Piccolo. Thiacin glared at Piccolo. "I am Thiacin, and this is the ever so beautiful Princess Sakata. What we want, is none of your concern." "Thiacin! I’m getting bored," said Sakata. "Let’s just get this over and done with." Piccolo did not know what the two intruders were up to, but he was certain that it would not be good. He ordered Dende and Popo to get out of sight. He then faced Sakata and Thiacin. "Whatever it is you’re planning to do, you’ll have to get through me first to do it." "Impressive," mumbled Thiacin, as Piccolo powered up. "It’s a good thing we changed our plan. Leaving this one alive might have caused trouble later." He turned to Sakata. "Will I do the honours, or would you like to?" "I would like to," replied Sakata. In her hand, she formed a small ball of ki. She waited until both she and Thiacin were floating above the platform, then she dropped the ki ball. It rolled along the ground, and stopped at Piccolo’s feet. Piccolo looked from the Ecandlians to the ki ball, and back again. That was all he had time to do. The ki ball exploded. Sakata and Thiacin watched calmly as Kami’s Lookout was demolished. As it caved in on itself, it started to press down on Korin’s Tower beneath it. The pressure caused a chain reaction. Both Kami’s Lookout and Korin’s Tower tumbled to the ground. A smirk spread across Sakata’s lips. "I do believe you were right, Thiacin. This planet will be fun." * * * * * * Gohan was sitting under a tree, watching Pan and Bra play a game of Tag, which they had dragged Marron and Uub into. Uub blushed when Marron tagged him, before he chased after the three girls. Gohan smiled at the scene before him, then sighed. I wish Otousan was here to see this. Suddenly, Goten sensed Piccolo’s ki rising. He must be training. I guess he won’t be coming today. He thought nothing more of it…until Piccolo’s ki changed. It started decreasing, very rapidly. Gohan stood up. "What’s wrong?" Vegeta growled. "Something’s wrong," Gohan replied. "Something bad is happening at Kami’s Lookout." "What are you talking ab…" Vegeta stopped mid-sentence as he too felt the rapid decrease. He faced Gohan. "Get the brats. We’re going to check this out." Gohan nodded, and raced to the Gravity Room, knowing that "the brats" meant Goten, Trunks and Juunanagou. He opened the door. "Kuso!" Juunanagou cried, as the gravity dropped. "What the Hell did you do that for?" "Something’s wrong," Gohan answered. "Piccolo…his ki is decreasing…way too rapidly. We have to go to Kami’s Lookout." Trunks, Goten and Juunanagou all left the Gravity Room (Juunanagou complaining bitterly), and followed Gohan to where Vegeta was waiting. The five of them flew to Kami’s Lookout. Nothing could have prepared them for what they found when the arrived. They had been flying at a moderate height, and assumed they would come to Korin’s Tower, which they would then fly parallel to. But Korin’s Tower was not there. In fact, they had flown straight past where it should have been, and were two miles away before they realised. Confused, they flew lower, and when they reached the spot where they thought Korin’s Tower should be, they flew to the ground. It was there that they found the ruins. A pile rubble and dust was all that remained of the home of Earth’s Guardian and the pillar beneath it. Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten and Juunanagou stood and stared, completely horrified. "Piccolo…" Gohan whispered. "Who could have done this?" asked Goten. Trunks simply shook his head. Gohan was the first to land. He immediately started to toss the rubble aside, searching for his Master. He found Popo first. Goten and Trunks dragged Mr. Popo aside – he was dead. Gohan kept searching. They eventually found the bodies of Dende, Korin, Yajirobe and Piccolo. Gohan did not hold his tears back. Goten and Trunks tried hopelessly to comfort him. Juunanagou looked at the ground, with sadness all over his usually emotionless face. Vegeta stared into the distance, hoping to sense a clue as to what had done this. He knew that trouble was coming, but he had no idea how much.