Leave The Past Behind

Jala flew up with the other towards the top of the mountain. Looking the mountain over and deciding if it was worth the trouble. if her thinking was right this could solve at least the problem with this one mountain. For a good long time maybe not forever but long enough that everyone here would be long dead anyways. "Well that depends is the payment going to be worth the trouble?" she wondered aloud. "Cause just blasting the top is going to be far easier then what I have planned, it's also much faster, and it's what they expect us to do. So if you think the payment they are giving us is only worth a simple fix I think sticking to what has worked would be best. But if you feel like going above and beyond or feel the payment is too much for the ask we can do it properly"

At that, Serori couldn't hold back a laugh. "The payment is that they get that piece of shit you call a ship spaceworthy again, and fill it up for good measure." Serori herself didn't expect any payment from these people. They mostly didn't have much to give, and less that she'd find interest in. Given that she'd spent time here on her own, after leaving Earth, trying to find something to hold onto in this universe that wasn't her own, she figured she owed the Gelboians that much.

Jala though... well, how much Jala felt she owed them, Serori couldn't say. At the same time, she didn't feel much responsibility to the so-called queen of Saiyans anyway. She'd just have to gauge how she felt about her based on her reaction here. "So, I guess that's the question, huh? What's it worth to you to get off this planet? Enough to do something properly?" Still flying, she threw her hands behind her head, waiting to see what the other woman would do.

Jala took the food and started to tear into the fish with her teeth as she listened to the explanation she was a little slower at eating as she was unsure about it but eventually stopped minding and just ate it till there wasn't even bone left. Using the skewer as a toothpick before burning it up in her hand much like the other. After the explanation was given Jala had a few issues with the plan in general but she wasn't exactly a scientist so she could be wrong about it all. "Is that really the best way to calm it down, if anything I feel it would cause it to explode sooner...would it not? From my very limited knowledge of volcano's, the main problem is pressure build up. We could find a vein that connects to the volcano further away and break it allowing the pressure to dissipate in a safer area at a slower pace then all at once right?"

"Couldn't tell you." Ugh. She'd been traveling solo for so long that she'd forgotten the downsides of having other people around - everyone always wanted to give her lip. "I'm not going to pretend to understand the science, and I didn't grow up on a planet with seismic activity." Didn't grow up on a planet at all, and the volcanoes on Earth had always seemed manageable enough that the Earthlings seldom worried. It was only this planet that had such a problem, with no way to solve it other than relying on outside assistance.

"Some other traveler passed through here before me, and they told me that's what he did. He practically blew the top off the mountain, but it kept things in check." Serori shrugged. "And, apparently back when the people of this planet had more power, they'd head up and blast away at the top to try and channel it away from where people were living." Who was she to question their system? After all, she was just passing through.

Once they'd both finished eating, Serori took off from the ground, flying up in the direction of the mountain. "If you think you've got a better idea, it's not like I'm married to the old one." Not that she considered Jala any kind of expert in the narrow field of 'keeping a planet from blowing up,' but she wisely kept that observation to herself. "But I'd prefer not to gamble with these people's lives, so you'd better be sure of yourself."

"While I did not know that's where it was going...You are right I can't call myself a queen when I let something like that happen even if I was gone." She stayed silent about the next part she was still unsure what she was anymore without a planet or a people to call her own was she even really a queen anymore. These thoughts didn't last long as they arrived at something a kin to a forge at least from Jala's perception. After failing to understand anything she just wanted till Serori spoke to her again. "And what is it we will be doing for payment?"

#queenjala #fell to earth

As they walked away from the mechanic's shop, Serori spotted a young boy sitting by a hut, a large, flat tray made of some kind of woven material in his lap. Atop the tray were grilled fish skewered, seasoned, and glazed with local flavors. Snapping off one of the beads on her belt, she flicked it towards the boy and held up two fingers. "The local cuisine isn't worth writing home about," she muttered as she tossed one of the fish skewers over her shoulder towards Jala, "but food is food."

And while both of their mouths were occupied with eating, that meant they didn't have to talk. Serori kept up her end of that bargain, ripping and tearing at the fish without much regard for anything else. It was only when all that remained was bones and wood, quickly burned up with ki in her hands, that she sighed and lazily lifted a hand, finger outstretched in a point, towards the mountain in the distance.

"I said earlier that there were a lot of earthquakes on this planet. Sometimes the pressure changes cause that volcano to erupt." The Gelboians would need to deal with it on their own, eventually, but she felt better about using this planet as her rest stop if she pitched in. "The mechanic said it was acting up recently, so it's probably close to erupting. We're going to go up there and blast inside it until it calms down." She shrugged. "Hopefully you don't mind the heat."

"It was the best we had....but it's also seen it's fair share of battles and wear since i've taken it." None of this was a lie it was the fastest and most well equipped ship they had. She needed in case anyone came after her she needed a place to defend herself while she was out training. it had the best in computer defense as well as automated gun systems, at least it did when she left with it some odd 5 years ago. It's saved her life more then once and it was high time she took care of it as a thank you.

At the comment about how she was acting she spoke back rather quickly. "And how exactly is a queen suppose to act? I was a warrior before I was a queen, I kept my people safe as best as I can and made sure everyone had a place to belong. Sure i wasn't the best queen, i'll be the first to admit that but I don't think I was that bad of a queen either. Honestly it was the king that kept fucking things up. Did you know he believed that frieza had our best interest at heart? Legitimately thought he was a benevolent ruler. It was another reason I left the way I did. Had the king known I was leaving with the intention of fighting frieza, well let's just say I would be dead along side my planet as well." As they landed outside the city Jala nodded and kept quite. She might be proud but she understood when it wasn't worth the hassle of making trouble even if they could do nothing to stop her, she needed their help and this woman offered to get said help so it was the least she could do, and follow instructions.

Serori shrugged. She wasn't interested in litigating what made someone a good leader or not, aside from the obvious, when there was work to be done. Now where was that mechanic... "Dunno. Seems to me like 'keeping the planet from getting blown up' and 'keeping the people from all dying' would be pretty good starting points." Ah, there it was. "As long as you understand that you're not my queen, and I don't have any interest in treating you like one, I don't care what you do."

Then, she start to fly towards the faintly familiar two-tiered building, smoke churning out of the vent built into the conical roof. Rapping her knuckles against the door frame, she drew the attention of the mechanic - an elderly Gelboan man with a slender frame and sharp, pointed ears. <Saiyan,> she said, pointing to herself and Jala, remembering what she could of the native language. <Ship that way. Needs repairs. Needs fuel. Okay?> Turning her finger back to herself, she gestured at the various coins and baubles dangling from her belt. <Payment.> Whatever it cost, Jala could pay her back later.

What the man responded went partially over Serori's head. She was a better speaker than a listener, and she'd most often had a particular someone with her to help translate. Still, she could figure out the gist, picking out enough context words to get the overall meaning. <Mountain problems. Okay. Will fix.> Giving Jala a nod, Serori waved thanks towards the mechanic and started walking off. "You're in luck. He's gonna patch and fill up your junker for free. Just gotta do something I was gonna do anything."

another 99 days passed in the chamber. more sparring matches, with a steady improvement each day. it had been a massive boon for her overall, prior to entering Serori's training room Caulifla had rarely trained quite so intensely; mostly only random street brawls or the odd scuffle with a defence force soldier entering her territory.

still, it felt as though something was still stopping her from pushing to new heights. sure she had improved upon the powered up states she had access to, but the next stage escaped her grasp every time. no matter for now, she was stronger than ever before and only one more night remained in the chamber, it was time to relax before what came next.

" 's gonna be weird when we have ta leave here. I've definitely gotten used to bein' with ya every day." she exhaled softly, eyes entirely focused on Serori with a gentle smile on her face. she was probably never going to be quite so happy back home as she was right then.

"plus the food aint gonna be as good when I get back home. "

There was something there - something she hadn't told Caulifla yet. Serori hadn't decided if it was because she didn't want her friend getting sidetracked by something she wouldn't be able to reach for just yet, or because she wanted to keep some prospective new tool for herself. Maybe both. It was undeniable though, that there was some tiny fragment of something. For so long, her exceptional ki control and stamina had been held down by her inability to draw enough energy out of herself even at her greatest power. After training for nearly a year, though, Serori was sure there was some way to change that.

She'd just have to find it on her own.

"Hm. Yeah. It'll be an adjustment for sure." Even more for herself. Without Vee or Maki in her life anymore, things were going to be quieter than usual. Suu and Nixxo preferred staying on the ship, but maybe she could convince them to drop it near her house. It seemed like an eternity ago that she'd been captaining that ship, and they'd all built some weird camaraderie. Something else busted up by Time Patrol's stupid wormholes. "But even if you're only gone a few days, I figure everyone back home misses you. You'll settle back quick, I bet."

Sh shrugged. "And besides, it's not like you won't see me around." It was easier than it probably should have been for them to visit each other, and while that demon had been light on details, Serori figured that tournament would happen sooner or later. "Earth food, though... Yeah, well, there's no substitute for that." She upturned a container of spicy noodles and pork into her open mouth, wolfing it down in seconds. "You'll just have to come visit whenever you get the craving. Even with everything we've eaten, there's so much more Earth food you haven't even tried."

#fell to earth #scnzoku

she scratched her head for a few moments, thinking about everything Serori had said regarding the way she thought of the higher numbered forms. she liked to think that her master knew what was best for her progress, and Serori hadn't steered her wrong so far.

" I think I getchya - ya sayin' ya want me to do my own thing instead of copyin' those old farts from the seventh, right? not holdin' m'self to some bullshit standard would be way easier to deal with. "

Caulifla grinned, and began to bounce on her heels again.

" aight, I'll put that shit outta my mind. new goal: whoop yer ass good before time is up in this place. 'n' yeah, don't make it easy fer me. wouldn't have it any other way. "

#fell to earth #scnzoku #I think we're winding down on this section?#Probably leading into the timeskip to the end of the training session soon

It was only after Caulifla had responded that Serori realized the strangeness of her own statement. She'd been talking about the Earth Saiyans, but of course Caulifla spent so near all her time with her own people - Serori was the weird one for being such a loner. For all she knew, there were stories, legends, or experiences that some of the Universe Six types might have had that were completely at odds with her own beliefs. Imagine that.

Well, it wasn't something she could get too caught up in. All she had to go off of was her own beliefs, after all. "You know, I don't think those Earth Saiyans are much older than I am," Serori murmured, "so I hope you're not calling me old by extension." Although if she thought about it seriously, she was older than her mother had been when she'd been born, not too much younger than she'd been when Serori had left. With how rough refugee life had been, if Serori was back on her home ship, she'd probably be considered some kind of authority, if not an outright elder.

As Caulifla bounced up and down, rolled her eyes, roused from her thoughts by the presence of her energetic apprentice. "On second thought, maybe you should stick with that other goal, huh? It's probably more achievable than kicking my ass." She smirked. "But, hey, if that's what it takes for you to push yourself these last few months, I guess I'll entertain it." Hopping up from her seat, Serori rolled her shoulders - first one, then the other - before looking back to Caulifla. "Rest up tonight, Cauli. You're gonna need all the energy you can get if you want me to beat your ass in the morning."

" yeah, I ain't a quitter. I mean, shit, I been hittin' a wall I jus' can't push past. I keep side steppin' it but I ain't got over it yet. I can't figure out how ta break the super saiyan two stage, I know there's more - I seen other universe sevens use it. I just can't get there,"

Caulifla began bouncing on her heels as she spoke, " ya know that purple hair form I can do? that's the side step 'm talkin' 'bout. 's what I been tryna do here, break into super saiyan three. and I aint done it in two-fuckin'-hundred days. but I ain't 'bout to give up yet so, soon as I'm ready I'm comin' atchya with everythin' I got again. "

Serori cracked a weak smile. Maybe it was petty of her, but hearing that Caulifla felt like she'd stagnated, too, helped her own feelings of inadequacy. "I think you're hanging out with other Saiyans too much if you're picking up their terms." Maybe Serori was just a natural loner, or maybe the other Earth Saiyans were too weird, even for her. Either way, she hadn't exactly clicked into their circle, although she guessed they knew she was around - if not originally, then certainly after her possession-fueled rampage.

Looking ahead, Serori lightly punched at the air, holding her fist out as she gathered energy, before shooting a blast off into the distance at nothing in particular. "I don't even think of 'Super Saiyan' and 'Super Saiyan two' as being distinct." After Grendine had worked his way inside her mind for over a year, she'd emerged out the other side with a boost in power, sure, but it didn't feel like an entire different thing. "To me, it's all just Super Saiyan, just at different levels of mastery."

Obviously, there was something else, if Caulifla had seen it, but Serori couldn't imagine it. It already felt like she'd perfectly mastered her form, so what else was there? Maybe that was the source of her block - a failure of imagination. "M'just not sure that's the right goal for you." Not that she wanted to tell Cauli what to do. Her training goals were her own to decide. "But if that's what you're shooting for, I'm not going to make it easy for you."

#fell to earth #scnzoku

Jala stood her ground this was something she wouldn't budge on and would remain firm. It seemed to have worked though if it was do to herself or something else Jala wouldn't know nor did she care. Watching her fly towards the ship as she lifted it. "It.." she didn't finish her thought before Serori was off flying in a direction. Jala soon followed. The question was one Jala was expecting but she didn't really have a proper answer not an exciting one at least. "If you are looking for some fantastical reason for why I'm in the middle of nowhere with the ship in the condition it's in I'm sorry to say but I don't have anything of the like. It's just years of wear and tear and running low on resources on my journey. Nothing more and nothing less. I normally kept it up with visits to other planets but I was on my way home and it took longer then I anticipated so that's it. Most battles I don't do with my ship if fear of it breaking and I try and stay out of sight in most cases while in space. On my own i'm a force but my ship isn't that well equipped and I understand my own limitation when it comes to piloting it. I don't know what you were expecting for the reason but....yea"

"Not looking for a fantastical reason," Serori grunted, shifting in place a few times before finding the optimal way to hoist up the large, unwieldy ship while still moving at a comfortable pace. "Just looking for any explanation at all." It seemed to her like the queen should have been at home, governing, when the planet was set to be destroyed. Of course, this universe and her own were different enough, but if there'd been some kind of surviving royals in her timeline, they'd done a great job of making themself scarce, and leaving everyone else to struggle alone.

Not that she was bitter. That stuff was all years and years behind her now, with Serori having been in this world for... maybe a decade, not including the decade she'd spent off her home ship before it. At this point, she'd spent more of her life away from the Saiyan refugee ship where she was born than on it. "I'd have guessed that the queen flew in a better ship than this piece of junk, but I guess Saiyan technology has always been shit." Her own childhood ship wasn't much different, and while her current vessel did its job well enough, it paled in comparison to the ship she'd stolen from Ikonda, which had now returned back to her home timeline with Nixxo and Suu.

"Actually, you don't seem all that regal at all." It wasn't an insult - not really. Serori probably preferred it that way, although without anything to compare it to, she couldn't be sure. With another hefting of the ship, she flew over a mountain and then started moving downwards before setting it down, with some vague gesturing towards gentleness, in an open field outside the city. "That's where we're going," she said with a point. "The people here are skittish. Leave the chatting to me."

"What ever you deem it to be worth your time. I can offer some things but I am limited in my ability to give so i do apologies about that." Jala looked at her a little oddly. "Just give you my ship. and why can't I come with. if it's something to worry about i'll let you do all the talking I don't mind but as it's my only home at the moment I don't really wish to be apart from it for longer then needed."

Serori rolled her eyes before leveling a sharp gaze at the other Saiyan woman. "Because I don't trust wild Saiyans, so-called queens or not." On the whole of it, Serori liked to think she'd done more good than harm to Gelbo - she'd taken care of that monster who was causing trouble and making a nuisance of himself, and all she'd done to hurt anyone was break a heart or two. Still, it weighed on her a bit, and she'd prefer that the Gelboians not have to deal with any more shit than necessary.

After a few moments of pause, though, she huffed. "But whatever, fine." Something gave her the feeling that trying to hold steady on that point would just lead to an argument. "But yeah, let me do the talking." Not just because she'd picked up enough of the local language to endear her to people, either. Walking over to the ship, she hoisted it up with both hands, holding it above her head as much as she could, and started off in the direction of town before Jala could give her any more lip.

"How the hell did you get int this situation anyway?" Admittedly, Serori wasn't the most cautious person, and could probably have stoodto be a little more careful when it came to her day-to-day life, but she took care of her ship and never let it stay in poor condition. "Busted up and out of fuel's not something anyone wants for their ship, much less someone styling herself a queen. So, what's the story there?"

"I would never ask you to." Jala said. "I've got a few things on my ship on my ship I can trade for the service you've already provided and more if you are willing to at least give me coordinates to this planet with the other's on it. I might try and rules a few planets from time to time but I'm a reasonable person" Walking into her ship she grabbed a handful of rare minerals from Vegeta equivalent to gold on that planet with how it was used. "This will be for the supplies and repair cost." She had more for the information but she needed to repair her ship before anything and didn't want to give any hints as to where she possible had more or that she had more. "Once I'm supplied and my ship is repaired we can talk more about this earth."

Serori had a hard time believing that any random stray Saiyan she met out in space was anything close to reasonable. Still, as long as she was getting paid for it, she could put up with a lot. "Fine," she answered, holding out her hand for the minerals. Not how she usually got paid for things, but the luxury of traveling around the universe was that there was always a market somewhere. "As long as you make it worth my time, then we don't have anything to argue about."

Once she'd stowed Jala's payment in her own ship, she turned back to the other Saiyan, looking past her towards her ship. Without cracking it open herself, she couldn't say for sure what kinds of repairs she'd need, but fuel wouldn't be an issue. From there, some of the people in town could probably patch up whatever was wrong long enough to make it to Earth. If there was anything more serious, there were a ton of Earth scientists who'd jump for the chance.

"Here," Serori started, "give me your ship and I'll take it into town." In a tough situation or not, Serori couldn't trust any unknown Saiyan around normal people - too many of them, herself included, had a tendency to fly off the handle. "I know some people here, and I'll make sure the right ones take a look and get it fueled up. Should be enough to get you to Earth, and you're right, we can talk more about things then."

a loud pop emitted from Caulifla's back as she stretched her muscles, it caused a grimace at first but in the end it felt damn good to get rid of all that pressure build up. she followed up with a similar bone-cracking stretches for her neck and wrists.

" heh, I thought ya liked it when I got cocky. 'sides what makes ya think I ain't already gotten a whole lot stronger from that last fight just now? " she was writing cheques she had no way of knowing if she could cash, but she couldn't help it. Serori's attitude was contagious.

her stomach, however, was not in the mood for another round just yet and let out an earth shaking growl.

" d'ya think I got stronger? enough for this tournament thingy ta be a breeze? "

Serori clicked her tongue. "If you're counting on a zenkai to help you out, you should know that they don't do much after you're a Super Saiyan." Diminishing returns for the most part, although Serori herself had picked up more than a few in the past few years. "One fight's not gonna be a needle-mover. You have to keep putting the work in day after day after day." She looked over to Caulifla, frowning as the other woman popped all her joints. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Squeezing her hand into a fist, relaxing it, and repeating, Serori felt her own energy pulse inside her. "But you've been getting stronger, yeah." Even devoting every day strictly to training, it was hard to make progress, but Caulifla had made more than Serori herself. Maybe some grand breakthrough was too much to hope for, but every bit of extra strength counted, especially when it concerned unknown enemies. The preliminary invitation alone had shown that there were all sorts of fighting styles that Serori had no idea how to deal with, so putting herself in the best position to adapt in the moment gave her the best chance.

"I guess we'll have to see." Hand on her shoulder, she rolled it a few times, getting any lingering tightness out. "I don't know who we'll run into in that tournament, or what they want, so 'a breeze' seems a little optimistic." That demon himself would be there, and Serori couldn't sense his power level at all. She could only guess at how strong he was, to put together something like this. "But, we're Saiyans. I don't back down, and I don't give up. Figure you're the same, right?"

#scnzoku #fell to earth

Of course being told to calm down did nothing to calm her down. she was still in enough control of herself she didn't lose it and try and destroy anything even if every fiber of her being told to do so. She wasn't even really listening to the other one all that much her own thoughts about trying to find the one who did this. Even knowing it was pointless at this range she tried her best to push how far she could sense Ki while she didn't know what his felt like, having learned how to sense it after leaving her planet, she still thought she could pick it up from it's sheer size. That's when she felt it a few strong power's in a distant planet. it was faint and hard to read at this range but it was clear there was a few people on a planet that outclassed nearly every other living being that could produce Ki in her range. Just as she sense these Ki level's she heard the other mention that a few of her people were living on a planet called earth. Looking up to Serori. "DO you know how to get to this earth?" she asked with little hesitation she might not know these saiyans since she didn't know truly how long it's been but it was a start.

Once it seemed like Jala wasn't going to blow her top and reduce the planet to rubble, Serori relaxed a little bit. The last thing she needed was another Saiyan with an attitude problem and difficulty controlling herself popping off with some badly thought out actions. She really should have just left this woman stranded in deep space, for all the good it was doing her. Basically since she'd first come to this timeline, she'd had almost no good interactions with other Saiyans, aside from sweet kids who hadn't had time to grow up into assholes just yet.

"You said you're the queen, right?" Or at least she believed herself to be. Serori probably couldn't rule out the possibility that she was a lunatic and just spouting off all kinds of nonsense. "Is that hunk of junk you're flying around all you've got on you? No money, no fancy artifacts or anything worth anything?" Serori took on a lot of different jobs these days - bounty hunter, bodyguard, smuggler, pirate, whatever suited her in the moment. No matter what, though, she did things that she wanted to do, and if she was doing anything else, she'd need some compensation for it.

Holding her palm flag against the top of her ship, she launched herself off it, hovering a foot or two off the ground rather than let herself stand. "You're asking a lot of questions for someone who needs some ship work before you can even think about going elsewhere, but if you're really that desperate to know, then yeah. I know where Earth is." Jala didn't need to know that Serori had spent years of her life there. She really didn't need to know anything, actually. "But I'm not a tour guide and I'm not a delivery girl. I don't mind bringing you down here for repairs or supplies, but I'm not gonna fly halfway across the galaxy just out of my good nature."

Caulifla could simply not disguise the blush, the gentle caress and softness of the fur was a deadly combo, but attempted it regardless with a long drink. though what Serori mentioned got her thinking about home, not just about the kids but the future of her gang. she didn't want to do it forever, leading them. she'd been part of it so long at this point, seen so many leave and she stayed put.

" hah, yeah - but they're easy ta win over - just give 'em a cool toy or somethin' tasty. " she laughed and copied the manner her master disposed of her drinks can. " sooo, this place ain't gonna work once we're done with it? heh, wanna trash this place on our last day? I bet that'll be fun as hell. "

"That so, huh?" Even if a lot of them were orphans, even if a lot of them had grown up on the streets, that was the difference between kids from a stable, happy planet, and the kind of kid she'd been. That was for the better, honestly - kids were supposed to be easily placated by gifts and affection, not always suspicious and on edge. "I'll keep that in mind. Earth food'd probably blow their minds." Yeah, maybe she'd just pick up a few big takeout boxes of chicken and rice and let Caulifla's ankle-biters dig in.

Her other suggestion went over with a bit more eye-rolling, as Serori reached out and firmly tapped her middle finger against Caulifla's forehead. "You remember that this place is modeled after my people's planet, right? The one that got blown up?" Her voice was flat, as she let that concept sink in. Sure, she'd never been there herself, but come on, wasn't destroying a simulation of it a little too on-the-nose?

Although, it wasn't like she wanted to dwell on it too much. It might have been that she and Caulifla were more-or-less the same race, but that didn't mean they had much commonality in background. It wasn't worth getting mad at her about, and maybe she'd end up talking to her about it sometime. Yeah right. "Besides," she said, giving the other woman's forehead another poke, more teasingly this time, "pretty cocky to think you're gonna have the energy left over to trash anything when I'm done with you, don't you think?"

#scnzoku

(holiday reminder that Serori, not understanding Earth culture, coming from a society that does not prioritize making things fun for children, and being aware that magic and ultra powerful beings exist, does in fact believe in Santa Claus. She was jokingly informed of his existence, accepted it as real, and just assumes that she is permanently on the naughty list and this is why she does not receive gifts when she resides on Earth.)

She understand what Serori was saying it just didn't make sense to Jala. "What do you mean it blew up? He had no reason to, we've been doing everything he asked of us....despite my protest about it. It's only been a few years since I left" which was correct according to her computers, But Jala had been so far into space she didn't account for the time drift that happened when traveling near the speed of light for a long time. "I left to become strong enough to fight him....did he find out" she more whispered to herself. "Was that why....did i cause this?" she was started to lose her control as the rage and guilt was starting to build up causing her power to slowly raise with her lack of control over herself. Then something caught her thought. "Was that why I couldn't find my home? I thought there was a malfunction with the computer when I tried to get back home. it showed the location but there was no planet" As she started to raise her voice from the anger "Where is he?! I need to kill him for what he has done!"

Sensing Jala's power start to spike, Serori prepared herself to power up at a moment's notice, just in case she needed to keep her from accidentally blowing up the planet. She couldn't say she cared that much about Gelbo, but she was the one who had brought the queen here in the first place, and if she was going to keep avoiding that Gelboian woman she'd slept with on the first pass through, she could at least keep her from getting killed. "Hey! Chill out!" Despite her own hotheadedness and firsthand experience that being told to calm down seldom worked, Serori looked to Jala expecting it anyway.

"If it's any consolation, I doubt it had anything to do with you." She couldn't say whether Jala existed in the same form in her own timeline, but Frieza had blown the planet up there, too, so it seemed unlikely that it was the other woman's fault. "From what I get, he was worried that eventually a Super Saiyan would kick his ass." Which, reasonable fear, she supposed. It was secondhand knowledge, but she was pretty sure either Jala or herself could have put Frieza in the dirt without any difficulty, at this point.

That Jala said it had only been a few years... That didn't really line up with Serori's understanding of this timeline, but she was hardly the person to correct her. Instead, she just continued to sit atop her spaceship, eyes watching Jala, ready to intervene the moment she flipped out and put the planet in danger. Maybe it was another wormhole situation, or maybe the queen just sucked at math. "Yeah, sorry. Like I said, there's nothing left aside from a few stragglers. There's me, maybe a half-dozen Saiyans on a planet called Earth, and maybe a few others scattered around the universe. And now you, I guess."

She bristled. Maybe it was just that she'd already mourned her version of all this, maybe that was why she couldn't find it in her to muster much empathy. There'd been a point where she, Tanma, and Nagi had been looking for a new planet for their people, and in only a few short days, it had been ripped away from them. Now, Serori couldn't find any special place in her heart for "The Saiyan Race," not any more than any other people she'd met. Still, she didn't have to be a bitch about it, she supposed. "And if you're looking to get your hands on Frieza, I'd say get in line, but unfortunately the job's already been handled for both of us." Even if in her case, it was more about testing her abilities. "Some Earth Saiyan named Goku- er, Kakarot, killed him already. Super Saiyan and everything."

Caulifla was entirely prepared to take a wallop to the face and take the loss, though was fully relieved when it was not the case. her muscles were sore, and she could still feel like burning on her palms - needless to say that ice cold drink felt so damn good to hold.

" hundred days left already? man, feels like it was only yesterday ya brought me in here. " she wondered if she had even really improved, something had been holding her back, keeping her from getting better. in reality, she knew the answer in the back of her head.

she didn't want Serori to leave.

she didn't want to be left alone again.

her parents, Kura, Kale. all left her one way or another. while she stayed in place waiting for them to come back.

" yeah, think so. " she said after a while, staring out into the middle distance as her thumb tapped the side of her drink. " I ain't gone all out on ya yet. "