Welcome to DBZ Love Garden

► Prologue : The Earth's Defenses     Chapter 01 : Getting with the Program     Chapter 02 : Obstacles     Chapter 03 : Interaction     Chapter 04 : The Motions     Chapter 05 : Vacation     Chapter 06 : Second First Impression     Chapter 07 : Curiosity Killed The Cat     Final Chapter : Resolutions When someone from the future looks you in the eye and says “Those things are going to kill you,” you tend to take it a little more seriously than you had before. Bulma quit smoking more than a decade ago, but the urge still hit her when she was especially stressed. She peeled open a fresh stick of gum (the old one had lost its flavor) and began chewing furiously. She had dodged lung cancer but now it would seem that those boys were going to be the death of her.

“He’s young, there’s still a chance he might grow out of it, albeit a quickly diminishing one…” Mirai offered from the plush, oversized conference chair opposite her. His office read 'President' on the door, but nothing would ever make her less than the essence of Capsule Corp itself. She rubbed her temples as she inhaled the minty tingle left on her tongue.

“I’ve already started damage control, but really, in such a public place? What the hell were they thinking? No, don’t even say it – they weren’t, I know…” Bulma trailed off with a sigh.

“Well, if worse comes to worst, you could always cut him off or tell Dad” Mirai chuckled. Bulma raised an eyebrow to that.

“I want him to stop acting like a spoiled co-ed not die” she said. Mirai laughed. For all his greater maturity and even-tempered nature, she could still see that streak in him occasionally, the one that was a mile wide in his younger self. He never crossed the lines that Trunks did but Mirai was just as unapologetic about who he was. Like, for instance, when Gohan’s marriage had mysteriously dissolved within the year of his coming back from the future… Bulma brushed all that aside though, it was neither here nor now… and Videl had always been kind of a bitch anyway.

“Cutting him off though, that may be my only option at this point. I am literally, as we speak, going gray; things cannot continue like this” she frowned at the potted plant in the corner, her mind wandering.

“Well, whatever you decide to do, you know we’ll all support you” Mirai informed her.

“Yes, you will” she said with certainty as she stood, “I’ll leave you to it then” she nodded at the stack of paperwork she had interrupted.

“Thaaaanks” Mirai said sarcastically, smiling. Bulma grinned, she always saw the brighter side of life when she was teasing someone else.

“Things could be worse I guess, I could be stuck inside some office, doing a mountain of paperwork while the beautiful day goes to waste outside.”

“Oh, don’t feel too bad for me, the date I have waiting for me is a lot hotter than the one waiting for you” he said with a practiced wink.

Damn that kid. Bulma rolled her eyes and walked out of the room without another word – you couldn’t even get drunk at one Christmas party without it coming back to haunt you for the rest of your life…

After his mother had left, Mirai attacked the mound in front of him with renewed vigor, pushing Trunks’s and Gotens’s pending legal troubles out of his head. These reports were all that stood between him and dinner with Gohan this evening, and the sooner he finished, the sooner he would have that magnificent smile directed at him.

Gohan had finally finished his work on the new space transmission modules, designed to let people communicate from opposite ends of the galaxy. If all went smoothly, they would develop an intergalactic and universal version as well. He was the only person that the higher-ups (Bulma) trusted with a project of this importance, so he had a whole lab to himself, as well as, flexible hours that had come in handy on several occasions. Today, he and Mirai would be celebrating the success of this most recent endeavor; messages were now coming and going loud and clear from the test planet on the farthest edge of the quadrant from them.

He had been cooking all afternoon, a skill he had picked up from his mother unbeknownst to either of them. Years ago, when he and Mirai had first moved in together and were starving, he discovered he remembered most of his favorite childhood dishes pretty well, and then it had begun. The scientific portion of cooking was easy for him to grasp, and the artistic flair it could take on intrigued him. But with so little free time, it became the treat for them, instead of eating out. Gohan’s cell phone rang.

“Hey, I’m just leaving the office, 15 minute warning” Mirai said as he pushed the button for the elevator. Instead of taking it down to the lobby, he rode it up to the roof. Capsule Corp was one of the few buildings in town with rooftop elevator access. Since it was already dark, he would just fly home to save time.

“Ok, see you in a few then” Gohan replied. It was not that the flame had died or diminished in any way over the years. Mirai and Gohan had just never felt the need to say “I love you” a dozen times a day, desiring to preserve the intimacy of the phrase instead.

As soon as Mirai touched down on the balcony, the magnificent smile he had been missing lit up for him. Glances, stares, and lingering touches were exchanged throughout the entire meal, along with laughter and good company. They left the dishes in the sink. Gohan came up behind him and swept the curtain of Mirai’s hair over his shoulder so he could kiss the back of his neck.

“You could use a good soak to loosen up these muscles – your shoulders are so tense” he said while burying his nose in his nape. A self-confident grin appeared on Mirai’s face.

“Sure, that sounds good, put on some Schubert for me while I run the tub?” he requested innocently.

“Of course” Gohan ran his hands down Mirai’s sides possessively as he stepped back to comply.

The old fashioned claw-foot tub had to be installed separately at Mirai’s request but it was worth the hassle for the feeling of luxury it brought. He adjusted the water and poured in a little scented foaming bath wash. For Gohan’s sake he wouldn’t call it bubble bath, but that’s really what it was, even if it was an exotic imported brand. He removed his clothing and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Even though he hadn’t trained in years, being half Saiyan gave him an amazing physique despite his desk job. Gohan came in a moment later, leaving the door cracked so the music could waft through. He was carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“Ahem” Mirai nodded to the glass Gohan was filling with wine; it was about to overflow as Gohan’s attention was focused on his naked form instead of the drink he was pouring. Gohan grinned and laughed it off, sipping the contents to keep it from spilling before passing it to Mirai. Mirai sipped it as well while he watched Gohan strip. As Gohan poured himself a glass as well, Mirai settled slowly into the hot water, letting it melt away all the stress of the day. Gohan joined him, leaving his glass on the edge of the counter while he washed. There was hardly enough room for this but that was kind of the point. Washing turned to exploring after glass of wine number two, with Gohan checking Mirai over thoroughly to make sure no spots had been missed.

“I love you” Gohan whispered in his ear.

“I love you too” Mirai replied, kissing the side of his neck and scooting down just enough so his head could rest against the edge of the tub. Gohan sucked and bit tenderly on his neck while he slid a finger into him beneath the water. Mirai moaned loudly at his expert ministrations. Gohan increased the intensity, biting hard enough to draw blood as he pushed a second finger into him. Mirai never needed much preparing, liking to walk the edge of pleasure and pain, and Gohan indulged him. He braced both his hands on the edge of the tub, licking up Mirai’s neck and across the line of his jaw, to end in a playful nip at his lower lip as he drew back from him.

“Gohan, please…” Mirai’s eyes flew open, drowning in need though his head was above water. He lifted his legs as he spoke, hooking his knees over the edges of the tub; he knew Gohan loved to see him like this.

“Please” he said again seductively, running his hands over that sculpted chest, leaving fresh rivulets of water and suds to flow down it. Finally, finally, Gohan began to push inside of him, watching him sigh in satisfaction when he was filled completely. Mirai began to rock his hips against him, using his hold on the edges of the tub for leverage. The movement of the water lapping at his legs accented his motions perfectly, and Gohan was caught up just watching his wanton lover pleasure himself against him for a moment.

“Gohan…” Mirai moaned again, grabbing his hips and leaning up to capture a kiss, breaking the spell. Gohan pushed him back down and began the highlight of the evening, making his partner call out his name in unbridled ecstasy.

“Gohan! Gods, Yes!” Mirai shouted loudly as he was pushed back against the porcelain with the force of Gohan’s thrusts. Sliding in and out of his love was the best feeling on Earth; no meditation, battle lust, or even power up could compare to that tight heat. Pleasure pulsed through him, anchored to the man below.

“Aaaaah, Go-han, please…please, harder!” Mirai openly begged him. The waves of water they made began sloshing out of the tub with the change in pace. Gohan took one hand off the edge, and used it to begin stroking Mirai’s swollen manhood, drawing an elongated gasp from him. Mirai was always more vocal when he’d had a glass or two of wine; God how he loved this man. After a few minutes of this attention, Mirai couldn’t hold it back anymore. Gohan rammed into his prostate that one last time he needed, and Mirai came in his hand.

“Gohan! … Gohan!” he screamed as his flesh convulsed and a murky swirl tainted the water between them.

Damn, that was too much… Yet just enough, and so right, Gohan thought just before he came, emptying himself deeply into that constricting heat.

After the spasms had all settled, Gohan picked Mirai up out of the water, drying him off briefly before carrying him to bed.

“Whoa stud, planning round two already?” Mirai joked.

“Maybe… I had round one planned long before you got here” he said with a wink.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t forget the wine” Mirai responded, and Gohan laughed. He had learned to read Mirai better than anyone else, even Bulma, and he was definitely pleased at the moment. He settled into the plush bed and yawned.

“Hey, now none of that” Gohan teased him.

“You’re the one who wore me out, so you’ll just have to think of a way to keep me awake if you want more” Mirai laughed.

“I can think of a few things…” Gohan said as he shut the bedroom door.

Mirai hadn’t gotten so little sleep on a Thursday night in quite a while. Oh well, there were always large doses of caffeine to make up for it in the morning…

The phone rang sharply, dragging Mirai and Gohan out of their slumber at 4 am. They had to be up in an hour and a half anyway, but since their ‘activities’ had kept them up til 2, it was not a welcome interruption.

“H’lo?” Gohan mumbled after it began its second round of incessant ringing.

“I’m getting too old for this” was the shocking reply on the other end, “get your asses down here now, I’m not in the mood to play messenger girl” Bulma hung up on him.

“Crap, something’s going on – we need to get down to your Mom’s right away” Gohan said as he shook the body next to him.

“Uh-uh” was the response he got as Mirai buried his head deeper in his pillow. Gohan smacked him on the ass, hard. Mirai jolted up, glaring at him.

“What the hell was that for?!?”

“Get. Up.” Gohan said firmly – but the effect was slightly ruined by his own yawn.

“Damn, you were serious? What the fuck is going on?” Mirai grumbled as he tossed the covers off.

“She didn’t say, but it’s got to be serious if she wants us both over there in the middle of the night.”

“If it’s something those brats have done again, Mom won’t have to worry about cutting him off, I’ll kill them myself” Mirai vented. He was not a morning person. Or should he say middle of the night person. Gohan dressed relatively quietly, smiling now and then at Mirai’s frustrations.

“Do you think I have time to make coffee?” Mirai queried.

“I think she’ll have some there, better to not keep her waiting – she sounded pissed” Gohan informed him.

When they touched down at Capsule Corp, all the outdoor floodlights were on, and there was a spaceship rising out of the lawn. A crew of people were running back and forth, checking on readings, tightening bolts, and loading supplies. Their fathers were standing side by side at the edge of the platform, dressed in full-on battle gear. Neither of them looked the least bit disconcerted to have been awakened before the crack of dawn.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Gohan called out as they walked over, “Is there trouble?” Goku turned to them, his face practically beaming as he told them that the planet they had allied with to test out the new communication modules was under attack.

“That’s horrible!” Gohan exclaimed, “Where do we suit up?”

Vegeta snorted.

“Oh please, the last thing we need is you two idiots getting in the way” he sneered. Mirai envied how normal his Dad sounded without sleep or caffeine.

“What are you trying to say?” Gohan asked him indignantly, “Why did you call us out here if you thought you could handle it by yourselves?” He could see Mirai starting to get pissed, he was standing with his arms crossed just like a certain someone else.

“The woman called you, not me” Vegeta turned his back to him.

“Actually, I asked her to get you guys” Goku explained, “You see, the people we’re going to help are really weak, I mean, so much so that I can’t even get a bead on them with Instant Transmission… So we have to take a space ship over there. If something happens back here, like the Earth gets attacked while we’re gone, we can always IT back, but I need you to be able to signal us no matter how far away we are. Soooo… we need you to put together another of those transmitter thingies for the ship within the next hour or so.”

“What?” Gohan protested.

“Now son, I’m sure you can do it, you’re the smartest person in our whole family” Goku stated.

“That’s not saying a lot, Kakarot” Vegeta interjected. Goku stuck his tongue out at him.

“That’s not what I meant Dad, we can handle things if the Earth were to be threatened, you don’t need to be worried about that.”

“I know son, I just meant if it were something really bad, you know…” Goku kind of trailed off.

“What Kakarot is trying to say is that you’ve both become so lazy with your training or complete lack thereof, that Bra could probably take either of you” Vegeta growled.

“Hey, she’s not even a Super Saiyan” Mirai scowled, his pride stinging a bit.

“Well, maybe if you two weren’t so busy screwing around, you could be trusted with it but as it stands right now, the Earth is practically unguarded with Kakarot and I gone. Now get to work on that transmitter boy, or I’ll really give you something to whine about” Vegeta laid into him.

“Yeesh Vegeta, are you going to be like this the whole trip?” Goku asked as he rolled his eyes.

Vegeta just scowled at him and then walked away.

“The girls are in the house, I think Bulma’s already gathered up all the parts you’ll need – thanks guys!” Goku said, walking away nonchalantly to save one of the technicians from Vegeta’s rage.

Gohan sighed and headed for the kitchen, patting Mirai on the back and pulling him with him.

“Can you believe the nerve of that guy?” Mirai said under his breath.

When they entered the house, they saw that the kitchen had indeed been turned into a makeshift transmission station. Bulma’s personal lab was being renovated (aka rebuilt after a small explosion), so gadgets, supplies and gizmos littered the counters. She had a set of the blueprints for the transmitter in front of her, but she was probably having a hard time deciphering them with her eyes closed and forehead resting on the table.

“Mom, are you ok?” Mirai asked with a hand on her shoulder. Her head snapped up, eyes taking a moment to focus before she spoke.

“Oh, thank God” she said, standing up and walking out of the room without even acknowledging them. Mirai let her go, she was even less of a 'morning' person that he was. Gohan sighed. She hadn’t gotten very far on the transmitter, but she had managed to make some notes on adapting it to the spaceship's power supply restrictions… Well, no time like the present, Gohan thought as he sat down. Mirai poured himself a cup of coffee and joined him, being familiar with the plans.

“Oh, and just for the record "Boss', I’m calling in sick after this…” Gohan said with a tired sigh.

“Do you think anyone will notice if I don’t show up either?” Mirai half-seriously joked.

Blast off was delayed by 20 minutes, but not due to the boys being unable to finish in time. Right before they were about to leave, Gohan jokingly asked his Dad what he’d had to promise Mom in order to pacify her over this trip. He cocked his head to the side, hand on the back of his neck…

“Oops, I knew I was forgetting something!” he said as he IT’d away. Vegeta shook his head, having already said what counted as goodbye’s for him, and boarded the ship. A few minutes later, Goku was back.

“Thanks son, your Mom would have been real mad if I forgot to tell her I was leaving” he said, patting him on the back. Gohan just shook his head, mimicking Vegeta, and pushed him towards the ship.

“Better get going, if you take too much longer Vegeta’s liable to leave without you!”

“I don’t know why he hasn’t already, I could have just IT’d onto it… Oh well, see you guys later, take care of your mothers!” And with that he IT’d directly onto the ship, which shortly blasted off into the creeping light of morning.

That stupid feeling wouldn’t stop nagging the back of his mind. He knew he shouldn’t let his Dad get to him, it was pretty much that man’s only job to be a royal asshole, but somehow he just couldn’t let it go. After everything he had seen and done, all the lives that existed now which would not have without him – he still could never earn that man’s respect. So he hadn’t trained in a while… It wasn’t like he was the sole protector of the Earth anymore, with everything counting on him… The problem was though (his nagging feeling informed him), his own life was living proof that you never knew when you might be…

Gohan pushed his noodles around his plate absently. It was helping number 4, which normally would have gone down instantly, but today, something was just, off… He remembered a time when Friday afternoons were not the beginning of the weekend; when they only signaled a longer stretch of training, uninterrupted by schoolwork. He hadn’t even stepped foot in a gravity chamber in what, over a year? And that last time was just to mess around with Goten… When was the last time before that? His normally precise memory couldn’t conjure up a date… not even a best guess… Ok, working backwards then, when was the last time he distinctly remembered training? He and Mirai used to work out together all the time when he first came back, until they began getting 'distracted' by other methods of exertion… Oh my God, had it really been that long?

“Call it a backup plan” Mirai suggested. Bulma was not convinced.

“I don’t care what you call it, it doesn’t seem like everything is on the up and up here” she replied.

“Look, it’s actually a three-fold strategy,” Mirai tried explaining it slightly differently, “First, Trunks being cut off will have even more of a psychological impact if you ‘promote’ Bulla for all her hard work at the same time. I know you have your reservations about it, but really, and this is my second point, she needs to learn it – there may be a day when she has to do it, and that’s a poor time to start familiarizing yourself with something this complex. Thirdly, we won’t exactly be goofing off here; this will help the Earth's defenses as well.” Bulma sat back in her chair, staring at him intently. It wasn’t actually that he needed her permission, it was just that he didn’t dare do it without her approval.

“You know, for all the times I’ve had to take the well-being of the Earth into account in my personal affairs, you’d think I was in charge of it or something – I should have a city named after me by now at least…” she mused. Leaving him hanging for just a moment more, she finally leaned forward and grabbed a legal pad off of his desk, snatching a pen as she did as well.

“Ok” she started, “BUT, I have terms, you can’t go running off tomorrow and leave me high and dry. I want a detailed list of all the projects and negotiations you’re working on right now, and for you to stick around for at LEAST a couple of weeks, more like a month, to make sure she gets the hang of it – I’m not going to be able to hold her hand with this since I’ll probably end up filling in for Gohan myself ’till I can find a team to replace him. Now, this is a list of what I’ll need from him beforehand as well; his notes are very well organized, but I know he doesn’t always write all his ideas down…” They haggled for about a half an hour before Bulma finally left his office. Mirai had never been so happy to have so much paperwork ahead of him. Plus, the time it took to transition everything here would let him conduct his own search as well.

“Ex-military for sure, I don’t think just a regular martial artist is going to cut it for what we have in mind” Gohan commented, “we need someone who can come at this from the angle of battle/warfare training.”

“Yeah, we’ve got the ‘unity of body and mind’ thing down, it’s just a matter of sharpening the sword again, so to speak” Mirai agreed.

“Now that we’re doing this, I’m actually kind of glad our Dad’s are gone… If mine had seen me in the GR this morning, I probably would have died of embarrassment” Gohan admitted.

“Why… when did it get to you?” Mirai inquired.

“…two hundred and fifty…” Gohan confessed hesitantly, still embarrassed.

“Damn, then you held up better than me apparently, even if not by much – I got to 240 and shut it down when it dropped me to my knees” Mirai confided as well.

“This is long overdue.”

“Yes.”

The internet was extremely helpful, and extremely distracting. Mirai had started with a search on personal trainers, but saw quickly that those types of 'instructors' were out. It was after almost an hour that he finally found something promising. A banner ad was actually were he found the link to the cage fighting world. These guys were all mixed martial artist, so that was perfect. While doing a little digging on profiles, he also found that almost all of them had military backgrounds, something Gohan had wanted. There was not as much info on their trainers as on the fighters themselves. He figured they should at least watch one of these matches, see this kind of thing in action before pursuing this avenue. Some things looked fine on TV for the masses but turned out to be an obvious farce when you could see it happening right in front of you. He pulled up the season’s schedule and scanned the dates. It would take some juggling, but he was pretty sure he and Gohan would be able to make it to the fight next Saturday night.

He and Mirai had never really gone to any sort of 'sporting events' so Gohan wasn’t really sure what to expect, but Mirai insisted they go. The 'cage' was a system of chain link fence that was wrapped around a set of scaffolding over a boxing ring. He supposed it looked more impressive to a human. The audience was seated at a series of tables across the arena, with the tables closer to the action costing the most. They hadn’t thought to get tickets ahead of time, he had just assumed you showed up & paid to get in… They even had a bar and were serving appetizer platters, which Gohan thought was kind of strange, but who knows, maybe he was the weird one here… They did manage to get seats, and with their superior senses it didn’t really matter that they were so far back.

The first match was real. Mirai was actually starting to have a good time, seeing two skilled fighters put up against each other, never mind that they weren’t the strongest, toughest beings in the universe, they put on a good fight. The second match spoiled his mood though – the fighter in the orange shorts had obviously thrown it. Gohan stopped watching it at all in favor of chowing down on his nachos. His attention wandering, he picked up on a conversation that was happening quietly to the left of them, behind the entrance to the fighters’ locker rooms. He was not normally an eavesdropper, but the topic of said conversation was the same as what was going on in front of him. He couldn’t help but have his curiosity piqued.

“Throw the fight? Have you fucking lost it Merle?” an angry voice asked.

“Look, we both know you need the fat payout that goes with it just as much, if not more, than I do; I had to say yes” the man he assumed was Merle replied.

“Bullshit. You didn’t ‘have to’ anything, the pay out from winning the fight the right way is big enough.”

“Is it?”

It got so quiet for a second Gohan thought they had moved beyond the reach of his ears, but then that stern voice spoke up.

“You should have known better than to go there Merle – you’re fired.”

“Now wait a minute, you little shit,” Merle said louder.

“I already put in an agreement on it – if you don’t follow through it’s not just both our hides getting tanned, we will be on the six foot fucking under list, Roane. Do you understand me?”

“More and more by the minute” Roane said. There was a very minor scuffling sound, then the man who must have been Merle came out of the locker rooms. He was definitely not a fighter, he must be the guys’ trainer/agent or something. Gohan watched him make his way across the room to the bar and plop down at it angrily. When the third and final fight was about to start, Gohan was now quite interested to see how it would turn out.

The fighter, Roane, looked like all the other fighters they had seen tonight, with the exception of two things. Oh, he was well built, tall, and muscular, to be sure… But for one, he was a redhead, like bright freakin’ red, redhead; and two, the look in his eyes was a strange combination of focused and pissed. He walked out behind his ex-trainer, apparently keeping up appearances for the show, who opened the door in the 'cage' for him. Gohan and Mirai both leaned forward in their seats as the match got underway, Gohan having very quietly passed on what he heard earlier to him.

This guy was good. His control was impeccable, every hit precise and accurate. He was not going to lose, that much was clear. It made Mirai wonder what kind of trouble this guy was about to bring down on himself for doing the right thing. Suddenly, halfway through the match, the rules of the game changed though. After two bogus calls from the referee in a row, Roane was looking beyond pissed – his eyes looked dangerous, like Vegeta’s before he was about to smear you into the ground while muttering about his pride. Only, from what he could tell, this guy’s anger was justified. Gohan wondered if they were going to see someone die tonight.

“Come on ref!” the cries from the crowd were getting loud as well. Gohan scanned the mass of people, his eyes lighting on one disgruntled trainer just as he was raising a glass in salute and giving an evil grin to his ex-employer. Son of a bitch.

“Looks like he found a way to get what he wanted after all,” he said as he nodded his head in Merle’s direction, “I guess it doesn’t matter whether he loses out-right or is disqualified, as long as he doesn’t win…” Gohan fumed. He hated corrupt people getting away with stuff like this but it wasn’t like he had proof of anything to be able to change it.

When the third call he was waiting for was made, Roane didn’t yell or throw a fit, didn’t even acknowledge his opponent. He crawled out of the cage determinately, walking away from the ring as the crowd howled around him. Merle looked as if he was going to try and intercept him, to say god knows what at this point, but he wasn’t intimidated. He stepped around him before he could open his mouth, and kept walking. He would just have to start over, find a new manager… At least he would still have the small amount of reputation he had built for himself, hopefully he would be able to get back on the circuit fairly quickly. Bills needed paid… His locker room planning session was thankfully uninterrupted, since he had locked the main door behind him. He showered and dressed in silence. When he opened the door to leave the lockers, he was pleasantly surprised to find the hallway empty. Maybe Merle had actually taken a hint and was going to leave him alone after what he had done.

“Roane, wait up.” Of course, waiting for him in the alley, how original… He had a couple of gym bags slung over his shoulder, which was odd, the sharks didn’t usually pay up that quickly.

“One of these is for you” he said, holding it out like he was doing the most benevolent thing of his career by trying to give him what was technically his already. Except Roane didn’t want any part of it.

“You’re a scum bag Merle, go to hell” he said as he swatted the bag to the ground, hopefully forcing Merle to pick it up again before taking any other actions. He needed to get the hell out of this alley, surely there were more assailants waiting in the wings. Roane braced himself for this bad day to continue and walked off toward the main street – police always asked so many questions when you were the only one left standing. He heard Merle coming up behind him, and he readied himself to be attacked, but nothing happened. Merle walked past him without another word and hailed a taxi, disappearing into the night with his ill gotten gains. Roane breathed a small sigh of relief. He was confident in his abilities; he didn’t think he’d have been in any real danger from Merle and whatever thugs he might have found. The additional trouble it would have caused would not have been pleasant though. He set off down the street, walking toward what would not be his home for very much longer. He could no longer afford things like taxi’s or rent.

When Mirai and Gohan got home after the fight, they immediately agreed that this Roane guy was worth looking into. Gohan tended to want to believe the best of people all the time, it was his nature – but Mirai was more cautious.

“One right doesn’t necessarily correct a lifetime of wrongs.”

“You don’t know that he’s done anything like that” Gohan countered.

“Exactly my point, we don’t know – just give me a week to check this guy out, then we can hunt him up next weekend if we think he’s still suitable” Mirai offered.

“Ok, I guess we do still have plenty of time.”

Mirai walked into Gohan’s lab unannounced, and sat on the edge of his desk, holding a file folder. It wasn’t lunch time yet, so he assumed that folder was the reason he was here, which meant it was probably the results from the investigation. He put the report he was working on aside.

“So, what did you find?” he asked.

“Not a lot and plenty” Mirai teased him.

“Well, start with the not a lot then” Gohan said, trying to move the conversation forward. Mirai smiled.

“No arrest record, so that’s good and no reason to believe he has any ‘aliases’ so to speak, though there was one thing, but it’s small, not even verifiable. The girl I talked to said that it was strange for him to have a file if he’d never been arrested, unless he was a minor and it got expunged later – but I got the feeling she wasn’t supposed to be telling me that” Mirai said with a wink.

“I think we can deal with that – it couldn’t have been that bad if they cleared it off afterward; a lot of guys do silly things they regret as teenagers” Gohan commented.

“Yeah, like get married” Mirai jabbed.

“Fuck you, you were 9” Gohan said automatically, as if it was the required response, looking at him with a sarcastic fake-smile on his face. “Can we please stay on subject here? This is for Bulma, and she’s not as forgiving of her reports being late when you’re distracting me as you are.”

“Fine, fine – on with the plenty. Roane Flynn – he was an orphan, which might explain the potentially troubled youth. He joined the military right at 18, served two tours, came back and was a drill instructor for a couple of years before being discharged. Since then he’s been running on this cage fighting circuit, which is less than a year. Apparently he’s completely broke, lives in a studio apartment in one of the bad areas of town, doesn’t have a car, etc.” Mirai finished, thumbing the edge of the file like a fan.

“Well, I say we try for a meeting in person then, I think this could work” Gohan gave his approval.

“I think so too” Mirai said as he stood up from the desktop, “We’ll try for Saturday morning – somehow, I think this guy might be an early riser.”

The number of his apartment had fallen off the door, but the outline it left in the paint let them know they had the right place. Mirai knocked. After a moment, the door opened a few inches, still chained to the wall.

“What do you want?” Roane said gruffly.

“I’m Mirai and this is Gohan – we would like to discuss a business proposition with you, if you have a minute” Mirai began. Roane rolled his eyes and began to close the door. Gohan heard him muttering something about them “having to do better than that” as he used his foot to keep Roane from getting it closed all the way.

“Please sir, just hear us out, what we’d like is for you to become our trainer of sorts – we saw what happened to you at the fight last weekend, and we think you are just the kind of guy we’re looking for” Gohan interjected. Roane wasn’t visible through the crack of the door, but he could sense him standing there, listening. Finally, he spoke.

“Move your foot.” It was not a request. Gohan slid his foot back, and the door promptly slammed closed the rest of the way. Gohan turned his head to Mirai, as if to say, “What do we do now?”, but was interrupted from actual speech by the sound of the chain sliding back. He opened the door and stood back from it, motioning them in with a nod.

“Alright, make it quick” he said.

The room was large for a studio, but tiny to be an actual living space as far as Mirai was concerned. There was a large duffel bag sitting on the edge of the neatly made bed. It was half full of clothes, and a drawer was still open next to it, ready to be emptied. He noticed a few pictures containing groups of men in fatigues but no other decorations were to be found. The room was sparse, and everything in it looked used or worn, but well taken care of and surprisingly clean for a single guy's place.

“Well, I’ll cut to the chase here, since you seem to be busy,” he said nodding to the half-packed bag.

“My name is Mirai Briefs, and this is my partner, Son Gohan. We went to that fight of yours hoping to get a lead on someone to help us get back in shape, so to speak” Mirai said while handing him his card.

“We’re both martial artists already, but have gotten way out of practice, and finally decided to do something about it” Gohan added. Roane took the card from him, barely glancing at it and then stowing it in his pocket.

“We would pay you well, money isn’t a problem,” Mirai informed him, “and we’re talking about some serious training here, not ‘personal trainer’ type stuff. I’m in the process of purchasing a facility that would be a round the clock housing for it, so we would live there and train 5 or 6 days out of the week.”

When Mirai mentioned an actual number for his potential reimbursement, Roane snorted. That was more than he’d made in the last three years put together; these guys could not be serious.

“I’ll think about it” was all he said though, trying to hide his disbelief and hope. If this turned out to be legitimate, it would solve so many problems – but he had learned the hard way to never take anything at face value.

After the two strange men had gone, he picked up the phone to make a few calls. Having friends on the inside certainly helped now and then.

“Hey Bear, it’s Roane – yeah, I know, long time no see – say, I was hoping to call in a small favor actually…”

Interesting – if his friends in 'Intel' said these guys checked out, then it was a pretty safe bet that he had just found one of the sweetest jobs in existence. The one named Mirai had very little background on him, but he was most definitely the President of Capsule Corp. Talk about an easy ride. The other one, Gohan, looked like he was a typical successful scientist, plush job as the head of his department, multiple degrees from prestigious universities, etc. The only thing off in his perfect life was a rather messy divorce many years ago – but the way Mirai had said ‘partner’ when he introduced him basically explained that…

Could his luck finally be changing? He never seemed to get a break, not that he placed any kind of faith in those sort of things. If there was though, it seemed like fate must have been saving up to bestow two spoiled rich brats on him; who wanted to pay him to pound them into shape… He went ahead and dialed Mirai’s number, and was greeted by a cheerful secretary who put him right through. He could practically hear the smile on the other man’s face when he agreed to take the job – he just hoped his list of demands needed to get it done right would not scare them off…

“Of course, we should get together again to iron out the details when Gohan is available too – let me pull up our schedules here… How about Wednesday at 10:30? That’s lunch for us, just come down to Capsule Corp.’s lobby and I’ll have my secretary Joanne waiting to show you in.”

If Mirai and Gohan were trying to intimidate him in some way by having them meet in the grandeur that was Capsule Corp, they were going to be sorely disappointed. Roane enjoyed the technological marvels of the place but he knew Mirai was not the one responsible for all this. Having success handed down to you and being able to keep it up was all well and fine but this dynasty had been built by the man’s grandfather and mother. It was their blood and sweat that had made this place what it was, everyone knew that. He expected to be lead into a plush office full of expensive but useless knick knacks, but to his surprise, they ended up in the Research and Development wing.

Mirai and Gohan were standing by a table in the corner, with an outrageous amount of food spread in front of them.

“Ah, welcome, right on time, perfect.” Gohan said as he reached out to shake his hand. Mirai did likewise, greeting him as well.

“Shall we eat first? I always negotiate better on a full stomach” Mirai joked. Roane nodded, it made no difference to him. He sat down, straight backed, in the chair that was offered him. Mirai unconsciously straightened a bit as he sat down as well.

If Mirai and Gohan were trying to intimidate him by eating their own weight in food, it was kind of working. Where the hell did they put it all?…

Gohan knew it was difficult to get people to understand just how 'different' he and Mirai were without actually coming out and saying they were half-alien, so they had devised a series of steps to hopefully work Roane’s mind up to it. He needed to know this was no ordinary workout they were hoping to get. When they were finished, there wasn’t a scrap of food left on the table, and Joanne came in to clear the dishes as if their was nothing abnormal going on at all.

“Now Mr. Briefs, are you sure you don’t want dessert today?” Joanne asked, concerned.

“No, no, I’m fine for now – I may take you up on a snack later though” he winked. Joanne rolled her eyes dramatically and turned to leave with a smile; even at 60, she could still enjoy a little flirting here and there, she was only old, not dead…

Mirai turned back to the task at hand, and saw Gohan shaking his head.

“Anyway, Mirai told me about some of your requirements for taking this job, like having a system of punishments/rewards in place, and we think having something like that sound fine. Also, we want you to know this isn’t some under the table deal here, you’ll receive full benefits in addition to the salary, as well as, your own quarters on base. Food will be provided on base, as well. In regards to the actual training, all your requests are fine, but there are a few things we need to make you aware of. We have this thing called a Gravity Room, which can exert forces in excess of 1000 G’s within its walls. We have been training in these things almost all our lives. Our bodies are able to handle forces that would destroy a regular person” Gohan paused, seeing the skeptical look on Roane’s face.

“I know it sounds hard to believe but we can also fly… That’s something you might want to take into account when putting together your drills.” Before Roane could make the disbelieving snort that was forming in his throat, Mirai levitated up from the table and over to the window. Roane’s eyes followed him, his brain expecting this to be some sort of elaborate trick or prank, wires must be involved or something… until the man flew out the window. He didn’t go far before doubling back and setting down on the tile again. He looked from Mirai to Gohan and back.

“Ok, so if you two can fly, where did you learn it?” Roane questioned them. They already had the perfect answer ready.

“Well, we were both students of the martial arts legend, Master Roshi – he even taught us his Kamehameha Wave as well” Gohan stretched the truth, juuuuust a little.

“Master Roshi, the Master Roshi?!?”

“Yes, the old turtle hermit himself.”

“Why on earth would you need me then?” Roane asked in shock. Mirai and Gohan quickly exchanged a 'knowing' look before Gohan answered.

“Well, his advancing age prevents him from taking on anymore students, he just wouldn’t be up to the task” he said, “we need someone who knows how to be tough and can can focus on the task at hand.”

“Yeah, I guess he would be pretty ancient by now” Roane replied, thinking.

“Ok, I’ll agree to do this on one more condition, you have to teach me how to fly and use the Kamehameha as well” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Deal” Gohan said with a smile.

“I’ll have the actual contract drawn up this afternoon, and we can swing by with it tomorrow if you like” Mirai offered.

“Sounds good” Roane said, shaking their hands. Unbefuckinglievable.

When they showed up at Roane’s door the next day, the reception was much more cordial. He even offered them something to drink from the mini-fridge in the corner.

“Sure” Gohan replied, appreciating the gesture. He and Mirai accepted the small glasses of green liquid with raised brows.

“It’s wheat grass juice, very healthy for you… If you’ve never had it before, it’s best if you drink it like a shot” he explained, raising his in toast.

Ok… Mirai raised it to his lips, tipping the liquid back all at once. My god, that was the most disgusting thing that had ever passed over his lips, Mirai thought as he sputtered to get it down. Gohan was grimacing but had fared better. Damn that was nasty. If he never tasted anything like that again, it would be too soon… He handed the glass back with what he hoped was a straight face but from the grin Roane had on, he was betting he hadn’t succeeded very well.

“Maybe we should go ahead and get down to the business at hand” Gohan suggested politely, handing back his glass as well.

“Of course, gentlemen. I read my copy of the contract earlier and it looks like everything’s correct” Roane indicated.

Gohan began pulling documents out of his briefcase and arranging them on the small table, so they were all lined up and ready for signing.

“Normally we’d just have you come down to the HR department and give you an ID tag, but since you’re going to technically be in our ‘private’ employ, we figured a formal contract would be fitting” Gohan explained.

“It’s fine with me, I do like for everything to be on the up-and-up” Roane affirmed.

“Well, I guess I’ll lead us off then” Mirai said, pulling out a pen. Once they had all made their way through the forms en triplicate, Mirai turned and smiled at Gohan.

“Well, we’re one step closer; I can’t believe we waited so long to do this, now that it’s happening” he told him. Gohan nodded, agreeing. Before they left though, Roane stopped them, pulling out a pen and paper.

“Better give me your measurements now boys.”

“Measurements? For what, exactly?” Gohan asked, still grinning in the moment though he was a bit confused.

“For your fatigues… No one shows up for basic in a suit” Roane said, looking him up and down with a ‘seriously?’ expression, “I’ll have them sent over to you, and you show up already wearing them and ready to go, I’m not messing around here” he informed them.

“Oh, right, right…” Gohan said, laughing it off, and looking over to Mirai. With a grin Mirai reached for the paper, writing down both of their information, and then handed it back with a nod. After they had left, and were already driving back, Mirai had a moment to wonder just how far Roane would take their requested military theme… They had given him quite a bit of power after all, using the contract as a way to hold themselves accountable as well. He shrugged it off, it was too late now to start second guessing things, and honestly, if it turned out to be harsher than he had expected, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

A stack of blueprints was spread out across their living room floor. Gohan sat cross legged with his back against the edge of the couch, pen and paper in hand, scribbling furiously. He paused to chew on the end of his unfortunate writing utensil for a moment, then made a few more notes – Mirai knew better than to interrupt him when he was that deep in thought.

“Dinner’s here, babe” he said, planting a kiss on Gohan’s temple once he had set down the notepad. Gohan raised an eyebrow at the nickname, as they rarely used those.

“Aw, I can’t help it, you’re so cute when you’re being nerdy” Mirai teased him. Gohan shook his head and accepted the plate of food without further comment. Better to just change the subject, otherwise playful protests would turn to play, and he really needed to get this done tonight.

“When did you say the sale on the base was supposed to be finalized, tomorrow?” Gohan asked him.

“Yeah, hopefully, or at the latest by Thursday” Mirai backed off, settling down to eat his own food. They talked a bit between mouthfuls about the system Gohan was building or systems he was merging rather. In looking through the plans to help with installing an improved GR on the base, they had come across the old scans of Android 16 in his Grandpa’s files as well. He was pretty sure Gohan had only opened them out of nostalgia at the time but something in them had sparked his curiosity… He eventually came up with this plan of merging the kind of analytical system the android had with a scouter’s capability to detect and read power levels. The final product would be a system that would allow a normal human to track the progress of a half-saiyan super warrior, and provide insight to their weaknesses and strengths as well. It wasn’t the kind of thing to just be left laying around though – when they were finished they would probably have to destroy it to keep it out of the wrong hands…

Roane had come by early in the morning, the day before their lives were set to change, to pick up the first half of his salary. With a check that large in his bank account, he was bound to be in a good mood on their first day of training. Mirai had a feeling that it wouldn’t matter what kind of mood he was in though, it would still be difficult – which was the whole point.

They had discovered that when left alone and to their own devices, all thought went out of their heads, and the kind of training they meant to do just never got done… They needed accountability, they needed focus and no distractions. Roane was perfect for keeping them on task; plus the renovations they had done to their newly acquired property would ensure that none of them got bored.

They had agreed to show up promptly, at 6 am that morning, to the front gates of the compound; carrying/wearing nothing but the fatigues and boots they had been given. They were excited actually, neither could sleep properly the night before they were to ‘report’ for their first day. After making sure their home was secured and ok to be left unattended for the indefinite future, they decided to go ahead and fly in, since it was still dark this time of year. When they landed in front of the large fence, right on time, they could tell that he must have been already waiting for them. Flood lights switched on and poured into the empty darkness around the gate as it slowly began rolling open. While Mirai’s eyes adjusted, the only thing running through his head as he grinned was that this was going to be awesome. ► Prologue : The Earth's Defenses     Chapter 01 : Getting with the Program     Chapter 02 : Obstacles     Chapter 03 : Interaction     Chapter 04 : The Motions     Chapter 05 : Vacation     Chapter 06 : Second First Impression     Chapter 07 : Curiosity Killed The Cat     Final Chapter : Resolutions