"HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Nina screamed the final sylable to her attack and the energy ball was released from her hands, though a ball of the energy still remained in her curled palms. The power surged through her body, so much power that it was starting to get her worried about the planet's safety. If Tessay dodged this blast, Nina wasn't so sure she could rechannel the energy to go up from the ground. Well it was too late now, so she had to at least try.

Tessay couldn't believe what she was seeing at all. How could a Saiyan generate so much power, and one Saiyan at that?! It was totally inconceivable, yet it was happening right there in front of her very own eyes. Suddenly her logic thoughts kicked in and she started to fly off towards the side. If she didn't move out of the way, that energy blast was going to swallow her up whole. Just as she was barely seconds of getting completely out of the beam's path....

"MASENKO HA!" a voice yelled from the sky.

Tessay looked above her to see that a large yellow beam was about to hit her if she moved any further. It crashed into the ground just barely close to hitting her body. She looked into the sky and saw who had shot off the blast. It was the demi-Saiyan known as Gohan, the one who defeated the bio-android Cell in the Cell Games many years ago. Another ki nicked her senses and she realized it was the Kamehameha wave which was still being hurdled towards her. Tessay decided to demateralize, though she was too close in the blast's path not to get some sort of injury in the process. It was better than being dead.

Just as she began to disappear, the sharp blades of the beam struck into her shoulder, cutting through her body suit. She whimpered with pain, though her yelp was inaudible from the sudden crash of the wave as it sank into the ground, dust and debrit going with it. Finally, she vanished and then reappeared next to Rowan, a faint cut revealing itself through her dark suit. A wind blew and it stung the wound on her shoulder, blood slowly seeping out of it. Tessay held her shoulder and the pain subsided after awhile. She growled in anger.

"*Grr!*That was a rock solid hit! *Grr!* No one has ever done that to me before! She'll pay for damaging my untouched skin, oh she'll pay!" she muttered.

Nina let the blast disappear while she continued to hover above the ground. Man, she couldn't believe she missed her! What a joke, these guys really were powerful! She continued to levitate towards the earth until she landed on the very center of the ring made of tennisball sized holes dug completely into the ground. She looked around her and sighed. Nina saw the huge crater she had made with the Kamehameha wave alone. She couldnt' believe she was able to do that attack without clicking into a Super Saiyan. What an attack both of them had made! Nina had never seen an attack like what Tessay just did. It was amazing she realized, but also fatal once she got a chance to look around the entire area.

There were holes in the ground caused by the magma splatters as it fell onto the earth. The attack caused them to be as deep as a large bucket in both depth and width. Smoke still quavered out of them which were made by the molten lava pillars. Nina gave a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Whew! Any closer and the Earth would've been in some serious trouble!" she said.

Up above her, the other Z warriors looked down at Nina, mind and body totally shaken apart. It was bad enough the attack from the enemy had scared them, but the fact that they didn't attack when Nina asked them to, they felt ashamed. Not only shame, but astonishment for the young Saiyan.

Vegeta looked around him, at the damage both attacks had caused as well as the attack from the male enemy. He couldn't believe it! Only 3 attacks were made and the ground looked like a war zone already! Even though he was a Saiyan, it would've taken him several attacks to make this kind of mess. Not even his Final Flash technique would have done this kind of severe damage.

Vegeta then looked down at Nina, his best friends' daughter. He was amazed to know the girl held that much power in her. How long had she been keeping this power a secret, but most importantly, when did she obtain it? But what truly amazed him was that she managed that attack without turning into a Super Saiyan! If she could do that much damage when she wasn't a Super Saiyan, what would it be like when she did?

Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "She'd probably rip this planet to pieces. What power!" he muttered. "Well, I won't let her have all the glory!"

Vegeta burst into Super Saiyan and threw his arms out on either side of him. He gave a mighty battle cry as energy began to swirl all around him. All the fighters looked at him, wondering what he was planning to do. Lightning bolts cracked like whips across the earth's surface and the clouds began to tremor and moved towards his direction. Thunder rumbled while Vegeta's muscles began to pound hard against him, sweat forming over his brow already.

He knew this attack might not work against these foes, but hey, a guy's gotta try y'know. Vegeta decided to pump alot more energy into his Flash attack, maybe it would give those invaders a taste of true Saiyan power! The thought made Vegeta grin proudly, forcing himself to gather more energy.

Down below Nina looked up at the Saiyan Prince, looked back down and then chuckled while holding a hand over her face. That arrogant little man! He'd do anything for some attention wouldn't he? Hasn't he realized that no matter how much power he puts on that attack, it probably wouldn't even give them a whelp? Would he really do this, futile as it is? she asked herself.

Then she knew the answer and her laughter was starting to get harder and harder to stifle. Yep, he would!

Trunks looked at Nina from above. He couldn't tell what she was doing or what she was thinking, but then he saw her look up towards his father, Vegeta. Then she looked back down and covered her face, shoulders shaking uncontrolably. Trunks wrinkled his nose. Was she...laughing?

Trunks shook his head. Leave it to Nina for her to laugh during a crisis! he thought. Then he looked back down at her.

Nina had suddenly stopped laughing and looked back up at Vegeta. His energy was continuing to build, lightning collecting into his hands. She then saw Trunks looking in her general direction and her face was stern, as if the sudden moment of humor had never occurred. Her eyes darted to one side, signaling him to move and then her eyes went towards the other fighters in the sky. Trunks nodded, acknowleding her message.

Trunks turned towards his comrades who were still looking at Vegeta. "HEY!" he shouted over the noise.

Everyone looked at him, troubled looks on all of their faces. Trunks could relate. "NINA WANTS US TO MOVE OUTTA THE WAY, NOW!" he yelled at them.

They all nodded in agreement and went as far away as possible, a good 80 feet away. Vegeta was now a tiny speck with lightning shooting from all parts of his body it seemed. Once everyone was settled, nerves in suspense, Trunks looked around himself to see if Nina had joined them. She was nowhere to be seen.

Trunks began to search frantically over the horizon, wondering if she had just left a little bit later than he did. That's dumb! It would take her less than a second to get here if she really wanted to! he scolded himself.

He then looked back over in the direction where his father was, still powering up. Then Trunks looked down at the ground and saw not 3, but 4 figures on the ground. One of them was farther away from the 3.

His eyes widened in disbelief. No way! She wouldn't! he thought to himself.

Then his pale blue eyes narrowed as they sparked with anger. Damn her! Trunks thought curtly and with a burst of green ki, he was speeding towards her direction.

* * * * * *

Jutus punched at a holographic image and it dodged his attack. He spun around and backfisted the red simulation. It fizzled and then vanished while a blue figure attacked him from behind. Jutus ducked as the enemy swung a kick to his head and then it tried to sweep Jutus off his balance, but Jutus did a front tumble. He rolled across the floor as his simulation dummy charged after him, shooting off ki blasts that were just barely reaching its target. Finally, Jutus flipped off the ground and shot a bright ki blast at the simulation target, it too sizzled in the air and then disappeared.

Jutus breathed heavily, sweat covering his entire body as it fell onto the floor. He blew a strand of his now golden spiked hair from his emerald eyes and waited to see if anything else was going to attack.

"Simulation Complete." the computer said to him. "All 10 thousand opponents have been annhialated on combat level 18. Now standing by for further simulation commands."

Jutus relaxed his pounding muscles, phased out of Super Saiyan mode and sank to the floor on his knees. He was so tired. Jutus had been working out for the last 4 hours, or was it 6? Well, however many it was he knew that his muscles were dying to take a break. He then scanned over himself, realizing how mangled his clothes were. They were so ruined, he didn't even remember what they looked like before he started training.

As he was scanning over his clothes, he realized that this was exactly the way he looked a very long time ago. Back when he was young and homeless, without a father or mother. They thought he was so useless that they didn't even send him off to a planet when he was a newborn child. That's how they thought of him. A worthless street rat who wouldn't even hope of having a chance to become part of the great Elite, let alone a low class soldier.

But all that changed the day he met Taliyah, his wife. That day, he felt like he had a purpose in life after all.

~FLASH~

She had been wandering around the planet for quite some time now. Her clothes were filthy and torn, her brown hair looked as though it hadn't been combed for several months and she looked famished. The young Saiyan girl had been searching for days, training and eating whenever she could. It had been so long since she last ate that soon she forgot exactly what she was searching for. The 9-year-old Saiyan was beginning to lose all hope on her journey.

Jutus had been looking through the trashcan and found a leg of an Orvan, an animal that looked like a cow except it had 5 tails and 4 horns. He smiled to himself seeing that nothing unsanitary had come to the tasty looking morcel. Jutus was about to sink his teeth into the meat when his scouter picked up another Saiyan power level.

He turned his head in the direction the scouter arrow was pointing in. "Hmm, power level 470." Jutus' eyes narrowed. "And it's starting to drain down."

As he said this, a Saiyan girl who looked his age revealed herself around the corner. She had on crumbled, dirty armor and her stretchy white gloves were a moldy grey. Her once sand colored skin was now sun baked and dark. The girl looked up at Jutus, her tired violet eyes in his direction. The eyes so full of ache, full of so much pain and deprevation. Jutus felt entranced by her purple eyes, a color he had never seen before in his life, though young he was.

The Saiyan girl studied the silver haired boy, yet strangely enough, he had brown eyes. Such a normal color that went with abnormal hair. His banes were long and over his face, nearly covering the other eye which wasn't behind a scouter while the rest was tied in a low ponytail in the back, tips of the tail reaching his back. He wore no armor of any kind. Just a torn dark blue body suit, the arms ripped off to reveal his well toned arms, a creamy sort of apricot. His white gloves had dirty smudges all over them, as well as his face. He had on some baggy timber green pants over his body suit, as well as brown and black boots with dirt clods on the toes and heel. The Saiyan boy had some sort of meat in his hands, and the sight of it made her mouth water while her stomach yearned for the feel of food inside.

Jutus saw that her eyes caught the Orvan leg in his hand and he smiled, then held it out to her. "Hey! Is this what you want?" he asked, knowing very well it was.

Taliyah blinked several times in surprise, then turned her head angrily away. How could she have shown weakness to someone she never knew?

Jutus' smile broadened as she refused to look back in his direction. Then he shrugged. What the heck? he thought, mind totally carefree.

The silver haired boy walked towards her, causing her to quickly glance at him. She immediately got into a fighting stance and started to power up, thinking this strange boy was challenging her. The boy stopped as his scouter started to blip, indicating that she was raising her energy level. He looked over at the yellow numbers flashing on his screen and then turned his gaze back towards her, staring at her through the red lense of his scouter. Then he returned to walking towards her, as if his reading told him she was nothing to fear.

Right when he was in range, the Saiyan girl swung a hard right punch to his face, ki flames flowing behind the attack. The boy reached up with his free hand and caught her fist with ease, a whip being cracked was heard as her fist met his palm. She started to push into the attack, but his grip just got tighter on her fist and she could feel the pain it was causing. But like all Saiyans, she refused to show that she was weak. The Saiyan kicked at the boy towards his knees, but he surfaced some of his own energy, causing her kick to crash into his ki waves.

Her eyes widened, totally horror struck. She couldn't believe how powerful this boy was, but most of all, how weak she was! The realization of her mission not being accomplished flooded through her mind at that moment and she fell onto her knees, sobbing. Jutus relinquished her fist and she immediately used it to cover her face in shame as she continued to sob. He then knelt down next to the weeping Saiyan, placing his hand on her shoulder. The sudden gesture caused her to jump, jerking her head to face his and to her surprise, she saw a smile of pure friendliness. The facial expression was unknown to her, yet she knew it well.

The boy handed her the meat that was in his hands, got up and then walked away. The Saiyan girl looked at the Orvan leg, so delicious and mouth watering. And yet, she could not accept it like this. She looked back up and saw the silver haired boy walking further and further away from her.

She reached out her hand to him, as if to catch him. "Hey!" she called out to him, surprised by the raspiness of her voice.

The boy turned around and cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah?" he asked.

The girl got off her knees. "What's your name?" she asked.

He smiled. No one had ever wanted to know who he was. "Jutus, you?" he inquired.

She returned the smile. "I'm Taliyah." she answered, and then she ran up towards him.

Jutus placed his hands in his pockets and sighed. "Well, are you homeless?" he asked, and they started to walk down the alleyway.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm lookin' for someone though." she said as she started to sniff the leg of Orvan.

"Family, friends?" he asked while kicking a rock.

She laughed. "More like my enemy!" Taliyah answered emotionlessly.

Jutus looked at her, shock written all over his face. "You serious?"

"As a heart attack! I want revenge for what he's done too!" she said through clenched teeth. "Raco, you are as good as dead when I get my hands on your filthy carcuss!" Taliyah muttered.

Jutus smiled at how she behaved. He was also curious about this Raco character, for that name sounded oddly familiar. "Hey, why don't I help you find this guy Raco. We'd get alot more ground covered and I know the streets of this city like the back of my hand. I also got connections with other street hustlers like myself around the whole planet Vegeta!" he said with pride.

Taliyah looked at him happily. "Really?! Great!" she said with zeal.

Jutus' eyes narrowed. "But in the meantime, why don't you stay with me. We'll spend a year training and it shouldn't take us more than one year to find this guy's location with the information we've gathered before that time.

Taliyah nodded and began to sink her teeth into the juicy leg of meat she'd been wanting to eat for sometime now. Jutus just laughed at her as she quickly tore the meat to shreds and then licked the bone clean.

~Back to the Present~

Jutus smiled to himself as he sat on the floor. Man, those were the good ole' days! Back when they were young and prosperous. Although they were top ranking Royal Guards of the Saiyan Elite for a few years, serving as the Prince Vegeta's body guard, they had some great times. Him, Taliyah, and the Prince Vegeta. What Jutus wouldn't give to have those times back into his life along with his children, and that may have happened had it not been for Zell. That thought made Jutus' anger suddenly flare up, but then someone walked in through the Gravitron room door.

Jutus looked up and saw that it was his mate, Taliyah, who still wore the silken garment he had draped over her when he put her into bed. She had taken her hair down from the tight high ponytail she usually had it in, and now it draped down past her shoulders just a bit. But her spiky banes were the same as usual, and she was rubbing one eye while the other one, a bright violet, looked at her husband curiously.

"Jutus, it's late. Come to bed." Taliyah said, not asked.

Jutus smiled and got off the floor, walking towards her. "Okay." he replied and then kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

* * * * * *

Nina looked above to see how Vegeta was managing. So far, he'd gathered enough energy to blow the planet to pieces. But she wasn't worried at all, for she knew that Vegeta wouldn't throw an attack that would destroy himself in the process to defeat 3 enemies. He was to cowardly to do something of that sort. Nina also knew that the 3 assassins wouldn't dodge his Final Flash attack anyhow. They would take any opportunity to make the other Z fighters as well as herself scared of them. But Nina wasn't going to let them push fear into her heart.

Cougar looked up at the impudent mortal who was gathering energy for such a pathetic attack. She'd seen mice with more fight in them than that! Cougar was getting tired of this Saiyan trying to make his so-called noble move. If it were her choice, she'd leap right up there and tear him to pieces, then she'd eat him. But her leader Tessay told her to remain patient, so that's what she was trying to do. As much as she hated to.

Rowan looked over at Nina, the beautiful warrior who managed to out maneuver his efforts to electricute them. Sure, he was only playing but one person should've gotten singed during his attack! Yes, Nina was no ordinary Saiyan nor was she just an ordinary fighter. Rowan was quite fond of this young girl, and he hated the fact that he'd just have to kill her in the end anyway. But Tessay said no one could be spared, and probably this planet as well.

Tessay pushed a braided lock of green hair from her view as she looked up at the Saiyan whose flaming hair had turned from black to gold all of a sudden. Lightning seemed to nip all over his body, making him light up brighter than a...what did those Earthlings call it? Christmas trees? Well, in any case he was glowing radiantly against the night sky.

Tessay smiled. It's amazing what creatures will do to stay alive. she thought.

Nina turned her head towards the direction of a sudden approaching ki signal. Her eyes narrowed, blazing with anger. Who would be so foolish as to return when I told them to leave? she thought furiously.

Trunks' green ki waves were above her and then he landed, right foot first and then his left. The wind blew his lavender hair in front of his pale blue eyes. His brows were narrowed just as deeply as Nina's. Obviously he was angry as well, but Nina was not going to let him stay, no matter how angry he was. Trunks remained where he was, eyes blazing viciously while Nina was opposite of him. They looked as though they were in a stand-off, ready to attack one another.

Nina decided to go over to him. "Trunks, what do you think you're doing ?" she asked while trying to hide the anger in her voice.

Trunks clenched his fists tightly. "I should ask you the same thing Nina." he replied, also trying to hide the anger in his voice. Though he wasn't doing as good a job as Nina.

Nina continued to walk until she was barely 2 inches from touching her chest up against him. Trunks didn't even flinch at the fact she was so close to him. He was too mad to let that interfere with his thoughts. Her long banes were pushed aside as the cold wind touched her light brown skin. Nina's eyes looked as though they were on fire, fierce anger was so conspicuous in them. She could see the same inferno in Trunks' eyes.

"Trunks, go back." Nina said.

"Why should I?" he snapped.

Nina's fiery gaze relaxed just a bit. I don't want you getting hurt. she thought to herself. She didn't want to tell Trunks how she felt about him just yet. Not yet.

"..." Nina didn't reply.

Trunks gave an aggrivated huff. "Well Nina, why should I?!" he asked her again, voice quavering with anger that made Nina flinch just barely.

"Just get outta here!" she said through clenched teeth. Why is he making things so difficult?! Nina asked herself angrily.

Trunks' eyes narrowed deeper. He had had just about enough. "I won't!" he hissed.

Nina growled. "Why?!" she asked, her fury boiling inside of her.

Trunks' angry expression began to grow less tense. I don't want to lose you. Not now. Not so soon. he thought. Why couldn't he tell her his true feelings. Was he scared she'd say no?

She didn't wait for him to answer. "I don't need you to protect me Trunks! I don't like you the way you think I do!" Nina said curtly. She threw her arm fiercely to the side while turning her head, eyes shut tightly. "Just get outta here now!" she yelled.

Trunks' eyes widened. No, it can't be true! She's lying! Trunks looked down at the ground. Why was he so sure of her feelings for him now, when just awhile ago he had doubts? He tore his eyes from the ground while shaking his head. No! It isn't true! Trunks reached out and grabbed the back of her neck, then roughly pulled her against his body. She made a slight attempt to fight against him, but his grip was too strong. A strength fueled by anger alone.

Trunks looked over Nina. Her beauty was unsurpassed, the most enchanting being he'd ever seen. He knew now that he loved her. Not only her beauty, but her will to survive as well as her courage to move on. She still refused to look at him.

Trunks shook Nina hard. "Nina! Look at me!" he demanded.

She slowly lifted her dark brown eyes up at him. They glowed brighter than ever. Trunks sighed, heart aching. "Nina, look me in the eyes and tell me you don't care about me! Tell me your feelings don't go beyond that of a friendship! Tell me you're not capable of loving anyone! Tell me now!"

Nina could see the anguish in his blue eyes. She felt her heart collapse, a horrible pain following the sudden collapse. As though someone pierced a thorn into her heart. The more she looked into those sorrowful eyes, the deeper the thorn went. Nina was so close to his face that their lips were barely touching one another. She could feel Trunks' uneasy breath, quavering at the horrible thought of her not loving him haunted his mind, tormented his soul. Nina saw it then, plain as day. Trunks loved her. But she couldn't let him into her life just to lose him. Let him lose her.

She sighed. "You don't understand, I can't be with you Trunks." Nina said, wanting to weep.

Trunks lifted his other hand, clutching her neck in both his hands. He wanted to cry, yell at her for lying. But is she? What does she mean?

"FINAL FLASH!" a voice echoed from the sky.

Nina and Trunks looked up into the sky and saw a great golden beam of light erupt from Vegeta's hands. Nina put her arms around Trunks' neck while pulling him forward as she fell back. Trunks had already let go of her neck and his arms were just hanging on either side of her waist. She crashed to the ground on her rear while Trunks fell in between her legs.

Nina began to raise her ki. "ENERGY SHIELD!" she yelled as a translucent dome surrounded her and Trunks inside.

Nina clutched Trunks tightly, his head pressed deeply into her bosom while he wrapped his arms about her waist, his legs curled up underneath him. She began to lightly caress his soft lavender hair through her fingers while he rubbed her back in gentle strokes. She and Trunks closed their eyes tightly as the storm of energy engulfed them inside.

Outside the safetly of the dome, the 3 mercenaries just watched as their transparent forcefields protected them. Cougar yawned, quite bored while Rowan studied the energy of the massive beam they were "supposedly" to be killed in. Tessay sat on the grass, kicking her feet simultaniously for no particular reason at all, clumps of earth flying all around her and her partners.

The Z fighters looked on curiously as the Final Flash attack tore into the ground. Everyone was worried about Nina and Trunks. What had happened to them? Android 18 saw them fall onto the ground and just as that happened, the beam swallowed them up! Were they alright?

Piccolo sensed that Nina and Trunks were okay, and that it was Nina's energy who was protecting Trunks and herself. Hmm. I wonder if this is the Saiyan Dende was talking about that would stop these 3 foes who are to cause the bloodshed on Earth. Piccolo's eyes narrowed. But what about these 5 stones he mentioned?

Goku's eyes widened. What was Trunks thinking, taking off like that? But most of all, what was Nina thinking in staying?! His eyes narrowed. Man, that Vegeta! Didn't he know that Nina was down there to begin with, or did he not care? He can be so pigheaded at times!

Kino looked at the large beam of energy, but she wasn't worried at all. She could sense the energy shield her sister had created to shield herself and the young boy. Kino arched an eyebrow, surprised that her sister could manage to sustain this much power while not going into Super Saiyan mode. Kino smiled. Well little sis, you've grown quite powerful. But how much power do you really have?

Jarvus smiled proudly as he saw his youngest sister get swallowed up by the mass of energy. He knew that she was still alive, for his training had taught her to withstand alot more danger and power than this. Had his training methods pushed her to the next level though? I mean sure, she didn't have to turn into a Super Saiyan, he expected this sort of reaction. Jarvus' eyes narrowed. But will it be enough?

Pan looked at the scene with a strange sense of bondage to it, as well as a deep wave of remorse. Nina had saved her life twice! Once from the bolts of lightning and the other time, from boiling lava. And what had she done? Pan's eyes narrowed. I just stood there while she went off and risked her life for us! How could I?! she scolded herself.

Pan sighed and looked at her hands, then balled them into fists. How could I?!