Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ False Pretenses ❯ Chapter 2

Alright, here we go, next chapter!

DISCLAIMER: Nothing has changed. If I owned it I would be rich and I'm not… so yeah….

Chapter 2

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FLASHBACK

"You guys are going to be late! Hurry up!" the blue haired beauty yell up the stairs. She sighed and shook her head as she heard multiple muffled responses come floating back down towards her. She walked into the kitchen and look at the lunches that her mother had made for the squad of teenagers and couldn't help but smile. Yeah, they drove her nuts but she wouldn't have it any other way. She was glad that she had decided to take the kids in when they were younger. It's not like they didn't have the room. Even with the addition of six teenagers there was still entire sections of rooms that remained un occupied. She shook her and head and smiled again as she heard the sqaud coming downstairs, laughing about something.

"Morning Bulma," Starr said in a sing-song voice as she came in. She began humming a light tune as Charm, the spunky blonde, walked in after her trying not to bust into laughter. She waved at Bulma. Behind her came Rhinoa, the raven hair gentle spirit, closely followed by Squall and Seifer. Starr moved over to Seifer and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"He's going to kill you guys," Squall said, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter. He took a bite as Charm and Starr looked at each other. The two girls started laughing, while Rhinoa lightly giggled. Bulma put her hands on her hips and looked at the group.

"What did you guys do to him this time?" Charm put on her best innocent look face and Starr raised her wrist to her face as though she was looking at a watch.

"You'll find out in 3....2....1." As if right on cue, an angry yelled came from upstairs. The two girls covered their mouths to stiffle their laughter. Thudding feet could be heard and Zell ran into the kitchen.

"Oh....my.....," Bulma said, bringing her own hand up to her mouth. Zell, Charm's younger by a year brother stood in the doorway looking like he was about to strangle someone. Bulma couldn't hold it in anymore and she started laughing. "Zell, why is your hair PINK?" Zell scowled and angrily pointed towards his sister and Starr.

"What the hell did you do to my hair?!" Zell angrily said.

"Language, Zell," Bulma warned.

"Relax little brother, it's only temporary." Charm said, still laughing.

"Payback's a bitch," Starr said, wiping a tear from her eye, earning herself a warning look from Bulma. "Remember when you put food coloring in the soap? Yeah our hands where blue for a week." Zell scowled again.

"That was over summer break, not during the school year where it's guaranteed people are going to see it!" Charm and Starr both shrugged 'oh well' and grabbed their lunches before walking out the door.

END FLASHBACK

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"What the hell is a super Sayian Saiyan?" Confusion clouded the young girl's eyes. Vegeta stared at her for a moment, trying to decide if she was being deceitful or not. Vegeta relaxed his grip on Starr's neck and he realized she was telling him the truth. He allowed his hand to leave her entirely. Starr subconsciously brought her own hand up to her neck and rubbed it gingerly, waiting for the Saiyan Prince to make his next move. Her back was still up against the wall, and Vegeta, noticing how close he was standing to her, took a step back.

"You really don't remember what happened, do you?" He asked, slight curiosity in his voice. Starr shook her head. She looked to the perfectly blue sky, and narrowed her eyes.

"Don't you think that if I could remember what happened I'd being standing her all confused and crap. Obviously, I'm having trouble remembering and I definitely don't know what this 'Super Saiyan' thing is," Starr was starting to get angry now. She wanted to know what was going on, and she wanted to know what happened to her friends and family and it made it irritable that the memories were fuzzy. She needed to know. She growled in annoyance as Vegeta grabbed her shoulder and turned her so that she was forced to look at him. His own dangerous growl escaped from his throat.

"You'd better watch your fucking tone with me, girl," Vegeta let go of Starr's shoulder and watched her as her face showed a few different emotions. it went from fear to defiance, from anger to confusion. He watched as she bit her lip and shifted her eyes to look at him.

"What... what happened...?" she asked softly. Vegeta sighed.

"You're no good to me right now if you can't remember. Figure it out and then come find me." Vegeta took one last look at the younger Saiyan before taking to the sky, leaving a confused girl alone on the balcony.

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Starr watched as Vegeta took to the skies without any warning. She desperately wanted to remember what it was that she just couldn't seem to. With an exasperated sigh she turned back to the room. She slowly walked back over to the bed and sat back down, taking another look around. The room, she realized, was fit for royalty. Surely if Vegeta had her housed in here then he must mean her no harm, right? But the thought couldn't be a sure thing since she was unsure of what had happened. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"What if he has me here to throw me off?" she asked aloud. "What if whatever happened was actually because of him, his own doing? Damnit! I need to remember what happened!" She clenched her hands into fists until she felt the sting of pain. She looked down and saw a thin line of blood coming out of her left fist from where he nails dug in. She loosened her fist and gently cupped it to prevent any blood from spilling on to the carpet and walked over to the bathroom door that stood slightly ajar. She washed her hand, and looked at her own reflection in the mirror. She could see the worry that was etched across her deceivingly delicate face. She dried her hand and walked back over to her bed, laying herself and curing her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling worn and tired. A single thought crossed her mind as sleep took her over.

'Please let everyone be ok....'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK

Starr tapped her pencil on her desk, watching the clock at the front of the classroom, impatiently waiting for the final bell of the day to ring. At the front of the room the instructor was droning on about some scientific fact about mechanics that she found absolutely boring. She did, after all, live with a genius and she knew everything that was being said. Starr was a true beauty, as anyone would attest to should they be asked, but she was also quite intelligent. A truly dangerous combination according the also beautiful and highly intelligent Bulma Briefs. Finally, the long-awaited bell rang, and Starr stood up gathering her books and bag as the instructor was saying last minute directions about a project that was due at the end of the week, but the young girl paid no attention as she was already done and fully looked over by Bulma.

"Where you listening to anything she was saying?" Charm asked as she fell in step besides her best friend.

"Of course not," Starr said laughing. "It's hard to pay attention when you're not learning anything new." Charm laughed in agreement. The two shared a smiled before setting off towards the front doors of Orange Star High School to meet the rest of their group. Today was the big pep rally and it was supposed to be a big spectacle to get everyone pumped to take on their rival school in football. Starr and Charm were engaged in conversation as they walked outside. Starr took a quick look around, quickly spotting Rhinoa at the base of a tree to the left of the steps. The girls headed over and smiled at the raven-haired beauty on approach. Rhinoa smiled back and the three began to talk about the day and the game while they waited for the guys to join them. Starr soon felt an arm wrap around her waist as he boyfriend had joined them, followed by Zell and Squall, who did the same thing to Rhinoa.

"Hey baby," Seifer said, planting a kiss on Starr's lips. "how was your day?" Starr Smiled in response.

"Good, long. But it's over and now the weekend begins. After your game of course." Seifer grunted in response and fist bumped with Squall and Zell while saying something about 'taking those damn tigers down.' Starr started laughing but stopped abruptly and snapped her head to her left. She narrowed as her eyes as she looked around.

"Starr," Charm asked. "what's wrong?" Starr didn't answer right away. She took a moment trying to figure out what it was that she was sensing.

"I just sensed a rather large power level," she responded, still looking around. "and before you say anything, it's not Goku. This feels different, but it's not exactly a small amount of chi." Starr scanned her surroundings before shifting her eyes upwards towards the sky. "What the...." Starr didn't finish her thought, but her friends followed her eyes up.

"Who the heck is that?" Zell asked. No one answered. The figure in the sky was a man with long, black, spikey hair, and strange armor-like clothing. He appeared to be staring directly at the group, but the uneasy feeling in Starr's stomach told her that he was looking directly at her. As if he could hear her thoughts, the stranger pointed at the group, and then gave a 'follow me' motion. The teenagers stood, unmoving, still watching.

"He wants us to follow?" Charm asked, finally looking away from the man. Starr answered her, but not moving the man from her line of sight.

"No, not us. Me. I can't explain it, but I think he's motioning for me specifically." The other six looked at the girl as if she suddenly grew a third eye.

"You can't be seriously considering following him," Seifer said, grabbing ahold of Starr's hand. Rhinoa and Squall stared at her, and Zell stood with his mouth hanging open. Charm fully turned towards her friend.

"No way! Absolutely not!" Charm said. "There is no way we are letting you go with him. We have no idea who he is or what he wants."

"I know that, Charm, but I feel like I need to. Like I said, I can't explain it. And before you even think it, no, you are not coming with me," Starr put her hand up at Charm's attempt at a protest. "Hear me out. I'm stronger than all of you, no offense but you know it's true. If it does turn into a fight, don't you think it would be smarter to have you guys go get Goku? I'll lead him away from here. You guys just go get Goku. Tell him to feel for me. Easy peasy. We'll all be back here before the rally in a hour."

"You have seriously lost it," was all Charm could respond with. But none of her friends tried to argue with Starr. They all knew it would be pointless. Once the feisty girl made a decision, that was it. All they could do was reluctantly agree with her plan. Starr gave them a reassuring smile, but they looked at her with concern and doubt on their faces.

"Oh come on guys, knock it off. I'll be fine. Just go let Goku know what's going on. He said he was going to be waiting at home for us since him and ChiChi were going to bring Gohan to the rally tonight. I'll be fine." Starr gave them her signature smirk and took off into the sky towards the stranger. As she approached he turned and began to fly away, but stood understood that she was meant to follow.

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The wind whipped through her hair as she flew. She closed her eyes, relishing the feeling. To her, it was indescribable. Looking down towards the ground, she saw that they were moving out of the city and towards the nearby forest. Before long, the stranger stopped abruptly and descended into the trees below. Starr hesitated for a moment before following suit. She landed in front of the man, making sure to keep a distance between them. The man stared at the young girl, almost with a curious look. Starr waited for him to speak, but when he maintained his stony silence she decided to make the first move herself.

"Who are you?" She said. "Why did you come to my school and why did you want me to follow you?" Starr began to feel annoyed when he still did not speak, and she irritably crossed her arms across her chest. "Ok, Seriously? If you have no intention of explaining, then I'm going to leave. I have more important things to do than stand around in a forest with someone who apparently doesn't have manners to speak when spoken to." Starr sign and shook her head, uncrossed her arms, and shook her head again. She was about to make her exit when the man finally decided to speak.

"I'm Radditz."

"Like who?" Starr halted her exit now that he was finally speaking. Starr was about to ask another question when she sensed more individuals moving towards her. Two more men and a woman emerged from the trees. Starr quickly looked around and quickly jumped backwards to put more space between herself and the newcomers. She dropped down into her fighting stance and waited. One of the men, she realized with a start looked identical to Goku. Her eyes scanned the other two, sizing up her opponents. The other man was a rather large, bald looking brute. Starr felt uneasy as he looked her up and down, and the emotion turn to disgust when she saw the quick motion of his tongue across his lips. Her eyes shifted over to the woman. She was slightly taller than herself with long black hair that have soft spikes that, Starr noticed, mimic her own hair. The woman was a beauty in her own right, and for some reason Starr felt drawn to her, like she'd know her for a long time. The silent size up continued until the Goku look-alike spoke.

"Enough," he said in a voice slightly deeper than Goku's. He moved to the center of the group and looked at Starr. "Drop your stance. It is not needed here." Starr narrowed her eyes at the older man.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks though. When I'm sure that I'm not about to ambushed then maybe I'll consider relaxing, but until then, nope." Starr engaged in a stare down with him. Suddenly he signed and shook his head.

"It's really not necessary here. My name is Bardock. This is Nappa," he motioned towards the bald man, "and this is Saruka. You've already met my son, Radditz."

"Honestly, Saluna," Saruka said. "if we were going to attack you we already would've by now. And besides, there's no honor ganging up on one little girl." Starr raised an eyebrow at her.

"Little girl? Ok, first off, not so little. Second, umm, what? My name is Starr. Starr Reku. I don't know who this Saluna person is, but if that's who you're looking for, sorry. You've got the wrong person here."

"No, I don't think so," Saruka responded. "You are definitely Saluna. You just don't see the family resemblance."

"Family resemblance?" Starr repeated questioningly. Before Saruka had a chance to answer, Starr felt a familiar Ki signature land besides her. She smiled and relaxed slightly, now that her mentor, Son Goku, and arrived. She felt Goku put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. He smiled at her and nodded. Starr waited a moment before relaxing fully and dropping her stance. Goku looked towards the group in from of them.

"So, I heard the names, but I still didn't hear who you are, what you're doing here, or why you sought out Starr," He said. Goku then looked at Bardock, and it finally dawned on him. "And, uh, why do you look like me?" He locked eyes with Bardock. Bardock cocked his head slightly.

"Kakkarot? I didn't realize you were on this planet as well." It was now Goku's turn to cock his head.

"Kakkarot? What's a Kakkort?"

"That's your name...." Bardock responded. Goku looked at him, confused.

"No, my name is Goku."

"Goku," Starr said, "she called me by a different name too. Saluna, was it?" Saruka nodded. "Ok, can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on here? Like sometime today, preferably before I develop a massive migraine. And I really want to know why he looks like Goku." Starr motioned towards Bardock, who took a step forward.

"You both really don't know?" he asked. Starr and Goku looked at each other and then back at Bardock and waited for him to continue. Bardock put a hand on his head a sighed. "I was really hoping this would be easy. Ok, try to understand this. Neither one of you is actually from here. Both of you are Saiyans, members of a pound warrior race that resides on Planet Vegeta. We came here searching for Saluna, but imagine my surprise when I see you here as well, Kakkarot. There is a war brewing, and it was decided that it was time to bring Saluna home." Bardock paused to let the rush of information sink in.

"As far as why Kakkarot and I look alike, I thought that would've been obvious. I am his father, Radditz, and Saluna," Bardock motioned towards Saruka, "Saruka is your eldest sister." Starr felt he jaw drop and looked at Goku, who looked really confused. Starr looked back at Bardock, and then at Saruka.

"Wait! You mean to tell me that we're ALIENS?" Starr suddenly felt like her head was about to explode. She put a hand on her head and began to rub her temple. This day was not going the way she expected it to.

Alright, #2 is in the books. It was all flashback, I know, and the next chapter will pretty much be the same thing. What do you think? Let me know.