Chapter Sixteen

After the situation with the Saiyans and the Tuffles has been resolved you felt particularly dead. You wanted nothing more to do with this planet or its inhabitants... at least for a while. And your partner agrees.

"Finally... Don't take it the wrong way Cabba but I'm not looking forward to meeting you again. If I had a choice I wouldn't want to go on our adventures."

"Agreed... I'm thinking about going on a vacation as well Or at the very least get a reassignment somewhere less stressful. Like an active warzone."

"Hehe... Well I hope it doesn't come to that.

You know, if you want to you are always welcome to hang out at the lookout.

Champa wouldn't even notice and... hell, I could use some friendly faces over there."

"I'll think about it. Taking a shore leave sounds nice though... So, do you want to go back to Champas to... y'know." Cabba motions towards the ship and its dubious cargo.

"Yeah sure... I could use a rest. And so do you by the looks of it."

Getting back in the ship you take off for Champas little planet and during the couple hours it takes to get there you had yourself a little shut-eye. Upon arrival Cabba shook you awake and pointed on the little planet.

"Here we are."

"Sweet. Bring us in so I can unload our cargo."

Taking great care with your precious little package you slowly over the course of several minutes carry the two pods out and by the end you lean against them in exhaustion as you wave off Cabba. "Cheers friend. I wish you luck with those two ladies. Looks like you'll need it."

"Ugh... don't remind me."

"Hey! If they give you any trouble just remind them how we crushed this mission. That should get a decent enough reaction out of them."

"Heh... Maybe. But I'm not brave enough to do that I'm afraid. And... I wish the same to you."

"Yeah. Thanks."

As the Saiyans little spaceship lifts off you hear footsteps approaching you from behind.

"My oh my, what is this?"

"Oh hi Vados... They followed me home. Can I keep them?"

"What... are they? I've never seen anything like it."

"Tuffles." She raises an eyebrow as if she wants to question you about it but you cut her off. "I assure you, they are Tuffles. Just a bit... different."

"And you brought them here?"

"Seemed like a good idea at first."

"Well... I sure hope you know what you're doing. Because if they are what you claim them to be... they might be better off as paper weights."

Stepping up to one of the pods you start musing to yourself as you gently touch the glass separating you from the Tuffle.

"One should be safe enough." Sliding your hand over to the buttons you attempt to unlock it. When that fails you start pressing buttons randomly until you've finally had enough. "WAKEY WAKEY!" You shout as you kick the device and it releases a hiss.

The fluid containing the female slowly drains away into a reservoir and the capsule opens up. No longer supported by the device she falls forward and onto her hands. As the culture fluid drips off of her body she starts taking her first breaths and subsequently starts coughing up the liquid in her lungs. You see her clenching her hand into a fist as she straightens her back and opens her eyes.

She's smaller than you, roughly around the height of Caulifla. Cracking her neck once she charges you immediately and after grabbing you by the throat she slams you into a nearby tree, not hard enough to deal damage but enough to cause discomfort. Her blue, almost gem like eyes look you over as she opens her mouth. "Tuffle... no match, Saiyan... no match.

Most likely male. Who are you?"

"Eric... Eric Asulf. I'm a human."

She looks around for a moment but she never fully averts her attention from you. "This isn't Plant." She pushes forward and starts tightening her hold on your neck. "Start explaining and I may let you live."

"I was on Planet Plant." You respond as you struggle to swallow and quietly raise your hand. "I... took you away."

"The Tuffles let you take us? Why?"

"They didn't have a say in the matter. That decision was solely mine."

She furrows her brows. "Why?"

"I figured it's not the best neighborhood to be raised in. I think I saw a playground somewhere... then again it could've been just a meat grinder." She pauses for a moment, unsure how to react.

"You don't lie. Your heart rate is stable.

Because of that I won't kill you."

"Smart." You signal her with your eyes to look down.

"H-Huh?" Following your eyes she lowers her head and sees your arm raised to her gut, in your palm a dark orb levitates, ready to fire. She looks back up at you. "Impressive."

And lets go of you.

"So... what does this mean for me? For us?"

You shrug. "That depends on what you want to do."

"What I... want?"

"Yes. You were taught what that is. Wanting. Will."

"No. We are the Tuffle race. Their will. We are meant to be weapons. To avenge a race that doesn't care about us. Only that we serve."

You take a few steps away from the tree and point at the surrounding area. "Look around.

This isn't Planet Plant. Nobody will force you to do anything. So it's your choice. What do you want to do?"

"I... don't know. We were never asked that."

"Then how about you stick around until you figure it out? You could go out... sure. But it's a universe you know nothing about. Here you can have a quiet moment without anyone disturbing you. You could figure out what you want here."

She looks around, taking in the area. "It'll do." Then she turns around. "What about my brother?"

"I figured I'd release you one at a time. Almost died. Looks like I made the right call. When you release him... make sure he doesn't go out of control."

"Is that a threat?"

"A warning. This is not my place. And the land lord is not as nice as I am. But if you behave, he's a big softy." She pauses for a moment as she looks at her brother. "What's wrong?"

"He's the only one I have. The only one I know.

Yet I don't even know his name. My brothers name Or mine."

"They didn't give you a name?"

She shakes her head and then has to pull a few strands of loose silver hair out of her eyes. "No. We got a serial number. Not a name."

You scratch your head awkwardly.

"Hm....I could give you names but I think deciding WHO you are yourselves is even more important then deciding WHAT you want to be." The girl gives you an odd look with her sapphire eyes. "But if you want a tip then I heard your people are fond of using fruit puns as names. Maybe you can use that."

She returns her gaze to her brother. "Oren...

And I'll be Kamin."

As she proceeds to awaken her brother from his sleep you hear your teacher appearing behind you. "I think that went well. Ignoring the whole choking part."

"Well... it could've gone worse."

Kamin then turns around, noticing Vados and tries to scan her. But her mouth opens slowly as she seems incapable of gauging her strength. The pod opens up and the male twin goes through the same process as his sister did but with his sibling present he doesn't exactly flip out.

"Happy birthday Oren." She says to her brother in a kind of touching manner.

"Oren? I like it. What's yours sis?"

"Kamin."

The two then go over their current situation with Kamin passing what little knowledge she gained from you. He seems to be just as, if not more confused by this turn of events as his sister. But the two seem at least semi content with the arrangement. The boy then walks up to you and extends his hand.

"So... you are the one that brought us out?

Neat."

Taking his hand you give him a firm shake.

"Name's Eric. The nice lady is Vados. She is the... attendant of the landlord Champa.

I recommend you be on your best behavior around them."

Upon hearing that name however you see something quite peculiar as you never imagined a robot exhibiting fear. "C-Champa?!" They stutter and you smile.

"Oh yeah... Kinda slipped my mind." The two seem to fidget around uncomfortably.

With a loud clap of your hands you manage to make the two machine mutants jump.

"Alright! Who wants lunch?"

"Ooooh me!" Vados raises her hand eagerly.

Heh. Even though she isn't much of a foodie she does have a good taste.

The two however look at each other in confusion and then back at you. "L-Lunch? What's that?"

"Oh that is it!" You speak in anger and grab both kids by the hand. They gasp in surprise, not knowing how to even react to being dragged away like that.

Leading them into the dining area you have them sit down and ask Vados nicely to oversee them while you do your thing.

And boy do you knock it out of the park. As soon as you get to work the smell starts escaping from the kitchen and the entire palace is in uproar.

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAH!"

You hear a scream as Caulifla drop kicks her way through a window. "ERIC'S COOKING! COME ON KALE!"

Her friend does not follow Cauliflas example and meekly enters through the door.

"H-Hello."

The two Tuffles almost immediately jump up and raise their fists. "SAIYANS!"

"Easy there." Caulifla responds to the threatening presence of the Tuffles. "Sit down and wait for the food! I'm not gonna kill you before you can eat some of Erics cooking.

I'm not that cruel."

The two begin lowering their fists in confusion as you extend an arm so they can see it through the door. Wagging your finger you bark your orders at them. "No fighting in the dining room! Them's the rules! Now sit patiently, I'm almost done."

And just as you finish that sentence three more guests pop in uninvited. Namely your little friends from Universe 9. "Hi guys! Oh! Hello! You are new! Let me guess. Eric?"

Sorrel asks the twins who nod dumbly.

The rabbit shakes her head. "Seriously that guy... It's like he's making a zoo. Can't complain much though!"

"A-Are you here because of him as well?"

"You'll find that Eric has a very... attractive personality." Vados answers them.

You finally finish frying the chicken and start serving it to your guests. "Say Vados... Where's Champa? Isn't he eating?"

"So far he's keeping himself to his promise.

He hasn't eaten in days. I'm hoping he'll loose some weight from it at least."

As the congregation starts digging in with voracity that could put a Saiyan to shame, with the exception of Vados and Kale, you see the twins just staring blankly at the food in front of them. With a little whistle you get their attention and show them how to eat the fried meat. After the first bite you see them stop and just stare into a block of empty space with their mouths full.

You showcase them how you are supposed to chew and as they start mimicking your motions they finally swallow what's in their mouths. Once more they freeze and... start shaking. They put down the food and look at their quivering hands.

Suddenly... they start crying. "S-Sister... what is this?"

"I don't know Oren... I... feel... I FEEL! I feel... sad..."

"Why can't I stop them sister?! I don't want this!"

Standing up you walk over to them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. As they look up at you, you give them a reassuring smile.

"It's okay! Let it out."

Finally their restraints cave in under the pressure and they start rubbing their eyes uncontrollably. Gently patting them on the back you lead them into a room where they can get some time to think things through. You have them sit down on a bed and try to comfort them as much as possible while they struggle with their surfacing emotions.

But you feel severely inadequate.

You don't really know what they are going through or even how they really might feel.

Perhaps it'd be best if you left them be for now. Let them figure it out between themselves.

You take a deep breath and sit down next to them. Pulling them in closer you let them cry themselves out on your shoulders.

Gently ruffling their hairs you try to calm them down to the best of your abilities. "Shhhhhhhh... it's okay... it's okay. Let it all out."

They don't speak much afterwards, only cry incoherently and sob once they ran out of tears. After a while however they do seem to calm down and the two cling to your shirt even as they slowly drift off to sleep.

When the others start wondering what happened to you they do try to check things out and when they see you their reactions are priceless. Not to you though, you find it quite embarrassing as they point their fingers at you with one kid sleeping on each arm and giggle while doing so.

"Hey Eric... Try to sing them a lullaby!"

Caulifla taunts you as the others take out some sort of devices with which they start taking pictures of you.

You flip them off of course and decide to put the twins to sleep. Carrying them one by one to a bed and tucking them in you let them have a good nights rest and quietly close the door to their room. Standing outside you respond to your still snickering friends.

"Laugh it up assholes!"