The dark queen has come

She’s just beyond our sight

Hovering like a vulture

To bring about the world’s end.

The day dawned bright and clear and Kyloa would have thought it was a beautiful day if she didn’t know what was going to happen later on. Goku and the others were even more tense, with worry and anticipation. As they waited in the meadow for Queen Frozena to arrive, the fighters were surprised when Vegeta, Krillin, and Eighteen showed up.

"What are you guys doing here?" exclaimed Goku. Kyloa frowned.

"You guys didn’t think we were going to let you face this fight alone, did you?" replied Krillin cheerfully, glancing at his wife. Eighteen gave him a tiny half-smile.

"Wherever there is a fight, I will always be close by. You should have learned that by now, Kakarott," snapped Vegeta.

Goku grinned happily. He never was one to let Vegeta’s harsh words get to him. Kyloa’s frown deepened. "You shouldn’t have come." With that, she disappeared into the rock she was sitting on, not noticing the confused looks she got.

"What’s the matter with her?" asked Krillin.

Goku scratched his head and shrugged, causing Skorch to squawk. Piccolo, who had been meditating, alighted to the ground and joined the group. "She feels that we should take this fight a little more seriously. After all," he concluded sarcastically, "We just might die today."

Vegeta snorted contemptuously. Goku and Krillin managed to look pretty sheepish. Gohan became thoughtful. "You know, Dad, Kyloa has the right to be afraid. I mean, Kyloa will be the first one that Queen Frozena goes after, right? Since she was the one who defeated her before."

"You’re right, Gohan," said Goku. "Krillin, would you mind keeping an eye on Kyloa during the fight and make sure she stays out of trouble?"

Krillin blinked. "Yeah, sure, Goku. You sure you want me to do it?"

Goku smiled and gave him the victory sign. "Well, the rest of us are going to be kind of busy, don’t you think?"

Before anyone could reply, Kyloa suddenly appeared out of the rock. She ignored them completely, keeping her eyes attuned to the sky. Silent Sixteen stepped forward. "What is it?"

They didn’t have to wait for the answer long. Within seconds they could all sense the power level. A ship sped by overhead, and they were all nearly knocked over by the backwash. The ship was just like Frieza’s, only half its size. It sped out of their sight, heading for what seemed to be the abandoned territories where they usually fought. They all turned to Kyloa who seemed calm outwardly but Piccolo noticed that her hands were trembling almost imperceptibly and that her face was just slightly pale. "She’s here."

A determined look settled over Goku’s features. "Right. Well, we should probably go and greet her." With that, he rose into the air, Skorch following. Gohan and Sixteen followed close behind, with Dende, Vegeta, Eighteen, and Krillin close after. Piccolo didn’t move, his eyes on Kyloa, who seemed a little reluctant to follow. "You don’t have to go, you know."

Kyloa turned to look at him, her eyes unreadable as usual. "I have to." She quickly rose into the air and sped after the others. Piccolo shook his head and was quick to pursue. At the speeds the fighters traveled, it didn’t take them long to reach the place where the ship had landed. Wanting to keep the element of surprise, they hid among the plateaus nearby and spied upon the ship below. The fighters watched as a ramp slowly lowered from the ship and touched the ground. They practically held their breath as they waited for whoever was inside to come out. Will she have an army of soldiers like Frieza and King Kold did? thought Piccolo.

Almost as if she could read his thoughts, Kyloa whispered, "Don’t expect any other fighters. Queen Frozena prefers to fight her own battles."

Goku nodded in understanding. "All the more better for us," murmured Krillin sarcastically. Gohan gave him a stern look, indicating he should be quiet. Suddenly a movement caught their attention. Someone was exiting the ship.

Goku and the others watched as they got their first good look at the creature they had been waiting to arrive for a year. Piccolo recognized her instantly from the dreams the Earth had sent him. Queen Frozena stood nearly as tall as King Kold did but she wasn’t nearly as wide or bulky. She was slender, with pale purple reptilian skin and a wicked looking tail, longer than Frieza’s or King Kold’s had been. From so far away they could not get a very good look at her face but they could tell she had a large set of horns stop her head and she seemed to be wearing skimpy, revealing armor in the most unusual shade of pink.

Piccolo glanced at Kyloa and noticed that she had gone completely pale and that she was clenching her tunic so tightly in her hands that her knuckles had gone white. He reached over and placed his large green hand over her small white ones, trying to relax her grip before she hurt herself. Kyloa turned her wide frightened eyes to his stern cold ones. He gave her hands a slight squeeze and she got the message, taking a deep breath as she relaxed her hands. He removed his hand and turned to only meet Gohan’s puzzled and slightly amused gaze. Piccolo glared fiercely at him and returned his gaze to the field below just in time to see that their cover was about to be blown.

Piccolo cursed, giving voice to everyone’s thoughts. A red mini-dragon was streaking towards Queen Frozena, claws extended, intent on drawing blood. It was Embyr. Kyloa gasped as she realized what was about to happen. "No! Embyr, no! Don’t!" Before anyone could stop her, Kyloa took to the air and zoomed after her little dragon. She barely caught the dragon before she reached the evil queen. In the blink of an eye, Kyloa backed away several yards, scolding Embyr quietly the whole time, who was hissing and spitting in her arms. But it was too late. Queen Frozena had noticed her and was smirking demonically. Piccolo cursed again and took off after her, the others following quickly.

Piccolo landed silently beside Kyloa, scowling fiercely at her and her dragon. Kyloa cowered beneath his glare and backed up a few steps. The rest of the group landed in a rough half-circle around the two, their faces grim. Kyloa whispered an order to Embyr and then released her. The little dragon gave a squawk of protest and then sped away at top speed.

"Well, there goes our element of surprise," stated Eighteen, voicing everyone’s thoughts.

"Thanks to nature girl here." Vegeta looked ready to kill.

Before anyone could say anything else, a voice they didn’t know reached their ears. "It seems you have saved me the trouble of finding you, little witch. And it seems you have brought along some little playmates as well. You shouldn’t have. Now they will die, along with you."

Kyloa winced at the term of ‘little witch’. The group turned to look at who had spoken. Queen Frozena still held her smirk and but now a look of amusement seemed to be there as well. The fighters got their first close view of their new enemy. Her eyes were a cold beady red, just as the others of her race, and her cruel lips were a shade of purple so dark they appeared black. Kyloa felt a shiver go down her back as those icicle eyes lingered on her. That was when Kyloa realized that no matter what happened, Queen Frozena was going to make sure she never lived past this day.

Author: Don’t kill me! I know this chapter was short but I’m trying to make it suspenseful, so work with me here. In the next chapter you’ll finally find out what is Kyloa’s big secret, if you haven’t guessed already what her secret is. I hope I didn’t make it too obvious. Let me know what you think!