Piccolo was getting frustrated with Nicole. Training Gohan was a lot easier than this.

Nicole was facing a boulder with her left hand stretched out in front of her. She had concentration written all over her face and her Piccolo cape on her shoulders.

"Use both hands. It might be a bit easier for you." Piccolo was sitting under a nearby tree.

"Ummm...Ok." Nicole put the heels of her palms together. "Now what?"

"You know that energy you use when you fly and power up?" Piccolo asked with a bit of a sigh.

"Yes," Nicole stated. There was a bit of silence until Nicole clued in to what Piccolo was saying. "Oh....I get !" She then extended both her hands towards the boulder and used her energy to blow it up. "Yay I did it!" Nicole cheered as she ran up to Piccolo.

"It's about time," Amy said as she landed beside Piccolo.

"Shut up!" Nicole said. "Why are you here?"

"Well, Goku came over to our house and started blubbering all over me, I thought I'd leave him with Vegeta for a while," answered Amy. She leaned against the tree and punched Piccolo in the arm. "Hey, Piccolo."

The Namek grunted a reply.

"Why was Goku crying?" asked Nicole as she sized up a small boulder for blasting.

"Oh, something about you trying to wear the pants in the relationship," Amy said off-handedly. "He soaked through my shirt with his tears."

Nicole shrugged. "He's the one who started it," she said off-handedly before floating up into the air. "I want to be alone for a bit, so I'm leaving now." Her voice was flat and lacked any emotion.

Amy just looked up at her. "K," she replied with a wave.

She didn't know where she was going, but when Nicole stopped and landed she found herself beside a small pool in a clearing surrounded by trees. Nicole just plopped down on the grass and stared at the water. "I'll learn..." she said to herself. "I know I can do what the others can if I try..." She growled in anger as she clenched her fists. "I just can't let Goku or anyone keep me from learning and training."

boof

A low cackle echoed throughout the dark room. The only light coming from a small glowing orb in its center. "She shows promise..." The orb flickered and showed a young women sitting near a small pool in a clearing.

"Hmm...You may be right," said a small figure coming out of the darkness to look into the orb. "We shall keep an eye on her. I will start planting the first seeds in her mind, but you will have to take care of the rest."

boof

Nicole took off her boots and stuck a foot in the water. It felt cool on her skin so she stripped down to her underclothes and waded into thewater., then dove in. She reached the surface with a splash and a gulp of air then started to float while looking up at the clouds.

"Goku sure had been acting strange lately..." she said with a sigh. "It's not like him to not let me train. I mean he's the one who taught me to fly, then he turns around and doesn't let me do anything anymore." Nicole swam to the shore and climbed out onto the grass. Drying herself with her energy, Nicole got dressed and started stretching her arms and legs. "Fine. I'll start training by myself..." She pulled on the cape Piccolo gave her and dashed off through the trees, leaping over rocks and whatever else got in her path. When she stopped running to catch her breath, Nicole found herself back at Goku's house. Slowly opening the door, Nicole poked her head inside. "Goku, are you here?" When there came no reply Nicole went to their room and plopped in the bed and as soon as her head touched the pillow she was fast asleep.

Goku walked into the house a couple hours later, he had been busy fixing the door to Amy and Vegeta's house. "Nicole are you here?" Goku asked as he looked through every room. When he finally walked into the bedroom, he saw Nicole asleep on the bed, her hands clenching the blankets. Goku thought it might be a bad idea to sleep in the same room as Nicole so he went to the den and crashed on the couch.

boof

After Nicole left, Piccolo began his meditation. Amy joined him for a while, the two of them hovering near the waterfall, but she found she couldn't concentrate, so she began shadow-boxing on the ground.

Her thoughts kept coming back to Queen Beryl now being under Babidi's control, and if the wizard was still looking for more energy or any new recruits. She began to grow frustrated and went Super Saiyan, continuing her shadow-boxing. /Ok,/ she thought. /Beryl's only purpose in the show was to collect energy to release the Negaforce and rule the Earth. Babidi's plan in the show was to gather energy to resurrect Majin Buu, have revenge on Shin for killing his father, and I guess rule the universe.....So the two of them together means...What?/ "Arghhh!" she yelled and went Super Saiyan 2.

Piccolo opened his eyes and looked at her. "Something bothering you?"

Amy flew up to him. "Do you know where Shin is?"

boof

Gohan and Goten walked into their kitchen after saying goodbye to Videl. Once they finished eating, they went into the den to play video games (Amy had intoduced them to video games a couple years back and had gotten them hooked). They stopped when they noticed Goku snoring on the couch.

"I guess we'd better not wake him," said Gohan.

"But I am *so* close to beating the game," Goten whined.

"I know, maybe we can play upstairs in Dad and Nicole's room."

They went to said room and found Nicole passed out on the bed.

"Hey, Gohan," said Goten. "How come Dad's sleeping on the couch and Nicole's on the bed? Amy told me they were, um, mates, like her and Vegeta."

"I don't know Goten..." said Gohan.

"Amy also said that you want Videl to be *your* mate," Goten said as they walked back outside.

"What?!" Gohan exclaimed, blushing. He stopped walking and looked at his brother. "What else did Amy tell you?"

boof

Amy instant transmissioned to Dende's after Piccolo suggested asking the Guardian about Shin's whereabouts.

"I'm sorry Amy, but I don't know where the Supreme Kai is," Dende said.

"Ok, thanks anyway," Amy said. She moved to leave.

"Wait, Amy," the Guardian said. "Do you know what's going on between Goku and Nicole?"

"Uh, yah. Goku's a little fucked up right now because he's got some human stuff in him; and Nicole's just fucked up," Amy answered.

boof

Nicole woke up and looked around. She got out of bed and stretched. "I wonder what Piccolo-san's doing..." she wondered aloud. /Well, I'll eat first and then find him to train some more./ She then went to the kitchen to get some food.

Goku awoke on the couch when he smelled food cooking in the kitchen. He got up and went to get some. He stopped just in the doorway to the kitchen when he saw that Nicole was there. She turned around after dishing out her food from the stove.

"Hi," she said lowly. She sat at the table and began eating.

"Hi," Goku replied.

They were silent as Nicole continued to eat, Goku watching her from the doorway. When she finished, she got up from the table, put her dishes in the sink, and went to leave.

"Where are you going?" asked Goku.

"Out." Nicole then flew out the door.

boof

Amy left Dende's and headed home. She suddenly stopped as something occured to her. /Stupid! Use instant transmission! Duh!/ she mentally yelled at herself. She then concentrated on Shin's energy signature and placed two fingers at her forehead. "Come on, come on.....Where are you, Shin.....There!" She smiled to herself and disappeared.

boof

Nicole flew over the trees looking around, when she found what she was searching for Nicole then landed and ran over to the Namek who was sitting under the same tree she left him at. "Sorry for taking off Piccolo-san, but I had a lot on my mind." When she didn't get an answer she sat down right beside him and watched. After about fifteen minutes Nicole got bored and poked Piccolo's shoulder. "Can we train now?" Still no answer. "Piccolo-san..." she whined.

Nicole stood and took a few steps away from the tree before turning back to face the still-meditating Namek. "Why won't anyone train me?!" She stamped her foot in annoyance before sticking her tongue out at Piccolo and running off.

/Who else could I get to train me?/ Nicole thought to herself. "Oh I know!" She leapt up into the air and headed towards Capsule Corp.

Nicole walked in the front door. "Hello, is anyone here?!" she yelled through the hall.

Bulma poked her head out one of the doors to see who was there. "Oh hi Nicole, come on in," Bulma said in a cheerful voice.

Nicole complied and saw Yamcha and Trunks sitting at the table. "Yamcha! Just the guy I wanted to see!" Nicole grinned.

"Whatever it is, I'm your man, the Great Yamcha can do anything!" He got up from the table.

Bulma just shook her head and went back to her computer.

"Yah, whatever...Anyway, as you may know, the World Tournament is coming up and I need someone to train with. Will you train with me?" Nicole clasped her hands together and had a pleading look on her face.

"No way, I'll do anything but that," Yamcha replied as he backed away from her. Bulma had informed him of Goku's jealousy at the moment and he didn't want to get on his bad side, having made the mistake of training with Amy when Vegeta was in this state of mind.

"Oh come on, I know you were quite the fighter before. I bet you miss it, besides the Tournament will be fun. I mean it's not like you're going to die if you enter."

"No, but I might just by training with you."

"Oh fine then you big wuss...But if you enter the Tournament, I'll make sure Amy won't beat you up," Nicole said with a sly grin.

"What do you mean by that?" Yamcha asked, a little fear entering his voice.

"Well let's see, Amy is my friend and she is much stronger than me. If I tell her you don't want to enter, she might want to have a little fun with you."

Yamcha backed out of the room and took off down the hall. "I'll get back to you on that," he yelled back to her before the outside door slammed shut.

Nicole laughed at his reaction.

"Oh good you're sitll here," Bulma said as she walked back into the room with a watch in her right hand. "Amy said you wanted one of these so I made it just for you." She handed it to her.

Nicole took it and held it up to get a better look at it. "She said I wanted a watch?" Nicole asked, a little puzzled.

"It's not just a watch. Put it on and press the red button."

Nicole was still looking at it. "Not right now, I have to go do something. Thanks!" Nicole put the watch on her wrist and dashed out the door.

"Hey where did Yamcha go?" Bulma asked.

Trunks was still sitting at the table with an amused look on his face. "Nicole scared him off." He laughed.

"Oh? Now what could she have done to scare Yamcha?" Bulma said to herself.

"Oh I don't know, breathe," Trunks said sarcastically as he walked out of the room.

Bulma didn't hear the comment. She just shrugged and went back to her room.

boof

Nicole was gonna go talk to Goku but didn't really know what to say so instead went to the clearing she was at earlier that day. She sat with her feet in the water while staring at her reflection. "I just don't know what to do. Oh Goku what is wrong with you? What is wrong with me?" She splashed her feet in the water. "I just want to be able to challenge Goku and maybe have a chance to really prove myself." Nicole remembered the day Goku became her mate, how she barely got away from the house when Goku had told her to and in moments she was pinned, unable to move. She stood and clenched her fists. "Why do I have to be so weak! It's just not fair."

boof

"Master, I believe we may now proceed with the first phase of your plan."

"Really? Let me see," Babidi said. Queen Beryl bowed her head and moved her hands away from the glowing orb. He looked into it, seeing the same young woman as before. He probed into her mind and smiled. "Yes, I think you are right. Excellent work Beryl. Dabura!" Babidi called for his Demon King slave.

A tall, pink, horned figure wearing a white heavy cape came into the room. "You called, Master?" Dabura said in a deep, snarling voice.

"Yes Dabura," said the wizard. "I want you to begin Phase 1."

"Understood." Dabura bowed and left.

if you have any thoughts on who should fight who in the tournament, please tell me in you review!!!! ty!