Strange New World
by KC
Gt/Tr, Gk/V, Gh/P

Part 2

A thick asteroid belt formed the thickest ring of a starless gas
giant. Thousands of miles wide and deep, it formed a silent wall in
space, lightless and lifeless. Lasers blasted through the darkness of
space, blowing asteroids apart. Chunks of exploded rocks struck the
hull of the Raider Six with hollow thunks that echoed throughout the
ship. Seated in the cockpit, Trunks kept his eyes on his targeting
screen, firing at green x's on a darker green background. Beside him,
Goten ignored his computer and fired at the asteroids he could see
through the main screen.

Behind them, Gohan clung to Piccolo, hiding his face in his mentor's
cape. Piccolo would've scolded him for it if he hadn't been squeezed
by the strongest fighter in the universe. Another shower of broken
asteroids hit the hull and Gohan shuddered.

"Cool," Goten said. "It's like a videogame but without music."

"No music," Trunks said, blasting another asteroid. The ship tilted
to the right as he dodged one that slipped by, then righted again. "I
have to hear if any of those rocks punch through the hull."

Gohan groaned. With a sigh, Piccolo pulled his arm out of Gohan's
grip and hugged him close. "Relax," he said. "This ship is heavy on
defense, remember?"

"Not that," Gohan said. "Stomach--"

"Whoa, big one," Trunks said. "Hang on!"

An asteroid larger than the ship zoomed past the view screen as
Trunks pushed the ship down and forward, ducking around and coming
back up to narrowly avoid another one. The gravity lurched around,
throwing anything not tethered around, until it tugged it all back
down again. Pencils and empty cups hit the floor and Piccolo's chest
turban drooped over his eyes.

With his eyes closed shut, Gohan unbuckled his safety harness and
made a blind dash for the bathroom, one hand pressed over his mouth.
Piccolo watched him go, then glared at the two pilots. "Can't you fly
straight?"

"Sorry," Trunks said. "But we have to go through this field and I
have to dodge these rocks."

"Only a few more minutes now," Goten said.

Piccolo growled and walked back after Gohan. As he walked out, he
passed by Goku, who sat in a back corner. The cockpit lights didn't
reach him, leaving him in the dim red glow of a few buttons and
blinking read outs. He sat with his arms folded, his legs crossed and
stretched out in front of him. When an explosion lit the screen
bright white for a moment and drew a triumphant whoop from Goten, he
didn't give any signs of noticing. He didn't look at anything but the
back of the chair in front of him, and even that he seemed to stare
through.

"We're out of it," Trunks said, looking back. "Should be clear
sailing from here on in."

Goku looked up. "How long?"

"A couple more weeks," Trunks said. "It should pop up on our sensors
in half that."

Goku nodded once and looked down again. The Raider Six shot off along
the rim of the red giant and deeper into empty space.

*

The castle halls echoed with footsteps as Saiyans went back and
forth, some flying out the windows on errands, others flying in. Most
gathered fruits and wild roots from the nearby groves, bringing back
basketfuls without leaving a dent in the amount still on the trees.
As Vegeta walked down the hall, he grabbed a deep purple verka root
from a basket and bit into it. He paused as the juices filled his
mouth. Just as sweet and crunchy as his dreams.

"Kigeta truly works miracles," he whispered. "A real dragon god, not
like Shenron or Porunga."

"Little brother!"

Vegeta turned and watched Raditz come down the hall. He smiled and
waited. "How'd you get away from Bardock?"

With his own verka root in hand, Raditz grinned and walked beside his
prince. "Said you'd called for me. He's still grabbing Saiyans who
aren't doing anything. Got a bunch lined up in the training hall on
maneuvers."

"Surviving hell just to be ordered around again," Vegeta said. "I'd
wondered why so many volunteered to gather food."

"If you can call it food," Raditz said. He finished his root off in
two bites. "Plants are fine and well, but I'll be happy when we have
another roast ginx on the table."

"Next season," Vegeta said. "When they've bred. We'll take the
weakest and dumbest and make a feast out of it."

They came out of the castle and into the main garden. Bushes and
trees lined the walls and formed convenient blinds from Bardock and
his military rebuilding, at least until some of those bushes rustled
and muffled groans came from inside.

"The way things are going," Vegeta said, "every Saiyan will be
pregnant in a week."

"That long?" Raditz snagged two chokto fruits from a passing basket
and tossed one to his prince. "Can you imagine a city full of babies
wailing in the middle of the night?"

"A little while and I won't have to imagine it. And when will you
take a mate?"

Raditz sighed and looked towards the sky. "Few Saiyans came back
unmated. I'll wait to see the selection. If not, I might find some
off-worlder."

"That explains why you're here and not in those bushes," Vegeta said.

"Those are just the horniest." Raditz finished his chokto and chucked
the core into a bush. A disgusted curse followed, but the bush kept
swaying back and forth. "And where are you off to?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen home," Vegeta said. "I want to
explore at least some of it today."

A Saiyan carrying clumps of dozo shoots passed by them, and Raditz
skimmed the top shoots off and stuffed them in his mouth. Vegeta
shook his head and looked away.

"You're as bad as your brother," he said.

"Kakarrot? You knew him?" Raditz swallowed the last shoot, slurping
it in like a spaghetti strand. "I thought the little bastard died
killing me."

"You'd be surprised how many times he's died." Vegeta lay one hand on
his stomach. His child's ki was steadily growing, warm and soft and
soothing. "And yes, I knew him. In many ways."

Raditz looked at him and his hand. His eyes widened and his jaw
dropped. "Good God, Kakarrot? That retarded traitor? He truly must've
been the last one alive."

"He was," Vegeta said, laughing. "But...well, there's a lot there."

"Little brother..." Raditz lay his hand on Vegeta's shoulder. "Your
child...I know this is sensitive, but--"

"It's all right," Vegeta said. "Don't worry. I going to keep this
one. I'm finally going to keep one."

"I'm glad," Raditz said and smiled. "I was afraid--never mind. Turles
will be glad to have a nephew. A shame my idiot brother couldn't see
his child, though."

"I'm sure he's angry," Vegeta said.

"Angry? Little brother, is Kakarrot dead or alive?" The smile
disappeared from his face.

"Alive, I'm sure," Vegeta said. "Raditz, you must promise me never to
tell anyone this. He could never get here on his own. I'm safe here."

Lecturing the prince on a Saiyan's love of his child would've been a
cruelty, Raditz knew, and so he said nothing about it. "I promise. So
where are you off to in such a hurry, that I had to catch up?"

Instead of answering, Vegeta flew to the top of the castle and stood
on the highest tower. Raditz joined him a moment later, and together
they scanned the city. A stream of Saiyans flew back and forth like
ants from a few groves to the castle. From their vantage point, they
saw Bardock shouting commands to his new recruits and a few Saiyans
in the rear of the squad sneaking off for the bushes.

"He should stick with the ones who volunteered," Vegeta
said. "Draftees are worthless."

"He's just going overboard. He'll calm down in a few days, when he
realizes he doesn't have any many to pick from as before. Hm, look.
There's Nappa. I hadn't seen him 'till now."

Vegeta fell silent. He watched his former bodyguard practice next to
Raditz's brother Turles, quick to follow Bardock's commands. He
hadn't felt the larger Saiyan until now either, but then he hadn't
been looking. "I'll have to deal with him sooner or later," he
whispered.

Not hearing him, Raditz turned and looked back at the palace and the
arched windows. "I wonder where the king is. I haven't seen him all
morning."

Closing his eyes, Vegeta searched for his father's ki and found him
almost immediately in the east wing, moving down into the
cellars. "He's checking on the foods they're bringing in. Making sure
they're storing them and not skimming off the top, like some Saiyans
I know." When he didn't hear Raditz's reply, he look over at
him. "What?"

"You can tell without looking?"

"Yes, I sensed his ki." When Raditz gave him a blank look, Vegeta
sighed. "I'll explain on the way."

"On the way where?"

"Oh...this way." He waved his hand vaguely westward and flew. Raditz
pulled even and followed him into the wilderness.

Since his planet had been destroyed and his world nothing but pain
for a lifetime, Vegeta had forgotten the joy that came from flying.
Flying was meant for purges, higher vantage points for ki blasts, an
added dimension to battle. But now the feel of wind in his face, the
yellow grass beneath him a blur as he skimmed over it, the mountains
in the distance moving slowly by or growing larger until he passed
them, all reminded him of his first few flights as a child. Nights of
sneaking out of the castle and losing himself in flight. Days of
hunting and play fighting.

After his first flight, he'd wondered how anyone could fly and come
down again. After one day with Frieza, flight was another battle
skill, nothing more.

Now he let hand trail in the grass as if it were a lake, and when he
sailed over a mountain top, he flew so low that the red wildflowers
brushed against his face. When he came up again, his hair and hands
were red with petals, and he shook them off, watching them rain back
onto the ground.

"I recognize this place," Raditz said. "The Dragon's backbone."

"What?" The prince looked around and noticed that the mountains range
extended far into the distance, valleys and ridges without shadows in
the noontime suns. "It does look like a backbone."

"The Dragon's eyes shouldn't be too far ahead then," Raditz
said. "You remember? Two crescent lakes--"

"--and hot springs," Vegeta said. "In a jungle."

Without having to speak, they flew towards the lakes. Mountains and
grasslands turned into scraggly trees and thick bushes, and then
forests of red-leafed trees. They dived through the branches and into
the trees, flying around thick trunks and startling birds into the
air. Black furred creatures lumbered out of their way, leaving deep
paw prints and claw marks on the trees.

Farther in, the ground turned to mud and the trees sagged under heavy
vines that wrapped around their branches and blotted out most of the
light. The Saiyans slowed down and found the air was muggier, laying
on their skin. Chirps and low whistles came from creatures hidden in
the tall green grass.

"Not much further," Raditz whispered. He pushed aside several vines
hanging before them, and they stepped out onto a sandy bank.

Clear water, tinted green, sparkled before them. The lake extended
out for miles, ending only at the treeline they could barely make out
on the far side. Small green hills stood on either side, the trees
covering them swaying in the wind. A few boulders jutted out of the
water, too high to climb, and they alighted on the top of one. The
gray surface was smooth and dry, and Raditz flopped onto his back.
Vegeta lay beside him and watched the clouds gather and form above
him.

"I think it may rain," Raditz said.

"Let it," Vegeta said. The breeze swept over them, bring the scent of
vegetation and damp. "A little water never hurt."

Raditz laughed and glanced at his prince. "Yes, but it'll make your
hair droop."

"At least mine's not a damn pelt."

"Cute, little brother."

Long minutes crept by. Vegeta rolled onto his stomach and watched the
wind push the water, lapping up waves against the rock. Leaves
drifted with the small crests and landed on the sand, pushed into
piles and lines. White fish darted around the base, rising to the
surface and blowing bubbles before slipping out of sight again.

"I've missed this," he whispered. "I hadn't realized how much, but to
have it back..." He rose up on his elbows and smiled. "The Earthlings
had a saying, you don't realize what you have 'till it's gone. I
didn't know what I had until I got it back again."

"I used to dream I was back here," Raditz said. "All of us were, and
Frieza was dead, and the suns never came up, only a constant night.
And the moon was full and silver and perfect, and the stars lit the
sky. For awhile I couldn't stop dreaming it."

"On Frieza's ship?"

"In hell." Raditz turned on his side. "I think that was the point.
What good is hell if you can't dream of heaven?"

"Mm. I was never in hell long enough to dream. The first time I was
resurrected, and the second time I was pulled into..." He tilted his
head. "I don't think you could call it heaven. The next dimension,
maybe, though that's a poor term for it."

"No paradise and beautiful creatures to serve you?" Raditz asked,
smirking.

"Is that the best paradise you can imagine?" Vegeta said. "Beautiful
servants...not much of a heaven for them, is it? No, I don't know
what paradise is, but it wasn't that. More like a beuraucracy--"

A high pitched beep startled them. Raditz reached into a pocket and
pulled out a scouter, fixing it over his eye. He turned on the audio,
but the video input took a moment longer to come up. "Dammit, I said
I wanted no messages unless the fucking king himself--" He froze as
the picture appeared. "Your majesty."

Vegeta started laughing.

"Yes, your majesty, he's with me...the Dragon's eyes...of course,
your majesty. We're on our way." He whipped the scouter off his face
and glared at his prince. "Quit laughing, you little brat!"

"Oh God, your face," Vegeta said, one hand over his stomach as he
laughed. "Cursing out my father..."

"Your father wants us back at the palace," Raditz said,
standing. "Something about a certain prince skipping out on his
lessons?"

"Damn." Vegeta sat up and sighed. "I guess he noticed I'm not there."

"What are you reading now?"

"Five thousand years worth of history," Vegeta said. "I was just
taking a break."

"Uh huh. Right. Come on, let's go."

"Raditz, those books are boring as hell."

"They're our race's fight for survival," Raditz said. "How can that
be boring?"

The wind blew again, stronger this time, cold and crisp. Vegeta only
moved to look up at him. "They could have pictures of you screwing a
fuzzy ginx and it'd still be boring."

Raditz made a face and closed his eyes. "That...horrible image aside,
you need to know our history. Besides, your father'll have my head if
I don't get you back."

"No."

It had been years since Raditz had seen his prince's stubborn streak,
and as much as he loved to see it back, he'd also forgotten just how
stubborn he was. And since he wasn't strong enough to force Vegeta, a
different tactic was required.

"I suppose I could help you get through them faster," he said.

"You know all five thousand years of history?"

"Enough to get by. Enough to maybe explain the boring parts."

"You must know quite a bit," Vegeta said. "You just want to make sure
you don't get stuck in Bardock's army."

"Guilty. Now are you coming?"

Heaving a loud sigh, Vegeta flew up a few feet and waited for Raditz
to follow. "Fine. It'll be fun to see you try to stay awake."

They flew back slower than they had gone out, delaying their arrival
as long as they could. When they passed into the mountains again,
Vegeta noticed that the birds had been busy building nests in the
thorn bushes and crevices. Each next was made of twigs and grass and
dotted with red petals.

"Little brother?"

"Yes?"

"Is it true that you've achieved the super Saiyan state?" Raditz
wouldn't meet Vegeta's eyes, worried that the rumors weren't true and
that the prince might get upset. An upset Vegeta was not pleasant.

"I have."

Raditz took a deep breath. All that power..."My prince, forgive me
for asking, but could you show--"

Even the fine scenery couldn't help Vegeta's mood. "Is this what I
have to look forward to, being asked to show off? I won't have it
turned into some kind of freak show--"

"You misunderstand me," Raditz said. "Do you think you could show me
how to achieve the state?"

The question startled Vegeta so much that he dropped a few feet in
the air. As he caught himself, though, he told himself that he should
have expected that. In fact, he'd probably be asked to demonstrate
and teach all Saiyans how to ascend. He thought about the time it
would take to do such a thing, to train the entire world, even if it
was less populated than before, and if he thought reading dry history
texts was tedious, how would he handle training every single Saiyan
on Vegetasei. He looked again at Raditz. Another super Saiyan to take
half the workload would be useful. And to see the Saiyan's long hair
turn gold...

"I think I could," Vegeta said. "It'll be worth it just to see what
you look like at level three."

As much as the idea of levels interested him, Raditz still puzzled
over something Vegeta had said before. After turning the phrase over
in his head and still not understanding, he looked at his
prince. "What's a freak show?"

"A human phrase," Vegeta said. "I'll explain later. First we need to
get back." He increased his speed so much that plumes of sand
followed in his wake, and Raditz was hard pressed to keep up.

Half an hour had passed before they arrived, Vegeta heading through
his chamber window. Raditz followed, shaking his head, and he
wondered why his prince had such a problem with the idea of doors.

The prince's chambers held little more than a bed and table, and even
those were cut from the same rock that made up the rest of the
palace. A carved wooden circle covered the stone table, matched by a
wooden chair, and a soft mattress topped the long slab that made his
bed. His few clothes and armor, which he suspected Kigeta had made
sure were there complete with the royal crest, lay folded in a stone
chest. Vegeta knelt and opened it, taking a scouter from inside. The
woman had always wondered why he hadn't taken to human closets and
dozens of outfits. A handful of training suits and armor in a chest
was enough.

The pile of books on the table caught Raditz's attention and he
walked over. One of the books had a leaf stuck between two pages, and
he opened it up in the middle. "The Besde war," he said, sitting
down. "It's surprising what the dragon chose to recreate and what he
left."

"I'm surprised he thought of something so small," Vegeta said. He
slipped the scouter over his eye and adjusted it, setting it to
record but not activating it yet. "When he was creating everything,
to remember something like history books..."

"I wonder why he woke us up naked," Raditz said, "instead of dressing
us in clothes he left around the city."

"The ways of Kigeta are mysterious indeed," Vegeta said. "Why are you
sitting? Get up, we're going out again."

"What? Little brother, you said you'd study--"

"I also said I'd train you to become a super Saiyan." Vegeta stood
next to the open window, his familiar smirk in place. "You coming?"

"I...yes..."

"We'll need an empty desert," Vegeta said. "Someplace that can be
blasted without causing much damage."

"You're worried about the landscape?"

"I just got Vegetasei back," he said, "I'm not about to smash it up.
Do you know a place?"

Raditz nodded once. "Yes, the Jakek desert. There are a few caves,
but mostly the land is flat."

"Is it far?"

"Not for us." Raditz flew out the window with Vegeta at his side. One
of the suns was already setting, making the shadows stretch. In a few
hours the second sun would set, and the two would fight by starlight.

*

In the palatial courtyard, Bardock raised one hand and looked over
his little army. "Enough! You want to screw so badly, go. Flatten the
bushes, I don't care. Just be back here in an hour."

Saiyans scattered left and right, flying out along the food gatherers
to find their mates or hunting through the palace halls and dragging
a mate into an empty room. Within a few seconds, only a handful of
Saiyans remained. Bardock flew to the top of the wall behind him and
sat on its edge, staring over the garden. Every bush flailed back and
forth, and a few of the looked as if they might break in half as
their tops swayed wildly.

"Lucky bastards," Bardock said. "At least their mates are willing."

The two remaining Saiyan, Nappa and Turles, joined him on the wall.
For awhile the only sounds they heard were groans and leaves tearing
from the plants. Bardock started to laugh.

"Did you two ever see anything so stupid?" he asked.

"If I did," Nappa said, "I blew it up. You?"

"The same," Turles said. "They keep this up for much longer, I might
blast a couple of 'em."

"Stupid young brats," Nappa said. He looked down at his hands,
scarred and calloused. "But I'll take horny Saiyans over dead ones
anytime."

Turles nodded once.

Overhead, Vegeta and Raditz zoomed out of the prince's bedroom window
and passed by, unnoticed by all by the three Saiyans. Within seconds,
they'd vanished in the distance.

"There they go," Turles said. "Must be nice keeping a prince company."

"Maybe now."

Both of them looked at Nappa, who stared at the window and frowned.

"What do you mean?" Bardock asked. "Was he cruel?"

Nappa sighed. "No, but...things were insane on Frieza's ship. It was
like a madness that infected everything. Bad things happened there."

"Bad things?" Turles asked.

"Bad. Things I wish I'd never seen. And the prince took the worst of
it. There are some things that cannot be excused...but sometimes on
that ship, it was the only thing he could do."

"Nappa?" Bardock said. "What do you mean?"

"All of us went mad for a time. I can't blame him for anything he
did. But he had to do things that, no matter how much I wanted to
protect him, I felt a kind of relief that it wasn't me." He looked
away from the window and faced Bardock. "Is it true that Frieza's
dead? And that Vegeta has ascended?"

"Yes, our king told me so," Bardock said. "Frieza's been dead for
years, at Kakarrot's hand."

"Kakarrot? Hm, I'm not too surprised. He fought well against me."

"Is he the one who killed you?" Turles asked. "He's great at killing
his own kind."

"No," Nappa said and changed the subject. "Vegeta seems calmer now."

"Yes, the king says the dragon restored him," Bardock said.

"Restored him? Then..." A dark thought entered his head and he
frowned.

"What? What is it?" Turles asked.

"I hope Kigeta only had to restore his body. If he had to calm his
mind...and Vegeta had lived like that for years and years..." He
sighed again. "Like I said, I feel a little guilty feeling relieved
that he ain't me."

"It's only natural," Bardock said. "I don't--"

"Bardock!"

Their heads all snapped up as King Vegeta flew towards them, pulling
up in front of Bardock. Unable to bow and knowing that dropping to
the floor might seem like they were running, they each bowed their
heads once.

"Yes, your majesty?" Bardock asked.

"Don't you act innocent with me," the king said. He waved his hand at
the dancing greenery. "Look at this! Saiyans rutting everywhere. The
ones in the palace have dropped their food and their pants. You can't
take a step without tripping over a pair."

"I only let my troop out for an hour," Bardock said.

The king looked around himself and sighed. "We must be the only ones
not mating."

"Not my fault," Bardock said. "You said you were busy."

After a quick glare from the king, Turles and Nappa zipped away as
fast as they could, leaving the two mates staring at each other.

"I am busy," King Vegeta said. "Everyone's been busy for the last
three days."

"No wonder they dropped everything then," Bardock said. "No one's
meant to be celibate that long."

"Bardock..."

"Look, everyone else is taking a break..." He flew closer, careful
not to loom over the king but rather keep level with him. "What could
it hurt if we take one, too?"

"I'm past my bearing cycle," the king said.

"So? All the better, no worries." Bardock took his king's hand in his
own. "Frieza's dead, our enemies must not know about us yet, and we
are out of hell. What more could you ask for?"

"And what of your recent vision?" King Vegeta asked.

Bardock growled and looked away. "I knew I shouldn't have told you.
You're always too serious--"

"An asteroid is serious. I have several men watching the screens if
something that big heads our way." He shook his head. "If they aren't
rolling around on the floor right now."

"Let them, we have time." He smiled at the king again. "Besides, this
is a command straight from Kigeta, remember?"

King Vegeta eased by him, floating down to the ground and sitting
against the wall. Bardock joined him there. "I think," Vegeta
said, "that Kigeta may be the only god on our side."

"What do you mean?"

"Our race comes so close to extinction so often, and this time it
took a divine act to resurrect us. Now with an asteroid perhaps on a
collision course, I worry the gods may be against us."

"Ah, my King, I can take your worries away," Bardock said. "At least
for a little while."

Smiling sadly, and with quick glance to make sure they were all
alone, the king allowed himself to be plied with caresses and pushed
against the ground. With all the weight of the planet on his
shoulders, a moment of forgetfulness, no matter how quick, was enough
of a lure to close his eyes and pretend.

*

On the Raider Six, Goku was vaguely aware of Goten piloting the ship
with Trunks sleeping beside him, or Gohan getting motion sickness
again and again, and Piccolo trying to meditate in his chair despite
the harness. Once in awhile a bright explosion would catch his
attention as Goten shot down any debris coming too close , but for
the most part he sat in the back, looking as if he was asleep.

"Trunks," Goten said, nudging his mate. When that didn't work, he
tugged on Trunks' hair. "Something's beeping."

"Huh?" Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Trunks sat up and glanced at
the screen. "Let me see."

"Is it another asteroid field?" Gohan asked. "Please say it's not. My
stomach can't take anymore."

"It's not." Trunks started typing, and the viewscreen lit up with
green numbers and data. "I think it's Vegetasei."

Wide awake now, Goku leaned between Gohan and Piccolo for a better
look. "Are you sure?"

Trunks frowned as he looked up at the red point that marked
Vegetasei's location. "No. It's exactly where father said it would
be, but...the energy signals aren't matching up. Vegetasei should be
a rock, maybe some plants and an atmosphere, but it should be mostly
lifeless. Instead I'm getting high energy spikes."

"Can you see if those are people?" Gohan asked.

"This isn't Star Trek," Trunks said. "I'm only getting these energy
readings 'cause they're so high. And one of them's higher than the
rest. Way higher."

"That's probably Vegeta," Piccolo said.

"Maybe," Goten said. "What if other people found out about him? Those
could be bad guys."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough," Trunks said. "We should arrive in
a week."

Quiet again, Goku frowned and sat back in his seat. He still couldn't
feel his mate. A week? He could fly around the Earth in a few hours.
He had teleported to King Kai's planet. And now he could see
Vegetasei but couldn't get off the ship. He looked through the
viewscreen at all the stars, the blue nebula off to the left. The
galaxy had never seemed so vast and intimidating.

He heard Trunks nestle against Goten for more sleep, and Gohan did
the same with Piccolo. Goku smiled. The trip would've been lonely
without them. He couldn't stand the thought of being completely alone
for several weeks, with nothing to look at but the few bright spots
in a black void.

*

At that moment in another dimension, little blue demons carried
stacks of paperwork back and forth across Lord Enma's floor. Loose
pages flitted about the room like confetti, and the line of souls to
be judged extended far out of sight. Some souls zipped out of the
line and flew around the place, dive bombing the demons and setting
the pages on fire. In the middle of it, Lord Enma stood behind his
desk, the phone in the crook of his neck as he signed pages with one
hand and put out fires on his desk with the other.

"No," he said into the phone, "I don't know how they got out. There
were no flights scheduled--of course I wouldn't schedule one for
them, but sometimes they get hijacked, you know. No, the cleaned and
resurrected ones didn't go back. Just the ones in hfil."

His left foot started to feel rather warm, and he kicked it a few
times. As it grew hotter, he looked down and found a clump of souls
around it, fanning the flames. He shrieked and dumped his drink on
it. The souls scattered, but he grabbed one and flung it back into
the line.

"Sorry sir, just had a small situation...We're checking for weak
links in our security right now, but I don't think they broke out.
They just disappeared. That's what one of my men said, they were
there one minute, gone the next. I have no idea--"

The voice on the other end interrupted him. Enma nearly dropped the
phone.

"Ki--kigeta?" he whispered. He fell back into his chair with wide
eyes staring at nothing. "Who let him out?"

All of the demons around him stopped running and instead stared at
him. The papers slowly settled on the floor, catching fire, but for
now no one cared. Even the souls paused and looked at him.

"That little fool," Enma hissed. "But now what--an asteroid? So I can
expect to see those Saiyans again soon?" He grinned, his smile
cheerless and full of teeth. "Wonderful. We'll prepare a warm welcome
for them. Yes sir. Goodbye."

Across the dimension, the Supreme Kai set the phone down and looked
again at the rock he'd created. As large as a mountain, its shadow
fell for miles around, plunging the landscape into darkness and cold.
He stepped around it and put his purple hands against its side,
adjusting them bit by bit for perfect aim. One degree off, and he
would miss the planet.

Once he was certain his aim was true, he blasted the rock hard enough
to move it, but not break it. It drifted into out of his dimension
and into space, moving slow at first but picking up speed as it
traveled past stars and careened around gas giants. He smiled. It
would reach Vegetasei in about five months. And once the planet was
dust again, he would find Kigeta's dragonballs and hide them
somewhere no one would ever think to look.

*

Sitting on the windowsill of his room, Vegeta gazed up at the night
sky. Thousands of stars streamed from left to right, and the human's
nickname for it, the Milky Way, seemed appropriate more so tonight.
As always, the quiet dim glow of the galaxy made him sleepy. His tail
twitched and swayed more out of instinct than habit. His eyes half-
closed as he sipped nuda, a pain reliever, from a glass. Again, the
baby kicked a sore spot he'd kicked before. Vegeta grumbled and took
another sip.

"Rotten brat," he said. "You kick as hard as I do."

Outside in the garden, torches had been set along the wall, burning
orange light revealing a few Saiyans passed out in the grass. Other
Saiyans either slept in the palace or had claimed a house in the
outer city, and the stars made those white houses shine softly.

He rubbed at a bruise on his arm, the only hit Raditz had managed to
score against him. The larger Saiyan had not ascended, but Vegeta was
willing to wait. He would simply continue recording the fights on his
scouter until Raditz succeeded, and then training other Saiyans would
be much easier. Besides, he'd never trained a Saiyan to ascend, and
it might take some time. Unlike Trunks, who had turned before he'd
even thought to expect.

Trunks. He took another sip. If there were any regrets about leaving
Earth, it was in leaving the boy behind. Trunks should have been here
with him, been part of the rebuilding. The boy would've found the
history fascinating, his power and intellect would've been
invaluable. He swirled the red liquid around in its glass. Perhaps
when the first enemies appeared, he would take their ship and return
for his son.

He glanced at the corner of his room. Kigeta's dragonballs lay there,
on a cushion, waiting until the cathedral could be rebuilt and they
would again rest on the altar. On Earth, the dragon had been like a
genie. Gather the balls, summon it out, demand your wishes. Here such
a summons seemed disrespectful, even dangerous. Kigeta was not a
genie, and one does not idly call down a god.

His door creaked open, interrupting his thoughts, and he looked over.
His father, dressed like his son in blue with white gloves and boots,
walked in and sat beside him. He noticed the glass.

"The child's kicking?" he asked.

"Mm. Feels like he's going to kick his way out."

His father laughed softly. "You were much the same. I must've downed
buckets of nuda before I had you."

"Must run in the family." Vegeta smiled and looked at the sky. His
smile faded.

"You're thinking of the asteroid?" his father asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me. All the dead Saiyans disappearing from hell
would be quite a shock. I worry it will appear as I'm giving birth."

"You said you've seen the gods before," the king said. "Why would
they hate us so?"

"I don't know. We're arrogant, proud, maybe even stronger than..."
His voice trailed off. He looked at his father. "Maybe that's it.
I've met the rulers of the other dimension. I'd met the Supreme Kai.
And I was stronger."

"You think they may be afraid of us?" the king asked. "Why would we
want to rule heaven and hell? A planet's damn hard enough, can you
imagine the headaches from ruling as a god? You would have to be
omniscient."

"Yes. At least to rule justly." Vegeta frowned as he remembered the
kais he had met. None of them had seemed omniscient. None of them had
seemed particularly godly. "But the weak always fear the strong."

A knock at the door startled them both. "Enter," Vegeta said.

A young Saiyan came in and bowed. "Your majesty, we've spotted
something on our deep scanners. Not an asteroid," he said before they
could ask. "We think it's a ship."

"Our first curious visitors," the king said. "Just one ship?"

"Yes."

"Not an invasion, then," Vegeta said. "Father, when they get here, we
should let them land."

"Agreed. How long until they arrive?" he asked.

"A few days. Not long."

"Good," the king said. "Thank you."

After a quick bow, the other left and closed the door again.

"'Geta, I haven't asked before but, how far along is the child?" He
stared at his son's stomach, only slightly distended.

"A little over four months. Don't worry, father, I don't think the
dragon left him stunted. My children are usually small at birth." He
hid his wince as he realized he'd made a slip. "I'm afraid that also
runs in the family."

"True. I don't think we'll ever see a Vegeta as tall as Nappa." If he
noticed his son's comment, he let it pass. "I'll have the nursery
readied for you and the child. You'll find it a bit more comfortable
afterwards. Will...will you have Raditz assisting?"

"...yes." He downed the rest of the nuda and set the glass aside. "I
trust him."

"I know. After you've taught him to ascend, you'll have to teach me."
He smiled at his son's look. "Don't be surprised. I have to know
everything about my world if I'm to rule it. Good night, 'Geta."

"Good night, father." Once the king had left, Vegeta looked back up
at the sky. That was quick service, to think about a ship and then
have one announced. He would have Trunks on Vegetasei sooner than he
thought. On second thought, he should bring Kakarrot's brats as well,
if they were willing. He hated to leave the planet vulnerable to
attack, though.

He walked over to his bed and slid underneath the thin sheet. Perhaps
once the ship arrived, he'd think of a way to retrieve his son that
didn't involve abandoning Vegetasei.

TBC...