(Grand Kai's Planet)
Gathered on the lawn in front of an old television, similar to the one King Kai had used to view the Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament years earlier, Goku, his trainer, Olibu, Bubbles and Gregory, had arranged themselves on a collection of lawn chairs and were watching the events unfolding down on Earth. This being a rather special viewing, Babba, West Kai and Pikkon were also present, with the former having situated herself on her crystal ball, while the latter were standing in the background.
Judging from the way they were focusing on the magic box, you would think this was just some casual event for the band of fighters. However, after the North Kai picked up the strange signals he was receiving from Earth and honed in on them to get a closer look, he immediately had his closest associates gather in one area, so that they could observe the competition taking place in the land of the living.
Unlike all of the other times, it wasn't a planet or galaxy shattering event that spelled doom for the entire universe. No. After listening in on what'd been going on and watching the events transpire first hand, the Kais and the fighters quickly determined that this was something a little more fun.
This fact was made more obvious by how King Kai and Bubbles were splitting a box of popcorn and Goku was gorging himself on hot dogs.
After witnessing his son and his opponent go Super Saiyan 3 within seconds of each other, the thunderstruck father stopped his gorging to gawk at the fuzzy screen. "Whoa. Is she for real? That girl can reach his level too?"
"Looks like it," North Kai answered while glancing over at his student. "For the past several years I thought you and Vegeta were the only full-blooded Saiyans left in my quadrant. I never imagined there would be several others living in another part of space." He then turned his gaze back to the television, where he continued to watch the broadcast play out. "But I shouldn't be so surprised. It's really difficult trying to keep track of over a trillion souls in a single sector, especially those that are really good at keeping a low profile. It's not like I'm keeping stock of all the Saiyans in the universe."
"Yeah. But still… unreal," Goku murmured, taking another bite out of his hotdog and accidently spilling some sauce on his shirt, "This girl must have been training her heart out her entire life to get as strong as she has. Makes you wonder how powerful she actually is."
"Powerful enough to reach Super Saiyan 3 apparently," King Kai remarked, at the same time grabbing a handful of popcorn and holding it above his chest. He then narrowed his eyes and focused his antenna more intently. "You have to be an incredibly disciplined and exceptional warrior to achieve that kind of strength. I don't even want to begin to imagine the kind of battles and monsters her and her group had gone through to get as far as they have."
Goku tilted his head, "What do you think?"
The blue man shrugged, "From what I can sense, she's exactly the same strength as Gohan."
This news put a big grin on Goku's face, "Well then, this should be a pretty exciting match for my son." He then shoved the rest of the hotdog into his mouth, spilling crumbs all over the front of his top. "Gohan's gotten into loads of fights over the years with aliens, humans, androids, robots, giants, mechs, and even Gods. But this'll be the first time I'll be able to watch my boy get into a one-on-one battle with another Super Saiyan."
"Yeah. And this will also be the first time we'll get to see a fight where the entire Planet Earth isn't in any kind of mortal peril. I tell yah, the amount of insurance claims I've had to deal with regarding your home planet in the last decade alone… I swear," King Kai finished, before putting the handful of popcorn he was holding into his mouth. As the sound of chewing filled the air, the man then mumbled through a full mouth just as his student had, "I just hope those two kids will be able to keep the fight from getting out of hand."
"Ah. It'll be fine, King Kai. Let them have their fun. I'm sure Gohan has it all under control," Goku stated, voicing his complete and utter confidence in his oldest boy. "Plus this group seems really nice. The Earth's never been visited by many friendly aliens before, so I think things are going to be okay."
Though he knew his family and friends had the situation well in hand, the full-blooded warrior had no idea what kind of damage to expect from two Super Saiyan 3s fighting each other in the mortal plains. Able to feel the power levels for himself from where he was sitting billions of miles away, he had a distinct feeling that it was going to be quite immense…
OOO
(Meanwhile)
(Planet Corvus)
Groaning under the cracks of light beating against his skin, a groggy and disoriented Piccolo arose from his slumber at a wounded pace. His eyes still cloudy from his lapse in unconsciousness he'd experienced, the Namekian then cleared out his eyes and rose to his feet, where he then began the irritating process of regaining his bearings. Unfortunately his mental compass may have gone a little bit awry, because he quickly realized that he was in a place he'd never been to before.
"Wait… this is…" It didn't take him long to figure out he wasn't on Earth. Combining his knowledge of recent events with the environment he was able to identify, all signs pointed to the fact that he'd in fact arrived on the alien world he was previously investigating… and in a forested area no less. The enormous amount of vegetation, shrubbery, mountain ranges arcing around the horizon, and the unfamiliar terrain, gave him all the clues he needed to know that he was a long way from home.
The fact that the sky was purple, there were enormous mountains floating in the atmosphere, and two moons orbiting in sight of the world, were also a dead giveaway that this wasn't Earth.
A grunt from the Namekian indicated how impressed he actually was. "Okay. A new planet, a new sky, a new forest… all that's missing now is the aliens."
He then began making an inspection of the vicinity he'd woken up in. From what he could see, he'd landed inside a clearing, with a line of flowering trees surrounding him, and a large, crystal clear lake sitting just a few yards away. Commenting on how the area made for both a beautiful garden and a sanctuary all in one, the man then looked behind him, where he saw to his surprise an enormous, towering castle situation at the top of a mountain several miles away from his position.
Blinking at the sheer size of the fortress, and the medieval and science fiction qualities governing its design, the Namekian then clenched his fists and prepared to take a closer look. However, just as he was getting set to move, the Z-fighter was suddenly stopped in his tracks at the sound of branches snapping in his blind spot, and looked to his right to see what it was. He recoiled in alarm when he saw an enormous beast emerge from the woods, a six-legged, towering mammal resembling a rhino bearing reptilian traits.
The creature with the scarab horn on its crown stomped towards Piccolo, who braced himself when the animal gave a loud, booming groan. When the warrior from Earth thought the creature was going to attack, a whistle followed by a deep, gravelly voice suddenly caught the Namekian's attention.
"Heel, Sesha. Heel." When Piccolo turned in the direction of the owner, he received his second biggest shock when he saw a Namekian, dressed in a white gi, yellow shawl and sash, standing over by the tree line. Obviously being the one to have announced his presence, the dark green alien then wandered out into the open and gestured at the enormous creature breathing down on the astonished Z-fighter. "This newcomer is our guest. There's no need to get defensive. Go on, now."
Giving a low groan in response, the giant beast slowly wandered off, heading over to the lake. Piccolo, taking a deep breath of relief, watched the alien mammal move over to the water's edge and settle on the shore, before quickly turning his attention back to his fellow Namekian. He looked back at the stranger in time to see the inhabitant of the foreign world chuckle, while at the same time observing the rhino drinking from the lake.
"Don't mind her. She's normally harmless, but she gets a little antsy around strangers, especially those who drop into our garden unexpectedly." The mysterious Namekian then glanced across at Piccolo, whom he saw was glaring intensely at him. "We picked her up when Maya and I ambushed a hunting party illegally transporting animals from the Planet Werlun to sell on the black market. We adopted her and brought her home with us, since she didn't have anywhere else to go… being the last of her kind and everything. After three whole years of living on this world, she still hasn't gotten used to some of the conditions."
"I see," Piccolo murmured, sweat breaking out on his face at seeing how calm this Namekian was.
He didn't like calm enemies… or calm strangers for that matter. That usually meant they had some kind of hidden trick up their sleeve or an advantage he didn't know about. It usually ended in something bad happening.
Smiling at the untrusting look on his visitor's face, the unknown Namekian extended his hand, "My apologies. I should probably introduce myself. My name is Gast of the Southern Island Tribe, Third Generation and butler to Empress Sandra of the New Saiyan Empire."
"Piccolo," the warrior from Earth promptly responded, clearing his throat when he saw Gast's change in expression and noticed the Namekian was expecting a little more information. "Sorry… I… don't really remember much of my old life on our home planet. I… didn't even know I actually came from another world until only a few years ago."
"Ah. Well, that's perfectly understandable," Gast chuckled, retracting his hand and slipping it behind his back. He then gave the Earthborn Namekian a pleasant smile. "A lot of things happened after the Great Famine that gripped Planet Namek over five hundred cycles ago. Many of our kind ended up migrating to the four corners of the universe, while those who weren't brave enough to travel remained behind. The insurrectionists born from the schism period were also banished in the ensuing chaos." He said all this while casually strolling past the spot where Piccolo was standing, who continued to keep a close eye on his host. "Judging from the look in your eyes, I take it you were one of those who left on their own accord."
Still suspicious as usual, the former guardian of Earth spoke. "And which one were you? Were you one of those who migrated… or were you part of the group that was banished?"
Stopping in the middle of the clearing, Gast continued to smile as he stuck a hand into the pouch on the right-hand side of his sash. He then proceeded to pull a handful of crumbs out, which he gripped tightly between his fingers. "Sadly, I was one of those who were banished. My former incarnation was accused of conspiring to commit a heinous crime against our race and, by the will of the people, was sent to the far side of the quadrant as punishment for his actions." He then tossed the food across the grass and watched as several blue birds with four wings and butterfly-like antenna fluttered down from the nearby trees.
Piccolo turned to face the man's back with a disapproving frown. "So you're just like Slug then?"
"Slug?"
"He's an evil Namekian who came to Earth once and attempted to transform it into a mobile ice fortress," Piccolo informed, shaking his head at the memories he received from that old battle. "He also used our planet's dragon balls to grant himself eternal youth so that he could rule the new world in his prime. Not sure if you knew him." The Namekian then drew a line over the side of his face. "He had a permanent scar going over his left eye."
"Oh. You must be talking about Shurak? Yes… I knew him," Gast remarked, looking towards the sky with a nostalgic expression in play. "He was a Namekian formerly of the Northern Mountain Tribe and was the leader of the insurrectionists that attempted to seize power after many of our kind were wiped out during the famine years. Along with a handful of the planet's warriors, he attempted to kill Guru and use the dragon balls to take over the whole system. But he and his compatriots were defeated by the guardians and sent off world, never to return. I was banished along with them simply because I was associated with their group."
Hearing the warrior's words and watching him closely, Piccolo attempted to identify any form of treachery or deceptiveness in his story. But after several moments of due consideration, the fighter from Earth quickly deduced that the man was telling the truth. This became even more apparent when he saw the shawl wearing stranger glance at him with an honest smile, allowing the former guardian to read his expression for what it was.