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Stellar Interloper

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DISCLAIMER: This is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE fanfic. I am only using the NAMES of characters; I am not using the stories given to them in the series they were featured. This story will utilize characters from Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, but their lives and their personalities differ from the characters in the actual series. If you have a problem with it, then don't read.

Also, I don't own rights to any of the characters created in either series (as far as their names). In fact, I encourage you to take the time to watch/read both series.

:-) Thank you!

Pronunciation guide: (As I perceive them.)

Lita Kino: "leeta" :key no"

Makoto: "ma koe toe"

Gokou: "go ku"

Vegeta: "ve jee ta"

Saiya-jin: "sa" ("sa" as in "sand") "yan" ("an" as in "and"), OR, "sai yah jeen"

Dictionary:

Stellar: Of or pertaining to stars; astral; as, a stellar figure; stellary orbs.

Interloper: To intrude into some region or field of trade without a proper license; to thrust oneself into the affairs of others.

Triangulum Galaxy: (also known as Messier 33 or NGC 598) A spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years away in the constellation Triangulum. The galaxy is also sometimes informally referred to as the Pinwheel Galaxy by some

amateur astronomy references and in some public outreach websites.

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Chapter 1 – Beginnings

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"Miss Kino... What is a light-year?" A tiny voice inquired, wide eyes looking on innocently.

The teacher, slightly stunned by this question, turned on her heels from the chalkboard to answer thoughtfully, the chalk poised near her chin as she determined how to best answer her student.

"Well..." She set the chalk down and moved to the globe that sat on the corner of her desk, delicate hands resting on either side of the object. "A light-year is a measure of distance for space. Instead of using a ruler, scientists had to find a new way to measure distance because things in space are so, so far away from us. A light-year is longer than the distance around the entire Earth!" And for dramatics, she gave the globe a spin.

She tried her best to not complicate the answer for her students, knowing too well that such a question wasn't quite appropriate for kindergartners. However, the question did cause her to consider taking her class on a field trip to the planetarium.

At the thought, pink lips, coated faintly with shimmer lip-gloss, curved into a satisfied smile. Lita Kino was a newly settled elementary school teacher of only twenty-two. She typically tied up her chestnut curls in a neat, full ponytail, highlighting the soft angles of her cheekbones and forest green eyes. But today she had let her curls loose, waves of auburn spilling over her shoulders gracefully.

Lita had always been interested in outer space, finding it to be the only place of mystery left in her world. Little did she know, in the near future some of the mysteries of outer space would soon be revealed to her...

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Many light-years from Lita, three million, to be exact, in the northern corner of the Triangulum Galaxy, revolved a planet of the name Vegeta. It was a small planet in size, smaller than Earth, in fact, whose inhabitants were known as savage warriors. They had incurred a reputation throughout the galaxies that evoked both fear and respect from all, literally becoming the Spartans of the universe.

They were called Saiya-jins.

Saiya-jins looked Herculean in the least, their bodies covered in muscles from head to toe. Although their anatomy appeared to be like that of a human's--only taller and sturdier--they were blessed with abilities that humans could only dream of, as well as an extra appendage in the form of a monkey tail. In this tail rested the source of all their powers, and consequently, all their pride.

Planet Vegeta's society functioned on a class-based hierarchy of warriors. The elite, the second class, and the third class, and all of these classes answer to the General. As one would expect in a society of warriors, the General was always the most powerful Saiyajin. In the case of this story, the General's power and abilities were legendary. The tale of his past and how he came to be is another story in itself, but one must know he passed many trials and tribulations to get into his current position, reigning as the first and only third-class warrior to ever become General.

His name was Gokou.

Gokou was a tall, sturdy Saiya-jin of twenty-four years of age, with fine dark eyes and hair as black as ebony sprouting atop his head in a mass of wild, unruly spikes. Besides his commanding size and presence, his whole manner emitted an aura of calm resolution reserved for only those who, from their childhood, have been accustomed to face great dangers and losses. All of this was accented by the deep scar etched across his left cheek; a mark which only those who know about the impermeability of Saiya-jin flesh would understand its great significance.

The Saiya-jin uniform consisted of a special spandex material that functioned as under-armor, worn from neck to ankle. Over top this, was a stretchy layer of torso armor, gloves, and boots. According to classes, the color of the under-armor changed. In this case, Gokou wore black, the color designated only for the General. The armor hugged his muscled form, leaving no dip or curve of his body to the imagination. At the moment, the General was observing from a window a class of young Saiyajins in training, around the ages of four to six. His sable hues lingered on a boy who had surprisingly identical hair to his own, watching closely every punch and kick made by the youth.

The boy was none other than the General's own flesh and blood. His name was Gohan, and he was only four and a half years old. He had recently begun his training courses after successfully surviving the rite of passage into Saiyajin society. The General spent many hours training his son, treasuring every hour they had together.

A blue light soon went off in the room, accompanied by a loud alarm to signal the end of class. Gokou took a couple steps back from the window to let the students shuffle past him down the hallway, his tail flicking behind him absently as he awaited his son.

The miniature Saiya-jin's tail squirmed behind him in excitement as class concluded, knowing that he could finally see his father. Once the alarm went off, Gohan made a straightaway for the door, wide eyes searching eagerly for his father. For a split second, disappointment began to well up in his charcoal pools, until a yank on his tail lifted him off the ground.

The General had spotted his son and instantly moved behind him to grab Gohan by the tail and playfully lift him up in the air. This gesture produced an outburst of tiny laughter from his son, who struggled as he dangled in the air to latch onto his father, small arms stretching out towards Gokou's chest. The General appeased his son by moving him close enough that Gohan could attach himself to Gokou's torso, and a strong arm moved up to hold his son to his chest.

"You ready to go home and get some food?" He inquired of his son, a faint grin growing on his chiseled features.

Gohan nodded eagerly, burying his face against his father's chest, little hands clinging tightly onto the man he wished to be someday.

Gokou made his way down the hall, pressing the password into the keypad which opened the door to their room. Inside, lying on the bed, propped up by a stack of pillows and sheets, was a female Saiya-jin who looked strikingly like Miss Kino. In fact, one could say they might be sisters, or twins, for that matter—save the brown tail that swayed to and fro next to her. Her name was not Lita, however, it was Makoto, and she had no relation to Miss Kino on Earth, it was simply an unexplained phenomenon of duplicity. Makoto's hands were propped upon her belly, which was full and round with child.

Unlike the customs on Earth, the customs on Vegeta did not include marriage or any sort of union between males and females. Instead, each time the season rolled around, the males would choose to be mates with a particular female. Gokou chose Makoto twice in a row, mostly because being the General consumed most of his attentions and priorities, so there wasn't time to search for a different mate each season. If a baby boy were born, it would be sent off in order to master the rite of passage and hopefully return by the age of three or four. Upon the return, the child would be taken in by the father and trained until ready to serve in the military.

The day that Gohan returned was one of the single most significant days in Gokou's life. The General simply couldn't explain the pride that had welled up in his chest when he witnessed his son emerging from the small spacecraft, being presented with a badge of admittance into the Saiyajin army.

Gokou's eyes slipped downwards for a moment to Gohan, who was still clinging to his chest. Two large hands reached and plucked Gohan off, lifting and placing his son on his shoulders. The young Saiya-jin's hands instantly dove into his father's hair, tiny fingers grabbing onto thick handfuls of black spikes whilst his legs dangled to and fro over his father's shoulders.

"I don't suppose you left any food for us…" Gokou commented to Makoto, his eyes looking past her to the messy kitchen. It seemed apparent from crumbs and remnants of food on the table that his mate had indulged herself while waiting for them to return home.

"What do you think?" was the feisty reply from pregnant Saiya-jin.

The General had figured as much. He spoke then to his son, eyes glancing upwards. "What do you say we take a trip to the cafeteria, Gohan? I'm starving."

Gohan's head bobbed in a series of eager nods, his tail beginning to twist and curl behind him in excitement. His favorite part of the day was the part spent with his father. He nestled his face into Gokou's hair, the smell of his father always feeling like home.

The General glanced to his mate, ebony hues settling on her reclined form. He momentarily debated saying a brief goodbye, but decided against it when she shot him an irritated glare. With that, Gokou and Gohan departed together, excited for the opportunity to satisfy their oversized Saiya-jin appetites…

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"Please relax and sit back everyone. Today we will be taking you on an enchanting trip through space and time, far beyond the night sky you are all familiar with. We will be exploring the hypersonic impacts that drive the continuing evolution of the Universe, from catastrophic planetary impacts and the merging of massive galaxies! Even unexplained planetary explosions and the cause of vacuums in space! On behalf of the Deep Space Planetarium, I present 'Celestial Collisions!'"

Finally, Lita thought silently to herself as she watched the guide disappear into the back and the video began playing.

In hopes of scheduling a field trip to the planetarium, Lita had decided to take her own excursion there and watch some of the documentaries currently being featured. This next one was not suitable for children, but it sounded very interesting to her.

The giant theatre screen soon appeared to be launching the audience through space; the camera zipping past stars with ease. It slowed down and the narrator of the movie began speaking, though Lita was far too mesmerized by the imagery to give her full attention to his words.

When the film began to explain about the mysteries of space, the screen showed footage of a bright, white line of light shooting across the vast blackness of space, seeming to cut through an entire planet. The source of the light was not visible, and directly after this light sliced through the planet, it exploded. The narrator of the film explained that scientists currently have no explanation for the explosion of this planet and many others in this particular section of the galaxy. The planets were terminated long before the end of their physical lifecycles, and there was no evidence of celestial collisions or storms that could have shortened their lifespan.

The narrator continued, "Scientists are searching for answers to this deep space mystery in hopes they can discover the cause before such a thing happens to our beloved Earth."

A trail of goose bumps made its way down Lita's forearms at the latter statement. Well, they better be trying! She felt a knot form in her stomach. Glancing at her watch, she decided it was time to go—she desperately craved fresh air.

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The General and his son, tails swaying behind, were busy devouring platefuls of meat and strange vegetables, tearing the venison voraciously from the bones, juices drizzling down their chins. From time to time there would be a pause, to swallow or catch their breath, until minutes later both Saiya-jins, father and son, had consumed enough food to fill at least twenty full-grown humans.

The General's eyes drifted across the scraps left on the table, a hand moving to rest atop Gohan's head. "Full?"

Gohan nodded quickly, a smile spreading across his features as his eyes slipped up to gaze at his father. Sometimes he wondered about his dad's past, unable to ignore the evidence of an incredible history churning in the depths of his father's lucid hues. He knew the General had lived and fought in more than one war, and somehow he'd acquired the respect of every Saiya-jin on the planet. He knew the General was a great, great man, physically powerful beyond all belief. He knew the General was dedicated, strong, and had a reason for everything he did. And he knew every time he looked up at his father's face, that he was the luckiest boy on all of Vegeta.

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Inhaling deeply, Lita let the cool, fresh air fill her lungs and soothe her nerves. She tried not to think on the words of the narrator anymore, but it was almost impossible. Her gaze lifted towards the skies. They were beautiful. Clear and blue, sparsely speckled with clouds drifting by so leisurely. She was envious of those clouds today, looking so peaceful in their flight. What would the future hold for Earth?

Lita lowered her head suddenly, her thin browns wrinkling in a frown. What… is this? A hand lifted to rest over her temple. Why do I feel like…something terrible is happening? She shook her head side to side, trying to rid herself of the heavy feeling that so suddenly overcame her. It was a feeling of sorrow, of grief, and great loss. Her hand slipped from her head to rest above her heart, her eyes fixating once more upon the blue skies. I can feel your pain. Lids fell shut over her dark green hues. She'd felt this sadness once before in her life, a sadness that was not of her own, but someone else's. She couldn't really explain, but she knew somewhere, at this very moment, someone was suffering greatly and her heart went out to him or her…