A Newcomer

The cheers could be heard from miles away and the smell of cerebration was in the air as they flew at top speed to be there on time and not give their father yet another reason to pick on them.

"To the left!" the youngest said to his brother and then turned off his scouter. The brother nodded and they soon had to find a place to land.

The central square was packed with tall dark figures, all standing in two opposing lines, making thus room for someone to pass between them. They were all doing the Saiyan salute and so far, waiting for something to happen.

"Here!" the older brother said, as he yanked his little brother by his left arm and dragged him to a certain spot, a bit further from where they had landed. They squeezed in between two tall seemingly identical men and breathed in relief. But only a second passed and they both felt two heavy slaps across their heads.

" Where the hell have you been?" Bardock snarled and quickly looked in his right to see if there was any sign of someone down the lane.

"We've been training!"Gohan, the older brother, snarled back as he rubbed the place of his head that'd been so harshly injured. "That's the only thing low-classes are good for, apparently..."

"Don't get your grandfather started on the ranking system..." Kakarot, Gohan's father said rolling his eyes. "We all know how it will end..."

"Yeah, with him getting drunk and threatening to kill uncle Raditz or the king" Goten said in a lowered voice. He was the youngest of this group of low-classes and usually the happier one. Everybody probably was that way when they were sixteen, but as they grew older, life proved to be quite a bitch, especially if you were a low-class.

Goten looked up and down the line he was in and then turned to his father, who was in his left. "Ne, where is uncle Raditz?"

"He's all puffed up and proud as a peacock in the front...with the other elites." Bardock answered instead with disgust. Goten looked at his father, who only gritted his teeth, and then down. Bardock had a tensed relationship with his eldest son, Raditz, who was an elite, despite the fact that his father was a low-class. Although Bardock cared very much for his son, as time passed and as the kid grew, the two of them got into fights, mostly because of their opposing ranks. Being indoctrinated from school to despise low-classes, Raditz would then go home only to put into practice the things he learned. Another reason to fight was Raditz's power level, which was, according to Bardock, 'borderline elite'. Not few were the times when Bardock provoked his son to fight him and show him 'his staggering elite strength' only to beat him to a pulp and laugh of the criteria by which elites were chosen. Bardock never liked the fact that he was categorized as a low-class , although his power level increased a lot since his birth and he was now even beyond the level of a regular elite.

This was the reason his other son and his two grandsons had to avoid the subject about ranking systems, or else his mouth wouldn't shut up for the next hours and he would get so angry, they were barely able to stop him from doing something stupid.

"So, what's the occasion?"Gohan asked.

"Apparently the king destroyed another planet."Kakarot replied.

"And that's a reason to celebrate like this?" Gohan asked spitefully as he rolled his eyes.

"Actually," Bardock cut in, "I heard that the king will officially promulgate the Act of Succession today."

"Big deal, the next king will be prince Vegeta. Any idiot knew that!" Goten spat.

"But you know," Bardock said in a somewhat lowered voice, "I think he's doing this to put an end to all the rumors that he would presumably have another son, but his power level was so humiliatingly small for the royal family that they had to send him away..."

"No way!" Kakarot said amazed. "King Vegeta to have a low-class son?"

"Where did you hear that?"Gohan asked his grandfather.

"Places." Bardock said with a smirk. Gohan puffed.

"You shouldn't believe everything Toma tells you..." he retorted, but smiled. Toma was Bardock's best friend and crew member.

"And you shouldn't believe that our king is so perfect!"Bardock snapped.

"They're comming!"Goten exclaimed and they all looked down the aisle. The cheers were getting louder as a group of three people were casually walking along with an arrogant look on their faces. There was king Vegeta, a tall and imposing man with a very cold and mean look on his face; then there was prince Vegeta, the spitting image of the king, except for the goatee and somewhat shorter and...

"Who's that?"Goten asked frowning. That question seemed to be on everybody's lips as the group of royals passed by their subjects. There was a third person to the group, someone so different from the rest. He was a tad shorter than prince Vegeta and didn't even look up, as if he were uncomfortable of all the eyes that were on him. He was wearing the same outfit as the prince and he was walking a pace or two behind the other two. His apparition probably wouldn't have been so intriguing if the boy hadn't have straight purple hair, a weird thing for Saiyans, as they all had either long or short spiky black hair.

"What is that?" Gohan asked and an ironic smile appeared on his face. "A prize? A prisoner?"

"He's a Saiyan!" Goten snapped as he spotted the young boy's tail wrapped around his waist.

"Impossible!" Gohan said promptly. "Look at his hair!"

"No freaking way!"Bardock gaped. "So the rumors were true!"

"What rumors?"Kakarot asked, also staring at the new boy.

"Don't you know about the scandal?"Bardock hissed as the royal group passed right by them. He waited for them to move a little further and then continued. " There was this rumor that prince Vegeta had some sort of escapade on another planet a few years ago and that he ended up with an illegitimate kid. Apparently he knew everything about this, but he didn't tell the king. Somehow the news got to his father, a few months ago actually, and there was this huge fight..."

"How come I never heard all these things?"Gohan asked suspiciously.

"That's because it was kept a secret, you idiot!"Bardock said.

"And how do you know?"Gohan spat back.

"Like I said, I have my own sources."Bardock grinned. "Anyway, the king thought that this was preposterous and he wanted to kill the bastard before anyone else found out, but prince Vegeta somehow convinced his father to let the kid be, only because it is said that his power level was huge."

"But he's a half-breed!" Kakarot commented and then smiled. "How could he have a higher power level?"

"I don't know, but apparently, this one is freakin' strong."Bardock said as he watched the royal family approach the platform from which the king usually made public announcements. " So, apparently, the king kept his promise, but, and here comes the interesting part, he didn't say he will let the planet from where the brat comes untouched. And here's what he does. Goes to the planet, steals the kid and them blows it up."

"But why?"Goten asked.

"Because he probably didn't want us low-classes to go there and mix with those species and create some sort of new super hybrids."Bardock said.

"Okay, now you're just bluffing."Gohan remarked.

"Yeah, maybe." Bardock said with a smile. "But hey, the king is messed up enough. How do you know that isn't his plan?"

Gohan preferred to just roll his eyes and then pay attention to the king, who got in front of a stand. Like at a signal, everyone turned around to face the platform and listen. Nobody said a word. They were all waiting.

Goten got on the tip of his toes to see over the mass of black heads what was going on in the front. He could see the councilors and the elites standing near the podium. He smiled when he recognized his uncle Raditz's tall figure, but then his eyes got locked on the new point of interest: the purple haired boy. He seemed to be younger than anyone he knew, he probably was his age, but yet, he looked so different. That hair was really funny for someone who was used to seeing only dark spikes on people's heads and the way he was standing made it obvious that he was so...not Saiyan. He was looking down, as if he were afraid of everybody. Only when prince Vegeta put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a firm squeeze, did the boy look up at him.

Goten's eyes bulged even more when he saw the boy's face better. He looked just like prince Vegeta! Just that he had purple eyebrows and...blue eyes.

"Now I'll be damned!" he whispered. He's never ever seen anyone with that eye-color. It made him look so weird and yet so...interesting.

"Hey look!"Kakarot said with an idiotic smile on his face. "It's like the gay version of prince Vegeta!"

Bardock had to wack his son hard across the head as people around them burst into muffled giggles. "Can't you say that louder, you brainless monkey?!" Bardock sneered.

"Sorry," Kakarot said as he massaged his head. "I was just pointing out the obvious."

Although Goten smiled at his father's comment, he didn't quite agree with him. He wouldn't quite classify the boy's appearance as gay , although in the Saiyan society the true gays weren't different from your regular Saiyan; he would rather call him interesting to look at. Like some sort of painting, or a new animal at the zoo. Probably the latter...

The king cleared his voice. "Fellow Saiyans..."he began.

"Oh, we're equal now..." Bardock muttered.

"...the reason of this convocation is to celebrate the Saiyan race at its finest, as once again it has proven that it is the best warrior race in the entire galaxy!"

"Someone should work on his speeches." Gohan whispered, making his brother snicker.

"We can therefore be proud of our best troops that have managed in a very short time to eradicate another low-rank race. The planet however was inferior in value, so it had to be destroyed." the king spoke and then grinned as he saw the elites grinning too. "And for what it's worth, the planet's name was Galament, not that it matters anymore..."

The Saiyans cheered and growled at their king's words. Goten, however, was still staring at the new comer. When the king mentioned the planet's name, the boy frowned and clenched his fists, while prince Vegeta gave him a quick glance, as if to check his reaction.

" That was his planet," Goten said in a lowered voice. Gohan glanced at his brother and then at his grandfather.

"So, does that mean that that kid is indeed..." he said, but got interrupted when the king spoke again.

"There is another reason why we are gathered here. After prolonged discussions with my councilors, we have come to the conclusion that it is time to officially promulgate the Act of Succession, which sounds like this..." The king rolled out a sheet of paper and read. " By the desire of the king of planet Vegeta and by the agreement of the twelve official councilors, the heir to the throne shall be the first male born that will be officially recognized as legitimate. What does that mean? It means that my eldest son, in this case, my only son, prince Vegeta, shall be king when I'm gone."

"Oooh..." Kakarot said in a voice which meant that he finally understood. "Hey, but didn't you say he had another kid?"

"And do you think he's stupid enough to admit that in front of his people?" Bardock hissed.

The king spoke a few more things about the planet's welfare and future plans and after ten minutes he declared the gathering as finished. He dismissed his subjects and walked away from the stand. He gave his son a quick glance and then walked right past the new comer, as if no one was there at all. The boy quickly looked down. Prince Vegeta rolled his eyes and then whispered something in the boy's ear, making him raise his head and give the prince an amazed look. The prince made a sign with his head and the two walked off the podium.

The Saiyans were slowly walking away too, debating the new things they found out and also about the elephant in the room: the purple haired boy. Some heard the same rumors as Bardock and were now sharing them with the others, some were still wondering who the hell that was and why he was wearing royal garments. Some even presumed that he was the king's low-class son.

"What a waste of time, seriously," Bardock complained.

"Did you see that?"Gohan asked with a note of annoyance in his voice. "He completely ignored that kid and didn't bother to tell us something about whom he is or why he was dressed like the prince!"

"Maybe he doesn't know who he is either."Kakarot commented, making his son and father to give him exasperated looks.

"Come on, Goten!"Gohan said. He turned around as he didn't hear any reply. "Goten? Where did he go?"

"He knows his way home, don't bother."Bardock said as carelessly as he could.

Goten flew over the heads of the departing Saiyans and landed right next to a tall man with very long spiky black hair. "Ne, uncle Raditz!"

Raditz turned his head around and wrinkled his nose as he always did when he saw a low-class, but as soon as he recognized whom that person next to him was, his features softened a little. He quickly started walking away.

"Uncle Raditz!"Goten shouted and started following him.

"Don't talk to me here!" Raditz hissed at him and continued walking through the mass of people. Goten rolled his eyes and resumed his following. His uncle Raditz always did that in public places, as he, an elite, didn't want to be seen interacting with low-classes, even though everyone knew that his entire family consisted of low-classes.

"Can we talk now?"Goten shouted after his uncle once they reached a more remote area of the square.

"I told you not to talk to me like that in public!"Raditz snapped, although he was only pretending to be furious. Goten was his favorite nephew so he had a soft spot for him. He didn't really like Gohan, however. He was always a smart ass around everyone and recently he became very arrogant, only because he was smarter than your average low-class Saiyan, who were deprived of a good education, not that Gohan received any formal education either but, he just loved reading a lot by himself and having long 'philosophic' discussions with his grandfather Bardock, who was the oldest and thus had the most experience about how things went on in life.

"Uncle Raditz, everyone knows you come from a low-class family, you don't have to hide."Goten said.

"I'm not hiding, I just have to show my disgust towards you." Raditz said crossing his arms. "Anyway, what do you want? I have stuff to do."

"Who was that kid today?"Goten shot.

"Who?" Raditz asked.

"Oh, come on! It's not like everyone didn't notice him. He was there, on the stage and dressed like royalty."

"I don't know who he is."

"Bullshit."

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you."

"Is he prince Vegeta's kid?"

Raditz looked surprised. "Let me guess, Bardock came up with that one..."

"It would make sense, uncle Raditz. He is some sort of Saiyan because he has a tail and he does look like prince Vegeta a lot. Unless he's king Vegeta's son..."

"He's not king Vegeta's kid!" Raditz snapped and then sighed. "Look, there are reasons why he was ignored today."

"But he is related to the royals, right? Come on, tell me! Everyone has their version about whom he is. Can't I hear the official one? Besides, the king seems to want us to come up with all sorts of stories since he didn't tell us who he is."

"Goten, I can't tell you anything. Everyone in the king's entourage swore not to tell anything." Raditz sighed.

"Pff, that never stopped you before." Goten retorted. Raditz shot him a threatening look. "Okay, how about this. I say what I think about this and you just nod or shake your head. That way you're technically not saying anything!"

Raditz sighed exasperated. "Fine! Whatever..."

"Okay. That kid is prince Vegeta's illegitimate kid."

Raditz pursed his lips and crossed his arms again, but then nodded slightly.

" Woah... so, he's a half-breed?"

Raditz nodded.

"Is he really super strong?"

Raditz nodded.

"And that's the only reason why he's alive, right? The king blew up his planet, but kept him because he's strong and he might be useful, ne?"

Raditz growled but then nodded.

"But, couldn't prince Vegeta just have another kid with a Saiyan woman and forget all about this kid?"

"I can't answer that only by shaking my head!"Raditz commented.

Goten gasped. "Unless prince Vegeta is sterile and he can't have another kid! Ne, ne, is that so?"

"That's ridiculous!"Raditz snapped. "Prince Vegeta is not sterile. As for the previous stupid question, prince Vegeta has his own fears about that..."

"Fears? He's afraid of women?"Goten asked scratching his head.

"You're truly your father's son. Enough with your stupid questions! I have to go..."Raditz said and turned his back at him. "Don't you freaking tell anyone what I just told you or you'll be in trouble or even worse, I'll be in trouble! This includes not telling your father, brother or Bardock."

"Wait!"Goten said and grabbed his uncle's wrist to stop him from flying off. "How strong is the kid? Does he have a name? How old is he?"

"Why are you so curious?"Raditz asked annoyed. "Do you want to ask him out on a date, or what?"

Goten laughed. "I'm just curious. Come on, uncle Raditz, you have access to all the information every minute of the day, whereas me, a loser low-class have to wait for the king to make public announcements to know what the hell is going on in this kingdom... and sometimes he's not even telling the truth..."

"Watch it!"Raditz threatened and his features darkened. "I may be your uncle, you I'm still an elite soldier under the king's rule. My king is your king too and you have to respect him. Your life and death depend on him."

"I hear this bill every day from Gohan. He's as indoctrinated as you are..."Goten mumbled.

"At least he knows his place. You've been listening to Bardock's crap for too long. You shouldn't believe everything he tells you. He doesn't believe it either."Raditz said and stared at his nephew for a few seconds then sighed. "There are too many low-classes in that house and you're starting to act like wild animals. You should get out while you still have the chance."

"Like you did...?"Goten asked quietly.

Bardock started hating Raditz even more after he left him and his younger brother, Kakarot when he was seventeen. He was usually the one who took care of the kid, but by the time he turned fifteen, Bardock started treating both of them really badly. Raditz had to stand up for the both of them, but things were getting very frustrating and agonizing, plus his elite trainers at school encouraged him repeatedly to get away from the low-classes, because they would only spoil his potential and in the end, Raditz snapped. Although he loved his brother to death and didn't want to leave him with Bardock, who wouldn't even bother to look after him, he had to leave, because that was how things were on planet Vegeta. Low-classes and elites or super-elites should never be together.

Raditz looked at his nephew. "Yes...like I did. Believe me, it's better that way. They only drag you down. They don't want you to have aspirations and they don't want you to move on. They don't bring you any benefit..."

Goten looked down. He liked his father and brother and loved his grandfather, so he didn't quite feel the desperate need to get out of that entourage, but he knew that his uncle was right. Too many low-classes in one place didn't bring anyone any benefit.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. His uncle gave him a small smile and then turned around to fly off, but just as he was about to blast off, he said: "He's seventeen. And his name is Trunks."

And with that, Raditz flew off. A wide smile spread all over Goten's face. So, he was almost his age. And 'Trunks'? What kind of name was that? He looked up to the reddish sky (the sky was always red on planet Vegeta) and then flew off too.