Author's Note:Holy crap, I'm back! I know it's been years since I've posted anything, and I realize that I have a few unfinished stories floating around here, but the idea for this story just wouldn't leave me alone. FYI, so far this story seems to bounce around a bit between POVs, but hopefully I've done so in a way that isn't very confusing. Also, I know that some events, reactions, etc. will be a little out of character occasionally, but at the same time I will try very hard to keep the original characters true to themselves. So, here I am, sending this story out into world. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer:I do not own DBZ, the characters, or terminology. I do however take proud ownership of my original characters, etc. So please do not use them without my permission. Thanks!

Chapter 1 - Visiting Guardians

Dende, the Namekian Guardian of Earth, stood at the edge of the Lookout gazing down at the planet below. He had been watching over this planet for some time now, with the ever faithful Mr. Popo to keep him company. Things had been rather peaceful since the defeat of Buu a few years before. It seemed that the Z fighters, their families and friends were finally getting a chance to rest. He looked up as Mr. Popo suddenly appeared by his side. The genie looked very perplexed about something.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Popo?" Dende asked.

"I believe so," Mr. Popo answered slowly. "But I think Mr. Dende should listen to the message as well."

"What message?" The Guardian looked around in confusion. Mr. Popo put his hand on Dende's shoulder, and suddenly Dende could hear a woman's voice inside of his head!

'This message is for the Guardian of Earth,' The voice said in a very amiable tone. 'My name is Porgia, and I am a Guardian as well. I am one of the three Guardians of the planet Terra.'

"THREE Guardians?" The young Nemak's eyes bulged.

"Please, Mr. Dende, listen." Popo pressed a finger to his lips.

The message continued, 'I am a telepath, and I have sent this message through your aid because he had more of an open psychic link. I apologize for any inconvenience, but I wanted to let you know that, three days from now one of my fellow Guardians will be stopping on your planet via space ship. We request permission for her to land at your dwelling to deliver a message. This message concerns your planet's most powerful warriors, so it might be helpful if you attempt to assemble some of them in time to receive the message. We thank you for your time, and look forward to the cordial reception of our visiting Guardian to your planet.' With that, the message ended and the genie took his hand off of Dende's shoulder.

"Oh, my goodness." Dende murmured. "That was…unexpected."

"What should we do?" Mr. Popo asked.

"Well, I suppose we should contact Piccolo, Goku, and the others. Hopefully most of them will be able to come here in three days when the Guardian's ship arrives." The Guardian said. 'So much for earth's warriors having a rest.' He thought as Mr. Popo nodded and hurried off to begin contacting Earth's strongest warriors. 'I wonder what kind of message this visiting Guardian could possibly have for them?'

Piccolo was seated in his usual meditation spot, the sound of the waterfall providing a perfect focal point as he slowed his breath down. This was something he sorely needed after the amount of training he'd been doing lately with Earth's resident Saiyans and the two younger demi-Saiyans. He had a strange feeling that they were getting bored in some small way. It had been at least two years now since there had been any real threat to the Earth, and while Piccolo was thoroughly enjoying the break he had an inkling that the Saiyans needed a little chaos in their lives in order to function properly.

He had finally reached a satisfactory level of meditation, all of the background noise of the forest fading away. It was at that moment that Piccolo felt a pulse of ki appear directly to his right. He cracked an eye open, received a startlingly close-up view of Mr. Popo's face, and promptly fell out of his meditative stance onto the ground.

"Popo!" The Namek growled at the genie, standing up and brushing off his gi. "What in the hell are you doing?"

Mr. Popo regarded Piccolo calmly. "Mr. Dende requires your presence, as well as the presence of Earth's other powerful fighters."

"Why?" Piccolo scowled down at him and crossed his arms.

"We have received a message at the Lookout that a Guardian from another planet will be arriving on Earth in three days, and she wishes to give a message to Earth's strongest warriors." The genie looked up at him expectantly.

"That's ALL the message said?" Piccolo asked.

"Yes." Mr. Popo responded. "I was hoping you would help me to contact Mr. Goku, Mr. Vegeta, and the other fighters between now and then."

Piccolo suddenly felt a headache coming on, the peace he'd managed to attain during his meditation completely evaporated. "Fine." He growled. "I'll help you talk to the others. So we need to be at the Lookout three days from now?"
"That is correct." Mr. Popo nodded. His magic carpet swiftly appeared out of the forest, he climbed onto it and bid Piccolo farewell.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Piccolo wondered aloud after the genie had departed. He took off into the air, heading towards Goku's house first. "This had better be important." The Namek growled, using a blast of ki to propel himself through the sky.

The appointed day of the visiting Guardian's arrival found many of Earth's warriors standing on the tiled courtyard of the Lookout. Piccolo had arrived the day before after going to see the last of the Z fighters that he could find. Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta arrived together, after finally convincing Goten and Trunks to stay at Capsule Corp. with Bulma. Master Roshi's air car pulled up shortly after, the old martial arts master having agreed to give Krillin and Yamcha a ride from his island. Dende was pacing nervously back and forth across the courtyard, unsure of what to expect from this meeting with another planet's Guardian.

At first, no one was sure exactly what time during that day the ship would be arriving, but they were saved from waiting for too long. Just before noon, Dende finally began to feel the presence of the ship entering Earth's atmosphere. He informed the Z fighters of the ship's approach, and they all began keeping a look out for the ki signals of whoever might be on that craft.

The space ship slowly came into view as it made its descent to earth, the Z fighters that were present and their friends watched warily. It was not a large ship, only big enough for one or two people perhaps, and it bore no markings that any of them could recognize. As the ship gently touched down in the courtyard of the Lookout, a small door at the nose of the vessel slid open with a hiss. They all waiting expectantly for whoever was piloting the craft to emerge, but the creature that stepped out onto the tiled Lookout floor was definitely not what any of them had been expecting.

None of the Z fighters made a move as the visiting Guardian carefully climbed out of her ship. She looked young, perhaps only in her early to mid-twenties, with piercing green eyes and a head-full of flaming red curls that brushed against the creamy skin on her neck and shoulders. While she was not very tall, being about the same height as Vegeta, it was evident from the well defined muscles in her arms and shoulders that she was also a warrior. Surprisingly, she was dressed very casually in a black tank top that hugged her small waist, and jeans that settled around an ample set of hips.

After a brief pause following her exit from the ship Dende finally remembered his manners, after being gently prodded by Mr. Popo, and stepped forward.

"Fellow Guardian," the small Namek said somewhat nervously. "Welcome to Earth. I trust you had a safe journey here?"

The young woman clasped the hand Dende offered and smiled down at him, revealing pearly white teeth with slightly sharpened canines. "Hello. Yes the trip went just fine, thank you. My name is Flare," Flare's voice was strong and smooth with a slight, unfamiliar accent. "And you are Dende, yes? Thank you for allowing me to stop here."

Dende nodded vigorously, still unsure of what to do next. He was thankful when Goku stepped forward with his usual good natured greeting.

"Hi there!" Goku extended a hand to her and was surprised to feel how very warm her skin was when she accepted it. "My name is Goku, we're certainly glad to have you here." He grinned. "Dende said that you have some kind of…message for us?"

"It's more of an invitation actually." Flare nodded to the small group watching her. "I have come to extend an invitation to Earth's strongest fighters."

"An invitation for what?" Piccolo rumbled, skeptical of what a foreign Guardian could possibly be offering them.

"Why, to a tournament, of course." Flare grinned at the range of startled reactions she received. "The planet I help tend is organizing a revolutionary tournament, the first of its kind. It will be an intergalactic competition between some of the best fighters in the universe." She reached into a satchel none of them had noticed her carrying and pulled out a large, silver envelope which she handed to Goku. "Only a few select planets have been chosen to receive invitations, as this is the first year this tournament will be taking place. If all goes well this year, then the following competitions will include many more fighters from around the universe."

"Hn," Vegeta crossed his arms, eyeing the envelope warily. "And what exactly are the fates of those fighters who either win or lose in this tournament?"

Flare studied the Saiyan prince a moment before answering. "You ask that as if this were some threat being made in the disguise of an invitation. None of you are required to accept, although we had hoped that the planet whose warriors had defeated so many notorious enemies would be eager to accept such an opportunity." She smiled when Vegeta glared at her. "There are no consequences for those who lose their matches, if you lose you are simply out of the tournament. The winner will receive the honor of being named the most powerful fighter in the universe, and the only stipulation that comes with that title is that he, or she, is required to return to the next tournament to defend their place." She smirked, "Of course, there's no shame in being too afraid to enter…"

"No one said anything about being afraid!" Vegeta snapped. "You—!"

"Hey, hey!" Goku cut in quickly, laughing and scratching the scar on his head. "No need to get angry Vegeta, she was just joking with you." He turned back to Flare with bright, determined eyes. "It sounds like a great idea to me! Just think, you guys! This is a chance to compete against all of the best fighters from other planets!"

"Yeah!" Gohan agreed. "Sounds like a great opportunity. What do you think, Piccolo?" He asked, turning to his former teacher and mentor.

"Sounds interesting," The green warrior smirked. "It could be fun."

Flare nodded, her curls flowing in the breeze blowing across the Lookout. "And you are welcome to bring close friends and family members to watch the competition if you would like."

"Even better!" Goku grinned. "So when does it begin?"

"Well, that envelope I gave you has all of the details." Flare answered. "But the official start date of the tournament is one month from today."

"Wait, how long does it take to get to your planet?" Gohan asked suddenly. "And how will we get there?"

Flare grinned again. "Don't worry, it only takes a couple of days by space ship, and we'll be sending one to pick up whoever wants to join the tournament, plus any family or friends who want to accompany you." She nodded towards the envelope. "As I said, all of the instructions are in there, but I should tell you that we'll actually be arriving to pick you up about one week before the start date."
"Why is that?" Piccolo asked, taking the envelope from Goku and looking it over.

"So you will have time to acclimate to the planet's environment and settle into where you'll be staying." The red-headed Guardian explained. "Besides that, the other Guardians and the committee in charge of the tournament have arranged several events prior to the start of the competition." She laughed when Goku's stomach rumbled out of nowhere. "Which will also include plenty of chances to eat, and get to know the other fighters."

Goku laughed and rubbed his complaining stomach. "This just keeps sounding better and better!"

"Oh," Flare looked at each of the Saiyans in turn. "I should also tell you that you won't have to worry about being affected by Terra's moons."

"Moons?" Vegeta asked, his tail curling around his waist. "Meaning, you have more than one?"

"That's right," She nodded. "But there is no danger of any of you transforming, we looked into this already. The path that our moons follow actually allows them to reflect the light waves that trigger your Oozaru forms away from the planet, not towards it."

"You've certainly done your homework, haven't you?" Yamcha chuckled.

Flare turned to him, her hands on her hips. "Yes, well, when we made the decision to invite some of the most powerful fighters in the entire universe to our home, we thought it best to research each of their races and make sure none of them would be…affected by any of Terra's features."

"Well, it sounds like you've got everything worked out just fine!" Master Roshi had taken the opportunity to sidle up to Flare's side, openly eying her backside. Krillin made a half-hearted attempt to pull him back, but the old man could be rather quick when a pretty girl was involved. "I'm sure Earth's fighters will do very well in your tournament. Now, I'm sure you're very tired from your journey, perhaps you'd like to come back to my house and…" He began reaching out a hand towards her.

The redheaded Guardian didn't even look back at the lecherous hand hovering dangerously close to her ass. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, old man." She said calmly.

Master Roshi obviously either didn't hear her, or chose to ignore her. Krillin sighed, waiting for the inevitable scream from the young woman. Instead, he looked up in shock at the sound of Master Roshi yelling in pain. The old man was hopping around the Lookout, waving a hand that looked like he had scalded it in hot water. All of the Z fighters looked back and forth in confusion between the howling Roshi and the calm Guardian.

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at them. "Well, I told him not to do it."

"What exactly did you do?" Goku asked, confused.

Smirking, Flare held out one hand and snapped her fingers. A tiny ball of fire appeared at the ends of her fingers, she twirled the ball around a few times before closing her fist around it, putting it out. "I'm a fire bender, of sorts." Flare explained. "I can't help it if my body temperature shoots up when I'm…irritated."
Nearly everyone gathered at the Lookout burst out laughing, except for Piccolo who merely chuckled in his stoic fashion. And except for Vegeta, because he was too busy wondering why that small gesture had seemed so unbelievably familiar.