Rikku looked out over the Soul Society, dark eyes gazing out over the roads and buildings from her vantage point on the rooftop. She'd hardly believed she'd come to this world when she passed on instead of going to Hell with her brethren, an alien race known as Saiyans. They'd been notorious throughout their part of the galaxy for their ruthlessness and destructive power, they were the nightmares and boogie men of all races on nearby planets. They were employed by a tyrant named Frieza, an alien whose power far surpassed their own, but he had use for their destructive capabilities and their love of fighting. He used them to purge planets of its inhabitants, then put those planets up for sale on the intergalactic black market. The Saiyans were well paid for their efforts and the violence appeased their blood, most were quite content with life under Frieza, their King was not one of them. Their race was growing stronger and with each strengthening warrior, Frieza's fear that they'd soon be powerful enough to overthrow them grew. The Saiyans were outgrowing their usefulness and becoming too powerful to be kept under control much longer. So the tyrant plotted their destruction and destroyed their planet with all but a few on it, effectively wiping out an entire race of powerful warriors. With so much blood of any number of races staining their hands, the majority of them went to Hell, their King and a few low class soldiers being among the first.

Rikku was only ten at the time, the orphaned daughter of a couple of low-class soldiers who'd died in battle when she was still very young. Being female, she, unlike many other infant Saiyans, hadn't been sent off to some faraway planet to be purged. Female Saiyans usually remained on their home planet to protect their home and offspring while it was the males that were chosen for missions to other planets. On occasion, there were females deemed powerful enough to fight alongside their male counterparts, but Rikku was not one of them. Her power level at birth had been average at best, though by the destruction of her planet, it was slightly above average. She'd been raised on a different part of the planet, hadn't known many others, and certainly had no idea what their King's name was. She'd never been much of a warrior and about the only other Saiyan she'd been familiar with was Bardock's first son, Raditz. He, being the bully he was, picked on her relentlessly much the way a human child taunts a little girl he likes, declaring at one point that someday she'd be his woman. She was one of few Saiyans with an entirely pure heart and a clean soul, so when the planet was destroyed she found herself in the Soul Society.

Unfortunately, life here wasn't much better for her than it had been on Planet Vegeta. There was no surrogate family to take her in, the inhabitants having heard the horror stories of her race told to them by aliens whose races had been destroyed by hers and had passed on long before her. Nor did she end up in a friendly part of the Soul Society, rather she'd found herself in one of the rougher districts, district 78 out of the 80 that existed. Rule of thumb was, the higher the district number, the rougher the area. However her wandering through the Soul Society led her to a kind old man who on Earth had been a martial artist of some skill, a man named Gohan. He'd taken her under his wing much as he had another young Saiyan he'd named Goku. Within a few years, it became clear that she possessed spiritual pressure, setting her apart from most other departed souls. He saw her potential and the strength of her spiritual powers, even encouraged her to go to the Soul Reaper Academy. So, even though it'd only been five or six years, she'd gone and had proven herself a Soul Reaper of some skill. She enjoyed her job, destroying hollows appeased the need in her blood to fight, though she usually dragged the battle out more than necessary instead of simply destroying it.

Few there knew what she was, knew that the furry appendage emerging from the seat of her hakama was indeed her tail and not simply an eccentric flair. One of the few that was aware was the fox-like Captain of Squad 7, Sajin Komamura. Her lieutenant and friend Renji Abarai was also aware of it, but that was to be expected given their history. She'd started out in Squad 4, learning healing techniques, but with her Saiyan desire for bloodshed and a good fight, she was soon transferred to Squad 6 under Captain Byakuya Kuchiki. She'd risen quickly due to her power level and intelligence, rising to take 5th seat in her squad. She was well liked and didn't think much of her Saiyan heritage, she wasn't as violent as her departed brethren and was generally a sweet person, if rather guarded and slow to trust due to her past. With such ravishing looks, it was no surprise that there'd been a few Soul Reapers in the ranks who were taken by her, and Renji Abarai was no exception. He'd been struck with her beauty and his interest piqued by her fighting spirit and spunk. She'd returned his attentions, enjoying his company when they weren't on duty, but though things didn't sour, Renji's feelings for his old friend Rukia got in the way and Rikku wasn't one to play second.

Aside from that, life was good for her here in the Seireitei, she relished in it, thrived in it and never missed life on Vegeta as a Saiyan. One of the few downsides was a chance meeting with an alien who'd also come to this world and become a Soul Reaper, a member of a race of psychic beings known as Kanassans. She'd met him when she was still a child, before either of them became Shinigami, he'd had a good laugh over a curse he'd placed on one of her people who'd played a major part in destroying his own race. Since then, it'd sprouted into a rivalry between them due to his strong dislike of her race and the fact that they'd both sported the spiritual pressure to be among the Soul Reapers. The afterlife was far more expansive than the living were aware and among those that dwelled here beside the Soul Reapers were those in charge of Hell and the Kais, consisting of four kings, a Grand Kai, the Elder Kai, and the Supreme Kai Shin. The Kais were occasional visitors to the Soul Society, they oversaw the peace of the universe, some of them even trained fighters that had been deemed worthy of their wisdom. The Soul Reapers didn't get involved in the business of the Kais nor did the Kais involve themselves in the business of the Soul Society, though there occasions when one needed the aid of the other. King Yemma himself had contacted Head Captain Yamamoto to be on notice in case King Yemma required the assistance of the Soul Reapers when the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly had passed. Broly's power was something to be feared and the Other World feared they'd need assistance with him, so the 11th Squad captain Kenpachi Zaraki was put on notice just in case. Needless to say, he was disappointed when the Soul Society didn't need to intervene when Broly's soul reached Other World.

A high-pitched beeping caught her attention, Rikku spared a glance at the phone-like device Soul Reapers carried that detected the presence of hollows in the world of the living. As she thought, a hollow had entered the area she was placed in charge of: New York City itself. With so many humans moving to such a major city, a high concentration of humans with spiritual powers living in it, it was a troublesome area to patrol, hollows regularly prowled it. Times like this she wondered why she ever bothered coming back to the Seireitei, more often than not she ended up having to turn right back around. Then she remembered the anal-retentive ass that was her captain and had her answer. Thus after a very brief internal debate, she took her leave to return to the living world to do her job. Two powerful races had recently turned up in her turf: a few vampires and some of the few Saiyans that had survived Vegeta's destruction. She didn't know who they were, how they'd survived, or why they'd come to Earth nor did she care, with power like theirs they were a welcome mat to the hollows. Another reason NYC was a veritable spiritual smorgasbord, and that was aside from the Katagari panthers that called the city home. She wasn't complaining, she got a few good fights from her quarry.

Meanwhile, King Vegeta himself sat at the poolside bar of one of the many upscale hotels in the city, his eyes scouring the vicinity for a female worthy of his attentions. Yet, his carnal needs aside, the only thing that came to his mind was how thin the females of this planet were, how easily they could be broken with only the slightest bit of his strength. Over thirty years, he'd been in Hell with his people, all of them watching the saga of the Earthling Goku unfold, Bardock's fatherly pride growing with each victory, aware of something he wouldn't share with the rest of them. King Vegeta had arrived in Other World shortly after Tora, Fasha, Borgos, and Shugesh, Bardock's squadron. He'd been shocked to find Bardock was not among them. Shocked that a low-class soldier had not only survived an attack from Frieza's elites, but had taken out those responsible for his squadron's elimination. He'd been shocked to learn that Bardock, a soldier he'd never given much thought to, had a power level close to 10,000! Shocked as he watched with Bardock's team as the psychic Saiyan took out several of Frieza's elites himself despite his beaten form. They'd watched as Bardock was the first of their race to be burned up by Frieza's Death Ball, as their planet was destroyed. Bardock joined them soon enough, the first word from his mouth being, "Ow."

The Saiyan King had gained a new respect for Bardock, who'd not only proven himself as a warrior to his king, but had shown himself to possess power that was truly remarkable for a low-class soldier. Though Bardock spent a good bit of time watching his son's life unfold with the rest of his departed race, he didn't spend long in Hell before he was chosen by the Grand Kai for training. Few ever knew such an honor, but Bardock's sacrifice for his son and his race had earned the psychic warrior that honor. Bardock had been furious, however, when his older son, Raditz, came to Other World, his welcoming gift to his son was a hard slap to the back of his head. Then came the battle against Frieza himself, a fight that ended in victory for Bardock when Goku went Super Saiyan for the first time. His relentless bragging quickly became insufferable until Prince Vegeta himself achieved Super Saiyan, but that did little to put an end to Bardock's bragging rights. First of all, Goku had become a Super Saiyan first; second, Vegeta achieved it by more or less throwing a temper tantrum while Goku reached it by witnessing the death of his best friend at Frieza's hands. No matter, in that time King Vegeta and Bardock had become friends and Bardock still made sure to show his King at least some respect, though he had a habit of crossing certain boundaries. That usually earned him a slap on the back of the head, not that it did much good; Bardock was rather thick-headed and stubborn.

Three years ago, Bardock had been wished back accidentally when Goku and his friends had gathered to summon the dragon and before their original wish could be made Goku rather randomly wished the he could meet his father. He'd had no real intention of making the wish, he'd only been thinking out loud to himself, but the wish had been made and Bardock was returned to Earth. King Vegeta around that time had been acting as a bodyguard to Fortuneteller Baba, a task for which he was trained by Grandpa Gohan himself. He'd scoffed at first at the thought of the King of all Saiyans being trained by a deceased human, but quickly found he'd greatly underestimated the old man. What brought him to Earth was a rather complicated problem. Bardock had been targeted by a female vampire who resided in the city and had fed of his blood repeatedly. She'd become addicted to it, but the blood being non-human had a negative effect: she'd grown a tail. On top of that, the Saiyan female that had given birth to his sons had come to Earth seeking Kakarot. She'd fled from Vegeta before it was destroyed, having a deep distrust of Frieza and his intentions. Both females had joined forces, both had been spurned by Bardock after he met Alaina, a female Katagari panther. Unlike the female vampire and Saiyan, Alaina had made her feelings clear and Bardock had chosen her. Thus, the vampire and Saiyan had prepared to mobilize against Bardock. Hardly any surprise, Bardock never did learn that Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and he'd scorned many women.

Goku and Vegeta had come to the city with Bardock, both needing a break from their wives, well, Vegeta felt the need to get away from Bulma and Goku had simply been dragged along. Thus, they also got involved in the conflict, though Vegeta was far more reluctant and hadn't seen why he needed to lend aid. The problem was far more complex, but King Vegeta hadn't been given all the specifics nor did he necessarily want them. The two females had waited for the full moon to attack so it was two Great Apes they were up against, but such was the power of that form that despite their Super Saiyan power, Goku and Vegeta barely had any effect on them. Bardock's own attacks did little, a problem exacerbated by his need to wear his bandana around his eyes to avoid any sight of the moon. So Baba sent King Vegeta to assist, seeing as he was the only Saiyan who still had his tail and could control the Oozaru form. To reverse their transformation, King Vegeta destroyed the moon after which the two females were forced to retreat and Goku, using his instant transmission, quickly gathered the dragon balls. They used them to undo the destruction of the city and the moon and to wish King Vegeta back to the living world, much to Vegeta's chagrin.

King Vegeta had only a few minutes before been sitting with Bardock in his suite until Alaina had made an appearance in a dress the psychic Saiyan couldn't wait to throw on the floor. So he'd rather unceremoniously ordered his king to leave, upon which he quickly understood his minion's intentions and beat a hasty retreat… to the poolside to scope out the view as it were. So here his Royal Highness sat, trying to find a less-breakable human female to bed with. His eye was caught by something moving along the edge of the pool, a female figure all in black, the garments she wore similar to the traditional Japanese garb he'd become familiar with. The loose-fitting cloth did little to hide her voluptuous curves, her face oval in shape and flawless in its beauty, the dark waving tresses of her hair reaching to her mid-back. She was a sight to behold and her build, though, lithe was strong, the sword at her waist speaking of at least some fighting experience. The Saiyan King had found just the woman to sate his baser instincts, an appreciative smirk spreading across his face.

"Hey!" he called out to her.

She glanced up, her eyes locking on his, widening in shock that someone by the pool was able to see her despite the fact that she was not in a gigai. She was in her Soul Reaper form, no mortal should be able to see her in it.

"Shit," she muttered, her dark eyes narrowing in annoyance, "Just my luck, figures I'd pick a place where someone can actually see me."