Chapter One
'The Arrival'
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Earth, summer 1998
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Amidst the dusty plains of Turkmenistan the assembled Z-fighters stood silently. Trunk's time machine had just left, but his warning, as relayed by Piccolo, had struck them to their very core. What should have been a joyous occasion, Goku's return, was now marred by a terrible prediction. Only three years were left to them until a pair of killer androids would arrive and bring havoc to them and the world. The news had left them dumbfounded. Each contemplated the task now ahead of them. It was Vegeta, separate from the others who were surrounding Goku, who first broke the silence.
"So, Kakarot, how did you escape from Namek in one piece?" he asked, voicing what everybody had been dying to know. And also offering a break of a grim subject to something more light hearted.
"Yeah," Yamcha added, seizing this change of subject with relish, "according to Kaio-Sama Freeza's ship was completely busted. According to him there was no escape possible."
"I thought so too," Goku replied, "but luckily there were four to five ships nearby. I just grabbed one of those."
"Of course," Vegeta exclaimed as he realized, "the Ginyu force. They arrived independently from Freeza."
How could he have forgotten! While most of Freeza's men had come along with Freeza's ship the five alien strong Ginyu Force had come in their own transports to planet Namek.
"Yeah, I grabbed one just in time," Goku smiled at the recollection, "but it took me to some planet called Yardrat."
"Yardrat? That explains the clothes" Vegeta said, making a sneer at Goku's clothes, "I heard Freeza had plans for Yardrat. He must have planned for the Ginyu force to go there after Namek."
"Yeah, nice guys those Yardrati. They gave me these clothes," Goku said and looked at his weird looking clothes, "even though they are a bit funny."
"But you didn't refuse the dragon to stay there for the clothes, Kakarot," Vegeta smirked, "you were after their techniques?"
"You're starting to know me, Vegeta," Goku smiled in that great smile of his.
"So that is why you didn't return," Bulma nodded excitedly, "so what did you learn, show us!"
Goku got instant happy mode as he told them.
"Well, they could only teach me a single technique but it took me a whole year to master. It's called instant movement."
"INSTANT MOVEMENT?" they all said surprised.
"Show us," Tien asked curious.
Goku smiled, cupped his left elbow with his right hand and pointed his left finger upwards.
"It's not to a place, you see, but to a person," he said, "to put it simply, you must feel that person's chi then you go straight to that person. Let's see, who should I pick? Ah!"
In an instant Goku disappeared only to reappear again a fraction of a second later.
"That's not instant movement, you third rate clown," Vegeta snorted, "you're just dazzling us by moving very fast."
"Oh yeah?" Goku said and on put on the famous ray ban sunglasses of Kame Senin, enjoying every second of it as he basked in their amazement. All except Vegeta. Who had of course never seen Kame Senin and his trade mark sunglasses.
"And what are these then?" Goku said showing of the sunglasses.
"Those are from Kame Senin," Krillin said as he recognized the sunglasses, "the master who trained us. But how can that be? He's on the other side of the world, near Hawaii."
"I told ya, instant movement," Goku grinned.
Vegeta started to fume with anger. If he were a cartoon character he would probably have steam coming out of his ears. Again this son of a low class commoner had increased his lead on him.
"I'm really starting to dislike you, Kakarot," he finally said after getting a hold of himself.
"And here I was thinking we could be friends Vegeta," Goku said as he took of the sunglasses, "we are after all the last ones of our race."
"Don't count on it, Kakarot," Vegeta said coldly, "one day I will surpass you and then…."
Suddenly everybody looked upward.
"Holy shit," Yamcha said, starting to shake again, "another one?"
"That is some big ass chi," Tien said worried, "I hope its not hostile."
By the looks of everyone's faces Bulma could see that some serious shit was about to hit the fan. These were the times she was usually happy she couldn't sense chi like they could. Usually that is. Nature had also blessed (or cursed) her with an above normal sense of curiosity.
"Hello you guys," Bulma yelled, "there are still some people here without chi sense! What's going on?"
"Somebody is coming," Piccolo said without giving her a look, "and who ever he is, he makes Freeza look like a picnic."
"Why me," Krillin sighed shaking his head in despair, "why does bad shit always happen to me before I could get a nice girlfriend?"
"Cheer up, dude," Yamcha said, "look at all the stories you get to tell when you finally do get one."
Yamcha's remark did not manage to lift Krillin's spirit. Probably because he wasn't really believing it himself.
"The universe has far too much fun at my expense," Krillin muttered.
"He's far closer then Freeza was when we first sensed him," Tien said, "we could sense him coming in hours away. This guy on the other hand is close, very close."
"He must have been suppressing it until he was close," Piccolo said, "and now he feels the need to announce his coming."
"Or he no longer cares," Vegeta said.
Gohan was the first to see it.
"There," he said, and pointed towards a spec in the sky.
"Maybe it's that guy from the future again," Krillin said hopeful.
"I don't think so," Piccolo said, "this one feels totally different. And a lot bigger."
"Bigger?" moaned Krillin, "here we go again. I knew I should have stayed in bed."
The spec became bigger.
"It's a Saiyan space pod," Gohan said surprised, "could it be one of Freeza's men?"
"I don't think so," Vegeta said, "he has no henchmen left who could be this strong. I took care of all of them."
The pod started its final descent and then crash landed just to the east of the assembled Z-fighters.
"Let's pay our visitor a visit," Goku said and started to lift off.
"Hold it, Kakarot," Vegeta cried out after him, "whoever elected you the leader of this outfit? I say we hide our chi and mask our approach until we know who and what we're dealing with."
Unfortunately the rest of the Z-fighters started to lift of as well.
"Hey, we have Goku now," Yamcha shrugged as he took Bulma in his arms and he and the others went to the new arrival. Vegeta growled in frustration at being left alone and then lifted off as well.
The space pod landed a few miles to the north of the Z-fighters. By the time the Z-fighters were there it had already cooled of.
"It's definitely a Saiyan space pod," Vegeta said surprised as he caught up with the others, "it even carries the royal seal of my fathers house."
Gone was all his caution. Could this actually be… no way! Freeza had killed all of the remaining Saiyans. He, Kakarot and that brat of his were the only Saiyans left. The only others had been Radditz and Nappa and they were also dead. Kakarot and the Namek had killed the former, he had finished off the latter.
For a while nothing happened, the pod just laying there in its crater.
"Maybe he died or was knocked unconscious," Krillin suggested.
"Don't be an idiot," Vegeta said disparagingly, "Those ships are indestructible. You can survive almost anything in them. Whoever is inside is just waiting for the heat to cool off. A ship like that coming in that fast will gather a lot of heat upon re-entry."
"If you say so," Piccolo said, not taking his eyes off the space pod.
After what looked like an eternity the door finally opened, causing a shudder and a collective intake of breath amongst the assembled Z-fighters. Then, as they watched, a leather booted foot emerged followed by the rest of a body. A man came out of the spaceship, with stiff movements. He didn't wear any Saiyan battle armor but his clothes were an odd mismatch of all sorts of clothes, as if he was a vagabond living a vagabond lifestyle. His ink black hair, be it somewhat shorter then Goku's or Vegeta's was as disorganized and gravity defying as that of any other Saiyan they had met. Except for Nappa of course who had been bald as a stone. His short sleeved shirt revealed two heavily tattooed arms and a brown furry band circled his waste. He also carried a very worn looking scouter on his face.
Having finally fully emerged from the craft the man began to stretch himself out at leisure. Judging by his movements it looked to Vegeta that the man had been inside for quite some time. He then turned around and noticed the Z-fighters. Causing some of them to tremble.
"It's a, a, a Saiyan, you guys," blurted a scared Krillin. Fuck the hair! It was the eyes. Those black irises coupled with a scouter gave Krillin flashbacks of Radditz and Nappa and the tailwhuppin' he had received back then. He had died two times already and didn't relish dying a third time. Other then Goku and Gohan, whenever a Saiyan arrived on this Earth trouble was sure to follow.
The Saiyan took his time to straighten out his clothes, no doubt for dramatic effect, only then to look at the Z-fighters again. His left hand went to his scouter and he pressed a button. He looked at each of the Z-fighters. When he came to Vegeta and Goku he quickly shut it down.
"Damn," the Saiyan could be heard saying, "now I have to readjust it again."
Considering what the Saiyan had said his voice sounded surprisingly gentle. He looked at Goku and Vegeta again and studied them intensely.
"By the Seven Hells, no way! Are you two…., are you Saiyans?" the man asked cautiously
Goku nodded. The man lifted of and gently floated towards the Z-fighters. He studied Goku up close, as if he was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. Then to everyone's surprise he grabbed Goku in a bear hug and embraced him.
"Man, it has been such a while since I have seen another Saiyan besides my own ugly mug, I thought I was the only one left."
"Same here," Goku said surprised, giving the others a 'what the fuck' look, "but, um, could you please let go? I'm kinda getting squashed here."
"Sorry," the Saiyan said and let go, he even began to dust off Goku, "I am sorry, I forgot my manners."
Goku looked at his bewildered friends, then let out a big sigh of relief. The man suddenly looked at Vegeta.
"If you try to hug me it will be your last," the Saiyan prince said with his coldest scowl on full.
The Saiyan looked closely then raised his eyebrows as in surprise.
"How could I hug royalty?" he said, "Are you not Prince Vegeta of the royal house of Vegetasei?"
"I am," Vegeta replied in a tone that implied how anyone could be stupid to think otherwise.
"I guess I should kneel then," the man said and dropped onto one knee. Vegeta didn't stop looking sour but his raised eyebrow did betray he was studying the new arrival.
So far this Saiyan had not done anything but what they had come to expect from Saiyans. So far no Hulk smash! Still not trusting it though Krillin came up front.
"Hey, don't try anything funny," he said and pointed at Goku, "because Goku here is a Super Saiyan!"
Vegeta gave Krillin the 'how-could-you-just-blabber-that-out-you-bumbling-idiot' look. But it was too late.
"So you are a Super Saiyan?" the Saiyan said surprised, then his eyes widened in excitement, "Could you show me?"
The secret already out Goku made a gesture of what the hell towards the other Z-fighters. So his aura blazed to life. The others had to take a few steps back as Goku's chi pushed them outwards. When Goku's hair turned to gold the transformation was finally complete. And the Saiyan looked on impressed.
"Fascinating," he said, studying like a judge at a contest, "And good control too. How long did it take you to attain this level?"
Goku put his hand behind his head and laughed sheepishly.
"Actually, it sort of happened to me."
Vegeta growled in annoyance. It was bad enough that Goku became a Super Saiyan, worse even that it happened by accident.
"Would you believe that this bumbling idiot stumbled across it?" he said, "Even though he wasn't actually seeking it?"
The Saiyan shrugged.
"Such is the nature of things, my Prince," he replied, "some spend their entire life seeking what others find by accident. It took me 4000 years before it happened."
Vegeta looked shocked, as did the other Z-fighters. 4000 years?
"4000 years?" Vegeta repeated as if saying it made it more comprehensible.
The Saiyan nodded and started to power up as well. Just like Goku his aura flared up, as did his chi. His shorter hair moved upright as well and turned to gold. As did his short beard.
"I wonder if their pubic hair also changes color," Yamcha whispered to Tien who let out a short laugh. Laughter was the farthest from Vegeta's mind though.
"Not another one," he let out from gritted teeth as the two Super Saiyans sized each other up.
"Their power seems about equal," Tien said to Piccolo.
Piccolo looked for a while.
"I think he's holding back," he replied, "he's stronger then he wants us to believe."
"First Goku, then that kid, now him?" muttered Vegeta to himself, "Is there some secret Super Saiyan hangout that I don't know off? The ancient secret society of no-Vegeta?"
"You're just jealous because they managed to do what you didn't," Bulma said who had overheard him.
"Be quiet woman!" Vegeta snarled at her, "You don't have to rub it in!"
"Be quiet yourself, you bungling oaf," she bit back. As they started to bicker the two Super Saiyans continued their staring contest.
"Fascinating," the unknown Saiyan said eventually to Goku, "truly astonishing that it took you such short time to attain this level of power."
"You want to fight me to test me out, we could go over there if you want to," Goku asked holding up his index finger, "if you want I could power up my finger again?"
"That won't be necessary. I just wanted to see it," the Saiyan said and changed back to his regular look, "let me introduce myself. My name is Belmovekk, son of Rabar. I am a sorcerer and I was sent here to aid a group of warriors in their struggle against a great coming darkness. From the looks of it it seems I have found you."
The Z-fighters were surprised.
"A sorcerer?" a surprised Goku said, 'what is a sorcerer?"
"For somebody who has lived on this Earth for most of his life you can be surprisingly dim," Piccolo snorted, "this planet is full of the supernatural, you fool. Clearly he dabbles in magic. Which probably explains the neat tattoos."
"So, no boom today?" asked Bulma.
"No boom today, Bulma," Krillin said relieved.
"With you guys there's always a boom," Bulma snorted, "if not today, then certainly tomorrow!"
"If I may ask, Belmovekk, who sent you here," Piccolo asked as he stepped forward towards the Saiyan.
"It is…, complicated," the new Saiyan said and scratched his hair, "Do you have the time?"
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(a few hours earlier that day)
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"Sir, what the hell is going on?" US Air Force colonel Jack O'Neill asked as he and his team entered the SGC briefing room.
General Hammond acknowledged his and the rest of SG-1's presence.
"Colonel. SG-1, please have a seat," he said and made a gesture to be seated.
"Weren't we supposed to go to P3X-7580 in a couple of hours?" O'Neill asked after he'd seated himself. The rest of his team, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and the rogue Jaffa Teal'c followed his lead.
"Your mission has been scrubbed as of immediately, colonel," the portly general said as he seated himself also, "SG-4 will carry it out at a later date."
O'Neill rolled his eyes. He had an idea where this was heading.
"Let me guess, sir, a situation has arisen," he said leaning smug in his chair, "one that specifically requires our talents. Right?"
"Your guess is correct colonel. This morning at 08:37, less then 20 minutes ago, British and American seismometers registered a series of small earthquakes taking place in the republic of Turkmenistan, to the east of the Caspian Sea. They happened in uninhabited areas. Normally this wouldn't concern us until the British alerted us that the nature of these earthquakes corresponded to a series of nuclear detonations, ranging from 30 kiloton to 1.3 megaton."
"That's quite a lot of tonnage, sir," O'Neill said grinning like a Cheshire cat, "the Russians been playing with nukes again?"
"There's more, colonel," Hammond continued, "there are eyewitness reports that an even greater nuclear device was detonated in the air. A shockwave flattened half the city of Darvaza 3 minutes after a massive flash was reported, brighter then the sun."
"I guess this means Yeltsin been pushing the wrong button then?" O'Neill said making a drinking gesture.
"No missile launch was detected, colonel," Hammond said. Even though he was used to the flippant behavior of his second in command it still managed to annoy him from time to time.
"So, an unscheduled nuclear test maybe?"
"Turkmenistan was never one of the former Soviet Union's nuclear testing grounds," major Samantha Carter interjected, "besides, the Russians have signed up to the nuclear test ban treaty."
"So? Its Yeltsin," O'Neill shrugged, making another drinking gesture.
"O'Neill, what does this mean?" Teal'c asked, copying O'Neill's drinking gesture, "And what does that have to do with this Yeltsin?"
"Yeltsin is the president of Russia, Teal'c," O'Neill explained to the Jaffa, "also know as the clown of the Kremlin. The Lushia from Russia! He's been known for drinking a little too much on the job."
"Only a little, Jack?" Daniel Jackson smiled.
"OK, quite a lot actually," Jack shrugged quasi-innocently.
"Of what, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
"Alcohol. Preferably vodka I guess."
Teal'c looked puzzled.
"I thought consuming alcohol and working at the same time is frowned upon in Tau'ri society?"
"Usually it is, Teal'c, but they're Russians," O'Neill shrugged again, "it's a Russian thing to do. They probably all think they are leading miserable lives and will all have miserable deaths. So why bother? You know, we where there, remember?"
Teal'c looked perplexed. These Tau'ri never ceased to amaze him.
"Could they be terrorists?" Daniel Jackson asked, "We hear all these stories about missing Russian suitcase nukes in the media."
"A suitcase nuke might explain a 30 kiloton nuke, Daniel," Sam said, "but nowhere near the 1.3 megaton level. General, isn't there any satellite imagery?"
"Unfortunately not, major," the general replied, "since the end of the cold war and break up of the Soviet Union that area is of little strategic interest to us. A KH-11 satellite used to cover it but its orbit was shifted in the early 90's so it could monitor Iraq instead."
"I still think its Yeltsin, sir," O'Neill said, "anyone mad enough to grope female ass on television is capable of anything."
"Well, unfortunately for you, colonel," Hammond said as he leaned back smiling in his chair, "the Russians not only vehemently deny any involvement, they also contacted us 10 minutes ago saying that their seismometers came up with the same results. They also asked for SG-1's involvement. Apparently they were very impressed the way you guys handled their Stargate debacle."
"I was under the impression that they would rather forget we ever existed," O'Neill said surprised, "just so we didn't remind them of that incident. Still, why are we involved, general?"
The general punched up something on his computer and images started to appear on a large viewscreen.
"Because some 45 minutes prior to the first earthquake NORAD detected what appeared to be an large unidentified flying object, heading for a trajectory that would put it straight in the target area."
"OK, that would explain it," Jack nodded as he studied the data, "damn, I hate it when the snake heads pay us a visit "
General Hammond then punched up some additional data and the view screen displayed several aerial photographic images.
"These came straight from a Russian MiG 25 photo reconnaissance bird making a high pass over the target area less then 5 minutes ago. As you can see, there are several craters here, here and here, all showing blast damage akin to the detonation of large numbers of explosives."
"Or nuclear devices," added major Carter.
"Indeed, "General Hammond continued giving her a nod, "what interested us and the Russians most was this photograph though."
SG-1 studied the photograph closely.
"What should I see? O'Neill asked the others.
"Is that what I think it is?" Daniel Jackson said to focused to reply .
"It looks like debris," Samantha Carter said, "debris from an UFO."
"Did it somehow crash," asked Daniel, "that could explain the explosions.
"No, Daniel Jackson, it did not crash on your world," Teal'c said and pointed to area's of interested on the screen, "it landed and was destroyed in battle. It would appear that somebody awaited its arrival and then destroyed it."
"Case closed?" O'Neill asked hopeful.
"Well, no Jack, "Daniel said, "because then the question becomes, who destroyed that thing?"
"It's never easy," the colonel sighed shaking his head, "that would be to much to ask."
"OK SG-1," the general said, "you are to go this site ASAP and investigate it. You are to determine with whom and what we are dealing with. Because speed is of the essence here the Russians and us have deemed it necessary to reactivate the Russian gate. You are to proceed through the Stargate to an intermediate location. Upon which we will deactivate our Stargate and the Russians will activate theirs. You will dial home again and arrive at the Russian location. From there you can be at the site in Turkmenistan in little more then 2 hours, courtesy of the former Red Air Force."
"Can that be done?" Daniel asked Sam.
"Theoretically it should work," Major Carter said, "it got us on Antarctica the last time. The Russians were always careful not to activate their gate when ours was up, to prevent their personnel from accidentally arriving here."
"Not careful enough, remember," Jack said, "if you don't mind me asking, general, why the rush? It's clear that whatever happened has already happened. 2 hours, 10 hours, it should all still be there, right?"
"The rush, colonel, is that NORAD has detected another unidentified flying object in deep space. It's heading for Earth on a similar course that would put it also in Turkmenistan. Only thanks to the deep space sensors the Tok'ra have recently provided were we able to detect it. It's still in the outer solar system. Its ETA would put it there in less then an hour before you can arrive, colonel. Let's go people!"
"And I was so looking forward to busting some snakeheads on some dead end world," Jack sighed as he and the others got up.
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(The now)
"He's clearly gone mad," Vegeta snorted after hearing Belmovekk's story, "he claims to be 4000 years old, talks to Gods, claims destinies have talks with him."
"Well, you should know, Vegeta," Piccolo grinned, "you've seem to have had several chats with destiny yourself."
"Don't test me, Namek," an angry Vegeta said, "or we'll finish that fight that we once started."
Piccolo smiled but said nothing. Vegeta's inability to become a Super Saiyan was like a open sore to the Saiyan prince and it was nice to be able to rattle his chains from time to time. Belmovekk's story however had been incredible. He claimed he had been a contemporary of both Goku and Vegeta, only to somehow end up on another world 4000 years in the past. Where he had entered service as a sorcerer to a God. To be honest, considering the stuff he and Goku's merry band had been through it didn't even sound that strange. It also helped his case that he illustrated his story with cool visuals. As he talked Belmovekk held up his right hand and holographic images appeared to illustrate his story.
Still, images could be faked and the trick was in ascertaining whether or not the Saiyan was lying. Piccolo found humans generally easy to read. Except for a certain subspecies called politicians it was easy to see whether or not they were lying. Not only could he hear better then humans, his eyes allowed him to see things which human eyes couldn't see. Like increased flushing when telling a lie. Saiyans were a different matter however. Goku was a terrible liar but it didn't show on Piccolo's senses. Goku just plainly sucked at it. Vegeta generally didn't bother to lie these days. Krillin had told him that he had though on Namek when they were all busy scrambling for the Namekian Dragonballs. Then again, nobody had trusted him anyway so it didn't come as a big surprise either. But this Belmovekk, well he seemed sincere. And at least he wasn't spoiling for a fight.
"What do you mean, you were sent here to aid us?" a puzzled Goku asked, "Aid us in what?
Piccolo slapped his forehead and sighed. How could that idiot forget! Saiyans!
"Three years from now, in Sydney Australia, at 10:00 in the morning two androids will appear with enormous destructive powers and lay waste to the city. We are all supposedly going to die an horrendous death by their hands. Now do you remember?" Piccolo said.
"Oh yeah," Goku said smiling his goofball smile to hide his embarisment, "I kinda forgot when Belmovekk arrived."
Several Z-fighters slapped their foreheads.
While they were busy Vegeta, who up till then had stood apart walked up to the new arrival.
"I know you," Vegeta said, suddenly getting everyones interest, "you are Movekk, of the house Rabar. I've seen you with my father when I was little."
Belmovekk raised an eyebrow and scratched his hair.
"I am amazed you remembered, my Prince," he replied.
"You worked for my father, you." Vegeta's eyes grew a little bigger, "you were of the Royal Household!"
"What is the Royal Household, Vegeta?" Goku asked.
"Nitwit," muttered Vegeta in disgust at Goku's ignorance, "there is Saiyan Elite, which is birthright only. And there is Royal Household. We Saiyan Elite tend to look down upon them since anyone could join but only a fool wouldn't recognize that they were almost as good as the Elites. They were the king's private fighting force. Movekk here was of part of an even more elite force inside the Royal Household, the Infiltrators."
"Infiltrators?"
"On this planet you would call them special forces, or spies," Vegeta replied as he looked for the right words, "the ones who scout ahead in front of the main invasion forces, who decide which places get hit in which order. The best even command invasion forces themselves. Most of the Warleaders who weren't Elite used to be Infiltrators."
"Hey, you're not scouting us out for invasion, mister?" Yamcha asked to the new arrival.
Before he could answer Vegeta continued.
"You were in command of the 7th regiment, Movekk. They weren't on planet Vegeta when Freeza destroyed our world. What happened to them? I had Radditz look for them but he couldn't find them nor what had happened."
"Radditz? Radditz son of Bardock," Belmovekk snorted, "he could not find his own shadow if his life depended on it."
"You're talking about my brother," Goku objected.
"Why do you care?" Krillin Goku asked, "he tried to kill you, remember?"
"He was still my brother,"Goku shrugged at his little friend.
"You are evading the question, Movekk," Vegeta said to the new arrival, "the mental capabilities of Radditz, be it questionable, are irrelevant. They were not on Planet Vegeta when Freeza blew it up yet there exists no records of where Freeza had sent them. What happened to the 7th?"
Belmovekk looked slightly pained, as if remembering a bad memory he would rather have forgotten.
"The reason there were no records with Freeza was because our mission was a secret. Your father sought allies against Freeza and offered the 7th to get some. They are no more, my prince, We had invaded and cleansed a particularly troublesome world for our new allies when we were attacked by the Ginyu force. They wiped us out quicker then it took to do their ridiculous poses. Those that managed to make it off the planet split up to increase our chances. I was on the way to the rendezvous point when they ambushed me as well. Which to me suggest that they had already found it. I don't remember how I made it out but the next thing I woke up and I was on that other world."
"How many worlds have you cleansed of their inhabitants," Piccolo asked. He didn't quite relish the idea of having another Saiyan mass murderer here on this planet.
"Too many," the Saiyan said looking very guilty.
"But you feel...remorse?" Piccolo asked curious.
"There are nights when I don't wake up hearing the screams of my victims. But not often," the Saiyan replied.
"So you are not going to horribly kill us like every other Saiyan we've come across?" asked Krillin.
"Be at ease, little man, my days of senseless slaughter are long gone," the Saiyan smiled a sad smile and looked at Goku again, "What was your name again?"
"Goku. And this is my son Gohan," Goku said and took Gohan by the shoulders, "he's half Saiyan."
"Goku, how come you and Vegeta here did not wipe this place out?" Belmovekk asked, "I may be reformed but I am amazed to see you guys here and this planet still in one piece."
"Vegeta tried," Goku said giving the Saiyan prince a nod," but we stopped him cold."
Vegeta gave Goku one of his patented death glares but the happy Saiyan ignored it.
"We've had a couple of crazy adventures since and now we seem to be friends."
'We are no such things!" Vegeta exploded, "The only reason I haven't obliterated this sorry excuse of a planet is because we have unfinished business, Kakarot, You and I. Your life belongs to me and I will determine when and where you will snuff it!"
Goku just smiled. He knew better. Or at least he was simpleminded enough to think he did.
"Anyway," he continued, "I arrived here when I was just an infant and I was raised by humans."
"Some inbred hillbilly in the middle of nowhere, from what I heard," Vegeta muttered, "which would explain quite a lot."
"Vegeta, nobody insults my grandfather," Goku said slightly agitated. Vegeta raised an eyebrow, then he smirked his annoying Saiyan smirk again. So there was a way to infuriate Goku.
"So, I guess we get to live to fight another day," Krillin said relieved, "this is turning out to be a good day after all."
Then he remembered.
'Shit, what are we going to do about those androids?" asked Krillin, "Should I keep that day free in my calendar?"
"What is it about these androids?" Belmovekk asked, "You guys mentioned them before."
"Some kid came here from the future and told us three years from now a couple of androids would come, kill us all and lay waste to this world," Krillin replied, "in his time they had decimated humanity and he couldn't fight them. So he came back to warn us in an attempt to change history. I think."
"Ah, the old lets go back in time and do a little pre-emptive strike," Belmovekk said, "but would that not mess up history and create a grandfather paradox?"
The Z- fighters gave him a blank look, although Bulma seemed to have understood it.
"What?" Belmovekk said, "do you guys not read between exercises? Discuss philosophy? A healthy mind in a healthy body?"
"The mind is an underdeveloped muscle with these guys," Bulma said after Belmovekk got more blank looks, "it's a good idea though. If that kid is trying to change histroy then maybe we could nip this in the bud by striking at Dr. Gero before he builds those androids. Take him out, nothing gets build."
"Hey," Krillin said, "that is actually a good idea."
"Of course," Bulma said smug, "I ain't the brains of this outfit for nothing."
"I could finally turn my attention to getting a girlfriend," smiled Krillin.
'WE WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Vegeta yelled angrily, "I will kill the first person who does such a cowardly thing!"
"Why not?" Bulma yelled back at him, "We are talking about the fate of the Earth here! Goku, don't you agree?"
She looked pleadingly at her oldest friend.
"Well, actually Bulma, I'm quite looking forward to the fight," Goku eventually said, "besides, the man hasn't done anything wrong yet."
Bulma slapped her forehead in disgust.
"Saiyans! The idea of a fight turns them on more then a stripclub full of naked women!"
"Hey," Belmovekk remarked, "I thought it was a good idea. I may have no idea what a stripclub is, but I take naked women any day of the week."
"How very.. un-Saiyan of you?" Tien said surprised.
"Well, when you turn 4000 you'll find that your priorities might have changed a bit," Belmovekk grinned and held up a hand to countdown, "a wise man once said, never turn down the chance to take a piss, never turn down a free meal when offered and never miss your chance to get some nookie."
"Oh my God," Yamcha smiled, "that proves it. We are all going to turn in perverts like Kame Senin."
At that they all laughed except Belmovekk who gave everybody the 'what did I say?' look. Now that the tension had been broken Piccolo took the word again.
"Alright, nobody can be forced to come. Those without the confidence can stay at home, nothing will be said. For those of you who will, it suffices to come an hour beforehand."
"Yeah," Goku said and raised his fist into the air, "let's kick some android ass for the future!"
"Kakarot! This changes nothing between us," Vegeta said, "don't let being a Super Saiyan get to your head cause one day I will defeat you. I am after all you superior."
And with that Vegeta lifted off in a blaze of white chi and left for what passed as home these days, Capsule Corp.
"So what are you going to do, Belmovekk?" Yamcha asked after Vegeta had gone out of sight, "are you going to train with us and with whom?"
"You could stay with us?" Bulma said, "We have plenty of space. I'd love to hear more of that crazy story. And Vegeta's there as well."
The Saiyan sorcerer looked pensive for a while.
"I do not know yet," he said eventually, "but thanks for the offer. I do not think Vegeta would be to pleased if he saw me again so soon or all the time for that matter."
"Now you must come for sure," Yamcha laughed, "just to piss Vegeta off. You'd think he be glad to have a fellow Saiyan in the house."
"Vegeta has a lot of anger in his heart," Belmovekk said.
"Yeah, even though you should be surprised he could fit it in besides his enormous ego," Yamcha smiled.
"I may be the new guy here but I can see he is very pissed off that he's not a Super Saiyan yet. He's mad as hell that somebody else has succeeded where he has failed. Now that he has seen several other Super Saiyans he will not be great company until he can face us as an equal. And knowing him that's probably not going to be enough either. I think I will stay on my own for a while. Gives me a chance to get to know this world a bit. Is gold an accepted currency here?"
"Not as a currency," Krillin said, "but you can exchange it for local currency at some banks or jewelers. Try dollars, they will get you everything you need even in the worst of places."
Belmovekk smiled.
"Good, then I will be able to find a place to stay for a while. I think I will go and explore this world for a while. It looks remarkably similar to where I came from. I will look you up from time to time for some training or planning."
"You'll always be welcome at my house," Goku said.
"But be sure to give us a call first," Gohan said, "or mum will throw us a major tantrum! You know how she is about uninvited guests, dad."
"I will do that, Goku," Belmovekk smiled, "I'm very interested to learn some of your techniques. Trade you for some of my moves?"
"Belmovekk, we're talking Goku here," Krillin said and put his arm around Goku, "this big lug stayed away from Earth for a whole year just so he could learn a new technique. There will be no stopping him. "
Belmovekk laughed and leaped up into the air.
"Expect me when you see me," he called. Then he sped off towards the West.
"Wow, a chance to learn original Saiyan techniques, "Goku said wistfully, "I can't wait for him to visit.
"Don't drool, Goku, it's considered impolite," Krillin said.