Chapter 23: Arrival

Noon, East City...

The citizens of East City crowd around the two large craters that had just formed, nervous but also excited. The city was fairly peaceful, and not much happened that was out of the ordinary. Two objects fall from the sky and smashing into the streets certainly counted as "out of the ordinary." Many were holding their breath, not sure what to expect. What nobody expected, however, was for two armored figures to emerge from the strange pods in the center of each crater.

"Urgh, my neck," Nappa groaned, rubbing the back of his neck while rotating the creaks out of it. "Why'd we decide to be a year away from this rock, anyway?"

"You know as well as I do that we couldn't let Frieza find out our plan, Nappa." Vegeta growled.

"Oh, right," Nappa replied sheepishly, then looked around at the stunned earthlings and grinned. "Looks like we got ourselves an audience. Mind if I give 'em a show?"

"Fine, but don't put too much into it. We're on a mission right now."

"Heh! No problem," he chuckled darkly, then flew up above the gathering crowd of gawking onlookers. Pointing his hand at the city, he fired a massive blast of energy that erupted as soon as it hit the ground. By the time the dust had settled, the entire city had been completely vaporized, along with everyone in it. Nappa laughed sadistically, happy to have let off some steam.

"How was that for a show, huh?" He shouted to no one.

"I don't think there's anyone left to witness it, Nappa." Vegeta said, annoyed. "Did I not tell you to not put too much into it?"

"Oh come on, Vegeta," Nappa chuckled, "it's not like I caused any damage to the planet. A little crater won't affect the price."

"And what about the Dragon Balls?" Vegeta asked. "What if one of them was in that city? We can't afford to be reckless, Nappa."

"Oh," Nappa said, "uhhh, oops."

"Now then," Vegeta said, turning his Scouter on. "Let's see if we can't find the Saiyan woman. If my guess is correct, she must have gained a considerable Zenkai Boost from her fight with Raditz. Search for a power level over one thousand."

"Right," Nappa replied, and tapped his own Scouter to search for the highest power levels. What he found surprised him. "Uhh, Vegeta? There are several life forms on this rock that have power levels over a thousand."

"I can see that," Vegeta said. "It seems the earthlings have been preparing for our arrival. Fine, let's focus on the strongest one here and work our way down." Scanning the area, he found a collection of power levels over 1,000 close together, but the highest level surprised him. "Well, what do you know... the strongest being on this planet is at thirty-five hundred. They might be a bit of a challenge for you, Nappa."

"Thirty-five hundred!?" Nappa shouted. "Now we're talking! That might be the one who killed Raditz!"

"Possibly," Vegeta said, "let's find out."

With that, the two of them flew off in the direction of the massive power.

"Man," Nappa chuckled, "this planet's weak gravity feels great! I feel like a kid again!"

"Yes," Vegeta agreed, "now I can see why Kakarot was so weak. He would likely have been far stronger if he had grown up on our home planet. Sending him here must have acted as a crutch."

Eventually, the two Saiyans closed in on the large power level. What they saw, however, surprised them.

"Raditz!?"

Raditz's head jerked up at the sound of Nappa's voice. Grinning, the long-haired Saiyan flew up to greet them.

"I'm glad to see the two of you again." He said.

"What are you doing here?" Vegeta asked bluntly. "I thought you were dead."

"I was, until yesterday," Raditz explained. "The woman used the Dragon Balls to resurrect me along with Kakarot."

"Really?" Vegeta replied curiosity. "And where is Kakarot now?"

"According to her, he's on his way back from the afterlife," Raditz said. "I normally wouldn't believe that, but I'd seen it firsthand."

"Well," Nappa chuckled, "looks like dying and coming back did you some good! Your power more than doubled!"

"And what about the Saiyan woman?" Vegeta interrupted. "Where is she?"

"She's over there." Raditz pointed in the direction of where three high power levels were grouped together. "But you need to be careful, Vegeta—she's no ordinary Saiyan."

"Don't make excuses, Raditz!" Vegeta snarled. "I don't want to hear you try to justify your incompetence! You should have subdued her as soon as you came back from the dead!" He turned and started flying away. "You're lucky that she was that merciful, because we had no intention of wasting our wish on a coward like you."

"Yeah," Nappa laughed, "we heard you begging for your life when Kakarot grabbed your tail. 'Ooohhhh, please don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want!' That was so pathetic! You're lucky I don't blast you into a million pieces right now!"

Raditz looked down as the other Saiyans laughed and took off, leaving him behind. It was right then and there that he realized how right Sadala was. He had dedicated his life to serving those two, only for them to turn their backs on him! Still, he couldn't bring himself to face them. Nappa was still stronger than him, and even if he managed to win by some miracle, Vegeta would step in and crush them all.

You've made your point, Sadala, Raditz thought. I'm rooting for you to win, now...

Meanwhile...

"Here they come," Chi-Chi said, readying herself. She could feel the two massive presences heading her way, and could sense the raw malice emanating from them. Piccolo and Gohan were also tensing up, ready for anything. Chi-Chi could also feel Tien, Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Krillin heading their way, but it would still be some time before they made it there. For now, she figured it would be safer to stall for time.

Stall!? Celera shouted. Forget stalling, let's just kill them both!

Do you not feel that? Chi-Chi replied. One of them is around twice as powerful as Turles was! We need to be smart right now.

Celera growled at that, but went silent. Chi-Chi knew she was going to have a hard time keeping the former Queen in check.

She felt annoyed that Bulma hadn't finished the armor she asked for, especially since the armor she made for herself wasn't ready yet. The Gravity Room was finished, but it was too late to use it. Like it or not, she felt underprepared for the fight about to take place.

Eventually, the two Saiyans came into view. Once they landed, Chi-Chi was able to get a good look at them. One was enormous—almost as tall as Piccolo, and much broader—and bald, with a thin beard around his mouth which was twisted into a sadistic smile. He was dressed exactly like Raditz, but his armor had different colors. Overall, he was quite ugly-looking. The other Saiyan was more or less the opposite. He was about the same size as Chi-Chi, and more lean and agile-looking. He had even more of a widow's peak than Raditz, and his face was stern and serious. His black hair stood up in a series of flame-like spikes. His armor was mostly white with yellowish accents, and his body was entirely covered by a blue bodysuit with white gloves and boots.

Vegeta... Celera growled.

There was no mistaking it: the shorter of the two was Prince Vegeta. As soon as she saw him, a rage started building up in her. Vegeta looked at her and grinned, making her blood boil even more.

"So," Vegeta said, "you're the mysterious Saiyan woman who chose Kakarot."

Kill him...

"Yeah," the other Saiyan chuckled lecherously, "and she's quite the looker! Brazen, too!"

"I was surprised to learn that you revived Raditz," Vegeta admitted. "It seems that living on this planet has made you unbearably soft."

"I did it because I knew he would become an ally against you," Chi-Chi growled. "I knew you were never going to bring him back."

Kill him, Sadala!

"Well," Vegeta's grin widened, "I guess you have some brains as well. Unfortunately, you made one mistake: you overestimated Raditz's drive. That coward could be ten times stronger than me, and still never get his hands dirty. Why do you think he's so far behind us?"

"He'll show up soon," Chi-Chi said confidently, "he just needs to see that there's a chance."

The bald Saiyan laughed out loud. "A chance!? Lady, you're power level's barely over two thousand! The kids barely more than that, and the Namekian isn't even at three thousand! The only way you have a chance is if you walk over here and pledge yourself to Vegeta."

"NOT HAPPENING!" Chi-Chi shouted angrily.

"Ooohoohoohoo! A feisty one! Her power spiked a little, there! I think you might have to break her in first, Vegeta!"

Chi-Chi blinked, then forced herself to calm down. She had to keep her true power hidden to throw off the Saiyans. Celera's rage was throwing her off balance.

"I agree, Nappa," Vegeta replied, "and I think I know where to start. How many of those Saibamen do we have left?"

"Let's see..." Nappa reached into his armor and pulled out a strange looking vial. The vial had a green liquid in one side, and a collection of small orbs in the other. Nappa squinted at the side with the orbs.

"I'm counting six," he said.

"Perfect," Vegeta replied, "why don't we plant them to soften these three up? See if we can't convince them to tell us where the Dragon Balls are."

"You're too much, Vegeta," Nappa chuckled, "you sure know how to have fun!"

"Hold on," Piccolo said, catching the Saiyans' attention. "You called me a Namekian. I've only heard that name from Raditz before. What are you talking about?"

"Seriously?" Vegeta said. "Does everyone who comes to this planet get amnesia? Oh, never mind. You're going to die soon anyway, so I might as well humor you. The Namekians are beings from the planet Namek. Many of them are powerful warriors, but a few are sages capable of unique feats of magic. The rumors of the Dragon Balls started with Namek, and since you're here, that confirms those rumors."

Chi-Chi looked at Piccolo, shocked. She should have figured out that he and Kami weren't from here, but she always assumed that they were demons. Judging by Piccolo's expression, even he didn't know.

"Well," Piccolo finally said, grinning, "you might know more about me than I do, but I'm no sage—I am a warrior!"

"Go on," Chi-Chi told Nappa, "let out those Sabermen! We'll crush them, then we'll take you on!"

Nappa laughed out loud. "Oh man, now I'm starting to like you!" He then squatted down and poked his finger into the hard earth six times, placing one of the orbs into each hole. After covering the holes up, he then dripped the liquid on top of where they were. He then stood back.

"And Nappa," Vegeta said, "take off your Scouter. We can't rely on them."

"Oh, right," Nappa said, taking the eyepiece off. "Yeah, that's right. That's how that weak fool Raditz got tripped up."

Vegeta also removed his, and Chi-Chi quickly realized that while they can't sense her ki, they had enough fighting experience to not need to. All thoughts on that vanished, however, when the places where Nappa planted the orbs began to open up. Six small, green creatures with red eyes emerged from the ground and snarled. Chi-Chi could tell that each of them were about as strong as Raditz was when he first came to Earth. They wouldn't be much of a problem individually, but if they rushed her, they might be more of a threat.

"Gohan, keep your eyes open." She said.

"Okay," Gohan replied, and got into his fighting stance. Piccolo did as well. But all Chi-Chi did was put one foot in front of the other.

The Saibamen all charged, snarling madly. Three of them came directly for Chi-Chi, but she simply avoided their attacks. It was harder for her without using her tail to balance—since she wrapped it around her waist—but she managed. It wasn't too hard to keep up with the creatures, even with their superior numbers.

Eventually, the Saibaman facing off against Gohan broke away and tried to attack Chi-Chi from behind. Sensing it approach her, she decided to use her tail to knock it away. Unwrapping her tail from around her waist, she swung it at the Saibaman's head. The creature ducked out of the way of the furry appendage, and raised its head to attack her—only to get hit as her tail swung all the way around, fully unwrapping. The force of the impact sent it flying away, and she focused back on the others when she heard a gasp from Nappa.

"Vegeta!" He shouted. "Look at her tail!"

Vegeta had already seen it, and his face had turned white. The Saibamen seemed to have noticed their masters' shock, because they immediately jumped back away from the group. Chi-Chi grinned, and turned to look at the Saiyans.

"So, you finally noticed?"

"You... you can't be..." Vegeta was at a loss for words for the first time in his life. "...Sadala?"

"Yes," Sadala nodded. "It took some time, but the fight with Raditz was able to speed things up a bit. I'm still not all the way me, but I am Sadala. And it's time you paid for what your ancestor did to me."

Vegeta growled angrily. Why here!? He thought desperately. Why now!? The legend said that she would return during our darkest hour, and this is the dawn of our greatest moment! Taking a deep breath, he steadied his nerves and looked the only thing he ever feared dead in the eyes. "Even if you are the Queen of the Ancients, you still won't be able to stop me. I am the most powerful Saiyan to ever live, and I will make sure you never taste victory against me!"

"I don't have to taste victory," Sadala said, stepping forward. "I just have to make you taste your own blood!"

"YO!"

A familiar voice made Chi-Chi look up. Squinting against the sun, she saw Yamcha descending from the sky, followed by Tien, Chiaotzu and Krillin.

"It's about time you guys got here!" Chi-Chi shouted. "What took you so long—did you stop for lunch or something!?"

"Sorry about that," Yamcha said, "I was showering when they showed up."

"Right," Chi-Chi said, then turned to the others. "And what about you?"

"We were further away than we should have been," Tien admitted, "Sorry."

"What about you guys?" Krillin asked. "Did you hold up well enough?"

"So far," Piccolo said, "but the Saiyans haven't even started fighting yet."

"Yeah! They planted these things in the ground and those green creeps popped out and started attacking us!" Gohan added.

"So I guess we've gotta fight these little green men first, huh?" Krillin guessed.

"Looks that way," Tien agreed, "Chi-Chi, why don't you step back for a bit? We'll handle these creeps—you save your energy for the big cheese."

Chi-Chi thought for a bit, then nodded and jumped up onto one of the rock formations. Squatting down like a monkey, she had a perfect view of the fight about to happen.

What are you doing!? Celera shouted angrily. He's right there! Stop dawdling and kill him!

With Nappa and those little monsters backing him up? Chi-Chi asked. That's a terrible idea. Let's wait until the others beat the green creeps, then we can go after Vegeta while Nappa's occupied.

NO! I've waited for two hundred years to get my hands on Vegeta! I'm done waiting!

Calm down, Celera! But Chi-Chi found her body starting to move on its own. Her hand stretched out and pointed at Vegeta, but she grabbed it with her other hand and wrestled herself back into control. You'll get your chance! You just have to wait a little longer!

NO!

They'll be in danger!

I DON'T CARE!!

LISTEN TO ME!!! Chi-Chi screamed in her own head. Slowly but surely, she regained control of her body. We either do this my way, or not at all! This is my body, and I won't let you hijack it!

Rrrrrrrrgh... fine! Celera's control faded, and Chi-Chi gasped and relaxed. This was the first time in a while that she had to struggle against her. She hoped that she could stay in control long enough to beat Vegeta, or things could get fairly ugly. For now though, she just rested and watched the fights to come. Tien had already demolished one of the Saibamen, and now Yamcha was stepping up to the plate.

Yamcha steadied his breathing as one of the Saibamen stepped up, snarling viciously at him. He already saw Tien wreck his, so he wasn't too worried. He could tell that these creeps were instinctual fighters that lacked any technique, and they weren't even as strong as he was. He was feeling confident.

A second passed. Two. Three. Then the two fighters practically vanished, moving faster than the normal human eye could see. The two were everywhere at once, punching, kicking and throwing each other around. Gohan had trouble keeping up with them, but after some guidance from Piccolo, he was able to see the fight in real time.

Eventually, the Saibaman charged at Yamcha while he was still in the air. He smiled and waited until the last moment, then dashed upward faster than the creature could follow. Now firmly above the little green monster, Yamcha fired a miniature Kamehameha that was sufficient to flatten the creep. He then landed on his feet and looked at the writhing creature, then back at the Saiyans.

"Heh, that was cake," he said confidently, "looks like we're on another level compared to your little green goon squad."

"You cocky little..." Nappa growled, only to be stopped by Vegeta.

"Now then," Yamcha said, "why don't I just take care of the other four?"

"Yamcha, are you nuts!?" Krillin shouted.

Vegeta merely laughed. "As much as I'd love to see that, I'm afraid it won't happen."

"Oh yeah?" Yamcha challenged. "What makes you think that, Shortstuff?" He then felt a movement behind him. Before he had time to react, the Saibaman he had just beaten had wrapped its arms and legs around him, pinning his arms to his sides. As he struggled to break free, he felt a sudden surge in power from the monster holding him. Panicking, he tried even harder to throw off his assailant, but nothing broke its grip. As he screamed in effort, the Saibaman detonated in a massive explosion.

KRAAAKOOOOOOOMMM!!

"YAMCHA!" Tien screamed, horrified by what happened. The blast had kicked up a massive cloud of dust, so he couldn't see anything.

Vegeta and Nappa laughed. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention," Nappa roared. "The Saibamen are able to self-destruct whenever they want! Sorry, probably should of said something sooner!" Nappa continued to laugh until a voice cut through.

"You think that's funny, huh?"

Nappa paused and looked back at the dust cloud. It was still too thick to see through, but it eventually cleared to reveal a battered and badly burned—but still alive—Yamcha. The former bandit was covered in burns—especially on his back, where the gnarliest burn was—and the top of his gi was completely gone, but he was still on his feet, albeit barely.

"You think that's a hoot... do ya?" The former bandit gasped. "You get off on using... cheap tricks like that? Well guess what: that's not... gonna work on me!"

"Well well well," Vegeta said, "I'm almost impressed."

"Heh, just you... wait," Yamcha shot back. "Now... where was I? Oh yeah..." Raising his right hand, he grabbed it by the wrist with his left and began charging. It was harder than it normally would be thanks to his injuries, but a few seconds later, his attack was fully charged.

"SPIRIT BALL: QUARTET!!"

Yamcha threw the Spirit Ball with all his might at the group of Saibamen and Saiyans. Right before it reached them, the orb split into four pieces, each one seeking out a Saibaman and bashing them into the air. The four Spirit Balls then struck the green creeps over and over again, battering them silly. With one final push from Yamcha, the energy spheres struck the Saibamen one last time, carrying them right towards the Saiyans. The two braced as the projectiles collided and exploded, causing the Saibamen to self-destruct as well, amplifying the blast. The explosion ended up at least five times bigger than the blast that injured Yamcha.

"HAH!" Yamcha shouted. "How do you like that! I told you... all four at once!"

"And you didn't disappoint."

Yamcha's eyes widened as Nappa and Vegeta stepped out of the dust cloud, a bit dirty, but otherwise unharmed.

"Yamcha!" Chi-Chi shouted. "Catch!"

Yamcha saw a small green object hurtling towards him and immediately caught it. Looking at it, he realized it was a Senzu bean. Grinning thankfully, he popped it into his mouth and quickly chewed it up and swallowed. Almost immediately, the burns and bruises all over his body vanished, and he felt as good as new.

"Thanks, Chi-Chi!" He shouted back. "I owe you one!"

"Well, it looks like we underestimated you," Vegeta admitted. "Nappa, it's your turn. Just make sure you leave the Namekian alive—we need him to find the Dragon Balls."

"Finally," Nappa said, "What about you? You think you can handle Sadala?"

"I'll be fine, Nappa," Vegeta replied. "I think it's time I showed Sadala why the Ancient Saiyans have been obsolete!"

With that said, the two Saiyans prepared to fight as Sadala descended from her perch and stared down Vegeta. The battle for Earth was about to begin.

To be continued...