"You're up late." He said. Raimi shrugged.
"So? I know the exact moment they will set down, so why not indulge myself on what may be my last day alive?" He snorted in disgust, and Raimi frowned at him.
"I know you're young yet, but you should have better manners by now, Ma Junior. Maybe today, you'll grow up some." She turned her back and went in search of a stream to wash up in. She wished she could see his face, but knew when to walk away. The Brat had taught her that lesson painfully.
At 11:35, she re-appeared. Piccolo and Gohan looked up from sparring, curious about her serious face.
"Okay, this is it. The time is almost upon us. Let's see, they came from the East, didn't they?" She looked around, and saw Piccolo and Gohan watching her.
"So, where are they?" Piccolo asked. She pointed east, exasperated at having to repeat herself.
"They are over there, and approaching fast. You'll feel them, I guarantee it." She began to stretch and loosen up. Sure enough, at 11:43, they all felt a wave of power, so intense that it made them slightly ill for a moment. It came from the East, just as she had said. Raimi's scouter beeped and began to display numbers, pointing towards the two Saiyans halfway across the world. She turned her head so the others couldn't see her face when the analysis was complete.
It was worse than she had remembered. The display showed a 5,000 and a 15,000. That was bad. No one on Earth even had a 5,000 rating, except maybe her. She wasn't too sure how high her own level was…
"Well, there they are… Oh no, I almost forgot about that! Brace yourselves!" She warned, just as a horrible sensation washed over them, followed by a shock wave from a huge explosion.
"What the Hell did they do?" Piccolo gasped, staring to the East as a massive cloud rose in the far distance. Gohan shivered between them. He was more sensitive, and felt the tremendous loss of life behind that blast. Raimi rested her hand on his shoulder gently.
"That was Nappa's version of hello. If I had known which city they were to land in, I would have warned them. But, I'm not omniscient. Just well informed on some small details." She said sadly. Piccolo looked at her, more confused by her every minute. The scouter beeped a quiet alarm.
"The Saiyans, they're headed this way!" Piccolo growled. He pulled off his weighted armor and turban, then changed into shoes that were not weighted as well. Raimi looked at him and smiled; reminded of the day Raditz came.
"Just tell me this, will we stop them?" Piccolo asked evenly. Raimi looked into his eyes for a moment, then nodded. He felt a chill looking at her. Something in her eyes confirmed for him the feeling he had had all this year that he wouldn't see another day in this world for a long time after this fight.
Raimi's scouter beeped again, this time registering four new powers converging on them. Piccolo and Gohan picked them up as well, and readied themselves, worried.
"But I thought there were only two Saiyans…" Piccolo looked at Raimi accusingly. She didn't reply. They relaxed when they saw Kurilin drop down next to them. Raimi nodded to him and looked east again as Kurilin and Gohan reacquainted themselves, then stepped behind Piccolos broad back, hiding herself from view.
"The small talk is over, they are here!" Piccolo hissed, amazed at the Ki coming from the pair of aliens floating in the sky. Piccolo's impression of them was of two men, one of them huge, dwarfing even the late Raditz, who had not been small. He was bald with a cruelly handsome face, and wore armor identical to what Raditz had worn, with breastplates and trunks, boots and wrist braces. His face spread in a wicked smile as he looked over their small group.
The second Saiyan was much smaller, his black eyes cold and hard. His hair was startling, not for its dark red-brown color, but because it stood up on his head, defying gravity. His armor matched Raimi's almost exactly, but his suit was blue and his scouter pink screened. Both of them wore their tails wrapped around their waists like belts as Raimi did.
"Look, there are four mighty shrimps now!" the big one said, his voice as big as he was.
"I think they were expecting us, Nappa." The shorter one said his voice soft and husky.
"Hey, why are you hiding that guy?" Nappa asked as he and Vegeta dropped to the ground. "We can see you with the scouters, you know. Why are you here if you're a chicken?"
Piccolo looked over his shoulder at Raimi, who nodded and crossed her arms as he stepped aside. She stared evenly at the two Saiyans, trying not to betray her curiosity.
"What!" Both Saiyans exclaimed in unison, surprised to see a woman dressed as a Saiyan warrior, especially on the Earth. Though she was very feminine, her arms and legs showed great strength, and the scouters showed a decent level.
Raimi and Vegeta stared at each other, oblivious to anyone else around them. Raimi felt her cheeks get hot, but couldn't look away from him. Though he resembled his father the Brat, he was different too. He was much more attractive, almost pretty. Or he would be, if he weren't frowning all the time. She felt weird, breathless, and for the moment she felt truly seventeen. With great effort, she flicked her eyes to Nappa, but he didn't seem to recognize her. Raimi was baffled by the emotions she was feeling, and couldn't name.
"Get a grip, Raimi, these guys want to kill you, you know!" She whispered to herself.
Prince Vegeta tried to hide his interest in the female Saiyan, but he couldn't seem to stop staring at her. He'd never seen any girl as pretty as she was, and he was further fascinated by her red hair, so un-Saiyan like. He felt himself wanting to do things he'd never wanted before; women were a weakness for warriors to get involved with. Vegeta had avoided them, as he avoided or destroyed any weakness within himself. But this was different, since she was one of his own kind. Too bad he had to kill her for treason…wait, he didn't. He could do as he pleased, and since she was probably the last female of his kind, he'd be generous and give her a pardon. She could be very useful…whether she wanted to be or not. Now then, just why was she here?
"Hmmm, oh yes, that's right. Nappa, remember what Raditz said? She's that Saiyan girl that helped Kakarrot."
"Well, well, a tomboy, huh? You should go home, Girlie. That armor won't save you from us!" Nappa laughed.
Raimi didn't bat an eyelash at his remarks. His voice did break the spell the Prince and Raimi had fallen under, thankfully. Now they could get down to business.
"So, have you been preparing for us?" Vegeta asked them, smiling smugly.
"How did you guess?" Piccolo sighed. "Let's just make this clear…exactly what do you want here?"
"Ah, that voice…it was you who killed Raditz, wasn't it?" Vegeta asked in return.
"My voice?" Piccolo was puzzled.
"Oh, Raditz didn't tell you that the scouter," Vegeta tapped the device over his left ear, "Also acts as a transmitter?" His smile didn't touch his eyes.
"Hey, he's a Namek," Nappa noted. Piccolo started at this. The others looked at him, curious about this information. Raimi took advantage of the distraction to peek at Vegeta once more, then blushed and shook her head, trying to clear it. She had better get a grip on herself, or she'd end up dead or worse!
"Yes. Not so strange that Raditz was beaten then…" Vegeta mused, but was looking at Raimi and Gohan as he spoke. He seemed to be comparing their faces, obviously thinking that Gohan was hers and Goku's son, and not the half Earthling that he really was. Even tailless, Gohan looked like a Saiyan child.
"They say that the Namek's possess strange powers, even beyond their extraordinary fighting skills, even sorcery…you made those Dragonballs, didn't you?" Vegeta stated. Raimi smiled, admiring his deductive reasoning. He was smart, a lot smarter than his partner was, even smarter than his father. The Brat was one of the smartest people Raimi had ever met. However, this Vegeta was wrong. It was Kami who had created the Dragonballs long ago. Of course, Vegeta didn't know that there were two Namek's on Earth. His eyes met hers with the barest nod, acknowledging her unspoken compliment, and then he looked at Kurilin as he gasped.
"You know about the Dragonballs?" Kurilin said.
"Of course! Why else would we bother with this dump? Hand them over!" Nappa sneered. "Bring on all the Namek's you can find. They are just slugs to us!"
Piccolo was recovering from the shock of finding that he was as alien to the Earth as these Saiyans were. He briefly wondered if this Raimi had known about it. Piccolo grinned at the Saiyans. "Well, you're wrong. My specialty is combat, as you will see…Now," he dropped into an attack stance, "Who is a slug?" he chuckled.
