Chapter Five - Newcomer



I stood in front of Master Roshi's house, just behind Goku. My stomach was full of butterflies as he looked back and smiled at me. "Relax, it's not like you're about to meet Freeza, or anything!" His attempt to make me laugh worked, but rather if I felt it or was just a nervous reaction, I still don't know.

Goku knocked once, a loud hollow sound echoed as footsteps made their way to the door. "Hold on, I'm comin'!" An old, but eager voice sounded as I heard the sound of a lock being removed and the squeak of the door. I hadn't realized that I'd hidden behind Goku until it was beyond preventing embarrassment.

"Master Roshi!" Goku cheered as the door opened the reveal the old man I knew so well from the series. The other man greeted him warmly as well.

"Well, it's a pleasant surprise, what's the occasion?" He asked, looking around, Goku gestured beside him. "What? What is it?" He asked, making Goku look where he pointed.

I felt my face flush as he turned completely around to look at me. "There you are! Don't be afraid, he won't hurt you." He said as he gave me a wink, I blushed even more at that one.

As he guided me around in front of him with a strong arm, Master Roshi smiled brightly, his mouth missing only a few teeth, not exaggerated like the series. "Well, well, well? What's this Goku? She's a beauty!" He complemented me. I felt my face go redder, so I forced my emotions down, and faced him coldly. "She's so pretty!" He said, as he looked at me with more adoration. "And she looks so innocent." At that point I made a mental note that the coldness I steel myself around gave the outward appearance of an innocent child. "I also notice that she isn't human? Where did you find her, Goku?"

He smiled down at me and gave me a little shove so that I would step closer. "She crashed here not too long ago, maybe a month or two tops. . ." He was saying, but I suddenly interrupted, my eyes lost and distant.

"Three months. . .today. . ." Both of the men were silent for a moment, it was Master Roshi that broke the silence.

"Three months than, hmm. . .and what are you bringing her to me for? Eh? Obviously she's not an. . .escort or such." I couldn't help but get riled up about that statement.

"I beg your pardon!!" I exclaimed, but Goku got between us and tried for peace.

"Oh! Hahaha!!! Isn't that cute!! Haha!!" His interference was barely noticed, and he seemed to sense it. "Now, Master Roshi, she's here to learn the Kamehameha, I tried to teach it to her, but I don't know how to help her learn better focus, since mine is in sheer physical strength." The statement had the desired effect, Master Roshi looked at Goku, and Goku was able to grab my shoulder before I attacked Master Roshi.

"Yes, well, I suppose I could teach her, although everything comes at a price!" Goku closed his eyes, but his grip on my shoulder was tighter. "I suppose we might. . .bargain for the price. . .but I'd say easily that. . ." His drawing it out like this was causing my power level to rise, I managed to keep it silent, but Goku seemed to sense it through touching me. "I want to see you in a bikini!!!" His face lit up and turned red as his mouth hung down, and I lost it!

"You dirty old man!!! There's no way in hell I'm gonna wear a bikini for you!!!! You PERVERT!" I shouted at him before Goku could stop me, for a moment, I thought that Master Roshi was going to yell or be mad, but he just started to laugh.

"Oh my!! She is a fiery little one, isn't she?! My goodness it's going to be nice having a woman running around for a while, I miss Bulma being here all the time, haven't seen much of her since Namek mission!" He said thoughtfully, than looked back at me. "So, what do you think? Hmm? Fair trade off, I teach you, you wear a bikini for me? Hehehe!" He snickered as I reddened deeper, Goku stepped in between us and pushed me farther away from Master Roshi.

"He's just a human, you'll hurt him if you attack with that much anger. Instead, he's giving you anger to train with, take it out on Freeza when you see him next!" He whispered to me quickly, his eyes searching mine that I understood. I nodded once and looked to throw daggers with my eyes at Master Roshi.

"He's a dirty old man! I don't know if I could take training with him! How did Bulma manage to like being around him?!" I demanded quickly, looking over at Master Roshi, who was still laughing over the ingenious of his price.

Goku held me by the shoulders so that I could look him directly in the eye. "Listen, I can't teach you everything you need to know, Master Roshi is among the strongest fighters on Earth, now, I want you to listen closely. Without this training, you'll stand as much a chance as you did before with Freeza." His eyes were hard, his voice revealing the harsh truth I was faced with.

I leaned in closer, not intimidated by his sudden demeanor. "I. Don't. Care. I'm not going to wear a bikini for him!" I stated as I turned by back on the two of them, and folded my arms in agitation.

Master Roshi took a few steps closer and looked at Goku questioningly. "Well, what's the situation right now with her? I need details." He stated, I was glad that I could not see him, as I learned much later that his eyes were engulfed up and down my body. As Goku explained my recent past and what I'd told him, Master Roshi made a few sounds which acknowledged what was being said. "I see." He stated when Goku was finished speaking, he took a step closer to me and put a hand to his chin in thought. "I see. . ." He murmured, Goku looked away from him long enough to glance at me and than something else.



* * * * * * * * *

(meanwhile, in space)

Mike relaxed in his chair, exhausted after his rigorous exercises to keep in shape on this long journey. His eyes closed as he let his mind roam over the events of the recent past. He had known that Ambrlyn didn't want him to leave for the desert, as she had a bad feeling something was going to happen. The odd thing had been, they'd both thought it would be him who would be in danger, and he had run into trouble, but the 'bad feeling' had been the snatched presence of Freeza, as he approached closer to his destination. Once, Mike had even caught the feeling of some strong evil moving in, but soon after that, the base he was on was attacked by Iraqi forces. After that, he'd felt nothing of it again, but now. . .He shook his head. No sense in dwelling over the past, it was gone, he had only to learn from it.

He wiped his hand over his face and stifled the yawn that threatened him. "Probably should rest, I'll probably not get there for another several days. Finally, unable to keep it back, he let his mouth open and yawned mightily as he stood and made his way around the console chair, to the large open area. Due to the confines of the small ship, the 'bedroom' was tucked away in one part of the wall. The kitchen, 'dining' and other important rooms were similarly hidden. It was a marvel of the Saiyan technology! He pressed on the appropriate button and the small cot slid out from the wall. He stretched and shed the first layer of clothing off, leaving the sleeveless white shirt and loose cotton shorts on, after all, one never knows when company might show up! Wouldn't want to be caught with just your knickers on! Mike laughed a little as he remember Ambrlyn's face as she'd said that to him. It seemed like almost yesterday, he sighed and climbed into bed. Letting the thoughts of her occupy him until sleep stole him away once more.



The alarms on the console fit in so perfectly with his dream, that Mike never realized it was really happening. The computer tried repeatedly to rouse him, but to no avail. Due to a malfunction several days before, he'd disengaged the emergency protocols and removed the 'ejector'. Which basically 'ejects' the sleeping person from their sleep and onto the floor, waking them in a rather efficient manor. After the meteor shower, the electrical discharge from it caused some of the systems to malfunction, that one being one of them. As he'd found out the hard way.

"System sector 1. 1. 3. 4. 9. B reached. Now entering atmosphere, recommended restraint for uncertain landing procedures. System sector 1. 1. 3. 4. 9. B reached. Now entering atmosphere, recommended restraint for uncertain landing procedures." The computer repeated endlessly, the entire ship started to take on a forty degree axle, tipping everything toward the nose of the ship, Mike, hugged the blankets and began to stir.

Earth grew larger and larger, until the flames from the hull hid the breathtaking view entirely. Finally, at last, a hard jolt sent the young Saiyan Prince flying out of the cot, he leapt to his feet angrily, only to fall back down and slide up to the front panel. "Computer! What's going on?!" He demanded, trying to get his balance enough in the shaking and tilted spacecraft.

"System sector 1. 1. 3. 4. 9. B has been reached, entering atmosphere at recommended approach vector. Manuel override option is open. Homing is locating." The computer almost seemed to purr as he fastened himself in the console chair.

"Track the homing from the frequency waves, don't look for the whole wave, just parts or pieces. Track in on the distress or 'rested' waves." Mike ordered as he punched in a few corrections for their approach vector.

"Tracking homing waves. . .Homing waves located. Zeroing in on beacon. Beacon registered under Prince Vegeta, old code, resting waves. Plot landing course for located homing beacon?" The computer asked, Mike nodded, and responded. Forgetting that the computer could not see his nod.

"Yes! Be sure to land on a flat surface which is at a safe distance from any structures or living creatures. Anything over 1 oz." Mike commanded as he wiped the sleep from his eyes and braced himself. "Ready or not, here I come, Bro!" He muttered, smiling to himself that he was still able to fly the machinery as well as he did so many years ago. His only hope now was that he would be able to convince his would-be allies that he needed their help in finding Ambrlyn. He didn't know how he was going to do this, but he had to figure out a way. After all, if he didn't stand a chance against Freeza, what kind of chance would Ambrlyn have?

The entry to Earth's atmosphere didn't take very long, before he knew it, the ground started closing in on him. A little faster than he expected. . .a little faster than it was suppose to! He flipped the retro burners on, there seemed to be no response, he tried again. This time, only the secondary burners kicked. "Oh shit!" He muttered, staring straight ahead as he felt the inevitable crash coming.

"Warning, proximity alert! Warning proximity alert! Emergency! Emergency! Crash eminent! Brace for impact!" The computer toned as Mike quickly fumbled through the restraints, hoping that the old fabric did not weaken over the years.

"Holy shit!!!" He yelped as he fell to the ground, the ship hitting a little lighter than full force, but the impact jarred Mike a little, causing him to remain in his seat, dazed. Outside, the ship looked almost like an accordion, it was sunken and smoke seeped through all areas. Clear liquid poured out of the engines, or what were the engines, as a hissing sound echoed from the ship. "Wee. . .!" Mike mumbled as he struggled to unfasten all of the buckles and get out of the ship. "I hope I didn't land on a house!" He muttered as he moved for the hatchway. . .



Vegeta and I were rather intent on our training exercise in the gravity room when the roaring disturbed us. At first, I passed it off as nothing more than a low flying jet, I had grown used to it back at my college, since it was near an airport, but than Vegeta's expression reminded me that there were no such jets here. "What is it?" I asked, but he silenced me with a lift of his hand. I'd learned quickly that if you obey instantly, and don't question, you get more answers and less pain.

"It's a ship!" He growled, I could almost swear that his hackles were rising, it surprised me to see how aggressive he was toward this ship.

"Bad thing?" I whispered softly, walking over to stand next to him.

"Not from Earth. But I don't feel Freeza, so I can't tell yet." Vegeta answered in response, than looked at me in disgust. "Why am I telling you all of this?! Get back to. . ." He was saying when the roaring became deafening and something seemed to explode right outside of the Gravity Room! The ground shook violently for a moment, than stopped, the jostling of the ground caused the Gravity control to go back to normal.

"That sounded like it was right outside!!" I whispered harshly in surprise, the sudden silence was almost as deafening as the roar had been. But just beyond the scream of the silence, I thought I hear. . .hissing. "Do you. . .hear that?" I asked, but Vegeta was already moving, I jumped a couple of steps to catch up and went with him.

"Stay behind me." He ordered, and I had no intention of not following this one. I walked behind him, and took a step back as he opened the door and looked. I grabbed a hold of his shoulder and peeked around. Bulma was already outside yelling about what was going on. I gasped as I saw that the ship really had landed right next to us!! It was only seven feet away and twelve from Bulma's 'house'. "Get back in that house, woman!" Vegeta roared, and Bulma seemed to need no other convincing, she took off for the house so fast that I could swear that there was dust from behind her! "Stay here! Don't move from this spot!" He commanded as he jumped out and walked ominously toward the now crippled ship.

"Ok." I said feebly, my legs were still weak from the shock. I might be a strong martial arts fighter, and a growing strong Z fighter, but I'm still a little sensitive to traumatic things like this. I stepped closer to the door way, so that I could look out better, Vegeta looked back to make sure I was still there and turned his attention back to the fallen ship. "Remember to breathe, Ambrlyn!" I whispered to myself, trying to keep from holding my breath as the seconds crawled by like years!!

From the ship, a grating sound screeched and wailed as the door was pried open, Vegeta instantly went into defensive mode, summoning a strong energy blast, I held my breath instantly, my heart leaping into my throat. Fear for Vegeta seemed to outweigh fear for myself. Vegeta had become like a brother to me over the months I'd been with him, the only family I had now. "Damn it!" I heard from the ship, a voice I recognized all too well! "Mike?!?!!?" I spoke out loud, but Vegeta was already speaking.

"Identify yourself at once!!" He yelled to the newcomer.

"My name is. . ." He was saying, but as he stepped from the ship and jumped down to the ground to face Vegeta, my heart nearly stopped.

I gave a cry out for joy and became a blur of movement as I rushed past Vegeta and straight into Mike's arms. "MIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I held onto him for dear life, Vegeta looked sour, but his power level calmed down.

"You know this man?" He asked, giving a critical eye towards Mike.

"Yes!!!! This is Mike, I've spoken to you about him before, remember?" I said, wiping my eyes. Mike smiled down at me unexpectedly and gave me such a huge hug that I thought my body would separate at the waist where he squeezed. "Mike!" I yelped in a choking voice, he lightened up and apologized.

"Sorry." His voice was like music to my ears! I felt as if my heart would burst from all the joy and happiness I had soaring through me. "Whoa! Calm down! You're giving me a head ache!" Mike commented as he winced. It was just then that I realized I had a touch on my powers. I let my power level drop down quickly and snuffed it with silence, just in case it rose unexpectedly again. "God! I'm so glad your safe!!!! I never expected to find you here!!! Are you real!?!? I'm not dreaming this up, am I?" Mike asked, Vegeta had stepped closer to us and hit Mike hard on the shoulder. "Ouch! Hey!!" He yelled, turning to glare at Vegeta, who stood smirking.

"You felt that didn't you?" He asked, folding his arms in satisfaction.

"Of course I did!"

"Than you're not dreaming." Than he spoke directly to me. "So this is the one you spoke so much of, huh? Hmph! Doesn't look like much of a fighter to me!" His self-assurance started to bother me again. I fought desperately for control and gritted my teeth in anger.

Mike seemed to be facing a similar dilemma. "I can take care of myself better than you think." I looked from Vegeta to Mike, both had their faces set for blood. I placed my hand on Mike's forearm in warning, but he spoke softly without taking his eyes off of Vegeta. "Don't worry, I discovered something back in Kuwait, I can handle this." His words did not reassure me much, he didn't realize that Vegeta was a lot stronger than in the series. I even had a theory that he could achieve super Saiyan now! But I had no proof and he hadn't transformed in front of me.

"Mike. . ." I whispered, but he pushed me aside, Vegeta took my arm and spoke to me, also not taking his eyes off of Mike.

"Ambrlyn, perhaps you should go and see what Goku is doing, perhaps he'd like to know about our. . . guest." The aggression in his voice was very evident. I nodded, knowing not to mess with him in current state. He was focused on a battle. One that would end terribly if Mike wasn't careful.

As I left them, fear boiled in my stomach, I flew faster than I'd ever gone before, and without intending to, I used Goku's instant transmission to go directly to the Son house. Goku was outside with Gohan and Chichi, my eyes were so filled with tears that it took Chichi less than a half second to scoop me up in her arms and demand what was wrong. The words flew out faster than I thought I could talk. "My boyfriend from my home crashed right next to the gravity room and Vegeta is going to fight him, I know that he is part of the Army, but I don't think he can take on that arrogant man, I'm so scared that he's gonna hurt or kill Mike that it's not funny and to make matters worse I'm so confused that he had crashed. What was he doing with a ship? How did he learn to fly something like that, we don't have the technology back home to be able to do things like that, I have so much going through my head I think it's gonna explode!!!" Chichi stopped me by forcing me to sit down and put my head down towards my knees.

"It's alright! Just relax and take deep breaths! Gohan! Go and get me a small paper bag! You'll be fine, Ambrlyn, now let's just calm down and than you can tell us everything, right Goku? Goku?" Chichi turned and found Goku already gone, Gohan came out of the house carrying a small brown bag. "Where'd your father go?"

Handing his mother the bag, he gave me a reassuring smile. "He's gonna make sure that nothing happens to Mike." I couldn't hear or notice Gohan through my inner terror, but the feelings of reassurance were not unnoticed by me totally. Part of me was endlessly grateful for that, I accepted the bag as Chichi handed it to me.

"Here, dear, breath into this, it'll help." She commanded, than sat down in the grass beside me, Gohan following suit. "Now, feeling better?" I nodded, looking up, I put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and smiled.

"Thanks, Gohan, you're so sweet!" He laughed and blushed, Chichi smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Now, what's all this you're so worried about?" She asked me, I took a big breath and started from the beginning. Explaining everything in detail, now that I was calmer, it came out more coherent. Chichi nodded when I was finished. "So, your boyfriend from your home, Earth, landed, or well, crashed, here. I suppose that would be confusing. Especially if you thought that he was normal, just as you thought you were completely normal. I know it was a surprise to me when I found out that Goku wasn't human, but I always knew he wasn't normal." The last part made me laugh. No, how could she see him as normal? He was everything but normal. But she still loved him for it. "Does his appearance here make you feel any different about him?"

I paused for a long time, thinking it over, after my initial shock of seeing him again after so long, I hadn't sat down to think if it made me feel any less or more attracted to him. "It makes me love him more. I'm not normal or human, so it doesn't matter to me what or who he really turns out to be. He came after me, he came to rescue me. It doesn't get any more romantic than that!" I sighed, Chichi nodded, her eyes just as dazed as mine. Gohan must have felt a little uncomfortable, because he suddenly changed the subject.

"Hey, Ambrlyn, wanna go see Kame with me? Mom says she doesn't want me to go alone." I looked over at Chichi and smiled back down at Gohan.

"Sure, as long as Chichi says it's ok." Gohan's little face brightened up and he looked to his mom.

"Yeah! Can we mom? Pleeeese?!!!" Chichi smiled at her son's adorable pleading and nodded.

"Yes, you can, you've been such a good boy. Finished all of your homework, and I'm sure Ambrlyn would like to speak with him too." I nodded and stood up fully from my resting place.

"Well, let's get going then." I told Gohan with my best smile, he smiled back and waited for me to take the lead, before jolting off into the air.

"Kame will sure love you're company, Miss Ambrlyn! He misses you from when you used to stop by all the time." Gohan told me as we flew side by side.

My dark thoughts drifted away as the wind raced through my hair, the little Gohan was a great comfort also, his sweet and charming nature made me wish that he'd never see any pain or feel any anguish. But I knew that would never be, especially once the Androids and Cell came. "I miss him too, he was such a comfort when I first got here, and he still is, always kind and gentle." And blunt and straightforward. My thoughts continued after I fell silent. Kame had never hesitated to tell me the truth. Just like Piccolo, but he wasn't like that with the rest of the Z fighters, he was more gentle with them, the only way Kame avoided my questions was when I asked who my parents were, he always changed the subject or turned away from it.

"Look!! There it is!!! Kame's Lookout!" I smiled at his enthusiasm. He sped up and forced me to also in order not to lose him!

"Hey, Gohan, why don't you go see if Korn has those senzu beans ready or not, I'm sure that your dad and Krillin would appreciate that." I mentioned, trying to buy a little time to speak with Kame alone without insulting the little guy.

"Sure!! It's only the way, so I'll meet you up there in a little while, K?" I nodded when he looked back and then I lost him, he sped up so quickly that he was only a blur. I laughed out loud and turned up quickly, eager now to speak with Kame and tell him the good news!!

When I reached his lookout point, Kame was right there, waiting, it was almost as if he were always waiting for more company. His face lightened up and he walked over to embrace me. "Lyn! It's soo good to see you again! You look like you've gotten strong, how have you been, my girl!" His warmness told me that our last fight had no hard feelings.

I hugged him back and sighed in relief. I hadn't really been looking forward to explaining why I was so moody last time. After all, that was my business. "Sorry I haven't had the time to stop by for a while, Vegeta's been keeping me busy."

"Vegeta?! I thought you were training with Goku and Master Roshi?! Why haven't you been training with them?" I winced openly, it was humiliating to remember, I'd hope it had escaped his attention.

I hoped wrong. "Well, Master Roshi decided that since I was really. . .distracted with my situation, that it would be best if. . .I just stayed out of Goku's way and let him train alone." I tried hard to let the pain of that rejection, but Kame picked it up easily.

"Oh, I see. So, because you were so distracted by your loss and your fear over Freeza, he refused to teach you? That just doesn't sound fair at all." I nodded my head in agreement, it wasn't exactly like that, but I thought it would be the easiest way out to let him come to his own decisions.

"But Vegeta is just as good of a trainer as Master Roshi could be, I can't learn his way of fighting, but Vegeta has been improving my muscle mass, so he's slowly teaching me better techniques in powering up and firing more powerful energy blasts." Kame nodded as he looked deeply into my eyes.

I fidgeted and squirmed, his gaze was so penetrating that he seemed to be peering directly into my soul and getting what secrets he wanted to learn. "Are you upset now because of this newcomer's arrival?" My mouth dropped. He already knew about Mike. . .