"The Saiyans will be arriving today," says King Kai.
Goku tightens a belt around his waist. Then he looks at King Kai. They stand beside a pool of water far to the back of the house.
"Did my recovery spring help?"
"Yes. It wasn't easy spending a few days either sleeping, eating, or lounging in this pool, but I've never felt better in my whole life."
"And the new clothes, do they fit okay? I went ahead and put my insignia on the back. I hope that's alright."
"Yes. They feel great. Thank you King Kai, for everything you've done for me."
"The honor was mine. Thank you Goku. I'll make the Snake Way appear to get you back to the Check-In Station."
Goku's eyes widen.
"Haha, don't worry. It won't be very long at all. It's simply a way to traverse our world."
"Whew. I better get going then."
Goku bows before trotting off while waving. He passes the house and sees the tail of the dreadful snake monument. Bardock stands nearby surveying the golden clouds. Goku slows to a stop next to him.
"I guess this is it," says Bardock. "You get to go have the fight of your life, and I have to go back to being a little puffball."
"I wish something better was waiting for you."
Bardock waves his hand.
"Not your fault the Kais don't value the life of a warrior."
"Thank you. For helping me train. Helping me understand my heritage. And … I know you never got the chance to be my father growing up, but I think you would have been pretty good at it."
"Geez. You really are a softy. Oh well. That would make your mother happy. I wish I could see her again, but she went to a better place than me. Anyway. Good luck. And I better not see you on this side of life anytime soon."
Goku smiles. He holds out a fist. Bardock bumps knuckles with his son. Goku jumps onto Snake Way and dashes off. Bardock watches him cross the horizon.
###
A computer screen strapped to Bulma's wrist like a watch flashes red and beeps.
"Oh no!"
She jumps out of a lawn chair and races into the Capsule Corp headquarters. Yamcha wrestles his chair to get out of it. When he finally catches up with her, she sits before a desk with several monitors hastily punching keys. Several windows open one after another.
"What's going on Bulma?"
"My dad and I upgraded some of the recently launched Capsule Corp satellites so they could detect life forces. They just picked some up. Three to be precise. And they're huge."
"So they're finally here."
Yamcha clenches his fists and begins to breathe with conscious intent.
"What kind of power levels are we talking?"
Bulma does not answer. She just stares at the screen, her body still.
"So they're all stronger than me, huh? That's about what I was expecting."
They are quiet. The silence lingers.
Bulma speaks without turning to face Yamcha.
"You don't have to go?"
"Huh? But this—"
"You could just hide your power level, and we could run away."
Yamcha opens his mouth and then closes it. He slides his arms around Bulma's tense shoulders and presses his cheek into hers.
"It's going to be okay," he says.
"You don't know that! I know we've done everything we can to prepare for this, but now that it's here…"
"We've got the advantage. It's our home turf. And we have a trump card. Goku. He'll come out of nowhere, and they won't even know what hit 'em."
"Yeah, you're right. It's going to be okay."
She turns her head and offers a smile. He squeezes her shoulders in a couple massaging strokes.
"I better get going then," he says.
"What? Where?"
"Well I don't want to lure them to a city full of people. Especially since you're here. I'll go see if I can meet up with Krillin wherever he is. I probably should have just gone with him in the first place when he said his training was too dangerous to do within city limits. We'll—"
Bulma stands up and kisses him. He wraps his arms around her waist and holds her tight. She lays her face on his chest. He puts his cheek on top of her head. She hears the air in his lungs and feels the beating of his heart.
"I'll tell Chichi and Yajirobe to back you guys up," she says.
"I don't think they will be strong enough to do anything. Better let me test the waters first. I don't want to risk anyone's life we don't have to. But can you do me one favor?"
"Hm."
"Tell Puar I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye."
An alarm sounds from the speakers on the desk. They slowly pull apart with their fingers tracing down one another's arms. Their hands catch for a moment. Then their fingertips grasp for one last tiny embrace. The touch breaks. They stand apart. The small distance between feels like the expanse of space.
They both turn from one another at the same time. Bulma sits down to oversee the situation while Yamaha heads for the front door.
###
Krillin looks to the sky. Deep, thin lacerations litter the landscape around him. The ground, giant rocks, and even small mountains each suffer from several gashes cut clean through them.
"Oh man. That must be them. What an immense pressure. It's suffocating. I hope our training pays off."
###
"Do you feel that Tien?"
Chiaotzu stands with his chin tilted up and back to his meditating friend.
"Yes I do. It's monstrous. I'll be honest I don't think we can possibly win against something like that."
Chiaotzu continues to scan the air silently.
###
"I'll be damned," says Piccolo. "These guys are unreal."
"How strong do you think my dad will be?" says Gohan.
"He'd have to have gotten unbelievably more powerful to tip the balance back to equal."
Piccolo rubs away a bead of sweat by pretending to scratch an itch on the side of his head.
The old voice awakens in his mind.
You'll need my help for this one.
Yeah right. You're more likely to join them than help me.
Come on. You know me better than that. All I want to do is rule the planet. So I'm not going to let a few Saiyans stop me.
Piccolo grits his teeth.
###
Kami stands beside Mr. Popo on the edge of his palace. His eyes swim over the tiny features of the planet's surface.
"The people of Earth have done well to rebuild after the chaos inflicted by Garlic Junior," he says. "It warmed my heart every day to see acts of kindness big and small as they struggled to recover. Though there are still many who decided to take advantage of the situation."
He sighs.
"Now they face their greatest threat yet. But I have the utmost confidence in our champions. I know they can defeat the Saiyans."
Mr. Popo sees Kami tighten the grip of both hands on his staff.
###
Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz wait for the numbing vibrations of their ships' crash landing to pass.
Nappa leans forward in his seat, pushing with the elbows. A sharp pain stabs his left forearm. He growls and lifts the sore limb for an examination.
A crimson line tracing a vein pokes out from under the gauntlet. Surely that had not been there before leaving the bug infested planet! Suddenly his head starts to hurt. Just what the hell was in that bite?
"Quit wasting time Nappa."
Vegeta's voice sounds through the earpiece of his scouter.
He wriggles out of his pod and ascends to meet his floating comrades. He presses his left arm tightly to his side despite the pain from pushing on it. They all check their scouters.
"These power levels are way higher than the report said a year ago," says Raditz. "Are there new arrivals on this planet?"
"Oh please," says Nappa. "I've taken shits with higher power levels than most of these guys. We've got nothing to worry about."
"The report also said the enemy could change their power levels quite drastically," says Vegeta. "One was even clocked at almost 1,000. So it's really no surprise they have raised them since then. Why? Were you expecting an easy mission? You're not scared of a little extra challenge are you?"
"No. Of course not."
"Good, because you need to start pulling your weight on this crew. I want you to take on the guy with 1,480."
"What! But he's less than two hundred points below me. Why can't Nappa take him, and I'll go after one of the smaller ones. I mean are you going to have Nappa face the guy who is almost 4,000 like he is?"
"No, that one is for me. He's probably the one who knows about the Dragon Balls, and I'm going to make sure we get answers. Nappa can have fun with whoever he wants. I'm sure all of them have a little piece of the story, so we'll extract every detail we can."
Raditz opens his mouth, but a glare from Vegeta strangles the words. He looks to Nappa who avoids eye contact. With a disdainful grunt, Raditz reaches an arm over his head and flies off with a backstroke motion. As the second arm comes around, he rights himself and shoots off.
"Are you sure you want to risk Raditz against such an even opponent?" says Nappa. "We've lost everyone else already. I could fight that guy no problem. It's not a big deal."
"The only way that runt is going to get stronger is if he pushes himself. Otherwise he is just as worthless as the rest of the low class trash."
"I suppose. But it feels weird that there are so few of us left."
Nappa watches Raditz as he blinks out of sight.
"Guess I better find my opponent then. Now let's see…"
"Nappa."
"Hm."
Nappa gazes upon Vegeta's back as he looks off into the distance.
"These fighters seem to be capable of some nasty tricks. Don't underestimate any of them even though they appear weak. Make sure to stay vigilant and keep calm at all times. Understood?"
"Of course."
"I mean it Nappa. No fucking around this time."
Nappa looks down at the puffy skin ballooning around its protective covering.
"Nappa."
Vegeta turns his head, and Nappa quickly drops his arm.
"Don't worry. I'll keep my cool. Promise."
"Good. Now let's go."
They fly off in different directions. Nappa follows his scouter toward the power level closest to Raditz's target.
Author's Note 1/30/21: The Saiyans are finally here! The epic battle for the fate of our planet and heroes begins next time on Dragon Ball Ki, Combat Engage!