A/N: Here I go, revamping one of my oldest OCs. I was going through my old sketchbooks, and I came across an old sketch of this Saiyan OC from at least like 2010 or so; It was right around the time DBZ Kai was getting aired, I think. Anyway, I had this whole story I wanted to tell for her, but I never finished it - and luckily while I was able to find the old document, it needed a lot of reworking - specifically around her backstory and someone very important from her past. Originally they were going to have a weirdly love-hate dynamic, but I found it very cringy and honestly she deserved better. I also reworked the planet she came from given that fourteen-year-old me was very unoriginal when it came to thinking up alien planets. Think Earth, but not named Earth. And also snowy. I was kind of into astronomy as a kid so I wanted her to have this grizzled edgy homeworld that she escaped from (kind of like how Super!Broly turned out, actually, which is weirdly funny).
Also, please note that this won't be updated very often. Wanted to post the first chapter here as well as on AO3 to keep up with it.
Okay, okay, enough stalling, I hope you enjoy!
The sun shone brightly in the skies over West City as people went about their business as usual. The cerulean sky was clear, the clouds were bright white and fluffy, and it seemed like today was going to be a great day.
"-the forecast for tomorrow is much of the same; sunny skies and a balmy eighty degrees across the board," the weatherman continued over the radio as Bulma moved through her lab, humming to herself and wiping sweat from her brow.
"Mom?" Trunks called out, peeking in the doorway.
"Yeah?" She answered, looking over from where she was bent over trying to find a tool from the toolbox.
"Goten's here, he wants to hang out. Can we train in the gravity room?"
Bulma frowned with a hum. "I dunno… is your father still using it? I could've sworn that he said he was-"
A loud booming from a distance away, coupled with a quake rippling across the ground, interrupted her mid-sentence. Trunks yelped and gripped the doorframe while Bulma stumbled to the floor with a grunt.
"-Breaking news," the newscaster coincidentally started, sounding shaken and nervous, "an object has touched down in the middle of West City. We are as of yet unsure if it's a meteor or an alien attack."
Bulma felt her son's wide eyes fixed on her and she heaved a sigh, looking down at her toolbox. The meticulously-lined up items were lying jumbled up inside, and now the tool she wanted was buried even more in the mess.
"Call your father," she tiredly told him, getting to her knees to rummage through the box all over again.
A large crowd of civilians gathered around a crater in the pavement, murmuring amongst themselves worriedly. More than a few were brandishing firearms at the pod that had landed, boasting (worriedly) that they were keen to shoot whatever came out of it. Police officers stood among the throng, yelling orders to remain calm and get away from the crater.
It was here that Vegeta and Goku touched down, surveying the people.
"Wow, they weren't kidding," the younger of the two commented, shielding his eyes against the sun to scan the crater. "Hey, isn't that a Saiyan pod? What on earth could they want now?"
"It could be stolen, or it could be someone's little restoration project. I haven't seen that style in decades." The prince added with narrowed eyes.
The crowd abruptly fell silent as the pod finally let out a grinding, creaking noise of metal on metal - and it opened, pushing the bottom of the spherical pod up from the rubble. A shaking, pale hand gripped the side - a human-looking one.
"Saiyan," Vegeta confirmed as a body draped in heavy furs and thick clothes appeared from inside. A scarred face peeked around warily at the crowd of pointing humans. "But how? I thought it was just the few of us."
"Apparently not!" Goku chirped with a loose shrug.
Lifting their head, shaggy black hair fell about an androgynous face in unruly strands. Scratching the back of their neck, they called out in a rasp, "Is there a Goku here?"
"Kakarot, don't you dare," the prince hissed as Goku made to raise his hand.
"I'm not here to hurt any of you." They added, casting an annoyed glance at several shaking men pointing guns at their pod. "I just wanna see the guy Frieza's so scared of."
Vegeta rolled his eyes as Goku finally stepped forward, and their eyes fell on him.
For a moment, they - she, the two men realized as she shrugged off the heavy pelt, tensed. Exhausted eyes widened, then narrowed, and her shoulders went rigid, fingers clenching into fists. The tail hidden under her pelts twitched, fur stiff with paranoia.
The man faltered, confusion filling his face. "Uh...?"
"You... you are Goku... right?" She questioned, words punctuated with something intense.
"Yeah, that's me."
The Saiyan looked around. The crowd was still ogling her, and Vegeta still regarded her coldly. Heaving a sigh, she dared look up into the face of the orange-clad fighter and relaxed her grip.
"So!" He raised a hand with a friendly smile. "Heard you've been lookin' for me. What business do you have with Earth?"
"Earth?" She mumbled in confusion, squinting at her control panel. "Shit, is that what this planet's called? Note to self, fix the translator's pronunciation."
The warrior landed in the crater, much to the crowd's surprise. Several people muttered and chattered about, musing that he was brave or foolish to confront the alien woman directly. Extending a hand, he helped her up from the pod and steadied her with a firm grip on her shoulder.
"Wow, you're a lot less scary than those goons said you'd be," she said, mostly to herself, as she stared into his face. Poking his cheek, she continued, "and squishy! Man, I can't believe you're the guy everyone on the Frieza Force avoids like the plague. You seriously beat him?"
"Sure did!" He nodded. "I'm a little confused, though - how'd ya hear about me? I didn't realize Frieza's men were still active after he and King Cold were defeated."
The woman shrugged with a weak laugh. "I dunno, I got a lot of 'em in my mechanic shop back on whatever that moon was called…" she trailed off as a loud rumbling roar rippled through her body, and Goku tried not to laugh even as the crowd took a collective step back in paranoia. "...hey, changing topic, d'you know where I could find some good food? I ran out like two sols ago and I'm literally starving."
"We got you covered! My wife's got the best food this side of the continent!" Goku threw a nod up at Vegeta, who disdainfully shook his head.
"So…" Chi-Chi stared at the voracious Saiyan sitting at the table next to Goten, who was openly staring at her with his mouth agape as she slurped her way through her fifth bowl of noodles. "You say she just… crash-landed? From the sky? In West City?"
"Yep!" Goku stood with his back against the counter, arms folded. "Don't worry, I don't think she's gonna hurt anybody. Her ki doesn't feel malicious at all. Besides, if she wanted to, she could've taken out half the population when she landed."
"From the way you described it, she was famished when she landed. Who's to say she won't go on a spree now that I've fed her?" The shorter woman pointed out.
"Have a little faith in me, Chi," the man pleaded, cupping his hands together as if saying a prayer. "The second she starts anything, I'll shut it down. Trust me, I don't think she's gonna hurt anyone. Not you, or Goten, or Gohan, or Pan, or anyone else."
His wife opened her mouth to respond, but the Saiyan swallowed the last of her broth and interjected, "I can hear you, y'know. Don't worry about me, I just want somewhere to lie low for a while."
"You aren't a criminal, right? Goku, please tell me you didn't let an alien criminal into our home."
"I mean, technically Yamcha was a bandit for a while... and Tien tried to kill me, and Chiaotsu tried to kill me, and then Piccolo tried to kill me..." He mumbled unsurely.
"No crimes committed here!" She insisted, getting up to refill the bowl. "Man, you were right - Chi-Chi, right?"
"Yes…?" Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes at the taller, buff woman standing over her with her good ceramic in her hand.
The woman grinned, the pointed scars on her cheeks creasing with the action, giving her a thumbs-up. "Goku was right - your cooking is the best on this side of the continent! I ain't one to mooch, but I definitely wouldn't mind if ya invited me over for dinner sometime."
"Mom's cooking is the best!" Goten chimed in from the table, adding to his mother's embarrassed flushed cheeks.
"If there's one thing I know besides martial arts, it's food!" The man agreed with a sage nod, gingerly nudging his wife's side with his elbow. "Even Vegeta doesn't complain anymore when I bring 'im over."
Then he leaned in, cupping a hand over her ear as he whispered, "Though between you and me, I think Chi-Chi scares him. I've never seen him raise his voice at her. Er- not after he mellowed out, anyway."
"He'd better be scared of me," the woman in question huffed, making both Saiyans sheepishly smile at her as she turned back to the stove, taking the bowl and ladling more noodles and broth into it. Handing it back to the woman, she added, "I've had to put up with Goku and the nonsense following him for over twenty years, and I'm sure as sin not going to tolerate a tantrum from the so-called prince of all ten Saiyans."
The woman barked a laugh, slapping a hand across Goku's back good-naturedly. "You've got a good wife, Goku! Now I'm jealous."
Chi-Chi did her best to hide a smile of amusement, ducking her head as Goku laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Ahem." She cleared her throat and finally turned to the two of them, wiping her hands off on a dishtowel, "Did you work out a place for her to stay for now? I'd let you stay here, but we don't exactly have a lot of room left."
"Oh, nah, that's okay." Waving a hand, the alien set the bowl down on the counter. "My pod's still here, right? I'll sleep there."
Chi-Chi sent her a look of horror at the same time that Goku frowned.
"And… you're okay with doing that?" The woman asked slowly.
"It's no big deal if I let Bulma know what's going on," Goku added, hesitation to his words.
"I'm used to intergalactic weeks of travel, I'll be fine!" She grinned, grabbing the bowl and heading for the dining table again. "Thanks for the meal, Chi-Chi! Once I'm done here I think I should head back before humans start getting curious around my stuff."
As she happily got to work on her last bowl, Chi-Chi grabbed her husband's gi and whispered frantically, "Look, as much as I don't trust her, somehow I like the idea of her sleeping in that cramped little thing even less. Isn't that kind of pod what Vegeta came to Earth in?"
"And me," he confirmed, glancing back at her before shaking his head. "Bulma won't mind keepin' her for a while, I know her. Plus it'll keep Vegeta from getting too antsy. I think she's the first Saiyan since his little brother who hasn't come all the way to Earth for evil intent."
"You do that," his wife nodded firmly. "And- please, be careful around her. I know you can hold your own, but we still don't know what she's capable of. And after that horrible Goku Black incident…"
Him pressing his lips to her temple made her trail off, and he smiled gently. "You worry too much, Chi. I'll be careful. I won't let you or our family get hurt."
"So let me get this straight." Bulma grunted as she got up from the floor, finally having straightened out her toolbox and gotten the wrench she wanted. Her joints popped with the movement, and she stretched her back with a disgruntled grimace. "You've got a fresh Saiyan pod for me to tinker with, and its owner is… at your house helping your wife with the dishes. And you're here, talking to me, about letting her stay here, while leaving your wife at the mercy of a random Saiyan helping her with the dishes?"
"Pretty please?" Goku pleaded. "I'd let her stay with us, but we don't have room for a stranger. I know Goten says he wouldn't mind letting her sleep in his room since we still have the extra bed, but I don't want my son sharing his room with someone we don't even know."
"I get it," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. To her annoyance, streaks of grease followed, staining several strands a thick black. "Alright, fine, I'll let her stay here. Kami knows Vegeta will go ballistic if she tries to hurt Trunks or Bulla, so we won't have to worry about any kind of ambush."
"I promise you, I don't sense any evil intent. Just… it's weird. She doesn't really wanna talk about where she came from, except that she doesn't wanna run into anyone Frieza used to order around. I just hope she isn't on the run from any of his soldiers." Goku let out a huff. "The last thing I want is for them to come snooping around here again."
"Tell me about it." She griped, wiping her hands off on her overalls and following him out of her lab. "Well, Vegeta's already brought the pod in, and I don't wanna start working on it without her consent - you Saiyans can get awfully territorial about your stuff."
Goku let out a weak laugh. "Thank you for doing this for me, Bulma."
"Hey, if you say she's good, then I trust you." With a shrug, she wryly added, "Besides, maybe having another one of you around here will finally convince those space creeps to stop trying to destroy everything."
"Wow!" The woman marveled. She turned around and around as they walked through the Capsule Corp compound, taking in her surroundings like a fish to water. "You live here? This is... this is so cool! I can't believe you get to make things in a place like this!"
"Why thank you," Bulma smugly answered. "At least somebody here appreciates my expertise past repairing the gravity chamber."
"So you're the best engineer around here... that means I could use some of your materials to fix up my ship, right?"
"About that." They paused at the doorway to her lab. Bulma chewed on her lip in thought before looking over at the apprehensive Saiyan, "I had Vegeta pick up your pod just in case - just in case! - you decided to tinker with it. I'd rather you be able to have a safe place to work on it somewhere private than have to lug it out of West City. I didn't touch it, in case you were wondering."
The woman remained quiet for a few moments, narrowed eyes searching the scientist's face. Finally, she nodded. "Good," she stated, as the door opened to reveal her pod resting on the floor near a workbench.
Bulma watched as her face softened, her hand running along the metal sides. Her furs and heavy clothing had been discarded, revealing a toned physique and a tail that peeked out from under a loose undershirt. There was a hint of extra fat to her stomach and thighs, though she assumed whatever else had been burned off as she traveled in search of Earth.
Speaking of... "Hey, if you don't mind, I've got a question."
The alien woman looked up, contemplative. "What?"
"How did you know to come to Earth?" Leaning against the wall, she raised her hands in defense. "I'm not one to rat you out if you did something to piss off Frieza. I'm just curious."
The woman barked a laugh at that, getting back to her full height. "Ah, it's nothing I did, actually. I just hate running into those guys. They're so smug about serving under the self-proclaimed 'emperor of the universe'." She said it in a mocking tone, supplemented with dramatic air quotes. "As for how I knew to come here... rumor has it that Earth was Frieza's last stop before he dropped off the face of the galaxy. Can ya believe there are still folks out there that think he's alive?"
"As if he would stay quiet this long," Bulma snarked.
"Exactly!" Raising her hands, the woman shook her head. "And I figured... if I was at the same spot the guy who singlehandedly handed him his ass on a golden platter, I wouldn't have nothin' to worry about for a while. Plus I hear the food is great." Patting her stomach, she added happily, "Thank the cosmos those rumors were right."
"So... if you're here to stay for a while, mind if I know your name? I mean, you know ours after all."
The younger of the two flashed a toothy smile, showing off sharp-looking canines. "Name's Kress. Nice to meet a fellow mechanic."
A/N: This will have a bit of a slow start, only because I rushed things so fast in the original (seriously, like the first chapter was her crashing to Earth and the next was her training with Goku and Vegeta) and I wanted to devote more time to worldbuilding and how she would interact with this new environment/these new allies. I specifically wanted Vegeta to have more friends (I was a Vegeta fangirl as a kid, who could've seen that coming), so expect some of that bonding. And also while Bulla existed back then, obviously I was operating with some of GT's canon, so that has to get reworked as well to exist within Super's timeline. Not everything's gonna get ported over (mostly because there are some very questionable writing decisions they made that I don't support), but the main points stand.
If you got through all of my rambling, thanks! Tell me what you thought!