The Saiyan sat atop a crumbling building, looking onto the ruins below with a mix of pride and boredom. This city was a bit tougher than the last one, having a larger military than the last few he destroyed, it was good fun, but it brought a grim thought. There were no more cities to destroy. He felt a little proud though, as his mission was complete and soon he'll send he beacon from his pod and be found again by his fellows and root out any survivors. At least, that's what the pod he came to this planet from told him. The Saiyan learned everything from the pod, who he was, what he was there for, and basic fighting technique. He reached over and grabbed the can sitting next to him, cracked the seal and took a sip. Disgusting. He spit the foul fluid and grimaced at the can. It was bitter and foamy, nothing like the sweet ones he's come across. If there was one thing he was going to miss about this planet, it was going to be those. He threw the can at one of the tanks down below and couldn't help but to grin when he saw it go right through. He loved destroying those, considering they were able to take a better beating than the troops. The "Humans" as they called themselves were hardly a fight after he got older and stronger.

He remembered when he was younger, when the pod told him about the full moon, and how he was too weak at his age to destroy cities without transforming. He frowned. He didn't like transforming, he would only wake up in the ruins of the city naked with no memory of what happened. Not really fun, in his opinion, but very useful when the odds were against him. Like when he found that island with the old hermit on it. He never could have imagined a human at his age could put up so much of a fight. Because of that, he kept up with the cycles of the moon this planet had and remembered that today had a full moon, so he avoided looking up as much as possible. Last thing he needed was to wake up naked again with his belongings scattered around or stomped on.

He lied back and groaned in boredom. Reminded of his possessions, he reached into his small bag and produced his gem. It was a perfectly round orange gem and it sparkled in the sun, having a few red stars inside it. Four, to be exact. He found it as a child when he transformed and woke up in the ruins of an old house or shrine in the mountains. He was impressed by it, despite being shot at, and flung at his enemies, even trough a tank, it didn't so much as put a scratch in it. He held it up to the sun, and it shined brilliantly, just as bright as he remembered. After examining the ball for a few minutes, he returned it to his bag, tied it around his waist, having to move his tail to do so, and leapt from the building. It was about time that he head back to the mountains and set off the beacon.

On a distant planet, three men sat in the dark around a fire, cooking the large fish they caught in a nearby lake on their fire. One tended to the flames with a stick, moving some of the unburnt sticks onto the embers. He was large, unnaturally even. He had a bald head and sported a single lens on his left eye that reflected the fire with a green tint. He also wore armor that had large pauldrons that jutted off his shoulders into sharp points. They all wore these. He looked up to his leader, a short man with tall hair and a permanent scowl.

"So when are we going to pick up Raditz's kid brother?" The large man asked, tossing his poking sick into the fire, scattering embers everywhere.

"When we receive the signal." the leader replied bluntly. He answered as if he was constantly pestered by it.

"C'mon Vegeta, he's the only other Saiyan we know of that's out there, even if he isn't done, why can't we go out there, help him out, and pick him up? It'll be great!"

"Saiyans don't need help, Nappa!" the short man named Vegeta snapped. "And don't ever talk back to me again."

"Sorry sir." Nappa replied lowering his head with a frown.

"Raditz." Vegeta called.

"Yessir?" the long haired Saiyan replied.

"Tell me about the planet your brother's on. Being family, I assume you might know something."

"Yessir, it's a rocky planet, with large oceans, it makes up a large part of it's surface. It is populated by a race called 'Humans' so I recall. They aren't too different, appearance wise, from us saiyans, they just don't have tails."

Vegeta scoffed.

"Did you hear that Nappa? No tails. How strong are they individually?" Vegeta was already grinning, as if waiting for a punchline to a joke.

"On average, they have a four in power level."

Nappa lurched forward and laughed, spitting his drink out into the fire. It hissed loudly and smoke rolled everywhere.

"Damn it Nappa, get more wood and restart the fire, you oaf." Vegeta's grin had turned into a furious scowl.

"Sorry guys." the large man said between fits of laughter. He got up without complaint and began felling trees with brutal blows of his fists. His laughter still audible from the camp.

Vegeta groaned. He looked at Raditz to see him staring off into the fire.

"In what areas do these humans excel?" The saiyan prince asked.

Raditz looked at Vegeta, and looked up at the trees.

"Um. They have a pretty good understanding of technology." He finally said.

"Like what?" Vegeta replied.

"They were making these things, at least when we last checked, called capsules. They're intended to allow people to bring many things along with them in a portable way, like cars, boats, and even had plans for homes."

"Hm." the prince replied.

"Maybe they would've had some use to lord Frieza."

Vegeta scowled again, but said nothing. He just stared into the fire with an intense look etched into his face. Raditz regretted bring him up. He and Frieza despised one another, and Raditz didn't blame him. He had killed almost all of their race. At least, the ones on their home planet. They often wondered how many more were out there, but the conversations were always divided between pessimistic and optimistic. The only known saiyan left was Kakarot, and they only knew about him because of Raditz. He wondered how he was doing. He hoped he wasn't dead, having been found as an infant and slain. Not that he cared for family, no Saiyan did, it would just be disappointing to know one of the last Saiyans is dead. Just as he was dwelling on the thought, his scouter issued an alarm. It was from a pod dubbed 'Infant 2940: Kakarot'.
Raditz turned to Vegeta, who was smirking. Nappa came back without any lumber from his trip, a big grin on his face.

"Are we going to pick him up now, prince Vegeta?" Nappa asked gleefully. Like a child asking a parent for a toy.

"We got the signal, didn't we?" the prince replied.

"Let's go!" Nappa shouted enthusiastically as he ran to the nearby pods.

Raditz and Vegeta stood up and walked to the pods, seeing Nappa already closing his and laughing from within.

A strange man flew towards his destination, disgust welling inside him at the thought of having to deal with his host. The location came into view, a tower with a large half-sphere at the peak. He knew exactly what he was being called for, and it disgusted him to know that he would have to work with the person he envied most. He reached the peak of the tower, seeing the palace on top and the gardens. If he were in charge, this place would be a storing ground for his trophies and those of this followers. As hedescended onto the marble tiles, a portly figure approached him. He wore a turban, had long, pointed ears wearing a light purple vest which had a swirling design. A red sash held up his white pants and he wore sharp tipped shoes. His skin was like coal, and his large, frowning lips were deep red. He was the servant of the guardian of Earth, Mr. Popo.

"Welcome." the figure said. "Kami will be with you shortly."

"Spare me your formality, Popo." the man spat.

Mr. Popo hung his head and walked towards the palace as the man followed. As they approached the palace, a man appeared from within it, holding a cane and had an appearance similar to the man who came. He wore a white vest, bearing his symbol across his chest with a dark blue cloak that reached his ankles. His appearance was like the other man, but he looked ancient, his face covered with deep wrinkles.

"I see you have arrived." the elder man said.

"What do you want, Kami?" the other responded. His voice hissed as he spoke the man's title.

"You know exactly why I requested your presence, Piccolo." the old man replied.

"It's about the creature, isn't it?" Piccolo said.

"Yes." the elder replied solemnly.

"Well why don't you just send him to look for the dragon balls?" Piccolo said, nodding his head behind himself towards Mr. Popo.

The old man's face hardened. He closed his eyes and admitted, "I have already sent him to gather them, and we seem to have run into a problem. That's one of the reasons I called you here."

"You mean to tell me he has one?" Piccolo said lowly. His fists clenched at the older man's carelessness.

"Unfortunately, yes. He is in possession of one, but he doesn't seem to know the purpose of it." Kami said grimly. He continued, "I need you to look for him, take the ball back in any way you can, and bring it to me. so that I may wish this planet safe."

"Give you, of all people the dragon balls?" Piccolo laughed. "Why would I ever do that for you of all people? I'd rather take them by force from you two, find the last one from the creature, and wish myself the ruler of this planet."

Kami noticed that Mr. Popo seemed to jump at the threat, but he calmed himself and studied Piccolo's movements closely, ready to jump into the fray should Kami come under attack. Kami couldn't ask for a more faithful servant. No. A greater friend.

"The dragon balls are fickle, should you wish that, you would just end up at my position with nothing to rule over save the animals." the elder man said.

"Very well, but should I help you, what do I gain, old man?" the younger man said.

"If you don't, This planet risks destruction, there will be nothing to rule ever again." Kami said sternly. "I have put up with this because I am just an observer, protecting the planet itself, but now this monster has completed his task and has sent out for more of his kind to come, and I will not stand idly by while this planet is doomed to die."

"You seem to know something I don't." the younger man said.

The old man sighed, "This creature is a saiyan. A race of destructive warriors who's sole purpose is to wipe a planet's indigenous intelligent life and sell it to other races to use as they please. If a planet doesn't meet up to their standards, they destroy it, and sell the rubble for raw materials. They have destroyed many planets in the past, and conquered so many more. I will not let that happen to this one."

The younger man's eyebrows rose by a bit from the revelation, "So what do you think will happen to this planet?"

"I am uncertain, but the risk of it being destroyed is too great to be ignored. You already have nobody to rule over, and if they come, you and I will certainly perish." Kami said, oddly calmly. He knew that when faced with being unable to conquer, Piccolo will listen.

Piccolo mulled his options. As much as he hated to admit it, not even out loud, the old man was right. Should he ignore Kami's plea, more of this creature's kind come and destroy the Earth, there won't be a chance to rule anymore. Should he wish himself ruler, he would have to wait for eons for intelligent life to form again to rule over, since life can only be brought back one year after their death, since the dragon balls become inert for one year after a wish, even if he could find them exactly after he made his wish, he'd have to take the long road to ruler ship. If he did the inverse, and wished everyone back, he'd have to find all of the balls on his own, again, almost impossible. But then, he thought of something, and grinned wickedly. If he and Kami fused back together, he could possibly take over as the dominant conscious, pushing Kami out of the picture and becoming the ruler of Earth, and wishing back the humans again.

"I'll help you, old man." He started. "If you let us fuse after you wish everyone back."

"You're a madman." Kami said, his composure breaking for the first time in the whole conversation. "I'll do no such thing with you."

"That's a shame Kami. I was considering helping you. I suppose I'll just fly back home." Piccolo said.
Kami was backed into a corner, and had no choice. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes in defeat, "If you get the last dragon ball, I'll consider the terms of fusing with you."

Piccolo frowned, "That sounds like you'll get the dragon ball, and say no. I need a better answer than that, old man."

"Damn it Piccolo, the world is at stake here. Can't you do this one thing to protect the world that you seek to rule? If you care to rule this planet as much as you do, you would want to save it to prove you are the most powerful person on it."

"But it doesn't come with the title." Piccolo said.

Kami lowered his head. Maybe if they fused again, he could push Piccolo to the back of his mind, and give up being the kami of this world. He would be unfit to guard Earth with his consciousness at the back of his. It was decided. This was the last chance he had to make all of this right.

"Fine." He said. "If you let me wish back the humans that died, and warn them of the saiyan threat, I'll fuse with you."

Piccolo grinned and walked away until he reached the edge of the lookout, where he flew off towards the mountains.

Mr. Popo turned to Kami, his face etched with fear, "Kami. You don't really mean that do you?" he said, worry obviously on his face.

"What will happen?" Popo asked.

"Piccolo and I will fuse into one body, and our consciences will become one. I have the willpower to hold him off for a while, but in the meantime, I ask that you search for a new guardian of Earth. While I hold him off, I'll retire from being the guardian of Earth."

Mr. Popo's face turned sorrowful, but he nodded. "Where should I search? There are no more humans left." he asked sadly.

"Go to Namek, surely you can find someone worthy there. Do you remember when I showed you the ship Piccolo and I arrived on when we were still one person? You can use it to reach Namek, and speak to Guru, he can help you find someone suitable."

"Yes Kami." Popo said. He summoned his carpet and adjusted himself on it. As he flew a few feet away, he spun around to Kami.

"Kami, it has been an honor serving you." He said.

"And it has been an honor being your friend." Kami replied.

The young Saiyan approached his pod, it had become his base of operations since he was a child, with a tarp roof surrounding the area above it with many trophies from his battles. Tank shells, banners of the Red Ribbon Army, and others dotted the small place. It felt more like home than a camp. He walked up to his pod and pressed in the code to begin the scan of the planet to detect life forms. The machine squealed and buzzed as it scanned the planet, and after a few moments it responded in a monotone voice, "All human life destroyed, proceeding to contact pick up crew."

The machine made more noises until the monotone voice returned, "Contact signal established and received, pick up crew on it's way."

The Saiyan sat back and grabbed a can from his stash and took a sip. It was sweet like he expected, most of the purple cans were sweet. He stretched and decided to get something to eat. He strolled over into the river and waited. He stood and stared into the river absently until he heard a splash. He looked over and saw a large shadow in the river and dunked his tail and wiggled it as a lure. The shadow seemed to notice as the shadow made a straight path towards his tail lure. Just before it got near, he quickly flicked his tail out of the water and the fish followed, jumping out of the river in an attempt to catch it's prey. It was massive, easily the size of two men. It lunged towards the Saiyan's tail with surprising speed, but to the warrior, it was as a snail. Kakarot spun and landed a kick on the leviathan's skull, immediately ending the creature and sending it onto the shore. He dipped his tail back into the water and waited for another.

He left and grabbed a few twigs and sticks to start his fire, dragging his three fish by their fins with his left hand through the forest. He head back to his camp and began making his fire in the small fireplace he maintained. As he started the task, he wondered how long it would take the others to arrive, a few days, a few weeks, months, years? He felt a pang of panic run through him thinking about having to sit on this wasteland without any worthy foes for years. He quickly shook off the feeling as he saw the first embers take hold in his fire. He gently blew a few times until the leaves started burning and soon, the small sticks. He sat back, waiting for the fire to fully take. He pulled his gem again, and played with it in his hand, letting it roll from one to the other, watching the light reflect and scatter from it.

As he absentmindedly toyed with his gem, he felt he was being watched. He spun around to see a figure in a light purple cloak standing a few meters away from him.

"Show yourself, fool." Kakarot challenged.

The figure turned to face the young warrior, revealing his features. His appearance was unlike anything the saiyan had seen on Earth. A green face with two antennae resting above eyes that glared at him. His height was above that of a human, by a head. The cloak he sported seemed unlike the fashion of most of the humans he encountered. His gi underneath was a dark blue, held at the waist by a lighter shaded sash with a symbol across the chest, most likely representing himself. Was this some kind of joke? Did a human put on this getup to challenge him?

"You've never heard of me?" the strange man said. His face sour like he had just been insulted.

"No, I've haven't heard a thing about a green human."

The man's face became angrier. "Do not confuse me with one of those pathetic humans, creature. I am the demon king of this planet, the rightful ruler of this rock! I am the demon king Piccolo!" he bellowed.

"So a king of nothing, huh?" the saiyan quipped. "Why should I recognize you as a ruler of anything?" He added.

"I'll spare you and forgive your disgusting manners if you give me that." he said, pointing at Kakarot's gem with interest.

"Why should I? I've taken a liking to it." he responded, tossing it a few times in his hand.

"Consider it tribute." Piccolo replied.

"I'll sweeten the deal." Kakarot said with a grin. "How about I keep the gem, kill you, and take that nice coat of yours? It gets cold up here sometimes." he said, putting the ball into his pouch. "That sounds a bit more like an even deal."

"You dare challenge me?" the demon king said, his voice lowered.

"Why not?" he replied. "Everyone else is dead, and you seem like you can hold yourself."

"Very well." The green man replied. He unfastened his cloak and it fell to the ground.

Without the cloak, Kakarot could see more of the man's unearthly features, he noticed his arms bearing strange segmented pink spots, bordered by red that circled the entire spot. There was absolutely no doubt about it at this point, this man was definitely not human. Maybe he truly was a demon. The idea made Kakarot excited. The demon king raised his hands into a stance, and adjusted his legs as well. He was prepared. Kakarot responded by taking his stance, one he learned from the pod, and also adjusted his legs to assume the saiyan stance. They eyed one another for a few moments, until Piccolo grinned as he began pulling ki. It was surreal to Kakarot, he began feeling immense power welling up to the demon king, and he began feeling uneasy, scared almost, were it not for the fact he started to feel more excited for the fight. He watched as he felt the demon king's power climb higher and higher, until it rested, radiating the excess ki from him.

"Now let us begin." the green man said, his mouth in a unnaturally wide smile that displayed murderous intent.