Chapter 3 – Past?

The building of Capsule Corp. still is in the same place it used to be in their time. A good sign, Keyra judges. I don't see any destruction around here either.

She lands on the lawn of the main building, walking up to the front doors. They open unexpectedly and a blur of kids storms out, knocking her over.

"What the…"

"Out of our way!"

"Run, Goten, or he'll catch us!"

Then she senses their kis. Or more so, their potential kis. It was impossible… And one of the kids was Trunks?

"Kuso, too late…"

The atmosphere seems to darken slightly as a muscular figure steps out the front door, fists clenched at his sides. His flame-like hair stands out and Keyra immediately knows who he is.

"Vegeta…" she whispers.

"Brats…" he growls, glaring daggers at his son and his buddy. "Inside. Now." Vegeta's tone doesn't leave any room for excuses or pleads.

"Thanks a lot, lady," Trunks complains while walking in. His father whacks him over his head for that remark.

"Oww…"

"Go to your mom and tell her what you've done. She'll punish you both."

Vegeta waits impatiently until the kids are inside, visibly irritated.

"I guess they owe you an apology." His tone is emotionless. "What's your business at Capsule Corp?"

"I… I'm here to see Bulma," Keyra stumbles, still confused because she realizes she's not in the past.

"Hn." Vegeta closes his eyes, locating his mate's ki. "Follow me."

Keyra follows the Saiyan Prince in silence, marveling at his hair.

"Stop staring at me, woman," Vegeta says without even turning his head.

"I'm sorry. I just wondered about your hair… It's weird for me as a human to see it stand up straight."

Vegeta stops dead in his tracks. "What do you mean?"

Keyra casts down her eyes at his intense gaze. "I might as well tell you… You'll find out eventually. I'm from another dimension. In my dimension, you are dead, and I live at Capsule Corp. with Bulma and Trunks. Since I've never seen you alive, I was kind of surprised your hair really is the same as it is in Trunks' pictures."

Vegeta furrows his brow even deeper and asks: "Why are you here?"

"It's a long story. I'd rather tell you and Bulma together so I don't have to repeat myself."

"Makes sense. Let's go."

"My name is Keyra," she begins her story. "Where I come from, people live in fear every day. All of the Z fighters are dead, killed by the androids. Goku died earlier from a heart virus. Bulma – my Bulma – invented a time machine, so I could travel back to the past, warn you about the arrival of the androids and give the antidote to Goku. So here I am… But this can't be the past. Trunks was only a baby when Vegeta died… And here he's like what? Seven years old?"

"Eight, actually," Bulma says. "But we've never heard of these androids."

"Kakarot has never been ill," Vegeta growls.

Bulma ignores her husband and thinks out loud: "Something must have gone wrong with the time-traveling… I'd like to take a look at it, maybe I can fix it."

"That would be great! For all I know, I'm stuck here if I can't trust that machine. Speaking of machines, Bulma had a plan I'd like to discuss with you… Bulma."

Bulma understands the hint and looks at Vegeta.

"Get out, honey."

"I'll go check on the brats," Vegeta says. "I'll be over at Kakarot's if you need me."

"Thanks." Then she turns to Keyra again. "What plan?"

Keyra takes out the blueprints of a machine. "She thought that you'd be able to build this."

Bulma studies the drawings for several moments. "A regeneration tank?"

"Something like that. Trunks is the only warrior left in my time, and he can't defeat the androids. As we speak, he's in a coma trying to recover from his last fight with them."

Bulma gasps.

"Bulma will give him senzu as soon as the new crop is ready, but it'll take a while. In the mean time, she wants me to become as strong as Trunks so I can fight the androids as well."

"But you're not Saiyan!"

"No, Bulma. Not yet. But with your machine and Saiyan DNA I can be."

Bulma sighs. "This is a lot to think about."

"I'm sorry to barge in like this, but this is our only hope." Tears well up in Keyra's eyes. "I don't want to lose Trunks as well," she whispers. "The androids already killed my family. Bulma and Trunks are all I have left. I must do something!"

"We'll help you, Keyra. I'll start first thing tomorrow."

"Thanks," Keyra snorts, crying out loud.

Bulma scoops over and comforts her.

"You must be hungry. Let's go have a bite to eat, and then I'll show you your room. It's going to be okay."

Keyra stands on the balcony, smoking a cigarette. A weird feeling of déjà vu creeps up on her. She tilts back her head and looks at the sky. This world seems so much safer than her homeworld… Then she senses two tremendous kis a few miles away. Would that be Vegeta? It has to be. The other one must be Goku then… She can't resist, jumps off the balcony and flies towards the ki signals.

She flies over deserted lands, while the rumbling of ki waves grows louder. This is unbelievable, she thinks. Even Gohan didn't come close to this kind of violence.

She arrives at the scene while the sun sets in the west.

Someone is approaching, Kakarot. As always, Vegeta communicates telepathically with Goku during sparring sessions, it saves energy and avoids having to scream to be audible. Vegeta attacks again.

Nothing to be afraid of. Just be careful you don't blast anything her way, Goku answers, blocking Vegeta's attack only barely.

I hate being watched, Vegeta mutters, making a backflip kick, scratching Goku's face.

It's a free world, Vegeta. Let her be. Goku retorts by planting his fist into Vegeta's gut.

She's distracting me, that's all. Vegeta charges a blast and fires at Goku. He dodges it, but it comes around and hits him in the back. Goku plummets towards the ground, hitting it hard.

You should know that move by now, Kakarot. Vegeta chuckles and dives down towards the ground as well.

Keyra watches in awe as the two pureblooded Saiyans take each other on. Sure, she's witnessed some serious fights, but this… This is on a whole other level. Both fighters take hits that would crush any ordinary human being, that would obliterate them completely. They're not even Super Saiyan yet, she suddenly realizes.

Enough with the warm-up, Kakarot. Let's begin. Vegeta falls back into his regular battle stance and powers up.

You got it. Goku screams when he focuses his power to achieve his transformation.

The battle goes on for another hour, after that both fighters are beaten up and low on ki.

Let's call it a day, Vegeta. Goku floats down towards the ground, breathing heavily and dropping out of Super Saiyan mode.

Hungry again, huh? Vegeta chuckles, tired but satisfied.

"Do you need a ride home?" Goku asks, referring to his Instant Transmission ability.

"I'll fly home, Kakarot." Goku nods in acknowledgement and fazes out. Vegeta stares up to the stars briefly, then turns around and looks up to the place where Keyra is hiding.

You can come out now, woman, the show is over.