"Oh, I suppose your daughter has taken over for you," Beerus rubbed his chin. "But if she is on that Planet Ayata of yours, what is Prince Vegeta doing here? Are you neglecting your wife?"
Vegeta hesitated. "Makona and I never married. She married another Saiyan, and I married a human here..."
"Huh? I was sure you two would be a good pair," Beerus remarked before shrugging. "Anyway, I didn't come here to reminisce or catch up."
Miyako and Vegeta glanced at each other. "My Lord?" she questioned.
Beerus narrowed his eyes. "Tell me: what do you know about the Super Saiyan God?"
☆ ▪ ☆ ▪ ☆
"A Super Saiyan... God?" Vegeta questioned.
Miyako started hesitantly. "I have heard of a Super Saiyan, but I have no knowledge of this God you speak of."
Beerus closed his eyes in disappointment. "It seems letting me down is your kind's specialty."
Miyako bowed her head. There was no way she was going to remind him of her ancestor Lady Ayata--a supposed Goddess--who was trapped in the Red Jewel. She would keep Niya safe, no matter what. "I sincerely apologize, My Lord. If I could be of any other service to you?"
Beerus frowned. "If you want to make yourselves useful, you will find me this Super Saiyan God," he replied. "I feel he is here somewhere..."
He? Miyako mentally questioned. There was no male God here. She would need to make sure he wouldn't become upset during his stay. "Of course. I will do my best."
Vegeta didn't reply. He was shaken with fear and the memories from the past. He remembered Beerus forcing King Vegeta on all fours and stomping on his head. A pathetic sight not fitting for a King, his father...
"We will do our best," Miyako stressed during Vegeta's silence.
Vegeta snapped out of his thoughts. "Y-Yes..."
The saiyans' eyes widened as the birthday girl came slightly stumbling to the balcony of the ship. "Stupid Vegeta...," she mumbled before spotting the four of them.
"Oh, Miyako, you finally found Vegeta," Bulma started towards them. "And these guys are what? Vegeta's friends?" She pouted. "So you'd rather spend time with them than with your wife on her birthday?"
"Nonsense!" Miyako spoke up quickly. "He was just visited by some old friends, isn't that right?"
"Ah--Bulma!" Vegeta went along, stressed. "This is Lord Beerus and uh..."
Whis put on a smile. "Please, Madame. Call me Whis," he formally introduced.
"Vegeta's friends?" Bulma slurred. "Well, I'm Bulma, Vegeta's wife-slash-the-birthday-girl. Aren't I too good for him?" she tried to whisper the last part.
Beerus and Whis held a polite smile. "Pleasure to meet you, Bulma."
"Woah!" Bulma was taken by surprise. "Who knew you could have friends with such good manners?"
"Well," Miyako looped Bulma's free arm around hers, "I found your husband, and we're going to join the party. Isn't that right, Vegeta?"
Vegeta gave her a look for mentioning the party.
"He is?" Bulma perked up. "Hey, wait, you guys should join us! The more the merrier, I say!"
Vegeta's eyes widened in fear and he opened his mouth to protest, but this time Miyako gave him a look.
Beerus stepped forward. "I would hate to impose on your party, but history shows that I'm not one to turn down a spread of food as delicious smelling as that one!" his nose twitched in the direction of the food.
"You can smell it all the way from over here?" Bulma questioned. "You must be starving! Follow me so you guys can dig in!!" She pulled away from Miyako and gestured for Beerus and Whis to follow.
They didn't refuse, leaving the saiyans by themselves.
Vegeta wiped his sweaty forehead, still trembling.
"Vegeta," Miyako snatched him by his chin roughly. "You need to remain calm," she frowned.
"But," he started, "if he gets upset, Earth will..."
"That's why we're going to make sure he doesn't," she stressed. "Now, compose yourself. You look pathetic," she tossed him aside.
Vegeta caught himself and closed his eyes to calm down.
Miyako studied him. "You're stronger than your father. Everything is going to be fine."
He opened his eyes and lightly nodded.
"Now, go. I need to make sure Niya hides the Jewel," she told him.
He turned to her. "Do you really think he'll fight the girl? All because of some legend for a piece of jewelry?"
"No option is off the table," she frowned. "Do your part, Vegeta, and I will do mine." And with that, she left.
~☆~
Everyone gathered at Bulma's call, where she introduced Lord Beerus and Whis as Vegeta and Miyako's old friends, and they would be joining the party as guests from space.
Yucca wasn't sure what to make of them. But if they were friends with Miyako, surely they wouldn't have to worry about them, right? "What do you think?" she glanced at her friend.
Niya rubbed her arm. "I... don't have a very good feeling."
Before Yucca could question further, Miyako stepped behind and placed her hands on her granddaughter's shoulders. "You can feel they are quite powerful, can't you?" she chuckled. "Let me introduce you."
"O-Oh, um!"
Miyako pressed her along and greeted the two. "My Lord, this is my granddaughter, Princess Niyata."
Beerus looked down to inspect her. "She's practically the spitting image of Makona!" he remarked.
"I get that a lot," Niya blushed.
Miyako chuckled. "Yes, I feel as if I traveled back in time," she petted her head.
"Well, Princess Niyata, it's a pleasure to meet you," Beerus folded his arms behind him. "Send my regards to your parents. A shame I couldn't see them today."
Niya was curious at how he knew her parents, but she smiled politely. "Of course! I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you, Lord Beerus!"
Beerus returned the smile, pleased. "This is why I always preferred your kind, Lady Miyako. So polite. Showing me the respect I am due."
Miyako's lips pursed. "I have always said we were superior than them."
"And I was right to believe you," Beerus replied.
Niya glanced between them, confused. "Thank you?"
Her grandmother patted her. "Go along now, child. I still have to introduce Lord Beerus to your brother."
"Oh, okay. Bye!" she waved, but then hesitated and bowed instead before hurrying off.
Whis quietly looked after the Princess, noticing there was an empty indent in her golden hair fork. He kept note of this as he put on a smile, following Beerus and Miyako.
"...And this is my grandson, Prince Nakusuke, heir to the throne," Miyako introduced.
"Oh, please. Just call me Kusuke," he insisted, smiling beside his wife and daughter.
"You're the first born?" Beerus questioned, studying him.
"Ah, yes, My Lord," Kusuke nodded. "Oh, and this is my wife, Kandice, and our daughter, Noemilla."
Kandice put on a smile, sensing something was amiss as well. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Gah!!" Noemi exclaimed, making Kandice apologize.
"Don't fret, Princess," Beerus insisted. "It's interesting to see a saiyan with hair color other than black," his head tilted at the baby.
"That's because I'm a human," she explained. "But I know Noemi will grow up to be strong like her father."
Beerus eyed them closely. "I look forward to seeing her progress."
Kandice held back a shiver.
"Thank you!" Kusuke spoke up. "I had never heard about you before, but I'd be honored if you could attend my coronation."
This grabbed Beerus' attention. "Makona is stepping down already?"
"Well," he started, "not quite yet. But I'm more than of age now, My Lord. Mother can't deny me my birthright forever."
Beerus thought about Makona again. He remembered there was something particular about her. She was strong for such a young child, and especially skilled at... something. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew it was important. "Your mother. I'm curious to see her again."
"Makona has been quite busy as of late," Miyako spoke up. "Plenty of people have been requesting our services."
"I'm sure she'll make time for me," Beerus stated. "A short visit from an old friend."
Miyako knew there was no changing his mind. "As you wish, My Lord."
Beerus politely smiled. "I appreciate you introducing me to your lovely family, My Lady. Perhaps we can chat later. This food has tempted me long enough!!"
Whis nodded to them as he followed Beerus around to eat food and meet the other members of the party.
"He seems like a nice guy. Where is he from?" Kusuke smiled to his wife and grandmother.
Kandice glanced at her worriedly.
"Don't worry about politics for now. Go enjoy yourselves," Miyako insisted, ignoring her look.
Kusuke shrugged. "Alright, if you say so. Oh, actually, would you mind looking after Noemi while Kandi and I eat? We're pretty hungry too, heh."
She smiled. "Of course. Give her here," she took the baby from them. "Go on, now. Enjoy yourselves."
"Thanks!" he returned the smile. "Come on," he held his wife's hand before going to serve themselves some food.
Miyako let out a deep breath. "That went rather well, don't you think, little one?"
"Bahgh," Noemi replied.
~☆~
Kandice tried her best to eat some food, but the troublesome feeling in her gut got in the way. She noticed Kusuke devoured his food, however. "I'll serve you some more," she volunteered, standing with his plate.
"Oh, thanks. You're the best!"
She hurried off toward the food stands, glad she could still catch Tienshinhan still there. As she picked more food for her husband, she whispered to him, "Brother?"
He flinched and turned to her. "Oh, it's you. I already told you not to call me that."
"...Cousin?"
"Tien."
Kandice sighed. "I don't have time for this. I need to ask you something."
"What is it?"
She leaned in to whisper again. "I've got a bad feeling about that purple cat-man," she admitted. "What is your Eye telling you?"
Tien turned away. "I don't have True Seeing anymore. Not for a long time."
"Oh."
"I think he seems like an amicable guy, though. He laughed at Mr. Satan's drunken insults. If he were such a bad guy, that wouldn't have turned out well for Mr. Satan," Tien rationalized.
"I suppose..."
He turned back to her. He could tell she wasn't convinced. "Did your Eye tell you otherwise?"
Kandice shook her head, brushing her fingers against her bangs, making sure her Third Eye was covered. "I'm afraid to use True Seeing."
Tien patted her shoulder. "If anything bad does happen, we'll handle it, okay?"
She was comforted by his smile. "Thank you," she replied genuinely.
~☆~
Yucca deadpanned as they went to find Bulma to tell her the news of Trunks' girlfriend. She was pulled along by Niya with great disinterest as Goten excitedly explained to Bulma. He even pointed to where the mysterious girl was at with her two strange friends.
Bulma turned to see them and chuckled. "So the cutie over there is Trunks' first girlfriend? You certainly don't get the romantic gene from Dad. But there's no denying my little boy's become quite the hunk!" she elbowed him teasingly.
He crossed his arms to seem cool.
Goten continued to admire him, "Awesome."
Niya looked over towards the girl, curiously. "So, what's her name?"
Trunks flinched.
"Yeah, I wanna know, too!" Bulma joined. "Call her over so I can meet her!"
"Uhhh, okay," Trunks flew over towards them.
Yucca rolled her eyes, wondering why Trunks would lie about such a trivial thing. It was too easy to tell when he was lying or bluffing. But, it wasn't her place to call out his lies. She wanted to see his lies bite him.
Somehow, Trunks convinced the group of three to join the party and eat. They found out her name was Mai.
Bulma was excited to learn more about Trunks' supposed girlfriend. "Mai is such a pretty name," she smiled. "And how old are you, honey?"
Mai sipped on some juice. "Forty-one in March."
She gasped.
The blue-skinned boy was Pilaf, and he laughed nervously at his henchwoman's response. "Teasing grown-ups isn't cool, dude!"
Trunks smiled at how funny Mai was.
"Well, I'll get out of you kids' way," Bulma chuckled. "Have fun!" she ruffled her son's hair before leaving.
Trunks groaned and hurried to fix his hair, wanting to stay presentable for Mai, but she only glanced at him and continued eating. Even so, he blushed and continued stealing glances at her.
Beside him, Goten stole some glances at Yucca, who only focused on eating. She tried to hide her enjoyment of consuming Earth food.
Meanwhile, Niya politely ate some food, mainly playing with it. For some reason, she felt a bit strange. And lonely.
~☆~
Miyako observed everyone at the party: a majority of humans followed by saiyans, two Namekians, and species of part-machine part-human called Androids, except Android 16 was fully mechanical, rebuilt a few times as he'd said.
An interesting cast of characters, she thought, walking past a bush to hide the Red Jewel in. If, or perhaps when Niya noticed, she would come to her for help. By then, Beerus would probably be gone.
Miyako met up with Vegeta. "Is everything alright?"
Vegeta kept his eyes sharp. "I've been handling it. What about your end?"
"The Jewel is safely hidden," she assured. "No other God will appear. Now all that's left is to keep him pleased until he decides to leave."
His body was still tense.
"You're doing well," Miyako assured him. "Just a little longer." She patted his arm before walking over to the God of Destruction and his attendant.
"How are you faring, My Lord?" Miyako grabbed the bottle of wine to top his glass.
Beerus sat with his legs crossed, an arm resting on the table. "I would say quite well, but I haven't sensed even a pinch of Super Saiyan God energy since we've been on this uncouth planet," he frowned. "I was very much looking forward to meeting him."
Lady Ayata was asleep, Miyako thought. She had made sure of that before hiding the jewel. "I apologize you could not find what you are looking for, and that neither could we," she bowed her head. "Perhaps you will find him another time."
"Are you suggesting I sleep another 39 years? Give you Saiyans more time to grow stronger?"
Miyako hesitated. "I could not tell you for sure, My Lord."
Beerus sat up straighter. "I was prophesied to fight a Super Saiyan God in 39 years. These prophesies are never wrong."
Whis stifled a laugh. "More like, always wrong."
The God growled.
Horns snapped their attention to the main stage, where crimson curtains spread to reveal Bulma.
"Now!" she started with a microphone, "for the the highlight of my birthday festivities: it's bingo time!"
Miyako felt a bit awkward standing.
"Sit," Beerus used his powers to bring her a chair, and she obliged.
Two models with boards of the second and third place prizes walked across stage, getting a rise out of the perverts Master Roshi and Oolong.
"I think we can all agree the castle and the airplane are amazing prizes," Bulma continued, "but both pale in comparison to the grand prize of... a complete set of all seven dragon balls!!" She unveiled the pedestal, revealing them. "All you have to do is win the tournament, and you can get any wish you want granted!"
Everyone cheered at a chance to win a wish.
"Oh?" Beerus' interest was peaked. "Those dragon balls resemble the Planet Namek's wish orbs."
"It seems quite reasonable," Whis confirmed. "I believe that Earth's Guardian is Namekian."
"You would be correct," Miyako spoke up. "Except this planet's wish orbs are less potent than those on Namek, I hear."
"Interesting," Beerus observed. "I recall that gathering the orbs together summons a dragon who then grants the orbs' owner any wish he so desires."
Miyako nodded. She had an idea for a wish, but she refrained from speaking it.
Near the stage, Yamcha observed closely. "Uh, hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "I only count six dragon balls! Which means...!"
The four-star dragon ball was missing.
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03-13-2023
I know this chapter didn't have action, but I was aiming for world-building/universe-building and for character development. I'm aiming to end this arc next chapter or after that!
Next chapter: "EP. 3 - Who Was The Super Saiyan God?"
<3 Alex-chan