"That's because we're wired that way. Didn't you know? Saiyans only like strong women."
"Ohh!"
Piccolo expressed his silent surprise.
Trunks rubbed his head. He thought about the strong girls his age. There was Marmie he barely knew, Yucca, Niya... Of course he had to add Mai. She literally pulled a gun out on him. She was quite something.
"I guess... yeah," Trunks quietly agreed.
Niya giggled to herself. She wondered if Goten felt that way, too.
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Ayata emerged from the Red Jewel in her ki form and sighed. "Yes, my fellow saiyans, this is how it's always been. Saiyan women also like strong men. Isn't that right, Niyata?"
"Um!" the Princess turned red.
"That applies to you, too, then," Piccolo deduced.
Ayata's teasing smile faltered. "Yes, you're right. I was in love with the strongest Saiyan in my time, many years ago."
Everyone looked like they wanted to hear more.
"A story for another time, children," she waved a hand and returned into the Red Jewel.
Niya furrowed her brows. She felt like her ancestor was hiding something important, heart-wrenching.
"She's really weird," Trunks remarked.
"You guys just don't understand her," the Princess replied.
"Yeah, whatever," he shrugged. "I'm gonna go tell Goten and Mai about the tournament. You coming?"
"Sure! Yucca is probably with Goten anyway."
"Is he coming, too?" Trunks pointed to Monma.
Momma held onto Niya's arm.
"His name is Monma, and he's my cousin," Niya explained. "What do you think? Do you want to go with us?"
The young Saiyan thought before he nodded with a smile.
"Okay," she smiled. "Let's go. And Trunks, don't be too freaked out if he talks telepathically in your head."
"Sure," Trunks shrugged and took off, the two younger Saiyans following him.
~~~
Montra tried to ignore Bulma's blatant staring. He cleared his throat. "You can ask about this ugly scar if you want," he referred to the one over his right eye that partially blinded him.
"Oh! I wasn't staring at it!" Bulma held her hands up. "You just seem different from Vegeta and Goku."
"Of course. We were raised completely different."
"I guess your Saiyan planet is pretty different," she thought.
He glanced at her. "Oh, right. You were too drunk to remember. At the Princess's birthday, where we first met."
She blushed. "I had it handled!"
"Sure," he glanced away. "I'll explain it once more now that you're sober."
Bulma listened quietly as he explained that Frieza sent a pregnant Miyako to a high security prison, and that he was born and raised there. It wasn't until a few years after Frieza was wiped from the Universe did him, his mother, and other prisoners broke free.
"That must've been really hard on you," Bulma furrowed her bows.
Montra stared straight ahead. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone. That's why I like to patrol the universe. Make sure Frieza doesn't return. Again. Or stop others like him from coming into power. Thankfully, the Galactic Patrol is helping me fulfill this mission."
"You work with the Galactic Patrol?"
"I'm not an 'Elite Patrolman' if that's what you're asking. It's more like working in collaboration with them."
"Huh. You sure do a lot of work!"
"I don't mind it. As long as it keeps my family safe."
Bulma noticed the picture of his family and smiled. "You look all tough on the outside, but on the inside, you're a sweet guy."
Montra blushed, "...Anyway, we're here."
They arrived to an intricately decorated temple. When they left the ship, he capsuled it and placed it in his belt holders.
"Glad to see your version of our capsules is useful," Bulma smiled.
"Yes. My wife is always glad to study your inventions."
"Your wife is a scientist?"
He nodded as they went up an escalator. "She's the most brilliant person I know."
Bulma smiled at how much he doted on his family. "I'd love to talk to her sometime."
"Actually, she's a big fan—" Montra stopped mid-way as they were surrounded by four men with enormously large oval-shaped heads.
He put an arm around Bulma, holding her protectively close. "Not a step closer," he glared.
"Master Zuno has sensed unexpected visitors," one of them spoke.
"We're here to ask some questions," Montra explained.
"Yes, unfortunately for you, Master Zuno only accepts visitors by appointments," another said.
He frowned. "I don't remember hearing about that."
Bulma sighed. "Can't we just make an appointment?"
"Certainly," he skimmed through the pages. "How does seven years from Monday sound?"
"What the hell...," Montra groaned.
"Listen, we don't have that kind of time!" Bulma stressed. "You guys seem free right now, so can't we just ask our questions?"
"No, we're sorry," another replied.
"Ah—we've been expecting you!" they all turned to a red, bipedal toad-like man. He had a singular piece of shoulder armor on his left and a blaster holstered into his belt.
"Finally! After all these years!" the man, Gappuman, laughed. "Out of my way! I have an appointment!"
The four men smiled and went to go lead Gappuman inside.
Montra let Bulma go and narrowed his eyes at the man.
"Well, we tried, didn't we?" Bulma let out a breath. "Let's get going, Montra. We'll just have to give Lord Beerus the bad news."
The Prince stepped closer to the entrance. "You. You're Gappuman," he declared with no question.
The man halted. He slowly turned around. Sweat beaded on his face, and he grabbed on the Zuno helpers hostage, aiming a blaster into his face.
"Don't try me! I'll shoot him!"
Montra scoffed. "Pathetic."
In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the criminal's wrist and snapped it. He grabbed the blaster with his free hand and shot him in the stomach.
Gappuman cried out and fell back, rendered unconscious.
Montra took out a capsule and revealed GP handcuffs, snapping them on the criminal. "Degenerate."
"As it may be," one of the servants spoke, "a spot just opened up!"
Montra gestured for Bulma to follow them. "I'll take care of this," he grabbed Gappuman. "Get those answers for us."
"Right! Good work!" Bulma smiled and hurried to follow the servants.
He sighed as he got the criminal settled in his ship.
~~~
Bulma fumbled some of her wishes, but did manage to learn about the history, power, number and placement of the Super Dragon Balls. They were size of planets and divided amongst the 6th and 7th universes. Most importantly, they could grant any wish the wielder desired.
Although, the saying to summon the dragon was strange: "Come forth divine dragon and grant my wish, peas and carrots."
"So... you didn't get the location to the last super dragon ball?" Montra concluded.
Bulma huffed. "No. Ugh, Beerus is gonna be pissed about that. And how Lord Champa has been sneaking into our universe to get some of the super dragon balls."
"Hm. I guess that leaves us no option but to win," he said.
She sat in thought for the rest of the ride back to Earth.
~~~
When they made it back to Earth, Bulma sat with her husband to explain. Goku pulled Montra to the side to lightly spare, making sure to let him explain too.
"Woah! You caught a guy on the most wanted list?" Goku awed.
"Crime is everywhere," Montra swung his leg into his side.
Goku blocked it with a forearm. "I guess that's true."
He jumped back and aimed his fist this time, and the older Saiyan blocked it. "This tournament. Would I be able to watch it?"
"Sure! I don't see why not," he replied, before flipping the prince over onto the ground. "I'm pretty sure our friends and family are gonna go, too."
Montra groaned but Goku helped him up. "I've been meaning to watch you fight. I hear it's quite something."
"Heh, thanks. But I'm more excited to see what Universe 6 is made of."
"Me too."
~~~
The days had gone by, and Goku and Vegeta spent three days in the time chamber. They were cutting it close, as all their friends and family had gathered, but the two Saiyan men were missing.
The Elite Squadron children were present, and Montra even arrived with his wife, son, and mother. He also invited Merus, but he refused and sent Jaco and the Galactic King instead. Videl and Kandice arrived with their children, but their husbands were absent, busy attending conferences. Trunks even went to the trouble of inviting his girlfriend, Mai, and her friends, Pilaf and Shu.
Eventually, Goku and Vegeta returned, and Whis took them all to Lord Beerus' world to pick up the God and his strongest opponent, the mysterious Monaka.
They all curiously observed the confined habitat whilst they waited for Beerus and Monaka.
Niya curiously watched as Trunks gifted Mai a pretty flower, and she shyly accepted it. He smiled proudly and ran off to get her something else.
The Princess glanced over at Goten. He was busy talking to Roche, Bok, and Yucca, paying her no mind. She turned to stare at the lake in front of her.
Marmie noticed her friend all on her own and went to stand beside her. "You okay? I bet you're feeling nervous, huh?"
Niya hugged herself. "Yes. That's it."
The saiyaness gave her a side hug and smiled. "I've never known you to be scared of anything. You're so strong, you can do whatever you set your mind to do."
She lightly smiled at their reflections in the water. "Thank you."
Once Lord Beerus and Monaka joined their group, they took off towards the Nameless Planet, where the tournament would take place.
Monaka was a small man with red-orange skin, pointy ears, narrow eyes, big lips, a green leotard, purple boots, and well-pronounced round nipples.
Earlier, Goku punched him to test his power, but it only made Monaka cry and Beerus chastise him. Both Vegeta and Piccolo felt something was off about Monaka.
Upon arrival, they all witnessed the grandeur of the super dragon balls. Compared to the orbs, they were minuscule. All they could do was awe.
When they landed, the arena, stands, and giant portraits of the Destroyer Twins were displayed. However, as it displeased Beerus' group, Whis redecorated to allow for more comfortable seating.
"That remains," Vados stopped Whis from removing a throne chair. "You see, it's for a very special guest."
"Well, then," Whis mumbled, wondering who would demand such a grandiose seat.
The friends and family of Universe 7 gladly took their seating on a comfortable grass hill.
Niya took a deep breath as it was time to meet Universe 6. They were taken to platform because they all had to take a mandatory intelligence test. Their team of five: Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Monaka and herself started towards seats when the other team emerged.
The Universe 6 team consisted of Edam, Celri, a soldier named Cabba, Lord Frost, and a mysterious man cloaked in black, Hit. Following behind them was Queen Argula and loyal guard to the royal family, Amaran.
The Saiyans were taken aback to see the young Princess Niyata bearing the Red Jewel on her tiara. She only observed curiously at the Blue Jewel embedded in his chest armor.
Edam headed over to her and glared down at her. "You are truly evil. Using such a docile form to mask the evil inside you."
Niya furrowed her brows. "What? I-I don't understand."
"You can't fool me. I won't go easy on you," he continued to glare, disgust filling his eyes.
She didn't know what to say. She had never been berated so terribly.
Goku stepped between them, frowning at the Prince. "Hey, that's no way to talk to little girl. How can you say that when we've only just met?"
"I won't be fooled," Edam stormed back towards his group.
"What a rude guy," Goku remarked.
Vegeta was distracted staring at Argula, who was calming her son down. How can this be? he wondered incredulously. How can she look exactly like...
"Please hurry to your seats," Vados told them. "It is time for the mandatory exam that you, Vegeta, insisted upon."
They were all shaken, but eventually found their seats and took the exam. Niya ended up staring at her paper for some time, biting her thumb, wondering how the man could hate her so quickly.
Once the exam was over, they were all decided to have passed and went their separate ways to decide the order of the fighters.
Argula was sitting on the throne chair beside Amaran. "Hm. Aren't you curious about Universe 6's guests? Don't those people look like Saiyans, too?"
Amaran hesitated. "Perhaps they may be, but they are all in league with the Red Jewel Wielder."
"Men, so dramatic," she chuckled. "They don't seem evil to me. Enough with the pessimism, dear Amaran." She levitated from her seat and flew over to the group of Universe 6. Amaran hurried to follow close behind.
Argula landed gracefully in front of the group and smiled kindly. "Would it be alright if we sit with you? I believe I see your Universe also has Saiyans."
"Wait," Bulma spoke up, "are you saying you two are also...?"
"Yes, we are Saiyans," Argula nodded. "You may call me Argula."
"Honestly," Amaran mumbled. "Please show respect to Her Majesty, Queen Argula of the Saiyans."
They were all taken aback.
"Oh, no. Now you've made them nervous," Argula let out a breath. "Please just be yourselves. My guard here, dear Amaran, is a stickler for rules and formalities. I am simply curious about you all, and I hope we can have a pleasant time as our dear family and friends compete."
"Sure," Bulma smiled. "Nice to meet you. We've also got Saiyan royalty here, too," she gestured to Montra and Miyako.
"Lovely," Argula smiled. "And your name?"
Her and Amaran went around to meet every member of the group.
"Goodness, what is mother doing?!" Edam watched in horror.
"Mother knows what she's doing," Celri assured him. "She's getting to know our enemy."
Edam hadn't thought about it that way.
"Her Majesty is a brave woman," Cabba, a young soldier, remarked. "No wonder she is regarded so dearly."
"Surely a trait that skipped you, brother," Celri scoffed.
Edam glanced away.
Once the order was decided, they could see on the giant leaderboard that Prince Edam was matched with Princess Niyata.
"So, we both had the same idea," Beerus frowned. "Jewel Wielder against Jewel Wielder. How is this going to work without destroying everyone?"
"What do you mean, Lord Beerus?" Niya turned to him nervously.
"Oh, you don't know?" he narrowed his eyes. "When the Jewels get too close, they erupt with such a great force that would rather destroy everything in its path than touch. This is why they were spread across multiple universes."
Niya had many questions, but no time to ask them all. "Then... here."
She removed her tiara with the Red Jewel and handed it to the God. "I will fight without it."
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10-30-2023
What a build up... I thought for sure I would get through the first match this chapter but we can fully flesh out a battle next chapter! Please and thank you for being patient!
Happy Halloween! (For those who celebrate!)
<3 Alex-san