would all work out ... by itself ...




Indeed, Piccolo looked somewhat suspiciously at that new world, which so far differed only marginally from her own.He didn't believe in this kind of experiment and couldn't explain why Dende suddenly felt the desire to venture into other dimensions.


The first attempt had almost cost her her life and the palace had almost been dismantled into its individual parts. Despite all warnings, the young god had started all over again. And it didn't fail the second time.


This new world could mean trouble, after all ...


The former devil was more than aware of this, and precisely because of that, he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about Dende's zeal.


Instead, the young god had resumed his work with a persistence that was never known from him.




Popo was the first to notice them. With a mixture of curiosity and skepticism, he too had observed this new planet, which, as Dende had explained to him, was nothing other than the earth, when his senses, which had been sharpened over the years, perceived an aura that was pointing straight towards them.He touched his master on the shoulder, and when the young Namek looked up, the servant said excitedly: "Someone is coming!"


Piccolo too now raised his head and inquired. He could feel this aura too ... a familiar one, but a lot weaker than usual.


But actually it couldn't be ...


The three residents of God's palace looked at each other in confusion.




Vegeta sighed audibly when the platform finally came into view. Normally such a relatively short distance did not cause him any problems ... but normally he would have been many times stronger, flown many times faster ... and would not have carried anyone around with him.


Again and again he had to change the position of the young woman in his arms slightly so that his limbs did not go numb.


Nonetheless, his muscles tightened noticeably, aided by the fact that he was wet and the wind was freezing cold.He knew he would have convulsions soon if he didn't hurry.


When he finally landed in front of the amazed eyes of the two Namekians and the Servant of God, he didn't care much about their astonishment. He nodded briefly to them and then, with his load in his arms, made his way to the palace kitchen as quickly as possible. As far as he could remember, there was always a great fire burning there.


The three on the platform just looked after the Saiyan questioningly. How did he get here, please? Who did he have with him? And why on earth did he stalk into the palace as stiff as a stork and only in his underpants without a word of greeting?


"We should go after him and ask him," said Dende and looked at the others as if he had read their thoughts.




***




When they arrived in the kitchen, they were presented with a picture that they were neither used to nor expected from the proud Saiyajin prince.He sat with the person he had brought with him on the kitchen floor, right in front of the huge fire that Popo used to cook over when they had visitors.


He seemed to be very close friends with the young woman, who sat across his lap and was apparently only held upright by his arm. At least that's how Dende felt when he watched Vegeta rubbing her arms to get the blood circulation going again.


"I'm going to get towels! You guys are soaking wet!" Popo said eagerly as usual and disappeared again.


Piccolo and Dende looked perplexed at each other. Nobody really knew how to address the Saiyajin now. With Vegeta, you never knew how he was feeling right now, and whether it might not be better to leave him alone to protect his own life.




"Wake up..."




The young god was torn out of his deliberations by these words and directed all his attention back to the prince.He just gave the young woman a pat on the cheek, whereupon she actually lifted her eyelids a little laboriously.




"Well? Have you slept enough?"




Piccolo was astonished to hear the soft sound of Vegeta's voice. Suddenly he had serious doubts as to whether this was really the real prince of the Saiyajins. He had only heard him speak in this tone once before. Shortly afterwards, he sacrificed his life.


Zoe tried, however, to get a smile, but she failed. The pain throbbed too clearly in her back, leg and head.


"You can't exactly call it a sheep. I've dreamed the most insane things. Delirium would be a better expression ..." she said, tormented.


Then her gaze slid away from the Saiyajin and fixed herself on the two Namekians behind them, who were still standing there, not knowing what to say. Her eyes widened for a moment in shock.

"What are they doing here? How ...?"


Vegeta turned around briefly.


"I don't know. Hey, pea, come over here!"


Dende obediently took a few steps forward, still so perplexed that he simply ignored the prince's insult.


"Tell me how you got here!" he ordered in his accustomed, deep and threatening sounding voice, which was in stark contrast to his pitch a short time ago.


"Well ... I've expanded the palace a bit ... with a dimensional portal, to be precise ... we have only just arrived ..." stammered the young god. Even though he was one of his closest friends, Vegeta was also afraid of him. Especially when the Saiyan held him with that relentless look from which there was no escape.


"Soso. Dimensional portal is the name of this crap. And now tell me why I've been stuck here for two months and how a beginner has to build up my strength again" commanded the prince and still looked mercilessly at Dende.

Dende looked helplessly at Piccolo. How should he know ...?


"Two months ??? But I only saw you the day before yesterday, at this barbecue party for your new kid ..." the big Namekian interrupted them (well ... actually in their thoughts ...).


"Are you saying that I'm lying ?! And if you call Bra brat again, cucumber, it'll crack!" Vegeta got upset.


"No no!" Piccolo immediately appeased. He didn't feel like fighting a pissed off, hypothermic and somewhat out of place-looking Vegeta. "I just meant ... The little one is really cute. Still, that doesn't change the fact that I saw you eating 600 steaks with Son Goku yesterday," the Namek said calmly, holding Vegeta's piercing gaze .


"The first experiment!" Dende suddenly shouted and completely confused the already completely confused Saiyajin.


"Can you be a little more precise ?!" growled the prince and immediately afterwards got a reproachful look from Zoe, who, somewhat forgotten by the others, followed the conversation with interest.Vegeta just grimaced and shrugged.


"Well ... I tried it ... two months ago ... but it went pretty wrong there. The palace was twisted like a snail shell ... probably a gate opened into this parallel universe. And my screwed-up experiment ... well ... probably an exact copy of you got here somehow ... or stayed in our world ... I can't explain the whole thing any other way ... because I saw you too ... on the ... party ... "said Dende, intimidated.


"It's getting better and better ..." Vegeta growled and stared angrily into the fire. Not only that he was God knows where and weak like in Freezer's time ... no, to make matters worse, there were two more!




Dende meanwhile thought of a sentence that the voice had uttered in his visions.


An ancient warrior will oppose evil ...


Did that mean Vegeta?

Probably. He was a warrior through and through, after all. Even if it did not occur to Dende to call him old (the little one is not tired of life ... * g *). All that was missing was evil ... and the student ...


But only his pupil can save us and him ...


What did that mean again? What was this all about? Why exactly were they still here now? The young god began to doubt his own thirst for adventure, which had led him to build and open the portal.


Perhaps the failure of the experiment two months ago was no accident.




"Vegeta! You're hurting me!"




This painful cry pulled everyone back to reality.


Out of sheer anger, Vegeta had clutched the upper arms of Zoe, which he had previously massaged, until his knuckles protruded white.


With an apologetic look that only she could see, he loosened his grip.

"Pea! Come here!"


Only now, when he was standing right next to them, did Dende see how damaged the young woman was. Vegeta gently lifted her off his lap and laid her flat on the floor. Then he looked at Dende expectantly.


"I'll heal you right away!" said this unnecessarily and knelt down next to Zoe.


Vegeta had taken a few steps back and now stood like a bodyguard with folded arms behind them next to Piccolo.


"Is that the latest fashion?" said the one with a mischievous sidelong glance at the Saiyajin's somewhat sparse clothing.


Vegeta didn't change a face and kept his gaze fixed on the two of them on the floor.




Meanwhile Dende muttered a word that made Piccolo prick up his ears.


"You're hurt too," he turned to Vegeta and pointed to his bloodied stomach.


"That is her blood," replied the prince curtly, leaving it at that.

Piccolo and Dende gave each other a meaningful and at the same time somewhat perplexed look.


“And this?” The big Namek pointed to a small spot on the left side of Vegeta's neck, where many small, red-bluish spots, arranged in a semicircle, could be seen.


To his astonishment, both the Saiyan and the young woman on the floor turned deep red as their injuries disappeared.


"This is nothing!" both said at the