#arracash

Totaymo had something to prove.  

Everyone on Planet Saiya knew about the mysterious "Super Saiyan" who had emerged a few years ago.   No one could agree on the details, but the general consensus among Saiyans was that it was all an elaborate hoax.   There were conflicting reports on the Super Saiyan's name, gender, and appearance, but everyone seemed to agree that their defining characteristic was a transformation that turned the hair into a glowing yellow color.    A truism among the Saiyans was that their hair never changed from the day of their birth.   It never grew beyond a certain proportion of their body, and it never changed color.    There were mixed-blood Saiyans who inherited unusual hair  traits from their alien ancestors, and some Saiyans indulged in cosmetic hair dyes, but the "Super Saiyan" was something else entirely.  

When King Rehval III invited the Super Saiyan to Planet Saiya, the news spread quickly, followed by rumors about the purpose of this gesture.  Most believed that the king was going to get to the bottom of the Super Saiyan mystery once and for all.   Some thought that he merely wished to challenge the creature to battle.    As the strongest of his race, the king lacked a worthy adversary, something all Saiyans craved.  Others wondered if the king was seeking a political alliance to preserve his rule.   And there were others who believed that the "Super Saiyan" had been an agent of the king from the start, and she was merely being recalled to receive new orders for some devious scheme.  

Totaymo didn't care what the king was up to.   Like most of Rehval's subjects, he respected the king's immense power and his right to rule, but he also chafed at many of Rehval's "cultural reforms".    Fighting was carefully regulated on Saiya.  If two Saiyans wished to do battle for personal reasons, they needed written permission from the crown, and a designated battlefield.   Killing was strictly prohibited, and so was unauthorized pillaging.   These rules would be relaxed for those Saiyans who complied with Rehval's breeding policies.  Literacy was also rewarded, along with participation in cultural exchange programs.  Paradoxically, the Rehval Dynasty seemed to be obsessed with increasing the Saiyan population, only to try to turn them into something that wasn't Saiyan at all.  Nonetheless, Rehval was the strongest-- and the king-- and Totaymo was willing to let the man plot and scheme as he saw fit.  

But the Super Saiyan was a different story.  Like everyone else on the planet that day, Totaymo had felt the incredible ki power when King Rehval had requested a sparring match.  It seemed to prove that the Super Saiyan's reputation was true.   She was indeed stronger than any other Saiyan, including the king.  It seemed to prove her strength, except this demonstration of power had been conducted in private, with Rehval as the only witness.  The ki had felt real to Totaymo’s senses, but what if it had been some sort of illusion?   How could anyone be sure it had actually come from a single Saiyan?

He had seen photos of this "Luffa", the young woman the king had claimed to be the Super Saiyan.  Aside from the deranged, baleful look in her eyes, she looked Saiyan enough, but she hardly possessed the grandeur of a mighty warrior who could outmatch the king.   She was a woman, after all, and he was certain that no woman could have produced the ki intensity he sensed that day.   There were Saiyan women who were strong, yes, but the old heroes were all men.   The king was a man.    The top generals in the king's army were men.  Totaymo was a man, and he prided himself on being one of the strongest Saiyans outside of the royal military.      

And so, when he sensed the same immense ki today, coming from a small settlement far away from the palace, Totaymo resolved to see for himself.   He would expose this Luffa's secret, overpower her, and kill her in front of as many witnesses as possible.   The king might object to that, but Totaymo suspected that the king had secrets of his own mixed up in this.   Perhaps Rehval might be willing to grant special privileges in exchange for Totaymo's discretion...

As he approached the source of the disturbance, Totaymo noticed other Saiyan powers converging on the same location.   He increased the speed of his flight, for he expected his quarry to withdraw, but there was no retreat.   Whatever it was remained stationary, as though defying anyone who confronted it.   His senses could tell that they were fighting, but little more than that.  He pushed himself to fly even faster now, desperate to see with his eyes what his ki sensitivity could not discern.  

He regretted his arrival almost as soon as he reached his destination.   The photos he had seen were taken at a formal ball thrown by the crown.   Luffa had been dressed in some elaborate gown in a style favored by the court.  In such a setting, Luffa looked out of place, but subdued.   He recognized the woman below him as the same person, but now her power was on full display.   Her hair was glowing yellow, only the stories didn't do justice to how bizarre it looked.   It was her tail that unnerved him the most.   It moved so naturally behind her, so much like any other Saiyan, and yet it burned in that same terrible color.    And then she turned and glanced upward, turning her green eyes in his direction.   With a savage smile, she reached out with her hand, and gestured for him to come down and join her.  

Suddenly, Totaymo found he no longer had any interest in solving the mystery of the Super Saiyan.   Still floating in midair, he backed away slowly, hoping she hadn't noticed how aggressive his approach had been a moment ago.   As he drifted through the sky, he spotted the other Saiyans he had sensed earlier.    They were all wearing military uniforms, and while they were still alive, they had all been brought to their hands and knees by some powerful force.   Totaymo had a pretty good idea what that force was.   She was eying him like a big cat about to pounce.  

He turned around, preparing to flee the scene at his maximum speed, but before he could even try, he felt someone grabbing him from behind.   Faster than he could react, he was caught in a full nelson, and her hands locked over the back of his thick neck felt like a vise.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked.   Totaymo didn't understand how Luffa managed to catch him at such a great distance, but he knew there was no point in asking.   It was her, and she really was as strong as everyone said.  Maybe stronger.

"You should be giving your fellow Saiyans a hand!" she said as she flung him to the ground.    Painfully, Totaymo rolled over and struggled to get back to his feet.    When he looked up, he found Luffa already standing in front of him, looming over him like a specter.   He turned away, not because of the brightness of her aura, but because it disturbed him to look at her, now that he knew what she was.  

"I have some questions I'd like to ask you," Luffa said.    "General Rattijio already answered them, but I've got trust problems when it comes to this planet, and I'm not confident about my mental abilities right now."

Totaymo swallowed hard at the words “mental abilities”.    He could only guess what sort of awful powers this monster possessed.    He was about to protest that he didn't know anything, but then he noticed one of the soldiers had gotten up and was running towards her from behind.   He didn't know if he should warn the soldier to stop or remain silent so as not to give him away.   The soldier raised his arms to attack, but then Luffa suddenly swung her fist back to catch him squarely in the jaw.    Dazed, the soldier stumbled forward, and Luffa grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and tossed him over her shoulder.  

"As I was saying," Luffa continued.  As she reached for Totaymo’s face with her hands, her own expression twisted into a sadistic grin.  "Normally I'd just read one person's mind, but I think it'll be safer to read a few dozen or so, just to make sure everyone’s memories match up.   Now... hold still."

He did as she said.    As her fingers pressed into Totaymo’s cheeks and forehead, he realized that he was too frightened to do anything else.

*******

Luffa's telepathic interrogation of the planet continued this way for the next two hours.   Wherever she went, the locals-- military and civilian alike --tried to resist her, only to be completely overwhelmed by her power.   She toyed with them at every engagement, only fighting back when it amused her to do so.    Eventually, the military adopted a strategy of pursuing her and pooling their collective power into larger attacks, but was little more than a nuisance to her.  It wasn't until she started fighting in the citadel, Planet Saiya's capital and major population center, that the Honor Guard entered the battle.   Five of their number flew to intercept her, their faces concealed with metal helmets.  

"Where's the king?" Luffa asked.

"Surrender immediately," said their leader.  

Luffa shrugged and held out her hands, inviting them to attack.  

The Honor Guardsmen took up positions around her and started firing beams of ki energy from their fingertips.   These criss-crossed around Luffa without actually hitting her.   She watched as the beams from one Guardsman were absorbed into the gloved palms of another, and so on.   With each passing moment, the intensity of the beams grew stronger.  

"You're amplifying each other's power," Luffa said.   "That's a nice trick.   Can you hit a moving target, though?"

She shoved one of them aside and flew around, keeping her distance without actually withdrawing from the battle.   The Guardsmen continued to gather energy, but they shifted their positions, the leader turning to face Luffa at all times.   When they were finally ready to fire, Luffa made no effort to avoid the blast.   She was engulfed by a wide beam of magenta light that came from the leader's helmeted face.  

And she emerged unscathed.  

"Very good," Luffa said.   "I can see why everyone around here takes you guys so seriously.   A couple of years ago, that might have given me some trouble.   Of course, if you can only manage one shot at a time, it doesn't do you much good--"

Without warning, the leader fired again.   And again.   This time, Luffa dodged the attacks.  

"Hey, not bad!" she said, genuinely pleased to have underestimated her opponent.    "I was starting to think you guys were robots or something, but you've got real skill under those shiny domes.   Well, if you can amplify each other's blasts, maybe you can handle this!"

She drew back her hands and launched a Gallick Gun at them.   It was a classic Saiyan technique reserved for finishing a battle with as much power as a warrior could muster.     In Luffa’s hands, the Gallick Gun was just a minor weapon in her arsenal.    The Guardsmen scattered, but one of them couldn't escape in time, and was caught in the blast.  To Luffa's amazement, he survived the attack in one piece, though his uniform was badly scorched.  

"Nice!" Luffa cheered.   She pointed to her chin and smiled.  "Now give it back to me!   Let's see what you've got!"

The Guardsman suddenly went limp and fell to the ground.   Luffa watched his body for a few seconds and decided that he wasn't getting up again.  

"Fine," she muttered to the rest of them.  "Now that we have each other's measure, let's start over.   Where's the king?"

******

Arracash wasn't sure why she bothered following Luffa.   The Super Saiyan was her only granddaughter, but they had only discovered this relationship a few days ago.    The only things they had in common were their family resemblance and a mutual disgust with Luffa's father, Arracash's son.    Briefly, Arracash found herself able to take some pride in her daughter's power and prestige.   That was before Luffa transformed into a shiny golden thing in the middle of her living room.   Luffa really was a Saiyan, and not some alien pretending to be one, but Arracash now understood why that theory was so popular among their people.   Even when a Saiyan knew and believed the truth, it was still very disturbing to accept it.  

Whether Arracash realized it or not, this was what drove her to seek out Luffa after she left to begin her rampage.   Surely, she hoped, the transformation was as unsettling to Luffa herself as it was to any other Saiyan.    Maybe Luffa had gotten used to it by now, but Arracash felt she finally understood Luffa's discomfort with the Saiyan homeworld.   Luffa's alien wife had brought her here, hoping to foster some sort of good will between Saiyan and Super Saiyan, but the poor girl didn't really understand what that meant.   The two of them loved each other, certainly, but they both had a lot to learn about each other.  

"Pity" wasn't a word Arracash used much in her seventy-five years of life, but she felt it for Luffa.   She didn't understand what her granddaughter was going through, but Arracash suspected she had a better idea than anyone else on Planet Saiya at the moment.  That meant she probably had the best chance of defusing this situation.    

She eventually found Luffa sitting on a deserted street in the citadel, tearing the helmet off of an Honor Guardsman.    Arracash's blood ran cold at the sight of this.   The old Saiyan had never seen a Guardsman before.   They were King Rehval's secret police, only appearing to suppress dissent and enforce the rule of the crown.   They were supposed to be unstoppable.   Luffa had stopped five of them, judging from the corpses littered around the road, and she didn’t even look winded.

"Bah!" Luffa growled as sparks flew from the inside of the helmet.   The Guardsman's unconscious face was pale, as though he had been covered for years.   "Maybe these clowns really are robots.   It'd explain their lack of personality, but there's a stink of magic to them...   Maybe--"

"Luffa?" Arracash said, drawing her attention.   This was normally a busy walkway in the citadel, but the battle had driven most of the Saiyans elsewhere. Arracash’s voice seemed louder than she had intended.      

"What's on your mind, Arracash?" Luffa asked cordially.   "You here to watch the action?   Want to join in?  Those soldiers might be back to make another try, but I can't promise you much in the way of excitement.   A fight’s a fight, though, right?   Beats staying at home peeling vegetables."

"You've got to calm down," Arracash said.   "I know the king deceived you somehow, and you're upset that he isn't around to answer for that, but this won't solve anything--"

Luffa looked at her with her radiant green eyes, and suddenly she rose to her feet.  "From where I'm standing," she said, "this solves everything.   That royalist fool and his witless subjects have been screwing with me ever since I turned into this thing."   She crushed the helmet in her bare hands and held up the crumpled remains.   "I'm pretty sure this 'Honor Guard' is the best they've got, and none of them can even touch me.   So Rehval can either show his face and take his medicine, or I pick his precious kingdom apart.    Sorry if that upsets your quiet life on this planet."

"Quiet?" In spire of Arracash’s concern, she was still proud enough to take umbrage at Luffa’s remark.  "Hey, I was busting heads before your father was born."

"Well, you sounded like you were trying to play peacemaker there for a minute," Luffa replied.  

"I'm just trying to get you to settle down before you accidentally blow up the whole world!" Arracash shouted.  

Luffa laughed.   "Stakes are too high for you, huh?" she asked.  "You think I can't control it?   Don't worry."  

Without warning, her hair and eyes changed back to their normal dark colors, and the pulsing aura around her body vanished.    

"I can turn it on and off pretty easily these days," Luffa said.  

Arracash was stunned.  "You... you're back to normal!" was all she could really say.   She expected to feel relief at this moment, but it never came.  Instead,  Luffa raised her arm and pointed at Arracash. 

“I’m not normal,” she said.

Instinctively, Arracash ducked, just as Luffa fired a thin beam of ki from her fingertips.   Arracash rolled away and saw that she had shot a Saiyan soldier who had been approaching from behind her.  

"Wait, I get it," Luffa said with a chuckle.   "You thought I had some sort of personality change going on.   Like I become a different person when I’m transformed.   Like those chumps who can't control themselves when they turn into giant apes."

"I... don't know what I thought," Arracash said as she watched the downed soldier clutch at his still-smoking wound.   "I just want you to stop this."

"Tell it to the king," Luffa replied.  With a harsh grunt, she suddenly transformed back into her Super Saiyan form.   "He knows he can't beat me, so he's been playing some stupid game.   So he must have known he'd push me too far, which means this rampage I'm on fits right into his plan, doesn't it?"

She grabbed Arracash by the hair and pulled her up to her feet.   "Or maybe Rehval didn't see this coming!" Luffa said with a scowl.   "Maybe his scheme backfired on him, because he's too clever for his own good.   Kind of like what happened to my father when he tried to play games with me."

Arracash's eyes went wide with horror.   She had despised her son--Luffa's father--for most of his life.   She considered Orij to be an honorless, conniving fool who put too much trust in his misbegotten schemes.   Now, as she looked into Luffa's unholy green eyes, Arracash could see the legacy of his brand of opportunism.  

"He did this to you,"  she gasped.  "Somehow, Orij turned you into..."

"I did this to me," Luffa insisted.   "Because he left me no other choice."

It was easy to guess the rest.   Luffa had already admitted to killing Orij, and at the time, Arracash was happy to hear it.   But now, as she saw what Orij must have seen in his final moments-- the sight of his own daughter transformed into his final judgment-- she felt a twinge of pity for her son.    Whether Orij deserved his fate or not, Arracash wouldn't have wished it on her worst enemy.

"You... you're saying the king is no better than Orij was," Arracash said.  

"Now you're catching on," Luffa said.   "He's no warrior.   Just a trickster who longs to be a more successful trickster."

"Then all this time I've lived here," Arracash said.   "I've been enabling..."

"Hold that thought," Luffa said as she shoved her grandmother unceremoniously to the street.   Before Arracash hit the ground, Luffa had turned to face the opposite direction.   Arracash was about to ask what was wrong, and then she finally sensed it herself.   Three ki signatures emerging from seemingly out of nowhere, localized in the ground beneath them.    They had a Saiyan quality to them, but not quite.   There was something unusual about them, but before Arracash could ask what it was, the ground erupted beneath her.  

They tore through the pavement like alien larvae bursting out of egg sacs.    Each of them was at least fifty feet in size, and appeared to be made out of the earth itself.  The surfaces of their bodies were covered in arcane looking engravings that glowed purple that pulsed as if some monstrous heart was pumping the light in and out of them.   Their bodies seemed partially humanoid, but with six limbs instead of the usual four, and a thick cylindrical column in place of a neck or head.   Upon their chests, Arracash could see what looked like a relief carving of a Saiyan body.   Then, to her revulsion, Arracash noticed the figure moving slightly, as it writhed and quivered on the creature's chest.  

"Lamentations to you, upworlder!" said the lead creature as it stepped toward Luffa.   "You have broken the helmet of an Honor Guardsman, thereby unleashing us to come forth where he fell!"

"Yeah, that was me," Luffa said.  "You three work for Rehval too, then?"

The second creature screamed with a voice so deep it seemed to reverberate in the air.   "Does the stone 'work' for the mason?" it moaned.   "Does the mason spare a thought for the agony of his materials?   The Rehval conquered us, little upworlder!  We who dwelled beneath the surface of this, our home world!   The world he now profanes with the name Saiya!"

"Once we were many," wailed the third, "before he cast us into these forms with his dark magics!    He merged us into these beings who stand before you, and sealed us away beneath his citadel!"

"But the cruelest measure of all was to bind us to those of his own race!" the leader cried.   It pointed its massive fingers at the Saiyan fused to its chest.  "The one called Finule is but the latest sacrifice to bind us to his spell, so that we must be forever condemned to defend his realm!"

Arracash had never seen Finule, though she could only guess that the woman embedded in the creature’s chest was the same one Luffa’s wife had been worried about.   She had no idea what Finule was experiencing, but a sinking feeling in her stomach told her that it was surely a fate worse than death.

"That's too bad," Luffa said.   "Best I can offer you is to put you out of your misery.  I can’t make it painless, but at least you can die in a fair fight."

"Fool!" the second creature moaned.   "We are not warriors who would fight you fairly!  We are damned souls, doomed to service our tormentor without honor or mercy!   We will crush you together!"

As one, they closed in on Luffa and fired beams of purple light from their eyes.   Luffa leaped into the air and fired back with her own ki blasts, knocking them off their feet.   The dove down and kicked the leader sending him flying into a nearby building.  

"You think three-on-one will do you any good?!" Luffa screeched.  "Do you really believe you have enough power to beat me?!"

Arracash watched as the three creatures tried to answer her challenge.  Her mind was still reeling at the revelation that her sovereign was capable of such treachery and dishonor.  She had lived on this planet and supported its regime because she thought it stood for something the Saiyans could believe in, but it was a lie.   Whatever Finule had been fused with, it was an abomination.    At the very least, King Rehval had allowed it to happen.  More likely, he had commanded it, knowing that his subjects, people like Arracash, would never notice the difference.    She wanted to hit something, but fighting was impossible now.   Luffa's battle had escalated beyond any mere Saiyan.  

And so she fled, sticking to the alleys and shadows to avoid being spotted by Rehval's troops.   She didn't know where she would go, or if she would ever see her granddaughter again.   But she knew the only future on Planet Saiya was death.  

*******

Even with the three creatures, even with the rest of the Honor Guard, the Saiyans were unable to stop Luffa from going where she pleased.   They continued to try, however, and Luffa suspected that this was because she had been too easy on them.    In showing restraint, she had led the Saiyans to think that she was weaker than she really was.  

As twenty of them tried to pin her down with a combined ki blast, a plucky soldier rushed at her with a spear.   "You're finished, you filthy sow!" he shouted, his eyes fiery with hatred.  

Luffa vaporized his weapon and broke his neck.   With a furious scream, she brought her own ki to bear, and repelled the other twenty enemies as easily as an animal shaking water out of its fur.  

"Don't fool yourselves!" she called out to them as she tossed the corpse of their comrade to the wayside.  "I may be having fun with you, but you ought to be fighting like your lives depend on it!"

Another squad of Saiyans flew in from a different angle.   She turned and fired on them, spewing what looked like golden fire from her mouth.  A few of them managed to narrowly avoid the attack, but only by veering so far off their approach vector that they ended up crashing into nearby structures.   The rest took the full force of the blast, and while the hardiest of their number survived, they were in no longer in any condition to fight.  

One of the earthen creatures tried to get the drop on her, and Luffa was genuinely impressed that anything so large could be so stealthy.   She suspected that the monsters had a way to teleport, but this only allowed them to draw out the battle without actually taking the initiative.  Luffa caught its enormous fist and struck it with her own, forming a spider-web pattern of fractures across its fingers.  

"Come on!" she shouted.   "You gave me that sob story about being cursed to fight for this planet, so fight!   Or do you need some more motivation?!"

She swiped at the air with her arm, and a wave of ki arced out from it, carving a deep trench in the ground and wrecking whatever buildings were in its path.   Another band of Saiyans arrived on the scene, and rather than wait for them to attack, she charged at them and started brawling with them in mid-air.   Every so often she would grab one of them and toss him down at the citadel like a guided missile, adding to her path of destruction.  

They couldn't stop her.    Nothing on this planet could stop her.   Once, she had told another Saiyan that compassion was the key to her Super Saiyan power, but that lesson was lost on these fools.   Rehval's lapdogs would keep fighting her no matter how badly she humiliated them, not because they believed in their cause, but because they were too stubborn and too proud and too cowardly to admit defeat.   She didn't need to kill any of them, or to destroy their settlements and homes, but she saw no reason to hold back either.   If they hated her so much, if they were so resentful of her power, then she would give them a reason to hate her.    

Her only regret was in not doing this from the moment she arrived on Planet Saiya.   She had swallowed her pride and accepted the king's invitation, she had stomached the endless contempt of his subjects, and for what?   Now, all that pent-up frustration was being repaid upon them in kind, and for the first time since she had come to this planet, she was feeling like herself again.  She could finally cut loose and use her powers with reckless abandon--

And then she sensed it.   In the midst of the battlefield she had created in the middle of the citadel, there was a ki signature out of place.  It wasn't coming from her, or from her enemies, and it wasn't fleeing to safety.   This was stationary, and located in one of the buildings she had smashed.   It was definitely Saiyan, but it was very faint, and almost familiar...

Once she recognized it, she set her teeth and flew straight for it.   Rather than smash through the rubble, Luffa concentrated, and extended her ki around the debris, causing it to levitate up and away from her path.   An Honor Guardsman tried to attack her while she worked at this, and she slapped him aside, killing him instantly.  

Inside, she found a Saiyan woman, not much younger than herself.   She was crouching under a support beam, and cradling an infant.  

"Dammit," Luffa said.  

"Don't come any closer!" the woman gasped.   "Stay away!"

The mother was suppressing her ki, but Luffa's senses were perceptive enough to tell that she didn't have much power to hide.   When the fighting started, she must have decided that it would be safer to hide than to try to evacuate the area.  It would have worked, except that there was no way for her to keep the baby's ki hidden.   Most Saiyans wouldn't have been able to detect the child's power, but Luffa was a Super Saiyan, and her senses were as advanced as her strength.     More importantly, she had experience with these matters.  

"That's some kid you've got there," Luffa said.   She was trying to be cavalier, but the words felt awkward when she spoke them.    "I could sense the tyke from outside!   He could be a great fighter some day."

"G-go away!" the woman demanded.   It was more of a plea than anything else.    She wasn't begging for mercy, but she wasn't going to bother with threats either.  

"It's all right.  I won't hurt you," Luffa said.   "I, uh..."

She wanted to say that she was a mother herself, but that happy thought had perished on the Tikosi Hiveworld.   Her father had betrayed her to the Tikosi, who captured her and tortured her in the name of 'research'.    When they found that she was pregnant, they removed the fetus surgically, and sold the remains to King Rehval's father.    Not long after, Luffa became a Super Saiyan, and laid waste to the Tikosi planet, not unlike the way she was currently smashing up the Saiyan homeworld today.    

But the woman wouldn't have understood any of this.   She was too weak to defend herself, and her only concern was protecting her offspring.    Luffa had seen this before.    When she had ravaged the Tikosi Hiveworld, she was determined to exterminate their entire race to avenge her unborn son.   They were a hive species, with each individual acting as an interchangeable part of a whole.   Killing them had been easy, for every adult Tikosi could become a soldier whenever the need arose.    Fueled by righteous fury, she had cut a swath of destruction across the planet.

Until she had found their nurseries.  

The Tikosi had kept their young in underground chambers, as hidden and well-protected as possible.   But in her unstoppable rage, Luffa had left no stone unturned in her search for fresh victims.   She had sensed the collective ki of the Tikosi larvae, and she had smashed into their dwelling, expecting to find more soldiers.   Instead, when she had found what was actually there, she hesitated.   After a brief pause, she had moved on to find more suitable targets for her wrath.   Despite her hatred for those despicable creatures, she couldn't bring herself to kill them all, nor could she attack their young, doing to them what they had so callously done to her.  

That decision still haunted her to this day.    Luffa never spoke of it, even to her dearest friends who had helped her that dark day on the Hiveworld.   As far as any of them knew, she had simply fought the Tikosi until she finally wore herself out.   They didn't know she had ever planned to wipe them out, or that she ultimately chose not to go through with it.    She was never sure which was the right decision, even after she had made it.   She felt ashamed to have considered either option.

"Why are you hiding here?" Luffa asked the woman.   "If you didn't want to fight, you should have gotten the hell out of this area."

"Leave us alone!" the woman insisted.    

"Answer me," Luffa growled.  

She sensed her enemies outside, preparing to attack her.   With a loud grunt, Luffa summoned her ki and created a protective field over the three of them.   When the attack came, the entire building was vaporized, along with much of the ground beneath it, but Luffa, the woman, and her child were unharmed.  

"I'm wasting my time," Luffa said.   "Rehval won't come to your rescue, and I have better things to do than play around with these idiots.   You're going to tell me what I want to know.   Now."

She reached for the woman and planted her fingers over her face.    Outside Luffa's dome of energy, the Saiyans fired a barrage of attacks.   She paid no attention to them.  

When the dome vanished, Luffa launched a furious counterattack, then continued on her way.

*******

Luffa's rampage across Planet Saiya was more than just a chance for her to vent her frustrations.   It had taken several hours, but she had managed to telepathically interrogate enough Saiyans to determine exactly how to find Rehval.    None of them possessed the entire answer, and most of them knew nothing useful at all, but many of them had enough pieces of the puzzle that she could work it out.  More importantly, the information they possessed was generally in agreement.   Somehow, King Rehval had deceived her telepathic abilities.    Luffa had probed his mind carefully to make certain he wasn't an enemy, but there were facts about him that had simply been absent from his psyche, almost as if he had edited his own memories.  If it could happen to him, then it could happen to his subjects as well.   The only way to separate the truth from the lies was by consensus.   Arracash and General Rattijio had known about Rehval's children, even if Rehval himself had no memory of them.   It stood to reason that whoever had altered his memories had neglected to do the same for the entire population.   What mind-reader would dare to probe the thoughts of one Saiyan, let alone a thousand, or ten thousand?

Luffa snorted as her grim reflection in the germanium-plated door showed the answer to that question.   She had fought almost every Saiyan on the planet, and wasn't even tired.   The one thing their minds shared was a deep distrust and revulsion towards her.   They feared her.    They envied her.  They hated her.   None of this was much of a surprise, but to experience that loathing firsthand, over and over again, had been... profound for her.    But she would worry about that some other time, after her search was completed.  

There was an underground complex beneath the citadel.   The Saiyans who knew of it were forbidden from discussing its location or existence with unauthorized persons, but Luffa had taken that knowledge for herself.    As she had learned the true purpose of the facility, she found herself recalling the Tikosi Hiveworld once again.   It seemed that Planet Saiya had its own “nursery.”  

She ripped the germanium-plated door from its hinges and entered.   There was an Honor Guardsman stationed on the other side to deny her access, but Luffa cut him down with a single kick.   Instead of dying from internal injuries, the Guardsman convulsed and twitched like a broken toy, and Luffa was becoming more convinced that this was all the Honor Guard really was.    Perhaps they had been Saiyans once, but no longer.    Zatte had told Luffa that Finule had tried to kill herself rather than be forcibly recruited into their ranks.   Luffa could now understand her reasoning.  

Inside, she found dozens of tanks covered in technological devices.   Each one had a window of transparent polymer, which displayed their contents.   Luffa checked several of them, but she already knew what to expect, thanks to the knowledge, speculation, or imagination of Rehval's subjects.    Within each vessel, suspended in some sort of fluid, was a Saiyan child.

What surprised Luffa was the sheer size of the operation.  There were at least a thousand such tanks.  Some contained newborn infants, while others housed Saiyans who appeared to be three years of age.    It was this nursery that had terrified the Saiyan mother she met earlier.   Naturally, Luffa had assumed the woman was worried about the monstrous Super Saiyan, but a probe of her thoughts revealed the truth.    She had been caring for her child in secret, fearing that if Rehval's regime found out about it, they would confiscate her child and place it in one of these vats.    She needn't have worried.   From what Luffa gathered from the officials she had probed, only certain children were taken to this facility for post-natal incubation.  It was supposed to make them stronger than they would be if they were left in the care of their parents.    The very idea disgusted Luffa to her core.  The only reason she hadn't destroyed the facility was because she didn't know how to safely remove the children.

There was no sign of Rehval, but his closest confidants and advisors knew that he went to this place for reasons known only to himself.   It was a secret, and Luffa suspected that exposing it would unearth other secrets.  After a thorough search of the complex, she found an access elevator which led to a lower level.  It required a passcode to use, but Luffa simply tore the doors open and ripped the elevator car out of the shaft.  Rehval had told her how much he appreciated elevators, but he had never explained why.  Luffa was far beyond caring.  

At the bottom of the shaft, she found what could only be described as a laboratory.   Luffa had seen similar apparati on Planet Gwarthos, which boasted the galaxy’s most prestigious alchemical-equestrian academy.   Aside from the lack of stables, the equipment here was very similar.   A large distillation flask hung over blue flames in a brick hearth.   The walls were lined with shelves of parchments and scrolls.   It looked very much like a more advanced version of the laboratory that had belonged to King Rehval II before he died.   Only this room wasn't covered in dust from years of disuse.  

She considered destroying this room, as there were no innocents that would be harmed by it, but before she could consider all the reagents and elixirs that might explode, she spotted what looked like a stone gateway built into one of the walls.   It looked like it was meant to surround a doorway, only there was no door, just solid wall.    Luffa placed her hand on the wall, deciding whether it would be worth smashing through it, when suddenly the gateway began to glow. 

The gently pulsing light reminded her of the carvings that had been on those earthen creatures she had fought on the surface.    The stones of the gateway bore similar markings, which now glowed in the same color.  Then the section of wall surrounded by the stones also began to glow.   Seconds later, an image appeared in the gateway.   Luffa could see another place.   It looked like a city, but not like anything she had seen on Planet Saiya.  

Then she remembered having seen it once before.   Rehval had shown her his villa, located on some other planet.   He had told her that it was his private retreat from the burdens of his rule, and that he went there often to refresh himself.   For a moment, she wondered why he kept an image of the place in this laboratory, when he had a holographic model of the entire estate in his palace.   Then it hit her: this was not an image at all.   She was actually looking at a place many light years away.  

She didn't think the Gwarthosians had that sort of ability, but she knew of other magic-users who did.   The faerie folk of Nhh-r'cooh lived in a wormhole, a hyperspatial tunnel that allowed one to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other in a matter of minutes.   She had even enlisted their help in constructing a second wormhole to outfox the Shockmaster's invasion of Extraliga.  This gateway wasn't exactly the same, but it probably operated on the same principle. 

She found an empty vial on a benchtop and tossed it at the portal.   Instead of bouncing off the image, it continued on its trajectory and landed in the background.   Cautiously, she repeated her experiment, this time using the tip of her tail.   Once she was satisfied that her tail could enter the portal and return unharmed, she leaped through.

Before she could properly take in her new surroundings, she heard a voice calling out to her, and she suddenly noticed that she wasn't alone.   It was the king, accompanied by a woman she had never seen before.  

"Glad you could finally join us, Luffa," said King Rehval.  

[23 May 234 Before Age.  Planet Saiya.]

"That's it," Zatte said.   "I'm almost positive that's where the killer originated from."

On the bridge of their star-yacht, Luffa looked at the star chart displayed on the main viewer and shrugged.  On one end was the Saiya system, represented by a small white dot.   Dozens of other star systems were marked with various symbols and notations, and many of them were connected by lines of various different colors.   Most of these lines wandered out across the map, only to curl back toward Saiya, stopping short at a solar system relatively close to it.  

"How did you work all this out?" Luffa asked.  

"There's a ship on Saiya registered to one of the killer's victims, a Saiyan named Yarrow," Zatte said.   "By the time I found out about it, the ship had already been abandoned, but the navigational logs were still in tact.   From the planet where Yarrow's body was discovered, the ship went to four other systems, and each one reported at least one dead Saiyan."

Luffa waved her finger at the map, as though tracing the route.  "That only gets you part of the way," she said.  

"Right, but I played a hunch.   I traced the same ship's itinerary before Yarrow died, and found other victims along the way.  The pattern breaks down here, where a Saiyan named Okartish was discovered dead.   Turns out he and Yarrow were partners."

"Are you saying this guy stowed away on Yarrow's ship for months without anyone noticing?"

"It seems that way," Zatte said.  "Look, we're having a hard time finding him now that he's here on Saiya, so it's no surprise that he can cover his tracks.   He must have some way to hide his presence, even while he's aboard a spaceship as small as Yarrow's."

"You think he can turn invisible like you?" Luffa asked.  

"I doubt it," Zatte said.  "I could mask my life energy and hide on this ship for a long time if I needed to.   But I'd need food and other necessities.  Plus, a ship's life support systems would detect the extra oxygen consumption from a stowaway.  I might be able to hack the ship's computer to falsify the readings, but that would mean sneaking out of my hiding place to do it.   Sooner or later I'd give myself away.  And on a smaller ship like Yarrow's, it'd be that much harder for me to move around without being noticed."

"So how's he doing it?" Luffa asked.   "We know he's a Dorlun because of the poison he's using, and each Dorlun has special abilities.  What can this guy do?"

"It could be a lot of things," Zatte said.   "Keda could shape-shift, which works a lot better for stowing away.   She hid among the Tikosi for months, right?  I don't think I could have managed that long.   She probably spent a lot of that time making her body as small as possible."

"Then maybe this guy's a shape-shifter like Keda," Luffa said.  

"Not necessarily," Zatte said.   "He might have some sort of telepathic power.  Your eyes might be able to see him, but he can prevent your mind from perceiving his presence.  Or maybe he had some way to go into a dormant state.   That way he could hide in the cargo hold without food or water."

"This is too complicated," Luffa groaned.  

"For all we know, the killer might not have hidden aboard Yarrow's ship at all," Zatte added.  "He may have paid Yarrow for passage, and made sure his name stayed off the ship's passenger records."

"But if he's been using his own victims for transportation," Luffa said, "then he's been leaving a trail all along."

"Well, nothing obvious," Zatte said.  "It's taken me days to piece together all the victims with spaceships they might have used or owned.   I know you're not a big fan of King Rehval's brand of diplomacy, but a lot of these murders took place in a lot of different jurisdictions.    If Rehval hadn't established relations with so many of them, I might not have been able to get all the data I needed."

"It doesn't matter," Luffa harrumphed.  "Once my technique is put into action, we'll find the killer no matter where he's hiding."

"Maybe," Zatte said, "but you needed Rehval to make that work too, right?"

Luffa rolled her eyes.  "He has his uses," she admitted.  Before Zatte could tease her about this, she turned her attention back to the map.  "So you backtracked the killer to this system, but what good does that do us?"

"Maybe nothing," Zatte said, "but if the trail goes back any further, I might be able to find out something about him that we can use.  I won't know until I go there and see for myself."

"You want to take the ship and leave Saiya?" Luffa asked.  

"Sure," Zatte said.  "It'll only take a day to get there."  

"But Planet Saiya would be at the killer's mercy while we're gone!" Luffa objected.  

"That's why we’re not going,” Zatte said.   “You’re staying behind.”

"You want to go alone?!" Luffa asked.  

"Luffa, it'll only be for a few days.   A week at most.   You've gone on training retreats longer than that."

"But the whole point of you investigating was so the killer would try to come after you," she said.  "If the bait leaves the planet, then there's no trap."

"Let's face it," Zatte said.  "If he was going to try to attack me he would have done it by now.  Either he doesn't see me as a threat, or he knows it's a trap.  At least if I leave the planet for a while, it might make him wonder what I'm up to.   He might get nervous enough to make a mistake."

"What the hell am I supposed to do while you're gone?" Luffa asked.  

"The same thing you've been doing, dummy," Zatte said.  "Try to catch the killer with that technique of yours.   And try to find out something about this 'Honor Guard'."

"I already did," Luffa said.  "They're just an elite squad in the Saiyan military.  They handle special missions, things like that."

"Then why would they recruit a civil servant like Finule?"  Zatte asked.  There must be hundreds of Saiyans who were stronger or more qualified, and she was willing to die before letting hem take her."

"You can always get stronger," Luffa said.  "They probably have a harsh training regimen, and she got cold feet.   She was just being cowardly, that's all.  It happens, even to Saiyans."

Zatte wasn't satisfied with this at all.  "Look, if you think that's all it is, then so be it.  Finding the killer is what matters now, but don't whine about being bored if you manage to tackle him early.   Take in a show.  Spend some time with your grandmother."

"Oh that sounds like fun," Luffa groaned.  

"You'll live," Zatte said.  "If it gets too dull, you can always conquer the planet.  Hey, what's the matter?"  

"It's just... I don’t know.  Be careful out there, Zattie.  Okay?"

"I'm always careful," Zatte said.  "But for you, I'll be even more careful.   How's that?"

*******

[24 May 234 Before Age.  Planet Saiya.]

Less than an hour after Zatte's departure from the planet, Luffa went to the capital citadel to find King Rehval.   By now, the palace staff had grown accustomed to her frequent visits.  They still stank of fear and loathing whenever she passed them in the corridors, but they no longer asked her to identify herself or make appointments.  She waited in his bedroom for five minutes, and when he appeared at the doorway he walked up and seized her in a powerful embrace--one arm around her back, the other gripping her upper thigh.  

"There you are," he said triumphantly.  He hoisted her up until they were at eye-level to one another. 

She planted her hands on either side of his head and pulled until they were close enough to give him a passionate kiss.  As their lips finally parted, she bit his lower lip, drawing a tiny trickle of blood.  He feigned outrage, and tossed her onto the bed.  

Over time, Rehval had learned to indulge Luffa like this.   At first, he had been very respectful about kissing her, almost to the point of being submissive.  This was customary among Saiyans, as she was the stronger of the two, but she had always enjoyed the way her late husband Kandai would handle her, back when she was far weaker.   It pleased her to see that Rehval could pull it off.   It wasn't about physical power, she supposed.   Rehval was far stronger than Kandai had ever been, and he was a monarch as well.   He was used to projecting authority, in a way that Kandai could have only approximated with strength.  So it was just a matter of getting him to stop being so damned polite to her.   He was putting his tongue down her throat, not negotiating a trade agreement.  

Even so, he still knew when to back off.  Their make-out sessions would end the same way every time.  Eventually, her guilt over betraying Zatte would surpass the thrill she got from him, and she would gently push him away.  He never questioned her about this, and if he understood, he never mentioned it.  He simply respected her boundaries like a true diplomat.   It made her wonder what would happen if he didn't respect this.   What if he wanted to press the issue?  Would she kill him for his insolence?   Would he try to persuade her to take things further than they already had   Would she give in to temptation and betray her wife more than she already had?

"Shall we go?" Rehval asked pleasantly.  Normally they would head to the mountains to train at this point.  

"Yeah," Luffa said.  "I think we're almost ready to try this thing out."

"You still haven't named your technique?" Rehval asked.  He rose from the bed and fetched a new shirt from his wardrobe.   Luffa had a nasty habit of shredding them during their more intimate moments.  

"What's the point?" Luffa asked.  

"The point is that you have something to call it," Rehval said.  "When you and I find this killer, I want to tell my subjects how we did it.   That'd be easier if I didn't have to keep calling it 'Luffa's New Technique, the One Where She Spreads Out Her Ki Energy Across the Whole Planet While We Sense For Any Unusual Activity."

"Fine, you name it then," Luffa said.  

"You developed it," Rehval said.  "The honor is yours."

Luffa rolled her eyes and shook her head.   After a moment of consideration, she finally said: "Golden Duster."

Rehval paused putting on his shirt as he appeared to digest the name carefully.   "We should workshop that," he said.

Luffa threw up her hands in annoyance.  

*******

Hours later, at their training ground, Luffa and Rehval watched the stars come out in the night sky.  The air was cold, but she barely noticed thanks to how closely he was holding her.  

"That's the Pflaume system," he whispered into her ear as he pointed to a faint point of light that had just become visible as dusk gave way to night.   "That's where my villa is.  I'd like to show it to you sometime."

"You already showed it to me," Luffa replied.  

"That was a hologram," Rehval said.   "I want you to experience the real thing.   The sounds, the smells..."

He might have added "touch", but instead he gently caressed the side of her neck with his lower lip, and she found this far more persuasive.  

"But we can discuss that later.  I've kept you here for too long," Rehval said.  "You probably want to get back to your ship."

"No, it's all right," Luffa said.  "Zatte took the ship into space.  I'm staying with my grandmother until she gets back."

Earlier, she had resolved not to tell him any of this.   He didn't need to know, after all.  Yet somehow, something about the way he held her and the sound of his voice caused her to forget her mistrust.  

"She left the planet?" Rehval asked.  "Why?"

"Chasing down a lead on the killer," Luffa said.  "Not that it'll matter.  You and I should have him cornered by the time she gets back.  

"Then why don't you stay at the palace until she returns?" Rehval asked.  

She took a deep breath and released it as a long sigh.  

"I take it that's a 'no'," Rehval said.

"Maybe," Luffa said.  "Let's focus on the Saiyan-killer, and then we'll worry about sleeping arrangements."

"Fair enough."  Rehval released her and rose to a standing position.    

"Where are you going?" Luffa asked.  "I told you, I can stick around a while longer."

"Yes, but unfortunately, I have some business to handle back at the citadel.   I can either put in a long night or get up early to take care of it before we meet up.    Either way, I need to get moving."

"Business?" Luffa asked.  

"It's a state secret," Rehval said.  "I'd need to arrange a security clearance for you.   Maybe if you and your wife choose to stay on Saiya for a while, we could make that happen.  You've proven to be a great help to the kingdom.  Both of you."

"One thing at a time," Luffa said.   "I'll see you at 0900 tomorrow."

"Of course,” Rehval said.   As he floated into the air, he waved good bye and made that damned wink that she found so endearing and smarmy at the same time. 

“Don’t be late!” Luffa called out to him. 

“I wouldn’t dare,” Rehval replied with a smile.   “I know how much you hate to be kept waiting.”

*******

"Where is he?!"

By 1000 hours, Citadel Time, Luffa was in General Ratijio's office, threatening to wreck his furniture.  The general was the strongest Saiyan in the royal military, and unaccustomed to dealing with such a tantrum.   Typically, he would have killed any Saiyan who dared to barge into his office and make such a racket, but Luffa was far from typical, and he knew it.  

"I don't know!" he pleaded.    

Without really meaning to, he glanced at the most valuable object in the room, the palladium medal awarded to him by King Rehval II for his fortieth year of service.  The display case hung on a wall just beyond his reach.  It was a simple tactical assessment.   His territory (office) had been occupied by a superior force (a Super Saiyan), and since he couldn't give the invader what she wanted (the king's location), she would sack his domain to vent her frustrations.  All he could do now was try to minimize the damage.  He couldn't hide his medals now, but if he could keep her attention on his desk or one of the file cabinets...

Then Luffa went straight for the display case.  He raised his hand, although he had no idea what good it would do, but before he could even move, she had torn it down from the wall and moved back to her position in front of the door.  He didn't think any Saiyan could move so quickly.  He thought that she had to use her golden-haired form to tap into that kind of ability.

"Do I have your attention now?" Luffa demanded.  She broke the case apart in her hands and let the pieces fall to the floor.  Then, she knelt down and picked up the palladium medal he had been so worried about.  

For a moment, he wondered how she knew that one was so important to him.  Then he realized that she wasn't just faster than any other Saiyan; she had actually caught the movements of his eyes, and noticed what he had been looking at.  She was a monster, and the king had welcomed her into the heart of his kingdom.   Worse, he had actually begun having some sort of an affair with her.   And now, the king, in his infinite temerity, had stood her up.  

"Luffa," Ratijio said, trying to maintain what little composure he had left.    "He's the king.  He doesn't tell me where he goes, but I can try to find out if, you'll just--!"

"I've been trying to find him for the last hour!" Luffa snarled.  I can't sense his ki, he's not in the palace, and none of his staff have seen him since yesterday."

"What about that technique you've been developing with him?" he asked.   "I thought you could find anyone."

"Oh, I'm coming to that, don't worry," Luffa said.  "The point is, he agreed to meet me at the palace this morning, and he isn't there.  Finding him isn't as important as knowing why he isn't where he said he'd be.   We're supposed to be tracking down that Saiyan-killer today!"

Ratijio swallowed hard.  "Are you saying that the king is--?"

"I showed you how Golden Duster works, General," Luffa said.  "I saturate an area with my own power, and sense for any movements within that field.  It's for finding people who might be concealing their own ki, but it won't work on a corpse!"

"He... he can't be dead!" Ratijio said.  "The Honor Guard would never--!"

Faster than he could register the movement, Luffa grabbed him by the chest of his uniform, lifted him out of his chair, over the desk, and slammed him against a wall, upside down.  The sheer speed of this action was made even more astonishing by the fact that she did it all with one hand.  

"The Honor Guard.   Let's talk about them, shall we?" Luffa said with a sneer.   "They're under your command, right?"

She was still clutching the medal in her free hand.   Ratijio found that he kept glancing at it, even as he knew that he had to focus his attention on Luffa.   He couldn't afford to make her any angrier than she already was.  

"No," he said.   "They report directly to the King!   They're his secret police--"

"Secret police?!" Luffa roared.   "What does a Saiyan king need that for?!"

In spite of his predicament, Ratijio made a knowing smirk.  "You really are a back country yokel, aren't you?"  he said.   "I thought it was just an act to fool people, but you really-- ARRGH!"

Luffa's fingers suddenly charged with ki, and he felt a surge of pain in his chest.  

"Dumb it down for me, then," she said darkly.  

"Fine, fine!" he gasped.  "You might think a Saiyan king should rule by strength alone, but Rehval isn't interested in merely ruling the Saiyans!  He wants to redefine our very culture!  The Honor Guard doesn't just suppress dissent, they enforce Rehval's vision of how the people should behave!"

"Then why would they recruit a file clerk like Finule?" Luffa asked.  "The way I hear it, she was no fan of the regime."

"Finule?" Ratijio asked.  "So they finally took her, did they?  I didn't know, but I'm not surprised.  She talked too much.   Sooner or later someone was going to shut her up."

"Then why not just kill her and be done with it?" Luffa asked.  

"To use her for--!"  But he couldn't finish the sentence.   He knew the information was classified, and that he wasn't supposed to share it with an outside like Luffa, but now he found that he literally couldn't tell.  It was as if the words had been trapped in his throat.

"Use her for what?!" Luffa demanded.  She charged her fingers with ki once more, and he convulsed with pain.  

"They probably took her to--!" he tried to say, but rephrasing his answer made no difference.  

Ratijio had never tried to betray state secrets before.  This wasn't a matter of honor or loyalty, but fear of Rehval's immense physical strength.   But Rehval was missing, and Luffa was here, and far stronger than Rehval could ever hope to be, and this alone made a very compelling case for treason.  Only he couldn't go through with it, and Luffa was rapidly losing what little patience she had left...

"You know, I could just rip the answers out of your mind," Luffa said.  

"I'm trying to tell you, but something is--!" Ratijio began to say.   This time he stopped himself from finishing his sentence.  He knew Luffa wouldn't believe him, since he hardly believed it himself.  

She flung him to the other side of the room, where he crashed to the floor.  Ratijio had the physical might to at least soften his landing, but he didn't want to risk antagonizing Luffa any more than he already had.   As soon as he was able, he glanced to her hand to find his medal was still in tact.  Even as he did so, he wondered why that should still matter to him.

"Don't bother," Luffa said.  She approached him, reaching for his face with her empty hand.  "I've wasted enough time on you already.   I should probably use both hands, so before we get started..."

She held up the medal and closed her fist, crushing it into a chunk of twisted metal.  Then she flung out her arm, launching it like a mortar bomb through the window of his office.   Ratijio was horrified to see this, although he still couldn't understand why.  

And then suddenly, he felt something snap inside him.  There was an intense pain in his head, like something was trying to smash its way out of his skull, and he clutched at his face as he curled up into a fetal position.   He heard an undignified scream, and eventually realized that it was coming from his own mouth.   It was so excruciating that he completely forgot the angry Super Saiyan standing over him.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked, though her voice sounded distant to him, as though she were calling to him from across a great chasm.  

And then the pain simply stopped.  Ratijio opened his eyes and looked at the palms of his hands, unsure if it was safe to move or speak.  He gasped with relief, and slowly rose to one knee, until Luffa grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to his feet.  

"It was the medal," he said quietly.  "Damn his eyes, he did it to me just like all the rest!"

"What are you babbling about now?" Luffa asked.  

He noticed she had raised one of her fists and he quickly held up his hands in supplication.  "Wait, don't!" he pleaded.  "I'll tell you everything!"

*******

For lack of anywhere better to go, Luffa took General Ratijio to her grandmother's house.   King Rehval III had now been missing for over four hours.   While Luffa concentrated her senses on finding any trace of his ki, Arracash served him all the steamed vegetables he could eat.

"You don't see brassicas like that anywhere else on Saiya, now do you?" Arracash bragged.  "You'd probably think they were imported, but I grew them right here in my garden."

"They are impressive," Ratijio said between bites.  

"The secret is the molybdenum powder I sprinkle into the soil," Arracash went on.   "Any idiot knows to use fertilizer in this sort of climate, but they don't know to do their homework.  Sure, they can grow some crops, but if they don't pay attention to the micronutrients, you won't have much to show for it on the dinner table."

"I see," Ratijio said absently.  

"Now, the iron levels in the soil here aren't a problem, but you still have to keep an eye on the others.  Boron, zinc.  Manganese.  A lot of people don't even know what that is."

"If you two are through talking about gardening," Luffa growled, "I'd like to go over what you told me, General."

He swallowed hard at the sound of that.  "I've told you everything I know," he insisted.  

"Yeah, and most of it was stuff I already learned from reading Rehval's mind," Luffa said.  "His father, Rehval the Second, was an alchemist.   He used witchcraft-- or whatever you want to call it-- to hold onto his throne and defeat his enemies.   He even used it on loyal officers like you, like that medal he enchanted to keep you in line in case you ever tried to turn against him."

"He kept his powers a secret," Ratijio grumbled, "but rumors began to circulate.   Some of us in the military began to suspect he had some sort of influence over people.  I didn't know for certain until you crushed that medal.  For the last five years, I've treated it like a prized possession and never knew why."

"Well, the only trouble I have with that story is that Rehval II is dead," Luffa said.  "Rehval III found out about his secret alchemy lab and killed his father in disgust.  Only it looks like he didn't bother to track down all the talismans and potions his dad left behind."

"Why should he bother?" Ratijio muttered.  "The current king may not have approved of his father's methods, but he still benefits from the results.  The spell I was under made me loyal to their whole dynasty.   It's the same with the Honor Guard.   I'm sure they're under some sort of enchantment to ensure their absolute obedience.  That's why I say the king must still be alive.   If he died, the Honor Guard would immediately install his successor."

"Who would that be?" Luffa asked.  

"Don't be an idiot, girl," Arracash said.  "Obviously one of the king's children would assume the throne."

"Obviously," Luffa replied, "except Rehval has no children."

"Of course he does," Ratijio said.  "The king is many things, but he's no fool.   To rule over Saiya without an heir would jeopardize everything his house has ever worked for."

"That's impossible!" Luffa insisted.  

"Why?" Ratijio scoffed.  "Did you really think you were the first woman he ever fancied?"

Normally, such a cutting and personal remark would have embarrassed her.   Her involvement with Rehval had been confusing enough before the General accidentally walked in on them in the middle of an embrace.  He had kept quiet about it, but now that he was finally speaking up, Luffa was too shocked to be self-conscious.  

"You and the king?!" Arracash blurted out.  

"I guess you really didn't know," Ratijio said with a snort.   "His Majesty's quite the charmer, isn't he?   Probably convinced you that you were the only one he had ever loved.   Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it's just a line.  Once he's satisfied, he'll move on to someone else and tell her the same story."

Luffa shook her head.  "I read his mind," she said.  "I didn't find anything about children or other women or..."

"You must have skipped a few pages then," Ratijio replied.  

Luffa's eyes went wide, and she started taking quick, shallow breaths as she struggled to make sense of this.  Somehow, Rehval had thwarted her telepathic probe, and she had never even dreamed that this was possible.  In the past, others had resisted her mental powers, or fought back with psychic abilities of their own, but this was something altogether different.  

"Luffa, he's telling the truth," Arracash said.  Her grandmother had approached her and reached out with a sympathetic hand.   "The king keeps his children out of the public, but he's held ceremonies to announce their births.  I attended one once--long story--but the food was lousy..."

But Luffa wasn't listening to her.   Arracash and Ratijio probably thought she was upset over being deceived by a romantic partner, but that wasn't it at all.  Like a witless amateur, Luffa had overestimated her own power.  She had assumed that a thorough telepathic interrogation would prove once and for all whether the king was friend or foe.   Everything she and Zatte had done since then was based on this faulty premise.   There could only be one explanation: Rehval had been manipulating them from the start.  

Her thoughts turned to Zatte, who was currently headed for a whole other star system.  Was that part of Rehval's plan?  Was he luring Zatte into a trap, or was it just a way to remove Zatte from Planet Saiya while he put his true plan into effect?  

"Luffa, what are you doing?" Arracash asked.  

The old Saiyan had sensed Luffa's ki rising as she ruminated over her failure.  Without really thinking about it, Luffa raised her hand and slammed her fist into her own sternum.   Her jaw was clenched so tightly that her teeth hurt.  As usual whenever Luffa made a mistake, she could almost hear her dead mother's voice scolding her in her mind.  Complacent!  The enemy was right in front of her.  Her wife, her closest ally, had been right beside her.  And what had she done?!  She took both for granted, and now they were both gone.   She could have strangled Rehval last night and been done with this, but instead she held him in her arms, tenderly, and let him whisper sweet nothings into her ear while they looked at the stars. 

"Luffa!  Not in the house!  You hear me?!  Not in the house!"

In her rage, Luffa's ki had manifested like a miniature whirlwind.   Arracash was pleading for her to stop.  Just beneath Luffa's skin, as always, was that thing.   Aside from a private demonstration for Rehval, she had kept it contained during her visit to Planet Saiya.   Luffa wasn't entirely sure why.  Maybe it was because she wanted to at least pretend to fit in with her own species.   While she had grown accustomed to her other form and accepted it as a part of herself, she still didn't relish the idea of showing it off to her own kind, to revealing herself as this yellow-haired, green-eyed monstrosity.  

But now... Now that Rehval's lies were exposed, now that General Ratijio was rushing out of the house in fear for his life, now that Luffa felt like she couldn't make things any worse than they already were... Now, she could see no reason to hold back.  

With a sharp cry, she released her power... released herself, and came to a decision.

If Rehval wouldn't deal with her directly, then she would just take the matter up with his precious planet.

[7 May 234 Before Age.   Planet Saiya.]

Zatte sat on a chair that was basically a boulder that had been hewn into the vague shape of a chair.  She suspected that this was a typical example of Saiyan craftsmanship.  Even the weakest Saiyans had incredible strength, enough to chisel stone with their bare hands, albeit without much regard to aesthetics.  The rest of the furniture in Arracash's home looked the same, aside from some appliances and tools she had clearly obtained from alien manufacturers.

Arracash herself was pacing around in a tight circle in the middle of her living room.  Luffa stood by the wall and watched her.  It was eerie how similar the two of them looked.  Arracash was the same height and build, with the same short shocks of black hair on her scalp.  The only real differences between them were a few slivers of grey in Arracash's hair, and their skin color.  Luffa was a dark beige, while Arracash had a pale pink complexion.

Of course, their clothes were also different.  Luffa wore her customary black sleeveless shirt and baggy yellow pants.  Arracash was dressed much more provocatively, wearing what could almost be described as an armored bathing suit with high-heeled, over-the-knee boots.  The fabric of all of these items was lavender, and the armor plating on her chest and torso was dull grey.

"Let me get this straight," Arracash said.  "I'm your grandmother."

"Apparently," Luffa said.

"Orij had a brat of his own, huh?" Arracash said, mostly to herself.

"That's me," Luffa said.

"What's my son been up to these days?"

"He's dead," Luffa said.

"Good.  How did he die?"

"I killed him," Luffa said.

"Betting he deserved it," Arracash said.

"Absolutely," Luffa said.

"And you're this ‘Super Saiyan’ everyone's been pissing and moaning about."

"That's right," Luffa said.

"Then you're not an alien with glowing yellow hair," Arracash said.  "You're at least half-Saiyan if you're really Orij's brat."

"Full-blooded, for your information," Luffa said testily.

"Okay, okay," Arracash said.  "Didn't mean to imply anything.  I'm sure your mother's a fine warrior."

"She's dead too," Luffa said.  "Orij killed her."

"Right," Arracash said.  "Any brothers or sisters I should know about?"

"No."

Arracash pointed to Zatte.  "Who's she?"

"My wife."

"You're gay?"

"I'm bisexual."

Arracash suddenly looked at Zatte, which startled her.

"Blue skin, red hair, green eyes... Where's she from?" Arracash asked.

"I can't tell you," Luffa said.

"Is she checking me out?" Arracash.

Luffa shrugged.  "Why shouldn't she?  You're an attractive lady for your age."

Zatte spoke up, mostly to change the subject.  "Look, I'll just come out and say it. You two look exactly alike."

"Yeah, so?" Arracash said.

"A lot of Saiyans resemble one another," Luffa said.  "Even Saiyans that aren't related."

"There's another one in the next town," Arracash said, waving her arm towards the northeast.  "Looks just like us.  Runs a general store.  She's kind of a jerk."

"There you go," Luffa said.

"But... but the records we found said Arracash is seventy-five years old!" Zatte protested.

"Yeah," Luffa said.  "Saiyans stay in their prime for a long time, Zatte.  She probably won't really start to age until she hits eighty or so."

"Lucky you," Arracash said to Zatte.  She gestured to herself and added: "Like looking into the future, huh?"

Zatte swallowed hard.

"You couldn't find a Saiyan to marry?" Arracash asked Luffa.

"I did, but he's dead, too."  Luffa pointed at Zatte.  "She killed him."

Arracash looked genuinely impressed.  "Then what brings you two here?"

Luffa rolled her eyes.  "It's my first time on Planet Saiya, and she thought I should look up any relatives I had here.  You were the only one we could find."

"Hmmph!  Well isn't that cute?  Am I supposed to tear up and hug you two now?"

"Hah!" Luffa scoffed.  "Don't worry about me, old timer.  I just thought I'd take a look at you before you keeled over."

"Well, I suppose I might as well let you two spend the night here," Arracash grumbled.  "At least with you being married, I only need to set up one bed."

She looked back at Zatte.  "You do use beds, don't you?  You don't hang from the ceiling by your toenails or anything weird like that?"

"N-no," Zatte said.  "Really, it isn't necessary, ma'am.  We're staying on our ship, so--"

Arracash turned her head and spat on the floor.  "Hell no.  You'll stay here.  Least I can do to thank you for killing my son for me."  She looked at Luffa.  "Unless this place isn't fancy enough for a Super Saiyan and her delicate alien friend."

"It'll do," Luffa said.  "Unless you expect us to cook dinner.  If that's the case, we might as well sleep on the street!"

"What do you take me for?" Arracash muttered.  "Of course I'll cook.  But you're damned fools if you think I'm peeling vegetables for three people all by myself!"

"Quit whining!" Luffa said. "We'll help you, if it's so blasted important."

Arracash made a loud harrumph and  headed for the other room to prepare a bed, and Zatte leaped out of the chair to rush to Luffa's side.  Only she still wasn't used to the higher gravity of Planet Saiya, and so she nearly ran into her.  Luffa had to catch her before she fell down.

"Let's get out of here," Zatte whispered.

"This was your idea, remember?" Luffa said.  "What's wrong?"

"Isn't it obvious?  I think she hates me," Zatte said.

"She doesn't hate you," Luffa said.  "Probably.  I think you just give her the creeps."

"I creep her out?" Zatte hissed.  "She looks like a copy of you, and she hasn't aged in over fifty years!"

"Well how do Dorluns age?" Luffa asked.

"Our hair turns pink and... Oh, what difference does it make?"

Neither of them noticed Arracash returning to the living room.

"Are you two doing it?!" she shouted.

"No!" Luffa shouted back.

Arracash averted her eyes.  "At least wait until I've put linens on the bed!  You can play you alien love games there!"

"She tripped and I caught her!" Luffa insisted.  "We're not even undressed!"

"Tell her not to get her spores on my good rug!" Arracash cried.  "The linens are fine!  I can burn those.  But the rug's a keepsake!"

"Spores?" Zatte asked.

"Spores, pollen, whatever it is you use," Arracash said.

Luffa was about to speak up, when a shrill chime sounded from her pants.  She reached into her pocket and took out her portable communicator, which was tied into the subspace radio on her ship.

"It's from Rehval," she said as she read a transcript of his message.  "Wants me back at the palace."

"Fine," Zatte said.  "Let's go."

"King Rehval?" Arracash gasped.  "What have you done?"

"I broke his dinner table and read his mind," Luffa said absently.

"I knew it!" Arracash said.  "You're as rotten as Orij!  Vandalizing His Majesty's palace, cavorting around with alien women, shaking down your own grandmother for free food!"

"Let's gooooo," Zatte pleaded under her breath.

Luffa adjusted her grip on Zatte to carry her for the flight back to the palace. Then she paused, and her lips curled into a mischievous smile.

"Nah, I think you should stay here," Luffa said.

"What?" Zatte asked.

"Rehval only called for me," Luffa said.  "You should stay put and keep Arracash company."

"But--!"

"You can help her fix dinner," Luffa said, "and it'll be good training for you to spend some time working under the higher gravity."

"But I--!  You--!"

Luffa released her gently and turned to leave.  "This shouldn't take long.  Try not to fall for her while I'm gone.  I know she's your type, but try to be strong for our marriage."

Zatte wanted to grab Luffa's tail and pull her back, but she was out the door and airborne before she could move.  Then she looked at Arracash, who was tapping her toe on the floor impatiently.

"Your kind does know how to work a peeler, right?" Arracash demanded.  "I mean, you aren't a savage, I hope."

Zatte sighed and resigned herself to her fate.

*******

There was an expansive balcony on one of the upper levels of the citadel.  Luffa found Rehval there, along with a small gathering of visiting dignitaries and aides.  Rehval's Saiyan entourage tensed up when they saw her, but she ignored them completely, and walked towards Rehval, fully prepared to shove aside anyone who got in her way.

"Let her pass," Rehval said, instantly defusing the situation.  "I summoned her."

The guards stepped aside, and gave Rehval some room to speak with his guest.  As Luffa approached him, he started walking as well, and fell alongside her.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Luffa," he said.

"I'm not your lapdog, Rehval," Luffa said.  "Let's get that clear right up front.  The next time you 'summon' me, I might not show up at all."

"I understand perfectly," Rehval said.  "You're a guest on Planet Saiya, free to do as you please.    I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Nothing worth discussing," Luffa said.  "Your message said it was about that Saiyan-killer you told me about before."

"I'm afraid so," he said in a low voice.  He had already led her away from the others and they had nearly left the balcony altogether, but he still seemed concerned about being overheard.  "He's claimed a new victim."

"What planet was it this time?" Luffa asked.

Rehval sighed and shook his head.  "It would be better if I showed you.  Besides, I'd rather discuss this somewhere more private."

"What's the matter, Rehval?" Luffa asked.  "Worried about what your subjects might think of you putting up with my sass?"

He smiled in spite of his grave mood.  "I wish that were all," he said.  "I like your sass, Luffa.  It's comforting in a way."

"Oh yeah?" Luffa asked.

"It gets lonely at the top," he admitted.  They reached an elevator and he pressed the button to summon the car.  "Even other kings and heads of state make poor company, since I'm so much stronger than them physically.  It's refreshing to meet someone who feels completely free to speak her mind around me."

"We could just fly down," Luffa said.  Just as she was growing impatient, the door opened and he gestured to the empty car.

"We could," he said.  "And we could smash through the walls between ourselves and where we're going.    But I enjoy elevators, and you don't know where we're going, so for once I have the advantage of you."

"I could always read your mind again," Luffa said as she stepped inside the car.

"Ah.  I already forgot you can do that," Rehval said.  He clicked his tongue as he entered the car and pressed the button for their floor.  "Well, thank you for letting me at least pretend to have a momentary advantage."

Luffa snorted in amusement.

"Is it ever like that for you?" he asked.

"Like what?" Luffa asked.

"Lonely," he said.  "As powerful as you are, I'd think it'd be worse for you than it is for me."

"I manage," Luffa said.  "My wife thinks I'm some kind of holy crusader, but she still makes me pick up after myself.  My friends are all so much weaker than I am that they probably don't see me any differently from a normal Saiyan.  If I was going to hurt them, I would have already done it."

"Hmmm, but you can't really fight with any of them, can you?"

"Zatte and I spar," Luffa said.  "But yeah, it's not exactly satisfying."

"There was the Shockmaster, but he's gone now," Rehval said.  "A shame Chanisp is long dead.  Maybe he could have given you a good fight."

"I like to think so," Luffa said.  "He was a Super Saiyan, too."

"Really?" Rehval said.

"I'm pretty sure Old Darbock was, too."

"It sounds tragic," Rehval said.  "A thousand years from now, there may be another Super Saiyan, longing for someone like you to challenge them."

"That guy'll just have to make due," Luffa said.  "Same as me."

"Well, I'm no Chanisp," Rehval said, but I was hoping you and I might go a round."

"You?" Luffa asked.

"I probably wouldn't be any more of a challenge than your wife, but I was the strongest Saiyan on this planet," he said, "until you showed up."

Luffa considered it briefly.  "You're on," she said.  "Just make sure you don't hold back.  It'll be more fun if you're fighting like you want to kill me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said.

"So why do you like elevators so much?" Luffa asked.

He opened his mouth to answer, but then the car abruptly slowed its descent and came to a stop.  There was a pleasant ding as the doors slid open, and Rehval held out his hand to invite her to go first.

"I'll tell you later," he said.

The floor they had arrived on was set aside for office space.  Luffa had begun to question the stories her mother had told her of life on Planet Saiya, but at least some of it was true after all.  The Saiyan Kingdom relied on a bureaucracy as much any other, and without any suitable clerical staff among their own people, the regime had brought in aliens to handle all the paperwork.  None of them were actually present in the hallways or cubicles at the moment, but Luffa could see photographs of various staffers on organization charts, and these depicted at least half a dozen alien species.

"Where is everybody?" Luffa asked.

"I ordered this floor to be sealed off," Rehval said.  "At least until the investigation could be completed."

"What investigation?" Luffa asked.  "What does any of this have to do with that Saiyan-hunter anyw--?"

While she was speaking, Rehval had led her into an office containing a dead body.  She recognized the corpse as Gnurlian, although his skin was unusually green for their complexion.  He was slumped over his desk, as if he had simply died while he was working.

"The latest victim was here," Rehval said.  "On Planet Saiya."

Luffa approached the body carefully and took a closer look.  "How do you know this isn't a completely unrelated murder?" she asked.  "For that matter, how can you be sure he was murdered?  I don't see any sign of injuries."

"A sensor scan detected an unknown toxin in his bloodstream," Rehval said.  "It matches similar scans of the other victims.  As for how it was administered, I can't say."

"Blast it, Rehval!" Luffa growled.  "What do you expect me to do about this?"

"I need your help to find the killer," Rehval said.  "He's here, on Saiya.  If the people find out, it could cause a panic."

"Do I look like a detective?"  Luffa shouted.  "You seem to be a lot further along on this than I am.  Bring in a professional investigator and have him figure this out."

"I already hired a detective," Rehval said.

"Well, where the hell is he?"  Luffa demanded.

"You're looking at him," Rehval said, pointing at the body.  "Twenty years of experience with homicides, specializing in mass murders and serial killers.  Highly recommended.  Apparently our enemy felt he was too much of a threat, so he eliminated him."

"He's... toying with us," Luffa said.  She balled up her fist and raised it in front of her chest.  "He thinks we're helpless without this guy."

"I don't dare send for any other detectives," Rehval said.  "They'll just be picked off as soon as they arrive."

"Fine, I get it," Luffa said.  "But I still don't see how I can help catch this guy.  If he made it into this room without anyone noticing--!"

"I know you can do it, Luffa," Rehval said.

"Hah!  And why's that?  Oh, I can beat this creep to a pulp whenever we do find him, but none of my powers will help with that.  What makes you think I'm cut out for a job like this?"

“Because I grew up with the stories of Chanisp just as you did,” he said  He was strong, yes, but he also never gave up, and that was what made him great.  That's what I need now."

She was taken aback by his words, and then he impulsively took her hands in his own.

"If you're truly the heir to Chanisp's power, then this killer doesn't stand a chance against you, Luffa.  I'm sure of it."

"You... you think so?" Luffa said.  She looked back at the dead Gnurlian and pressed her lips together with newfound resolve.  "All right," she said.  "Where do we start?"

*******

“What’s the matter with you?!” Arracash yelled.  

“What is it now?” Zatte asked.  

“You’re peeling them all wrong!”

Zatte sighed.  The last half hour had been reasonably peaceful, once Arracash stopped barking orders and allowed Zatte to settle down and concentrate on peeling vegetables by herself.  She hadn’t counted on Arracash checking her work.  

Arracash reached for a pile of peelings Zatte had left on the kitchen counter.  She held one up and pointed at the thin layer of flesh on the interior surface.   “Look at all this!” she screeched.  “This is perfectly good food, and you’re wasting it.   Who taught you how to peel, anyway?”

“Why  are we peeling these anyway?” Zatte demanded.  “The best nutrients are in the skins.   If you’re so worried about waste, you shouldn’t be throwing any of that away in the first place!”

“Um, it’s a little thing called compost,” Arracash growled.  “I suppose you wouldn’t know about that from your years gallivanting around in a space yacht!”

Arracash launched into an extensive lecture on the importance of fertilizer, but Zatte found she couldn’t pay attention, even if she had wanted to.  There were just too many things going wrong here all at once.  

First and foremost, she still wasn’t used to the idea of Luffa’s grandmother being so damned sexy.  If she looked a little more like an elderly person, she would have found the heeled boots and armored leotard endearing, maybe even reassuring in a way.   If she wasn’t Luffa’s grandmother, it wouldn’t be an issue.    As it was, Zatte felt guilty and awkward just looking at her.  But if she looked away, Arracash thought she was ignoring her, so that wasn’t a solution.  

Beyond this, the whole visit served to remind Zatte just how alien the Saiyans truly were.   Luffa was an outsider to her own people, but nothing about this planet seemed to surprise her.   Luffa resented Saiya, but more in the way a person might resent their hometown.   For Zatte, it was a bizarre madhouse.  It never seemed to occur to Arracash that Zatte wasn’t used to the gravity, and this was probably interfering with her ability to handle the peeler.  

She had never really thought about growing old with Luffa, perhaps because on some level she expected them to die in some horrible battle.  The Tikosi had nearly killed them years ago, so in a sense it was like everything they had done since then was on borrowed time.  Luffa probably hadn’t considered growing old with Zatte, because apparently Saiyans didn’t grow old, at least not for a very long time.  The whole idea suddenly loomed large in Zatte’s mind.   Even now, they spent half their marriage arguing over pointless little things.   What if Zatte’s aging tipped the scales?   Luffa never seemed to care about such things, but maybe that was because it just hadn’t come up.    Hair growth was deeply unsettling to Luffa, so surely ageing would be as well...

And she wasn’t sure what Luffa would do now that she had made peace with King Rehval.   They had come to this planet for answers, and gotten them.   The search for Luffa’s grandparents had been a quick diversion, but Luffa didn’t seem too interested in it, and now that they had found Arracash, what would they do next?  

But underneath all of these issues, Zatte had to admit that she was frustrated that Planet Saiya hadn’t lived up to her hopes.   Her own people, the Dorluns, were lost to her.   One day she might find one of their communities and reconnect with them, but until that time she would be alone.  She had hoped that Luffa’s home planet might help to ease that sense of isolation, not just for Luffa, but for herself.   Instead, Planet Saiya only seemed to reinforce their isolation.  

She didn’t know what to do.   She was alive and safe, and by Dorlun standards that was enough, but it wasn’t enough for her.  It was frustrating, and listening to this crazy, old, stupid, sexy woman babbling about compost wasn’t  helping.   It wasn’t helping at all!

“Why do her hands tremble, anyway?” Arracash asked.  

“What?” Zatte said, as though snapping out of a trance.  

“Luffa’s hands,” Arracash said.   She held up her own hands and wiggled them slightly to illustrate.   Then she crossed her arms, tucking her hands under her shoulders.   “She kept trying to hide it, but I could tell.   When you’ve been around as long as I have, you learn to pick up on any weaknesses you can find.”

Zatte sighed.    “She... well, it’s a long story, and she doesn’t like to talk about it.   Maybe I shouldn’t say.”

“She’s not sick or anything, is she?” Arracash asked.  

“No,” Zatte said.   “It’s just... she lost a terrible battle and was captured.   She was pregnant and they...”

Arracash held up her hand to stop her.   “I think I get the picture.  She made those bastards pay for it, I hope.”

“Yes,” Zatte said.  “Look, please don’t tell her I told you.    She’s been recovering from it for years, and she’s still very sensitive about it.”

“Yeah, I know how it goes,” Arracash said.  “I was just worried.”

“Why?” Zatte asked.   “You hardly know her.”

“She’s still my granddaughter,” Arracash said.  “My son was a rat bastard, but she seems okay.   I guess you’d know more about that than I would.”

“She’s wonderful,” Zatte said firmly.   “She’s saved billions of people all over the galaxy, fighting battles I can’t even describe.”

“How about that?” Arracash said.   “It’s funny.  I didn’t think I had any family left.   Figured Orij would cross the wrong person one of these days, and I guess I was right.   You get to be my age, you start to worry about the life you lived, and whether any of it mattered.   Kind of nice to hear I’ve got a legacy.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Zatte held out her hands.  “Why are you telling me this?   Before, you acted like you didn’t even care about Luffa.”

“Hmmph.   I didn’t want to get all mushy in front of her, that’s all,” Arracash said.   “Just because she’s a Super Saiyan doesn’t mean I’m going to start blubbering like a baby.”

She patted Zatte on the cheek.   “But you, you’re an alien.  Mushy or not, it’s all the same to you.   And you seem pretty loyal to her.   Just don’t put a bunch of parasites in her brain, okay?”

“Parasites?” Zatte asked.

“Well, whatever alien stuff you do,” Arracash said.  “Just keep taking good care of her for me, will you?   In case I don’t get to see her again.”

“I... yeah, sure,” Zatte groaned.  

“And, uh, thanks for looking me up and bringing her down here,” Arracash added.  “It really means a lot to--”

At that moment, they both sensed Luffa’s ki approaching the house, and they realized she had returned.  

“I’m back,” she called out as she entered the house.    “Took longer than I thought it would.   Something’s come up, but we can talk about it after we eat--”

She entered the kitchen and gasped with horror.   “Where’s dinner?” she asked.  

Arracash grabbed a ladle and brandished it at her.   “We were waiting for you to get back here and help us make it!” she growled.    “Or did you think the two of us would do it all for you while you ran around all afternoon?”

Luffa made an indignant snort.  “I was just giving you a head start!” she said.   “If I’d known it’d take this long, I would have just done it myself!”

“Then why don’t you?!” Arracash roared.   “Acting like you’re better than everyone else...”

“I might as well!” Luffa shouted.   “I cooked for that no-count son of yours enough times!   Now I see where he got his work ethic!”

“I peeled some vegetables,” Zatte said, holding one of them up to show her.  

“Thanks,” Luffa said.   “At least I can count on someone around here.   Save the peelings.  We’ll use ‘em for hash.”

“Hash?!” Arracash cried.  

“Damn straight,” Luffa said.   “What, have you got a better idea?”

Arracash did, and as she began to deliver the same lecture to Luffa that she had given to Zatte, the Dorlun picked up another vegetable and started peeling it with a smile.  

******

It wasn’t too difficult to get around on Planet Saiya.  She killed the Gnurlian and made it back to her hideout without any trouble at all.   The Saiyans relied too much on their ki senses.   They viewed the universe in terms of power levels and brute force, and the potency of one’s life energy.    She had sidestepped all of those principles, and so they had no idea how to begin searching for her. 

It was a paradise, this planet of Saiyans.  She felt like a scavenger surrounded by fresh carrion, or a wolf in a livestock pen.   Killing them filled her with such joy, and here she was on a world filled with thousands of potential targets, and none of them could stop her.  

She missed the entertainment system on Yarrow’s ship, so she had gone to the trouble of sneaking aboard another ship docked at one of the spaceports.    It had a similar recreational program, and the ship’s owners wouldn’t be back for a while, so she amused herself watching video clips on the subspace radio.

Her favorite was a compilation of various footage recorded of Luffa.   Most of it was amateurish footage obtained by eyewitnesses to her various battles.   Each clip was only a few seconds apiece, but with some creative editing, it was all spliced together in such a way that it resembled a decent little three minute video.  She would watch it over and over again.  

She admired Luffa.    For a Saiyan-hunter, Luffa was the ultimate challenge, obviously, but it was more than that.   On some  level, she hoped that Luffa might appreciate what she was doing.  Saiyans excelled at killing one another, after all, so it seemed to her that Luffa might admire someone like her, albeit begrudgingly.  

And she was fun to watch.  Ki was highly overrated, in her opinion, but at least Luffa made good use of it.   She was always glowing or shooting fireballs or lasers from her hands.  It was loud and garish, but it looked cool.  Not that it would save her.  

As she watched the video a twelfth time, she felt the urge to kill again, and decided that she would find someone at the spaceport to save time.   Then she would head back to the citadel, or perhaps a different spaceport, and do it all over again.   The key was to keep moving.   As long as she didn’t spend too much time in one place, they would never be able to find her.    Not even Luffa would find her, which made her feel very powerful.   She couldn't destroy planets or level mountains, but she could end the lives of those who could do those kinds of things, and that was arguably more impressive.  

One day she would meet Luffa face to face, and she would either bask in Luffa’s admiration or kill her.    Or both!  Perhaps it would be both.   But that would have to wait.    For now, she just needed to kill a Saiyan.    Any Saiyan would do.    

But before that, she decided she would re-watch her video just one more time...

[6 May 234 Before Age.  Planet Saiya.]

"You really expect me to believe that?!"  Luffa shouted.

They were standing in an abandoned laboratory hidden in the lower levels of Planet Saiya's capital city.  Luffa and Zatte had come to this planet at the invitation of King Rehval, believing that he was an old enemy of Luffa's mother, and an accessory in the forced termination of Luffa's unborn child.

Instead, Rehval now claimed that these were the actions of his father, the previous king, also named Rehval.  It was such a brazen denial that it could only be a pathetic, desperate lie... or a simple, extraordinary truth.

"Are you telling us this has all been a case of mistaken identity?" Zatte asked.  "You don't look old enough to have ruled Planet Saiya thirty years ago, but..."

"The Saiyan people age very differently from what most species would consider normal, Ms. Zatte," Rehval explained.  "We remain in our prime for most of our lives, so a septuagenarian looks almost exactly like a young adult."

Zatte looked at Luffa, as though considering the implications of this.

"The Rehval Dynasty began with my grandfather," he went on.  "It was Rehval The First who settled this planet and named it Saiya, after the mythical world where the Saiyans first evolved.    When he died, my father, Rehval the Second assumed the throne.  He reigned for over half a century, before I was forced to put a stop to him."

"You killed him?"  Luffa asked.

"Are you so surprised, Luffa?" Rehval asked.   "Your mother taught you that he was a tyrant.  Your father was plotting against him as well.  My father made many enemies in his lifetime.  I was simply the last, and the one in the best position to act against him."

He pulled a wooden stool out from under a recess in one of the lab benches, and sat down.

"As the crown prince, I looked up to my father.  He was devoted to forging the Saiyan people into a great and powerful nation, as opposed to a disparate tribe of marauders.  But in the final years of his reign, I began to learn just how far he was willing to go to achieve his goals."

He waved his hand at the arcane symbols scrawled on the wall.  "This laboratory was just the tip of the iceberg.  He conducted all sorts of secret alchemical research, but he also dabbled in genetic engineering, witchcraft, necromancy, and a number of other un-Saiyan practices.  His dream was to discover a way to unlock the ultimate potential of the Saiyan race.  About a year ago, I learned he was using live Saiyans in his experiments.  I had no choice but to kill him, though I told the public that he had died of an illness.  I couldn't risk jeopardizing my grandfather's accomplishments by exposing my father's crimes."

He pointed to an urn on a shelf of chemicals.  "That, ladies, is all that remains of Rehval II's body.  "Unfortunately, his legacy, casts a much longer shadow.  Once I consolidated power, I studied my father's records, and learned of his experiments with Saiyan fetal tissue.  And that was when I learned of his role in your ordeal, Luffa."

"How did he find out about it?" Luffa asked.

"Through your husband Kandai," Rehval said. "I never knew the full story, but from what I gather, your father was trying to find a way to increase his own strength.  Somewhere along the way, he succeeded.  Instead of hiring himself out for obscure mercenary work, he was carrying out bold raids on the frontiers of the Camelian Empire.  As I told you before, whenever a Saiyan causes trouble, word reaches Planet Saiya very quickly.  The Camelians complained to our ambassador there, and an investigation revealed it was Orij, an old malcontent who had married your mother, an anti-royalist.

"My father promised the Camelians that he would deal with Orij, but privately, he wished to learn the secret to his sudden power increase.  He eventually made contact with Kandai, and plied him for information.  Kandai was eager to make a fresh start, and it wasn't difficult to loosen his tongue.  He told my father about the Tikosi, and their technique for isolating the biological factors that made one Saiyan stronger than another.  He told him that the Tikosi were making you stronger, and then duplicating that power increase in Orij.  I assumed the Tikosi's eventual goal was to apply the same treatment for themselves.

"This piqued my father's interest.  He planned to eliminate Orij to placate the Camelians, then conquer the Tikosi and claim their research for himself.  But first he wanted to see what he could accomplish with his own alchemical techniques, so he struck a bargain with Kandai.  In exchange for certain rewards, your husband returned to the Tikosi Planet and obtained... well, he took your unborn child.  Then he brought the fetus back to Saiya for my father to test.

"And what did that accomplish?"  Luffa asked bitterly.  "Other than ending a Saiyan boy's battle before he had a chance to fight?"

"In the end, very little," Rehval said quietly.  "My father's notes were very unclear on the matter, but from what I could make out, he didn't make much progress after receiving the tissue.  He wrote that he intended to crush Orij and invade the Tikosi planet, but he never got the chance.  A scouting party found the planet abandoned, and Orij's remains lying near a large crater.  Soon after, reports of a Super Saiyan on Bigreen began to circulate, and it didn't take long to piece together what had happened."

"Is that why your father sent that team of assassins after us?" Zatte asked.  "Did he think Luffa would come looking for revenge?"

"It was a test," Rehval said.  "You have to understand, Luffa, that there are a lot of conflicting reports about just who and what you are.  Most Saiyans believe you're a fraud.  A number of early Super Saiyan sightings turned out to be Orij's activities on the Camelian frontier.  People believe you're man, a woman, a ghost, a goddess, a Saiyan, a mutant, and any number of other things.  My father wanted to make certain that you really were Orij's daughter--that you had survived the Tikosi and that you really were as strong as the rumors said.  The team of soldiers was sent to either kill you or take your measure."

"Well I hope he was pleased with the result," Luffa said.  "He should have just approached me himself, or did that little demonstration make him lose his nerve?"

"He was obsessed with you after that," Rehval said.  "He sent ten of his strongest warriors, and none of them survived.  He knew you were strong, but after that incident he realized that you were unstoppable.  And then the Shockmaster invaded the Federation, and he proved to be at least as powerful.  My father was withdrew to his research, determined to find some way to match your level of power.  When you defeated the Shockmaster, he became even more worried, since there was no longer a power in the galaxy that could counterbalance your own.

"While he was plotting against you in secret, the work of running the kingdom was delegated to the crown prince: me.  One day I needed to consult with him on a matter of state business, and I found him down here, lost in some demonic ritual.  He was a shadow of his former self-- half-starved, sleep deprived,driven mad by his obsession.  When I realized what he had done and what he planned to do, I knew I had no choice but to kill him and take his place."

"Then you invited Luffa to come here in order to make peace," Zatte concluded.

"In my arrogance, I believed you were aware of my accession to the throne," Rehval said.  "You never threatened Saiya or its interests, but neither did you make any overtures toward us.  After a year, I decided it was time to clear the air, and this string of Saiyan murders seemed like a sensible topic for us to discuss.

"Luffa, I sincerely apologize, both for my father's actions, and for my flippant tone at dinner.  If I had known that you thought I was Rehval II, I would have approached our meeting very differently."

"Would you, now?" Luffa grumbled.  "I guess you would have told me the same story you're telling me now, only from a safe distance, right?"

She walked to the shelf containing the urn of Rehval II's remains, and ran her finger along the shelf, the  looked at the dust that had accumulated on her fingertip.

"It's all very convenient, Rehval.  I suppose you can prove all of this.  You don't seem like the type to leave any loose ends."

"My father's death was certified by his physician," Rehval said. "He's a Grujon running a practice on Eldon IV, with no ties to the regime.  As for the rest, my father kept extensive records on his dealings, many of them in his own handwriting.  You're welcome to examine them to your satisfaction."

"Very thoughtful of you," Luffa said.

"I don't blame you for being suspicious, Luffa," Rehval said.  "I understand if we cannot be friends, but I have no desire to be your enemy.  I'm willing to do whatever it takes to assure you of that."

Luffa turned and glared at him.  "I'm glad you said that, Rehval, because there is a way you can convince me," she said.

"Name it," Rehval said.  "The royal archives are at your disposal."

"Records can be falsified," Luffa said as she walked towards him.  "And even if they're legitimate, that would only prove that your father's crimes.    They wouldn't tell me whether or not you were involved."

"I see..." Rehval said.  "Then what do you have in mind?"

"The question is: What do you have in your mind, Rehval?" Luffa said darkly.  She raised her hand and extended it towards him.  "I want to know what you knew and when you knew it.  Your story might be mostly true, but I wonder if you might be leaving out a few things that might make me... angry with you."

He remained seated, but pulled back slightly as she reached for his face.  "I can read your mind, Rehval.  It won't take long, but if you've been lying to me, I will find out."

"Proceed then.  I have nothing to hide," he said confidently.

Luffa had already planted both hands on his face.  "This will only hurt if you resist me," she warned.

"I underst--" he began to say, but Luffa had already begun, and he gasped with amazement at the experience.

One minute and thirteen seconds later, Luffa released him.  She stepped back, and breathed deeply, as if relieved to be finished.

"Are you okay?" Zatte asked.  "I've never seen you spend that much time on anyone before.  Well, except for me, when you and I--"

"I'm fine," Luffa said, mostly to cut off the rest of her statement.

"A remarkable experience," Rehval said.  He looked around the room, as though pleased to be back in the real world.  "I had no idea Saiyan telepathy could advance to such levels."

"Well, what did you find out?" Zatte asked impatiently.

Luffa looked at her and then back at Rehval.  "I took my time because I needed to be sure, she said.  "But I couldn't find any hint of deception.  At least, not about Kandai or his father.  He's... he’s telling the truth."

Rehval nodded in agreement.

******

Rehval had offered them a room in his palace, but Luffa had declined, preferring to head back to her ship for the night.

"So now what?" Zatte said as she curled up next to Luffa on her bed.

"I don't know," Luffa said.  She lay on her back and stared at the ceiling of the cabin, a sheet half-heartedly draped over herself.

"You said it yourself," Zatte said.  "If he's telling the truth, he's not our enemy."

"I still don't like the guy, Zattie," Luffa said.  "Even if he's on the level, I don't like the idea of a Saiyan King.  I never have."

"He seems to respect that," Zatte said.  "He invited us to stay a while."

"There's nothing here for me," Luffa said.  "And I'm not about to start dressing in blue and kneeling to that pompous...!"

"We don't have to live here forever, Luffa," Zatte said.  "We can leave right now if that's what you want.  But where do we go?  The Federation practically runs itself, and no one like the Shockmaster is likely to threaten it anytime soon."

"I know..." Luffa said.  "That's why I'm so disappointed.  I was hoping Rehval would give me some sport.  Beg for mercy... try some last-ditch plan to kill me.  I don't know, something."

"You wanted another Kandai," Zatte said.  "Someone you could hunt down and pour all your frustrations into."

"Not that he really satisfied me either," Luffa said.  "It's just as well.  If Rehval's daddy were still alive, I would have just killed him by now, and then  I'd be right back where I started."

"It's like you said before," Zatte said.  "Settling things with Rehval was the last connection you had with your son.  Everyone who took him from you is gone now.  There's no one left to chase, or even think about chasing."

"So..." Luffa said.  "Now what?"

"I asked you first, buster," Zatte said.

Luffa sighed.  "Maybe we could go to Yetitan, pay a visit to Wampaaan'riix and Dewbie.  Might even invite Dr. Topsas along if he's free."

"What brought this on?"  Zatte asked.

"I was just thinking about my mother," Luffa said.  "Aside from you, those guys are the closest thing to family I have left."

Zatte put her arm over Luffa and squeezed her gently.  "Don't be so sure about that..." she said.

*******

[7 May 234 Before Age.  Planet Saiya]

Far removed from the citadel which served as the planet's capital was a small village of crudely shaped houses.  There were a number of modern conveniences--paved roads, food storage devices, and a water tower--but otherwise the settlement appeared to be a throwback to some primitive age.    In one of these houses, a Saiyan  woman named Arracash heard a knock at her door.

She immediately readied herself for a fight.  The King had alerted everyone about a mysterious Saiyan-hunting killer, so naturally she had this possibility in mind, but she had lived on this planet of bloodthirsty warriors for most of her life, and she hadn't lasted this long without being prepared.  She moved along the wall, careful not to avoid being spotted from the view offered by the windows, and paused in front of the door.  She silently counted to five, then swung the door open, making sure to keep her body out of the doorway.

Nothing happened.  Arracash took a quick look, and found two women, a Saiyan and an alien with blue skin and red hair.

"We're looking for... for Arracash?" the alien said.  She seemed distracted for some reason.

"You found her," she said.  "What's this about?  And don't tell me it's King's official business.  Not while you're wearing that getup."

She was pointing at Luffa's bright yellow pants as if they were on fire.  "You want food, go catch some game in the mountains.   Lousy vagrants.  Everyone acts like I'm the village cook."

"Records at the palace said you had a son named Orij," the Saiyan said.  "That right?"

"So what?" Arracash said.  "He's old enough to fight his own battles isn't he?  I'm not responsible for his blunders."

"Luffa, this can't be Arracash," Zatte said.  "She's supposed to be in her mid seventies--"

"Luffa?" Arracash asked.  "Then this is some kind of shakedown!  You think you can pretend to be some impostor freak and I'll cower under the bed while you help yourselves to my loot?!  Who the hell do you think you are?"

She tried to shut the door, only for Luffa to catch it with her hand and hold it open.

"I think I'm your granddaughter," Luffa said.