Unveiling the Golden Crown I
The next day, Sarada and Maiz flew over to the Meat Market so the former could properly assess the circumstances of the Saiyans living there. The sudden reemergence of the Saiyan Queen from what they all perceived as her having been continuously laid up by her near assassination shocked the people.
“Your Majesty!” they shouted as they all ran to crowd around her. Her guards made sure to keep them back.
More than anything else, the fact that her power didn't seem to have changed at all in the last week was what shocked them the most. She knew from measuring herself the night before that her battle power was right at two million, yet she held herself back to where she was right when she left – just barely over three hundred thousand. Why? To avoid making a spectacle of herself.
It was a simple reason, and one that anyone could understand if they knew how powerful she really was. She did the math. As a Super Saiyan, she easily was one of the most powerful people in the universe. And she didn't even have full control over Super Saiyan. Once that happened and it started getting more powerful, it was going to get very hard to hide.
[I]Well, I guess it'll happen eventually. Ugh, what a headache.[/i]
“Yeah, I'm back,” she responded with a smile. These people with their grinning, excited faces – many of them secretly hankering to fight with her to test themselves and their training since the Tournament of Destiny last year – were her people. She was finally home.
Reporters for the local Meat Market newspaper quickly shoved their way through the crowd. One shoved a recording device in her face, despite being held back by one of the guards. “Queen Sarada! Queen Sarada! There are rumors that you actually recovered last week and have been on another planet. Is there any merit to that?”
“Queen Sarada! There are rumors that you're a Super Saiyan.”
“Is Parsley alive?”
“Is Ishtar dead?”
“What do you have to say about the civil war on Callion?”
“What do you have to say about the rumors that a double agent within the Galaxy Police is actively hiding the activities of the Frost Demon Blizz, who is purported as being responsible for your near death?”
So many questions, many of them right on point. Sarada didn't answer any of them, and didn't want to until she had a chance to consult with her council. “No comment.”
The guards started to more forcefully shove the reporters and the massive and ever-growing crowd back to allow Sarada and Maiz to start their assessment. The scrum quickly thinned, until it was only the two of them.
Sarada sighed heavily as they both took to the air. “Pinach and Rutaba have been busy.”
“I told them to keep quiet, but you know who children are,” Maiz responded. “They've been telling all their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their parents, who then tell their friends.” She shook her head. “Before long, the entire planet was buzzing.”
The secret was basically already out. All the media was waiting for was confirmation before running with the story, but the masses had likely already accepted all of it as fact. “I'll deal with that later,” she sighed.
They slowly floated over the city known as the Meat Market, taking note of everything that stood out. The asphalt that the streets were paved with hadn't been resurfaced in over twenty years. Large potholes and cracks posed a health hazard to those that used those streets to travel through the city. The buildings were still constructed from the same cheap bricks that were used forty some-odd years since it was last renovated. They were crumbling and falling apart. Some tried to use their meager funds to procure materials for patch jobs, but those were shoddily done.
Compared to Kakarot City and the other cities across the planet, this was a place not fit for Saiyans to reside. Sarada descended and landed in the middle of a busy intersection.
“Do you see?” Maiz's voice floated down from above. “Think of it this way: if you wouldn't want to live here, in these conditions, why should anyone else?”
“Lady Maiz!” Three young boys came running out of an alley and sprinted up to Sarada. “Hey Yer Majes~tee,” one of them greeted, butchering the final word with a wide grin. “Lookit what I made in school yesterday.” He held up a piece of paper, which had a crudely drawn picture of her with blonde hair. “You're a Super Saiyan, ain't ya?”
Unlike the reporters, there was something... endearing about this boy's question. The childlike innocence, the curiosity. It reminded her of herself when she was around his age. She couldn't help it. A genuine smile appeared as she kneeled down in front of him. With a hand on his shoulder, she nodded. “Yes.”
People weren't as good at detecting lies as they claimed. Despite that, there was no doubting that the single word she spoke carried with it the complete truth.
The boys' eyes widened. “No way!”
“That's right. And guess what? If you train really hard, you three can be Super Saiyans, too.”
They murmured and chirped excitedly between each other before looking back up at her. “Can... can you show us?”
Children were her weakness. If they asked her to do something, she couldn't help but say yes. It was a terrible flaw; one she had to get straightened out before she and Ishtar had their baby, or else she was going to get walked all over. “Don't see why not.” She leaped back to put some room between herself and the boys.
[img]https://i.imgtc.ws/uWY07my.gif[/img]
“WHA WHOOOOAAAAA!!!”
Maiz was absolutely speechless.
It was like moths to a flame. The moment, the very instant Sarada's full power was unfurled like a long-ass dick, Saiyans started pouring out of every crack and crevice and descended down on her like a tidal wave of battle-horny teenagers. Within moments, a massive throng over two million deep had somehow managed to pack together. Millions more were hovering above where they could get a better look at this legendary golden glow.
“The stories were true!” one man exclaimed.
“Holy shit, she really is a Super Saiyan!” a woman chimed.
The excitement they were feeling was tangible and contagious. Sarada didn't want to make a spectacle of herself, but exactly that happened. And she couldn't have been happier. She got congratulations from her Earth friends, but none of them except Parsley, Totoma, and Tasure really appreciated the significance. The people of Vocado did, completely.
As far as they were concerned, this was the first time a Super Saiyan had stepped foot on this planet since their first king thousands of years ago.
She grinned and erupted upward out of the crowd and into the sky. Once she was clear, she belted out a mighty roar and let her power wash over them like golden rays of sunlight. “Behold,” she bellowed. “Your Queen! The mighty Super Saiyan!!”
The crowd's roar could be heard clear on the other side of the planet.
“I have the power to lead us into the future, to protect this and the other worlds from anyone who would seek our destruction, and to bring our race back to our glory days. This is living proof that anything is possible. I, a runaway with a battle power of only fifty a mere three years ago, have achieved the legendary level of power our race could only dream of. Anything is possible.
“My sister, Parsley, was unjustly slain by the Tuffles last year, yet she lives again thanks to the dragonballs. She, too, is a Super Saiyan.”
Alarmed and shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd like agitated rapids.
“Between the two of us, you have nothing to worry about. The Meat Market will be made into a place we all can be proud of. I promise.” With that reassuring word, she exploded into motion, flying away and quickly disappearing over the horizon. Maiz departed a few moments later, albeit much more slowly.
Unveiling the Golden Crown II
“Well, that went far differently than I thought it would,” Maiz commented when they returned to the temple.
Sarada maintained the form. She intended to keep it going as long as she could. Last time, she managed a few hours. She would try to outdo herself this time. If she could manage to keep it up and running for a few days in a row, she'd be in good shape. “I know. If those kids hadn't shown up, this wouldn't have happened.” She sighed and sat down in a chair in the kitchen. “Now, they know pretty much everything. Except the time thing.”
“Best to keep that to yourself.”
“Yeah.” Parsley... she wasn't sure if her sister intended on keeping her resurrection a secret, but it was out now. Whoops. “The Market is in bad shape. We'll have to tear it down and build from the ground up.”
Maiz hummed in agreement. “This will take some time. Before we do anything else, we need to survey the people and find out what it is exactly that they need. Schools, businesses, and stores are a given, but other considerations need to be taken.”
That made sense. There was no reason to start building if they didn't know what the people actually needed. Sarada took a moment to think. It would take too long to actually interview every individual person, so perhaps it was best to take their pulse all at once. “Maybe a town-hall meeting?”
“It'll take several,” Maiz noted. “Perhaps representatives from each block can talk to their neighbors and see what needs to be changed, then those chosen ones can convene at this town-hall meeting to bring up their demands.”
That sounded like the best way to handle it. “Make it so. You or Mato can handle the meeting. We'll give them about a week to decide before we hold this meeting.”
“I suppose this falls under my jurisdiction, so I'll handle it.”
Later that day, the message was broadcast over the evening news. Each block in the Meat Market was the elect a single person to represent them during this meeting, which was to be held at the municipal theater in one week's time. The Saiyans of the Meat Market responded immediately, sending a message to the palace the very next morning with a list of the people due to meet with Maiz. Lemawngras and his son Pasley were among the list. Also among the list was Sprout – a participant and early exit in the ToD – and superstar rapper Arti.
They then spent the following days speaking at length with their neighbors about what was and was not needed in the new city destined to replace the Meat Market once and for all. For one, they wanted parks and gardens, and an combat training center of their own. Also, they needed several clubs – music, dance, and recreation – for entertainment. Oddly, one of the more popular requests was a large park for the children to play in, and for the old ice cream shop to be destroyed. No one argued with that last one; in fact, someone even added a therapeutic fight club after seeing it.
Finally, the morning of the meeting was upon them. At nine o'clock, the chosen people would meet and discuss their needs and wants for their new city with Guardian Maiz.
However, Maiz never showed up.
“Hey, what gives?”
Maiz was still in her temple. Just before she left, she was hit with a premonition. Three large Frost Demon ships were due to descend on Vocado in only a few minutes. Those ships were carrying a massive army that was set to unleash hell on the planet.
Without a second to waste or dawdle, she contacted Sarada telepathically. [i]Sarada, we're about to be under attack. You only have a few minutes to prepare. Find Parsley and—[/i]
Maiz's clairvoyance was still a work in progress. Sometimes, she was right one. Other times, she was off by as much as twenty minutes. This, sadly, was one of those moments. By the time she received the vision and warned Sarada, the war ships had already breached the atmosphere. Two figures had exited the largest ship and were floating high above.
Blizz and his sister Cooled.
With no preamble or pretense, then combined their power to form one massive death ball. It was large enough to block out the morning sun and to attract the attention of every Saiyan that was awake. With minimal gestures, they dropped the orange ball of pure destruction down onto the planet.