10:31 PM 9/2/2012

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z is a property of Akira Toriyama, Toei Animation, and Shueisha.

Summary: When a lack of updates and an overly playful Goku drive Vegeta into temporary hiding within the bowels of Capsule Corp, he decides to take out his frustration on an old typewriter and come up with his own movie plotline. With a morbidly curious Bulma to referee, what kind of dastardly adventure will the prince come up with?

Part 1: "Vegeta Oujisama's Full-Throttle Fairy-Tale"

"Hey Vegeta!...what are you doing with that typewriter and this is going to be one of those days, isn't it?" Bulma's spirited introduction upon poking her head into the prince's bedroom quickly deflated upon witnessing the sight within.

"Simply following where the muses take me." he continued to punch away at the keys while the sounds of the thunderstorm that had blanketed West City now for two days running provided the musical accompaniment to the old tech device Vegeta was using, "And as for why I'm not using one of the many computers you have available; we've been over this before. So the editing-goblin doesn't come by and alter what I've written while I'm asleep."

Bulma raised an eyebrow, "Editing-gobli-"

"-Turles." Vegeta said, speaking the name with the amount of distaste one would have when discussing curdled milk or an empty box of cookies that was left in the drawer instead of thrown away and thus leading on the next unlucky unfortunate to happen upon said box who too late discovers its dark and cavernous secret.

"Oh yeah."

"Also it's two months later and I still don't know the damn plot of that upcoming movie so the Great and Powerful Saiyajin no Ouji's taking matters into his own hands and pounding out his own storyline." he made a pair of fists while staring irritatedly at the ceiling.

"Huh. Yeah, that sounds more like it." Bulma sighed, looking away. She turned her attention back to Vegeta, "But, forgive me if I'm wrong, your highness."

"You are forgiven."

"..." Bulma frowned at him.

"Continue."

"Uh-HUH." she folded her arms, "Anyway, if I recall correctly, pretty much everything you've typed upon that typewriter has turned out to be nothing more than over-exaggerated, out-of-character wish-fulfillment-type fantasies."

"Hmm. While I can't exactly deny that claim-"

"-it's not a claim. It's fact."

"-I can, however, soothe your worries by letting you know that I have gone out of my way to approach this from the true cinematic standpoint of properly retaining accurate representations of the characters involved as the plot demands."

"As the plot demands, huh?" Bulma repeated, skeptical.

"Well if I didn't have any obstacles the whole thing would be over in about a page and a half now, wouldn't it? Where's the challenge in that?"

She looked around the room, "Speaking of "challenges"...?"

"I wouldn't know and seeing as the last time I saw Sugarcookie he was in that uncomfortable "Let's punch Vegeta once and then run away laughing with excitement." mood right now and I'm perfectly happy at the moment to simply let him be."

"He's just bored. Son-kun doesn't know what to do with himself when he's bored."

Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"Besides, it's cute and completely harmless."

"You only say that because it's Muffin who's doing it. I've got a bruise, ya know." he tugged his sleeve up, revealing a barely visible injury.

"You should be happy Son-kun wants to play with you."

"There's got to be a better, saner way for him to express that." the ouji returned to typing.

"So!" she said, pulling up a chair, "In-character, eh?"

"Proof is in the pudding." he held out a pile of pages to her, which she took without reply.

"Alright." Bulma flipped it open to page one, "Let's see what you got!"

"Ah! What a haul! That was fun, wasn't it, Goku-san?" Chi-Chi clapped her hands together as her sandals flip-flopped against the graveled road. The 18 year old ox princess wore a red and purple patterned summer kimono that hid a slim yet athletic figure. Her waist-length dark hair was pulled up in a high ponytail using a decorative accessory. The look on her face was one of pure victory.

"Heh-heh~, I got to fight strong guys all day long! It was great!" her companion and childhood friend of the same age was a martial artist about a head taller than she with spiky midnight-blue hair and a long, fuzzy tail-also midnight-blue. Were it not for these physical characteristics-along with his voracious appetite-Son Goku could easily blend into a crowd. Slung over his back and rubbing up against the light-weight yellow-orange gi he wore was a big sack of money; the collective reward of countless fighters who had passed them on the main road where they'd stationed their "Double or Nothing" sparring stand. With the amount they'd fetched today, it would be enough to feed Goku for a week.

::Well, five to six days at least.:: Chi-Chi reassured herself, though she couldn't help but feel a slight inkling of panic staking out in the back of her mind.

While as a child, Goku's unusually large appetite had been an adorable quirk, the Gyu Kingdom had found that it wasn't so cute a quirk when Goku's already enormous appetite grew along with Goku himself. Logically, it didn't make any sense. He had the outward appearance of any number of in-shape, leanly-muscled, martial artists you could find in the village, but when he ate...where did it all go? Did he really burn that much energy that fast? Even master scholar Gohan couldn't figure it out.

Not knowing why wasn't the problem, however. The fact was Gyu Kingdom was small. There was only so much food to go around and seeing how much of it went to keeping what some of the more irritated were calling "The Princess' Pet" full was not sitting all that well. Chi-Chi had been suggested to try and lower Goku's portions down to that of a typical adult, but that only resulted in a sluggish, lethargic Goku who lay around half-passed-out from hunger. It wasn't until Chi-Chi had noticed the beginnings of a startling weight-loss that she promptly ditched the plan and enacted their current procedure, which, she might add, was working quite nicely, if only as a temporary fix. As much as Goku loved the idea of adventuring all day in search of strong guys to fight who would give them money to buy more food for Goku if he defeated them in battle...eventually the weather would get too cold to venture out, and it was possible that even before the annual snowstorms blanketed the area they might unknowingly pick that one wrong opponent who would be more than a sore loser. They were fighting and earning money from complete strangers, after all! Chi-Chi tried to shake the uneasy thoughts from her head. Eventually something would have to give. She couldn't boot Goku-san out of the kingdom! He was so sweet and naive and even though he had practically no libido he was still absolutely her favorite guy in the whole kingdom. She'd totally let him become her prince if he asked her. Goku of course, with his mind perpetually on either sparring or eating, never did think to ask.

There wasn't a single case like Goku anywhere in the village's medical books, and since Goku was an orphan there weren't any relatives around to ask. He'd been raised by a kindly old martial artist who had come by the then crying toddler in his travels one day. With no means of telling who had left the child behind, the elderly man had simply taken him home.

"Bakemono." Chi-Chi murmured. None of the more unusual aspects of Goku had reminded her of any of the type of monsters she'd heard about as a small child. As far as she was concerned, she didn't care what Goku was, she just wished for him to stay here with her.

As they approached the hilly slopes leading towards the outer gates of Gyu Kingdom, the both of them could tell, even from a distance in the ever-dimming evening light, that something was wrong.

There was a pair of men wearing strange armor and bearing a powerful ki angrily demanding to be let in.

Chi-Chi mentally cursed her kimono, "Goku-san!"

"Yup!" it was hard for him to wipe the smirk from his face despite this dangerous-looking situation. Two more guys to battle! It was like a bonus! He bounded across the hillside, sliding down towards the front gates with the sack full of coins still slung over his shoulder.

One of the heavily-armored men heard a thrushing sound in the grass and turned in time to be beaned across the side of the head with said sack. He hit the ground with an unceremonious thud.

"Ossu!" Goku happily greeted the other would-be-intruder, who had taken a few preliminary steps back. Goku tossed the sack to the side and crouched into a fighting position, "I'm Son Goku! Who're you?" he asked before lunging at his opponent as a full-fledged battle began to take place. His opponent was heavily blocking him, but Goku could sense a strength in both the newcomers that was unlike anyone else he'd fought today.

"We're here on behalf of the Saiyajin Kingdom-"

"-who?"

"-To announce a mandatory battle royale in honor of the heir to the throne."

"-what?"

"-The winner will receive a billion zeni."

"-huh?" Goku still wasn't overly interested.

"WAIT!"

The battle paused as both Goku and the overly-armored man whose helmet had come slightly askew turned to see Chi-Chi standing there with a stunned look on her face.

"Did you say...a BILLION zeni?" she looked at him, barely comprehending, "How is that even possible? I've never seen anyone with armor like yours before, how do we know this isn't just a scam?"

"If you refuse to participate, we've been given instructions to lay waste to whosever kingdom it is in question and take back whatever items may be deemed valuable to our rulers." he sneered down at her.

Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes, staring back at him, "Goku-sa."

Goku reached up and slapped the man upside the head, knocking his helmet overtop of his face and temporarily blocking his vision.

"AARGH!-you, AAGH!" he struggled before finally pulling the helmet back onto its appropriate area, "WHAT, may I ask, is the name of this charming little hole in the ground?"

"Gyu Kingdom, since you asked so nicely." she folded her arms, feeling very self-satisfied, "And actually, a billion zeni would sound really nice about now. Ne, Goku-san?" Chi-Chi smiled sweetly over at him.

"I could buy lotsa snacks with a billion zeni, huh, Chi-Chi?"

"More than you could ever imagine."

"Heh~" Goku's imagination wandered off as his tail flicked lightly to and fro behind him.

"We accept your challenge, but let it be known we don't do it under "orders", but for personal interest." Chi-Chi spoke nonchalantly to the armored man, who was growing increasingly irritated the further along things went, "So? How do we get there?"

"The tournament beings in three weeks; a vehicle will be sent here to pick up any and all entrants."

"Very well then. Three weeks it is." she smiled as the man picked his unconscious fellow up, and, to Chi-Chi's surprise and Goku's curiosity, flew away.

"They-they did that without Kinto'un! SO COOL!" Goku gushed, "I, I wonder how you do that...?"

Chi-Chi could only stare up in shock, "I don't have a clue."

"You haven't shown up yet and that fact alone makes me suspicious." Bulma gazed up from the pile of papers she held in-front of her.

"I don't find it suspicious at all." Vegeta gave a shrug with a composed smirk on his face, "If you'll recall my appearances in the majority of the movies, I was never one to appear off-hand. No, my entrances call for a little more finesse than that. Nearly all of the movies in which I've appeared simply awaited that explosive entry into the storyline, the one where everyone is already in dire straights and they all turn upon hearing my smooth deep voice and shout "Vegeta!" in amazement."

"Uh-huh." she sweatdropped.

"That's not going to happen here, of course, this being an Alternate Universe story, but I feel I should explain myself should you have any questions."

"Okay. I have one more then. What about Gohan?"

"What about Gohan?"

"The way his name was dropped earlier indicated he's an adult in your story, but that can't be if Son-kun and Chi-Chi are this young and seemingly haven't had sex."

"I'm pulling from doujinshi-logic."

"Pardon?"

"In doujins you can have an Alternate Universe where characters exist in particular roles at particular ages while not being related to those they otherwise would be and thus allow you the elbowroom you need for the theatre-play, or in this case, movie."

"Still not quite sure I get it."

Vegeta folded his arms, "The doujins where each of Kakarrotto's forms appears as his own individual character and you can somehow have base form, ssj1, 2, 3, and 4 standing together in the same room even though that's impossible in real life since it's all essentially the game guy."

"Ohhh. That." Bulma pondered out-loud, then chuckled, "Bad things tend to happen to you in those sorts of doujinshi." she grinned at him.

"Well they're not happening here!" he snapped, irritated and red in the face. Vegeta cleared his throat, "Gohan plays the part of a scholar in my script, but he isn't their son because Kakarrotto and Onna are in their late teens."

"You should've mentioned that earlier."

Vegeta stared back at her sourly.

"Aw relax, relax." Bulma smiled, patting him on the back and turning the page.

It looked like a tornado had blown through. The gates outside the village had done a good job of hiding it, but once Chi-Chi and Goku had let themselves inside, they saw just how obvious it was that the two men they'd just disposed of had already paid the village's interior a visit. The main roads were littered with unconscious and injured warriors alongside the many emergency response teams who were rapidly trying to treat their wounds.

"Chi-Chi!" the Ox King's voice resounded as he ran up to her, a giant in his own right. He had thrown some old armor over his casual clothes and his glasses were askew with the left frame now cracked, "I'm so relieved you're alright!"

"Yeah I'm...I'm fine.." her mind was preoccupied by the destruction.

"Those guys I just fought, they did do this?" Goku asked.

Ox King nodded, "They demanded we send our strongest fighters to participate in some kind of tournament. We'd never heard of these guys before. They were really rude and pushy about it that no one wanted to volunteer, so we said no. That's when they attacked."

"We were able to kick them out and lock the gates behind them, but just barely." Tenshinhan, now with his arm in a sling, approached the group.

"Ohhh. If we hadn't been gone all day..." Chi-Chi trailed off.

"We could've stopped them a lot sooner, yeah."

She glowered at him for a moment, then let out a bitter sigh.

"Where were you, anyway?" Ox King asked her, concerned.

Chi-Chi flinched. Her eyes lingered on the sack of coins, "We won this fairly." she said as Goku set the sack down and opened it up.

"Whoa! That's incredible!" Ox King's gasped.

"It's probably enough to cover the damage to the village." she frowned as Goku's attention suddenly jumped at her, "I'm sorry. What are we gonna do? Just leave it like this?"

"It's alright, really." he smiled sadly back at Chi-Chi, which only succeeded in bring her down further, "I'm gonna go help out, kay?" Goku motioned over to where Kuririn and Yamcha were working to put a house back together.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"You're kidding?! You ran into them on your way back and creamed 'um?" Kuririn gawked as he hammered a door while Goku held it in place.

"Uhn! They were pretty strong, and I think they were holding back, but I could take 'um no problem." Goku smiled, his tail wafting behind him. A serious expression crossed his face, " 'N now that I know they did all this bad stuff to my home, I'm happy I'm gonna enter their tournament thing."

"But you don't even know where this Saiyajin Kingdom place is." Yamcha interjected as he fit a window in place, "Bulma went through all the maps in the entire library and she couldn't find a single one that even mentioned "saiyajin"."

"Maybe it used to be called something else, and they just changed the name." Kuririn thought out-loud.

Yamcha frowned, "If that's the case then it could be anywhere."

"Hmm.." Goku pouted as he climbed up onto Kinto'un. The fluffy yellow cloud hovered up near the roof, where Goku spotted a bowling-ball-sized hole, "Uwehh! There is damage everywhere!"

"What were we supposed to do about it? They could fly!" Juuhachigou exclaimed from inside the house as she stared up at Goku from the other side of the hole, "And not like what you're doing either."

"I know, I saw 'um." Goku nodded, then made a pair of fists while looking off into the distance, "I need to learn how to do that!"

"Well if anyone can, it's probably you." Kuririn thought out-loud.

"They are coming back in three weeks, right? How 'bout we all train together and you can come with me?"

Kuririn laughed nervously, "Sorry Goku, those guys were crazy strong. There's no way I could hold up against them."

The front door swung open, "It's a BILLION zeni, Kuririn. We're going." Juuhachigou bluntly stated.

"YAY!" Goku cheered only to have Juuhachigou point at him.

"Don't."

"Unnn." Goku pouted.

"What about you, Yamcha?" Kuririn asked, feeling a bit morbid now that he'd been ordered to go along, "Are you gonna come with us too?"

"Ah-well, you see...you know my luck with first rounds isn't all that great and I know Bulma's not going to be entering and with the village like this it'd be really awful of me to leave her behind and Tenshinhan's gotta have somebody besides Gohan and Piccolo to help him keep the peace so..."

"Son-kun!" a pair of hands reached out and clasped Goku's in theirs, "I heard you were back! We did a pretty good job taking care of those guys earlier, but I wish you'd been here to help; I did hear you got a chance at them before they left though." Bulma beamed up at him.

"Heh-heh~ even though I was tired I still had fun fightin' um." he smiled back.

"So!" she let go, "What are you guys up to?"

"All of us are going to enter that tournament of theirs to win the money." Juuhachigou replied, motioning to the four of them.

Yamcha froze, "Ah-"

"Really? That's really brave of you." Bulma folded her arms, impressed.

Kuririn let out a barely-disguised panicky laugh, "Yeah, brave."

Bulma strode up to Yamcha and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder, "You gonna show those jerks who's boss, huh?"

"Y-yeah? I guess I am?"

She paused, "Why are you ending everything with a question mark?"

"Am I? I didn't notice? Hahaha?"

"Aw, no need to worry, Yamcha. It'll be fun!" Goku was already starting to get excited. An unknown tournament facing really strong guys and a chance to win more than enough money to fix the remaining damage done to the village and to grow and buy enough food to keep himself regularly fed sounded great.

"Fun. Right." Yamcha returned to his work, a little worse for wear, "Go team."

"Vejita, you seem tense. Is there anything I can do?"

"Huh?" picked out of his train of thought, the saiyajin prince kept his eyes on the moonlight scenery just outside the open window a moment longer, even though his attention had fled from it at the interruption behind him. His muscular build and dark chocolate flame hair along with his typically over-confident attitude that occasionally clouded his natural intelligence made for an imposing figure. This evening however had left the prince in a rather melancholic mood.

"Might I pick your brain?" Brolli walked up to him.

"That sounds uncomfortably messy." Vegeta frowned, waving a hand in the air, "I decline."

This time it was Brolli's turn to pout, "Vejita..." the guard was a good 60cm taller than Vegeta and easily one of the tallest saiyajin in the royal guard. Every time Vegeta spoke with him he felt like he was talking more at Brolli's stomach than to Brolli himself. As looks went, the guard was brawny, but his sheer height slimmed that a bit; he wasn't a rock like Nappa was. Brolli's medium-length dark green hair flowed just below his shoulders with bangs framing his surprisingly kind, gentle face. Vegeta would place the two of them in league with one another in terms of attractiveness, but as they weren't competing against each other for the heart of some third person, that didn't really matter, "..you know, it's no good for you to brood like this. There are far more..satisfying ways to spend your spare time." his voice dropped to a whisper.

The ouji flinched.

"Vegeta-sa~n!" the door to the prince's private chambers swung open with a heavy thunk, "Interesting developments have occurred!" Turles smirked widely.

If looks could kill, the intense, heavily-controlled rage burning on Brolli's face would have transformed Turles into a corpse before he even had a chance to finish that initial sentence. Everything about the sneaky, double-entendre-loving trouble-maker irritated Brolli. Turles' personality was like a tossed-salad of pet peeves to him, and what was worse was how the other guard consistently picked Vegeta out as one of his favorite targets to tease. With spiky, logic-defying hair a similar, yet not identical shade to Vegeta's, Turles stood at a height precisely between that of Vegeta's more petite stature and Brolli's massive tallness. Brolli would occasionally metaphor that this was a visual representation of the fact that Turles continuously seemed to stand in his way when it came to attempting to spend quality private time with the prince. Brolli often wondered why Turles was in the royal guard at all; he never followed instructions, broke the rules for his own entertainment, and increasingly upset a personally-chosen select group of targets. As far as Brolli was aware, that unlucky group included the prince, himself, and another fellow guard with long spiky hair named Raditz who stood at average saiyajin height and was diametrically opposed to Turles when it came to following the rules. Brolli would occasionally silently cheer Raditz on in hopes of him finally snapping and disposing of Turles so that he, Brolli, could be rid of the space pirate without having a murder on his conscience.

"I'm listening." Vegeta watched him skeptically as he folded his arms and leaned back against the wall, away from Brolli.

"First, the boring part, but trust me, there's a pay off. All the soldiers the king sent out to those various villages returned unscathed,"

"As expected."

"with a single exception." Turles held up a pointer finger, "The two men sent to recruit invitees from Gyu Kingdom are at the intensive care ward. Somebody beat them to a pulp, and they won't say who."

Curiosity sparked in Vegeta's eyes as he slowly unfolded his arms, "They won't say who?" he repeated, stunned.

"It had to be someone incredibly strong, maybe even stronger than you."

"Impossible!" Vegeta snapped, disgusted at this last part, yet intrigued by the former.

Brolli held his tongue, he was stronger than Vegeta, but it wasn't something he advertised as to protect the ouji's fragile ego.

"Not only that, the men said this person is going to participate in the tournament. If they win you'll get to fight them in the final round, so you better make sure you train plenty hard until then."

"Hmph. You can count on that even if it weren't for such news. The saiyajin no ouji does not slack off." Vegeta boasted.

"I'm aware." Turles smirked back.

"In fact, I should be sleeping by now or I'll never be sharp enough to make my morning itinerary. I want the both of you out of here and back in your own quarters now."

Brolli was grief-stricken. Turles looked like a pleased kitty. Vegeta ignored the both of their reactions and physically motioned for them to leave, then closed and locked the door behind them upon their departure.

A single person strong enough to take down two of the saiyajin kingdom's fully-armored elite soldiers; it must have been an exquisite sight. Vegeta closed his eyes. Yes, this would have to be a warrior with unbridled strength, artful grace, and a high level of intellect behind immensely complex fighting techniques. The prince went to bed dreaming of going up against this magnificent mystery fighter.

"Huuh! Huuh! Huuh!" Goku breathed heavily as he continued his morning laps around the outskirts of the village, Kinto'un flying beside him. The sun had barely breeched the horizon and the remnants of the past night were still visible in the sky. He'd thrown on a clean gi along with his wristbands, yet his feet were suspiciously bare.

"Mmphmh?" Kinto'un tilted towards him inquisitively.

"It's cuz it's easier to practice stuff like this without my shoes." was Goku's reply. He slowed down a bit and did a hop-jump into the air before letting out a small ki blast with his feet. The blast pushed him up higher and allowed him to temporarily levitate before gravity took its hold and he dropped back to the ground.

"Mph!"

"Heh-heh~ yeah I know." he grinned back at the cloud, "I know it's not quite the same thing, but I bet if I could see them use that technique a couple more times I could figure it out."

"Mmphmphhm?"

"No way! Even if I really do learn how to fly, there is no way I would forget 'bout Kinto'un or not ride on him anymore!" the suggestion upset him. Goku skidded to a halt and looked back at Kinto'un, concerned, before climbing up on-top of the cloud and giving it a hug from on-top, "That'd be so mean I'd never do somethin' like that."

"Mphmm. Mmph phhh mph."

Goku rolled over onto his back to gaze up at the sky, his tail wafting lightly as it hung over the side of Kinto'un, "Weh..."

Something heavy came down to playfully tap him on the belly.

"Oop!" Goku sat up to see Chi-Chi standing there holding nyoi-bo.

"Don't feel so down, Kaguya-hime, your escorts have arrived to take you back to the moon!"

"Huh?" he blinked at her, smiling and confused.

"I'm joking of course, Goku-sa." Chi-Chi spun nyoi-bo about, then tossed it to him. He caught the bo staff with no trouble.

"I do not understand." he tilted his head a bit.

"For someone named after a character from a fairytale...ah, it is Goku-san after all so he probably wouldn't know unless it was something interesting to him." she thought out-loud to herself.

"I'll listen."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, a little skeptical, "...Okay. Mukashi mukashi, a long long time ago there was an elderly bamboo cutter who discovered a shining stalk of bamboo in the dead of night. Inside he found a baby girl with hair that glowed in the light of the moon. The old man took her back home where he and his wife raised her as their own. The couple experienced much good fortune from then on and the family became prosperous and happy." Chi-Chi began. Goku could tell she was reciting partly from something she had read somewhere, "As she grew, she became extraordinarily beautiful and gained many unwanted suitors who she successfully got rid of by thinking up impossible requests of them in exchange for her hand. She was such an unusual beauty that even the emperor fell for her, but Kaguya had no interest even in him despite his repeated attempts to court her. Time passed and one hot summer's night she tearfully revealed her true nature to her adoptive parents, "I'm not of this country. I am not even from this planet. I have come from the Kingdom of the Moon, sent to this place for my own protection, and as its princess, soon my escorts will arrive to take me back to my true home." The old man and old woman were grief-stricken and the emperor posted guards to prevent anyone from stealing Kaguya away from the home and the friends and family she had grown to love. His effort was in vein as her escorts were able to enter anyway, blinding the guards with their moonlight. Before they could reach her, she drank a sip of

an immortality elixir and secretly handed off the bottle to the emperor.

The escorts reached her, and Kaguya, defeated and with a heavy heart, went with them. As they left, one of the escorts placed a feathered robe over her shoulders and by doing so magically erased all of her feelings towards the people of Earth. The old couple soon grew ill and the emperor, heartbroken, destroyed the remaining elixir instead of drinking from it, as he could not bear to live forever if they were unable to ever meet again."

"That's so sad."

"Not all fairytales end happily ya know."

"You don't gotta worry, Chi-Chi, I'm not from the moon. At least, I don't think I am. Even if I was, I wouldn't let 'um take me away; I'd beat 'um up instead!" Goku grinned, pointing a thumb at himself.

Chi-Chi laughed at this, "Yeah, I guess you would."

"They're here."

Goku and Chi-Chi turned to see Piccolo standing there, looking a little worse for wear.

"Piccolololo~, yo!" Goku waved to him, "Are you gonna tell me a story too?" he watched Piccolo curiously.

"What? No! They really are here, though, they sent a different pair of soldiers from before."

"I must've really creamed the old ones, huh? They sent stronger guys?" Goku asked, entertained.

"I...would almost prefer the previous pair."

"Why's that?" Chi-Chi placed a hand on her hips.

Piccolo spun around, his cape flowing behind him, "Follow me. You'll see."

Goku opened his mouth excitedly.

"That was an accident. Do not rhyme back at me."

Instead Goku pouted, leaning forward on Kinto'un as the cloud floated on after Piccolo, Chi-Chi striding beside him.

"I would, really, appreciate it, if you'd, both sit down." Gohan repeatedly dodged the various items in the waiting room that were being tossed around not out of violence, but rampant curiosity.

"WHOA! Look at this!"

"It's an ice cream maker! Make mine picante!"

"That's not an ice cream maker!" Gohan exclaimed, "It's a blender!"

Lifting up the lid to the blender, the first guard dropped random items off of Gohan's desk inside, than pressed start before Gohan could reach them. Rubbing his hands together, the second guard suddenly had an empty sugarcone in his hands which he held underneath the blender's spout. To Gohan's disbelief, a green ice cream poured out and into the cone.

"Mmm~ delicious!"

"W-what?" Gohan stammered, baffled.

"Me next!" the guards switched places, "I want a fudgy wudgy!"

"That's impossible!" Gohan exclaimed.

"Comin' right up!" the second guard pressed a button on the blender labeled "fudgy wudgy", which sat beside another that read "orange creamsicle". Out of the spout popped a fully formed chocolate ice cream pop complete with wooden stick stuck into the bottom.

"How refreshing!"

"I..ah...wh...huh..." Gohan just stood there with his brain half-broken from the completely logic-defying sight he was witnessing.

The door to the study opened to reveal Piccolo standing there with Goku and Chi-Chi on either side of him.

"PICCOLO-SAN!" Gohan ran up to him, "I, you, THEY, HOW?"

"Damn. I knew I shouldn't have left you alone with them." Piccolo sighed, rubbing his temples, "You alright, Gohan?"

"Buh...no, no I don't think I am. I just need some rest is all." he nervously adjusted the frames of his glasses.

"Ossu!" Goku greeted the two guards, who hadn't realized more guests were there until Goku had done so, "I'm Son Goku! Who're you?"

"Vejitto."

"Gogeta." they both responded in unison, boggling Goku's ears.

Vejitto tapped himself on the chest, "We're with the Saiyajin Kingdom's royal guards and we're here to pick up anyone who's entering the tournament."

Chi-Chi grabbed a protective hold of one of Goku's hands, confusing him. Placed up against these reality-bending loose-cannons made Goku's own brand of silliness adorable by comparison.

"How many contestants are we here for?" Gogeta asked.

Himself, Kuririn, Yamcha, Juuhachigou, "Four."

"Five!" Chi-Chi announced, raising her hand.

"Really?" Goku grinned at her.

"Ox King's not going to like this, Chi-Chi." Piccolo warned, wary.

"He'll be fine. Tousan's a big guy; he can take care of himself."

"So where's the other three?"

"Still sleeping I guess." Chi-Chi shrugged.

Vejitto pulled a rooster out from behind his back with one hand and a trumpet with the other, "Well then, let's go wake some people up!"

"Someone's gonna pay for that. I just haven't decided who yet." Juuhachigou rubbed her ears as she, a bed-headed Yamcha, and a dizzy Kuririn stood there in a row.

An already wide-awake-thanks to caffeine-Bulma was hurriedly dashing around inspecting the vehicle expected to take the contestants to their destination. She snapped photos as she went while simultaneously taking notes about the aircraft.

"This is gonna take us there, huh?" Goku had put his boots on in the meantime and now stood there in curious excitement.

"And you two know how to fly this thing, huh?" Chi-Chi motioned to Vejitto and Gogeta, uncertain.

"No need to doubt us, ma'am. We're professionals!" Gogeta gave her a thumbs-up.

"We've got years of experience that keeps us safe." Vejitto beat a hand against his chest.

"Oh...kay..."

Swinging the door to the ship open, Gogeta stood beside it, "All aboard!"

Goku hopped in, "Wow! It's got a roof-window!"

"What?" Chi-Chi stepped in after him and let out a small gasp upon seeing the skylight above them. Porthole-type windows sat in rows on the sides of the ship, "Oh!"

Juuhachigou sat down in the nearest available seat and Kuririn sat down beside her.

Yamcha let out a yawn as he just collapsed on a nearby empty bench-seat, half-passing out on contact.

As Goku and Chi-Chi sat down, the door shut behind them. Goku peered out the porthole window to wave to everyone as the ship began to lift upward. Bulma, Gohan, and Piccolo among others waved back, each to varying degrees.

Once they were out of eyeshot, Goku sat back in his seat and gazed up at the sky-roof once more. Now this was an adventure! He couldn't keep the grin off his face, "It's gonna be fun!" he pumped his fists in the air.

Chi-Chi sighed, still taking in their surroundings, "I hope so."

They'd been riding for at least fifteen minutes and Chi-Chi couldn't help rid herself of a disquieting feeling. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it was bothering her. Something wasn't right.

"We haven't gone down."

"Huh?" she looked over at Goku, who only smiled back at her.

"I mean, we haven't leveled out yet; if I was riding Kinto'un instead of this thing, I'd be really cold by now, unless I was wearing my winter clothes I guess." he nodded, "Is it cold where we're going?" Goku asked the pilots.

"Only in parts." Vejitto replied.

"And only sometimes." Gogeta added.

"Oh."

Goku turned back to face Chi-Chi, "I bet it's a sky island!"

"Impossible! There is no such thing!"

"We're here!" Gogeta announced, "Well, not here as in there, but you can see there from here."

Chi-Chi turned her attention to the front windows. Her jaw slackened. It was indeed a humongous island floating in the sky. She could just barely make out the city skyline in the distance, along with the silhouette of a massively complex, intimidating castle.

Yamcha and Kuririn were just as shocked and stunned as Chi-Chi. Juuhachigou was mildly interested. Goku's excitement was still plastered across his face and growing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, señors and señoritas, minna, we are proud to introduce you to the Saiyajin Kingdom!" Vejitto motioned to the world floating in the sky before them as it grew ever closer.

"Wow..." Goku trailed off, "So COOL!"

"Heh-heh." Vejitto and Gogeta grinned back at him.

"Make sure your seatbelts are fastened! Else you're in for a bumpy landing." Gogeta nodded wisely.

"'Kay~!" Goku cheerfully replied, doing so.

Though a little rough, the landing wasn't nearly that bad. Looking around, Kuririn could tell they'd actually landed in what appeared to be a private airport. There were at least half a dozen other ships, empty, parked across the way.

"Aw, last ones back?" Gogeta frowned.

"Not so bad." Vejitto folded his arms, "Though first would be worst."

"And second'd be best."

"And third is the one with the hairy chest."

"How manly!"

"It has been passed down the line through generations."

"What are you talking about?" Yamcha asked, completely baffled.

"If you have to ask, you'll never know."

"Just let out of the damn car. Or plane. Or whatever this thing is." Juuhachigou bluntly stated.

"Rrrrogerrr!" Gogeta rolled his r's as he gave her a salute. Both fusions undid their seatbelts and made for the door while their passengers got up to follow them.

What greeted the visitors was a light, cool spring breeze quite different than the intense summer heat back home.

"I guess the seasons would be different up here." Kuririn decided.

"Not to mention we don't know how far we actually traveled." Yamcha added to it.

"True." at this Kuririn felt a pang of anxiety. They could be halfway around the world by now for all he knew.

"This way!"

"Follow us!"

The two soldiers were motioning their small audience towards the first of several outer gates that would eventually take them to the castle.

Chi-Chi felt nauseous just looking at it, and she wasn't actually on the grounds themselves yet. It was the sort of place that would be easy to get lost in, or easy to lose someone else in. She looked back over at Goku, who was already emotionally lost in the vastness of the place. He could sense powerful ki's inside the castle, she could tell just by the expression on his face.

"We're sad to say this is where we have to leave you off." Gogeta shrugged.

"So sad, but not a goodbye, we'll see you all later." Vejitto waved to them.

"Wait, what?" Kuririn turned only to see both of them had vanished from sight.

The first set of gates, followed by the second, third, and fourth, all slowly opened before them. Each area had its own set of grounds with different types of flora growing within. While everyone else was captivated by the setting at large, Goku found his attention drawn to the enormously-sized fruits and vegetables that hung from the trees and sprouted from the ground. Never in his life had he seen food that size. His stomach rumbled. The fifth and final gate opened to reveal their first glimpse of the castle's interior and a huge, cavernous waiting area.

"Ah, well, that explains it." a tall figure stepped out of the shadows and into the hall, his deep blue cape flowing behind him. This man wore dark armor in a more ceremonial style than the soldiers they had met earlier, his hair a lighter shade than his son's, yet in the same familiar style. He also sported facial hair in the form of a mustache and beard, both cut short. Something long and fuzzy, identical in shade to his hair, was wrapped around his waist.

Chi-Chi felt her heart in her throat, she knew what it was, ::This can't be happening.::

"Though I have to admit, I'm quite surprised to find a fellow saiyajin living that far away. How do you keep yourself fed?"

"You're not his dad, are you?!" Chi-Chi blurted out, worried.

"What?! NO!" King Bejito eyeballed her, "He doesn't look a thing like me or my wife for one and as far as I'm aware I've only got two sons and this young man is neither of them."

"Uh-ohh."

Juuhachigou leaned over at her, "Hey, you feeling alright? You seem kinda jumpy."

"I'm fine. Really." Chi-Chi gave a quick light laugh, embarrassed now.

"Chi-Chi read somethin' in a book one time and she thought I was the moon princess." Goku pointed to himself.

"..." Juuhachigou stared over at him blandly, "Yeah, I'm gonna stop it right there." she felt a headache coming on.

"But I'm not because my hair doesn't glow in the dark."

"Goku, let it drop."

"Let what drop?"

"Aren't we kind of missing a huge point here?" Yamcha spoke up, "That guy over there was talking like he's the same as Goku. So maybe he knows what Goku is."

"Were you not listening? I already said he's a saiyajin." the king responded, folding his arms, "We are a proud warrior race whose kingdom extends across this entire island."

"So...I came from here?" Goku motioned to the area around them.

"Most likely, though for all I know you were born somewhere else. You can search for your birth records some other time, that isn't why I've brought you all here. We've got a tournament set to begin at dawn, and you're all going to take part I presume?"

"Um, and the prize money?" Kuririn nervously inquired.

"Yes, yes. If you win, the money is yours. However, the champion of the tournament will have to face one more challenger before they can collect their winnings."

"Oh..no, it's not you is it?"

"BWAHAHAHA!" he let out a laugh from his gut, "Ah, no. It's someone far more vicious than I; the heir to my kingdom and high prince-my older son. No one is deadlier. His skills and power are beyond anything ever seen in the history of the saiyajin people. With his keen wit, massive intellect, and raw talent, there's little even the most vested warrior could do against-"

"-OW." Vegeta said, mostly for effect as he rubbed his side after having Bulma jab him with her elbow, "What? It's true."

"Doesn't mean you have to prattle on like that. Bad enough you do that in reality. It doesn't mean people want to hear your characters go on about how awesome you are for paragraphs on end." she pointed out, irritated.

"It's my father. He would brag about me."

"Even so."

The ouji rubbed his side once more, even though what Bulma had done hadn't actually hurt him, then turned his attention back to the typewriter and continued on.

"-his killer magnetism." the king finished.

"Sounds fun!" Goku grinned widely.

At this Bejito was stumped, "Fun?"

"I hope he's really as strong as you say; those guys I fought the other day were easy to beat."

The king laughed at this, "You're a cheeky one, aren't you? I wonder how my son's going to take this; he's been very curious about who it was that disposed of those guards. Neither of them would say who it was who defeated them, I can see why. Now, let's get some food in you; I'm going to need everyone at the top of their game for tomorrow."

"Why are you having a tournament anyway? And if your kingdom's full of fighters, why would you need to search for more?" Chi-Chi asked, curious.

Bejito frowned, "The prince has been rather lost lately. He needs a challenge to snap him out of it, so I'm providing one. There isn't anything more you need to know."

"UWAAIIII!" Goku could scarcely believe it. The room before him was like something out of a dream; food everywhere. The long table held huge portions of food from all the food groups, some of them at sizes he'd never seen before today.

Likewise, the rest of the group was a bit overwhelmed. There was no way they could finish all that food the way Goku could.

"I guess this does explain a lot." Kuririn murmured as he watched Goku dig in with a ravenous intent to the food. His childhood friend was eating with the sort of reckless, guiltless abandon Kuririn hadn't seen for a while, at least since before Goku's appetite began to be a problem for the Gyu Kingdom.

"He'll come back home with us when this is over, right?" Chi-Chi said, unsure if she were talking to Kuririn or more to herself, "Goku-san wouldn't leave his treasured friends and family so easily, right?"

"A world full of warriors to spar against and enough food to keep himself regularly full and healthy? I don't see why he'd want to stay here." Juuhachigou sarcastically quipped.

Chi-Chi shot her a glare, "That's not nice! I don't want to lose Goku-san just as much as you wouldn't want to lose Kuririn!"

"Somehow I don't think we're going to be propositioned by a floating island full of short bald noseless men anytime soon." Juuhachigou responded.

"Hey! I...hey!" Kuririn stammered, trying to pick out exactly what part of all that was insulting to him.

A little gasp came from across the room. They turned back to Goku, who was sitting there in-front of a now near-empty table. He stumbled out of his chair and to his feet, his eyes watery.

"Goku-sa!" Chi-Chi ran over to him, "Are you ok? Did you eat too fast? Is there something caught in your throat?"

"I'm full." he looked over at her with wide eyes. They weren't tears of pain, they were tears of happiness.

"..." she stared back at Goku, frightened before wrapping her arms around him, "I'll stay here with you then!"

"Huh?" Goku blinked, befuddled.

"You can't do that, Chi-Chi! What about the kingdom we all came from!?" Yamcha exclaimed, "Plus your family!"

"Huh?" Goku's confusion grew. He wasn't trying very hard to figure out what was going on; his body felt so wonderful with his belly full. He wished the tournament was starting now instead of tomorrow. There wasn't anything he wanted now more than to test out all his body at full power. It felt so good, "Chi-Chi, I wanna go do some warm-ups now."

"What? Yeah, sure." she let go of him and watched as Goku dashed across the room and began experimenting with a few sit-ups.

It really did feel wonderful. This was the right amount of food. He felt like he could take on the entire island and win, "How am I gonna sleep now? Hey you guys! What about the other contestants from the other villages? You think they'd wanna spar with me as a warm-up?"

"They're probably sleeping, which if we hadn't been stuck with such ridiculous escorts we would be too. Even if they weren't, sparring with them would be a terrible idea; it'd reveal your weaknesses to them and give them time to strategize against you." Juuhachigou shook her head.

"But I do not have any weaknesses." Goku said innocently, "'cept maybe my tail. It still weakens me somethin' awful when it gets squeezed." his tail flicked about behind him.

"You don't say that sort of thing out-loud! You're lucky they're not here to hear that!" she exclaimed.

"Goku-san..." Chi-Chi covered her face with her palms.

He's a saiyajin.

What?

The one who took down those guards. I don't blame them for not revealing it earlier. He's a peasant, a third class. It would be humiliating for them to admit a commoner took them down.

Which means that, for a peasant, he's outrageously strong.

For any saiyajin he's outrageously strong; but of course, not nearly as powerful as you or I. At least, I don't suspect it.

Vegeta found himself sneaking around the castle at night for the first time in years. His father had left the situation on such a cliffhanger that he couldn't help himself. He had to catch a glimpse of this long-lost member of the kingdom, this peasant with unfathomable power.

And so here he found himself in the guest hall, breaking easily half a dozen rules. The ouji bent down to the door whose location he'd threatened out of the guards and the used the key he'd stolen from the storage closet to open the door before slipping inside in the dead of night.

Fast asleep, spread out on his back, and letting out little gurgling snores was a type-3 saiyajin peasant with midnight blue hair and his tail hanging dangerously over the side of the bed. How reckless! Anyone could come along and with a simple flick of the wrist this supposed monster would be reduced to nothing.

Vegeta did admit he kind of wanted to try it, as childish as he thought it to be. Though he himself had long trained his own tail, it was quite obvious from the way this saiyajin slept that he didn't treat his own quite the same way, if at all. The prince instead peered down to get a closer look at the saiyajin's face. Cute, but easily a dime a dozen among peasants. There were so many saiyajin peasants of this build and hair that it was actually rumored that the legendary super saiyajin from hundreds of years ago was a type-3 and due to that alone many saiyajin women had clamored to procreate with him; hence, the distant future which was now today had lots of babies that looked like this. That was only a rumor though, after all. Vegeta sighed. He was hoping that even though it was just another person from his kingdom that it would be someone more unique than this. The hair-color was the only twist here; the only others he knew of who had this shade of blue hair were Raditz and Raditz's mother. Neither of them were type-3...though Raditz's father was. Vegeta wondered if he would see eyes that mirrored Bardock's when the saiyajin opened them. The prince was wrong. Those were not Bardock's eyes. In-fact, they were a lot like Turles', only instead of a mischievous glint these eyes held a vague foggy haze.

"Ano..." Goku uncomfortably spoke up, and by doing so broke the spell.

Vegeta instantly leapt back, having realized exactly what he'd been doing and how close he'd been. Oh culinary arts! He'd been practically on-top of that complete stranger! With only the bed-sheets between them!

Goku sat up, watching this intruder with the immensely powerful ki signature.

"This is a dream! You're still asleep." Vegeta thought up on the fly, ::Who would believe that!? Idiot!:: he mentally kicked himself.

"Can we go dream-sparring then?"

::He bought it!:: Vegeta was struck somewhere between being relieved and appalled. At least he'd successfully switched topics. The horrific mental image appeared in his head of him introducing himself while still atop the other saiyajin.

:::Hi, I'm Prince Vegeta Oujisama. Welcome to the royal castle. You may notice it's the middle of the night, your formerly locked door is ajar, and I'm laying on-top of you in what could be misconstrued as non-platonic maneuver while you slept in your bed even though you and I are total strangers to each other, but hey, nice to meet you! What's your favorite awkward thing to do at 2am, seeing as you already know what mine is.::: "Ohhhhh.." the ouji groaned, his face flushing.

Meanwhile, outside Vegeta's imagination, Goku was already putting his gi back on over his boxer shorts and tank top. He pulled his boots on and hopped to his feet.

"OK! Let's go!" Goku announced.

"Whuh?" Vegeta's attention returned to reality and he grimaced at the loud and unflattering yellow-orange martial arts uniform the other saiyajin wore, "That's what you're going to fight in tomorrow?"

"Uhn!"

::Oh my head, adorable-sounding affirmative noises in place of "yes". He's going to be destroyed out there.:: the prince grimaced. And unlike Turles' smooth-talking and the perpetual tough-guy tones of Bardock's take on the type-3 saiyajin voice, this guy was randomly jumping up an octave for barely half a beat while he was talking; like a squeaky shoe, "You're not doing that on purpose, are you?"

"Not doing what on purpose?"

Vegeta momentarily cringed on the "what", which was where the squeak popped out this time. Depending on if one liked the person or not, this was either going to be a heart-melting cute-type character quirk or a pet peeve irritating enough where this saiyajin wasn't going to walk away from the tournament tomorrow with his voice-box still attached.

"Are we gonna spar now?"

"I didn't say anything about that!"

"I know, I did." Goku paused, "So can we? And now that I think 'bout it, I'm pretty sure I'm not dreaming. See? I can pinch myself and it hurts!" he tested it out on his cheek, "Heh-heh. Oh! I'm Son Goku." he switched gears and held out his hand to shake Vegeta's gloved one.

"Vegeta Oujisama." he replied without thinking.

"You look a lot like the guy who welcomed us, only shorter, and without any moostache or beard."

"I'm his son."

"OH! He said he had two. Yeah, yeah, you look a lot more like him that I do."

"I wouldn't expect you to." the prince sweatdropped.

"So that means..."

"I'm the prince."

"Neat! Are you checking in on everybody to make sure they're sleepin' ok? That's nice 'a you..and kinda weird, but maybe it is just because I'm not used to this place."

"I don't go around checking on guests at night, this was...this is very awkward."

"I'LL SAY." Goku exclaimed, not offended or anything, just baffled, "It is not every night I wake up with somebody I've never met in my bed watchin' me sleep."

"That's...not what I was doing...honest..." even though this didn't seem to matter nearly as much as it should to Goku, it was still heaving heaps of discomfort onto Vegeta, "...I was inspecting you...since..since you beat up those guards and no one would say who did it so I wanted to see and...I do realize I could have gotten a regular look at you regularly in the daylight during the tournament which would be far, far less creepy than this is feeling, so..."

"Can we spar now?"

"Are you mad!? It's the middle of the night! I'll fight you tomorrow IF you happen to be lucky enough to make it past all those competitors and win the tournament. I'M the one you fight in the final round."

"You must be really strong then!"

Vegeta smirked. This was something he could handle, "Now, I don't like to go about tooting my own horn-" was a vicious lie.

"-you've got a horn?"

"I-" Vegeta felt like he'd been smacked with a brick of befuddlement, "You're...something else, aren't you?"

Goku gave a genuine smile back at him.

The prince had to spin around so he faced the door instead of Goku, ::ARGH! That was so damn cute! It's like my chest is going to explode! He's going to be annihilated in the first round!:: he felt ill at the thought, "I'll be going now."

"Oh. Ohkay. G'night!" Goku chimed in from his bed.

Vegeta trudged out of the room, "Yeah, goodnight." he carefully shut the door behind him and silently began to sneak back to the royal chambers.

12:55 AM 9/7/2012

~*End of Part 1*~