A VERY DRAGONBALL Z CHRISTMAS

Vegeta deeply frowned as he drove the car along the snowy trail, hewn amongst a dense wintry forest, which led up to his undesired destination. With his wife, Bulma, alongside him in the passenger seat and his young, eight-year-old son, Trunks, in the back, Vegeta looked up to the rearview mirror and saw the long caravan of cars and SUV's that trailed his own vehicle and sneered.

"I still don't like the fact of spending more than a days' time with Kakarot and as for Christmas, I could really care less about it. Back on the saiyan home planet, we never went crazy over putting lights on overgrown plants and houses, nor were we swayed by fairy tales of a fat man dressed in red, delivering gifts to various strangers. As a matter of fact, people who did such things would be killed in an instant! And as for gifts, a simple punch to the gut would be necessary to anyone who ever asked for a gift!" Vegeta muttered.

"Well thank God we don't live there!" Bulma exclaimed.

"Aw, what do you know, woman? You and your earthling traditions never fail to puzzle me."

"I don't know why you're being so sour; maybe you forgot that it's my multimillion conglomerate that's paying to rent the winter retreat that were going to!"

"But you didn't have to invite all of them!"

"They're our friends, the retreat is huge, it's Christmastime, and you need to get out more Mr. Antisocial."

"Like I really care for Kakarot, his family, or any of those other weak earthlings."

"But dad, weren't they who you blew yourself up for when you fought Buu?" Trunks spoke, pausing from the button mashing of his PSP.

"SHUT UP, BOY!" Vegeta yelled.

He suddenly heard a honk beside his car and looked over his side-window to see Goku waving, as he drove in a car with his own family, and then accelerated ahead of Vegeta's vehicle.

"Oh no you don't Kakarot!" Vegeta yelled, slamming down on the accelerator as he ignored his family's well-being, and all driving safety, in an attempt to regain his lead.

(30 minutes later…)

"I hate Christmas." Piccolo mumbled as he and Gohan helped pack bags and different items from the various vehicles parked outside into the mansion-like retreat.

"Aw, c'mon, Piccolo…how… can you…hate… the greatest… time of the year?" Gohan grunted as he carried a large duffel bag alongside Piccolo.

Piccolo shrugged, "I just do." He replied vaguely while noticing the sweat that began to run down Gohan's brow, "Sure you don't need help with that bag, kid?"

Gohan shook his head, "Nah…I'm all right…it's just… I don't who would… pack… any…thing this heav-" A loud rip noise suddenly cut him off, along with a swift relief of the weight. Both he and Piccolo looked back to see what spilled out the bag and saw them to be a huge pile of Christmas-edition dirty magazines.

"Master Roshi." Gohan and Piccolo spoke in unison before blasting the pile of trash to ashes.

"Well…" Gohan slapped his hands while turning his attention back to Piccolo, "…don't you believe in Santa Claus?"

"I never believed in that ridiculous Santa Claus and I'm surprised a kid of your age still does too." Piccolo responded bluntly.

Gohan blinked, "But mom always said-"

"HE'S NOT REAL GOHAN!" Piccolo shouted in Gohan's face.

"2,000,000 dollars just to spend a couple days with these idiots in some fancy winter retreat!" Vegeta exclaimed as he read the payment bill within the den.

"Oh shut up, Vegeta, that's just chump change compared to what Capsule Corp. makes weekly." Bulma spoke as she sat on one of the nearby couches along with Chi-Chi, Videl and 18.

"Can you three believe that Goku and Vegeta almost went over 80 mph, on a forest trail, just to get here first!" Chi-Chi shook her head.

"Tell me about it, I don't know what Vegeta would do if Goku was never around; and yet he always acts like he doesn't care." Bulma added.

The ladies laughed and Vegeta blushed red with embarrassment and anger, "I don't have to stand for this!" Vegeta pouted as he stomped out the den. Almost immediately as he left, he felt an arm sling over his shoulders, "Hey there Vegeta, c'mon over here into the other room and watch some HDTV on this cool flat plasma screen!" Goku jovially spoke as he began to move Vegeta down the hallway.

"Kakarot, I could care less about television and if you don't let go of me right now, I'll-"

"Here we are!" Goku interrupted Vegeta as they both entered the spacious living room that lodged Yamcha, Tien, Chaozu, Oolong, and Krillin, on various couches, facing the mesmerizing picture of plasma screen television with high definition. Even Vegeta, who had seen countless space technology far advanced that of Earth, was surprised at its remarkable beauty.

"Hot cocoa?" Goku held a mug of warm chocolate bubbling with soft marshmallows under Vegeta's face. The sweet smell enticed Vegeta's nostrils to a new level of sense,

"Kakarot, where did you get this?" Vegeta asked as he took hold of the mug.

"It was all over the kitchen and Yamcha got Puar into making some for everybody, this one is yours." Goku smiled.

Vegeta took a sip and paused, "My God, this drink is heavenly!"

Goku patted Vegeta on the shoulder, "Take a seat, my friend."

Goten laughed as he and Trunks played outside in the snow, throwing snowballs at each other.

"Hey Trunks, I'll be Dirty Dan if you'll be Pinhead Larry!" Goten exclaimed.

Trunks frowned, "I already saw that Spongebob episode Goten, here's for thinking about something so lame."

Trunks balled a huge chunk of snow and chucked it at Goten with such power and velocity that it knocked the young half-saiyan back nearly ten feet.

"Ow, that hurt!" Goten bellowed as he picked himself and caught hold of an even greater amount of snow and threw it back at Trunks with more power and deadlier speed. Trunks barely dodged the snowball and watched as it hit and broke through the trunk of a nearby tree.

Looking back to his best friend, Trunks formed a smile, "Y'know this means war!"

With that said, in the space of over three minutes, over a million snowballs, each possessing speed that rivaled a bullet, were thrown across Trunks and Goten's winter playground. Some traveling further than intended…

Gohan sulked as he sat on the front porch, "I know Santa's got to be real, I just know. Maybe if there was a sign…" he suddenly felt a hard, icy smack across his cheek that knocked him off his butt. Gathering his senses, Gohan leapt to his feet and grinned as he rubbed his bruised cheek "…a sign, a sign! Santa is real!"

Piccolo, meanwhile, sat on the rooftop observing all the action below, "Santa Claus, what a phony, no one will ever find me engulfed in that kind of superstitious trash!"

Christmas Eve came soon and that night, a small Christmas Eve party was thrown. Tien, Yamcha and Chaozu drank eggnog heartily till they were fast asleep; Bulma gave her try at Karaoke machine, putting on a rather successful show of memorable Holiday songs while Videl sat angry at her boyfriend, Gohan, and his constant distraught over the existence of Santa Claus.

Goten and Trunks played their hearts out with the Playstation 3, Krillin and 18 snuggled under the mistletoe, Chi-Chi tried her best to keep Goku from stuffing his face with Christmas cookies and cake, Oolong and Master Roshi played Strip Poker, by themselves, since all the girls were either married or had a boyfriend, and Vegeta's obsession with hot cocoa had drawn Puar to point of slavery.

"Faster, faster I say! I must have more!" Vegeta yelled at a tired and scared Puar as she mixed the hot cocoa.

"B-but, I-I've made so many…I th-think you have had enough." Puar stammered.

"I'll tell you when I've had enough, now POUR!"

Piccolo, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found inside. He sat, outside, atop the roof peering out to majestic night sky as it began to slowly drop snow. He stayed in this position, the whole time, while the loud festivities inside the house slowly died down till everyone was asleep.

For once in his life, Piccolo wondered if maybe he would give Christmas a chance, he might just like it. After all, he had many friends now to enjoy it with and they were all willing to accept him. But then again, the whole Christmas traditions of candy canes, caroling, and Santa Claus seemed unappealing to him and he quickly dismissed the thought.

Suddenly, Piccolo heard a soft but noticeable thud on the other side of the roof. He quickly, but quietly, jumped to his feet and stealthily advanced along the geometrical rooftop, till he could clearly hear the sounds of animal huffing and the footsteps of a person.

"Who goes there!" Piccolo shouted, jumping out into the open. He was startled to see a large sleigh, a leashed two row of reindeer and a rather fat, elderly, man dressed in a matching set of a red coat and pants; held together with a black belt along with a corresponding pair of tall, black, snow boots. He wore the same odd-looking red hat that Piccolo had seen most humans wear during Christmastime and possessed the same white, fluffy beard as the man Piccolo had seen in nearly all Christmas pictures over his lifetime,

Piccolo gasped, "Wait…you cant be…"

"Hello there, Piccolo, how are you?" Santa Claus smiled.

"How do you know my name?" The namekian asked.

Santa Claus chuckled, "Why, I'm Santa Claus, I know everything… and you Piccolo, unfortunately, are on my naughty list."

At the statement, Piccolo smirked, "As much as don't even care, what makes you think I qualify for being naughty? I've helped save this world more times than I ever attempted to destroy it."

Santa Claus nodded, "Yes, yes, but you see, trying to convince yourself and poor Gohan that I'm not real, we'll that's naughty enough. As a matter of fact, it kind of makes me MAD!"

Santa Claus suddenly fired a blast of energy from his palm toward a very surprised Piccolo, who, managed to swiftly collect his senses, in time, to dodge the abrupt attack. The blast hit the rooftop and caused a powerful explosion that ripped through a side of it and shook the house violently, waking everyone within. As Piccolo floated in the air, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Yes Piccolo, you've been very naughty and must be punished…tonight!" Santa Claus chuckled and then suddenly vanished.

"Where did he go!" Piccolo exclaimed as he anxiously searched the rooftop.

"Behind you…" whispered a voice from behind Piccolo.

Piccolo quickly turned his head and simultaneously felt the burning force of a strong punch that connected with his cheek and sent him crashing into the snowy earth, below, forcefully. As Piccolo lay in the cold snow recovering from the harsh, sudden blow, he heard the voice of Goku and the others as they rushed out the house,

"Piccolo!" Gohan cried, as he noticed his former teacher lying prostrate on the snow. Rushing over to his aid, along with the others, Gohan helped the namekian to his feet, "Piccolo, what happened? Are you okay?"

Before Piccolo could say anything, Krillin pointed the sky and shouted, "Hey look, somebody is levitating down here!"

Curiosity turned to amazement as everyone watched Santa Claus' round figure come into full view, when he landed softly on the snowy ground before them.

"I-I don't believe it…" Chi-Chi whispered.

"SANTA!" Gohan shouted joyfully.

"Hello everyone, I hope you have been enjoying your Christmas…because it will be your last!" Santa Claus grinned insidiously.

Vegeta, however, burst into laughter, "Are you really serious? The old, fat, geezer that embodies the peaceful virtues of Christmas, itself, now threatens to take the life of the prince of saiyans? Now that's a good joke!"

Santa Claus shook his head, "My, my, Prince Vegeta, you have the carbon-copied arrogance of your father."

Vegeta scowled at Santa Claus' unexpected statement, "Huh? What do you know about my father?"

Santa Claus chuckled, "Oh, I know that he was so naughty that he sent me away from the Planet Vegeta when I was a small child. All because of my good nature and incredible power that I was unwilling to use for destruction."

Vegeta's eyes widened, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the story of how jolly Ol' St. Nick came to be, Prince Vegeta. Saiyans gifted with extraordinary power at birth like me, for example, or Broly, who would be born years later, were often killed or kept with a strict eye. In my case, I was allowed to live since I had unordinary goodwill and could be 'tamed'. But this was not to be since saiyan heritage required all saiyans to shed blood at some point in their life…

…Soon I was looked on as an abomination by the saiyans and ordered by King Vegeta, who was very young at the time, to be exiled from Planet Vegeta. Fate had me land on this planet, particularly the North Pole, where I met a community of people who shared the same peaceful nature as I and raised me up from my childhood. Overtime, my saiyan-inherited talents developed through strict personal training and I was blessed with gifts such as global telepathy, hence how Santa Claus 'knows everything', as well as attaining Super Saiyan 1, 2 and 3. However, I used these abilities for good and made a job, of one out of 365 days, to deliver presents to all the good boys and girls of the world. But you all, however, have been very naughty boys and girls. The cause? Mingling and breeding with disgusting saiyan scum and for some of you, just not believing that Santa is real."

"Wait a minute." Bulma interrupted, "If you know everything and had a grudge against saiyans, then how come you never killed Goku when he came here as a baby, or Raditz when he came, or Vegeta and Nappa after their arrival?"

Santa Claus scratched his beard, "Yeah, well all that never happened during Christmas and…over the years I kind put it off. The next Christmas turned into the next Christmas, into the next Christmas, into the next Christmas, but now, when I have a chance to kill you all at once, who's complaining?"

"I have one more question!" Gohan interjected, "I always thought you were real and all holly jolly, why tonight do you have to be a cold-blooded killer?"

Santa Claus shrugged, "It must be the saiyan blood in my veins that screams for vengeance or the fact that I haven't had fight in a good while. I may be holly jolly but I'm still a saiyan!"

At this Santa Claus powered up and ignited his body into super saiyan form.

Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Vegeta responded by powering up to super saiyan, as well. Meanwhile, Piccolo, 18, and a brave, yet highly underpowered, Krillin and Tien stepped forth to combat Santa Claus alongside them. Yamcha and Chaozu, being too scared to fight, corralled the ladies away from the battlefield along with Master Roshi and Oolong.

"Be careful, don't underestimate his power!" Piccolo yelled.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh. The day I let this pitiful, candy cane-coated, excuse for a saiyan defeat me, is the day I'll let-" Vegeta was cut off when Santa Claus suddenly hit him with a punch to the face that sent him flying into a nearby tree.

"Ho, ho, ho, I'm dreaming of a red Christmas!" Santa Claus yelled as the fight broke out.

The strength and speed of Santa surprised Goku, as even he himself had a hard time keeping up with, and fighting against, his pudgy yet swift opponent, who, was still only in his first super saiyan form.

Santa dodged a combined energy attack from Goten and Trunks and retaliated with two, precise, energy blasts of his own that individually hit and painfully stunned his young opponents. Speeding into an open clearing, afterwards, he was met by the triple-teamed attack of Gohan, Piccolo and Tien. Each lunged forth with a different attack that was either dodged or blocked by Santa Claus, who, in a split second, noticed an opening for all three, and then released a powerful force of energy from his body that knocked all three fighters away.

Krillin took his chance and charged at Santa when he was open after the attack, but Santa's heightened awareness caught Krillin in his act and he paid the superhuman fighter with a stiff, painful, uppercut that flung his body over 30 feet in the air.

"Krillin!" 18 screamed in both distress and quickly-turned anger over her husband. Holding out both of her palms, 18 fired a bright orange-red blast of energy at Santa Claus. Realizing the power of the attack, Santa mustered all his strength and kicked the blast back at 18, who, with no reactive time to dodge the attack, was forced to brace herself as she took the blast's impact.

"I-I can't believe his strength!" Vegeta stammered, as he and Goku stood side-by-side, narrowed down as the last standing fighters to face Santa.

"I know what you mean, Vegeta, this…just might be it." Goku added.

Vegeta took a deep sigh and looked at Goku, "Kakarot, as much I seem to hate you…you have been the best friend I ever had. I'm glad at least that I was able to spend this last Christmas with you, your family, and everyone else."

Goku was surprised at Vegeta's sudden burst of emotion that was reminiscent of his first death on Planet Namek, "Thanks Vegeta." Goku smiled.

Santa Claus looked at emotional scene before him and powered down from his super saiyan form, "Oh my, what have I been doing? You all are not so naughty, look at you, you're friends! I have been so foolish to judge all saiyans as being evil. I have been a total hypocrite to the Christmas spirit. Could you… two… forgive me?"

Santa Claus burst into tears and Goku walked up to him and gave him a hug, "Aw, there, there, Santa, it's all right."

Vegeta stood flabbergasted at the sudden turn of events and wondered if not getting killed was the right choice.

In the space of a half-hour, all medical attention and reconciliation had been met and Santa Claus returned to his jolly old self, flying into the night in his reindeer-controlled sleigh while leaving presents and damage repair money under the Christmas tree in the retreat.

So the night went as the sun slowly began to rise over the horizon and Christmas Day became official. Trunks and Goten led the way in ripping through the presents, while the married couples took their turns at opening and exchanging gifts. Gohan proposed to Videl, who was humbled but nevertheless rejected the gesture for a more 'appropriate' time, which, in Videl's mind, was when Gohan would overcome his obsession with Santa Claus. Meanwhile, Piccolo took a liking to a particular present he had been given, a cowboy hat.

"That Santa was not so bad after all." Krillin grinned, showing the lack of his two front teeth as he and everyone else sat in living room.

Gohan gave Piccolo a nudge on the arm with his other, non-broken arm, "Well Piccolo… do you believe in Santa Claus now?"

Piccolo looked Gohan hard in the face, "Shut up, Gohan."

Goku took a sigh of relief, "I'm just glad that everything turned out great. Grudges put down, nobody dying, and friendships solidified, right Vegeta?"

"SHUT UP KAKAROT!" Vegeta snarled.

"But Vegeta…"

"I SAID, SHUT UP KAKAROT!"

"Aw, I know what you're doing Vegeta, you're just-"

Vegeta tackled Goku and began punching him, "WHY…CAN'T…YOU…KEEP…YOUR…MOUTH…SHUT!"

Bulma giggled, "Aw, they love each other so much…now this is what Christmas is about!"

THE END

(Merry Christmas)

If you liked this story, please check out the sequel to "A Very Dragonball Z Christmas", "A Very Dragonball Z Christmas 2"!