'How did things turn out like this?'

This was a question that plagued Yamucha for well over a decade. For a guy like himself who was so afraid of women, finding a woman like Bulma was a miracle. It was then he finally broke free from his unreasonable fear. He was free and that was a debt he really wanted to spend his life repaying to her.

It just wasn't meant to be, damn her. For whatever reason, she decided she would be better off with someone who nearly killed her and everyone around her by blowing up the planet she was on...twice. The way she flaunted their child around, taunting him was absolutely infuriating.

'Damn...that should have been OUR child!!!'

But it got worse. Kuririn related a couple of episodes with Bulma actively flirting with other men...other enemies. General Blue of the Red Ribbon army…Zarbon from Freeza's army...it was said that those who cheat are usually the ones who suspect their significant others of cheating. That was probably why she was always accusatory towards him every time a woman gave him any sort of attention.

Finding out all of these things about her left him with conflicted feelings. As much as he hated losing her, especially to that bastard, Vegeta, he felt he was better off without having such a cold hearted BITCH at his side and that those two deserved each other. But even that didn't pan out the way he thought. Bulma became the devoted wife and doting mother. Vegeta...became less the Vegeta he knew. He was even kind in his own way.

The very thought of the two of them together absolutely repulsed Yamucha. He clenched his fists so tightly his nails drew blood. His teeth ground together and his lips were curled in a ferocious snarl. His eyes were narrowed so much so that at first glance, they could've been mistaken for closed. But once you could see into them, you would have found they were bathing in unimaginable rage, struggling against the bounds of his sanity, waiting to burst fourth.

'With the things that Goku and Chichi have been through,' Yamucha thought, 'look at how well they turned out together. Kuririn put himself out so much...sacrificed so much for 18. They ended up so well. Kassex and Chaozu had recently been through quite the ordeal themselves. From what I saw last, it looks like they'll end up just fine. But...but Bulma and I have, by far, been through the most together. She helped me overcome my fear of women...it's because of her that I got to train under Master Roshi...I have saved her life so many times, I can't even remember them all...so why...'

He threw his head back and his arms out, as if setting his rage against the heavens. "WHERE THE HELL DID -OUR- HAPPY ENDING GO???" In his rage, his incredibly augmented powers exploded outward and upward, as if it were a mighty sword piercing the heart of the sky opening a wound that would match half of the size as the one in his own.

When the energy of his directionless attack faded, the high ridges and mountains that littered his once serine surroundings were gone. The once fertile valley now resembled the desert where he once called home.

At this point, anyone with any knowledge of ki would've been very disturbed by what happened. Not by the magnitude, for any who knew of him and his recent change would expect it be at such an intense level...that of a Super Saiyan 2. What they would've been concerned with was the ki itself. Most Humans with control of their ki have a bright colored aura: usually a brilliant white or yellow. Yamucha's ki was, usually, the brilliant white.

At that time, however, his ki appeared in flux. The white was a light blue around the edges, growing darker as it reached back to its source. Every so often, the dark blue would completely overtake the white, only to have the white flare back into dominance. The change could also be seen in his eyes, as they were illuminated by a blue glow, flickering in time with the dark blue tendrils of his changing ki.

Suddenly, Yamucha blinked and the glow was gone. His ki, likewise dissipated as something new caught the attention of his senses. A lot of new energy signatures appeared...alien, yet strangely familiar...all very high. His mind was in such a fog; it was hard to put his finger on exactly why they felt familiar. What he could determine, though, was that there were seven of them, they were coming from space, and they were rapidly heading towards the vicinity of West City...where –they- lived.

"Looks like things are about to get interesting again..."

Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Dragonball Z:

Vicious Circle

Part 1

For some reason, the days seemed brighter and more pleasant for Gohan. Not coincidentally, the days appeared brighter and more pleasant ever since he and Videl declared their feelings for each other. Almost all of the days since then have been spent training, trying to help her to control her powers. Lately, though, the time after their training sessions have been…even more fun, to say the least.

It's not going to be as fun this time, however. Goku decided he was going to head over to Capsule Corp to train with Vegeta in the gravity room and invited Gohan and Videl to join them. They decided it was a good idea, since their usual way of doing things weren't going to work as it had the previous few weeks (Mr. Satan, who had been away for a while had returned home, and so Gohan and Videl didn't have the alone time they used to.)

Arriving first, Gohan made his way into the main building of the Capsule Corporation's headquarters. "Hello," greeted Bulma, as Gohan walked into the main room.

Gohan bowed respectfully, "Hi Bulma."

"Ya just caught me as I was on my way out the door. I'm about to go shopping with Trunks."

"Oh, well, I won't hold you up. Is my dad here?"

"Of course," Bulma went. "He and Vegeta are in the gravity room already."

"Ah, I see. Thank you Bulma. Have fun" With that, Gohan made his way through the large structure to a set of large, mechanical doors that lead to the gravity room. It's been a while since he did any training for himself and he thought it would be good to get some in before Videl showed up. Looking at the control panel, Bulma's words were confirmed, as the gravity room was in use and was set to 500 times gravity. Pushing the door control on the panel, he opened the portal and entered.

He stood in the doorway for a few seconds so that his body could adjust to the extreme change in gravity. Ahead of him, his father and Vegeta were engaged in a sparring match. As usual, they were so involved, they didn't notice Gohan had entered the room with them.

Gohan didn't know why, but it was apparent that, for some reason, his father wasn't giving Vegeta his best. His attacks were very sloppy and his defense was full of holes...a point driven home when Vegeta tagged him with a hard right to the face that left him sprawled on the cold floor.

"Feh...what in the world is wrong with you Kakarotto?" spat Vegeta. "I'd bet Bulma's old man would give me a better fight now than you."

"Sorry Vegeta," Goku went. "I guess I'm just distracted."

"You should know better than anyone what distractions could do in a real fight."  Goku didn't argue. He knew Vegeta was right and he didn't have an excuse. "So…what is it that has you so preoccupied?"

"Well…I'm still thinking about that whole Majin Buu mess," started Goku. "You know from that incident, that you and I won't be around forever to deal with whatever may come up to threaten the Earth."

"Humph, nonsense. We are Saiyans," boasted Vegeta. "We have proven that we can defeat any enemy brought before us, even from beyond the grave."

"But that only happened because we were given special permission," Goku reminded him. "If we were to die again, we can't count on always getting that when there's trouble. I really thought that the Earth would've been in good hands with Gohan and the boys. I had such high hopes for them..."

Vegeta nodded, "I see what you mean. Even though Majin Buu was an exceptional opponent, it was sad to see how easily our sons let themselves get beaten." He gave some thought to the subject and then continued, "As much as I hate to say it, there are those Human fighters now. If anything new comes up and we're not here, at least they can help."

"But they can't always be counted on either. I mean, sure they've gotten more powerful, but they have gotten older. Even though it's said they've effectively become Saiyans, it's hard to say if they'll live as long as we do. We need to focus on the next generation. Besides Videl and, probably #18, who else would be there?" Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the gravity room's door closing. They looked up to find there was no one there.

Back on the outside, Gohan digested what he heard. It seemed that he had been a disappointment yet again. How was it, that for all his power, he still managed to let everyone down? Only his father could come close to matching his full power, so why was it that when it came down to it, only his father could win the day in the end. What was it that made them so different?

"Gohan!"

Blinking, Gohan looked up. It seemed his legs had unconsciously carried him back outside of the Capsule Corp. building. And he now, found himself standing face to face with, "Videl..."

"What're you doing coming out?" she asked. "I thought we were going in to train with your dad?" He forgot about that just that quickly. But he really didn't want to go back in there. There was no way he could face Vegeta and his dad after that little conversation of theirs. "Hey..." went Videl, "is something wrong?"

"Erm….ah…" Gohan tried to come up with a good excuse to give her, when one literally dropped in on them. An explosion ripped its way through the cityscape, followed by subsequent explosions. "I suppose that answers that…"

"What's going on over there?"

"We'd better find out." Gohan's ki came to life and he rocketed into the air, with Videl following suit soon after.

They weren't in the air long when Goku and Vegeta joined them. "Gohan! Videl!" started Goku, "I was wondering what happened to you two. So, you felt those strange power signatures too, huh?"

Gohan didn't answer immediately, so Videl chimed in for him. "Actually, we heard a lot of explosions coming from the middle of the city."

"Oh…yeah...that would work too." Without a word, Gohan's ki intensified and he sped off into the heart of the city. "Huh? What do you suppose is wrong with him?"

Videl shrugged, "Ya got me."

**        **

Videl, Goku and Vegeta finally caught up with Gohan once they reached the heart of downtown West City. Gohan was watching the fight unfold, and he seemed to have a confused look on his face. The others in the group followed suit and what they saw was of particular interest to Vegeta.

All of the newcomers who were fighting each other wore the old armor he used to wear when he was in Freeza's employ. He figured there would be some stragglers scattered here and there through the cosmos when he destroyed their home world...just as he, himself, was when Freeza blew up the Saiyan world. However, these combatants all seemed to be one race and not the amalgam of races that made up Freeza's planet brokerage group. They were all Human like in appearance, with dark, unruly hair and...

"No...it can't be..."

Goku looked at Vegeta, "What? What is it?"

"Look down there and tell me what you see?"

Goku looked at the carnage being wrought by the invaders. "I see a bunch of people fighting, who are going to hurt some innocent unless we get down there and stop them."

"No Kakarotto...Find one of them and look at them closely...look at their features and then tell me what you see. Do you notice anything odd about them?"

Again, Goku looked at the invaders. They just looked like normal people to him. Only they appeared to be Saiyans. From the armor and the hair right down to their..."Tails? They have tails?"

"Exactly."

Videl wasn't sure what was going on. "Hey, Gohan! What are they talking about? I mean, it is weird that those people fighting down there have tails, but what--?"

"It's important because they could be Saiyans, like us," Gohan answered. "When a Saiyan is born, it has a tail. When a Saiyan with a tail looks into the moon, it turns into a giant monster with incredible power. All of us have had our tails removed a long time ago. But this group still seems to have theirs."

"Well, that's all well and good," Videl said, "but this group of Saiyans is demolishing the city with their fight. We can't just float up here questioning their species forever. We have to do something."

**        **

"TRUNKS! TRUNKS, WHERE ARE YOU?" It happened every time. Whenever Bulma needed to go shopping with Vegeta or Trunks, they always managed to disappear whenever she turned away for a split second. "I swear I need to come up with some sort of solution or device that makes it impossible to fly off anywhere when we need to go shopping." As she finished her mumbled tirade, she spotted her wayward son, looking as though he was staring off into space. "Trunks! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

"You better be careful here mom," Trunks warned her. "It looks like some people are fighting out there."

"Fighting?" Bulma cast her vision down the block and, sure enough, she spotted two figures engaged in combat. Even though they were quite some distance away, she was able to make out that distinctive feature her husband caught, unbeknownst to her, "Tails???"

One of the figures, the one furthest away, fired a ki blast at their opponent. The other figure deftly dodged out of the way, watching as the ki blast sailed right by them and directly at Bulma and Trunks. The figure closest to them seemed to look skyward for some reason. Then it disappeared from Bulma's view, only to reappear right in front of them. That was when she got a good look at the figure and was startled yet again.

"A girl?"

The girl, in question put her arms in front of her face and the ki blast connected, exploding on impact. Instinctively, Bulma grabbed Trunks and covered him up to shield him from any flying debris. When the dust settled, the, apparent female Saiyan was down for the count.

Out of nowhere, it seemed, three male Saiyans descended from the sky hovered around the female. "Chisha, are you okay?" One of them asked.

The female, Chisha, groaned a bit, than sat up. "I'll live." She picked herself up off of the ground and made herself ready for the next assault.

**        **

The four would be peacekeepers continued to watch the proceedings with interest, wondering how best to quell the situation. That was until Vegeta caught sight of the energy blast and subsequent explosion. He bared his teeth in a dangerous snarl. Bulma and Trunks had nearly gotten caught in that blast. But one of the fighters put herself out to protect them. It was clear to Vegeta now which side he was going to take.

His golden aura exploding to life around him, Vegeta left his comrades behind to face off with the one who nearly killed his wife and son. As he touched down, he idly noticed that the one who fired the ki blast was a female, just as the one who saved them. It didn't matter, though. "You," he said to the woman with a growl. "You nearly killed my wife and son!"

The woman's eyes widened, as if she knew who he was and what was to come from her actions. "Oh crap..." Her own aura erupted about her in the same golden hue, as she became a Super Saiyan, as Vegeta had.

However, faster than she could follow, Vegeta closed the distance between them and landed a thunderous punch in her stomach. He smiled. Even though they were both Super Saiyans, he was still far stronger than she was. Doubling over from the punch, her face became a very easy target for Vegeta's next blow. The resulting uppercut was strong enough to propel her into the sky.

Going in for the kill, Vegeta charged his energy into his hands and fired at her, causing yet another explosion. After which, the only trace of the woman was a smoke trail that raced away from the city at high velocity.

Another pair of Saiyan males watched, horrified at what happened to their teammate. "Ocara!" One of them cried out. As they both turned their attention back to the matter at hand, they found themselves face to face with the Saiyan Prince.

"You should be more selective in whom you team up with," he said. He gave them two deft kicks, one to the chin and one to the side of the head. Neither of them had the benefit of being Super Saiyans, so the force of Vegeta's blows was easily enough to separate their heads from the rest of their bodies.

Touching down to street level, Vegeta spat at the lifeless forms of two of the invaders. That will teach them to endanger his family. At that, he made his way over to them. As he did, he passed the four remaining newcomers. From the appearances of their faces, they seemed slightly in awe of his power. That didn't last, though, as the woman spoke, "I wouldn't expect anything less from the Prince of our people." After she spoke, she bowed before him, her teammates mimicking her.

Vegeta gave them a 'humph' and continued to his family. "Bulma. Trunks. Are you okay?"

"Yeah dad," Trunks said. "We're fine."

It was then that Goku, Gohan and Videl decided to join them. Videl also had a look of awe on her face. "Wow...that was...wow..." she went.

"Don't you think you were a little over the top with that, Vegeta?" asked Gohan.

"Feh. They deserved worse."

"Well, you could have saved some for us, you know," Goku added. Gohan glared at him. "What? I was just kidding."

Vegeta turned his attention back to the newcomers. "Now, who are you?"

"Ah, my apologies sire. My name is Chisha. I am the squad leader. And these are my men: Korin," She pointed to a man, probably only a few inches taller than Vegeta. He sported the older armor that didn't have she shoulder guards. His hair, for the most part, kept in a ponytail that was currently falling over his shoulder in front of him. "...Sato..." Sato resembled Raditz, only his hair was only shoulder length. "...and Jaga." Another look alike, Jaga was a hulking figure, like Nappa. But Jaga was a dark skinned man who sported a full head of hair that came down the sides like dreadlocks.

"We were sent here to apprehend that group of criminals you killed for us," she continued. "We had no idea that we would find you living here, sire...you, the Prince of all Saiyans..."

"Is that so?" Vegeta went. "I think I would like to hear more. I would like for you to come to my place. I have a lot of questions."

"Of course."

As they started towards Capsule Corp, Gohan whispered to his father, "What in the world could those others have done to become criminals in a SAIYAN society?"

Goku shuddered, "Ugh...I'm afraid to even think about it."

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"...So let me get this straight," went Vegeta after the whole group returned to the Capsule Corp. building and their guests told them their story. "There were other Saiyans who survived Freeza's attack. And once you found out our world was dead you made a new one for yourself?"

"Exactly," said Chisha.

"So what? There just happened to be an uninhabited world capable of sustaining life nearby and you started a whole new society?"

"Of course not," Jaga boomed, proudly. "We got a new world for ourselves the way a Saiyan should. We TOOK one. Yeah, the native inhabitants of that world didn't like it, but they didn't protest for long."

Vegeta couldn't help but smile. "So, how many of you live on this new world?"

"We managed to get the population back up to a few hundred thousand," Korin stated. "I'm sure we could've had a lot more by now, but as your highness is sure to know, trying to court a Saiyan woman is a royal pain in the ass." Chisha glared at him and he shot her a glare in return.

"A whole new Saiyan civilization, huh?" Goku said. "I must admit, my exposure to Saiyan civilization hasn't been all that great. But you guys seem to be different than the few Saiyans I've met."

"You are Kakarotto, yes?" asked Chisha. "Truth be told, after the other survivors gathered and we started our new world, we didn't think we would find another Saiyan alive. But now we have two...and they have families. It's really quite a shock."

"It's a bit of a shock to us as well," went Goku.

"Say, I have a good idea. Why don't you two come back with us to see our new home world?" Chisha looked at Vegeta, "It would be very interesting to see what you think of what we have built in the time since our old home was destroyed."

Vegeta raised his eyebrow, "Why would that be?"

"Curiosity. It would be interesting to know what a surviving member of the old ruling family would think of our new culture."

"Don't get us wrong, lord," interjected Korin. "With all due respect, we don't want you to come back and take your throne as King. We have done very well without a King for all these years and we would rather not go back to having one."

Chisha nodded. "As I said before, we would just like to show you what we have done for ourselves and hear your opinion."

Vegeta considered her request for a moment, and then said, "That would be fine. I'm interested in seeing this new home of yours as well."

"Excellent."

"Um...hold on...wait..." interrupted Bulma, overhearing the whole conversation. "Vegeta, may I have a word with you, please?"

"Yeah," Goku added, "excuse us. This will only take a moment."

As the woman and two Saiyans walked out of the room, Chisha turned her attention to Gohan, who had been silent until then. She sauntered over to him and put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. Once she had it, she favored him with a come hither look. "You are Kakarotto's son, are you not?"

Gohan suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Uuuh...yeah."
"I hope you will also be going to see our home world. I know there are plenty of interesting things I could...show you." She put her free hand on one of Gohan's and continued, "And pay no mind to Korin's bitter tirade. Saiyan courtship can be quite...fulfilling."

Gohan's nervousness tripled, thanks to the proximity of this new, but very attractive woman who was clearly hitting on him. The icy stares he was getting form Korin and Videl didn't help him any. "Er...ah...Sorry, but I don't think I'll be going with you. I'm sure I have some important things I have to take care of here."

"*Tsk* Pity. I'm sure we could've had a lot of fun together," she said to him as she walked away.

Videl grabbed Gohan's arm and muttered under her breath, "Yeah...I'm sure you would have...tramp..."

**        **

"Vegeta, what do you think you're doing?" yelled Bulma. "Just because you meet some people that claim to be Saiyans, you're going to rocket off into space and not even consult me about it?"

"This is a Saiyan matter, woman," he said. "It doesn't concern you."

"The hell it doesn't!"

"Vegeta," Goku said, trying to keep this from becoming another shouting match. "Don't you find this whole thing rather odd? I mean..."

"Of course this whole thing is fishy," Vegeta butted in. "It's not as if we haven't gone through something like this before. And if you could tell this, Kakarotto, there's no way I could miss it. Someone is playing a very cruel joke on us. Either that, or someone is trying to lure us into some sort of trap. Do you see now why I have to go, Bulma? Someone is desecrating the memory of my people for some stupid plot. I am not going to let it slide. For the honor of the great Saiyan race, I'm going to crush whoever is behind this."

"I-" started Bulma, "I understand. I know if I were in your place, I would want to do the same thing." Bulma turned away from him. 'I just hope nothing really bad happens to him this time as it did with that Majin Buu fiasco. I haven't gotten the chance to tell him yet-'

"Say Bulma? Could you be a pal and let Chichi know that I'm going also? Appreciate it! Thanks!" went Goku, as he scurried off quickly.

"HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!!!"

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