Disclaimer: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball S are owned by Akira Toriyama. I do not own anything.

AN: Okay guys; 'Three Years and Counting' is officially completed! It is revised, and some scenes are expanded! I want to give credit to chadtayor020 for being an awesome Beta! He is also responsible for the fight scene that you will read in this chapter, and basically any of the fight scenes in this story! Also credit to Lovelykotori for the beautiful cover photo for this story!

Chapter 1: Rebellious Prince

Zarbon flew over the latest planet to be added to Lord Frieza's empire. It had been a mostly water planet called Piscia. Dry land only made up about ten percent of the planet's surface, most of the inhabitants of Piscia had lived underwater. They were a surprisingly resilient people; they reminded him of predatory fish back on his own home planet. It had been a surprisingly hard fight to exterminate the Piscians, but yesterday he had finally destroyed the last underwater city. It had taken a month, but he had done it and now he could leave the accursed planet and go to a drier planet, like maybe Arak 5. As he flew over the water Zarbon's mind turned to the Prince of Saiyans under him, the younger Vegeta.

Vegeta had acquitted himself surprisingly well for someone that couldn't breathe underwater without equipment. Zarbon remembered watching the little monkey slaughter one hundred Piscians on his own during the last battle, but the idiot had gotten himself grievously wounded as well, Zarbon only knew this after he had destroyed the last city, the oceans ran so red with Piscian blood that he didn't even realize Vegeta was wounded until he found him floating in the ocean. Usually Zarbon would have let the stupid Saiyan monkey drown, but after seeing how well he fought, he decided Lord Frieza might want to reward his favorite pet for working so well, so he took him to Home Base to be healed. Zarbon's scouter beeped and he answered it, "This is General Zarbon."

"General Zarbon, we need your help at Home Base! He's gone crazy, and he's too powerful for us!" Zarbon heard on the other end. "What are you talking about?" Zarbon asked. "It's Vegeta! He healed up ten minutes ago and started killing everyone! I never thought he was so powerful, I don't know who's left of us! We need-" Zarbon heard an explosion and then the soldier saying, "No, no, I only meant it as a compliment when I called you a monkey! Wait, wait, WAAAA!" and then Zarbon heard a loud wet squish. Zarbon quickly changed course and flew as fast as he could back to Home Base.

As soon as he reached it he saw Home Base's ceiling had a massive hole where the Medical Bay had been. He flew through the hole and ran through the Base, looking for Vegeta. 'What the Hell happened!?' Zarbon thought as he ran through the bloodstained halls, covered in blood of dozens of species and colors. Some of the bodies had been torn apart, others had been slammed into the walls, and those were the bodies of the ones that were still recognizable as the bodies of sentient species. 'Once Lord Frieza gets his hands on you Vegeta, you'll wish you were never born,' Zarbon thought as he turned a corner at the sound of a scream.

Zarbon ran through the Hall and watched as Vegeta killed the last of his men. The first one was a large humanoid soldier with red skin and green hair who tried to kick Vegeta. The Saiyan Prince dodged all the warrior's kicks, and then caught his leg and then pulled, swinging the hulking soldier around then slamming him into the wall. Vegeta then swung back and slammed the warrior's body into the wall again, and again and again until all that was left of the soldier's head was a red smear on the wall. Vegeta then threw the body at a smaller reptilian soldier, knocking him into the opposite wall. Vegeta finished off the last soldier with a red ki blast that destroyed the soldier and the wall behind him.

"VEGETA! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Zarbon yelled. He noticed when he turned to look at him that Vegeta was wearing the older style of armor, without the shoulder pads Zarbon had. Vegeta glared at Zarbon and said, "I'm done working for Frieza! I'm done with the insults and abuse! I'm done with all of it!" Vegeta yelled at him. "You aren't done until Lord Frieza tells you that you're done you impudent little monkey! Once I'm through with you, you'll wish that you were never born," Zarbon told Vegeta as he got ready to fight. "You really think you can take me on Zarbon?" Vegeta said with a smirk. Zarbon activated his scouter and looked at Vegeta's power level. He was surprised to see that Vegeta's power level had skyrocketed to 20,000! But that still wasn't enough to beat him.

"Go for it Vegeta," Zarbon told him. Vegeta's aura flared up and he flew right at Zarbon. Zarbon dodged his kick and responded with an uppercut that cut Vegeta's cheek then spun around and backhanded him through the wall. Vegeta recovered quickly and flew through the wall. Zarbon went to punch him, but then Vegeta disappeared and was behind him and elbowed him in the head, slamming him into the floor. Zarbon jumped up quickly to dodge the stomp that Vegeta tried; it cracked up the floor to pieces. "That's it! I'm done messing around!" Zarbon yelled; Vegeta's falling elbow had actually made him bleed! Zarbon flew at Vegeta and kneed him hard in the stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs.

Zarbon then grabbed Vegeta's head and head butted him once, twice, thrice and threw him up through the ceiling. Zarbon wasn't done with him though; Lord Frieza would not like the loss of so many men and would take it out on him, so he was going to make Vegeta pay for it first! Vegeta blasted a ki blast right in Zarbon's face, blinding him for a second so Vegeta could grab his head and knee his face then Zarbon did a rising elbow strike to Vegeta's chin, making him let go. Zarbon then grabbed Vegeta's leg and spun around in the air, and threw him right into the landmass the Home Base had been based on. Vegeta created a fifty ft wide crater when he hit. Zarbon then focused his ki into his right arm and grabbed it with his left and blasted a bright red ki blast right at Vegeta's form, widening the crater to almost 200 ft!

Zarbon floated down and looked around, then saw that Vegeta had miraculously dodged his attack, barely. The Saiyan was standing, but he was bruised all over and blood was streaming from above his right eye, and his left arm looked like it was broken. "D-damn you, you overgrown salamander!" Vegeta yelled. Zarbon started to walk over to the Saiyan Prince slowly and said, "Why did you kill your comrades? You knew that the consequences would be dear if you betrayed Lord Frieza." Vegeta looked at Zarbon defiantly and said, "I saw it! One of the Piscians made me see what Frieza was going to do! Before I tore his head off; he told me that I would never become a King as long as I was a slave to Frieza," Vegeta spat up blood after he said this.

"Well then, I guess he was right, because Lord Frieza will make sure that you never become a king after this," Zarbon said as he got within arm's reach of Vegeta. Vegeta then surprised Zarbon with a massive ki blast that sent him flying away. After soaring through the air for hundreds of yards Zarbon finally stopped his unwanted flight. He was bleeding more than he ever thought a Saiyan could make him bleed and his arm and leg warmers were obliterated along with his cape, and his armor's shoulder pads were cracked. Zarbon stopped to catch his breath and said, "That bastard! THAT LITTLE SAIYAN BASTARD!" Zarbon flew right back from whence he came and saw Vegeta running into the Home Base.

"I'll kill you personally for this!" Zarbon roared and tracked Vegeta through his scouter. He saw him in the Medical Bay and destroyed the Medical Machine with a large blast of ki then looked at him. "I'm going to kill you. But I'm going to show you my true power before I do it so that you know that you never had a chance to defeat me," Zarbon told Vegeta. Zarbon focused and instantly his arms and torso and legs grew massively and finally his head did as well. "Wh-what the Hell!? You're even uglier than usual!" Vegeta screamed. Zarbon ran forward and kneed Vegeta's face. He then wrapped a massive hand around his head and threw him into the hall he just came in from, Vegeta bounced off the wall and onto the floor. Zarbon then ran after him and stomped on Vegeta's leg, breaking it with a loud CRACK! Vegeta screamed in agony as Zarbon grabbed him by his hair and punched him in his stomach over and over and over again until Vegeta vomited blood.

Zarbon dropped him down and stomped on his back, and Vegeta went limp. "Serves you right," Zarbon said as he changed back into his original form. "Now I have to go to the Auxiliary Base and explain to Lord Frieza what happened," he said, and kicked Vegeta's body further down the hall then left the Home Base. Zarbon flew up into the air and headed northwest towards the Auxiliary base, the whole time angry about how much Vegeta had managed to damage him. Halfway to the base his scouter picked up a reading, back at the Home Base? 'I guess someone's still alive. I suppose I should go get them to back me up to Lord Frieza,' Zarbon thought and flew back.

Once he went in he tracked the energy signature to the hall where he had killed Vegeta. Then he saw a trail of blood going down the hall. "You've got to be kidding me! He's still alive!" Zarbon yelled as he followed the trail of blood. 'No! He can't reach the pods!' Zarbon yelled in his head, only to reach the pods just as one of them closed up and blasted into the air. "VEGETAAAA!" Zarbon yelled as he tried to fly after the pod, but before he knew it the pod already reached outer space. "Damn yooouuu!" Zarbon screamed after the escaping Saiyan.

*Earth*

Bulma was sitting in a very fancy restaurant with her boyfriend of 6 years, Yamcha. They were having a nice conversation when the server came up. "Hi, my name is Cami, and I'll be your sever tonight. What can I get you started to drink?" the busty blonde haired waitress said, never taking her eyes off of Yamcha. Before Yamcha could say anything Bulma cleared her throat, "I'll have your house Merlot and a glass of water, what about you honey?" She made sure she said honey a little louder than the rest of her sentence.

Yamcha glanced at her with a weird look and said, "Jack and Coke please." He smiled a charming smile at the waitress, and Bulma could see her melt right in front of her. "Sure thing, would you like a water too sir?" the waitress said slowly taking the menu out of his hand. "That would be great, thank you gorgeous," he said smiling again. Bulma rolled her eyes and looked out the window to the rainy night. The server giggled and pranced away. "What's that about huh?" Bulma said to Yamcha who was obviously staring at the waitress's ass. His eyes looked to Bulma, "Nothing, I just figured that if I flirt with the waitresses we get better service."

"Right," Bulma said as she put her hand under her chin. Yamcha noticed she was pouting, but he didn't feel bad about it. He did love her, but she wouldn't put out. He was a man, he had needs. Not to mention she didn't ever seem happy to be around him, he wanted to take her somewhere nice for their anniversary. Made the reservations three months early for tonight, and what does she do? She puts on a nice blouse, slacks, and puts her hair in a ponytail. She didn't even put on makeup; he wanted a girl who took pride in the way she looked.

It's not that he didn't think she was beautiful, she had a natural face. But he really liked girls who wore makeup and weren't afraid to look sexy. Suddenly he was drawn out of his thoughts by the server putting his drink in front of him, she leaned a little low and he noticed she unbuttoned the top of her shirt. He stared right down her shirt and at her cleavage. Bulma threw her towel down and stood up, Yamcha's eyes snapped up to his girlfriend. She huffed and stormed out.

"BABE! Come on! You can't blame me, she put her boobs right in front of my face!" he said once he reached Bulma outside. "Right Yamcha! But your nose was practically bleeding and you were drooling!" Bulma said not stopping. "You know you are the only girl for me," Yamcha said, Bulma turned around. "Then why is it that every time we go out, you are gawking at other women?" Her face was splotchy and strands of her ponytail were falling out due to the rain. Yamcha stopped and looked at her. "Maybe if you would dress up, put on some makeup, and maybe show some cleavage I wouldn't have to look at other women," he said, Bulma's face turned red. "YOU'RE SUCH A PIG!" she yelled at him and she waved for a cab.

As she got in the cab Yamcha ran up and put his hands on the glass. "Bulma, come on! You know I didn't mean it like that," his face was pleading. Bulma handed the cab driver some money and said, "Take me to Capsule Corp." She barely got the words out before she started to cry. Yamcha was standing in the rain, helpless to stop the cab. "DAMN IT!" he said as he watched her leave. He would never cheat on her, but something needed to change and quick.

Once Bulma got to her house, she tipped the cab driver and went into her house. She was drenched and cold, all she wanted was to take a hot shower and talk to her best friend. She got to her room and turned on the shower, as she undressed she realized that she wasn't even mad anymore. She felt small, almost childlike, like she wasn't good enough for Yamcha. She didn't know anymore. She stepped into the shower and let the hot water cover her body. After about 30 minutes of her shower she decided that was enough. As she got out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around her naked form and went to the phone.

She dialed some numbers and waited for the person to pick up. Suddenly she heard a strong female voice "Hang on B. OH MY KAMI WILL YOU JUST STOP!" the voice yelled, Bulma couldn't help but smile. "Sorry Bulma, parents are so annoying." "It's okay Chi-chi, hey are you busy tomorrow?" Bulma asked. "Uhm, no I don't think so, why what's up? You sound sad," Chichi said sounding concerned. "No I just need to get away from the city tomorrow. I'll be at your house by 1:00pm if that's fine with you," Bulma said sounding embarrassed to ask. "That will be perfect, we can go to the river to swim, maybe get our tan on. Kami knows your white ass needs it," Chi-chi said, she never held back her opinions. Bulma laughed at her friend, "That sounds perfect. See you then," she said and hung up the phone. She was really excited about tomorrow. A new day, and she knew it would be great. She sighed and fell asleep in her towel.