4 Months later:

"My patience wears thin, Doctor." The dark form's voice only held a hint of annoyance but a hint was all that was needed.

Doctor Jessna bowed lower and nodded quickly. "Of course my Lord knows that perfection takes time. And I am very close to perfection."

"You have achieved perfection in far shorter time than this, Doctor."

"True my Lord. The delay has come from the boy's spirit. He's been surprisingly resistant to much of my reshaping. It took nearly two weeks just to take his memories of his family and friends from him. But I assure you, my Lord, he is nearly complete. Another day or two."

"You'd better be certain of that, Doctor. I am sending warriors down to warm up the Saiyans and I don't wish to delay my surprise much longer."

"Of course, my Lord. He will be ready for you within two days." Receiving silence in reply, Jessna got quickly to his feet and hurried from the room. He made his way back to his lab where his prize project waited. The boy was no longer tied down as he was no longer any type of threat. He did, however, wear a special collar that continuously altered his ki to prevent his family from picking up on him.

Jessna was very pleased with the progress the boy had made in the last four months of captivity though he hadn't been kidding when he'd told his master about the problems he'd had. Goten had been far more resistant than expected and in the end, Jessna had been forced to implant two sensors just beneath the skin on his temples to keep the work he had done stable and to prevent regression to the boy's former state. He had actually grown quite fond of the child and deep inside wished he could keep him for himself. But, sadly, he belonged to his Lordship, just as they all did.

The boy was sitting just where Jessna had left him, deep in meditation. As the Doctor had known, his patient's mind had proven to be fairly advanced, more so than a typical Saiyan. It had been quite the job but since there was nothing the self proclaimed brilliant Doctor couldn't do, he had succeeded in suppressing Goten's human side and all the sentimental junk that came with it and had made his Saiyan side the dominate factor.

He had tested Goten in simulations and he had been delightfully ruthless in all of them. Just like his Saiyan ancestors. He had even grown a tail, an unexpected but not altogether surprising side effect. He would be ready a lot sooner than two days, but Jessna wanted to make sure everything was exactly right. Starting with the most simplest thing of all: Goten's new name.

"How are you feelingNekura?" he asked, watching the boy carefully. He had 'programmed' Goten to believe that he had been recovering from a serious illness brought on from a wound he had received in battle four months earlier to account for anything he may findstrange.

"I am well, Doctor," came the quiet reply though his eyes remained closed and he didn't seem to break from the meditation.

'Any headaches?' the Doctor asked silently, testing the boy's telepathy.

'No Doctor,' was the slightly annoyed reply.

Jessna chuckled and moved to a table with some surgical instruments on it. He picked up a sharp knife like tool and examined it, then quickly turned and threw it at Nekura. Without opening his eyes, Nekura raised his right hand and released a small ki burst, disintegrating the tool. Jessna smiled. Excellent. Having experience in the area of telepathy, he sealed his mind, not allowing a single thought to escape. He reached over and pressed a button but before anything could happen, Nekura released another ki blast, which slammed into a silently lowering weapon. Incredible. The Doctor knew perfectly well that Nekura couldn't have read his mind. He would have had to have broken through all his defenses for that and there hadn't been enough time. The boy's senses were so finely tuned that he had heard or sensed the weapon's silent decent and had taken the threat out swiftly. Without leaving his meditative state.

"Time for exercise, Nekura," Jessna announced and Nekura slowly opened his dark, cold eyes, gazing at the Doctor for a few seconds before rising gracefully and heading for the simulation chamber where Jessna had been giving him his exercises. But simulation was not the aim today. Today, Jessna wanted to see how well the boy held up against real opponents. "Not there, Nekura. We're going to the Hole today."

The 'Hole' was actually a large chamber on the ship used for hardcore, to the death fights. It was called the Hole because it was located very deep within the ship and few ever emerged from it. The ones who went willingly to its depths were the ones who went to test their skills against those sentenced to leave via only one way; death. Unless, of course, a deal for freedom was struck.

Jessna had made such a deal for freedom with a particularly nasty brute captured a few months before they had reached Earth. Jessna had arranged for him to fight Nekura with the agreement that if he beat the kid, he'd be set free. Of course, Jessna fully expected Nekura to annihilate the prisoner, but the whole point was to test the boys' strength on a live subject. Nekura stopped and turned, a tiny smile playing across his lips.

The Doctor had been sure to program him with memories of many conquests in that room despite his young age. Jessna's theory behind that, and many other memories he had given the boy, was that it would give him unending confidence and an intense desire to never stop until his mission was complete.

"Well then, Doctor, let's not keep my new best friend waiting," Nekura said as he moved past Jessna toward the transporter that would take them down to the Hole.

The Hole was a fairly good size at about two hundred feet long, three hundred feet wide and four hundred feet high. It was in marvelous condition for a room that was the site of so much death and violence. There were only the tiniest of dents littering the walls and floor to hint that battles happened here. That and the always present smell of blood. Unlike the rest of the ship, this room was brightly lit unless, of course, his Lordship descended to personally watch a fight that had caught his interest.

On the other side of the room, a door slid open and Nekura's opponent entered the room. He was seven feet tall and built like a boulder. His skin was a metallic blue and he had long, scraggly white hair and coal black eyes. Despite his huge size, he possessed surprising speed which made him the perfect little test for Nekura.

Leaving the boy to quietly prepare, Jessna went over to the mountain impersonator and offered a friendly smile. "Are you ready, Kortu?"

The giant nodded, scanning the room. "Where's my opponent?" he asked, his voice deep and slightly gravely.

Jessna nodded at Nekura who was ignoring them as he stretched. Kortu raised a massive brow. "You're joking." Jessna shook his head, amusement flashing through his yellow eyes. Kortu eyed the stretching boy. "I kill thischild and I get my freedom?" he asked, clearly suspicious.

Jessna laughed quietly. "Yes, my friend. You kill the boy, you get your freedom. No strings attached." He winked, then turned and headed for the exit. As he was starting to seal the chamber, a voice said, "Testing the boy, Doctor?"

Jessna looked to his left as Commander Zora practically melted out of the shadows. He eyed the woman, keeping his dislike for her to himself, locked beyond his mind's defensive barriers for the woman was an accomplished telepath. His lordship kept many telepaths on the ship for he had many uses for them. Zora, however, was the strongest of them all and was his Lordship's most trusted, and favored flunky. She had been with the Lord for many years and next to him, was the most feared being on the whole ship. Whether or not she was stronger than Nekura, Jessna did not know but vowed to test that one day in the hopes that maybe he could get rid of the bitch.

He nodded in response to her question. "Yes. I'm putting him up against Kortu. Should be quite fun to watch."

"You've been locked up in your lab too long, Doctor. You surprise me."

Jessna narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Have you not noticed we have been orbiting a deserted planet for the past few months, Doctor? Why test him in such a limited atmosphere when we can take him down below and get a much better show?"

Damn. She was right, he did spend too much time in his lab. Why only test a portion of his project's abilities when there was a whole planet down below that could be used? Hmm. Grinning, he turned and reopened the door. The opponents were standing ten feet away from each other, waiting for the signal to being.

"Change of plans, boys," he announced, getting their attention. "We're going down to a planet we're currently orbiting. Give you two more space." He gestured and the pair followed him out of the chamber and to a transporter. Zora, of course, was accompanying them though she remained silent.

The little group soon found themselves on the small planet the ship had been orbiting. Jessna looked around, approval shining in his eyes. The planet seemed to be one giant wasteland, at least this part was. The sky was a sickly gray and the ground held nothing but bone dry dirt and rocks. Giant rock formations that would not be there for long surrounded them and nowhere did even a speck of life show itself. Perfect. Nekura and Kortu were facing off again and when Jessna and Zora were out of the way, Jessna gave the signal to begin.

Kortu instantly made a move, shooting forward and slamming one massive arm into Nekura and sending the boy crashing into one of the rock formations. As Nekura gained his feet, Kortu followed through by body slamming him back into the rock.

Jessna winced. That had to have hurt but the boy didn't make a sound even as Kortu backed away and Nekura slipped down to his hands and knees. As Kortu moved in for another blow, Nekura appeared to vanish. The giant blinked and spun around just in time to get nailed in the face with a kick so hard it shoved him into the little crater he had created with Nekura.

Surprised, Kortu studied Nekura for several long seconds, obviously working out a plan of action. A plan the Doctor knew would fail because he knew Nekura was reading Kortu's mind. Considering the lack of mental defense Kortu's race possessed, the boy probably couldn't help himself but Jessna still, using his own telepathic abilities, directed Nekura to block his telepathy. He wanted to see how the boy would do without taking sneak peeks into his opponent's next planned move.

Nekura obeyed and seconds later launched himself into the fight. The giant's strength, added to his surprising speed, gave Nekura a pretty good workout but it wasn't long before Jessna realized that the boy wasn't taking the fight seriously. He was, in actuality, simply playing with his opponent, actually allowing Kortu to get in good blows, many of which left blood trickling down from Nekura's mouth, nose and the side of his head.

From beside him, Zora laughed softly. She too had picked up on the game the kid was playing, leading Kortu along.even going so far as to feign injury, lulling his opponent into a sense of confidence. She chuckled quietly and murmured, "Sadistic little bastard." But that was the Saiyans for you; ruthless blood lusters.

The fight went on for a little over an hour before Jessna, after mentally knocking to gain Nekura's attention, instructed the kid to finish it. He didn't want him overdoing it after having just recovered from a serious illness after all

A chilling look entered Nekura's eyes, one that gave Kortu pause. A smirk played across the boy's lips and before Kortu could blink, he found himself laid out flat on his back on the ground. It took him a moment to realize that part of his right arm had been melted away, revealing charred bone. His chest had also taken heavy damage as was evident by the green blood gathering rapidly on the ground. A scream of agony erupted from Kortu as his sudden injuries registered in his mind.

Nekura walked leisurely around his victim, an almost predatory look dancing across his young features. When Kortu made an attempt to push his pain aside and get up, Nekura casually blasted his left leg, which prompted another scream. Jessna rolled his eyes. 'Wrap it up, Nekura,' he said silently as though he were doing nothing more than telling a small child to knock off the horseplay and go to bed.

Nekura glanced up at Jessna then knelt down next to Kortu, whispering something to him as he placed a hand over his forehead. A cruel grin spread across his lips as his hand started glowing and a bone chilling scream ripped from Kortu's throat. There was a bright flash and the scream cut of abruptly.

Jessna, having shielded his eyes now looked down to see Nekura walking away from the faceless body of Kortu. When the kid joined Jessna and Zora at their observation point, Jessna was chuckling quietly and shaking his head. Excellent. His lordship was going to be very, very pleased.

Goku's irritation was rising as he easily dodged a ki blast and sent one of his own crashing into the offender. Four months. Four long, horrible months with no trace of Goten or his captors and these scumbags had the audacity to attack his planet!

Normally, he would have enjoyed fending off an invasion, but currently he had no patience for it. In fact, lately he had little patience for anything except for excessive training. From dawn until dusk he trained both physically and mentally. Whenever Chi-Chi sent Gohan out to try and bring his father home, it always resulted in the pair of them turning up after dark, dirty and weary.

Vegeta was no help as the majority of the time, he was found right alongside Goku. When Bulma, acting on behalf of Chi-Chi, tried to badger Vegeta into talking to Goku, the Prince had steadfastly refused.

"Kakarot has been left with no clue whatsoever as to the whereabouts of his brat. He is right to be doing what he is doing so that when he finally meets whoever took the boy, he can show them that nobody messes with a Saiyan and what belongs to him. I will not interfere with that." Bulma could do nothing to sway him but deep down, she was certain her Prince was, in his own way, watching over Goku to ensure he didn't go off the deep end.

And so the daily ritual continued unchallenged and uninterrupted until half an hour earlier. Goku, Vegeta and Gohan had been in a three way spar when they were attacked by strange little creatures that reminded all three Saiyans of the Cell Juniors they had encountered ten long years earlier. Luckily, the little beasts weren't nearly as strong as the mini Cells had been but they made up for that in the surprising and irritating ability to multiply when badly injured.

"Man these guys are annoying!" Yamcha complained as his current opponent split into two. Goku's long time friend had been nearby when the creatures had attacked and, attracted by the strange energy, he had arrived ten minutes into the fight and had eagerly joined in.

Goku was more than inclined to agree with Yamcha's statement and knew just what he needed to do to get rid of the pests, which meant there was no challenge and therefore, this battle was a waste of time. And lately, Goku did not like to waste his time. He didn't even need to go Super for this! He looked at Vegeta and Gohan, both of whom seemed to know what he was going to do and took to the air. Yamcha, not entirely sure what was happening, followed, understanding filling him when he watched his old friend take a familiar stance for a famous attack.

"Kamehameha!" Goku shouted and the blue energy wave poured from his thrust out hands. He spun around in a circle so the attack engulfed everything in its path. The trio in the air added their own attacks to cover anything Goku missed and within seconds, the field was cleared.

The trio rejoined Goku and Gohan was about to speak when he was interrupted by applause. They turned as one and, as the dust that had been kicked up settled, a woman was revealed. She was very pretty but radiated coldness. She had red hair and wore armor that looked to be a better version of what the Saiyans had once worn. Black, bird like wings protruded from her back and if it hadn't been for them, the group would have easily mistaken her for human.

"Wow," Yamcha murmured. A little grin spread across his lips as the womanizer in him began to emerge. "Allow me boys," he murmured and headed toward her.

Vegeta, standing on Goku's left with his arms folded across his chest murmured, "Fifty bucks says she wipes the floor with the idiot."

Goku and Gohan said nothing, watching quietly. They heard Yamcha speak to her but couldn't make out what he was saying. Ten seconds had barely gone by when Yamcha was flung through the air with a surprised yell, landing roughly at their feet. "Yamcha! You all right?" Gohan asked moving to help the older man up.

"Yeah fine," Yamcha replied with a light groan. "She's definitely not friendly."

"You figure that out all by yourself?" Vegeta mocked and before Yamcha could retort, the Prince strolled forward, stopping when he was about half way between her and the others. "I am Prince Vegeta! Identify yourself!" he demanded.

A slow smile crossed the woman's lips. "I am Commander Zora and I know perfectly well who you are, Prince Vegeta. Just as I know that behind you stands Kakarot, the only other surviving full blooded Saiyan and his handsome young half blood son. You three are well known throughout the universe. My master is passing by and wanted to see a little show."

Goku clenched his fists tightly. "Go back to your master and tell him to keep moving! He doesn't want my attention right now!"

Zora laughed quietly and bowed. "I'll give him the message," she said, then vanished.

Gohan put a hand on Goku's shoulder. "Come on, Dad," he murmured, "I think that's enough for today. Let's go home and eat. I'm starving and I bet you are too." Goku looked at his son, ready to protest but his growling stomach quickly overrode him. "All right." He looked at Vegeta. "You up for the waste lands after dinner?"

Vegeta nodded shortly and without a word shot off into the sky. Goku looked at Yamcha. "See you later, Yamcha. Stay out of trouble, kay?"

Yamcha grinned widely. "Always, pal! Later." As he took off into the air, Goku put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and the pair vanished from the field.

tbc...