Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball GT. Rights to all music suggested go to their respected owners.

Claimer: I own this story and any original characters that have/will appear.


Chapter 7

Desperate Situation

"Ah!" Bulma screamed in shock as the green scouter she wore blew a fuse unexpectedly, the heiress having jumped back in surprise at the mini-explosion and resulting shattering of the scouter's glass display. "Wh-what was that?!" Bulma questioned, her mouth open in astonishment. For one person to have so much power… how was it even possible?

"What's wrong Bulma?" Puar squeaked, the creature worried that Bulma may have suffered some sort of attack due to the frozen expression on her face.

For a moment Bulma could only stare into empty space before managing to stutter out, "Power level over… over…"

"That bad, huh?" Oolong asked with his arms folded, able to gather what Bulma was trying to say.

"You better believe it," Master Roshi responded for the inventor, the martial artist sweating in pints as he gripped his staff so hard it was on the verge of cracking. "In all my years, never would I have thought someone could have this much power in them…"

About to ask his former master if everything was alright, Ox-King suddenly noticed Baba was in the same condition. Both elders seemed to be in a great deal of pain as they concentrated on this mysterious, giant source of power. Unable to take any more the monarch yelled, "Could someone please tell me what's going on?!"

"The end of the world…" Master Roshi responded darkly, everyone's face falling as he spoke. "I fear that even Goku himself… won't be enough this time…"


"ENOUGH!" A roar unlike any before reached the ears of the Z-Fighters, everyone covering their earlobes to block out the noise, but it barely made a difference. Standing once more, Vegeta's expression was one of pure, unbridled hate, bordering on insanity. Shaking his fists at the sky Vegeta declared, "I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS RIDICULE ANY LONGER! I WILL TURN ALL OF YOU, EVERYONE ON THIS ENTIRE BACKWATER PLANET, INTO DUST!"

Vegeta's power reached a new, unbelievable peak as he yelled in rage, the Saiyan prince beyond livid after suffering so much damage from the insects all around him. Gone was any measure of sanity or mercy in the prince's mind. Right now, all he could see was red.

Still staring at the skies, Vegeta picked out a small dot from among the clouds. Focusing in on the spec, the prince was able to make it out as a person and soon realized one of the fighters from the fight with Nappa had not yet attacked him like the others. Fearing this may quickly change, Vegeta fired a blast of purple ki at Chiaoutzu only for the Saiyan to pull back his arm in pain, clasping it at the elbow.

Chiaoutzu, meanwhile, had avoided the attack by the skin of his teeth, the midget breathing hard as his life flashed before his eyes and he struggled to regain his composure. Never before had the warrior been so close to so much destructive energy.

'Damn it!' Vegeta cursed within his mind, still clasping his arm hard and his energy dropping fast. 'That damned attack… it did so much damage! But how?! I can barely stand…' The Saiyan grit his teeth hard in frustration before realization struck him. 'But they're in the same boat… Yes, I still have just enough power left to wipe them all out. And at this size it doesn't matter what they throw at me!'

"Leave Chiaoutzu alone!" A voice snapped Vegeta back to reality, the prince turning his head to see Tien speeding towards him in anger, the triclops in an absolute rage over having almost lost his friend.

"Tien, no!" Goku yelled somewhat weakly as he fell onto one knee. Controlling that much energy was no easy task and it had taken a toll on his already worn out body. Whether or not Goku was at full strength mattered little now, Tien already within striking distance of the giant ape. Throwing a hard right hook at Vegeta's midsection the warrior realized his folly when the blow didn't so much as chip away at the prince's armor. Looking up with his mouth open in terror Tien was greeted by Vegeta's neutral expression.

"So, you're the most eager to die?" Not giving Tien any time to pull any tricks the giant ape grabbed the human with his good hand, Vegeta's vice-like grip not allowing for any chance of escape. "Well I'd be happy to oblige!" The prince abruptly gripped the human even tighter, bones cracking as he did so, and punched the ground hard enough that a crater three times the size and depth of his fist was created.

Pulling his hand back out, Vegeta smiled as he saw the triclops was nearing unconsciousness from one measly attack.

"Tien!" Chiaoutzu cried, the midget rushing towards his friend's assaulter. Growling, Vegeta turned on the spot and threw the triclops' body with all his might, Tien colliding with Chiaoutzu and both friends abruptly sent through several rock spires with a deafening crash signaling that they had hit the ground at blinding speeds.

"Alright, let's try this again! Spirit Ball!" Yamcha yelled, hoping to take away all of the monster's vision this time. The ball of yellow energy sped towards Vegeta's face, however, this time the prince saw the attack coming and was aware of where the technique's true danger lied. Quickly taking it out with a head-butt, thus not giving the ball time to change direction, Vegeta focused in on where the Spirit Ball came from and angrily faced a frightened Yamcha. The former bandit could only gawk in horror as the primate's gigantic fist barreled towards him, Yamcha and the spire he stood atop instantly crushed by Vegeta's downward blow.

"Damn it…" Piccolo swore, taking a step back as sweat dripped down his forehead. "Goku's attack was powerful enough to wipe out the Earth three times over and yet… he's still standing!" The Namekian tightened his fists in frustration as he tried to figure out a way they could somehow beat this monster, or at the very least live to see tomorrow. 'If only there was some way to bring him back down to size! Then we could take him down easily! Wait…'

Looking at the sky, the answer hit Piccolo like a ton of bricks as he stared at Vegeta's synthetic moon. Smiling darkly the warrior declared, "That's it! Say goodbye to your power Saiyan, because when I'm through with you, you'll be lucky to walk ever again!"

So filled with bravado and certain that his plan would work, Piccolo fired the largest energy blast he could muster before he even made certain Vegeta was distracted. Thus it came as a great surprise to the Namekian when a giant hand blotted out the moon and stopped the warrior's attack before it even overcame the height of the rock formations. Gasping, Piccolo took several steps back as Vegeta's gigantic mug smiled down at him.

"What was that you were saying about walking, Namekian? Because my legs are feeling just fine. In a few moments, however, I can't say the same for yours!" Roaring, Vegeta lifted his hand as he prepared to smack Piccolo into the next world but suddenly noticed something out of the corner of his eye, the prince freezing as a familiar whirring noise reached his ears. Smiling once more, Vegeta turned to face Krillin completely as he prepared another Destructo Disc, the monk panting heavily from having to make a second disc so soon.

"Take this you big ape!" Krillin yelled, not caring that the giant gorilla had already seen him, figuring that since the disc had already cut through him once it would be able to take off his head now that he was so weakened and tired. Vegeta, however, proved his foe wrong when he fired off another purple mouth blast which quickly overwhelmed and broke up the Destructo Disc, the blast then washing over Krillin.

The monk lapsed into unconsciousness the moment the beam hit him, being spared the pain of crashing into the ground at a speed that would put any fighter jet to shame which was followed by a deafening tremor.

"Don't think that I forgot about you," Vegeta said while turning back to Piccolo, glimpsing the Namekian's foot just as he made a mad dash to escape the prince's wrath. Piccolo was not that fortunate, Vegeta sending several mouth blasts into the cluster of outcrops. Although Piccolo avoided the worst of the beams their resulting shockwaves threw him from side to side before a spire toppled over and landed on top of him just before the prince ended his wave of attacks.

"Krillin! Piccolo!" Goku yelled in rage, having finally summoned the strength to stand once more. Gizard Wasteland was silent for a few moments before Vegeta turned his head slightly to stare down his opponent with his remaining eye. The prince seemed to vanish from Goku's sight for a moment and the next thing the hero knew he was trapped in Vegeta's grip, both the prince's hands working to crush the Saiyan as he screamed in agony.

"You… YOU! You're the cause of all this, Kakarot!" Vegeta stated, his rage boiling over once more as he tightened his grip even further, speaking as he did so. "If you had done your blasted job and wiped out these urchins, none of this would have happened! You could have lived a life of battle and glory, and yet you wasted your energy protecting this pathetic world! And because of that… and because of that…" Vegeta grit his teeth as he struggled to admit what had happened. "I was almost beaten! Never have I been brought so low, to have taken this much damage from weaklings like you and your friends! As punishment for your crimes against the Saiyan crown, I will break every bone in your body and then force you to watch as I kill every last person on this rock! Only then, once every life form has been exterminated, will I slowly and painfully end your life!"

With his speech delivered, Vegeta upped the ante once more and squeezed with all his strength, Earth's saviour screaming in agony as his body was crushed.


Throughout all this, the last remaining Z-Fighter struggled to find the courage to help, to so much as move. Behind one of the many rocky spires, not too far away from the battle zone, Gohan sat in a huddled position with his hands covering his head and tears streaming down his face. The boy trembled in fear and confusion as his warrior and child instincts battled it out inside his head, Gohan's internal struggle made all the more real as voices just like his own yelled at each other.

"We have to beat that big ape!"

"I'm too scared!"

"We trained a whole year for this! We can't back down now!"

"I wish mommy was here…"

"She's not here! We can save the world without her!"

"I'm not strong enough!"

"Are you going to be a coward for the rest of your life!"

"No one else could do it, how can I?"

"We have the power!"

"I wanna go home!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAHH! NGGHH! AAAAHHHH!" Like a knife that cut through clouds, a single scream silenced both the voices in Gohan's head and ended the hallucinations. Sniffing, Gohan peaked around his spire and gasped in horror as his father screamed in pain, Vegeta laughing diabolically as Goku's ribs broke one by one.

"D-daddy…" The child muttered, his fear slowly fading as his grip on the stone spire grew stronger. "N-no… stop…" The child said weakly, his fear now gone and a feeling all too familiar started boiling up inside of him. "Why? Why won't he stop?" Slowly this feeling took form, the boy's voice gaining an edge as the spire he hid behind began to crack. "No, I won't let… it happen again!"

A flood of power and rage entered Gohan's system, rocks levitating off the ground as the boy's power increased further. Jumping in with all his might, Gohan prepared a flying kick as he declared, "You won't take away my daddy again!"

For Vegeta, the kick seemed to come out of nowhere, the prince having been too engaged in his torture to notice the boy's shouting. Thus, the combined shock of being attacked and the power of the attack itself forced the giant to topple backwards, Vegeta dropping his prey in the process of regaining his balance.

Floating in front of the giant gorilla, Gohan snarled at the beast while a white aura surrounded him. Growling back at the boy, Vegeta backhanded the child with all his might and Gohan was sent flying through the very tower of rock he had been hiding behind. So quick had the child's exit from the battlefield been that Vegeta failed to notice the furry appendage that now stuck out from the base of Gohan's back.

"D-damn it!" Piccolo cursed, pushing off a large boulder so he could sit up. The Namekian had taken a great deal of damage from Vegeta's onslaught, evidenced by the many scratch marks and bruises that now covered his face. "I was too cocky! And now, I barely have enough power for one last shot…" Trailing off the green warrior looked upwards to see Vegeta searching avidly for Goku, the prince's target having narrowly escaped behind some boulders to recuperate. Despite this, however, it was obvious the prince was standing at the ready if someone should try and attack his synthetic moon, the giant ape's arms taut and ready to block any attacks or capture any diminutive Earthlings who tried to sneak attack him.

Not deterred, Piccolo aimed his arm at the moon ready to fire off what little energy he had left should the opportunity present itself.


"Yeah, yeah I'm going!" Yajirobe yelled at the three reporters giving him the stink eye. Turning around and walking towards the battlefield on shaky legs the tubby samurai swore as he thought, 'Why can't I ever shut my big mouth? Now I have to go and fight a monster gorilla the size of a skyscraper! I don't know how, but this is all Goku's fault! I just know it is!'

In reality, Yajirobe knew it was his continuous false bravado that was the instigator for his current predicament. The hefty man had talked quite the deal of his mastery of the martial arts, bragging of how he had taught every one of the Z-Fighter's everything they knew, he bragged about this especially during the seemingly successful rush on Vegeta, and that he could take on the Oozaru all by himself if it came down to it. Ever giving, fate had now presented Yajirobe the chance to prove this and the three reporters had 'encouraged' the samurai into making good on his promise by threatening to reveal him as a fraud and mark him as the sole reason Earth was in danger of destruction.

To attached to the public image he had recently built around himself, Yajirobe complied and entered the fray… albeit with great opposition.

With his back against a particularly tall and wide spire the human tiptoed stiffly around the structure, clutching his sword for dear life and closing his eyes as he prepared to face down the gigantic alien of destruction. Eyes shut tight and sweat dripping from his forehead, Yajirobe quickly spun around the tower of rock and pointed his sword forward as he yelled, "Alright you big ape! Get ready for a bruisin' cause I'm not gonna go easy on you! That's right me and you big guy! Are you ready to face the world of pain known… as… Yajirobe?" The fighter trailed off as he opened his eyes, an empty section of the wasteland greeting him and Vegeta visible in the distance, still stomping around in anger.

Clearing his throat and blushing, Yajirobe straightened his collar as he prepared to move on before noticing a piece of purple cloth out of the corner of his eye. Jogging over to the scrap of clothing the warrior was surprised to find that not only was the segment of cloth part of a whole outfit, this outfit was being worn by a small child.

Tapping the child's body uneasily with the hilt of his sword, Yajirobe nearly jumped out of his skin when a brown tail began to move around before his eyes while the boy groaned. Having fallen on his backside from fear, the samurai realized something and closed his gawking mouth.

"Wait, there were only two Saiyans that attacked. So that means… this is probably Goku's kid!" Coming to his senses, the samurai hurriedly ran over to the child and turned him over so that he could breathe. Snapping next to the boy's left ear, Yajirobe tried to remember the brat's name. "Hey umm… Goten! No, that's not right… Kugo! No, wait! Gohan! Yeah, Gohan can ya hear me?"

Responding to his name, Gohan was drawn back into the land of consciousness at last. The tyke's eyes fluttered open slowly as he was greeted with a dry mouth, a sore body and a large bright light that hung in the sky.

"Wh-what's going on?" Gohan managed to gasp out tiredly, his head unmoving as he continued to stare at the sky.

"It's real bad kid! Far as I can tell everyone but your dad is down for the count, and even he's been beat pretty bad!" Yajirobe explained as he looked around, his sword at the ready should another opponent be hidden somewhere among the rocks. After all, Saiyans had pulled that stunt with the green men earlier, what was stopping them from doing it again?

"My… dad?" Gohan asked, his mind getting cloudier as he continued to stare at the ball of light in the sky, the orb of white light seemingly calling out to the boy for some reason.

"Yeah your dad! How hard did that guy hit you?!" Turning around in frustration the hefty samurai was surprised to find Gohan seemingly slightly… different. The child was beyond zoned out, his irises a pale white and his mouth open wide as if he were asleep. Suddenly, the child began to breathe erratically and at an alarming pace, Gohan's chest heaving up and down as fast as it could while the boy's new tail jumped around excitedly.

"Gohan…" Yajirobe said, reaching out to the boy. However, the half-Saiyan couldn't hear him, his mind a wash of primal emotions and feelings. Gohan was confused to say the least, the ocean of feelings inside his head too much to make sense of and the only thing still making sense was that ball in the sky that simply seemed to say, "Keep staring."

Not knowing what else to do, Gohan complied and slowly the sea of emotions faded away till only one sensation remained. Rage. Anger in its most ancient and destructive form, the power behind it mysterious yet at the same time intriguing. Normally Gohan would be scared by such power but it was just so familiar, he couldn't help but reach out and grab hold of it.

Yajirobe was thrown back by a force unlike any other, the fat samurai suddenly on his backside. Looking up at the small boy whose shirt had been ripped apart by the same burst of power, the samurai could only watch in confusion and horror as the boy's irises and pupils disappeared, leaving behind only white, angry slits, and fangs grew in place of teeth. Gohan growled as his body twitched, his small muscles gaining more definition and size as time passed, a heavy heartbeat echoing in the child's chest as the organ pumped a myriad of chemicals and hormones throughout the tyke's growing body.

The transformation sped up rapidly, Gohan quickly growing to and above the size of his own father, patches of fur spreading and growing into a thick, brown coat over the miniature Oozaru. The rocks that had supported his body but minutes ago were soon crushed under his new weight, Gohan's body soaring to new heights at an even greater pace as the transformation neared completion.

Yajirobe ran for cover behind the nearest boulder he could find, cowering in fear as the monster before him stood up to its full, towering height and unleashed a roar that shook the entire landscape, the newly transformed Gohan shaking his fists at the sky in anger.


"What?! That power… is that… Gohan?" Goku asked himself, the warrior holding back a sphere of energy he had been aiming at Vegeta's good eye. Letting the ball of energy dissipate the Saiyan quickly moved behind cover again just in time to miss being seen by Vegeta, whom was getting very tired of this game of cat and mouse.

"You're beginning to bore me Kakarot! Either face me now, or I'll blow this planet to smithereens!" The giant ape threatened, stomping around as he did so and keeping his eye to the ground.

Goku, however, wasn't even paying attention to the prince's booming voice, instead too caught up in trying to figure out how his son had gotten so strong so quickly. 'His power is at least ten times as big as it was a few seconds ago! There's no way he could have… unless…' On the verge of figuring out what had happened, Goku's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of a purple glow growing brighter rapidly. Peaking around his boulder, the Saiyan was met with a blast the size of a truck which quickly decimated his hiding place, the warrior screaming in surprise and pain as he was overrun by the colossal tidal wave of power and soon blacked out. Coming to after a few seconds, Goku discovered he was now buried under a mound of rubble and that his already damaged body barely responded now.

Noticing a shadow loom over him the Saiyan looked up to see a chuckling Vegeta, the monster's giant foot hovering over his opponent as he said, "This is the end for you, Kakarot. Before I send you to the next world, I'd like you to know that once I've finished you off this planet, and everyone on it, will be turned into ash!" Goku grunted in anger as he tried to push himself up, only to fall face first back onto his stomach, Vegeta laughing harder as a result. "That's right, struggle all you want! Give it everything you've got just so you can see how pointless struggling against my power is!" The valley was filled with evil laughter once more, the sounds of this chuckling reaching the ears of a certain combatant.


Anger, that's all he could feel. Anger at the world, no, at the universe! Everything and everyone thought it was better than him! How dare they! He was the most powerful being to ever live, and yet the still looked down on him! Even now that he was as big as a mountain itself, everything and everyone still saw him as pathetic! Wait… what was that noise?

Gohan looked up to see Vegeta laughing loudly and proudly, the prince almost losing his balance. Was that big ape laughing at him?... WAS HE LAUGHING AT HIM?!

The Oozaru roared once more and beat his chest in defiance, attempting to assert his dominance only for Vegeta to simply not notice him. Growling in anger, the beast could take no more and picked up a rock the size of his girth and howled once more, the young Oozaru chucking the gigantic stone at his rival's head, the boulder hitting it's mark dead on and throwing up a cloud of smaller boulders and dust.

Snarling as he rubbed his head, Vegeta attempted to look through the newly formed cloud as he yelled, "Who dares attack the Prince of All Saiyans?!" and quickly got his answer in the form of Gohan jumping out of the cloud of light brown dust and latching on to Vegeta's abdomen. Before the prince could react, Gohan clamped down on the prince's right trapezius with all the might his jaws could muster, blood oozing from the muscle as Vegeta yelled in pain.

The combined agony of having a major muscle being bitten in to, as well as having to support the weight of a monster almost as big as he was, caused Vegeta to topple over with a deafening thud that shook the landscape, Vegeta yelling in defiance as he fell over like a giant tree.

"Great, now there's two of them!" James Oswald reported, the news anchor quickly ducking behind the spire to rejoin his fellow journalists and avoid being spotted. "This is supposed to be the story of a lifetime, and I'm stuck here where I can't see a thing!"

Growling at her male counterpart's whining, Miranda Crane turned and placed her hands on her hips as she said, "Well if you want to get the story so bad, then go out there and look at it!"

James recoiled slightly and held up his hands in defence, turning to Mark Chang for some sort of assistance only for the reporter to take sides with Miranda. "She's right. Maybe if we're lucky, you'll get squashed and we won't have to hear you whine anymore!"

With that the conversation ended, James sighing, Mark returning to drawing circles in the sand with a stick and Miranda once again attempting to get a signal by waving her phone around in the air. Steeling himself once more, James peaked around the corner again wondering if this day could indeed get any weirder.

Gohan finally unclamped his jaws from the screaming prince, only for the child-ape to beat his chest once more and then begin to pound Vegeta's face in with heavy punches, rocking the landscape far and wide with every hit. This did not go on for long, however, Vegeta quickly catching one of his opponent's wide punches with ease. Shifting his superior weight, Vegeta switched positions with Gohan and returned the boy's onslaught with his own, yet was only able to use one arm at this point.

Speaking as he beat the child, Vegeta emphasized each word with a punch. "You. Stupid. Child! How! Dare! You! Challenge! Me!" Each blow brought Gohan closer to unconsciousness, the giant barely able to breathe with such a gargantuan weight on his abdomen and his mind a blur as his vision became cloudier by the second.

Struggling to keep his arm steady, Piccolo sweated in pints as he attempted to get a good shot at Vegeta's moon. The problem? Each time Vegeta pulled back his arm for a punch, the prince's elbow would block the orb. Even though the punches were becoming more far in-between the Namekian refused to take any chances, the attack in his palm containing the very last of his energy. All he needed was one more distraction to put the nail in the coffin and then he would be ready to fire.

This final distraction came in a very unlikely form to say the least.

Yelling a battle cry, Yajirobe leapt off a cliff and at Vegeta's back, his sword raised high and ready to take off the Saiyan's tail with one smooth strike. Unfortunately, the samurai had once again closed his eyes before jumping in and had thus misjudged the distance between him and his opponent. Landing on what he thought was the monster's behind, Yajirobe sliced downwards as hard as he could and the blade cut through the Vegeta's flesh with ease. Hearing Vegeta howl in pain once more, Yajirobe opened one eye to assess the damage he had dealt only to discover instead of slicing off the Saiyan's tail he had severed the prince's Achilles' tendon!

Gulping, the would-be hero looked upwards to see Vegeta now staring down at him in absolute fury. Falling off Vegeta's foot as he backed away, gawking in horror, Yajirobe tried to mutter some sort of apology as he scraped along on the ground but all that came out was indistinct murmurs.

About to unleash a torrent of hateful and infuriated curses upon the oaf, Vegeta was cut off by a ball of energy as big as his eye that whizzed by his face and sped towards the sky at unparalleled speed. Following the attack's path, Vegeta realized its target too late and could only scream in defiance when Piccolo's energy ball collided with his artificial moon in a glorious explosion that lit up the sky.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Vegeta was now on his knees, fists taut as he yelled at the sky, already feeling his power slowly slip away.

"Ha… ha… That's… what you… get…" Piccolo said quietly with a broad smile on his sweat-drenched face, the Namekian's arm dropping like a dead weight and his head following soon after when Piccolo entered the realm of the unconscious, his fanged smile remaining as he let the darkness take him.

The sensation of falling overtook Vegeta as the world around him grew rapidly, the prince's fur and fangs retreating as he lost his gorilla-like features, his gargantuan power returning to where it had come from. Now his normal size again, Vegeta shivered as a cold sensation consumed his body followed by a numb pain. Gawking at his gloved hands in disbelief, the prince could hardly breathe as the injuries he had sustained throughout the battle finally caught up with him.

"Well, well. Looks like you're not that big a threat after all, huh half-pint?" Yajirobe taunted, the fat samurai leaning on his sword in a leisurely manner as he looked over his opponent. Vegeta growled in retaliation, the prince balling his hands into fists once more as he glared at his opponent. Chuckling, Yajirobe rubbed the underside of his nose before speaking once more. "I think it's time I end this. Yaaah!"

Ever the cunning strategist, Yajirobe charged head-on with his sword raised while yelling a battle cry once more. Sick of this particular Earthling's antics, Vegeta raised his only working arm and fired a simple kiai, the force of which unceremoniously launched his enemy into and through several large boulders. A pained groan soon echoed throughout the landscape.

Vegeta, however, immediately regretted this action. Pulling back his left arm, the Saiyan cursed as a burning pain enveloped it. "Damn… it! I've lost… too much power…" The prince said, thinking out loud. Attempting to stand, the prince was reminded of his leg injury when he immediately found his left foot was no longer responding in any way except sending out signals of pain.

Collapsing onto the ground once more, Vegeta yelled in frustration "To think… I'd be beaten by such low level ingrates! Damn you! Damn you all!" With his pride utterly shattered and his body broke, the proud warrior had no choice but to retreat… for now at least. Retrieving his remote from beneath the armored plate of his right breast, Vegeta struggled to punch in the correct sequence of buttons with only one hand, the added difficulty of said hand missing a finger.

A few minutes passed before Vegeta's space pod finally arrived, the craft crashing a few metres away from the injured warrior. Growling as he pulled himself across the dirt, pushing Gohan's passed out body out of the way when the tyke's form blocked his path, Vegeta cursed himself for having let such weaklings destroy so much of his pride. When he recovered, this planet and everyone on it would experience horrors like never before.

Reaching his pod at last, Vegeta had only just managed to get the door open before that despicable voice made him pause.

"Leaving so soon?" Goku asked, Vegeta painfully turning around to see his enemy barely on his feet, Earth's protector slouched and breathing deeply as he grasped his chest with his right arm and sternly stared down the Saiyan invader. "After everything you've done… after all the people you've hurt and will hurt… I should end you, right here and now."

Not fazed by Goku's threat, Vegeta gave a small chuckle as he choked out, "Oh please, Kakarott, you're holding up about as well as I am. You can barely talk, let alone kill so much as an ant."

"We both know that with one word, that can all change," Goku reminded the prince, referring to the Kaioken and almost smiling when he saw the realization on Vegeta's face, the prince's expression soon going from one of shock to one of slight anger. The wasteland became dead silent, the two most powerful beings on the planet staring each other down as a strong wind blew by, ruffling their iconic hair styles. Each waited for a sign of sorts, a signal that they could once more speak. Heeding their call, Mother Nature brought about a particularly strong gust of wind that knocked a loose rock off its perch high above, the stone smashing into the ground and breaking apart, shattering the silence.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Vegeta inquired, his expression unchanging and his eyes still locked on to Goku's. "End it, so that at least my soul can escape the pathetic world. Even an eternity in hell is looking more pleasant than being stuck on this rock for another second."

"I'm not going to kill you, Vegeta. It's not how I do things," Goku explained, his tone clear and stern with an edge of finality. Feeling Vegeta's anger rising at his words, the Earthling thought it better to give the whole story at once so that his rival could better understand. "Ever since I was a kid, I've fought people way stronger than me, every one of them pushing me beyond what I had ever thought possible in terms of power. After I had trained with King Kai, I thought I'd reached the limit of what someone like me could accomplish, but then I fought you. You've shown me a level of power like nothing I've ever seen and this… this is my way of saying thank you. And besides that, I know there's good in you, I sensed it! You're just… misguided I guess. So, I'm giving you this chance to clean up your act and become a better person." Smiling brightly, Goku changed his tone to a friendlier one when he offered one last thing. "And hey, maybe when you've become the person I know you can be, we can have another one-on-one?"

Stunned by the sheer gall of it all, Vegeta gaped blankly at the buffoon before him for what seemed like minutes before bursting into hearty laughter. Raising an eyebrow Goku was about to ask what was so funny before Vegeta cut him off.

"You poor misguided fool! You really are as crazy as they come!" Vegeta declared in-between bouts of laughter, having to calm down before continuing his verbal tirade with a huge smile on his face. "You really are a true Saiyan, Kakarott! Even with your Earthling morals, caring for friends and family and even the minutest life on this planet, you still put it all on the line for so much as a chance of a good fight." The prince's expression became one of slight anger once more while Goku's expression was already set on a mix of confusion and surprise… yet not one of disagreement. "You can make up whatever reasons you want for letting me live, but know that I will be back, and not to merely spar with you. No, I will eradicate both you and this disgusting mud ball until only atoms remain. This I promise you."

Not caring to exchange any more words, Vegeta returned his attention to his space pod and opened the craft's only door, the prince taking a few moments to clamber inside. Once in his seat the warrior stared down his rival, both Saiyans refusing to lose angered eye contact for even a moment. With the pod's door closing rather abruptly and thus cutting their staring contest short, Goku could only stare upwards and follow the vessel with his eyes somberly as the pod took to the skies and soon exited the atmosphere. Earth's guardian exhaled a sigh of relief and disappointment soon thereafter.


Passing by Pluto at unparalleled speed, Vegeta sat in his pod and mulled over what had passed. Flashbacks of the battle on Earth entered and exited his mind in rapid flashes, the prince tightening his left fist in rage and frustration and his space pod expanding ever so slightly thanks to the increased energy output. Realizing what would happen if he continued raising his power, Vegeta calmed down and pressed a small yellow button on his armrest. This activated the pod's medical capabilities, with the craft's lights dimming and a plastic mask dropping from the pod's ceiling, Vegeta placing the device on his face and feeling himself start to drift off as the gas, a mixture not unlike the liquids found in healing tanks, entered his system.

Vegeta did not dream once during his flight. Instead, he spent it all in a sort of meditative state where he could review the battle on Earth again and again, trying to find out where it all went wrong.


Piccolo was the first to awaken from the land of the unconscious, the Namekian's natural healing abilities playing no small part in this. Sitting up with a groan, Piccolo heard a noise akin to snoring and looked around to find he had been laid down next to his human allies and his pupil, all of whom were unconscious. Searching the area, he found Goku and Yajirobe off to the side sitting on a boulder and chatting, the pair most likely the ones who had found and moved everyone's comatose forms. Upon realizing Piccolo was looking their way, Goku gave his friend a small salute and a smile whilst Yajirobe barely looked up, the samurai too focused on holding a tissue to his broken and bleeding nose.

Nodding back at the duo, Piccolo took a few minutes to collect himself before standing up and making his way over to his companions, speaking as he approached. "I don't sense our little friend anywhere. Does that mean he's been taken care of?"

Grinning from ear to ear and scratching the back of his head, the Saiyan laughed as he said, "Well, uh… see the funny thing about that is, after you took out the moon Vegeta was too tired to fight and he ran off! But he said he'd be back, so I guess we're not completely out of danger! Hahaha!"

Goku continued to laugh awkwardly, even after he had finished his response which only served to further arouse Piccolo's suspicions, which was evident when the alien raised an eyebrow at the man's laughter. Yajirobe, for his part, remained silent, keeping his thoughts to himself.

'What the heck is Goku talking about? Lying isn't like him… why isn't he telling Piccolo the whole story?' Thinking the Saiyan had his reasons, the samurai kept to his nose holding and let silence resume as the others awoke one by one.

"We did it! We did it! Alright!" Krillin sang, pumping his fists into the air as he jumped about and forgot all about his fatigue. The monk was soon joined by Yamcha, the pair linking arms and dancing in a small circle as the laughed loudly, celebrating their victory over the Saiyans. While Gohan and Goku chuckled at the pair's antics, Tien and Chiaoutzu settled for small smiles and Yajirobe mumbled something about not getting enough credit while giving the others the stink eye.

A lighthearted, celebratory mood filled the landscape for the first time that day as the Z-Fighter's relished their victory. The Earth had been saved and no losses had befallen them. What greater gift could this day bring?

However, not everyone was in a cheerful mood. Leaning against a spire away from the group, Piccolo was bathed in the structure's spire as he stared at Goku with a piercing glaze, his eyes then moving to the warrior's son. The Namekian found it surprising that seeing the two together and laughing so happily brought up various negative emotions, particularly a nagging jealousy. And even pushing passed that for the moment, the Namekian was certain Goku was hiding something from everyone. What that was and why Son Goku of all people would lie or try and keep a secret was beyond him and most certainly spelled trouble.

Piccolo was jarringly brought out of his thoughts by two very distinct loud noises, the Namekian having to go so far as block his sensitive ears to protect his hearing. The sources of his discomfort were the blaring engines of a Capsule Corp hover jet traveling at low altitude and high speed while the second source was the babbling of three reporters as they ran over to the clearing where the Z-Fighters were situated.

Cutting their celebrations short, the group all turned in the direction of the noises to recognize the jet as Bulma's and the reporters as… well seemingly ravenous for a scoop.

"Excuse me, sir-"

"Just a moment of your time-"

"If I could please-"

The yellow hover jet's back door opened slowly and dramatically before someone clad in an outfit of varying shades of purple jumped out of the aircraft and landed on one knee before standing back up. Staring down the trio of reporters the wife and mother growled as a dark aura enveloped her before revealing fangs and yelling, "GET AWAY FROM MY BOY!"

Stopping in their tracks, James, Miranda and Mark all cowered in fear as the woman before them exuding a killing intent that seemed to be strong enough to take physical form. Taking the hint, the group raised their hands in defence simultaneously and slowly stepped back in fear, smiling awkwardly and sweating heavily as they did so.

"Haha! You sure showed them Chi!" Goku declared, amused by the display so much he had to close his eyes to stop tears from coming out. The Saiyan soon regretted even so much as speaking when his ear was suddenly tugged so harshly, the pain from the Kaioken seemed like a pinprick.

"And as for you, you big idiot! Don't think you can just decide to stay dead for a whole year and then come back like nothing's changed! Because of you, our son has been stuck with a demon for twelve months who did who knows what to him! Not to mention, the first thing you do when you get back is start another fight! I have half a mind to leave you, you big oaf! Then we'll see who cooks your meals and cleans your clothes!"

Krillin chuckled quietly as he surveyed the numerous scenes before him: Chi-Chi standing with crossed arms as Goku begged for forgiveness on hands and knees while Gohan attempted to help ease the situation by explaining Piccolo wasn't that bad, Piccolo growling as his reputation was torn to shreds, Tien and Chiaoutzu off to the side filling in Master Roshi while Yamcha greeted Bulma by picking her up and swinging her around, the pair laughing happily after having been apart for so long. Meanwhile, Yajirobe remained on his boulder clutching his nose and groaning in frustration as the press tried to quietly gather more information from him, attempting to avoid the wrath of Chi-Chi.

Laughing once more, the human looked to the blue skies with his hands on his sides, a few birds flying by. Yup, everything was practically back to normal. Well, as normal as things could get for them at least.


[Suggested Music: Frieza's Final Form Theme by Faulconer Productions]

"Please… no… no…" The yellow, bird-like alien wrapped in white cloth gasped as he looked over the once beautiful landscape before him. Tall trees where children once played now husks of chipped and broken wood, once fertile farming land replaced by grey dirt as far as the eye could see. Above, dark clouds blocked out both the red and blue sun and locked the entire planet in an eternal winter. The alien shed a tear at all he and his people had lost, the creature attempting to reach out to the past as he crawled on the ground.

Grunting in anger, Turles shoved his boot down onto the man's neck, effectively crushing it and ending the creature's life immediately. Taking a bite out of the orange, prickly fruit in his hand, the man barely felt any boost as he chewed the morsel, the pale Saiyan almost spitting out the piece of extraordinary food in disgust.

"This is pathetic! Forced to hunt down the smallest scraps of energy on dwarf planets because you heard a rumor!" The angered warrior spat in anger and then turned to his elderly ally, the giant Namekian sitting on a small rock as he surveyed the dark and grey landscape before them. "So much for the 'Great Lord Slug'! Having to lay low in the North Galaxy because you jump at shadows! Why would Frieza even come to this rundown quadrant?!"

"My spies have no reason to lie, Turles. Frieza is headed for Namek and he'll get there long before we do. My army has many troops, but not that many!" Slug yelled back, immediately regretting raising his voice thanks to the coughing fit that followed immediately afterwards. Turles sighed as his anger passed away. "We have to lay low… at least for now. We can't wish for immortality if we die before we have the chance."

"I know… I know damn it! But neither of us are going to beat him in the shape we're in," Turles explained, kicking the corpse before him and looking over to their conjoined spacecraft. While on the outside it was still very clearly Lord Slug's massive terraformer the inside had been updated and remodeled with the latest technology Turles and his crew had pirated, making the ship twice as fast and Slug's weather array three times as variable, thus allowing the crew to create the optimal conditions for growing the Tree of Might.

"But we're not going to get anywhere close to his level unless we get you those Dragon Balls you keep babbling on about and I find a decent-sized planet for this tree," Turles explained their scenario to his ally and gesturing to the slowly shrinking plant, it's work now done and it's seed almost ready for retrieval. Slug only grunted as a response, the old man seemingly in deep thought about something.

"Lord Slug! Sir Turles! I have urgent news!" A nasally voice rang throughout the area, the two tyrants turning their heads in the direction of the noise to see the cowardly Gyoshu, a small, green, imp-like creature with large red eyes and a black cloak covering his body, whom fell under Slug's command. The scientist carried an advanced tablet of sorts as he ran towards the two, panting when he arrived at their location. Gyoshu said in-between breaths, "For-forgive me for the interruption, sirs, but we have… have found a planet suitable for your needs, Sir Turles!"

Taking the device from the minion, Turles looked at the picture on screen with great interest. Smiling upon seeing such high levels of life readings and the size of the special body, Turles could not help but let his diabolical grin grow as his plans seemed to grow ever closer to fruition.

"Planet Earth, huh? We're going to need to pay you a visit," Cackling quietly, Turles handed the device back to Gyoshu only for the imp to almost drop the device when his master suddenly stood up and yelled, Slug making a fist with his right hand and smashing it into his left palm to emphasize what he shouted.

"Of course, Earth! That's where they sent him…" Turning around to face his confused compatriots, both raising an eyebrow to accentuate this, Slug's sneer only grew as he explained. "Turles, I think both our 'problems' will soon be solved! And when they are, no one will be able to stop us! Not even Frieza himself!"


Q&A

Q: what was your pourpouse on goku feeling vegeta when making the spirit bomb, did he feel a tini itsi bit of purity?

A: I think this chapter helped answer that.

Q: I have a question that I'm pretty sure I think I asked in my last review, which is: are you going to include Launch? Or other Dragon Balls characters like, say… Android #8

A: If I can find a place for them, why not? But I won't be including any characters if I don't see them adding something to the story, or at the very least the scene.

Q: I hope you don't have Vegeta get up completely battle ready, the only reason he did it originally was because Goku "dropped" a majority of the Spirit Bomb's power when Vegeta hit him with his mouth ki blast.

A: Err… Sorry :P. Well, Vegeta wasn't completely battle-ready and did take a huge deal of overall damage from the attack, so I'm hoping you'll see this as us meeting halfway.