A/N: Thank you everyone for all of your support and feedback!

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questions&answers

coldblue2015: Q1): Vegeta and Bulma have not completed the Saiyan ritual yet and really, Bulma doesn't even know about it to be honest. We're going to see more of 18/Raditz's connection and it's one of my goals to get Bulma and Vegeta just as connected. Q2): Android 18 will definitely get her prize money after the Buu Saga. 20,000,000 zeni is a lot of money, after all. Q3): I think you'll find your answer with this chapter. Q4:) Tien is definitely aware, but is all the more reluctant to leave Launch alone in her condition. Q5): If I go into the DBS saga, I probably won't do another separate story. I think continuing as is (as Wave of Return) is best because it would give more opportunity for lots of Bulma/Vegeta interaction and 18/Raditz interaction. Strangely enough, I really don't feel like I worked on either of their relationships as much as I should have - as 'Second Chances', the prequel, was more centered on Raditz only.

We'd also probably get some Goku/Chi-Chi because this pairing is seriously underrated. It's way better than Naruto/Hinata in my opinion because Akira didn't introduce any love rivals for Goku and kept it clearly understood that Goku and Bulma were just friends, while Kishimoto did a bit of a triangle and made it a bit more complicated. Ultimately, I supported Naruto/Sakura as I figured it'd be good character development for Sakura to get over Sasuke, but oh well and Sakura was the girl Naruto wanted from day 1. I really have no problem with Naruto/Hinata, it's just that it could've been done wayyy better and had more of a built up and not a shitty reason as to why Naruto stopped loving Sakura. He isn't quite as idiotic as Goku, so I didn't buy it.

Sorry for going off on a bit of tangent. Anyway, I do agree with your suggestions and I especially agree that this is going to put a strain on Bulma's and Vegeta's relationship. They should have a bit of a struggle and Vegeta shouldn't just waltz back in and everything be fine. Launch and Tien would be pretty interesting to see but I'm going to wait a bit before showing what's going on between them. And it's actually because of this story that Raditz became one of my favorite characters and it's because of that that I'm really not bored with this story honestly; It's just a lot of work and I update slower than I'd like to due to college. Thankfully, I'm a senior so that makes things slightly bearable.

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Commence to the good stuff down below!

Chapter 11: Goku vs. Vegeta!

"You idiot." 18 insulted with narrowed icy blue eyes at the terrified male before her.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Neither Marise, nor Taro were in the stands like they were supposed to be and, as if losing two three year old twins wasn't bad enough already, neither were Goten, and Trunks. The blonde-haired woman's eyes narrowed even more if possible, and the male on the receiving end of her scrutinizing gaze, shifted around in his seat uncomfortably. Yamcha was well aware that he needed to apologize lest he'd face more than her wrath.

Be that as it may, it was a challenge to even open his mouth given the circumstances. However, he managed to do so anyway. "I'm really sorry, 18."

18 harrumphed coldly, folding her arms across her bust. "You should be."

Then, the blonde was shifting her attention onto her husband, a slight frown on her features.

He was trying his best to console the crying blue-haired scientist in his arms, but even he and Chi-Chi together couldn't manage to calm her down. 18 couldn't imagine how Bulma was feeling at the moment and didn't fault her in the slightest for how she felt. As soon as Goku and the others left, her and Raditz were quick to check on the others and the kids. Naturally, they expected everyone to be shaken up, but they hadn't expected the kids to be off on their own.

This situation was getting too out of hand.

"Shit," Raditz muttered, diverting his eyes onto his sister-in-law, "I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm going to go find out myself. Keep an eye on Bulma, will you?"

Chi-Chi looked half-offended, her brows furrowing up considerably. "Of course I will. Bulma's been there for me so many times, after all; this is the least I can do."

"Yeah," Yamcha agreed. "We'll take care of her."

Master Roshi hummed his agreement, uncharacteristically serious. "That aside, I fear that if something isn't done soon; things can only get worse. I have a bad feeling - and it's one I haven't felt in a while."

"Yamcha," Susan called out worriedly, clutching her lover's hand. "I'm scared." This wasn't what she expected when she heard that they were going to be attending an tournament. How could something meant for enjoyment and fun turn into something like this? A nightmare?

"I know," he muttered back, placing a hand atop of hers and trying his best to comfort her.

"If Bulma's like this," Ranfan began, just as worried and diverting attention onto herself, "I can't even imagine how Tarble's feeling. Isn't there anything we can do to help? I feel so useless."

"On top of that, Krillin hasn't returned either," Maron muttered worriedly.

Bulma sniffled, finally managing to get somewhat of a hold over herself. Shakily, she wiped away at her tears. "Well, there is one thing we can do." She began, referring to Ranfan's question. "When Videl finally gets here we can go look for the Dragon Balls; the first thing I want to do is wish everyone that Vegeta...killed back to life."

Dear Kami, it was so hard to utter the words seeing as the words alone was enough to make her near vomit.

Raditz cocked a brow, "Don't push yourself too hard. I mean given the situation I say you should take it easy for a while."

Bulma shook her head 'no'. "Doing something like this will help keep my mind off of things for a bit. Besides, this is something I have to do."

Raditz didn't argue with her about it, figuring that she has been through enough as is. "In that case, I can speed up the process and Instant Transmission Videl here." The long-haired Saiyan gently pulled back from Bulma and placed two fingers atop of his forehead. He closed his eyes, concentrating on what he remembered what Videl's ki felt like and in a matter of seconds, eyes shooting open, he was gone.

Poor Videl didn't know what hit her, her purple eyes widening in surprise at the bulky Saiyan before her. She had all but near ran into him. And it certainly didn't help that her flying still wasn't all that perfected, either. "Wha - ?"

"Come with me." He ordered, grasping her arm and then seemingly disappearing in thin air. By the time Videl was finally able to process what was going on, she was falling down onto her hands and knees. She was rather exhausted from flying, after all. Despite this, she was quick to realize that she was surrounded by all-too-familiar faces.

She blinked a few times in confusion.

"Alright," Raditz stated suddenly before anyone could speak. He was placing his fingers to his forehead again. "I'll instant transmission the kids next and then I'm off."

And without further ado, Raditz was gone in a blur, all but appearing in a similar fashion before the four half-Saiyans. He was torn between giving them an earful right then and there and relief that they were all okay. The long-haired Saiyan went with the latter given that time was of the essence.

"Papa!" Marise called out happily, followed by an just as eager Goten. "Uncle Raditz!"

His gaze softened slightly, "Let's go. You're all coming with me."

Of course, there wasn't much of a fight that they could put up against Raditz, so they had no choice but to go with the Saiyan - lest they wanted to be in even more trouble than they already were. Similar to when Raditz appeared with Videl, he appeared back just as quick with all four kids in tow. The kids having realized where they were, immediately half-protested, but the looks on some of the adults faces said otherwise. Trunks picked this out especially quick, noticing his mom's red face; the eight-year-old was alarmed near instanteously.

"Raditz," 18 called out quickly as the male was near seconds away from heading to where the others were. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noted that Trunks was more absorbed with his mother while Chi-Chi all but had the twins and Goten in a big hug. "I'm coming with you." She diverted her attention onto the twins and Goten, her icy eyes narrowing before they could say anything. "Leave from Bulma's and Chi-Chi's side again, and you're all in big trouble." She guaranteed.

And judging by the expressions on their faces, it was clear they wholly intended on listening.

~0~

"You have no idea how long I've longed for this moment!" Vegeta declared with a wide smirk as he took in his opponent parallel to him. His heart was beating wildly with anticipation and his hands were trembling with pure excitement; he couldn't stop them even if he wanted to.

Goku merely narrowed his eyes teal eyes. He couldn't believe how selfish Vegeta was being. Didn't he think about anyone other then himself for once? Had he been mistaken in thinking that Bulma and Trunks had made a positive impact on Vegeta's character? The spiky-haired Saiyan clenched his fists. Contrary to Vegeta, his blood wasn't boiling with excitement, his blood was boiling with anger. In a way, he felt betrayed and Goku could only imagine that Tarble and Bulma felt the same way as well.

Perhaps even worse.

And the fool dared to regard him with such a self-righteous smirk? As if what he was doing what right? Or rather justifiable? The mere thought along with Vegeta's smirk made Goku sick to his stomach; nonetheless, he'd take care of this. He didn't want to give too much energy to Majin Buu, so Super Saiyan 3 was out of the question. That state would take way too long for him to enter and then atop of entering it, fighting Vegeta in it would cause more damage to the situation than it was worth. All in all, it'd look like they'd be duking it out in SSJ2. Perhaps skipping the typical warm-up would make at least somewhat of a difference.

Goku voiced just this, jumping into his SSJ2 form with ease. Of course, his concerns went right over Vegeta's head as Vegeta was merely concerned with fighting him, but as long as Vegeta didn't cause anymore of a fuss than he did so already, Goku didn't care. The most he could do on his end was settle this quickly.

"I'm glad we're skipping the warm-up." Vegeta noted with an ear-to-ear smirk. The Saiyan Prince mirrored Goku's actions and jumped into his Super Saiyan 2 form with a brief battle cry. "Though, I must say, if you don't intend to show me your new form, Kakarot, I'll just have to force it out of you myself!"

Lightning violently cackled around both men as they regarded one another with different convictions in mind. Neither of the two men cared if the other understood one another at this point, the only thing that mattered to either of them at the moment was fighting for what they believed in whole-heartedly. Then, quicker than the eyes could perceive, Vegeta was launching for Goku and all but put him on the end of a rapid barrage of punches. Goku quickly evaded said punches with the jerk of the head here and there, but still got caught by a knee to the midsection.

Goku's eyes widened as he felt the breath all but being knocked out of him and all but spluttered up blood as a result. Unfortunately, Vegeta didn't stop there, roughly slamming his elbow down atop of Goku's back and the spiky-haired Saiyan grimaced painfully as he spiraled downwards from the sheer force. Even so, he wasn't one to be outdone and quickly phased out of sight, all but appearing behind Vegeta and slamming his leg into Vegeta's back. The Saiyan Prince grunted as he hurled forwards, his eyes widening upon realizing that his opponent was now directly in front of him. Goku was all but firing out a ki blast with a grunt.

Vegeta harrumphed, quickly recovering and all but swatting away said attack with a gloved hand. "Is that all you got, Kakarot?!"

"Far from it," Goku replied easily, using his instant transmission to appear behind Vegeta. The kind-hearted Saiyan all but had his infamous Kamehameha wave settled in between his palms and, "HA!"

Vegeta released a curse as the blue wave of energy forced him down into the ground below them. Vegeta painfully slammed into the ground with an grunt and the ground itself sunk considerably; the angry Super Saiyan didn't know what hit him when Goku was all but dropping down atop his back with a knee-drop. As a result, the crater beneath Vegeta deepened even more as Vegeta all but jerked up from the force with wide eyes and a pained scream. Thinking quickly, the flame-haired Saiyan fired out a small ki blast towards the ground kicking up enough debris to make Goku relinquish his position ever-so-slightly. The Prince took full advantage of this and slammed his elbow into Goku's chest.

Goku released a pained grunt, stumbling backwards and Vegeta was quick to hop back onto his feet, whirling around and slamming his leg into Goku's chest.

The taller Saiyan hurled backwards, slamming into a cliff behind him and a wide-eyed Goku grimaced in pain.

Vegeta smirked, phasing in in front of Goku and pinning him against the cliff with several ki attacks molded in the form of cuffs - one around the neck, two on his wrists, and one around each ankle. Ruthlessly, the Saiyan prince slammed his fists, one punch after another, into Goku's midsection - each of which earned him a pained scream one after another. "Looks like you've let your guard down, Kakarot."

It seemed the shorter Saiyan had no problem taunting the other male, slamming one more punch in Goku's stomach for good measure.

An eye clenched shut in utter pain, Goku was able to smartly summon a ki blast in either of his hands and ultimately aimed both of them towards his arrogant opponent. Vegeta, had no choice but to let up on Goku, lest he get hit by the ki blasts; however, by pulling away, Vegeta did just what Goku wanted. With a grunt, Goku clenched his fists and summoned as much strength as he could to forcibly undo the restraints Vegeta had on him; then, just as Vegeta moved to charge him after recovering, Goku was quick to brutally headbutt Vegeta.

He regarded the Saiyan of which was hunched over and grasping his throbbing head in pain with narrowed teal eyes. "I wouldn't get so ahead of myself if I were you, Vegeta."

And uncaring as to what Vegeta had to say in response, Goku lunged for the Saiyan and put him on the receiving end of punches left and right. As the two Saiyans clashed, they phased in and out of sight to the point where even Babidi was having a hard time following the fight via his crystal ball. The two seemed to be on par with one another for neither one of them had the upper hand on the other for long. In addition, they were exchanging tic-for-tac as neither of the two Saiyans planned on losing. In Vegeta's case, his pride as a warrior was on the line, and as far as Goku's case, his duty as Earth's Savior as well as the lives of millions of people, were on the line.

Both Saiyans suddenly pulled back from one another mere minutes into their ferocious slug fest and circled around the other cautiously; they were watching the other like a predator would watch its prey and were all but scrutinizing for an opportunity to pounce and rip the other to shreds. Then, eyes narrowing in just the slightest of ways, they lunged for one another once more with a fist cocked back. Goku and Vegeta shared a hearty battle cry as they slammed their fists together and an immense shock-wave of which even the heavens itself trembled upon witnessing formed. Again, the two released a hearty cry as they slammed their other fist together and a similar shock-wave formed just like the previous one.

The Saiyans bared their teeth at one another, simultaneously headbutting the other.

And then they were phasing out of sight only to appear elsewhere, parrying rapid blows back and forth as they fought across the skies. In their wake, the two were leaving destructive craters and creating shock-waves that left their surroundings horribly unrecognizable. Then, sometime in the midst of their parry of attacks, Goku's eyes widened upon spotting an opportunity.

'There!' Goku declared mentally, kneeing Vegeta in the chin before following it up with a sharp roundhouse kick to the neck. Vegeta's eyes widened after the assault, blood spewing out past his lips; however, little did he know, Goku was far from finished with him. Mercilessly, Goku grasped Vegeta by the wrist before he hurled out of his reach and spun the disoriented male around a few times. Expertly, Goku released Vegeta and sent him hurling backwards, appearing behind the Saiyan courtesy of his Instant Transmission and slamming his interlaced hands into Vegeta's chest.

The Saiyan Prince slammed down into the ground back first and barely had time to push himself up to his feet as he narrowly evaded Goku's foot to the chest. Goku quickly fired a rapid barrage of ki blasts towards Vegeta's retreating form. Though Vegeta was quick to execute a few back flips before smartly ascending to the skies with a burst of ki and proceeding to combat Goku's continuous barrage of ki blasts with his own barrage of ki attacks.

An in order to fend off the rest of Goku's onslaught, Vegeta released a heart-felt battle cry with clenched fists, flaring his ki and sending them ricocheting elsewhere.

Vegeta suddenly spat out the blood in his mouth to the side, wiping away at the excess blood with the back of a gloved hand afterwards. "Tch." If Kakarot thought that this was all he had, then he was horribly mistaken and Vegeta would gladly show him that it wasn't so. Having said that, Vegeta rushed his spiky-haired opponent, hurling his fist forwards. Contrary to what he expected, Goku merely evaded it and hooked it under his arm instead, moving to swing his knee forwards. Even so, despite being temporarily immobilized, Vegeta was unfazed; he easily caught Goku's knee with his free hand and swung his knee forwards as well.

Goku rolled his weight backwards, flinging Vegeta downwards using momentum and followed it up with a crushing boot to the ribs. This action caused Vegeta to accelerate towards the ground even faster with a grimace; however, the Saiyan Prince was not one to be outdone and flared his ki in order to stop himself just before he could crash into the ground.

Then he was phasing out of sight.

In a blur, Vegeta was directly behind Goku, slamming his fist into Goku's stomach the moment the Saiyan whirled around to counter. In response, Goku released a choked cry, but that wasn't enough for Vegeta and the flame-haired warrior followed it up with a second one. This time, the force alone was enough to force Goku to double over. Vegeta smirked proudly, shamelessly wallowing in the fact that Goku was in pain.

Too bad it would never amount to what he knew as pain.

And just as Vegeta moved to deliver a final gut shot packed with hatred, Goku quickly got a hold of himself and blocked it with his knee, spinning around and moving to slam that same leg into Vegeta's side afterwards; however, Vegeta was quick to phase out of sight. The Prince reappeared behind Goku, slamming his third intended gut shot into Goku's spine instead. A wide-eyed Goku tossed his head back in utter pain aided with a scream, descending down towards the ground head-first. His features were contorted into that of pain, but he quickly managed to shift most of his weight onto a palm and propel himself out of harm's way with a push of the hand.

As Vegeta had relentlessly sent a ki blast spiraling towards him.

Perhaps this fight was going to take longer than he thought. Not to mention, that with every fiber in his being, he hated to leave such a heavy burden atop of Gohan's, Tarble's and the Supreme Kai's shoulders but he was more than certain they could do it. In addition, if his inkling was right, Raditz should be with them; with him there, they would have all of the help they could ever need.

Goku cocked a light smile despite the situation.

~0~

"Aunt 18! Uncle Raditz!" Gohan called out excitedly, running up towards the couple. "Boy am I really glad to see you two!"

And though Tarble was still in a world of his own and didn't pay them any mind, Shin was just as eager. "I second that. I'm really glad you two showed up when you did; we can really use the help right now."

18 cocked a blonde brow, taking in their surroundings coolly aside her husband. He seemed to be doing the same thing as her. "Is this a...ship?"

Shin nodded once. "Yes. More specifically, this is the evil wizard Babidi's ship." And at 18's and Raditz's look of shared confusion, Shin's eyes widened immediately in realization. Of course they would need to be filled in as they had stayed behind at the World Tournament. Otherwise, they wouldn't know what they were talking about, nor recognize the severity of the situation. Furthermore, they probably had questions of their own, so, without further ado, Shin quickly briefed the couple on everything that had taken place so far - from the moment they left the tournament, to what happened with Krillin and Piccolo, and so forth and so on.

Raditz's eyes narrowed after Shin finished. "So that explains why I stopped sensing Krillin's and Piccolo's ki."

"It explains a whole lot," 18 tacked on, diverting her icy eyes onto her husband, "Including why Vegeta killed those people at the tournament."

Raditz snorted. Even if the Supreme Kai did explain what happened to Vegeta, he wasn't buying it. There was just no way someone as prideful as Vegeta would allow himself to be manipulated without a reason. There had to be something he was gaining from this. "As if."

18 frowned lightly. "And you say this because?"

The long-haired Saiyan shot his wife a pointed look. "As long as I've known Vegeta, I can say, as a witness myself, that Vegeta is many things but that prick isn't weak. The Vegeta that killed those people back at the tournament did that of his own free will."

The Supreme Kai's eyes widened at the revelation as did Gohan, the two sharing a glance. There was a moment where both Gohan and Shin cast a concerned look in Tarble's direction, but both men were quick to divert their attention back onto Raditz after Tarble made no move to say anything in response's to Raditz's words. Shin exhaled soundlessly, regarding the bulky male seriously.

"Then I can assume that you speak from experience?"

"Pretty much. I was on a team with Vegeta and Nappa at a young age and we purged planets together; I've known him since Planet Vegeta."

"How unfortunate." Shin remarked. Nevertheless, Shin offered the couple a smile. "Anyway, Goku is dealing with Vegeta right now as we speak. Goku's doing his part and right now our part is locating Babidi and Dabura and doing all we can to prevent a catastrophe from happening. Or, if it comes to it, lessening the catastrophe as much as we can."

Gohan nodded. "Exactly. But to be honest, this is nothing short of a trap; it's like we're deliberately being led to where they are and no matter how you look at it, there's something off about that; it's just like earlier."

"Well," Shin began, picking back up with a run. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noted that the others quickly did the same. "At least we have more help now; I daresay this can progress much more smoothly from here on out."

"It would probably help to kill Dabura as soon as possible," 18 suggested, "then we could have Piccolo and Krillin's help as well. Maybe they could help us destroy that monster along with the ball it's in."

"I was thinking of that too," Raditz agreed, running along side his wife. "You said Dabura was Babidi's strongest henchman, right?"

"Yes," Shin replied, "Gohan had near succeeded in killing him but he took off before he could do so upon discovering Vegeta's dark nature. Even so," Shin picked up after a bout of silence, "we should still keep in mind that there's a chance we can set Majin Buu off prematurely with any sudden shock or movement. Though I've accepted that as possibility, I'd still like to avoid that outcome honestly."

18 was slightly confused. "But wouldn't that be better than Majin Buu emerging at full power? It'd probably be easier to destroy him and he'd be less of a threat."

"Not to mention that Kakarot and Vegeta are doing nothing but fueling Buu with more and more energy the longer they continue to fight. In other words, we're really risking Buu emerging any minute now, so I agree with, 18."

Shin adamantly shook his head, disagreeing with the couple. "I understand where you two are coming from, but Buu is incredibly strong. He has impeccable regenerative properties from what I've heard of rumors and he isn't the typical enemy you two may be used to dealing with. Must I remind you again of how many Kai's it took to actually stop Buu?"

At this, both 18 and Raditz fell silent as both of them quickly found themselves absorbed in thoughts of their own. While Raditz was of thinking of ways to handle the situation they were in, 18 couldn't help but think back to her nightmare. And despite the fact that they were going to attempt to stop this thing before it even emerged, that did little to curb her worry - not even the kids being safe with Bulma and the others and 17 being safe at home had any effect on her state of mind. Why was she feeling worse of all things? 18 worriedly took in Gohan out of the corner of her eyes.

Maybe Raditz was right.

Maybe she should have just stayed with the kids, after all.

The blonde-haired Cyborg's eyes widened when her mind all but flashed to the scenery of her nightmare. It was enough to make the blonde gasp so soft even Saiyan ears would have trouble picking up on the sound; however, Raditz picked up on it well.

"Lazuli," he whispered lowly, just audible enough for her to hear as they had an unspoken agreement to keep her real name used for familial purposes only. If they weren't around family, then she preferred to be addressed as "18". In private, "Lazuli" was fine and she didn't mind it much if it came from her loved ones. However, contrary to what he expected, she didn't answer.

She was too absorbed with her thoughts.

Raditz frowned at this, diverting his onyx eyes back in front of him; nevertheless he wasn't afraid to loosely loop his tail around her pale wrist in attempt to comfort her. He knew she was afraid; he could feel her fear pulsing strongly through their link, after all. And as much as he was just as afraid as his wife, he would never forgive himself if he allowed his fear to get in the way of protecting what he loved most. Now that he had a family of his own, a wife and two kids, he was all the more motivated to do whatever he could to keep them safe. If by some chance, he was unable to do so he would damn sure die trying to keep them out of harm's way.

He'd be damned if anyone threatened the safety of his loved ones and lived long enough to tell it.