Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z. This is a nonprofit story.

*My muse abandoned me during this chapter, even though I already had everything planned out, half written, and just had to put it into words. So I downed enough Kombucha to kill a horse and finally got it out. There will be a few more notes at the bottom.*

*Poor Vegeta was robbed during Resurrection F. He deserved to get his vengeance*

'word' = thoughts

"word" = Saiyago

Chapter 14: The Storm

Hands clenched in fists of rage, Vegeta stormed into the Capsule Corp building. He called over his shoulder to Gohan as he disappeared into it's depths. "Boy! Get armored up!"

Ignoring Mrs Briefs' cry of dismay, Gohan leapt to his feet and rushed inside to comply.

Krillin pushed himself back from the table. "I better hurry and get ready as well. I'd also like to help give Frieza some payback."

Piccolo stood staring off into the depths of the sky. "We have about an hour. I'll wait for everyone before leaving. We'll be better off as a group."

Mouth hanging open in shock, Yamcha stared at his friend until Krillin started walking to the door. "Wait! You can't be serious! You're really going to go fight that...that thing? I've never felt anything like it! It will be a slaughter!"

Krillin gave a half laugh. "It's not like this is the first time I've faced Frieza, and I don't plan on dying this time."

Looking over at the bald fighter, Piccolo smirked. "Vegeta has a nasty surprise up his sleeve. He won't be letting Frieza come out of this alive."

o-o-o-o-o

Less than ten minutes later saw the fighters back outside and dressed for battle.

Piccolo was still tracking the incoming power. He looked over towards Vegeta. "There are two of them. It's not just Frieza."

The Prince gave a snort of disgust. "Yes, though the second is weaker. Looks like Frieza went crawling back to daddy begging for help. We'll have an easier time dealing with Cold."

A distraught cry drew the attention towards Mrs Briefs. She was attempting to cuddle a struggling Gohan. The boy was trying to carefully extricate himself from her grip without hurting her. "I'll be fine Grandma! Uncle can probably kick their butts all by himself!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes and stepped over to remove the woman's arms from the child. "Quit coddling him. He's a Saiyan. He's went against Frieza before and put up a hell of a fight. He will do well in this fight to help avenge his race."

Mrs Briefs released her hold on Gohan, only to fling her arms around the neck of a surprised Vegeta. His face flushed at the display and he tried to back away from her.

Shaking her head at the theatrics, Bulma stepped up and pulled her mother away. "They'll be fine, Mom."

Vegeta leapt into the air, out of reach of the older woman. He turned his gaze towards Bulma, fixing her with an intense stare. "Stay here. I don't need you following us."

Bulma huffed indignantly. "Whatever."

The Saiyan turned to the waiting warriors before taking off at speed. "Let's go. We can make a good guess where they are going to land."

Gohan and Piccolo quickly joined him with Krillin on their heels.

Seeing movement to his right, Krillin looked over to find Yamcha flying beside him. He grinned evilly. "I thought you were staying behind and letting us take care of the big scary monster?"

Yamcha blushed deeply. "It's not like that. I just don't want to die again, and I can tell I'm way out of my league on this."

Krillin decided to stop teasing the man. "Yeah, me too, but...that isn't going to stop me. If I die again, I'll go out fighting like last time. Much better than sitting around just waiting for my death. Besides, I'm sure the Namekians wouldn't mind bringing me back at a later date."

o-o-o-o-o

They landed in the wasteland on the outskirts of the Diablo Desert just as the large spaceship entered the atmosphere. From it's descent they could tell it would land just a couple ridges over.

Vegeta's voice rang out as he rocketed towards the ground. "Land and suppress your chi!"

Irritated, Yamcha yelled back. "Who made you leader?"

Piccolo appeared in front of the human. "Do it now! We don't want to let them know we are here."

Yamcha cowered back muttering. "Fine, fine."

As they swiftly lowered themselves towards the ground below, two figures came into view.

Krillin waved as they landed. "Hey Tien. Hey Chiaotzu."

The two fighters acknowledged the small man with a nod.

Tien narrowed his eyes as he noticed Vegeta. "What's he doing here?"

The Saiyan gave him a sneer of superiority. "I don't have time to deal with you right now."

Vegeta began running towards where the spaceship would land. Without a glance at the others, Gohan and Piccolo were beside him.

Looking nervously at the other human fighters, Krillin shrugged his shoulders. "Well this isn't going to be easy, but we better go. Remember to keep your chi suppressed."

The humans finally caught up to Piccolo and the Saiyans on a small ridge overlooking a large expanse of flat, desolate ground. They crouched against boulders and watched at the spaceship landed. As the dust settled, a hatch opened up and a ramp extended. Numerous soldiers poured out of the craft, moving out in an arc. The soldiers turned and faced the ramp, awaiting orders.

Earth's defenders stood watching as two figures casually strolled down the ramp, looking out at the world.

The taller figure stared haughtily at the landscape around him before looking down at the being at his side. "The Super Saiyan is about three hours behind us. So, Frieza, are you going to wait for him?"

Frieza smirked. "Of course, Daddy."

He looked around. "So this is Earth. Not bad. It would fetch a good price after we are done. That is if there is anything left of it."

Frieza gave a short, evil laugh. "I want the Saiyan to suffer when he gets here. So I shall kill all of the earthlings while we wait. According to the scouters, there are quiet a few of them. Three hours should be plenty of time, though."

Cold crossed his arms. "I don't care about the earthlings. The Super Saiyan must be destroyed at all costs. We can't let that threat live. Our clan must always be the most powerful."

Looking up at his father, Frieza smirked. "That should be no problem at all with both of us here. I have grown even stronger and could probably take care of him myself. Anyway, let's get the fun started."

Frieza waved at hand at some of the soldiers. "Go start killing off the humans. We can have a little entertainment while we wait."

As the soldiers lifted into the air, there was a blur of blue and violet. It flashed through the ranks and soldiers fell in it's wake. As the last of that cohort fell, the blur stopped to reveal a purple haired form clad in blue and black. Sheathing the sword in his hand, the figure turned to reveal a blue eyed teenager.

Glancing at the fallen soldiers, Frieza narrowed his eyes at their assailant. "What do you want earthling?"

The teen's gaze was hard and his voice firm. "I've come to kill you."

The leaders and their army stood looking at him with wide eyes for a moment before laughter was heard.

Frieza controlled his cackling to address the youth. "Kill us? You? Well they do say ignorance is bliss."

The young man narrowed his eyes. "Who's ignorant? You're Frieza, right?"

The tyrant raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'm flattered that you know my name even on this backwater planet. To bad you apparently don't know that I am the most powerful fighter in the universe."

The teen smirked. "Then you better fight me with everything you have. I'm not pushover like Goku."

Startled once again, Frieza stared. "That is the Super Saiyan's name. So you're one of his friends. What do you know of him?"

With a half grin still in place the youth took a step forward. "I only know of him, but that doesn't matter. You're about to die right now."

Frieza laughed. "If the Super Saiyan couldn't kill me, what makes you think that you can?"

The smile on the teen's face grew broader. "See you're mistake is assuming that Goku is the only Super Saiyan."

The youth clenched his fists and began to power up. As his hair flickered to gold and his eyes to teal, Frieza took a half step back in horror.

o-o-o-o-o

Up on the ridge, Earth's warriors had watched the scene in awe. The lavender hair stranger's transformation, though, brought out an almost violent reaction.

Vegeta snarled in anger. "That's not possible! There is no way that nobody can be a Saiyan!"

Gohan looked up at him in worry. "But his power and looks are just like it."

At the back of the group, Yamcha stood next to Chiaotzu. The enormous feel of the youth's chi washed over them. The scarred fighter could only gape in awe. "That's a Super Saiyan? I've never felt anything like that!"

As the group watched, the youth took a step towards Frieza.

Gritting his teeth, Vegeta clenched his fists. "I'm not going to just stand here and let some nobody get in the way of my revenge on that bastard Frieza!"

He launched himself in the air and sped towards the battle below.

Gohan startled at his sudden movement, then scrambled into the air after him to the protests of the human fighters.

Tien shook his head. "That kid is going to get himself killed!"

Chiaotzu stared after the two. "I don't want to go down there. I can't compete with that power."

A pat on his shoulder from Yamcha made him turn his head as the fighter spoke. "Well let's just be glad that Vegeta doesn't have that kind of power. Can you imagine what he would have done to Earth if he did?"

Piccolo gave an amused snort before taking off after the Saiyans. "Come on. We can take out the rest of that army."

Krillin nodded in agreement and followed beside him.

Tien looked over at the other two. "Well let's go. If we are going to die, we will go down fighting."

o-o-o-o-o

As the teen took a menacing step towards the stunned Frieza, neither of them noticed the incoming figure of the enraged Saiyan Prince until he shoved past the youth with a snarl. "Get the hell out of my way. Frieza is mine!"

The young Super Saiyan took several steps sideways in surprise. "W-what?"

Vegeta ignored him and landed in front of Frieza. "I've got a score to settle with you, asshole!"

Frieza regained his composure and sneered at the sight of the Prince. "Oh, so the monkey prince has come for more punishment. Didn't I already kill you once? I'll just have to make sure you stay dead this time."

The tyrant lunged out with a fist at the Saiyan, only to have it pass through air as the Prince was suddenly not there.

Vegeta's gruff voice mocked him from behind. "What's the matter. Can't hit a 'monkey'?"

The next blow connected with the Prince's chin, snapping his head to the side and sending him backwards several feet. Vegeta tilted his head to stretch his neck then faced Frieza again, this time the look he gave his former enslaver promised death. "Enough of this. I swore I'd kill you and now you will die!"

Frieza laughed at the absurdity. "You? You're even more pathetic than this boy!"

The Prince clenched his hands and released his power, letting it quickly flow through him. He felt the rage as the transformation took over and he leashed the emotions to his will. He looked into Frieza's terrified eyes and gave a sardonic grin. "Surprise."

The tyrant had watched in horror as the Saiyan he had tortured and crushed beneath his heel for so long transformed before him. He barely had time to utter a gasp as the Prince's fist punctured through his chest, destroying his heart. His head lolled to the side as he looked towards his stunned father. "Daddy, avenge me."

Vegeta began building up the chi in his hand, releasing it to burn the corpse around his hand to ash. He was so intent on it's total destruction that he didn't sense when Cold lunged at him in rage.

Cold's attack was cut short as a small body barreled into him, almost knocking him from his feet. Turning to retaliate, Gohan slipped easily past his defenses again to deliver another blow. Focusing solely on the boy, Cold began gathering enough energy to destroy the child. Searing pain broke through his focus. He finally noticed the Namekian warrior on the other side of him that had just dealt a mortal blow. He didn't have time to even turn as the life force left his body.

Without any fanfare, the Patriarch of the Cold family, and his protege of a son, met their ends.

Piccolo looked out across the battlefield where the human's were fighting the soldiers. "Come on Gohan. Let's help clean this up."

The boy gave him a cocky grin and attacked the nearest target.

o-o-o-o-o

Tien and Chiaotzu were fighting back to back, plowing through the enemy as one. Sweat and a small amount of blood dripped from their forms as the enemy fell before them.

Yamcha was giving his all, fighting near Krillin. He'd been watching the smaller man when he could and was amazed at the power. He felt a twinge of jealousy. 'Man, I haven't been pushing myself near enough. And the last several months of not training are really taking their toll on me.'

Lost in his thoughts, he failed to see the incoming blast until his friends screamed out a warning. He felt himself freeze as his death came looming at him. Closing his eyes he awaited the end.

Yamcha felt a painful grip on his arm, then the hand yanked, nearly pulling his shoulder from it's socket. The grip released him and he opened his eyes to find himself flying through the air seconds before he impacted the ground and bounced to a stop.

Sitting up he rubbed at his painful shoulder and looked around. "What happened?"

"Get up you moron. Fight. Don't just stand there and die." A gruff voice sent chills down his spine and he turned in time to see Vegeta slaughter the soldiers surrounding them.

o-o-o-o-o

The mysterious Saiyan youth had watched as Vegeta shoved past him. He'd readied himself to intervene, but, much like Frieza, he had been stunned when the Prince ascended to Super Saiyan. Wide eyed, the teen watched the tyrant's demise. 'Mom said Goku was the only one to be a Super Saiyan at this time. What's going on?'

As Frieza was incinerated, the teen snapped out of it and lifted into the air to find someplace to hide and wait for Goku to land. His escape was thwarted before he got more than a few yards as Vegeta suddenly appeared before him.

The Prince crossed his arms. "Where do you think you're going? You have a lot of explaining to do."

A fleeting look of worry crossed the youth's face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stepped in. I only came here to speak with Goku."

Vegeta lifted his lip in a sneer. "Kakarot isn't here. You can speak with me."

The teen back up from him, hands up placatingly. "Really, I can't"

A cry of warning drew both Saiyan's attention. They watched as a soldier leveled his blaster at a distracted Yamcha and fired.

Vegeta snarled at the youth. "Don't make me track you down or you'll regret it."

The Prince disappeared in a flash of movement. Reaching the frozen warrior, he jerked him out of the way of the blast before killing the soldiers he could reach.

A sudden silence fell over the battlefield as the last of the alien soldiers fell. A silence only punctuated only by the harsh breathing of the human fighters.

Yamcha still sat gaping up at the Prince as everyone converged around him.

Chiaotzu grabbed his shoulder and shook him out of his trance. "Yamcha! Are you ok?"

The scarred fighter nodded dumbly at him.

Vegeta was watching the strange Saiyan youth. The teen had powered back down and his lavender hair was blowing lightly in the breeze.

The Prince didn't take his eyes off the youth as he called out across the battlefield. "You can start explaining yourself now."

The teen reluctantly strode over towards them, eyeing Vegeta who was still in his Super Saiyan state. He sighed. "I really can't say anything. I'm only supposed to speak with Goku and then leave."

Vegeta snorted, and crossed his arms. "I told you already, Kakarot isn't here so just tell us."

It was quiet as Vegeta stared down the teen.

The incoming hum of an airship drew a groan from the Prince. "Damnit! I told her to stay home!"

Dust picked up and blew around the group as the ship landed. Carefully sliding her body out and dropping to the ground, Bulma pressed the button to encapsulate it. Then turning, she made her way towards the warriors.

Disgust showed on her face as she carefully stepped around the fallen soldiers. "Oh, man. I missed it. I didn't get to see Frieza on Namek, and wanted to see him here."

Finally she looked up and noticed Vegeta's transformation. Her eyes widened and she rushed forward, latching on to his arm and pulling his head down to examine his hair. "Oh, this is so cool! It still mostly feels the same, just almost kind of tingly."

Vegeta blushed in embarrassment and tried to gently extract himself from her hold. "Woman, stop it. I'm a warrior, not a doll."

Bulma let go and frowned. Just as suddenly it was gone as she saw the stranger in their midst. She smiled warmly at the youth who was staring at her stomach with impossibly huge eyes. "Hi! I'm Bulma. Who are you?"

The teen glanced up at her face for a moment before he spoke. His voice was shakey. "You're pregnant."

The blue haired woman laughed. "Yeah, that happens to us women sometimes."

She moved to step towards him, but was stopped by Vegeta's arm. "Bulma stay back."

Cocking her head to the side, she looked at the Prince. "Why?"

A small hand grabbed hers and then Gohan was pulling her towards the back of the group. He looked up at her. "It's dangerous. He won't tell us who he is. All we know is he's a Super Saiyan and he wants to talk to Daddy."

Bulma looked over at the youth and called out. "Goku isn't here. He hasn't come back from space."

The teen nodded his head, still looking towards Bulma's figure. "I know. But he will be here in a few hours. He should be landing just a little ways away. I really can't say anything without him here."

Piccolo stepped into the youth's line of sight, blocking his view of Bulma. "Then perhaps you should show us where he's going to land."

The youth nodded and lifted into the air.

Vegeta looked over at Krillin. "Keep her safe, or else."

The bald man rubbed the back of his neck nervously before moving towards Bulma. "Don't I always?"

Everyone launched into the air, following the teen to the new destination.

After a short flight, they landed at another rather desolate spot.

Krillin carefully set Bulma down by a small boulder a good distance from the youth. The other human fighters landed close by. Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gohan positioned themselves between the teen and the rest of the group.

The Saiyan teen stood there fidgeting for several minutes before finding a rock to sit on. He kept casting glances over towards the group in general as if trying to memorize their faces. His gaze kept lingering on Bulma.

Finally Vegeta had enough. "Stop staring at her. If you so much as move towards her I'll kill you."

Startled at the warning, the youth jumped up in surprise. "I'm sorry."

He fumbled around in his pocket before pulling out a capsule case. Selecting one he tossed it to the ground. With a poof of smoke a container appeared. Reaching down he opened it to reveal it was a small capsule fridge. He looked over at the group. "Um. I've got drinks. Would anyone like anything?"

Gohan looked up at Vegeta. The Prince nodded his head towards the youth and Gohan cautiously made his way over.

The teen looked over at him. "What would you like?"

Gohan looked in the fridge. "Grape."

With a smile, the youth handed him the drink. Gohan took it and trotted back over to Vegeta's side. The teen watched curiously as the boy handed the drink to the Prince who opened it and took several deep sniffs.

Finally, Vegeta handed it back to the child. "It's safe."

The youth looked affronted at the comment. "I wouldn't poison anyone."

The Prince shrugged. "We don't know you. With what the boy and I have been through, he's right not to trust anything."

Giving a nod of understanding, the youth looked back over the rest group as they came forward to get refreshments.

o-o-o-o-o

The hours seemed to drag as they sat waiting. There was small talk, but the strange youth refused to give them any personal details.

A very subdued Yamcha sat next to Tien, staring into nothing. Finally tired of his gloominess, Bulma walked over and stood in front of him. "What's wrong with you?"

He looked up at her but didn't answer.

Gohan floated over to Bulma's side. "He's been like this since the battle. He just stopped fighting and one of those soldiers would have killed him, but Uncle pulled him out of the way."

Bulma blinked in surprise. Looked over at the Prince, back at Yamcha, then blinked again. "Vegeta saved you?"

Finally Yamcha answered her. "Yeah. I kind of just froze."

He looked over at the Prince's dark hair. "Did you know he was a Super Saiyan?"

Bulma shook her head. "No. He doesn't talk much about the training they do."

Gohan tugged at her sleeve. "That's because it was supposed to be a secret weapon. It happened when we were in space. Only Piccolo knew."

She walked over towards where the Prince was sitting and smiled at him. "So how did you do it?"

Vegeta looked up at her and she could see sadness flicker across his face for a split second. "The boy was almost killed."

She looked confused when he wasn't more forthcoming.

It was the strange youth who enlightened them. "The first transformation is driven by emotions and need. In my experience it's been death. I'm glad the kid lived."

Vegeta shrugged. "There was a regeneration tank and he had a spark of life left in him."

Gohan piped up in the background. "It wasn't all bad. I was a lot stronger when I got out of the tank."

The Prince rolled his eyes at the boy's antics. "The boy is powerful enough for the ascension. I've been working on trying to find a trigger for him that doesn't involved someone dying in front of him."

The lavender haired youth stiffened. "He's to young. Don't do it."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at him. "Why not?"

The teen looked down at his hands. "He's half Saiyan. The ascension is different the first time."

The Prince let out a growl when the youth didn't continue. "How is it different?"

The youth looked away. "I can't say."

A sudden thought ran through Vegeta's head. He turned to Bulma. "Speaking of regeneration tanks, there should be one on Frieza's ship back there. We'll have to get it. You can scavenge any other useful technology from there as well."

She looked at him thoughtfully and dug through her pockets. "You're right. I think I have a large capsule somewhere here. We can just take the whole ship. If I don't, I can go get one and come back for it."

Anymore talk was cut off as the fighters all looked towards the sky and stood up.

Bulma looked around questioningly. "Is it Goku?"

Gohan let out a whoop of glee. "Yes!"

Soon a round spacepod came barreling though the atmosphere to crash into the earth in front of them. Everyone made their way to the lip of the crater and waited as the pod's door opened. An oddly dressed Goku stepped out of the pod and stretched.

Noticing his audience he looked up and waved. "Hey everyone! How did you know I was going to be here?"

Piccolo waved his hand towards the purple haired teen. "This boy here knew when and where you were going to land. He says he needs to speak with you."

Goku had a serious expression on his face as he floated out of the crater to stand with the group. He looked over the youth. "Have I met you before?"

The teen shook his head. "No. I only know of you by reputation. I need to speak with you, though. Somewhere privately."

Vegeta snarled at the teen. "We've been waiting for an explanation for hours. You're not getting out of telling us that easy."

Eyes wide the teen took a step back. "Really. I was only supposed to speak with Goku. I wasn't supposed to do anything else. I only stepped in against Frieza because Goku wasn't here yet. He should have arrived first and defeated Frieza."

Goku smiled. "Frieza had a faster ship. I was getting ready to clobber him for good, but you took care of him."

The youth frowned. "You were three hours behind him. You wouldn't have made it on time."

Another smile came from Goku. "Maybe normally, no. But I learned a new skill on this planet called Yardrat. The people there aren't very strong but they know a lot of weird stuff. The skill is called Instant Transmission. It's a type of teleportation."

The teen's face fell. "So I changed history for no reason by helping. I knew I had messed up when Vegeta killed Frieza."

Stunned surprise showed on Goku's face as he turned to look at the Prince. "Vegeta killed Frieza?"

He broke out in a huge grin. "That's great! I'm glad you got to avenge everyone."

Vegeta gave him a look of disgust and anger. "I wouldn't have had to if you'd finished him off in the first place!"

Goku laughed sheepishly. "Um, so anyway, how did you get enough power to do it?"

The Prince looked him straight in the eye. "I'm a Super Saiyan."

The taller Saiyan flinched. "Who died?"

Vegeta didn't answer, just turned and walked over to stand beside Gohan.

The youth had watched them nervously. "Um. I really need to just speak to Goku and leave before anything else changes."

Bulma caught up to his words this time. "You said that before. What do you mean about changing history."

Fear passed across the teen's face. "Forget I said anything about that!"

Now he had everyone's attention.

Piccolo stepped up to him. "I think we all need to hear what you have to say now."

The teen stepped back from him. "Everything is already so different."

Bulma rubbed her chin in thought. "So you're from the future and things were already different before you got here right?"

The youth looked her over and nodded his head. "Yeah. It looks like it's been different for a while."

She gave him a warm smile. "It's ok. If it's already different, you shouldn't be able to change anything for the worse."

Bowing his head in defeat, the teen spoke. "I'm from twenty years in the future. My world has been devastated by biological androids. Cyborgs. In three years, on May 12th around 10am, the duo will appear on an island southwest of South City. They were created by the chief scientist of the Red Ribbon Army, Doctor Gero."

Bulma broke into the conversation. "Hey, Goku. Didn't you defeat them?"

He looked over at her. "Yeah. That was a while ago now."

The youth continued when they looked back at him. "Yes. Gero somehow survived and apparently still wanted world domination. So he created his ultimate killing machines. Number 17 and Number 18. They killed him, but they only enjoy slaughter and destruction. They have sent our world into ruins."

Goku frowned. "You were confident that you could take down Frieza but these two scare you?"

The teen nodded. "Yes, but there are two of them after all, and I have to fight them alone."

Piccolo crossed his arms and looked over the teen. "Don't you have any allies?"

A flash of sorrow crossed the teens face. "In the battle three years from now, everyone is killed but Goku and my mentor, Gohan. He teaches me to fight, but 16 years from now he's killed. They are just to strong."

Goku cocks his head to the side. "Why don't I help you?"

The teen looks at him. "You grow ill soon and die."

A startled gasp rings through the group. "WHAT?!"

Goku looks upset. "That's not fair. I want to fight the androids."

The youth gives him a sad smile. "My mother was right. You're a true Saiyan."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a vial and hands it to Goku. "It's a virus that attacks the heart. It's an incurable disease in this time, but 20 years from now we have a drug for it. Take this when the symptoms start."

Goku smiles in joy. "Thanks! I can't wait to fight!"

The tall Saiyan looks over at the youth. "Say, you didn't tell us what your name is."

The teen held up his hands, glancing towards Bulma. "I really can't say. I'm not sure I'll be born in this timeline anyway. I've changed to much."

A growl echoed over the group and the Prince stomped up to the teen. Vegeta grabbed the youth by the collar and pulled him face to face. "I've had enough of this. Who are you?"

The purple haired teen began to panic. "I-I can't tell you! Everything is already so different!"

The Prince snarled in anger and powered up to Super Saiyan, the buffeting winds of his aura blowing purple strands out of the teen's fearful face. "You had better start talking! I don't like things being kept from me!"

Suddenly Gohan's small voice caused everyone to jerk their heads towards him. "It's Trunks!"

Bulma's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "You know, that makes perfect sense."

Vegeta looked back at the youth he was holding. The full blown panic he saw in the boy's eyes confirmed the guess. "That's impossible. He smells like a pure bred Saiyan, not a half breed!"

An excited Gohan practically bounced where he was standing. "But the ship said it was possible! Maybe he..."

"Shut up!" A half snarled bellow silenced the child. "We do not speak of that in front of the humans!"

Gohan hung his head submissively. "I forgot."

Bulma eyed the two. "What ship?"

Vegeta waved her off. "Forget he said anything. It's not important right now."

He turned his attention back to the youth he was holding. He pushed him away, releasing him. "Is the boy right? Are you Trunks?"

The teen seemed to be having a mental meltdown. He fell to his knees and covered his face. His voice was quiet and full of despair. "Y-yes, but you weren't supposed to know. How could he even guess that? I won't be born for a few years."

Bulma padded quietly over. This time Vegeta didn't offer a protest. Kneeling beside the teen, she began to gently stroke down his back. "It's ok. It seems our timelines are very different. Everything will work out fine."

He moved his hands away from his face to stare at her with his blue eyes. "I was supposed to keep my identity a secret. Now I definitely won't be born here."

Bulma laughed lightly before grabbing his hand in hers. She placed it over her swollen belly. "No. It seems you'll just be making an earlier appearance here. Trunks is the name we just recently decided on for the baby."

Wonder, shock, and confusion warred on Trunk's face. He pulled away from Bulma and stood. "I guess I better be going. Good luck to you all."

He turned and took flight and the group watched until he was out of sight.

Goku stepped up in front of Bulma and looked her over. "You're going to have a baby? Oh wow. I thought you had just gotten fat."

Rage filled Bulma's eyes and she slapped the tall Saiyan. He cowered before her. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Bulma turned and stalked away. "You better be, or I'll make sure you don't eat for a week!"

True fear showed on Goku's face. Just as quickly it left and he smiled.

He turned and looked around for his son. He kneeled down and opened his arms. "Gohan! I've missed you. Come here."

The boy launched himself into his father's arms, hugging him tight. "I missed you so much, Daddy. I really needed you here."

Goku smiled down at him. "Well I'm here now, and we're a family again. Hey let's go see what your mom is doing."

The reaction in Gohan was instantaneous. Goku watched in confusion as the boy jerked back and tried to pull himself from his father's hold. His face filled with panic when he couldn't get away and he screamed. "Uncle!"

A fist plowed into Goku's face, shoving him back several feet and causing him to lose his grip on Gohan. The boy fell to the ground, looking around in terror.

Vegeta lifted the boy from the ground and to a hip. Small hands gripped his armor tightly. He stared in disgust at the taller Saiyan. "You're not taking him anywhere."

Goku's eyes narrowed dangerously. His voice promised pain. "Give me back my son."

The Prince held the boy tighter to his chest. "He's not your son anymore. You lost the right to call yourself his father when you left him to the torture of that bitch you call a wife."

The taller Saiyan glared. "Don't call her that. She wouldn't do anything to harm Gohan. He's her son."

Gohan cried out, his voice high pitched with fear. His grip on the Prince increasing. "Don't let him take me back to her! You promised Uncle! I want to stay with you!"

Goku felt his heart shatter at the words. "What?"

Vegeta snarled, baring his canines at Goku. "Deny the facts all you want! The boy is staying with me! You left him! You didn't return on the wish! Now he's mine!"

The Prince turned and stormed back to the rest of the group.

He paused by Krillin. "Make sure Bulma gets back safe. If anything happens I'll rip your arms off."

Turning to Bulma he ran a hand down her upper arm. "Stay safe. I'll have words with you later for even coming out here."

Leaping into the air with Gohan securely against him, Vegeta sped off into the distance.

A strangled cry of despair drew everyone's attention. They watched at Goku fell to his knees and hung his head. He kneeled there taking fast shallow breaths. His hair flickering between gold and black, a visual sign of his loss of control.

Peering up with pained eyes, he met Bulma's gaze. "I've lost my son and I don't know why. What happened Sis?"

Bulma felt her own tears begin as she rushed forward to comfort the man before her. She had never seen him like this. No enemy had every been able to break him like this. She pulled him into her arms. His head rested on her shoulder as she ran soothing hands down his back. "I'm so sorry, Goku. I'm so sorry."

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*When I originally came up with the ideas and outline for this AU story, I had a few things go through my head. One was fixing the irritating issue of the kids going Super Saiyan when it took a traumatic trigger for everyone else, including Future Trunks. So in my little universe it's somewhat standardized. Another issue was some of the genetics. Convergent evolution can make species looks similar, but that doesn't allow crossbreeding, so Saiyans had to be divergent from humans somewhere. I have hows and whys for that. Those secrets will be revealed slowly at future times. Some clues have already been given, of which even my spouse missed some and they have foreknowledge of what's going on.

As was mentioned in a review, Yes I think it was said somewhere that the halfbreeds only have a 50 percent chance for a tail (which doesn't make sense to me) I think it was also said at some point that Akira Toriyama just forgot about the tails. Me. I like the tails. They will have tails.

I'm liking Chi-Chi less and less with watching DB Super. Both me and my spouse had the same reaction to some of her scenes. That was "What a bitch." And the horror that they have done to poor Gohan!*