A/N: All support and feedback are greatly appreciated; thanks!

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Abyss Trinity: I definitely see what you mean; they do have quite the potential! But it's just something about Goten and Trunks reaching SSJ3 so easily at the ages of 7 and 8 whilst Vegeta never obtained it just didn't sit right with me. Plus, they already didn't have to do much to become SSJ's in the anime and that always bothered me. I mean especially compared to how Goku and Vegeta became SSJ.

coldblue2015: Thanks for the detailed review! PM'ing you now!

Gamelover41592: Thanks! And that's how it seems to be for our favorite Prince, alright! And Raditz's reaction to seeing the fusion will certainly be interesting!

Fan of 17: Thanks! I really wish Akira would have did more with their psychology in the anime, at least! Plus, Zangya is kinda used to being the only female warrior, or at least she was for a while, and of course 18 makes a good rival for Zangya! And I really like their fusion design too, thanks!

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(1) is Shining Friday...a more powerful version of Saturday Crush according to wiki.

Chapter 21: Tarble's Shame and The Fate Of The World!

Tarble panted exhaustively, dropping down to his hands and knees.

Had he overestimated himself?

Was it truly possible for someone like him to avenge Vegeta of all people?

At the moment, it was feeling near impossible and if he thought that training with Vegeta was hard, then training with Raditz was a completely different story. Unlike his brother, Raditz applied more thought behind his attacks and wasn't as straight forward as Vegeta. And despite fighting Krillin at the tournament, whom had a similar method of operation, Tarble really wasn't all that experienced with countering such a thing. In addition, he would at least like to think that he was somewhat able to keep up with Kriilin back then, but it was almost as if he couldn't hold a candle to Raditz despite quickly realizing that the male was a strategic fighter.

And it was throwing him off, to say the least.

Needless to say if this kept up, then he would never ascend at this rate and he would only succeed in holding Raditz back.

The smaller male balled his fists in a bout of frustration. What if this was the best he could do? What if he could only get as far as obtaining SSJ? And what if he really did get too ahead of himself earlier; after all, he wasn't exactly regarded as a warrior from the moment he was born, so he really wasn't even regarded as Saiyan material. On the other hand, Goku, Raditz, and Vegeta were all powerful warriors and whilst he heard that Goku was actually sent to another planet (ironically, Earth) to purge at birth both Raditz and his older brother remained on Planet Vegeta.

So, all in all, they hadn't been discarded and sent away for being weak; it was just him.

Because unlike them, Tarble had been a failure since birth.

"Tarble!"

The youngest of King Vegeta was forcibly torn from his stupor by the sound of Raditz's voice, eyes all but widening as the slight layer of haze that coated his teal eyes quickly vanished and instead, focused in on the large, purplish-pink energy sphere (1) fastly closing in on him.

And then the next thing the paralyzed male seemed to be processing a moment later was that Raditz was all but appearing before him in a blur and quickly redirecting his own attack upwards at the last minute. Raditz's eyes trailed after his own attack before diverting his teal eyes onto the male behind him. "Why are you zoning out in the middle of the fight? I know you've trained with Vegeta countless times, so I'm guessing you normally don't do this."

Tarble guilty regarded the male, "I'm sorry if I'm being a burden, Raditz. It's just...I have a lot on my mind is all."

The burly male said nothing for a moment as if debating on what to say in response and then he was releasing a soundless sigh. "So you're distracted, huh? Well I guess I'd be a hypocrite to chastise you when I'm a bit distracted myself to be honest."

Tarble's eyes widened in surprise, noting that Raditz offered him a hand and pulled him back up to his feet; Tarble accepted the gesture. "You're distracted...too?"

"Yeah," Raditz answered honestly. "For starters, I have 18 and the boys at the back of my head; after all, they're the back up plan to taking down Majin Buu and obviously, that's something I want to avoid at all costs. I don't want the boys fighting or my mate fighting. If anything, I was hoping that Kakarot and I could take down Majin Buu together despite not being able to fuse together, but it seems as if everything is time-dependent."

"I see." Tarble agreed with saddened eyes, processing everything. "It's exactly as you stated if one took the time to actually think about it; there's just so many factors to take into account and I'm sure you could be out of here a lot faster if you weren't training someone like - "

" - That's not where I was going." Raditz interrupted. "Basically, I'm just feeling pressured since it seems to be a race against time. Besides, that's not the only reason I'm distracted either."

Tarble cocked a brow, and Raditz continued. "I don't know how to describe it, but 18 feels distant all of a sudden; like there's some sort of interference with our bond or something."

"Wouldn't that have something to do with being in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber? I mean you did mention that the time is quite different here."

Raditz shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think that's it. I mean it didn't feel as strong as it normally would since time is different in here, yes, but I was still able to feel it and it didn't seem as if she was far away from me or something."

Tarble hummed lowly, mentally mulling over what Raditz had just relayed to him. Unfortunately, the younger Saiyan was unable to come up with a reason behind what was going on no matter how long he tried to think about it. His shoulders sagged slightly, ultimately offering Raditz an apologetic smile instead, "I'm sorry I can't think of anything. I wish I could be more helpful."

"It's fine," Raditz answered gruffly. "It could be slowly weakening the longer we spend time in here. Either way, as long as I can still feel it somewhat, I'll be alright. Anyway," Raditz quickly continued after a brief pause, his teal eyes taking in Tarble's exhausted form. "Why don't you take a break for a bit? I'll be working on perfecting my SSJ3 form some more and whenever you're ready to pick back up again, come find me."

And then without further ado, Raditz was quickly moving to head elsewhere; however, Tarble couldn't help but call out to the Saiyan. At this, Raditz cocked a brow; nonetheless, he halted mid-step. "Yeah?"

Tarble looked hesitant. "Five days ago you told me that you weren't exactly the strongest warrior either and I was just wondering if you could elaborate on that some more. Plus, I've noticed from our past conversations...that you don't really think too highly of our race."

The burly Saiyan scoffed, but it wasn't towards Tarble. "Of course I don't. The only thing that mattered to our race was power and considering that our race was enslaved to Frieza, I find that quite ironic." Then Raditz shot Tarble a pointed look. "You should know that as well as myself given that you were literally sent off."

Tarble's teal eyes saddened somewhat at the reminded. "Yeah, you're right."

"If anything, perhaps that would have been better than being a laughing stock to my peers and a disgrace to my own father. Well," Raditz corrected after some thought, "if Bardock could even be called that at the time; he was a shitty father back then. And if that wasn't bad enough, I seriously thought that things would change after I was placed on a team with two Elite Saiyans, you know so I could redeem myself somewhat...but that was just a waste of time."

Tarble's features were similar to that of surprise and pity. "I'm sorry to hear to that. I didn't know you went through - "

Raditz held up a hand, cutting Tarble off mid-sentence. " - I don't need your pity. Besides none of that matters anymore, that's all behind me where it should be. I'm not tooting my own horn here, but I've changed a lot since then...both in power and mentality. And one other thing," Raditz tacked on, "if that's what's distracting you...comparing yourself to your brother or to Kakarot or even to myself, you're doing nothing short of making yourself miserable; you're a Super Saiyan and that's a lot stronger than our dead race that's currently rotting in Hell."

Tarble was somewhat at a loss for words; nonetheless, he managed to pull himself together. "...Thank you?"

Raditz grunted and proceeded to head further into the vast white space within the Time Chamber. "Come find me after your break."

~0~

Launch cursed.

This was all Tien's fault; he just had to go and get her pregnant. And if that wasn't bad enough, she was tired of being cooped up in the house damn it! She couldn't even remember the last time she went out or the last time she had a drink.

"Um...Launch?" Chiaotzu timidly called out. "Are you okay?"

Launch's green eyes shifted over onto Tien's best friend, a scowl on her angry features. "Does it look like I'm okay?!"

Chiaotzu wisely refrained from responding. Instead, he shared a quick glance with Puar.

Although it was clear that Puar was at just as much as a loss as he was; at least at the moment. Though, to be honest, Chiaotzu did invite Puar over to stay with them in hopes that they could deal with Launch together whilst Tien trained a few hours here and there everyday, but Chiaotzu was beginning to think that wasn't doing them any sort of justice at all.

And to think that he, Puar and Tien all had six more months to deal with this.

Chiaotzu released a depressive sigh; if anything, he was at least grateful that Puar was willing to help him look over Launch whilst she carried. Of course, Chiaotzu had no problems with his best friend training a few hours out of the day to train, but he wouldn't have survived being alone with Launch if Puar wasn't here to help him in Tien's absence.

It was getting to the point where Chiaotzu wanted her to sneeze already.

Launch cocked a brow. "What? You got something you wanna say?!"

Chiaotzu opened his mouth to respond but Puar wisely cut in, all but blocking Launch's view of Chiaotzu in the process. "No, of course not!" Puar quickly dissuaded. "We were just wondering what we could do to help make your pregnancy go smoother!"

Launch seemed to pipe down in response to Puar's words, her shoulders relaxing as she leaned back into the chair she was currently sitting on. "Don't worry about it; I'm fine I guess."

Puar offered the blonde woman a smile. "Well, if you need anything just let us know." Then Puar turned to face Chiaotzu, "I'm going to use the phone to call and check on Yamcha."

Chiaotzu distractedly nodded, ultimately heading over to the other chair within the living room and plopping down in silence.

Hopefully, Tien wouldn't take too long to return back today.

And thank Kami Puar was nice enough to help him out.

~0~

"Why you no give Buu chocolate?! Buu want chocolate!"

The terrified woman couldn't even summon the words to respond. After all, this was the very creature that made several reports and headlines. From what she heard, he was responsible for making a train derail as well as the havoc caused at their local amusement park in town. Further, he had also caused quite the bit of casualties and damage at countless other bakery and sweet shops.

She nervously swallowed, noting that the others in the store were just as terrified as her.

Where did this creature even come from? And...what was he? And just where was the World Champion?

"But s-sir, like I said earlier, you have to pay for - "

" - Buu no pay! Buu just turn you and everyone else into chocolate instead!"

The poor girl's eyes widened in fear as well as everyone else's in the bakery, but it was far too late for any of them. In a instant, collective screams filled the bakery shop as Buu was all but turning everyone in the vicinity into chocolate; all with a simple gesture of the pink antenna atop his head.

Sadly, they never stood a chance.

And neither did anyone from any of the other bakery and pastry shops.

Meanwhile, from the Lookout, Dende was regarding everything taking place down below them with a frown; this wasn't good. At this rate, if this kept up, Majin Buu would have probably have the entire Earth destroyed within five days or so.

From behind Dende, Popo was worriedly regarding the smaller Namekian as it was more than clear that he was distraught.

"This is absolutely horrible." Dende remarked with slumped shoulders. "Those people down there are entirely innocent and have done nothing to deserve this."

"You're right," Mr. Popo agreed, "But there is some good in the situation at least."

Dende curiously turned his head so as to better regard his aid. "You really think so?"

Mr. Popo gave a curt nod. "Of course. Remember that we still have the Dragon balls on our side. Granted, one wish has already been used, but in four months we can use the Dragon balls again and undo all damage."

"Yes, I know, but at this rate, Earth won't uphold for four months. I mean Majin Buu has caused so many casualties already and it's only been a few hours since everyone gathered here."

Mr. Popo offered Dende a reassuring smile despite Dende's words. "And while that is every bit of unfortunate, we do still have powerful warriors on our side, do we not?"

Dende's lips tugged upwards somewhat, "You're absolutely right, Mr. Popo. I truly hope everything works out in the end."

~0~

"Well," Piccolo prodded after a bout of silence. "How are you feeling?"

Zazuli diverted her icy blue eyes onto the Namekian, distractedly running a hand through her luscious curls. "The power I'm feeling is near overwhelming, but I feel confident that taking down that disgusting creature won't pose any problem whatsoever."

Piccolo's eyes widened at this, somewhat surprised. Was she really implying that Majin Buu wouldn't pose any challenge at all? He found that a little hard to believe. "Don't you think that's a bit too confident?"

"Excuse me," Zazuli began, an blonde brow all but cocked as she regarded Piccolo. "I recall you asking me how I was feeling."

Piccolo's eyes widened further if possible. If anything, he was rendered speechless and couldn't figure out if that was Raditz's wife talking or if that was Zangya talking; however, after some consideration, he was willing to bet that it was possibly the former. Either way, after he caught his bearings, the green warrior was finally responding. "You're right, I did ask you how you were feeling because it's also important to not let this new power go to your head lest it ends up being confused as confidence."

"There's nothing to be confused about; I know what I feel." Zazuli insisted.

Simultaneously, whilst Piccolo had been asking Zazuli questions here and there, Goku had been observing Zazuli in silence. Then, as if finished mulling over whatever it was he had been thinking about, Goku smirked lightly. "Then, if you're feeling that confident, what do you say we test this new power of yours? Majin Buu was able to take on a SSJ3 Raditz and I'm curious if you'll push me even beyond."

Piccolo was quick to divert his attention onto the dead Saiyan. "Goku! Are you insane? You were given 24 hours, but there's no telling how much of that time you burned whilst fighting Vegeta and now you're talking about getting into another fight?"

Krillin and Maron shared a glance, clearly agreeing with Piccolo. Though, out of the two, Krillin was first to speak, "I must say, Goku, I'm agreeing with Piccolo here. Not only that, but we still have to train the boys."

"That's true." Goku agreed, "but the boys pretty much know the steps of the fusion technique and if I end up burning my remaining time before we're able to finish making sure they have the technique down and before training them further, there's still Raditz. Maybe once he finishes training with Tarble, he can help you and Piccolo train the kids."

"Goku," Bulma drawled out slowly, "that doesn't exactly sound like something Raditz would want to do; I mean I'm sure he wouldn't mind training with the kids, but based off of what he was saying earlier, it sounds like he's more concerned with taking Majin Buu down as soon as possible. Wouldn't that set Raditz and Tarble back if they picked up your slack?"

"And," Yamcha butted in, tucking his cell phone back into pocket before rejoining Susan Marie and the others, "not to mention that's just burning unnecessary time, right?"

"Exactly," Piccolo agreed. "So why not use that time to better prepare the boys while you have the time, Goku? Doesn't that make more sense?"

Goku pouted, looking to Master Roshi for help; after all, everyone else seemed to be against the idea. "Master Roshi, what do you think?"

Master Roshi hummed lowly as if in deep thought, before finally responding. "I'm sorry, Goku, but if Trunks and Goten are going to be a last resort, then they're going to need all of the training they can get. If for some reason, Raditz and Tarble don't come out In a timely manner and if your time ends up before then, then the right thing to do would to use your time wisely and train Goten and Trunks as much as possible. Zazuli isn't like the boys; they're the product of experienced warrior women and don't require much attention. But the boys on the other hand, do."

"Further," Master Roshi summed up, "If we're going to have multiple plans here, then we need to make sure each plan is foolproof...or in this case...trained to their fullest potential."

Goku's shoulders slumped as that obviously wasn't the answer he was looking for, nor expecting. Then, he was diverting his eyes over to Chi-Chi next, whom had been unusually quiet. "Chi," Goku tried slowly, "what do you think?"

Chi-Chi calmly diverted her attention onto her husband. "What do I think?"

"Well, yeah." Goku encouraged with a light smile. "Do you agree with the others? What are your thoughts?"

Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed slightly as the raven-haired woman all but trekked past Videl and the others so that she was standing directly before her husband, "I'll gladly share my thoughts with you."

"Chi," Bulma called out warily. "I don't think now is the time."

Chi-Chi didn't bother sparing her friend a glance, her eyes trained on Goku. "Is fighting all you think about? You've been dead for seven years and you come back for 24 hours and here you go, getting tied up in something else yet again. It's bad enough that I was without my husband after you decided to stay dead after Cell, but then you weren't even there for me at all when I was pregnant with Goten!"

"Chi-Chi," Goku began. "I'm so - "

" - I don't want your apology!" Chi-Chi interrupted, black eyes fierce. "I've tolerated so much from you - when you're alive that is - and all I ever get from you is an weightless apology! I've tried to look past everything and I've tried listening to Bulma and Raditz, but today takes the cake! I've wanted nothing but the best for our family and I can't even get that! It's bad enough you want to train the boys in the first place to fight that monster that took away our son, but now you want to risk burning your remaining time to be selfish?! Do you have anything to say for yourself?!"

Goku remained silent and Chi-Chi's eyes desperately searched his in hopes that he would say anything - anything at all - but he didn't.

Chi-Chi's black eyes welled up with tears, her expression drowned with hurt. "Nothing, huh? I don't even know why I expect something from someone that doesn't even care about his wife."

And then the raven-haired woman was all but harshly slapping her husband and taking off.

Silence.

"And here I thought my parents were the only ones that argued."

Goten's eyes diverted onto Trunks, not all pleased with his best friend's comment. "That's not funny, Trunks!"

Trunks blinked. "Huh? But I wasn't saying it to be funny, Goten! Are you upset with me again?"

And whilst the kids argued amongst themselves, Bulma was placing a hand to her head and sighing. "I guess I'll be back; it's obvious that someone has to go comfort her."

Piccolo stared after Bulma a bit, before turning back to face a quiet Goku. "Goku if you want to go talk to her, you can. I'm sure Zazuli and the boys won't mind. Zazuli can test her new form here on the Lookout until the remaining fusion time clears and Krillin and I can take over with the boys until you return."

"Yeah, thanks." Goku responded oddly calm, "She's really upset, huh?"

"Geez," Ranfan butted in. "I know it may not be my place to say anything but it seems like she's been holding in quite the bit of turmoil; I'm not sure if even talking will smooth things over."