A/N: You guys ready for a deus ex machina? Well, here's a giant heap of super convenient Time Chamber action! If the Hyperbolic Time Chamber seems overly simplistic and excruciatingly convenient for you… well, you're probably not that happy with DBZ anyway… lol!

For those of you who can stomach the uber-convenience, we're finally going to get things moving again, starting next chapter, after some much-needed training! For those of you who just can't, worry not, it will all be over soon… just skip to the next chapter, and pretend a 5-year time skip happened, in which Dodoria didn't come. Either way, get ready for stronger, faster, (slightly older) Saiyans!

(EDIT: Did you guys notice how Tarble went to see King Furry? You know, the dog king who gruesomely died at the hands of Captain Ginyu in our last story? Hehehe... lemme fix that...)

When all was said and done, it seemed the entire population of Saiyans would be entering the Time Chamber after all. Tarble, Meron, and the Ox King had gone to see King Whiskers, the cat who was elected as king after King Furry died. They had returned with about twelve female Earth soldiers, all of whom had agreed to join the EDS, once King Whiskers had broadcast to the people that Earth's military and the Earth Defense Squad would be joining forces. Meron planned to take the entire EDS force into the Time Chamber, for intensive training, cubs and all. After watching Heaven fight in the Tournament, and beat a saiyan, a lot of the girls from the Ox Kingdom had decided they also wanted to join the EDS, so Meron had a log of new recruits. King Vegeta had gotten his list from Radditz, and had hand-selected the strongest of his men, for training with Saru.

Saru, for his part, had selected a number of his students to take the training as well, the ones he felt would most benefit from it. Surprisingly, some of the hybrids were on that list… despite his misgivings about their creation, he had come to find that they were, at least, easily molded, and that proper saiyans could be made out of them yet.

Vegeta wanted the saiyans who had not yet reached Super Saiyan, to enter the Time Chamber, and focus on that transformation alone. Kakarot, it seemed, would be conducting his own training with the leader of the Turtle Hermit school, the girl Maaya who he had fought in the Tournament. The fact that that had been his only fight in the Tournament filled Vegeta with frustration, but he resolved to use that frustration in his training, to make it that much sweeter when he did achieve a new form. Kakarot believed he could teach the girl fairly quickly, then he would be joining Saru's training.

Bulma had constructed extra miniaturization watches, and some special domes and capsules, for their use during their time in the chamber. One dome was like the one Vegeta and Kakarot had fought Frieza in, for use when they went Oozaru. It would miniaturize anything within it, allowing them to leave off their armor and watches before going inside, so as not to damage them. Three domes were normal gravity domes, one to be used for Saru's training, one to be used for Turles's Super Saiyan training (and tail regrowth, for the hybrids), and one to be used by Meron for training the EDS. Then, one dome was more like the one Bulma had made for Ruta and Maca… it contained a ring of houses around the edge, with the middle completely empty. The queen had calculated that, if someone normal-sized placed a normal Saiyan-sized serving of food, piece by piece, into the center of the dome every day, that their entire population could eat rather well. It was decided that Kakarot would train Maaya outside of the domes, and once he had taught her Instant Transmission, she would in turn teach it to her students, and they would look after the domes and place food in the center of the large one every day.

The two visitors from the future came as well, something King Vegeta had insisted upon, if only to satisfy his sense of pride. After all, if that boy insisted upon using his name, he was damn well not going to give a weak accounting of himself in battle… Besides, he could sense untapped power within the younger Vegeta, and wanted to see for himself what kind of warrior the boy would become.

King Vegeta decided they would use the Time Chamber for 5 days, as Bardock had; he wanted to get their forces as far away from Earth as possible before they met up with Dodoria. He did not want to see the Ox King's people floating lifelessly above the planet, as Engie had reported happened to the planet Namek. Or any of the foul things he'd already known Dodoria to be capable of. Before he allowed such a fate to befall his allies, he would destroy the planet himself.

Chicory and Matou had handled procuring supplies. When his people began landing on the Lookout, Kakarot introduced King Vegeta to the Guardians. The king had been surprised to find they were, from all appearances, two young humans. However, they regarded him with an eerie calm he had never seen in any human who had approached him. If anything, they reminded him of that girl Saru had taken as an apprentice.

"King Vegeta," one of the Guardians had began, the short one. His eyes met the Saiyan king's without fear, so he regarded the human evenly. "We convinced one of your cubs to keep the existence of more dragonballs a secret from you," he said. "We are aware that a severe punishment is to befall him because of it," he added.

"What of it?" Vegeta asked, scowling.

The other Guardian, the taller one, spoke. "We request leniency on his behalf. He did not act maliciously against you, but to help our people, and to heal the rift that his actions had caused between humans and saiyans," he said. "We request that his intentions be considered before you make your final decision concerning him."

King Vegeta took a step forward, scowling. "Or what?" he growled, prepared to take over the Lookout should these two Guardians take back their offer of help.

The short one spoke again. "Or nothing. This is a request, not an ultimatum," he said, causing the king to glance his way again. "We want peace between our people, and truthfully, if we hadn't been so mistrusting of you, none of this would even be happening. Just, please consider it," he asked simply.

The king regarded them both warily for a long moment, then grunted and walked away, towards the line of people forming outside of the Time Chamber. Krillin glanced at Kakarot questioningly. Kakarot shrugged. "He didn't say no," he said seriously. In truth, he hoped against hope that King Vegeta would change his mind concerning Beet, but knew he was stubborn, and that he would never be coerced into it, he would have to come to the decision on his own. Sighing, he looked around. "Is my student ready?" he asked.

Just then, a voice piped up from somewhere behind him. "I am!" she said, and Kakarot turned to see the girl in the large turtle shell, followed by a small group of children, each wearing smaller turtle shells.

Kakarot frowned. "These are all of your students?" he asked, looking them over.

Maaya sighed. "I'm afraid so. There were more of us, but when we split from Master Tien, most of the older Turtle Hermit students went with him, to join his Crane Hermit school. They're… not big fans of the Saiyans," she said hesitantly.

Upa nodded. "Tien blames the Saiyans for his master's death, and feels they will take over the Earth," he said. At Kakarot's confused glance, he added, "Tien's master was one of the men who tried to wish everyone with Saiyan blood dead."

Kakarot's eyes went wide. "Oh… the one with the bird hat?" he asked. At Upa's nod, he grimaced. "Huh… this Tien, is he a tall guy? Three eyes?" he asked.

"That's the one," Krillin replied.

Kakarot nodded. "Okay, yeah. Prince Tarble beat him in front of King Furry, when he negotiated the cease-fire against the Ox Kingdom, before Frieza's men got here. I don't guess he would be very happy with us… and I don't really care much for him, either," he said, his eyes hard. He then turned to Maaya. "Come on, we'd better get going, we've got a lot of training to do!" he said, his demeanor now much lighter, and waved to Krillin and Upa as they walked towards the center of the Lookout.

Standing on either side of the door was Prince Tarble and Tanmen. Tanmen was handing out miniaturization watches to everyone who didn't have one, except for the Turtle Hermit students, and Tarble was telling each one which group they would start off in, for training. Kakarot and the Turtle Hermit students came into the Time Chamber last, and once everyone was inside, the doors were closed. From Kakarot's perspective, the room looked empty, except for five domes in a cluster near the entrance. But he could sense the power levels of everyone present, and regarded Maaya. "I… don't know how humans usually raise their cubs. Can yours fend for themselves for a while?" he asked, glancing at the small shell-clad children.

Maaya turned to address the young ones. "Okay, guys, listen up. I'm going to be gone for a while. While I'm gone, every day I want you to put food in the middle of the big dome in the middle, just drop it down into the center. If it disappears, I want you to put in more, until it stops disappearing. Then you guys are going to race to see how far out you can go, then race back. The gravity in here increases the farther you go, so it will be a lot harder, but I want you to push yourselves as hard as you can. Only go in a straight line, though… I don't want any of you getting lost out there, you can easily starve to death if you aren't careful. And keep your turtle shells on! I'll know if you take them off. When I come back to you, I'm going to test you to see who is the strongest. Whoever has been taking it easy will have the hardest training; the rest of you will get to learn Instant Transmission. Got it?" she asked them.

"Yes, Master Maaya!" the students said in unison. She smiled at them, then turned to Kakarot.

"Okay, I'm ready to go, sir!" she said, all business.

Kakarot rolled his eyes at that. "Just call me Kakarot," he said, with a lopsided grin, before his expression became serious. "Okay, let's get started..."

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Three years later, two young girls with blue hair played at Bulma's feet, as she worked on her newest invention… a Living Capsule. Her mate had asked her to come up with as many ideas as she could to take down an unstoppable foe. He, of course, wanted to fight him first, and take him down the old-fashioned way… but since he'd been warned that Dodoria had emerged from every battle without even a scratch, and was widely considered to be immortal thanks to the dragonballs, he wanted to have as many aces up his sleeve as he could get, in case beating the life out of Dodoria failed. And so, she'd devised a trap for Dodoria… strangely, from designs she'd originally created as a possible fix for Kakarot's sister Maca. Sadly, she hadn't been able to help the girl before she'd died at the hands of some human, but at least the research wasn't completely wasted.

When one of the girls pushed the other against her table, she sighed in frustration. "Bra! Panchy! Go to the EDS dome with that energy!" she demanded, her temper a thing not to be trifled with right now, especially considering she was pregnant again. Not that she minded the frequent visits she got from Vegeta at night, but she was starting to feel like a baby factory. Ever since he'd found out he'd have a son, a powerful son, he seemed more determined than ever to make that happen. And, since her tests showed that the cub she was carrying was yet another girl, Bulma had a feeling she'd be at this for a while before he was satisfied.

She still couldn't get the future Prince Vegeta to tell her just how many older sisters he had… but from his guilty glances her way whenever she saw him, she had a feeling the number was high.

With another sigh at the now-empty lab, she focused back on her work. If this worked, they would be able to trap any living being, no matter how immortal, and all of their attempts to leave would simply be transmitted as energy. Basically, it was a really fancy, highly unethical battery. But then… Bulma wasn't playing around anymore. She was settling into her life in the Ox Kingdom rather well, with her mate, and her family, and her people… and nothing was going to stand in their way, much less some quibbling code of ethics preventing the capture of living creatures in capsules…

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Two years later, Meron looked out at the large group of red-sleeved women and girls who surrounded her. Some she had trained from the beginning, some she had only begun training recently (as they had just recently become old enough), but all of them were ready to defend their planet. She smiled. "King Vegeta says we will emerge from the Time Chamber in one month. I know you're all ready to get back out there in the real world, and to face a real enemy. But, remember… your role is to defend, to work together as a team, not to seek out battle. We are an unpassable wall, that enemies may try to get through, but will fail every time. We will always see two sides, a universe of danger on one, and a world living in peace on the other. It is our job to keep those sides separate from each other, to protect the young and peaceful world at our backs, from the cold and ruthless enemies before us," she said, receiving nods from everyone assembled. She gazed around. "I want the cubs to stand up here with me," she said, and soon ten young girls of varying heights came forward. She looked out at the rest. "These girls are your future," she said to them in no uncertain terms. "We protect, and strengthen, our future. For the next month, I want you all to focus on training these girls to survive. You will not let up on them, every moment of every day, even if they are eating or sleeping, I want them to be ready for attack from anywhere. This last month will be about us strengthening our weakest members, to make us all stronger," she said, her eyes hard, then she turned to look at the cubs. "This month will be the hardest for you. We will be your worst nightmare. Band together, work together, pretend we are the enemy, and fight us with everything. I can promise you, that just because we won't kill you, doesn't mean we won't make your existence a living hell should you let your guards down," she said, and turned her gaze to the three blue-haired cubs in the bunch. "And you princesses should know, none of us will go easy on you because of your father. In fact, King Vegeta personally asked me to go harder on you than on anyone else, because he demands that you emerge from your training stronger than any of your peers. For that reason, you'll each be wearing these," she said, picking up three small blue capes with the royal insignia on them, that Chicory had made for her the night before. One by one, she attached them to the back of each princess's armor. "We'll be targeting you three the hardest," she said. She held the five-year-old Bra's gaze. "Protect your sisters, and teach them to protect themselves. The house of Vegeta falls to no one," she instructed them, and the blue-haired girl gave her a single nod. Meron looked out over the large group. "Begin," she commanded, and quickly the cubs scattered, given a few minutes' head start, before Meron gave a nod to the women, and they soon made a game of finding and attacking them. Meron smiled. It was good training for the human women in the group as well… some of the cubs were pretty brutal already, and would give a good accounting of themselves. At any rate, there would be no complacent members of the EDS, regardless of their age…

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Baga fought Leriac, Kumato, and Gabbac, going for blood, long past caring that it was three cubs he was fighting. Saru's training had taught him to reach deep into the bloodlust he'd been born with, to bite and claw his way to victory, and right now, there was no thought behind his actions, no restraint, no strategy… it was life or death, and he was ripping and clawing his way towards life. In the same way, the three cubs also fought with everything, becoming stronger, more ferocious, the typical restraint training a Saiyan cub went through, having been set aside for Saru's more ferocious Primal Saiyan training. Nearby, Roak did the same, surrounded by four smaller cubs, who were tearing into his flesh just as much as he was tearing into theirs. Saru had found that the full-blooded Saiyan cubs took to the training much more easily than did the hybrids, so in addition to teaching the strongest warriors the Primal Saiyan transformation, he reinforced it with the full-blooded Saiyan cubs, since they were already halfway there to begin with. Baga and Roak were still young enough to tap into their infant bloodlust, but were old enough to have had restraint training, so Saru pitted them against all the other cubs from the beginning, in an effort to get the older boys to finally transform. Roak had done so first, with Baga following a close second. Once they had mastered the transformation, it was easy enough for the young cubs to naturally follow suit. Maiz stood by, ready to stop any of them if they went too far, freeing up Saru to focus on the older fighters.

Getting King Vegeta to the transformation was more difficult that Saru had thought it would be… though teaching Broly had been incredibly easy. It was only when Kakarot had joined their training that he and Vegeta made any real progress. It seemed that Kakarot was a major source of motivation for Vegeta. The two perfectly complemented each other's fighting styles; Vegeta was cold and strategic, where Kakarot was passionate and improvisational. When they fought together, they were a force to be reckoned with. When they fought against each other, they pushed each other to record heights.

Saru spent most of his time trying to teach the form to the other men. Korn and Duri were notable exceptions to his training; Duri, while having achieved the Super Saiyan transformation, was entirely unable to fall into the instinctive bloodlust necessary for Primal Saiyan. Korn, on the other hand…

After the first time Korn had lost himself to it, Saru had adamantly refused to train him further. That Delphos blood of his… he'd tried to rape three warriors before he was finally knocked out. That was a memory no one wanted to reflect on…

The Ox King from the future had learned some interesting techniques, from Radditz's son Beet, apparently. The Mirroring Technique not only made him an excellent fighter… when taught to Saru's students, it also made them more capable learners. Training had become ten times easier once he'd taught the move to everyone, and after that, they made much faster strides.

And then… there was raw power to consider… mostly in the form of the future Prince Vegeta.

Saru had long attested that the hybrids were a powerhouse all their own, and none showed it more than the future Prince Vegeta; Kakarot's young son Gohan following a close second. The Saiyan Prince had been fighting all his life from impossible forces; that, along with his heritage and upbringing, made him an unrelenting force. He was the only hybrid cub that Saru tried teaching Primal Saiyan to, and only because King Vegeta had insisted upon it. And while he wasn't able to actually achieve the transformation (Saru had long suspected only full-blooded Saiyans would be able to, and so far, he was right), the training itself had unlocked something else within him, something deep and wild… something that Saru knew would evolve into its own transformation, far beyond Super Saiyan, far beyond those who had ascended past that… right into something Saru was convinced even the gods would come to fear.

No longer did Saru believe that King Vegeta's choice in a human mate was a bad idea. Prince Vegeta, he knew, would one day become more powerful than all of them. Which was why he'd secretly had Turles add fertility drugs to the Queen's water…

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Korn and Duri spent their time making life a living hell for the weaker of King Vegeta's forces in the Super Saiyan dome, by order of the king. Here, most of the hybrids trained, the ones made from Korn's stolen genes already adults, the others a mixture of grown men and cubs, the ones old enough to fight, anyway. They all trained against each other, but Korn and Duri's job, once Saru had kicked them out of his training, had been to single out the weakest and antagonize the hell out of them until they were no longer the weakest anymore. The two very different warriors went about their job in different ways. Duri used Instant Transmission heavily, zeroing in on whoever had the lowest power level at the most inopportune times, attacking from behind, generally becoming a nuisance and a distraction, right at the moments when they were being attacked by others. He was quick, so they had to be ready for anything, and in no time those with the lowest power levels were also the most quick-footed and canny.

Korn, on the other hand, attacked them head-on, slamming them down, taunting them, discouraging them, making them more and more resilient. Korn was the reason those with the lowest power levels quickly rose to have higher ones; after about three or four times in the regeneration tank after being nearly killed by Korn, even the lowliest of hybrid's power levels were sure to double.

Not that Korn and Duri had no opponents; the Super Saiyan dome was a free-for-all, and no one questioned much who was fighting whom. And Korn had plenty of pick-up battles against Reaper, who by this point had grown as tall as he had, bore an almost uncanny resemblance to the red mowhaked Saiyan, as did many of the others. Especially now that Turles had regrown all their tails. Other than Saru, whose tail was only mangled but was still there, every Saiyan with enough Saiyan blood to be born with one now had a tail. Which meant that, with very few exceptions, they'd ALL gone through Oozaru training, enough to gain at least some mastery of it. Their mastery of the Oozaru form had become the basis for the new ranking system among them.

Chicory and Prince Tarble had conspired together to create the new armor and insignia. There wasn't enough material from their previous battles to create full suits of armor that grew or shrank with the wearer, but they had created bands, that were worn on a Saiyan's upper arm, that denoted house and rank. Much like members of Bardock's family wore red bands around their forearms, and the royal family tended to wear blue, these were deciphered by color and symbol. The color of band signified the wearer's house (or, if they were everyone's, the band was gray). The symbols on the small gold, silver, and copper badges that attached to the bands showed whether the wearer could go Golden Oozaru, whether they could control their actions in their Oozaru forms, remember what they did in their Oozaru forms, or had no memory or control at all. Additionally, the badges showed other skills they'd mastered. A dot at the top and bottom of the badge showed someone was capable of Instant Transmission. Someone with just a wavy line on a copper badge could go Super Saiyan, but couldn't turn Oozaru. A blank copper badge meant they couldn't transform at all. Many members of the EDS had blank copper badges clipped to the red sleeves they already wore. At this point, however, most of those with blank copper badges were either extremely young, or they were human.

Someone with four diagonal lines across the top corner of their badge could go Primal.

By the end of the five years, ten adult saiyans and nine cubs had four diagonal lines across the top corners of their badges.

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The Ox King had taken it upon himself to train… well, himself. At first, young Gohan had been too young to do more than just continue learning to walk, though the Ox King knew full well he was capable of enormous power, even at that tender age. But once the toddler had mastered that simple feat, the Ox King began to push him, as no one else could.

He would not see his younger self die in this battle.

The first thing he did was teach young Gohan his mirroring technique. It was tricky to do, without a tail, but he hadn't had a tail when Beet taught him, so the Ox King just used the same teaching techniques that his displaced cousin had so long ago. Once little Gohan had become his mirror image… he began to teach him the skills he learned from his Aunt Maca.

These skills would go far concerning little Gohan's survival, he knew, and were only meant to ensure his survival… but the greatest defense was a good offense, so he also taught little Gohan fighting techniques, in case he might need them (or simply to protect him from his little psycho cousin Snip). But there was one thing he didn't bother teaching little Gohan… and that he was starting to unlearn himself.

That was his bitterness towards his father.

The first night they spent in the Time Chamber, the Ox King was practically dragged to the home Kakarot shared with Radditz and Launch in this place. Kakarot insisted they sleep in the same room, which the Ox King would have none of, but, as Kakarot was stronger (and far more stubborn), he found himself doing anyway. Of course, at first he refused to sleep. Then, he slept in a chair by the window. Then, after an excruciating day of training, he woke to find himself sleeping with his back to his father, with little Gohan snuggled up beside him.

And slowly, the ice began to thaw.

Kakarot treated him exactly as he treated his own son, and the Ox King began to see that, his idea of his father, and the man himself, couldn't be more different from each other. After a month, he stopped insisting on being called Ox King by the man. After a year, he actually began to feel like Gohan.

And, after five years, he counted himself as part of Kakarot's family… and wore the red band around his right arm proudly.

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Five days later, Krillin and Upa watched as the doors to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber opened, and King Vegeta emerged, followed by his warriors, from the most elite to the least, then a very pregnant Queen Bulma and Meron, followed by every member of the EDS, including three young girls with blue hair, blue capes, and red sleeves. At the very end of the line came a much older Maaya, followed by a small group of teens and preteens, each wearing a large turtle shell on his or her back. They all looked older, though with the Saiyans it was hard to really tell sometimes. The Guardians were distinctly aware that there were more of them than there had been before, and many who had appeared to be children going in were now, somehow, adults. Maaya came before them, and, smiling, she hugged both Guardians. "It's very good to see you again, Guardians," she said softly, causing them both to blush.

Kakarot came to greet the Guardians. "Anything happen while we were away?" he asked, all seriousness for the moment.

The two Guardians glanced at each other. "Beet and Doragastu have arrived. They're standing in the Arena… they've been standing there for two days now, without eating or sleeping. We tried to have them come up here, but Beet refused, he won't budge until he receives orders from King Vegeta," he said, just as the King approached them.

"Hn," was all King Vegeta would say on that matter, then changed the subject. "We will be taking a ship to find Dodoria, to avoid facing him here. But just in case he does come, the EDS is prepared, and will be setting up checkpoints around Earth. I want one to be stationed here," he said more than asked.

Krillin looked at Upa, then both shrugged. "That's fine. It will keep us from having to leave the Lookout if we sense someone coming," Upa said.

King Vegeta gave a nod, then turned and began his flight back to the Ox Kingdom. En masse, the rest of his people flew after him. Kakarot looked back at Krillin and Upa, and smiled. "It was good to see you guys again," he said warmly, then took off after the rest of his people.

Krillin smiled after him. "I think time in the chamber did them all some good," he said softly.

Upa frowned. "I hope. What I sense is coming is going to take everything that everyone has to defeat, I think," he said, concerned.

Maaya fixed the Guardians with a determined gaze. "Whatever comes, we'll beat it, or go down trying!" she promised. She turned to her students. "Take off your shells, guys… strength training's over for now, let's work on control," she said, removing her turtle shell for the first time in five years.

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Beet and Doragastu stood in the Arena, eyes straight ahead, waiting for what would come. There was food at their feet, left by some concerned members of the Ox Kingdom, but it was untouched; the two merely stared straight ahead, waiting.

And then, they became surrounded by Saiyans.

Sensing his father's power level approaching, Beet couldn't help but tear his eyes away from where he had been staring, to see his father and mother land nearby, joined by a young girl with blonde curly hair and green piercing eyes, and a young boy with scratches all over him and blue hair pulled up in a topknot. His mother was holding another baby in her arms, though right now it was sleeping and Beet couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. His eyes went to his father's, who looked like he wanted nothing more than to approach him – but all of their attention quickly went to King Vegeta, who landed directly in front of the two boys.

He met his king's gaze, determined to face his fate, whatever it was to be, like a true saiyan. He prepared for the worst.

The king narrowed his eyes at Beet, and stepped towards him. When he was inches away from the boy's face, he said, his voice a dangerous hiss, "What did you do wrong?"

Beet took a deep breath. "I kept information from you that could have helped our people," he said. "By doing this, I ended up putting our people in danger."

King Vegeta growled. "Why?" he demanded.

Beet didn't flinch. "Because I felt guilty, over destroying West City. I wanted to bring those people back to life, more than I wanted to be loyal," he said, the weight of what he had done heavy on his heart.

"And now?" King Vegeta asked him. At Beet's look of confusion, he said, "What will you do now?"

Beet wasn't sure how to answer that at first. He assumed King Vegeta meant, if he didn't kill him. But… the only other option was banishment, wasn't it? Beet searched himself for the answer. "Whatever my fate is, Sire… I'll face it without blinking," he said in response, meaning every word of it.

King Vegeta did not appear satisfied, however. "And what will you do, after meeting your fate? Will you continue to think you know better than everyone? Will you continue to do as you please, regardless of the consequences? Will you act as your own king?" he demanded, and Beet could feel the fury radiating off the man.

Beet met his eyes for a long moment, then looked down and away. "I won't," he said, a lump in his chest. "I thought I was doing the right thing, and a planet full of people died, and a monster was unleashed on the galaxy, because of it. I know that, no matter what I do, there's no way to know what consequences will come of it. I've been lucky to have a king, and a father, to guide me so far, before I screwed it all up. I have no desire to decide what's right or wrong for anyone else ever again," he said. He turned his gaze back up to meet King Vegeta's. "I know you're gonna kill me, or banish me, Sire. But… before you do…," he said, lip quivering, "thanks for ruling us, and bein' a good king," he said, swallowing hard. His eyes then turned back to steel, ready for whatever would happen.

King Vegeta sighed, and suddenly he smashed a double fist upside Beet's head, sending him flying into the side of the arena. The boy was out cold, but he was still alive. He looked at Radditz. "Teach him better," he commanded, then turned around and walked back to his castle, studiously ignoring the overjoyed looks of everyone in attendance.

Launch was at Beet's side first, then Turles, but she waved him away. Her boy had suffered much more serious blows, she was pretty sure he would have been back up by now, if he wasn't so hungry. As if to prove her right, Beet grunted, pushing himself up. "Am… am I..." he reached back, and was surprised to feel his tail was still attached. His eyes went to his mother's. She was grinning from ear to ear, tears in her eyes. "Oh, Beet..." she said, and embraced him, mindful of the baby in her sling as she kissed his face and stroked his hair. "Oh, my Beet..."

Beet glanced up to see Radditz looking down at him, then took the hand his father offered. His head hurt from the blow King Vegeta had struck him with, and he was still a bit dazed. "Father… what…?"

Radditz smirked. "You caught King Vegeta in a good mood, son. He's pardoned you," he said, looking almost ready to tear up himself. Then his expression turned serious. "Don't you EVER pull any kind of shit like that, without running it by me first, do you hear me, boy?!" he demanded.

Beet, still unable to really grasp what had happened, nodded numbly. His father's tail brushing against his brought his mind into focus. "I… I get to stay?" he asked, his eyes going wide.

Radditz laughed at that, pulling Beet in for a hug. "You get to stay, son," he said, turning his gaze to Kakarot. Scowling, he reached up and grabbed Kakarot by the ear, pulling him toward Beet. "Kakarot, do you have something to say?" he demanded more than asked.

Kakarot's eyes met Beet's. "Beet…" he said, trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to. Then he scratched the back of his head and blushed. "I told you it was bad advice..." he said wryly. His eyes then turned to steel. "And I was right. It's not just important what we think is right… our actions affect other people, we have to look at that, too. That's what we have rules for… to help guide us when we can't see what consequences our actions will have," he said, looking down. "I convinced you to break the rules, and for that, I'm very sorry," he said.

Beet regarded him for a long moment, then held out his arm, which Kakarot gratefully grasped. He brushed his tail against his uncle's, and the two shared a long look, before nodding and releasing each other's arm.

Suddenly, his eyes caught Doragastu's, from across the crowded arena, and he dodged his way through the crowd to meet up with his friend. "Doragastu," he said softly, looking into his friend's eyes.

Doragastu smiled. "The city gates have opened for you," he said softly.

Beet's eyes were serious. "For you, too, Doragastu," he said, just as Beet felt a hand on his arm.

Turning around, he saw Baga… rather, a taller version of Baga, grinning wryly at him. "We've been in the Time Chamber without you, buddy… you really gonna go this long without saying hi to me?" he demanded of his nephew, and Beet could sense Doragastu turning to walk away.

Scowling, Beet reached out and grabbed Doragastu's arm, causing the slightly older boy to turn towards him in surprise.

His eyes widened in even more surprise, when Beet pulled him close, and kissed him, much to Baga's surprise, and everyone around who happened to be looking his direction. Across the arena, Zuri caught the scene, and sighed. "All the good ones..." she muttered, turning away.

Beet slowly pulled away. Doragastu's eyes were transfixed to his. "You're mine. Inside the gates. Got it?" he asked, in no uncertain terms.

Doragastu fought to keep tears from his eyes, as he gave a single nod. "Inside the gates," he said in agreement.

Baga rolled his eyes. "Gods, now I gotta deal with this shit," he grumbled. "Are you two gonna be doin' that a lot? 'Cause I'm-" Suddenly both boys disappeared, and Baga sighed. "Well, I'm not tellin' Launch," he said, as Matou clapped him on the shoulder.

"Think you remember how to cook, boy?" he asked.

Baga smirked. "Old man, I've learned so many new recipes," he quipped, and laughed as he dodged Matou's attempt to smack him for the 'old man' remark, running towards the mess hall.

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The Ox King had been talking at great length with his grandfather, in his throne room, when Prince Vegeta arrived, catching the younger Ox King's eye. Excusing himself, he went to speak with the prince. "We're still remaining here to fight, are we not?" he asked the lavender-haired young man in blue and white armor.

Prince Vegeta gave him a nod. "Father tasked us with seeing that the flagship is ready," he said, smiling wistfully. "It will be good to be home again," he said, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.

The Ox King glanced back at his grandfather. "I know the feeling," he said softly, then turned his gaze back to the prince. "I've been meaning to ask… Saki? She's been waiting for us in that cave for five days… did you tell her how long we'd be gone?" he asked.

Prince Vegeta's eyes widened. "No… I thought you did," he said, grimacing. "I'm not going back there…" he refused adamantly.

The Ox King sighed. "I'll bring her here. She can continue her work on the time machine from here. I think your mother might enjoy meeting her," he said thoughtfully.

Prince Vegeta grimaced. "I'll let you take care of that, then. When you're finished, meet me on the ship," he said, and used Instant Transmission faster than the Ox King had ever seen him do before.

Chuckling to himself, he went to say goodbye to his grandfather.

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By the next day, the flagship was fully stocked and was pulling away from Earth's orbit. The EDS was working together with Earth's military forces and the Turtle Hermit school, to create a system of patrols designed to give them the best warning should hostile forces arrive on Earth. Queen Bulma ruled the saiyans left on Earth, most of which were women, though there were a few male cubs that were too young to travel and fight with the men. Earth and the Saiyans were ready for whatever would come their way.

They hoped...