A very dark and sinister man stood at his window and looked out at the universe. It wasn't an ordinary window, but a split in time and space he used to observe the universe from the dimension he had taken up residency in over 300 years ago. "My wish as born the fruit that I had hoped, and it's almost time! I wonder if the little fool ever realized that the last three training scrolls were missing?" Cordell mused.
Still, Cordell was greatly troubled. He had summoned the eternal dragon and wished for the power to grow stronger with no upper limits. He'd trained under the most severe conditions, growing ever stronger over the past 360 years, non-stop! Yet every time he checked on his home dimension, there seemed to be at least one, sometimes more than one, person capable of destroying him.
"But not this time!" Cordell smiled.
Cordell had found a world within this dimension so large, and with such mass, that it generated 10,000 times Earth normal gravity. Moving in its atmosphere was like moving through a very heavy molasses.
But Cordell had survived. "It took 23 years to get strong enough to break free of that planet's gravity! But when I did it made me powerful beyond belief!"
As Cordell sent out his senses and brought in numerous ki levels, he sensed several very strong people. Some of them he had sensed before.
"None of them are even close to me now!" Cordell thought.
But even as the thought was made, Cordell felt an unease come over him. "There's something or someone out there that I haven't felt in a very long time. They're Very familiar, but not quite the same. I wonder who that is?" I feel like they know that I'm coming to destroy them, and they are slowly allying themselves against me. But how can that be true? I left Earth three hundred years ago and without the last three scrolls to make himself stronger, even that little asshole Roshi must be dead by this time. How could anyone possibly know about me?"
"Wait! Do you think that Rogalle made good on his promise to come back?" Cordell pondered.
Cordell reached out again to pinpoint the familiar ki, but it wasn't there anymore. Some of the other hi ki levels were also missing. He kept watching. "There!" He suddenly said. "Three of the larger ki levels just seemed to appear out of no where. What is happening?"
Cordell turned to the corner of the room and with a few rather elaborate hand gestures; beams of light leapt from his fingers, only to land and take the shape of a man-sized winged demon.
"Why have you summoned me?" The thing hissed.
"I need a pair of eyes out there." Cordell gestured towards the window. Do you feel those three large powers?"
The creature bounded up to the window and gazed out. Cordell mentally guided the creature to the powers he had in mind. "Yes, I feel them." The creature said.
"I need you to spy on them, report their activities to me directly. Understood?" Cordell ordered. Under no circumstances are you to allow yourself to be seen, or otherwise detected. You are not to attack them.
"Of course not. Two of them have the power to vaporize me without much thought, the third would surely defeat me in a battle, but it would take longer than with the other two." The creature said, knowing his own limitations.
"Good, we understand each other then." Cordell said. "Ok, be off with you, I expect regular reports."
"Yes Master!" The demon said as he jumped through the window.
Cordell went back to gazing out at the universe just as the two largest of the three powers disappeared again.
Vegeta and Goku appeared in what seemed to be a sort of anteroom of sorts. It reminded Vegeta of the waiting rooms off of the main throne room where people used to wait if they were granted audiences with King Vegeta, or to be judged by him for offenses against the crown. Vegeta shuddered a bit remembering his father's iron rule. Guilty until you prove yourself innocent was the standard used. Needless to say, there were not many accused Saiyans that walked away free unless it was a matter of political expediency.
"Where are we Kakkarot?" Vegeta asked. "Why are we waiting?"
"We are in the other dimension waiting for everyone that needs to be here, to get here." Goku answered.
"What is this about?" Vegeta asked getting impatient.
"Well, when we go through that door, we will walk out into the middle of a really large arena of sorts." Goku started. "The Supreme Kai says that our side will present evidence to support the fact that you deserve to be forgiven. There will be another person there that will try and convince them that you don't. The arena will be filled with every dead good person that you've ever wronged. In the end, they will vote to decide if they forgive you or not."
"Umm… Kakkarot? Do you really think that's such a good idea, I mean I've wronged A LOT of people in my time."
"Trust us Vegeta, this is the only way to do this. You've learned to forgive, now you can accept forgiveness." Goku said. "By the way Vegeta, how have you felt since you forgave Frieza?"
Vegeta thought for a moment. "You know, since then I've felt great! I've felt like someone lifted the weight of the universe off my shoulders! My stomach isn't all tied up in knots anymore either."
"Hate is sometimes worse than any disease Vegeta." Goku said. "It can damage both body, and soul."
"Goku? T-thanks for freeing me from… well, you know.." Vegeta said.
"It's ok Vegeta, I know." Goku smiled. "Hey, you called me Goku!!"
"Don't get used to it, I still prefer Kakkarot, and you're still a third class baka!" Vegeta smirked.
"Yes my Prince!" Goku said sarcastically.
"Gentlemen, we are ready." A little blue demon of the type that seems to do most of the clerical work here said. "Please follow me."
"So, you're going to defend me?" Vegeta asked Goku.
"No, I'm your guide, I can't defend you, although I may be called to testify for you." Goku said.
"Then who will be defending me?" Vegeta pressed.
"Well, I went to great lengths to find you the best representatives possible Vegeta! Here they come now." Goku pointed.
"WHAT!?!?!!?! NAPPA! RADITZ! BARDOK! Are you insane Kakkarot? At least two of those guys will probably want to fry me! You can't be serious!" Vegeta exclaimed. "What are they doing out of Hell anyways!!"
"We aren't in Hell anymore Vegeta. The North Kai came to us some years ago and said we could be forgiven if we released our hate and forgave the one we hated." Otherwise, we had served our time." Nappa explained. So, I forgave you for killing me, Raditz forgave you, Frieza and Kakkarot, and Bardock forgave Frieza. Then we had to stand here just as you are today, except, well we were already dead and stuff." Nappa grinned.
"Nappa, Raditz. Even though you have forgiven me, I still want to apologize. I was such a bastard in those days. I treated you like dirt, and I have no excuse for it." Vegeta stated.
"Forget it Vegeta" Raditz said. "Let's just go and see about convincing this mob that you're not the same Saiyan you once was."
"Let's go kick some butt!" Bardock said.
Goku shot his father a sudden glance.
"I don't mean literally Kakkarot!" Bardock smiled, scratching the back of his head.
Goku only shook his head and smiled.
As they entered the arena, it became quite apparent that this was no ordinary place. The seats, mostly all filled with little puffs of clouds, went up further than Vegeta's eyes could see. The place was huge, easily a mile to the center of the arena. They flew the rest of the way to the center. As they landed, a familiar little blue man with antennae and took a seat opposite their position, about 50 yards away. There were no microphones that could be seen, but King Kai's voice was amplified nonetheless.
"Ok Vegeta, did Goku explain what is going on here?" The North Kai said.
Vegeta just nodded.
"Okay, good. Since you are from my part of the Galaxy, it is my duty to moderate the proceedings here. I do not render judgment, and I do not play favorites. I simply keep the proceedings running and on topic. Do you understand?" King Kai explained
Vegeta nodded again.
"Ok, Onarash will begin by calling his first witness" King Kai stated.
Everyone looked across and saw another set of tables, at the head of the table sat a large blue demon. He stood up. "For our first witness, I would like to call Princess Anoria to the stand."
"Good, Onarash, question your witness." King Kai commanded.
Princess Anoria suddenly appeared in the witness box.
"Princess Anoria, one can't help but to notice that you were able to keep your body here in the next dimension. Could you explain how this came about?" Onarash queried.
"I died while protecting my people and planet from those three!" The Princess pointed at Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz.
"Who was leading them?" Onarash continued.
"That one, Prince Vegeta!" She answered.
"So what happened?" Onarash pressed on.
"They came to our palace after landing on our planet and demanded that we surrender our sovereignty to Frieza or our planet would be purged." The Princess wailed. "Naturally, my father refused and called out our military to defend us.
"And the military weren't successful?" Onarash asked.
"No, they were destroyed. They slaughtered every last man!" The Princess accused. "Then they… T-They.." The Princess was close to breaking down.
"Go on Princess, what did they do then?" Onarash coaxed.
"They ate many of them! They ate the flesh of our people!" The Princess wailed and descended into tears. "Then they killed everybody else!"
"That will be all Princess." Onarash turned to return to his table.
"Would you like to question the current witness?" King Kai asked turning towards Nappa. The Kai was visibly disturbed by the testimony.
"Yes sir, I will." Nappa answered.
Nappa wasn't the universes most brilliant mind, that's a known fact, but he's not anywhere near as stupid as Vegeta once believed him to be. Nappa is a big man, with an intimidating demeanor, and a voice to match. "Okay!" Nappa thought. "Sweetness and light.. I don't want to scare her anymore than she already is."
"Hello Princess. How are you?" Nappa started.
"I'm dead you idiot!" She replied.
"Hostile witness…"Nappa thought. He decided to get right to business then.
"Princess, do you remember when we first arrived on your planet?" Nappa asked.
"I most certainly do!" She glared into Nappa's eyes.
"Do you remember Vegeta trying to negotiate a treaty between you and Frieza?"
"Ha! Some Treaty! We turn over our lives to Frieza, and in return he doesn't kill us off!" The Princess yelled into Nappa's face.
"True… I'll agree on the point that it wasn't very much of a treaty. But could you tell everyone how long Vegeta tried to get you to agree to the terms of that so-called treaty?" Nappa asked.
"Vegeta gave us 48 hours." She answered.
"Do you happen to know how long Zarbon, Dodoria, or most all of Frieza's other soldiers would have given you had they been the ones given the assignment?
"No, I'm sure I don't." The Princess scowled.
"2 hours. Just 2 hours Princess. That is what Frieza had ordered before we left." Nappa looked right into her eyes."
"What? Just two hours to make such an important decision? Why??" She wailed.
"Because Frieza did not really care if you capitulated or not. Sure, he'd let you live as slaves if you decided to do so, but he was and impatient little tyrant." Nappa explained. "Vegeta stalled as long as he possibly could, and was severely punished for it."
"OBJECTION!" Onarash yelled. "Nappa is giving testimony, not the witness! He is leading the witness to a conclusion!"
"Sustained." King Kai ruled.
"Okay." Nappa said, "One more question Princess and you can go. How did we look when we arrived on your planet?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well, did we look well fed?" Nappa pressed.
The Princess's looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, in fact I distinctly remember telling father how it looked like you hadn't had a decent meal in weeks!"
"That's all the questions I have for her at this time King Kai." Nappa concluded.
And so the questioning went. Being after Being, warriors, kings, men, women, and even children, called forth to testify in lurid details of the atrocities that Vegeta committed. People from half the northern quadrant of space, representing at least 25 known species.
Finally… "We rest our case King Kai." Onarash announced.
"Okay then. We'll take a two hour break, and begin Vegeta's side of things." King Kai announced.
Vegeta hung his head a bit. "This isn't looking good is it Kakkarot?"
"Don't worry Vegeta! We've got this in the bag! You know what they say, it's the darkness before the silver lining, or cloud before the storm, or something like that." Goku smiled wide.
"Okay, what ever. Would you teleport us back to the Supreme Kai's planet? I want to check on Mutt and Jeff before we have to be back here and make sure they're not causing some mischief." Vegeta asked.
"Who?" Goku wondered.
"Sigh… Roger and Yambia you lunkhead!" Vegeta scolded.
"Oh.. alright.." Goku said.
"Hey Kakkarot! Ummm.. Could Bardock, Nappa and I come along?" Raditz said.
"Yeah Kakkarot, being in heaven is better than the other place, but for a Saiyan it's pretty boring." Nappa agreed. "Anything to get away for awhile would be nice."
Bardock nodded in agreement, with an eager look in his eye.
"Sure thing guys," Goku chuckled "Grab onto my arm."
The five Saiyans appeared about 50 feet away from where Roger and Yambia were sitting facing Rou Kaioshin. They had been away for seven hours, so the initial phase was over. The Supreme Kai was already there, and had been thoughtful enough to feed the two famished Saiyans. He had brought numerous tables full of food into existence.
"I knew you guys would be back soon, so I prepared a Saiyan meal." Kaioshin said.
Goku and Vegeta stood with their mouths watering. However the salvaged Saiyans hadn't seen a meal like this in a long time. Even thought they were already dead, and technically didn't need to eat at all, the desires of the flesh don't always die that easy.
"FOOD!" Four Saiyans yelled and dived at the tables. Vegeta remained a bit more reserved and simply ran over and grabbed a plate to fill up.
"Nappa! Raditz! Kakkarot! Bardock! Come here this instant!" The three non-Earth Saiyans immediately responded. Sure, Vegeta wasn't technically their Prince any more, but years of training are hard to break. Goku merely looked up with a slightly puzzled look on his face.
"Kakkarot! Get over here!" "Vegeta reiterated.
"Aw Vegeta, do I have to?" Goku Whined.
"YES!" Vegeta answered.
"Okay, now I know that I'm not your Prince anymore, and you don't really have to listen to me… GET BACK IN LINE Kakkarot!! Where was I? Oh yes, you don't really have to listen to me, but you're on The Supreme Kai's planet and we should show proper restraint and decorum while we are here. So Nappa, while I know you think that trick you do where you pass food through your nose is funny. (Actually I've had many chuckles over that myself. Vegeta thought.) Please refrain from doing so here. Ok, when I say go ahead, I want you all to pick up your own plate and silverware, slowly get your food, and sit down and eat. And actually try to chew your food while doing so."
"Ok, Go ahead." Vegeta said after a bit of a pause.
"Hey Kakkrot! I was in line first!" Raditz yelled.
"I'm hungrier than you are brother!" Goku reasoned
A brief scuffle broke out which ended in Raditz flying through the air about 50 meters and landing on his back.
Nappa was rolling on the ground laughing.
Vegeta merely held his face in his hands, mumbling something about third class bakas.
After everyone, including Raditz had gotten a plate, or three, or six, the group decided to go and eat on the hill, under a tree, overlooking Roger and Yambia.
"What are they doing Kakkarot?" Nappa asked.
"Well, I'm not totally sure what it is that the Elder Kai is doing, but when he did it to Gohan many years ago, it massively increased his power. He was able to ascend into what is called a mystic form." Goku kept his voice low, but Roger and Yambia still heard him.
"A Mystic Form?" Roger thought.
"I don't know, I've never heard of any other Saiyan getting to a Mystic Form!" Yambia answered mentally.
Over the past seven hours of forced silence, Roger and Yambia's minds found other ways to communicate. It was, at that point, that Yambia realized that they were truly bonding. So she has taken this time to educate Roger on Saiyan customs, particularly the mating custom.
"All I know is that this had better work or I'm going to be pissed about being left here all this time for nothing!" Roger thought.
"Awww.. You guys are communicating telepathically! Isn't that sweet!" Goku interrupted telepathically..
"What!?! Kakkarot! Get out of here! This is private!" Yambia yelled in her head.
"Didn't I hear that you had a mate of your own to talk to!" Roger said mentally.
"I do, but she's still alive. I will be with her soon though.." Goku transmitted. "Ok, I'll leave you two love birds alone then."
"Geez! The nerve of that guy!" Roger said.
"Vegeta did say that he was pretty eccentric though." Yambia supplied. "Ok where were we in Saiyan Culture?"
"If you ask me Kakkarot, and you haven't, that looks like a complete waste of time." Raditz stated. How in the world can anyone get stronger just by sitting on the ground looking at some old man? Hell, look at him, he's asleep for crying out loud!"
It was true, Rou Kaioshin was sound asleep, a trail of drool running down his chin. But he still had his hands up palms out, facing Roger and Yambia.
"Like I said, I haven't a clue how it works, I just know that it worked on Gohan." Goku explained.
"Well, I'll believe it when I see it." Raditz said.
Bardock also looked skeptical.
"Father?" Goku started.
"Yes Goku?" Bardock answered.
Goku smiled at his father's use of his favorite name. "You've been awfully quiet since we got to the arena, anything wrong?"
Bardock smiled. "No Goku, nothing is wrong, I'm just taking it all in. Taking in the experience that I thought would never happen. Being in one place with both my sons while they are not actively trying to kill each other."
"Why father, I never knew you were so sentimental?" Raditz teased.
"I am now son, I am now." Bardock reached out and playfully punched Raditz's shoulder.
"Goku, would you come over here, I want to talk to you for a few minutes." The Supreme Kai asked.
"Here I am Supreme Kai, what's up?" Goku jogged up.