I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.

Chapter 7: The Terrors Strike

I woke up startled, not knowing where I was right away. The memories washed back through within a few seconds and then I realized how badly I needed the bathroom that was upstairs. Since Trunks and Goten were still sleeping, I crept up as silent as I could be. Entering the bathroom and taking care of my business, I walked by a large mirror and looked myself over. I still wasn't used to the new look, never mind everything else that went with it. Then I noticed something pink on the side of my clothing. Turning and leaning down to look at it closer, it looked like a spot of pink paint, or maybe dye, like someone had poured bleach on it. Paying no heed, I turned back to the mirror, only to see something yellow behind me. Almost instinctively, my tail pulled around to the front to wrap around, and then I saw what was wrong. My tail was a yellowish white color, exactly like bleach blond hair. It was spotty too, like it was rubbed on but not thoroughly. I scowled deeply, realizing who likely did all of this. While I could've panicked or maybe started shouting, I merely walked out slowly to the living room again. There I observed the two sleeping pranksters, because I knew it was them. I saw them start to stir so I quickly dropped back down and let my tail display itself while I pretended to sleep. Sure enough, Goten woke up first, and started laughing right away, prompting Trunks to shush him.

"Look Goten, the stuff works. Next time, lets do his hair, make him think he is a Super Saiyan!"

"Yeah Trunks, I bet he'll be thinking he actually is when he isn't. Hahahaha!" Goten laughed loudly.

"You two better start moving, because when I get off this bed, you're dead!" I said, eyes still closed as I prepared to pounce.

"Uh oh!" Trunks and Goten said in unison. The room exploded into a swirl of flapping papers and blankets as I chased both boys up the stairs. They went straight for Gohan's room and got in and locked the door. Instead of plowing it down like I know I could have, I settled for listening to the activity inside.

"GOHAN, HALP!" they both shouted. They only received a grunt initially, but it did signal Gohan's sleep as officially over.

"Okay, what's wrong? Is Vegeta trying to get you two on early morning training again?"

"No, Verto chased us up here, said he was going to kill us. He looked pretty angry, he's right outside the door!" Trunks said.

A few seconds later Gohan opened the door, "What's the problem?" he asked.

All I did was swish my tail around, "You think I could borrow your Mom's skillet Gohan?" I asked nastily. He straightened up suddenly, apparently the blond tail opened his eyes more.

"Go downstairs and calm down, I'll handle this," he ordered. I did as he asked, fuming the whole way. I sat down, too mad to even bother trying to listen to their conversation. Well maybe I'll get to see their heads bashed in by Chichi. About ten to fifteen minutes went by while I was plotting many ways of torture before I finally calmed down. Then I heard a knock at the door, right before it opened to reveal Vegeta.

"Morning brat, I heard my son's pranks have started up again. Good, I've been meaning to get him in the gravity room for a good workout."

"Yeah well better you take them before I rip all their hair out with a pair of tweezers."

Vegeta roared with laughter, "Sounds painful, we will have to try that!" I smiled a bit, chuckling at the thought of a bald Trunks and Goten. Just then we heard Gohan and the boys come out, all three dressed for training.

"Awww, why do we have to train today Gohan? It was supposed to be our day off!" Trunks whined.

"Think about that next time you decide to dye someone's hair, never mind his tail! You're probably lucky he hasn't been trained or anything yet. Besides, I'm not the one training you two today, I owe Piccolo a match."

"Then who gets to..." he stopped dead when he thought up the possibilities, not noticing his father yet. "Please tell me its Krillin or that guy Tien today, please!" Trunks whined some more, starting to beg.

"Wrong again boy!" Vegeta announced his presence. Trunks and Goten didn't say anything, but they phased out and were out the door before anyone breathed again. "Oh I do love the chase," Vegeta said happily, and stormed out after them.

"I don't know who got the worse end of that deal, you or them." Gohan said, scratching his head, "Well I'm off to Kami's lookout. When my mother and Bulma get up, just tell them what happened. I think my mom has some stuff to take that off, but I don't know, I'll see you later!" Gohan called as he opened the door and flew off quickly.

After calming myself for a few more minutes and realizing I wouldn't get back to sleep, I began looking around for something to do. I spotted a TV right away, and a remote on the coffee table. Turning on the power, the channel was on a historical channel. Just my luck too, it was covering Mr. Satan's match with Cell, the re-enactment version. It looked horribly pathetic, I flipped it off right away, and laid back down, examining the dye job on my tail. I heard footsteps and sat up to see Mom coming down the steps wearing a fuzzy blue robe.

"Ahhhh," she yawned, "Where is everyone?"

"Gohan is off with Piccolo, The boys are being chased down for training by Vegeta, punishment I guess," I said.

"For what this time?" she asked, still groggy.

I swished my tail upward to her line of sight, "Need I say more?"

About four hours later was sitting in the Son's bathtub, submerged in bath water. Chichi was at the sink, mixing a potion of some kind. Mom was behind me, washing my hair slowly. I had demanded on bathing myself, until Chichi splashed whatever was in her bucket on my skin. It felt like acid, but left it very clean. Still, the idea of washing my tail with that mixture wasn't a pleasant one. They had fixed me a large breakfast and seemed to marvel at my eating habits when no other Saiyans were around. It was likely because I didn't have to fight for my food, but I gulped it down pretty quick regardless.

"Okay, I'm about ready, this stuff will take anything off. It's going to sting a little though as you noticed earlier, and considering it's on your tail, it's going to hurt a lot more. That's why I have the bathtub water to dilute it a little. What we will do is wash a little off at a time and rinse quickly so it doesn't hurt too bad, okay?" Chichi said in a consoling voice.

"Just do whatever you need to get it off," I said, still a little mad. She grabbed the bucket and pulled it over by the tub, then grabbed two round stones and placed them in my hands.

"Hold onto these, it will help a little, here we go." When the first drop of the stuff touched my tail, I thought someone had just dipped it in a boiling pot of water and held it in. Instantly I shattered the two stones in my hands from my tight grip.

"Son of a..OWWWW!!" I shouted then bit my lips and toughed it out, but it didn't stop tears from poring out.

"I'd say he's going to be just as strong as our kids Chichi," Mom said as she saw the dust coming from my hands.

Chichi nodded to this, "Not a surprise I guess!" Finally she rinsed the first time for some relief. "Ok sweetie, here comes round two, you're doing fine!" Chichi said, trying to keep me calm like a nurse would a patient. It didn't do much to calm me, but I didn't scream the second time, despite the pain. I was shaking like crazy though, enough not to notice a front door slam and the source of all the trouble come by the door.

"Look at that Goten! He's so pathetic that he's crying just from washing up! Oh what's wrong wimp? Didn't like that, get used to it!" Trunks taunted. Mom growled a little at her son's badgering, but Chichi spoke up before she could.

"Alright tough guys, drop the pants, time to find out if you can stand it as well as he can!" While Mom rinsed my tail back off, Chichi pulled the pants off to Goten and Trunks rear ends. Then she splashed some of her special stuff on the general area where their tail roots would be. The resounding scream was music to my ears, and even better when they ran around and around holding their rears like they were on fire.

"What is that, acid?" Trunks moaned as he dared get closer.

"Close enough," I muttered.

"Guess he's a little tougher than you thought," Chichi boasted.

"Yeah well you're going easy on him, just dump it on and get it done faster, like this!" Trunks declared, grabbing the bucket and dumping it clear over my head and all over my body.

I woke up on the couch a few hours later, my body still feeling like I had bad sunburn all over, but at least I was sparking clean I suppose. Whatever Chichi's potion had in it, it made rubbing alcohol seem like nothing. Both women were probably deaf after my screaming was done, though Mom probably got the worst of it since she was scrambling for more rinsing water. Speaking of Mom, she was at the table talking with Chichi and sipping coffee when I walked up.

"Hey there sleepyhead, looks like you won't need to worry about getting revenge on the boys. They got stuck with Vegeta in the gravity room again, so they shouldn't bug you much more today," Mom said cheerfully.

I only wished I could be as cheerful about it, "Well whenever I don't feel like I have severe sunburns, I'll rejoice," I said, still grumpy.

"We should get back home, we still need to get you set up with a room and Chichi will be out of food if we stay," Mom said, getting up.

"Thanks for coming! Come back anytime, sorry about the boys, they're quite ornery. Send Goten back when Vegeta is done with him Bulma!" Chichi called out the door.

"Will do! Bye Chichi!" she called back, hopping into her jet. I got in the passenger side slowly, and she lifted off. I stayed pretty quiet on the ride back to the Capsule compound, I was still rather disgusted with the boys.

"Well you'll have to get along with them eventually so no use stewing over it, kind of like Vegeta not being stronger than Goku. He stewed about it forever until Goku died for the Earth. After that Vegeta barely trained for a solid fourteen months. Other than a minor outing to another planet with Gohan, he didn't get into one little fight. Though as I hear, that one was very dicey. Point is, he did nothing but help me and Chichi with the boys, changing diapers even!"

I looked at her funny, "So when did he get back to normal then?" I asked.

"You're obviously not buying it like I did. Yes I should've known he was doing it for a reason, that reason came the same day Trunks could walk without help. Whoosh and he was off to the gravity room to train a toddler. Same thing happened with Goten about six months later. Goten saw Trunks training and wanted to do it too, so pretty soon he was walking. But I suppose we owed it to Vegeta for all the things he did to help Chichi and I out, they didn't turn out too terrible now did they?" she asked me.

I gave her the "what the hell are you on" look before shrugging it off, "Yeah I suppose your right, even if they get a little out of control."

"That's my boy, nastiness never pays off ya know, Vegeta learned that the hard way...but that's a different story," she said, cutting herself short.

I snorted though, keeping on topic, "It's okay, I was twenty one years old just a few days ago. I can talk to and understand adults," I said.

"Nevertheless you are a child again. Try to enjoy another childhood before it vanishes too, I doubt many people ever get the chance for a second one," she beamed at me.

"Good point, I will mum," I declared, then sat back and looked at the stars in the sky all the way back to Capsule Corp...err my home now. It's incredible, the timeline has changed this much already? True, its just minor stuff that could have happened anyway, but even Chichi was a little different with the training thing. And the time chamber not having the two-day limit anymore? That was unexpected. Makes me wonder what's in store for me next.

We touched down at the front door just in time to see Goten drag himself out the door and take off flying back the other way. Mom just shrugged and recapsulized the plane, and then we headed inside. Trunks sat on the living room sofa, looking rather exhausted. Vegeta sat across from him, a little bruised, but not much.

"Hey mom, can I go with Dad tomorrow?" Trunks asked the instant she came in.

"Go where?" Mom asked, never one to make a decision without facts first.

"Um...I think Dad called it the hyperbolidy time chamber or something, he said it was to train Verto," Trunks said, playing with his fingers nervously.

"That's Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and no, me and the boy are going alone. The Namek will be lucky to even see the inside of the room," Vegeta answered for him.

"Awww, I don't get to have any fun," Trunks whined, crossing his arms and glaring at the floor.

"That room is not for fun boy, its for work! When I'm done, this kid will have the same ability that you do, maybe even more, we'll see," Vegeta scoffed, "Bulma get that boy a room and to bed, were leaving well before dawn. He's getting a full eight to nine months to get him fully trained. Should be enough if he's motivated."

"Okay, are you going to bed now too then?" Mom asked.

"No. I'll have plenty of time to rest in the chamber, if I need it," Vegeta muttered.

"Come with me Verto, I'll put you in the room across from Trunks," Mom said, taking my shoulder and guiding me to a stairwell. At the top of the stairs were six doors.

"The first on the left is Trunks' room, the one across from it will be yours. The middle one next to Trunks is a closet where you will find towels and such, and the bathroom is directly across. The two at the end are the master bedroom and a guest room, here's yours," she said, opening the door. Inside was a simple dresser on one side, a large bed in the middle, and a closet on the other side. Other than that, there was a lot of space in the large room.

"Well here you are, you better get to sleep though if Vegeta is going to leave so early. I'll try to get the robots in the kitchen to have a meal going by two in the morning and have you up by then so you can eat first. I know your hungry by now, but you need the sleep more if your gonna be training with Vegeta in the time chamber. Wow, we've barely known you for two days and you're already going to change on me," Mom said, sadness in her voice.

"Oh I wont change that much," I said, trying to cheer her up.

"Oh you will, anyone who trains in there for a day changes a lot, not to mention with only Vegeta around. But no more fretting about it, get your sleep, you'll need it, good night," Mom said, tossing the blanket over me and shutting off the light.

"You sure did accept all of that quickly," I muttered.

"That's cause I know how Vegeta will get if he's away for awhile, marital activities," she grinned and shut the door. I drifted off slowly, nervous training thoughts dancing in my head.

A rough shake woke me up, "Verto, honey wake up! It's time to go to the lookout!" Mom said, shaking me more.

"What? Huh?" I asked incoherently. I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes, barely recalling where I was at the moment.

"Here eat this, it'll wake you up and feed you at the same time," she said, popping something small into my mouth. I chewed it slowly, and realizing how hard it was, I chewed harder and swallowed. Instantly, any burning pain from Chichi's potion was gone, as was my hunger and I was totally awake.

"Oh man, whew, was that a Senzu bean?" I asked as my fatigue lifted.

"How did you know that?" she asked, her face full of surprise. I cringed a bit when I realized how bad of a slip that really was, but quickly had a good excuse to go with it.

"Sort of had one when the other Trunks found me, I was in bad shape from a car accident,' I quickly explained.

"Is he ready yet woman?" came Vegeta's voice before she could ask anything further.

"Yes he is, go on now, get to your training!" Mom said, giving me a shove out the door to join Vegeta.

"Come on brat, lets go," he growled, walking quickly downstairs and to the front lobby. I followed, having to quicken my pace to keep up. Once out the door I had to put on the brakes so I didn't run into him when he stopped short. Coming up next to him, I saw him looking up, then back down to me. In a flash he grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me up. That's when a big rush of wind hit me in the face and I saw a bright blue light surrounding us, blocking a lot of the wind. Beyond the light the ground was moving really fast below us. Flight was new for me so I wasn't sure how I was going to react. I had to admit though, it was very cool, and I couldn't wait to be able to do it on my own.

After about twenty minutes of silent but fast flight, he turned direction to straight up, and I felt my stomach about drop to my feet when he hit the gas so to speak. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a thin tower like structure, that being Korin's tower. Soon we passed the top of it and continued to soar upwards to a platform in the sky. When we reached it, I noticed it was not dark like it should have been. The sky was dark, but the brightness of the floor kept it light as day. We landed right outside of the palace, three figures were standing there watching us. One was Piccolo, he stood out quite well, the other looked like a smaller version of him, that being Dende. The final one was a fat being with dark black skin, and a turban. It could only be Popo, the genie and assistant to Dende. Vegeta dropped me about ten feet before he touched down, but I landed just fine.

"Oh is that the new boy? He looks strong, kind of like Goku when he was first here," Popo said in his goofy voice.

Vegeta growled, "This boy is nothing like Kakarot! I will make sure of that! Come on Namek, let's go." Piccolo huffed a bit, but walked towards the palace anyway. Vegeta followed and I followed him. We walked a good ways, and then stopped at a single door on a wall.

"How long till you want me in there?" Piccolo asked.

"Eight hours, the equivalent of four months or so. That should be enough to get him started, and bring some more Senzu beans with you, we just might need them," Vegeta barked, then opened the door and entered. I followed quickly so not to piss him off anymore. Inside I found what I expected, a small living area with a table, kitchen and beds. The rest was nothing but white ground and sky. The air was a bit thin as well, but it didn't appear to affect me much.

I turned around and faced Vegeta, "Okay, where do we start?" I asked.