Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

Okay, so I just finished re-writing and proofreading Part I the other day. Everything is now uploaded. There were no major changes except one. I decided to change Fasha to Gine, seeing as back when I wrote it, it was kind of up in the air of who was Raditz's and Kakarot's mother. So that's about all the changes that were made. You don't have to go back and re-read. It was mostly adding description and only some dialogue in the older chapters. I could even tell where my writing had begun to change XD It was quite interesting.

I also went back through the reviews and thanked everyone who reviewed the original chapters. Instead of review responses, I will be thanking people who reviewed from now on. I will still respond by PM to those who review and answer guest questions.

I recently had been asked about Part III, that I mentioned the possibility of before. It will be an actual thing, but I need to get through Part II first. Now, what you may be thinking is how long is it going to be until Part II is completed. Well, I'm hoping to have about 23 chapters for Part II. The big challenge with this part is that it's a universal tournament, so I need to create races, planets, abilities, and then figure out who is fighting who in the tournament. It was more intensive than I was prepared for, but I am working on a few documents where I'm outlining competitors and their roles and powers. I want to get into it this summer now that I have some time. But as far as my RL is concerned, I have a lot coming up in the next month, and moving around a lot, plus filling out applications for jobs. So, you know…we'll see what happens ^^ I am going to try to start the preliminary stuff within the next couple of chapters, so that should just tell you a bit of where I'm at.

I hope you all enjoy where this story is going and I thank you for your patience as I continue to work on this project. Thank you for reading and reviewing ^_^

"Let's see…" Bulma murmured as she looked through the planet's archives. "Who else should we invite to the tournament?"

Vegeta looked up from the report he was reading to see Bulma diligently sending messages to their allies to see who would come to the tournament. Though the alliances had been restored with many planets, a lot had already said they would prefer not to return to the red planet. The current king could not fault them. His father had ruined whatever bonds they had. The only old allied planet to accept the invitation was the planet, Rescue Star, where Chi Chi was from. Her father had returned with her, and the Saiyans actively sent aid to the planet. They had befriended a family there. The king of the planet responded saying that they would be sending two of their best warriors and the students that trained with them.

The other planet that had announced their attendance was of a people Vegeta couldn't stand, the Swarons. He had visited the planet with Bulma after the alliances had been restored, but he had been less than impressed. Of course, the king, Pri, bragged about his two boys all the time. They had been nothing but spoiled brats, only a few years older than his own children. It had left a bitter taste in his mouth when the king "joked" about Vegeta and Bulma having a daughter and how he hoped, if that happened, that the royals would consider an arranged marriage between the princess and his oldest son, Tri. Needless to say, both princes would be entering the tournament. Vegeta didn't know how they'd fair against adult warriors, but King Pri seemed very sure of his sons.

Bulma continued to send out invites, and some other planets agreed so send fighters and spectators. Still, she just wanted to make sure she didn't miss any of their new allies or that she didn't offend anyone. "What do you think about inviting the Needellens, Vegeta?"

Vegeta leaned back and thought on that. The king, like Pri, was a bit insufferable, hoping to arrange a union between one of his sons and the nonexistent daughter. His sons weren't the worst, Vegeta figured, but they were still pretty arrogant. If his memory served correctly, he and his wife, had had a little girl some years back as well. "Why not? I'm sure the princes will want to show off. Invite them as well. At least we'll have some entertainment watching the Swarons and Needellens parade their sons around to 'win us over.'"

Bulma chuckled and shook her head. "Yup, for the daughter we haven't even had yet. By the time we actually have a girl, they're probably going to be twenty years her senior."

"Don't even get me started," Vegeta scoffed. "So, how are you handling things?"

"Better," Bulma admitted. "Since your mother helped me with the rules, I'm not as worried about losing anyone. Still…I can't help but feel haunted. I…I mean-"

"I know," Vegeta interrupted while pulling the woman close to him while thinking of his own haunting. His father's words just continued to accost him at the worst moments. "Once this is over, you will never have to worry about them again."

"What if they lose and then decide to attack the planet?"

Vegeta knew Bulma feared the worst. He couldn't blame her. Frieza and his men had annihilated her world. That could not be erased. "I know you don't want to hear this," he began cautiously, "but Planet Vegeta is better equipped to handle an invasion. We are also a lot stronger than…"

Bulma hated to hear her mate say that, but she couldn't refute it. "I understand that," she responded through gritted teeth. "That just makes me feel worse. I mean, what if we had had the knowledge of alien life beforehand? Dad and I could have created shields to keep invaders out. We could have stopped it before it began. We could have-"

"You can't do this to yourself," Vegeta chided, gently cradling her head before he pulled away to look at her. "Maybe things would have different and maybe they wouldn't be, but if you continue to think that way, you're going to drive yourself insane. Believe me; I used to think that way."

She remembered. She hated it, but she remembered. From the time she had met Vegeta up until now, she knew he always blamed himself for how long his father was in power. She knew his mind always attacked him, the questions of why he couldn't overcome the tōgoku or why he couldn't have become Super Saiyan earlier with all of his training. He would sometimes ask aloud why he had been a failure when it came to Gine. It wasn't fair, the conditions his father had kept them in, and unfortunately she had passed. Vegeta had been angry at his father, but he had also been angry at himself. He even felt like he had failed Bulma. It had taken him years to stop blaming himself for things beyond his control. Now, Bulma was doing it to herself, and Vegeta would not allow it just as she hadn't allowed him to wallow in pity.

Bulma leaned against her mate, resting her head in the crook of his neck. She took a deep, calming breath and then closed her eyes. "You always know what to say," she murmured against his skin.

He hummed in response, loving the feeling of his woman pressed up against him. "I learned from the best," he responded lovingly, "my yuubutsu."

The queen sighed happily as her mate pulled her closer and kissed her. A smile appeared on her face as she returned the gesture. "What time is it?"

"Almost time for a council meeting," the king grunted as a smirk appeared on his face.

"So, we have plenty of time."

Prince Goku Vegeta was watching the children train in the square with a vigilant eye. The children were actually more powerful than he expected, but still not anywhere at his level. Compared to the adults, they were nothing. The strange part was that they had all signed up to enter the tournament even though they had no chance. Maybe it was the attitude he inherited from his father, but none of these children deserved a chance to compete against him.

"Hi."

Little Vegeta looked over to his side to find a Saiyan girl about his age standing next to him. She looked cheerful, too cheerful, and the prince scoffed. "To who do I owe the pleasure of conversation?" he grumbled.

The girl laughed at him which made a scowl appear on his face. Sure, he had growled out a response, but he had at least said something polite like his mother had told him to do when speaking with their subjects. "My name is Tomala. Would you like to spar?"

The prince eyed her strangely, looking at her like she was crazy. This girl looked scrawny and her power level was laughable at best, though his father always told him not to judge by power level. Anyone could hide their power if they tried. But still, he highly doubted that this girl could compete with him. "I don't think so, little girl. Why don't you run along and fight some of those weaklings over there?" He nodded over to two kids clashing and missing each other for good measure.

Tomala glared at him. She had only asked to spar, and now the prince was insulting her strength. "My mommy told me I have the power of the standard elite warrior from the old ranking system. I can take you."

"Your mother is probably just trying to spare your feelings," Vegeta replied cruelly with a smirk. Tomala was about to snap at the prince, but she was interrupt. "But if you're so insistent on proving your skills, let's take this somewhere else. I'm not one to hold back."

Tomala smirked at the prince. "Well, how ironic. Neither am I."

"Good," Vegeta replied. "Then you can pick the location."

"You're on."

"This tournament if going to be pretty awesome."

Kakarot rolled his eyes at his twin. "Awesome" was not the word he would have used to describe it. This tournament was a formality where an intergalactic tyrant was attempting to force their king and queen, their friends, their family, to give them what he had ruined the queen's home planet for. It wasn't a celebration of a new era. That was only a pretense, and both Raditz and Turles knew it, too. Bardock had sat all the boys, including Gohan, down to explain just what they were dealing with.

Turles smacked Kakarot in the shoulder, his expression grim. "There were some people passing by," taking a swig of his beer. "Had to make it seem like nothing's up."

"Everyone knows something is up," Kakarot relayed, "except maybe the children. I'm hoping they'll all be out in the preliminaries."

"You don't think any of them are strong enough?"

"The only children that show promise are the prince, this girl, Tomala, and Onoir's son, Machin. But we know that these fighters aren't going to take into account that they're children. They're going to treat them like any person. Even if death is out of the question to get what they want…"

"You can't worry about that until the prelims are over," Turles countered while taking another sip. "Seriously, get a drink. I'll buy."

Kakarot shook his head. "Why did I come here with you?"

Turles chuckled and called the bartender over with a flick of his wrist. The female tender rolled her eyes and smiled walking up to the two. "What'll it be, boys?"

"Get my brother the strongest thing you have," Turles requested. Kakarot was about to deny the drink, but Turles simply said, "He's in need of relaxation."

"I would prefer to be sober," Kakarot muttered before looking to the bartender. "Sorry, miss, but I don't want anything."

"It's fine," the woman replied. "I kind of figured. Your brothers come in all the time, and you haven't once joined them, so I can only assume you got dragged here because Raditz was busy with some one night stand, right?"

"Peppan," Turles replied with a smirk, "I have to ask again, why do you care what Raditz does?"

The bartender, Peppan, rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I don't care what the idiot does. It just sickens me how he fools around with every girl her sees."

"Why?" Turles replied smugly.

Kakarot was not what anyone would call observant when it came to anything but fighting, but he could sense this woman's, Peppan's, anxiety. She covered it up well with her anger and disgust, but the current Saiyan general could tell exactly what his brother was implying, and there was some merit to it. "A lot of the girls in this bar are friends of mine," Peppan countered. "I just hate seeing them get hurt."

"Are you sure it's them getting hurt?" Turles remarked. "Believe me; my brother lets the girls know exactly where he's at in terms of commitment. Maybe you just don't like seeing him with other wom-"

"Will you just shut up?" Kakarot hissed at his twin. "Why don't you go take a walk? Clearly you've had too much with how you're acting."

"Whatever," Turles replied with a smirk before looking at Peppan, "but she knows I'm right."

Turles decided to leave the bar as per his brother's insistence. Peppan was actually surprised at how well Kakarot had handled his twin. "I was fine, you know," she lied. "You didn't need to stand up for me."

"No, I did," Kakarot sighed. "My brothers can be pretty irritating, but I'm sure you figured that out already. I apologize for Turles's insensitivity."

Peppan decided to take a seat since the bar wasn't too crowded. "I guess I'm used to it. That's what happens when you change mindsets, I guess." Kakarot looked confused by her statement, so Peppan explained. "I used to be on the same…um…purge team," she whispered the last words so quietly, "but I had quit that life a long time ago, before the former king was defeated. I couldn't handle the death at all. None of us liked it, least of Raditz. It was the three of us and two others, and those two and Turles handled it so much better than we could."

"Yeah, I know how my brothers were every time they returned from missions," Kakarot replied. "I can relate."

Peppan nodded. "I'm so thankful times got better for all of us and that the children never need to see what it's like to purge," she stated, "but at the same time, I can't escape it. Eventually, Raditz and I started seeing each other. Whenever we were on planet, we would hang out in one of the old bars in the slums. We confided in each other when we got drunk, and to be honest I felt like I knew him. But then, I just couldn't take it anymore and I quit the team and decided to open my own bar because that's where I felt safest. After that, Raditz stopped talking to me and it was all over. But, eventually, he and Turles started coming around. Turles had said something about the bar getting great recommendations from other Saiyans, and well… And ever since, they'd either get drunk and leave or get drunk and pick up girls, and Raditz would leave with females right in front of me. Turles gives me a hard time about it…always."

"Why?" the other Saiyan breathed out. For all he knew of his brothers, this seemed way too petty and harsh. And for what? Kakarot knew they were foolish and idiotic, but to purposefully throw one night stands into a woman's face and knowing that it hurt her. "You know what, I don't want to know why? I hate to sound like Turles in this moment, but what are you going to do about it?"

"Huh?" Peppan asked in shock. "W-What do you mean?"

"Are you going to let Raditz walk all over you or are you going to fight back?" Kakarot elaborated. "Look, I don't know my brothers as well as most Saiyans probably know theirs, probably because I spent more time with Vegeta than them, but I can tell this much… If Turles is going out of his way to tear you down like that and Raditz is making the effort to make you jealous, there's something there. So I ask again, what are you going to do about it?"

Peppan smiled slightly causing Kakarot to grin widely. "You're not like your brothers, are you?"

"Nope," the Saiyan chimed. "And thanks. I take that as a compliment."

Peppan laughed. "Okay, this might be a longshot, but would it be totally out of line to invite myself for training tonight?"

"Not at all," Kakarot answered softly. "There is a tournament coming up. Besides, I think it'd be fun to see my brother sweat."

"I'm honored that I have at least one approval," the Saiyan woman responded, "but I doubt this will make too much of a difference."

"Eh, he might surprise you. By the way, I'll cover the bill for now. If Turles comes back, just tell him to go home."

"I will," Peppan assured him. "Thanks, Kakarot."

Of course, not all tournament preparations could be that harmless.

In another portion of the galaxy, Frieza's soldiers were preparing for battle. Half would be competing, and the other half would be prepared for battle and wait on ships outside Planet Vegeta's atmosphere. Frieza, however much he was loathe to admit it, knew there was the possibility that he would not get what he wanted. He needed to take every necessary precaution in case his men failed him.

If Frieza were fighting himself, he wouldn't need to take these precautions, but his participation had been denied. The tyrant had not expected the Saiyan king to place that type of restriction on him. After all, the man appeared indifferent to the destruction of his queen's home world. The Saiyan didn't realize, though, the mistake he had made. He tried to play off his connection to the woman, but it was clear as day.

The second the Earthling scientist entered the room, Frieza knew. He saw the cool, collected façade of the king disappear. His statements about the capsule technology were clearly rehearsed. When the queen entered the room, the illusion was broken. Of course, before the woman entered, Frieza tested the waters. He used the term "wife" which immediately set the king off. He had corrected him, and that was the first sign that he cared more for his queen than he let on.

After her entrance, King Vegeta became more defensive of the woman, especially when it came to the tyrant's "harmless" remarks about their entwined past. If the king was truly indifferent, his fists wouldn't have clenched and his demeanor wouldn't have soured. It was quite interesting that the current king was so much like his grandfather, more than he was aware.

It amazed him that the current king had never been informed about his presence on the planet. Most beings would be offended, but Frieza took it as a compliment. Clearly, the council and the former queen did not want to alarm the king. He smirked. He had already known he was a force to be feared, but now it was confirmed. The Saiyans, the universe's "warrior race," feared him. The strong, intelligent Queen of the Saiyans felt great anxiety and panic at just the mere sight of him. Knowing this, as he swirled his wine around in glass, he only had one, sinister thing to say.

"This tournament will be interesting, indeed."

A/N: So, I have the tournament roster planned out by this point, but I still need to work on characters, abilities, and fighting styles. Now, there was one race I had thought up a few months ago that I planned to use in a sequel to my other big DBZ AU story, Blackmail. This race is the Needellens with their princes and the princess. I debated long and hard on whether or not to put them in here before I ever get to introduce them in Blackmail's sequel, but seeing as I have a whole prequel to write, I figured they should be in this one. Just to get a taste. I also decided to add Peppan, who is my OC in Blackmail that becomes Raditz's significant other. Truth be told, I just love her. She has a different story here, though. I need to add a drawing of her to DA when I can, but I needed to have more of her somewhere, so this tournament was the perfect opportunity. I'm really excited to execute this tournament now that I have it played out, but like I said, abilities and profiles must be done first. I will hopefully start working on that next week.