Vegeta stood alone overlooking the restless ocean as it was swept up by the wind and thick black clouds that were rolling in. His arms were crossed firmly across his chest as he stood there motionless. The only movement was the sweeping back of his hair in the wind and the splaying grass patches that thinned as they dared towards the edge of the cliff on which Vegeta stood.

He was considering the course of actions he had taken tonight. He wasn't one for regret, but that did not rid him of the guilt he felt at what he had done to Bra. Perhaps he had been overzealous in living up to the promise he made to her to take the fight she was desperate for seriously. Her resolve had surprised him, and no matter how hard he hit her or what he did, she would not back down. The most surprising thing Vegeta found was that he actually had to exert himself against her. Although Bra sometimes came to training with fierce determination, he had expected tonight's match to go much as their "training" matches usually did; she would try to hit him a few times, throw an energy blast or two, then declare the whole thing a waste of her time before threatening to blow up the gravity room if he didn't take her shopping. (the last time she had done this, Vegeta had been so thoroughly frustrated he called her a disappointment. Though he had only meant as a warrior, she seemed to take it of an assessment of her whole.). But that was not the way things had unfolded tonight. She had met him with a steely resolve that matched his own and that had thrown him off balance. Maybe he had gauged her incorrectly though and had gone too hard on her. She certainly looked as though he had, and he found himself cringing slightly as he recalled her charred and damaged flesh. She would be fine in a few days - her Saiyan genetics ensured that - but it did not lessen the impact of having seen her in such a state.

However, he knew that sometimes Saiyans, even female ones, needed a fight to a painful and bloody end; till they could barely walk, and were ready to drop into a heap from exhaustion. He hadn't asked what had driven her to that point and he found himself wondering if he should have. It's not that he didn't care what was upsetting her, but rather letting her take out her frustration and anger first had felt healthier in his view.

As Vegeta continued thinking, his senses quickly picked up two strong energy signals headed directly for him. The oscillations in their energy quickly revealed their intent and their anger, and Vegeta turned himself to face them. He knew it was Trunks and Goten, and he knew why they had come looking for him, much as he knew they would. While he was reasonably certain he could appease them to the point of avoiding this confrontation, he didn't really want to. Fighting would help clear his head. If they intended to fight him together, Vegeta was quite certain they would win unless he used Super Saiyan 3 against them. The thought of doing that didn't seem particularly appealing to him though - Perhaps a long bloody fight would be the best thing right now. If he got the worse of it, so be it. It was only fair.

"There!" Trunks yelled loudly. His voice was being stifled and muffled by the wind that whipped past him, so he wanted to make sure Goten, who was just behind him heard him. Though it was dark here – even the cloud cover did little to extend West City's light out this far - they'd picked out Vegeta's location quickly by following his energy. Trunks could tell his father was expecting this confrontation and was not trying to hide from it. His father was in a deserted area some 500 miles southeast of West City. It was obvious he had chosen this location for a reason – that reason being it would serve as a perfect battlefield for avoiding collateral damage. Trunks had considered letting Goten simply Instant Transmit them to this location, but decided he'd rather use the small amount of time their flight had afforded them to carefully consider what he was going to do. Although he was no longer on the verge of being blinded by his rage, he still had every intention of trying his hardest to leave his father in as bad a state as his sister. Even though he knew he and Goten had no hope against a Super Saiyan 3, he was determined to try.

Trunks had considered using the fusion dance – they'd easily overpower his father like that, but he was fearful that merging with Goten would taint his fury and his satisfaction with the fight. Additionally the two hadn't performed the fusion dance since their early teens. After that point they were able to put up reasonably good fights against the elder Saiyans solo so it had become unnecessary. It'd be pretty anti climatic and wounding to his pride if they messed it up and had their asses kicked even while fused.

Trunks slowed slightly as he pulled much of the energy cushion he rode on out from under himself causing him to drop rapidly out of the air. Goten followed suit, just a few feet behind Trunks. The two touched down some 15 feet from Vegeta, turning hardened stares to him.

"Dad." Trunks stated coldly, as if trying to separate himself from the fact that Vegeta was his father.

"Trunks." Vegeta replied firmly.

The neutral tone Vegeta replied with was enough to set Trunks off. "How could you do that to her dad!" Trunks demanded, raising an accusing hand towards Vegeta.

Vegeta shook his head disapprovingly. "I thought you would understand Trunks."

Trunks' face constricted slightly. "Understand? What the hell was I supposed to understand! If I understood, why in the fuck would I come looking for you?"

"It's because you understood that you should have come looking for me." Vegeta sighed. "Your sister is more like you and I then you or your mother realize. Tell me Trunks, how many times have you come to me, desperate for a fight? Not a training match, not a sparring match but a brutal, full on fight that that one over there could not give you." Vegeta pointed past Trunks to Goten.

Trunks' mouth opened to reply, but he found his voice empty.

"I'll tell you how many times Trunks. 103. Why is it so shocking that your sister would come to me for the same?"

"She's not like us Dad. She would usually come to me and Goten to.."

"To what? Coddle her like a fragile little child? She isn't. The sooner you realize that, the better. She came to me because she knew I would not treat her like a child."

"Did you see what you did to her?" Goten demanded stepping up beside Trunks. Vegeta's look became a piercing stare as he focused in on Goten, feeling some animosity at the boy's daring to interrupt his and Trunks' conversation.

"Yes I did. I'm not blind. You think I enjoyed doing that to her?" Vegeta asked, anger and vice thick on his voice. "I didn't. If anyone else had asked me to do that for them I would have declined."

"For them!" Goten said incredulously. He was about to throw a sentence full of vulgar insults at Vegeta, but he found himself pausing, recalling what Bulma had said earlier. "It's the strangest thing though, she has a look of total content and peace on her face."

"Yes. Whether your diminutive brain comprehends it or not, I did it for her. It is a Saiyan biological imperative to fight. We don't fight merely because we like to, we fight because we have to. Denying this side much as Bra does only serves to build up the rage and unrest. A simple trigger can set them off, much as what happened to Bra. You two forget that because you're always fighting. I did what I had to too her because she needed it - her Saiyan side demanded it -not because I wanted to do it."

Vegeta's response left the two boys in silence as they considered his words. Surprisingly, they found his explanation made sense; it almost seemed pleasing and admirable to their Saiyan sides. Despite the satisfaction of his explanation however, it did little to extinguish their rage.

"I can't just let this go dad." Trunks said. Though his voice was not as cold as before, it was still deathly serious.

"I know Trunks." Vegeta replied, uncrossing his arms before lowering himself, his left foot sliding back and bracing against the ground. "I'm not asking you to." He concluded. An instant later, and a tight constricting of his body, and a bright golden light flooded the area matching the colour his hair had faded to. A further tensing pushed Vegeta's aura out further. The energy was intense enough to ionize the surrounding air, causing electric arcs to discharge across his aura, sending a crackling static noise to mix in with the increasingly strong wind. His hair fanned out further, driven apart by the energy flowing through it into many distinct locks.

"I guess this makes 104" Trunks thought, mirroring his father's early movement. Though his Super Saiyan 1 transformation was as fast and seamless as his fathers, it took him slightly longer to make the push to Super Saiyan 2. The electrical arcing from Trunks' aura was slightly more intense than Vegeta's, as Trunks was not as skilled at keeping his energy contained as Vegeta was. Trunks heard another set of clenched muscles and electrical arcs as he looked behind him to see Goten had likewise gone to Super Saiyan 2. The area was almost blindingly bright as the three pulled their Auras back. Wasting energy to put on a light show was terrible battle technique after all. Mastery of a Super Saiyan form required that level of control over their ambient energy output, and by the time the three had finished, the area was nearly as dark as it had been before. Their skin, which had looked deathly pale moments ago from the energy that dwelled at its surface, had darkened to its normal tone.

Goten stepped up to Trunks' side and the two nodded to each other. The two had an almost instinctual sense of what the other was going to do when they fought as a team. Their timings and movements were so tight and complimentary it almost seemed they were sharing the same thought process. This made sense given how much time the boys spent together both in and out of battle.

Vegeta was well aware of their symbiotic battling which is why he knew this was going to be a tough fight despite the fact he was more powerful as a Super Saiyan 2 then either of the boys separately. The nod the two exchanged was an unspoken symbol of them getting into sync with one another.

Trunks blurred out of Vegeta's vision as Goten rushed him from the front, ripping a clean path through the rocky ground below. With Trunks out of sight, Vegeta needed to use his energy senses to keep track of Trunks. It was obvious the two were trying to pincer attack him from both sides, splitting his focus and defenses, but Vegeta would have none of that. With a blurring motion, he expelled a powerful wave of energy from his body that had the desired effect. Both Trunks and Goten were forced back and had to stop their advances.

Vegeta's energy wave temporarily flooded and dulled both his vision and energy senses. With his senses blinded, Vegeta was unable to see Trunks and Goten move together, placing their hands between each other into a spherical shape. The two channeled and merged their energies together, using their hands to focus the energy. They mirrored their other energy changing techniques; the Kamehameha for Goten and the Big Tree Cannon for Trunks to form the swirling mass of energy.

When Vegeta's vision returned he recoiled slightly, but quickly regained his composure and pulled his hands back. He had considered a rapid fire attack, but with the amount of energy they had already charged, anything but a charged ki blast would merely be drawn into and absorbed by their attack. He was uncertain how much energy they were intending to charge, and with that unknown he couldn't risk using Final Flash. With two of them, the Big Bang wouldn't be terribly effective, so Vegeta found himself turning to an old standard; Galick Gun.

The Blue-Green light of Goten and Trunks' combined attack began to battle against the purple light of Vegeta's Galick Gun, a prelude to the full on energy struggle that was about to follow. Though Vegeta couldn't see it, Trunks and Goten exchanged an amused grin, as this was exactly what they had hoped Vegeta would do.

Just as the energy sphere between their hands began to quake and loose its surface tension – a sure sign it was about to overflow- they both pushed their hands forward in unison, a mirrored yell exchanged between them as their hands guided the pool of energy, flaying it outwards as it erupted into a massive wall of energy. Vegeta knew the energy he had gathered would not be sufficient to overcome their energy blast initially – they had got the jump on him after all – but he was quite confident he could use his superior power level to overwhelm their attack over the course of the energy struggle. So he matched their draw out of their energy pool, pushing out the brilliant purple sphere to meet their attack. The two attacks slammed together, a violent eruption of sound and light emanating from their point of contact followed quickly by a wave of force. The wave was forceful enough to obliterate what was left of the cliff the three had begun their confrontation on. When it hit the water, it was with so much force and pressure the surface of the water was temporarily solidified, pushing the water below it away before breaking against, and revealing the ocean floor below.

As the three were caught amidst their energy struggle, Goten looked to Trunks who answered Goten's unspoken question with a nod. Although Instant Transmission usually required the user to use their index and middle fingers to tune into a target's energy, with Vegeta so close and expelling so much energy, Goten did not need any assistance locking onto his energy. Still, he needed to be careful he didn't misjudge direction or somehow let the massive energy struggle taking place scramble his jump.

Goten pulled his hands out of the combined energy attack, taking a small, but sizable portion of the energy with him. He was sure to leave Trunks enough excess energy to hold off Vegeta's galick gun for the few second he would need to turn the current energy sphere into a Super Kamehameha. Once Goten had backed away from Trunks slightly, he found his senses were clear enough to get a good reading on Vegeta alone. He considered simply charging the attack and firing from this vantage point, but he realized it would be far too easy for Vegeta to simply expand the size of the Galick Gun and block it. As the realization dawned in Goten's mind, he realized he could play it off to his advantage. Vegeta was unaware of Goten's recently acquired knowledge of Instant Transmission, but even if he wasn't, this type of distractionary tactic had worked against Goku, so Goten felt confident it would work against Vegeta as well. Goten pulled his hands back, mirroring the technique he had performed countless times over the years, and using the orb he had pulled from his and Trunk's combined attack as a starting point. He watched carefully, ensuring Trunks still had a reservoir of energy to keep Vegeta's attack back. As Goten's attack began to reach the type of power he wanted, the blue light of the attack had caught Vegeta's attention. He watched as Goten moved his hands forward to launch the Kamehameha wave, pushing out the wall of his Galick Gun to ensure it caught the Kamehameha as well. As he did so however, he saw Goten vanish both from his vision and from his energy senses.

In what Vegeta knew was far too fast for a simple rush, he felt Goten's energy behind him, in addition to the Kamehameha he had now clasped between his hands, fully charged and ready to release. Vegeta recognized that technique and found himself mentally cursing Goku as Goten unleashed the Kamehameha directly behind him; it had to be Goku who taught his youngest the Instant Kamehameha.

Vegeta flared up his energy, what little he could muster that wasn't going to combat the energy wave in front of him. It impeded Goten's Kamehameha wave, but only temporarily. There was a sound akin to shattering glass as Goten's attack penetrated through Vegeta's Ki barrier.

To Trunks' amazement, his father's Galick Gun hadn't receded or stopped despite being hammered from behind by Goten's Kamehameha. Still, he could sense the wavers in his father's energy – a clear sign that Goten's attack was most definitely having an effect – and could see the size of Vegeta's attack lessening. Seeing this as an opportunity, Trunks began to spin himself, launching himself out of the path of his father's attack, but pulling the energy of his own attack with him. He felt the heat and flood of purple light as the Galick Gun rushed passed him, just narrowly missing his backside. He continued through with the spin however, the energy being towed along with him before pushing his hands forward in a Kamehameha like fashion. The energy, though trailing slightly behind Trunks' motions, quickly followed him before bowing to the direction imposed by his extended hands. The energy launched itself once more at Vegeta, this time unimpeded by the Galick Gun. The wave slammed into Vegeta who became the focal point between Goten and Trunks' attacks.

It took all the strength Vegeta could muster – he had to nearly tap into Super Saiyan 3 to find the strength – but Vegeta was able to eject himself from the focal point of the blasts after several excruciatingly painful seconds. He barely had time to catch a breath before the waves shimmered out of existence, negating one another and casting the destroyed plateau back into darkness. Nearly as quickly, Trunks and Goten were back on him.

Although their speed was easy within his capacity to block, the combined attack frequency of 8 blurring limbs was no easy feat to deal with. Vegeta found he could scarcely get in a punch against them as as soon as he targeted one, he lost his ability to defend properly against the other. Their attack patterns were always complimentary; when one attacked high, the other would attack low, when one lead left, the other would lead right. This lead to assaults upon him from every conceivable angle. Even when he did find flaws in the way they attacked, he rarely had a chance to exploit it before they'd switch it up, leading to a new pattern that needed to be analyzed for weakness. Amidst it all though, Vegeta found himself smirking.

Goten and Trunks were attacking Vegeta with every conceivable permutation of attack patterns they knew ( and several they improvised on the spot) but it took Vegeta only moments to adapt to them and begin to find flaws and openings to attack them. One slip up from Goten during a punch had resulted in himself and Trunks' arms colliding against one another, momentarily breaking their attack pattern. That was all the time Vegeta needed to send the heads of the two boys slamming into one another, momentarily dazing the two boys. Vegeta used this brief reprieve to blast Trunks away from Goten, separating the two. In his dazed state Trunks rode the ki blast long enough for the full fury of Vegeta's attacks to rain down upon Goten.

Goten knew he was doing well against Vegeta's onslaught – he was faring much better than he had the last time he'd fought Vegeta solo – but that confidence boost did little to soften the impact of the blows Vegeta was able to sneak past his defenses. A particularly brutal hit on his face sent a crunching sound echoing through his skull – the sound of his nose giving way to Vegeta's fist. He felt the flood of blood as it gushed from his broken nose and drenched his lower face in that warm sickly wetness. But his mind and body were far too caught up in his continued defense to pay that feeling much mind.

The tide of the battle shifted once more to the boys favor as Trunks rejoined Goten.

Goku stood looking out the window of his and Chi-Chis bedroom, the only light being that of the few dim LEDs of electronics in the bedroom. Much to Chi-Chi's disapproval, Gohan had insisted on spending some of his salary on upgrading his parent's home to a more "modern" standard. Although the little lights that adorned such modern conveniences had initially bothered Goku, he found them almost comforting now. They reminded him that everything in life really was a matter of energy, even the seemingly "magical" things these devices were capable of doing. The light they provided was ample enough for his Saiyan eyes to resolve the layout of the bedroom.

A bright flash redrew his attention outside and was followed by a rumble and a powerful breeze that blew back his hair slightly and parted the curtains on either side of the window. A storm was brewing, and not a completely natural one at that. He could feel the powerful energies fighting some distance away. The energy they were expelling was aggravating the already volatile weather that had rolled in from the ocean. He exhaled heavily, his face somewhat serious as he considered whether or not to intervene in the ongoing fight.

He was not one to intervene in the training matches between Vegeta and Trunks, but with his own son involved, and the limited restraint their energies were showing, Goku was strongly considering stopping the fight. He hesitated though. The seriousness with which they were fighting suggested that even if he wanted to, Goku may not be able to stop the fight short of physically restraining both sides. He had a feeling whatever had sparked this confrontation could only be resolved this way.

Another flash flooded his vision, followed by the low rumble. The wind gusts were becoming more frequent and powerful.

"Mmmm.." Chi-Chi moaned softly, having reached over and not felt her husband there. She sat up slightly, quickly seeing her husband looking out the bedroom's large window. "Is something wrong Goku?"

"No…" Goku said slowly, forcing a smile on his face before turning back to his wife. He wasn't sure how well she could see his face in the dimness of their room, but better safe than sorry. If she sensed something was wrong, she'd quickly get the truth from him. Knowing Goten was involved in a fight against Vegeta would almost certainly result in her sending Goku to intervene. "Everything's fine hun. Just a storm brewing."

"mm then come back to bed."

Goku nodded, quickly obliging his wife. He'd just have to trust his instincts on this one.

Goten and Trunks had their hands locked around each other's wrist for support. Both occasionally found their energy faltering, and without the other for support, they likely would have dropped out of the air. They were following just behind Vegeta as the three headed back to Capsule Corp. All of them were only just remaining air borne, being completely drained of energy and covered in visible indicators of the earlier fight. Vegeta being his usual self had refused to accept leverage from the two, and was constantly faltering mid-flight while the two boys remained relatively stable with the other to compensate when they faltered.

Goten had considered simply Instant Transmitting the three back to Capsule Corp, but his father had driven home the dangers of using Instant Transmission while low on energy, especially without a strong target energy signature.

Goten wiped away the blood still trickling from his nose, looking with a slight frown as it dyed his hand red. His nose had refused to stop bleeding since Vegeta had hit it. It wasn't that it was any more painful than the rest of his injuries, but he didn't like getting his blood all over his training clothes. He looked to his left to see Trunks had his free arm held fast against his side, nursing an injury as well. Though his muscles and body ached with pain, Goten had to admit he felt better. That's not to say he forgave Vegeta, but his anger had been subdued and channeled, leaving him feeling somewhat content.

A few minutes later the three had touched down outside of Capsule Corp, stumbling slightly as they hit the ground, legs somewhat wobbly. The three had hoped to quickly break, Trunks and Goten to the B Dormitory, Vegeta to wherever he often went at night. Their primary reason for doing so was to avoid being caught by Bulma. But no sooner had they landed then Bulma had practically burst out the front doors of the house, fuming as she approached the three.

Trunks' instincts told him to run - He may have been drained, but he could easily still escape her wrath. However, the piercing look his mother was giving seemed to be paralyzing him in place. A quick glance to Goten revealed it was doing the same to him as well.

She was silent as she reached the three, looking between them as if hoping it would reveal something unspoken to her. As uncharacteristic as it was for Trunks to see, Vegeta's normally hard look had a thick undertone of apprehension. That only served to unnerve Trunks further, and after several tense seconds, he could restrain speaking no longer.

"Mom, wha…"

"Quiet Trunks." Bulma quickly interrupted, her venomous tone quickly silencing him. She exhaled in exasperation before throwing her hands up, as if in defeat. In spite of her outrage at them having given her so much more to worry about, at having beat the hell out of each other, she found she actually wasn't surprised by their actions. "You Saiyans are impossible." She focused hard on the two boys. "Trunks, Goten clean yourselves up and go to bed." She stated firmly, pointing to the B building. Before either had the chance to ask, she quickly added. "Bra will be fine. Now go."

Trunks and Goten nodded before quickly following Bulma's demands.

Once she saw they had entered the B dormitory, she turned her attention back to her husband. Though he was giving her his usual indifferent look, the slightest hint of a scowl, she knew she had him on edge.

"Vegeta…" she shook her head. "I'm trying so hard to understand. Trunks, Goten – I can understand how you three could get into a fight leaving the three of you looking the way you do… but Bra? How could you do something like that to her? She's just a little.."

"Stop." Vegeta stated firmly, not allowing her to finish her sentence.

"Excuse me?" Bulma said indignantly, sarcasm and menace mixed in to her tone. She placed her left hand on her hip in an attempt to convey her seriousness. She looked him over, seeing if there was some wound she could potentially use to inflict pain on him.

"She isn't a little girl." Vegeta said forcefully, hoping his strong tone would establish the fact more clearly. If tonight confirmed anything to him, it was this fact.

"She's only 17!"

"An adult by Saiyan standards."

"Oh, so what, you're some kind of expert now Vegeta?" Bulma countered, heavy sarcasm in her voice.

"No." Vegeta stated coldly. "But believe it or not woman, I do have some idea about what Saiyans need."

"She's only half for Kame's sake!"

"A fact which everyone else seems to forget. What happened tonight had to happen. Her frustration and anger demanded it. Some problems just can't be worked out in peaceful human ways."

"What could she have possibly been so frustrated and angry about?"

"I didn't ask."

"What!" Bulma said in disbelief. "So you practically beat our daughter into a coma without even knowing why?"

"The why doesn't matter!" Vegeta returned. "What matters is that she needed it. If she wanted to tell me why, she would have, and after taking out all her aggression and rage tonight, she may be ready to say why."

Bulma looked at her husband, a mixture of emotions running across her face. She couldn't shake the words her daughter had spoken to her earlier: "I just… needed to. You don't need to understand mom… I just needed to."

Had he really just talked her into accepting that he had beat their daughter senseless? Something about that still seemed extremely wrong, and yet, she couldn't argue with much of what Vegeta had said. Bulma had to admit she often did forget Bra was as much her father as she was her. Thinking about it more clearly, Bra's need to act out in what were very typical Saiyan ways shouldn't have shocked her. Still, Bulma wasn't completely satisfied.

"Did you have to do that to her? Couldn't you have been easier on her?"

"I tried." Vegeta crossed his arms. "I did everything I could to get her to back down, to call the fight over, but she wouldn't. I suspect whatever set her off was compounded by her traditional refusal to obey her Saiyan instincts and needs."

Bulma was still trying to find her husband the bad guy, the target of ridicule in all this, but no amount of mental gymnastics allowed her to bypass the seeming truths he had said moments earlier. She felt it unsettling that she almost found it ok what he had done to Bra. In any normal family this would have been a totally repulsive and heinous action, but as she was often reminded, her family was not a normal one. But she wouldn't have it any other way; as much as Vegeta had complicated her life, she really did love the bastard. She let out a satisfied sigh.

"Okay Vegeta. But I'm telling you this. Until she is 100% better, you will be her bitch and do everything she asks."

"Isn't that the usual arrangement?" He replied smirking.

Bulma looked at Vegeta slightly shocked. Had he just made a joke?