Commence Training

Vegeta dragged himself into the kitchen before lunch, hardly able to keep himself moving. He had spent the whole morning training vigorously, and his body had many cuts, bruises, and burns to show for it. At least he was training by himself. If anyone had been sparring with him, he would probably be in even worse shape and there would be another person in need of medical attention. Once in the kitchen, he went to the refrigerator and pulled an ice pack out of the freezer, held it to his burnt shoulder, and went over to collapse in his chair at the table.

By then Mrs. Brief was used to seeing Vegeta appear in such a state, so she was hardly fazed when she turned from the stove and saw him covered in blood. She sighed as she brought a pan of pasta over to the table and set it down. "Vegeta, honey, you look awful. You really should go to the infirmary."

He grunted and stubbornly shook his head. "Don't need it. I'm fine."

It was that moment that Bulma decided to come into the kitchen for lunch. She overheard their conversation and snorted as she took her seat next to Vegeta. "Yeah, you're fine if bleeding all over the compound is considered healthy."

"Shut up," he spat.

Mrs. Brief giggled as she brought over a bowl filled with fruit. It was funny how Bulma and Vegeta had matured and acted like adults with everyone but each other. She had grown accustomed to their childish bickering, and instead of being distressed by it, she learned to see it as free entertainment. Their relationship was exactly like that of siblings, complete with name-calling, insults, screaming, and the blame game. But through their arguments, Mrs. Brief could see a fondness between them. Vegeta never voiced it, nor did she think he ever would, but he cared deeply for Bulma and almost always put her needs before his own. Like a devoted older brother, he fought with Bulma, but deep down he would give her the world if he could.

"Where's Nappa?" Bulma asked when her mother sat down to begin the meal. They were the only three at the table. It wasn't unusual for Raditz and Dr. Brief to be away. Raditz often went to visit Goku and spar; since learning he was stuck on Earth, he decided it would be best to try mending the broken relationship he had with his only remaining relative. Goku had been suspicious at first, but he was too good-hearted to deny his brother for long. Dr. Brief spent most of his days at headquarters trying to catch up on work he missed when he devoted all his time to figuring out the design of the space pods.

Vegeta shrugged and reached for the bowl of fruit. "Went to train alone for a few days."

"Oh."

As soon as Vegeta started eating, Bulma knew their conversation was over for the time being. She was a little disappointed that he didn't talk more. She had hoped that by having him around more she would get to know him better, but he was as closed off as ever. He never talked about what happened to him during the years he was away from Earth, and she was too afraid to ask for details. She knew at least in part what his occupation had been, and she didn't want to hear about it. More, though, she was afraid because she knew how he reacted when he was younger when she tried to pry into his life. It was rather explosive and dangerous for her.

All Vegeta did was train day in and day out. Sometimes she wasn't sure he slept at all. He would still be training when she went to bed, and when she saw him at breakfast the next morning he would be wearing the same training clothes from the day before. If she thought he was obsessive about training before, now she was sure of it. She knew his obsession was largely driven by fear. He didn't think two years was very long at all, and he had said more than once that he wasn't sure they could expect a full two years anyway. He was determined to be ready for Frieza.

She watched him packing away his lunch and wished she could eat like that and not get fat. He was getting bigger, sure, but not because he was getting fatter. She and her mother had gone shopping for him twice already to buy him larger clothes because his muscle was growing so fast. If she thought he had been muscular to begin with, this was absolutely ridiculous. She mentioned to him the last time she handed him a bag full of clothing capsules, but he didn't tell her much information aside from saying he was getting proper nourishment now. That had to mean he was malnourished before. That was crazy. If he looked that good when he was half-starved…she shook her head as she ate another bite of food.

Mrs. Brief put more pasta on Vegeta's plate and sighed. "You know, dear, I kind of miss having Yamcha around the compound sometimes."

Bulma's heart sank at the mention of her late fiancé. "Me, too, Mom. But in October we can gather the dragon balls and wish him back." That seemed like a lifetime to her. It was only January. Living without him for four months had already been almost too much to bear. She tried to stay busy to keep her mind off him, but every now and then she caught herself dwelling on thoughts of him instead of working.

Vegeta sneered as he thought back on the short first impression the scar-faced warrior made. He was cocky and weak, a miserable combination. He still thought Bulma was too good for him, but she seemed to really be hung up on him. He ate faster so he could leave sooner and hear less of their moaning about the idiot.

"You would have liked him, Vegeta," Mrs. Brief said sadly. "He was interested in martial arts too. You probably could have found a lot in common."

He nearly choked on his food when he heard that. Did she really think having a common interest in martial arts was enough for them to get along? How absurd. The earthling was a weakling. He hated weaklings, especially the ones who thought they were powerful.

Bulma didn't miss the way his lip curled in contempt. She didn't know exactly why Vegeta seemed to have such a strong disliking for her fiancé. Nappa likewise didn't seem to think much of him, either snorting or outright laughing when someone brought him up in conversation. It was nearly enough to make her hate the bald saiyan, but she couldn't hold that against him. So he and Yamcha hadn't gotten along. Obviously. Nappa was the one who killed him. If she didn't know the saiyans better than she did, she would have loathed him for that. But, somewhere underneath their hard, cold exteriors, the saiyans were people too. They had been twisted and used for sadistic purposes their whole lives. It was what they knew. They lived to battle, and their battles always ended in death, either their own or their opponent's. It just so happened that Yamcha was the last one to go up against them and perish. He simply wasn't strong enough.

That didn't mean it was easy for Bulma to forgive Nappa. On the contrary, she held a grudge against him for several weeks, even though she knew she could bring Yamcha to life with the dragon balls. It was the principle of the matter. He killed Yamcha. She was as surprised as anyone when she stopped hating him. She still wasn't sure exactly why she had, though she figured it was probably because of the way he genuinely cared about Vegeta. He was protective over his prince, even if he was weaker. She didn't know of any examples, but she was sure he had protected Vegeta as he grew up, and she had to be grateful to him for that. Vegeta surely could have turned out a lot worse than he did if not for Nappa's guidance.

Vegeta finished his lunch and left the kitchen to go continue his training. He entered the indoor garden and walked over to his usual training spot and immediately moved into his kata. He didn't know how much he strength he had gained during his short stay on Earth, but he could tell he was noticeably stronger, if only because he had his basic needs cared for. He had adequate nutrition, hydration, and sleep, none of which he ever had when he was with Frieza; he remembered the same effect happening the last time he was on Earth. The gravity was weak, but he was still able to make rapid gains in his power.

That was how the rest of the day went, with Vegeta training at a grueling pace in the indoor garden while Mrs. Brief prepared dinner and Bulma returned to her laboratory to work on an upgrade for one of Capsule Corporation's most popular software packages. Bulma was bored with her work, but as vice president it was her duty to stay on top of things at work, which meant putting her hand to the grindstone even when she would much rather take a relaxing day off. After her conversation at lunch she found her mind often wandering to thoughts of Yamcha, a distraction that led to several glitches in the upgrade, which only frustrated her more.

'Wonder what he'll say when he finds out the saiyans are living with us,' she mused. She propped her feet up on the desk and crossed her hands behind her head, figuring she deserved a break. 'He'll probably be pretty mad. I don't think he'll forgive Nappa and Vegeta too fast.'

It was a thought that worried her from time to time. She wanted Vegeta and Yamcha to get along when he was revived, but she highly doubted that would go over so smoothly. Vegeta still didn't seem to think much of Yamcha even though he was dead. She hoped something would work out, or else she would end up having to choose between her brother and her fiancé. How could she make that choice? She loved both of them, just in different ways. She wasn't going to kick Vegeta out, especially after he made such a risky choice to stay on Earth with her family. And she wasn't going to break up with Yamcha, who she was very much in love with, just because Vegeta thought he was a weakling.

She pushed that thought aside. It was too depressing. She would worry about it when the time came. Right now she had other things to think about, like how to spend more time with Vegeta. She hadn't missed him for years; she still thought about him on occasion, but it was so long since he left that the pain of his absence wasn't there anymore. She got over him. But now that he was back, she was eager to spend time with him. It was almost as if he filled a void in her life she hadn't known she had. She didn't know what to do, though. All he wanted to do was train. Before, she had at least been able to convince him to take a break now and then and have some fun, like swim in the pool, watch a movie, or play a game, but now she was never able to pull him away from his training.

'Guess I could train with him. That's what I did when we were kids. Hell, he's the one who got me into martial arts to begin with.' She laughed when she remembered her first training session. She was so bummed that he wasn't going to take a more active role teaching her. He told her to do a few hundred punches. She was so bored and tired by the end of it she considered giving up. But she didn't. 'I bet the gap between us in strength is a million times wider now. He'd accidentally kill me if he tried to train me now. Then again, maybe not.' She imagined herself going to ask him to train her. He would laugh in her face, call her a weakling girl, and go somewhere else to train. She shrugged. That was probably how it would go, but she could try.

That evening Vegeta sat down to eat with the Briefs. He was even more beat up than he had been at lunch, but this time no one said anything to him about it. It was obvious he wasn't going to listen when they pled with him to go to the infirmary or take a break for a day or two. Seeing the state he was in made Bulma nervous. If he was being that hard on himself, how hard would he be on her if he actually agreed to train her? She was a lot tougher than she had been when she was nine, but she was by no means at the same level as him. She still hated pain and she didn't want to get any visible signs that she'd been fighting. No cuts, burns, bruises, scrapes, or other lacerations. Vegeta was coated in them.

"You going to train after dinner again?" she asked casually once Vegeta finished eating.

"Hn." He drank the rest of his water and stood up.

"Wait, Vegeta!" Bulma stood up and grabbed his arm to stop him. She blushed a little when he raised an eyebrow at her. "I was, uh, I was wondering if you'd train me? Like old times?"

If possible, his eyebrow raised higher. "You're insane."

She huffed and pushed a stray stand of hair behind her ear. "No, I'm not. I just want to train again. It's been a long time. I used to be pretty good, actually."

"Perhaps by human standards –"

"I know, I know! Compared to you I'm a weakling. But that's why I want to train. I want to get stronger. You know I kind of learned how to use ki. Not really well, but a little."

Vegeta stared at her a few moments, actually impressed. Her power level was still trivial, but she was right, she was good for a human. Especially a human female. If she could also manipulate her ki, perhaps she would be worth training. He did like the idea of her being able to fend for herself when he wasn't able to protect her. Chances were if Frieza came to Earth, he would be busy fighting him. There would be other soldiers invading the planet. He couldn't stay with her through that. She would need to be able to defeat the soldiers herself or be killed.

He nodded and pulled his arm free. "Very well. Meet me outside."

"Outside? But it's freezing! Why can't we train in the garden?"

Dr. Brief chimed in, "I think it's a good idea to train outside for a change. Get some fresh air."

For the most part, Vegeta confined himself to the indoor garden to do his training. It was starting to look the worse for wear. Many of the trees had been knocked down, there were gaping holes in the walls, the grass was singed in places, and there were holes and craters littering the floor. Rather than an indoor garden, it was starting to look like some sort of disaster zone. Dr. Brief didn't mention it, but he wasn't particularly happy with the damage. He was concerned for the animals. Trees and flowers were replaceable, but with animals it wasn't the same.

"Dad," Bulma whined, "It's winter! I can't train outside!"

In reply, Dr. Brief shrugged and raised his evening paper to read the comics. He wasn't going to continue arguing with his daughter, but he really did hope they stayed out of the indoor garden. It was bad enough with only Vegeta training in there regularly.

Vegeta smirked. "Ten minutes, girl."

Bulma glared at his back before it disappeared out the door. "I'm not a girl!" Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she stomped out of the kitchen and went upstairs to change into more suitable training clothes. She decided to take her sword along too to show Vegeta what she taught herself to do using her ki.

Vegeta went to Bulma's laboratory and picked up Raditz's scouter before going outside to wait for her. He wanted to see what her power level was. He stood on the front step of the compound and looked up at the orange-hued sky. It was strange, being stranded again. This time, it was by his own choice. There was no way off the mudball. At least, not yet. Dr. Brief was working on building the new space pod in his free time, but it was taking a while since he didn't have much free time. He put on the scouter when he heard the front door open behind him.

"Alright, I'm ready," Bulma said. "I think."

He turned around and saw that she was wearing running shoes, a pair of navy blue sweatpants, a white sweatshirt, and black gloves. He nodded and led her to the middle of the lawn. "Do you know how to raise your energy?"

"Kind of. I'm not very good at it," she admitted.

"Fine." Vegeta pushed the button on the scouter to read power levels. "Raise it as high as you can."

Bulma nodded as she grit her teeth and closed her eyes to concentrate on raising her ki. She never really mastered it, but she remembered the technique, which was enough for her to be able to raise her power by quite a bit. The effort was exhausting though. After a minute she was sweating and trembling from the effort. "That's it. I can't go any higher," she said, panting.

Vegeta didn't reply right away. He was trying to rein in his surprise. He didn't want to tell her how impressed he was; that would inflate her ego too much. He took the scouter off and handed it to her. "Power level 186. Not bad."

She took the scouter from him and grinned brightly. "Not bad, eh? Pretty damn good, if I say so myself."

He scoffed. "You think that's power?"

"I might not be as strong as you, but—"

"That's an understatement." Vegeta stepped closer to her and picked her up. "I'll show you true power."

"What? Hey, put me down!" Bulma shrieked when he shot into the air. "What are you doing? I don't like flying!"

He jostled her a little to try and quiet her down. She took the hint and stopped screeching, but she clung to him tightly until she was sure he wasn't going to drop her. She looked down at the ground and, once the vertigo passed, watched in wonder as the ground skimmed by under them. She had never flown so fast. Yet, strangely, she never felt safer either. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere secluded." Vegeta looked down and saw they were flying over a vast plain with rolling hills, tall grass swaying in the wind, and small nocturnal wildlife scurrying on the ground. He dropped out of the sky and landed softly for Bulma's sake. He set her down on her feet. "Put the scouter on."

"Huh? Oh, alright." While she fiddled with the scouter, trying to get it to stay on, Vegeta moved a safe distance away from her. "There."

"What does my power level read now?" he asked.

Bulma's mouth moved, but no sound came out. She crumpled to her knees. "It's. It's um. It says your power level is...It says 31,600."

Vegeta was likewise dumbstruck for a moment. He hadn't expected it to be quiet that high. His surprise soon gave way to smugness. Smirking, he clenched his hands into fists and roared as he started raising his power, igniting a flame of ki around his body that exploded around him and knocked Bulma flat on the ground. In the sky clouds started gathering over him and the grass in the field was blown down flat as his energy gusted around him. It seemed to last for hours, but in reality it was only a few minutes before Vegeta reached his maximum power.

"No way," Bulma breathed. She sat up and pushed her tangled hair out of her face. Vegeta looked the same, but she could practically feel his power now.

"What's my power level?"

Bulma gulped when she focused on the number on the display screen. It was unreal. She didn't know how any of her friends compared on this scale, but she didn't think they were quite that strong. She slowly shook her head in disbelief. "It's 39,250."

His tail unwrapped from his waist and flicked behind him. He had no idea his power had grown that much. It felt pretty good. "Are you sure you want to play this game?"

"What game?"

He rolled his eyes and lowered his power. "Training with me. You might be better off training with someone closer to your level."

"Like who?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Good question. I'll train you, but if you can't keep up you're on your own."

"Fair enough." Bulma got to her feet and held her hand out to him to shake, sealing their deal. When he tried to bat her hand away, she dodged his hand and gave him a rude gesture. She missed his hand coming back and winced when she felt a stinging sensation spreading through her arm. "That hurt!"

"You brought it on yourself, girl."

"I'm not a girl!"

"Oh? Then I suppose you can fly yourself back to the compound?"

Bulma looked around at their surroundings. She had no idea how many miles she was away from any civilization, let alone West City. When she looked back at Vegeta, he was hovering a few feet above the ground, ready to take off without her. "No! Vegeta, don't leave me here, you jerk!"

Vegeta chuckled as he picked her up and flew her back to West City, ignoring her ranting about how mean he was to her. In two months he had increased his power by about ten thousand. Even for him, that was staggering. If he had been considering easing up on his training, that thought was dismissed now. What he was doing was working. He just hoped it would be enough. Frieza was rumored to have a maximum power level of over one million. How could he beat that? He shook his head, not wanting to think about that at the moment.

…

Goku stopped mid-punch when he felt an incredible power level growing somewhere far to the west. In his moment of distraction, Raditz caught him with a roundhouse kick that sent him crashing into the side of a mountain. He groaned and pulled himself out of the rubble. When he saw his brother flying toward him, he held up his hand to signal a pause in their spar. "Wait a minute, Raditz! Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" He turned to face the direction his brother was pointing. He didn't feel anything, but then, he was a novice at feeling power levels, especially those far away. Goku had been teaching him, and he was picking it up fast, but he still didn't sense what Goku did.

Goku lowered himself to the ground, a rare frown on his face. "It's huge. I think it's Vegeta, but why would he be raising his power as if he were going into battle? Something might be wrong."

"I doubt it," Raditz said, shaking his head. "You don't feel anyone else with him, do you? Sometimes he raises his power to maximum to measure his progress."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's no big deal. It'll probably go down soon."

Goku rubbed his head and grinned when he felt the power slipping back down to its normal level. "Yeah, you were right. Wow, I didn't know he was that strong. I've got a long way to go if I hope to catch up to him."

Raditz moved into his fighting stance. "You want to catch up to the prince? Good luck. Are you ready to continue our spar now, brother?"

Goku's grin turned into a smirk. "Think you can keep up?"

"We'll see." Raditz charged him and feinted to the right. When Goku moved to dodge his punch, he brought his left foot up to kick him, but his leg moved through Goku's afterimage. He growled and spun around just in time to catch the fist aimed at the back of his head.

Goku pulled his hand free and tried with his other hand, but Raditz blocked it and kicked him into the air. "I can see you've gotten faster!"

Raditz phased behind him and caught him in a chokehold. "Speed always was my strong point."

"Pity you're so slow then."

"What?"

A beam of ki that Goku released seconds before hit Raditz square in the back, forcing him to release his hold on his brother. He fell to the ground and winced in pain. If he hadn't had his armor on his back would have been fried. "How did you do that?"

"I was faster than you."

Raditz smirked and jumped into the air to resume fighting. "Guess speed runs in the family."

"It must. Have you seen how well Gohan keeps up with Piccolo in their spars?" Goku appeared in front of Raditz and delivered a hard right hook. Raditz caught his arm and threw him down to the ground. Before he could get up, the older saiyan rained a barrage of ki balls down on him.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Goku erupted out of the cloud of dust and smoke. He flew straight for Raditz and rammed his head into his chest. He brought his knee up to jab into Raditz's groin before phasing out of sight. Raditz gasped for air and cringed as pain swept through his body. That was a low blow. "I thought –" he wheezed, "I thought you said no hits below the tail."

"Whoops! Guess I did. Well, that's a point against me." Goku appeared, grinning, and kicked his brother between the shoulders. Raditz barely stopped himself before he crashed into the mountainside.

"If I didn't know better," Raditz said as he flew high into the air, "I'd think you still held a grudge against me." He raised his hands and started gathering energy in his palms for one of his most devastating attacks.

Goku landed on the ground and cupped his hands at his sides for his kamehameha wave. "For what? Kidnapping Gohan and trying to kill me? Nah!" He had accepted Raditz's proposal to train together, and he was actually starting to like his brother well enough, but that didn't mean it didn't feel good to give him a taste of his own medicine. Besides, he didn't believe in training lightly. From what he understood, the alien the saiyans served was insanely strong and they only had two years to prepare for him. He didn't like that they had in effect lured him to Earth, but at the same time he was excited by the prospect of a good challenge.

"And here I thought you forgave me!" Raditz laughed, knowing Goku was still a little upset with him for his past actions, but also knowing that Goku was too soft-hearted to hold a very strong grudge. It hadn't taken him more than three days to convince him to be his regular training partner, and after that he even invited him back to his house to meet his wife, reconcile with Gohan, and sit down for one of Chi-Chi's famous meals.

Goku poured his energy into his attack, careful not to make it so strong it would injure Raditz too badly. "Ha! You're lucky I'm such a nice guy."

"Right. Now have a Double Sunday!" Raditz screamed as he threw his beams of ki down at Goku. The two beams converged into one huge beam before they collided with Goku's retaliating kamehameha wave. Both saiyans struggled to keep their beams going, but gradually Goku's started overpowering Raditz's. The long-haired saiyan knew he didn't have a chance once the kamehameha started gaining momentum, so he released his energy and moved to the right to dodge the brunt of the attack. Even so, the heat burnt his bare skin as it flew past and took a sizable chunk of his armor off with it.

Raditz fell to the ground, completely exhausted, and panted for breath. He looked up when he heard Goku running over to him, but his vision blurred, then blacked out. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a warmly lit room. He felt a cool cloth on his forehead and his head was resting on a soft pillow. He turned to the side and saw Goku sitting next to him, grinning.

"Wha' happened?" he slurred.

"You passed out."

The large saiyan groaned as he forced himself to sit up. He saw that he had been lying on the couch in the Sons' living room. "How long?"

"Fifteen minutes or so. Better than last time." Goku's grin broadened.

"Shut up, Kakarrot."

"My name's Goku."

Raditz smirked. "Your name's always going to be Kakarrot to me, little brother."

"I think it's kind of a cool name." Raditz turned to the other side when he heard Gohan running over to them. He hopped on his father's lap and sat down, the same Son grin on his face. "Are you better now, Uncle Raditz?"

"Yeah, kid," Raditz said. He reached out and ruffled Gohan's hair. "I'm fine."

"Glad to hear it," Goku said.

"Yeah, me too," Raditz agreed. He pushed himself up to his feet and closed his eyes until the wave of dizziness passed. "I should probably be getting back to Capsule Corporation. It's getting pretty late."

"Wouldn't want to stay out past your curfew," Goku joked. He stood up, holding Gohan, and walked to the front door with Raditz.

"Very funny. I'm more concerned about getting a good night's sleep before someone gets me up for breakfast. See you tomorrow." Raditz waved as he levitated off the ground until he was several yards off the ground, then blasted off to the northwest toward West City. He got in a lot of good training that day, as he did most days, and he was ready to hit the hay. Even if he wanted to take a day off from training, he didn't dare for fear Vegeta would demand a spar with him.

When he reached Capsule Corporation, he was surprised to find Vegeta outside the compound with Bulma. He couldn't see what they were doing until he landed a few yards from them, and then he almost fell over from surprise when he saw Vegeta holding his hands up for Bulma to practice punching.

"You're leaving your left side open," Vegeta told her.

Bulma groaned and tried to fix the error, but in doing so she greatly decreased her punching range. "Is it really that bad?" she whined.

Vegeta shrugged. "Depends. How bad is it to allow someone to stab you between your fifth and sixth ribs?"

She sighed. "Bad."

"Exactly. Do it again."

"Vegeta, I'm tired. Can't we call it quits for tonight?" Bulma dropped her arms to her sides and yawned, as if to make her point.

"Weakling."

"That insult loses its effectiveness after the hundredth time," she spat. "And anyway, I'm not that weak. You saw it yourself! I'm stronger than most humans. The only people stronger than me are my friends, so I'm not worried about having to defend myself against any enemies."

"What about when Frieza comes with a whole army?" Vegeta snapped. "Do you expect them to take it easy on you because you're a female? They'd kill you like all the rest, and if you're lucky they'll wait to rape you until after you're dead!"

Bulma took a step back from him and grimaced. "They would really do that?" she asked timidly.

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest. She could see the tip of his tail twitching with his rising anger. "If they're feeling merciful."

"They're really that bad?"

"Girl, you have no fucking idea how bad they are. You can't count on your friends to be there to save you. They will probably be drawn away by stronger fighters and you will be left to fend for yourself." Vegeta sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Go to bed. You're useless when you're tired."

Bulma frowned, then stepped forward and hugged the saiyan. "Thanks, Vegeta. I'll work hard." She pecked his cheek. "Goodnight."

Vegeta's tail uncoiled from his waist and slowly curled and flicked as he watched her retreat into the compound. He raised one hand to his cheek and touched where she kissed him. That was the first time she'd ever done that. He got more than enough kisses from Mrs. Brief, but never from Bulma. Strange.

Raditz cleared his throat and walked over to Vegeta. "What are you doing with her?"

"Training."

The third-class saiyan scoffed. "Training her? Seriously? Why waste your time on her?"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "Are you questioning me?"

"No, sir," Raditz mumbled. He tilted his head back to look at the sky. "We could grow so much faster if this planet's gravity weren't so weak. I'll bet Vegeta-sei had gravity at least ten times greater."

"What can we do about it?" Vegeta growled. He turned and went back into the compound to finish his training in the indoor garden alone. Raditz followed him inside, but he went upstairs to his guestroom to shower and go to bed.

Dr. Brief extinguished his cigarette and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. He stepped into his bedroom, closing the balcony door behind him. He shrugged off his coat and hung it on the back of his desk chair as he crossed the room to go to bed. He had been having a hard time getting to sleep, and when he heard the shouting match outside he went to see what the fuss was about. What he heard greatly disturbed him. He hadn't given much thought to what would happen when Frieza came. He imagined him to be by himself, not accompanied by a vicious army. Just imagining what Vegeta said made him shudder.

'They've got to get stronger. And I think I know how to help them.' He sat up in bed and turned on the lamp on his nightstand. He glanced over his shoulder at his wife, but she was still sleeping soundly. He opened the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out an old, worn notebook and a pen and started scribbling notes and calculations for his next invention: a gravity simulator.

A/N: Kind of reminds me of the three years they trained for the androids, except now it's two years to train for Frieza.

Power levels of interest:
Vegeta: 39,250
Bulma: 186
Nappa: 15,100
Raditz: 14,500
Goku: 25,800
Gohan: 2,150
Piccolo: 2,300

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl

Review! I'm probably going to update again tomorrow since I'm going to my friend's house for another kayaking trip over the weekend and I won't be able to update while I'm there. So I better get lots of reviews today, got it? :)