It was the middle of the night, and the earlier thunderstorm had rolled past to be replaced by the quiet, soothing sounds of rainfall. In the dark dead of night, a shuffle of movement awoke Goku from his sleep in the soft, luxurious bed of one of Vegeta's many guest bedrooms.

Goku rolled on his back, only to feel the startling sensation of lips pressing softly against his collarbone. The sensation occurred again a few inches lower on his chest as his eyes fluttered open. When the warm, moist sensation lowered to graze his left nipple, he inhaled sharply at the pleasurable sensation. Having no overnight clothes, and having the privacy of his own room for a night in the massive castle, he had slept in the nude, as he usually would prefer to do. The surprisingly intimate touches against his exposed, vulnerable skin made him equally as anxious as he was becoming aroused.

Goku lowered his chin to sight the black mass of spiky hair grazing his chest while the lips pressed lightly against his sternum, before a warm, moist tongue licked down the center line of his abdomen and his seducer looked up, revealing to Goku Vegeta's lustful gaze.

Goku's chest fully rose and lowered in sporadic exhales as Vegeta ghosted over him, suddenly making Goku aware of the hand against his waist and the other pressed on the bed beside his hip, while down lower, Vegeta's muscular calves were brushing against his own.

Goku's eyes widened in fear as Vegeta's tongue dipped inside his navel, informing him of the direction Vegeta's mouth was traveling. He attempted to speak Vegeta's name, but instead as Vegeta's hand glided from his waist, down the length of his torso to grab the base of his hardened shaft, he released a guttural moan.

Vegeta raised his head to smile slyly at Goku, licking his lips before he lowered his mouth to encompass the tip of Goku's penis in its warm, wet embrace.

Goku flinched at the contact, feeling the need to refuse Vegeta, even as his body urged him to press his hips up and fully divulge the length of his shaft in the welcoming sensation of the other man's mouth.

He unwittingly found his body winning the struggle as his hips jutted instinctively upward, though Vegeta's hand pressed firmly on his hip, keeping him pinned to the bed while Vegeta's lips slowly, tortuously lowered to take Goku in his mouth at his own speed. Goku threw his head back into the pillow, clenching his eyes tightly shut when Vegeta's lips finally met the base of his shaft.

Goku gasped. "Ve-Vegeta!"

Goku reached with his hands, finding the fine black threads of Vegeta's spiky hair. He thread his fingers needily through it, too intoxicated by the pleasurable sensations to see reason or make sense of this surprising attack. As Vegeta pulled back, dragging his lips back to the tip of Goku's penis with incredible suction, Goku applied pressure on Vegeta's scalp with his hands. He willed the other man to take his throbbing shaft fully in his mouth again, until Vegeta finally succumbed to the pressure from Goku's hands, allowing his lips to meet the base of Goku's pelvis. Goku moaned breathily as Vegeta pulled back and continued that motion again and again, driving him to the edge.

When Vegeta pulled his mouth completely free of Goku's shaft, Goku hesitated to look down and meet Vegeta's seductive gaze. Vegeta's tongue jutted forward, licking across his lips and lingering on the fine point of his canine tooth as a sinister look came into Vegeta's eyes.

At the sight of Vegeta's feral look, Goku's eyes widened as he suddenly felt terror overriding the lust he had been feeling. In one rapid motion, Vegeta lowered his head to Goku's shaft again with his mouth wide open and teeth bared.

Goku screamed in pain as he sat up with a start, breathing in panic when suddenly there was no sign of Vegeta, no pain, not even traces of the euphoria he had felt before.

Resting his hands behind him on the bed, Goku turned his head and searched the room, making sure it was really vacant. After a few minutes passed uneventfully, he breathed a sigh of relief. "What a dream."

Goku laid back to relax and pulled the covers over his body, to hopefully fall back to sleep without such vivid dreams. He spent a few minutes wrestling in the sheets and attempting to relax again, before finally becoming sleepy just before the click of an opening door alerted him to open his eyes and look towards the doorway.

The door slowly creaked open, with no person in sight. Goku stayed silent as he suspiciously narrowed his eyes towards the widening entryway. When a slender figure was finally exposed from behind it, Goku tilted his head curiously at the unfamiliar, beautiful woman entering the room.

She had a length of blond hair gathered into a sleek, thin tail atop her head and a mesmerizing redness to her large, beautiful eyes. Goku's brows lifted high in surprise when she was followed by an even more beautiful woman with coifed red hair and the most delicate features to her face, while his arm was grasped from the other side by a gentle hand.

Goku looked to his right with wide-eyed shock to see who was sitting beside him in the bed, which was yet another beautiful woman nearly identical to the first, only with a darker shade of hair.

The two who entered through the door reached the bed, putting their hands on Goku's arms and chest, petting him gently as the most beautiful one planted her plump red lips forcefully against his.

While he pulled his hands from the other two women who were gingerly caressing his wrists, Goku also pulled his face back from the woman's lips and gasped. "Y-you shouldn't be here. I'm…I'm engaged."

Ignoring his futile remark, two of the women smiled seductively at him while the third who had kissed Goku moved her lips to his neck. Goku inhaled sharply when the scrape of teeth tore through his neck amidst the gentle caress of her lips and the gentle caresses of the other women's hands. One of the other women suddenly pulled his blanket down to expose his naked body.

Goku's eyes widened in alarm as the happenings brought him back to the conclusion of his dream about Vegeta, now resembling a premonition of what was truly going to happen. Goku hissed through his teeth as one of the women's fine fingers caressed his inner thigh with a feather-light touch, and the woman on his neck sucked hard, lapping at his wound.

"Get away from him!" A furious voice suddenly commanded, startling Goku and the women attacking him.

Relieved, Goku looked towards the doorway to see Vegeta domineeringly approaching the bed and glaring hatefully at the three women. His gaze narrowed in on the one slowly pulling her blood-soaked lips off of Goku's neck.

She protruded a moist tongue to lick the crimson blood off her supple lips. "Prince Vegeta-"

"Snake!" Vegeta hissed, "You and your whores don't lay a finger on him. This one's mine."

Vegeta furiously sneered when Snake reached a hand on Goku's shoulder, caressing it gently as she ogled with her eyes the naked muscles of the man in bed before her, even as the other two backed off.

Snake turned to Vegeta with a sly smile. "But Prince Vegeta, he's so…yummy."

"Get out!" Vegeta shouted, his booming voice and devastating glare finally scaring away all three female vampires.

They scurried off in a hurry, the two lesser vamps, who were accompanying the more formidable Snake whimpering in fear as they trailed behind her to leave the room. When Goku's eyes turned to Vegeta, Goku caught Vegeta's eyes on his naked form just as the women's had been.

Goku pulled the blanket to conceal himself from Vegeta's greedy eyes. "Who…were those women, Vegeta?"

"Blood sucking cunts." Vegeta said as he sat on the bed by Goku's side.

Goku contorted his brows in confusion at Vegeta's non-explicit answer, until Vegeta slowly raised a hand to run it soothingly through Goku's hair. Goku didn't even flinch at the surprisingly intimate contact. Instead, he closed his eyes as the unease of the prior situation was washed away by the pleasant feeling of Vegeta's fingers caressing his scalp. Vegeta's touch was such a welcome sensation that Goku couldn't object to Vegeta's level of familiarity, even if he wanted to.

"When you become your true self again, Kakarot," Vegeta said as Goku calmed, "they'll be sorry they ever laid their conniving fingers on you. I would take care of them myself right now, but after what they just tried, I'll leave that to you."

Vegeta chuckled darkly as Goku creased his brow, attempting to understand what Vegeta meant by that, and how Vegeta saw anything funny about the situation.

"Vegeta," Goku shook his head, "I told you. My name is Goku."

"No." Vegeta shook his head and smiled wryly at Goku. "It's not."

Vegeta sighed. Kakarot's insistence to be called 'Goku' was starting to wear thin. But if Vegeta couldn't get through to Kakarot with words, there were ways around that. He knew how to remind Kakarot of what he really was. Of what they really were.

Goku tilted his head to the side as he looked at Vegeta with exasperation, opening his mouth to argue when Vegeta planted his lips against Goku's in one swift motion. His tongue intruded into Goku's open mouth before Goku could protest or react in any way beyond surprise.

At the sensation of that slick tongue gliding against his, Goku moaned, at first in surprise, then in pleasure. His eyes slid closed as he reached a hand to caress the back of Vegeta's neck. He couldn't believe this was happening and he was actually participating with the kiss. He couldn't deny that it was just like the first kiss, perhaps even better.

When he was with Vegeta like this, Goku was finding that all reason seemed to disappear. It was like he and Vegeta were the only two people in existence. He wasn't even going to try to hide the pleasure this kiss was causing him. That would be pointless. Vegeta clearly already knew.

Their lips softly pressed together one last time before Vegeta pulled back with his eyes closed, nodding decisively. "You are Kakarot, and you're almost ready."

"For what?"

"To become your true self again." Vegeta smirked knowingly as he stood from the bed, freeing himself of Goku's lingering caress against his face as the distance between them grew too wide for his reach.

Goku's hand fell on the soft bedsheets as he stared after Vegeta speechlessly. The vampire strode gracefully from the room in silence. Goku closed his eyes, catching his breath when Vegeta shut the door and Goku was finally left alone with no imposition of people coming into his room.

It seemed that Vegeta truly meant to leave him alone, and those women had been threatened enough by Vegeta to avoid returning to his room. Goku felt he could sleep securely, and he definitely intended to have a good rest after the night he'd had so far.

After leaving Kakarot's room, Vegeta stopped just outside the door and smiled to himself. He hadn't had something so worthwhile to work towards in a long, long time. Now, Kakarot was nearly in his grasp, and Vegeta wasn't going to lose that for anything, even if the humans were becoming suspicious.

But there was no time to waste. Vegeta closed his eyes, concentrating on the quiet sounds of night before deciding that Goku was asleep in his room once again. Slowly, Vegeta turned the knob behind him, opening the creaking door to make his way swiftly to Goku's bedside. The handsome man looked so still in his sleep, yet was still showing signs of life that Vegeta could do without.

With a sigh, Vegeta descended on his unconscious love, guiding his lips towards Goku's neck. Gently, so as not to wake him, Vegeta bit down over the mark he'd left before, avoiding the small bite left behind by Snake. He had to have another taste of that delicious blood before his guest would leave in the morning. He knew Kakarot's morning departure was inevitable. Kakarot was never one to stay still for long, not when there was a challenge, and Vegeta hadn't really given him any answers in regards to Bulma Brief.

But Vegeta smirked as he decided on a parting gift which would make certain that Kakarot would return to him. Vegeta raised a fingertip to his mouth, pulling his lips back to expose the sharp tip of his fang to his own finger. He hissed at the sharp sensation before blood pooled around the self-inflicted wound. Smiling, he lowered his finger towards the mouth of his sleeping, recently bitten object of affection.

Placing his finger against the warm, supple, slightly parted lips of his lover, Vegeta smiled again. As he watched the drop of his blood fall between those lips, Vegeta stood upright, smirking to himself. Kakarot's change would begin. It would only take one more night to complete the transformation. But Vegeta needed Kakarot's absolute cooperation. He would have to seduce 'Goku' into allowing it. The challenge was one Vegeta was more than willing to tackle.

"Sorry for bringing you all here this morning, but we made a terrible discovery last night, which must be addressed right away."

The others, who were gathered together in the King home looked awestruck by Piccolo's speech, with the exception of Master Roshi. The older man bowed his head and let out a heavy sigh, while a new face came rushing in through the front door to join Chi-Chi, Ox, and Roshi sitting with Piccolo on the fine sofas of the Kings' sitting room.

Krillin looked wide-eyed as he entered the room. "Hey, everybody! What's this emergency?"

"Miss Brief is," Roshi hesitated as he looked up to meet Piccolo's knowing gaze, "well, something strange has happened."

As the others absorbed the ambiguous information in perplexity, Piccolo intervened. "Where is Mr. Son? I need to speak to him."

Chi-Chi sighed and rubbed a hand up and down her opposite arm. "He...never returned last night." Her despondent look turned angry. "Ooh! When he gets back here-"

"He's in danger." Piccolo said bluntly, before looking to the others. "We need to find him right away, or we may have an even bigger problem than I suspected."

Chi-Chi gasped, her anger over Goku's irresponsible disappearance already forgotten with Piccolo's alarming statement. Goku being in danger had to be the most terrible thing she could hear, especially after what happened to Bulma. Her worst fears were coming to fruition.

"What do you mean?" Krillin asked, shaking his head. "I don't understand what's going on at all."

Chi-Chi rose to her feet and glared at Piccolo. "Goku's whereabouts last night have something to do with those marks on his neck, right?"

Piccolo inhaled sharply. "It-"

The sound of the door opening alerted Piccolo to turn around, especially because he noticed the surprised expressions of Mr. King, Miss King, and Mr. Roshi, who were all facing the doorway.

Chi-Chi cried enthusiastically as she ran for the door. "Goku!"

"Goku!" Everyone else smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

Piccolo gaped at the face of the man he'd been waiting to see. The pallor of Goku Son's complexion was an unnerving sight. Now Piccolo was seeing too many symptoms. Son's complexion, his aforementioned bite wounds, his mysterious absence during the night, and the discomfort showing by the pained expression on the man's face all added up to trouble. Piccolo felt very strongly that Mr. Son could be hiding something, or even could already be on the wrong side of this fight, depending how far things had gone the previous night.

Goku walked in with Chi-Chi latched onto his arm and an apologetic smile on his face. "W-what are you all doing gathered here so early?"

"Mr. Son!" Piccolo said. "Where were you last night?"

"Uh!" Goku startled as he walked forward, before peering suspiciously at Piccolo. "Who are you?"

Chi-Chi rubbed a hand soothingly down Goku's arm. "He's Mr. Piccolo, the man who graciously came here at Father and Mr. Roshi's behest to help you, Goku."

"Help me?" Goku asked dubiously as he processed the intense look directed towards him from Piccolo. "He doesn't look like he wants to help me."

"I want to help this town, Mr. Son." Piccolo said. "Whether I help you depends on where you currently stand in this."

As the others frowned incredulously at Piccolo, Goku tilted his head. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Piccolo narrowed his eyes at Goku. "How are you feeling, Mr. Son? You look pale. And being out and about so early must be uncomfortable for you."

Goku furrowed his brows in confusion. He realized he looked pale yesterday, so that was no surprise. But this strange man's astute observation of his not feeling well at the moment was unnerving. Goku wondered why Piccolo was attributing his unwell feelings to the early hour. Truth be told, he was incredibly relieved upon entering the front door. The sun outside along his walk from Vegeta's castle was so bright, it seemed to be giving him a great headache and hurting his eyes.

"I-I do have a bit of a headache," when Chi-Chi and the others responded with alarmed expression, Goku hurried to amend his statement, "but I'm fine, really."

"Goku," Chi-Chi released her grip on her fiancé's arm, "you should go lay down. Mr. Piccolo just said you shouldn't be up and about, and you just said yourself that you're not feeling well."

Goku opened his mouth to argue, but at Chi-Chi's heated glare, he gave in, realizing there was no point in arguing with her. He grumbled in defeat, "Alright, Chi-Chi."

"Before you do," Piccolo said, stopping Goku in his progress towards the stairs, "tell us where you were last night, before you came here."

Goku froze, before turning to face Piccolo with a sense of unease. For some reason, he felt he shouldn't tell Piccolo where he was. In spite of the strange happenings at Vegeta's castle, Goku didn't believe Vegeta deserved having anyone storm his place, especially when Goku knew the prince would be resting again, as he was when Goku left. And for some reason, Goku suspected that Piccolo intended to storm the castle.

A sly smile crossed Piccolo's face. "What's causing your hesitation, Mr. Son? Are you protecting the vampire?"

Goku gasped as Krillin, Mr. Roshi and Mr. King all exclaimed, "vampire?!"

"Yes." Piccolo said. "I'm afraid that is the monster that killed Miss Brief, and currently intends to kill Mr. Son."

Goku felt anger rise to his chest. This man had no right to come into his home and make such alarming and false claims. Goku was certain something strange had happened to Bulma, but it certainly couldn't have been a vampire. Especially since Piccolo seemed to be insinuating that the person Goku spent the evening with was the vampire, and Vegeta was no monster. He was just a man who liked Goku (maybe more than he should have), but definitely did not want Goku dead.

Goku scoffed, before glaring at Piccolo. "That's not true! I don't care who you are, Piccolo. I'm not listening to this!"

Chi-Chi reached for Goku. "Goku!"

Goku swatted Chi-Chi's hand from his shoulder and stepped towards the stairs again, while continuing to glare at Piccolo. "Bulma's death hasn't been easy on anyone, and now you scare them all by claiming that there's a monster on the loose, when nothing of the sort is happening?!"

Piccolo crossed his arms. "Isn't it? The vampire is a sly, seductive creature, Son. It gradually feeds off its victim's blood to eventually claim the soul, without its victim ever realizing what is happening before it's too late. You have the marks on your neck, you are losing pallor, and you clearly are feeling sensitive to light. I've noticed the symptoms by watching you since you arrived here."

Krillin gasped. "Goku! He's right! I was wondering if something was wrong with your eyes. I've never seen you so tense and edgy, either."

"Maybe Chi-Chi's right." Goku said with an angered glower at his friends. "I should get some rest. Maybe then, you'll all realize it's Bulma you should be focused on, not me."

When Goku turned to storm up the stairs, Chi-Chi grunted in frustration and moved to pursue him, but Piccolo placed a stilling hand on her shoulder. "Leave him for now. I have all the information I needed from him for the time being, and he is right about one thing."

Roshi removed his hat and rubbed his bald head. "What's that?"

"He is not our biggest concern right now. We need to find Miss Brief and the vampire."

"This is so unlike Goku to act this way." Chi-Chi grumbled as she reluctantly stepped down the stairs.

"Another symptom confirming the changes taking place in Mr. Son, I'm afraid." Piccolo said indifferently.

"Wait." Krillin said. "Find Bulma?"

Piccolo and Roshi exchanged a glance, both knowing Bulma was not dead, at least not any longer. "It's too late for Miss Brief." Piccolo said. "She is one of them now, though not as dangerous as the vampire who turned her. The best we can do for her is give her a true death so her soul can rest."

Chi-Chi gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. "That's horrible! And you think Gok-"

"It's not too late for him." Piccolo said. "Not if we act fast. Does anyone know who Mr. Son was visiting yesterday?"

Krillin, Mr. Roshi, Chi-Chi and Mr. King exchanged curious glances, looking dumbfounded, until a small, hopeful smile crossed Krillin's face. "Maybe Yamcha would know."

"Go ask him." Piccolo said, before scowling. "I don't know why he isn't here already. I thought Mr. Puar cared about this cause."

Krillin nodded. "I'm sure he just slept in." He jumped when Piccolo glowered impatiently. "Right! I'll get Yamcha at his place and be right back."

While Krillin hurried out the door, Piccolo watched the others carefully. They were still straining themselves, trying to think of who could be behind this. Piccolo suspected Miss King would be the most likely one to know, given that she was Son's fiancé and apparently such a close friend with Miss Brief.

Piccolo cleared his throat. "You should all know, whoever this vampire is, he or she would be someone new to the area, who Miss Brief would've had interest in before she died. You also would never see this person out and about during the daytime."

Chi-Chi inhaled sharply, shocked by the news. Yamcha most certainly couldn't be the vampire, because he'd been a local since before Chi-Chi could remember, and he was always out during the day. There was only one other person striking Bulma's interest, and he fit Piccolo's description perfectly. But if Goku visited Prince Vegeta, what would he have to hide? Would giving the prince's name to Piccolo betray Goku somehow? Well, that wasn't true, she decided, not if this was for Goku's own good.

With a downcast gaze, Chi-Chi sighed. "Prince Vegeta."

At Chi-Chi's quiet utterance, Roshi raised a brow. "What's that, Miss King?"

"Prince Vegeta?" Mr. King repeated. "Chi-Chi, are you sure?"

"He is recently arrived here, by a mysterious boat crash with no other survivors, no less." Roshi mused while pulling pensively on his white beard. "And I believe I saw Miss Brief dancing with him at the Briefs' party."

Ox King's eyes bulged. "Yes, yes, you're right, Mr. Roshi! Good thinking, Chi-Chi!" He looked at Piccolo with a frown of consternation. "So, Prince Vegeta is a…vampire?"

Chi-Chi wrung her hands together and flushed. "I only know how Goku likes to run off to that old castle to explore so often...and Bulma really liked Prince Vegeta."

Piccolo ignored Mr. King's question and turned to Chi-Chi with a raised brow. "That old castle?"

"Apparently," Roshi said, "it's been in Prince Vegeta's family for decades, maybe longer." He shrugged. "I believe it was the reason he came here."

"Perhaps." Piccolo said while walking to the sofa where the others were gathered together. "But not the only reason. Someone must take me to this castle today."

When Piccolo looked expectantly at one person after another, Miss King shook her head in refusal. Ox joined hands with his daughter, indicating he would not leave her. Piccolo would not argue with that. Someone needed to stay and keep an eye on Mr. Son, which would be more difficult than they might anticipate. However, this left only Mr. Roshi as an option for his guide, and Piccolo did not want a feeble old man's assistance.

Roshi scowled at Piccolo. "Is there a problem, Mr. Piccolo? I'm more capable than I look."

Piccolo frowned. Before he could tell the old man how terribly incapable he appeared to Piccolo, the door flew open with Krillin rushing in again, this time looking in a panic compared to his prior arrival.

"Krillin?" Chi-Chi asked as Ox King furrowed his brows with concern.

Krillin panted and braced his hands against his knees, shaking his head as he attempted to speak but couldn't catch his breath. The others waited anxiously but patiently to hear the cause of his distress.

"Y-Yamcha," Krillin huffed, "wasn't home."

Chi-Chi placed her hands on her hips. "Is that all, Krillin? Really, you made us all nervous for that? Go look for him!"

Krillin waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "That's just it! I did."

Piccolo became alarmed. "Did you find him?"

Piccolo knew, after their separation at the cemetery the night before, that no one understood the dangers as well as he did. If they weren't careful and a vampire decided to attack...

Krillin lowered his head. "I did. He was...he is...dead."

"Dammit!" Piccolo growled. "I told him to be careful!"

"Yamcha's dead too now?!" Chi-Chi shrieked before falling into her father's receptive arms.

"This is terrible!" Mr. King said as he supported his collapsing daughter. "What can we do?"

Piccolo focused his gaze on Krillin and spoke through clenched teeth. "There is much to be done, and no time to waste. Someone needs to drive a stake through Mr. Puar's heart, before we have another one on our hands."

"M-me?" Krillin said, reluctantly agreeing to be the one put to that task. He was the one, after all, who found Yamcha and knew where the body was. Yamcha was also his friend. As difficult and gruesome as his assignment sounded, he also suspected that the other tasks to come would be worse.

"If any of you come across Bulma Brief, she needs the same treatment. Don't be fooled by her act of seduction." As Roshi opened his mouth to object with a pout, Piccolo glared sternly. "A stake in her heart, Mr. Roshi, or she will kill you."

Roshi gulped, but nodded his agreement. He hated the thought of having to respond to the advances from a beautiful young woman with violence, but he understood that Bulma Brief was no longer a woman, but a monster in woman's skin.

"Mr. and Miss King," Piccolo addressed the distressed father and daughter, "I will need you two to keep a close eye on Son, and watch for any signs of his condition changing. Do not let him leave this place, especially after nightfall."

Chi-Chi's lip trembled as she nodded with determination. She wouldn't let anything happen to Goku, she reminded herself. She would sit by his bedside all night, she would feed him there in his room, she would even strap him to the bed if he became resistant, as she knew he often would do in regards to doctor's orders. But she would not let her fiancé die.

Piccolo reached into his coat, pulling out an item to hand to Chi-Chi. "Hang this above his window."

Chi-Chi raised a brow as she opened her palm to inspect the jagged item deposited there harshly by Piccolo. It was a wooden cross, no bigger than four inches long. She couldn't imagine what good it would do if this evil was so powerful, but she accepted it, assuming that every bit of effort was worthwhile.

"Mr. King," Piccolo said, "do you have garlic in your kitchen?"

"O-of course! I love garlic in my food!"

Piccolo gave a curt nod. "Good. Hang it all around Son's room. The more, the better."

Chi-Chi furrowed her brows. "But he has a headache. Wouldn't the smell make it worse?"

That brought a smirk to Piccolo's face. "Mr. Son won't like the garlic, no. If the process is farther than I'm assuming, it may even make him sicker. But that is a substance that sickens vampires, Miss King, not people. If we expose him to it, it only helps deter the process from completing."

"Oh." Chi-Chi gasped. "W-we'll get plenty of garlic in there, then!"

"Good." Piccolo said. "Then I can handle the most important task of all-handling the root of these problems. I will go to Prince Vegeta's castle to confront the vampire."

Roshi gawked at the determined man. "W-what will you do, Mr. Piccolo? If he truly is such a powerful monster, surely you're no match for him."

Piccolo glared and clenched his jaw. None of the people of this town realized how committed Piccolo was to fighting this evil. For centuries, his family had been enemies with the vampire. They thought they had exterminated them all, but of course, the prince had to remain elusive. The one regret Piccolo had was that he never had the chance to avenge his father's death against the one who killed his father over two centuries ago. Piccolo would always remember the name of his father's murderer, though he never saw the attack. He had only just been born at the time, though now even he'd been hunting the monsters himself for more than one hundred years. Not only vampires had secrets.

"Mr. Piccolo?"

At Roshi's prodding, Piccolo snapped out of his deep thoughts when the old man cast him a dubious look. Piccolo grunted in disdain. "We'll see who's no match for who. Are you coming with me or not?"

Roshi raised his brows, finding himself somewhere between surprise and disbelief at Piccolo's attitude. "I suppose I have to, for you to find Prince Vegeta's castle. At any rate, you shouldn't go alone up there. I know Prince Vegeta has a servant-a butler, of sorts. The man is huge. I wouldn't want-"

"I'm not you." Piccolo interrupted gruffly. "But if you feel the need to come, let's go. I want the element of surprise, and to get there well before sunset."

With that, Piccolo tipped his hat at the others and left the King residence with Roshi, while Chi-Chi and Ox set about prepping Goku's room for his protection. Krillin set off to put Yamcha to rest, while all of them warily anticipated nightfall. Now, in the hours of daylight, they had the advantage. But they all knew that in the evening, the vampires would rise, and Goku might become difficult to handle, if his behavior upon returning home was any indication. Meanwhile, Prince Vegeta slept in the darkness of his castle basement, protected by Nappa, but unaware of the planned assault coming to his castle.