Hi, so I thought I'd preface this chapter with a note. This is the second time I'm uploading this chapter today.

So, there have seemingly been some problems with this site and there are many authors, such as myself, unable to see any stat updates as far back as September 15th, along with this I have heard that some people are not receiving email updates.

If you are reading this and you follow my story, if you don't already do so I thought I would ask if you could give my Facebook page a follow as it's one of the places where I update what's going on with this story and can let people know when I've uploaded a chapter. That page is Dragon Ball AG - FanFiction and I'm sure you can find it relatively easy by just giving it a search on Facebook. Also, if you are able to, could you maybe drop a little review on this story just to let me know if you are reading it, guest review or otherwise, I don't mind. I just want to know if people are actually seeing my updates.

I may also look into putting this story on other sites, just in case these problems persist, but for now I just want to keep writing and uploading here, as I have done for over 9 years.

Thank you.

Chapter 3: Pride and Ego

In the week that followed the meeting at the Capsule Corp. tower, Noca and Pan found that little had changed in their lives, with nothing of note happening in that time. However, that didn't mean that their lives felt peaceful. There was still a tremendous sense of unease that surrounded their day-to-day lives, and both of them were still processing the emotional turmoil that lingered from the invasion. Despite this, they tried to force some sort of normality back into their lives.

Pan thought it would be good if she accepted a few tasks from her Capsule Corp. job that could be done while she was at home, even though she had been offered extended time off. Pan didn't like sitting and doing nothing all day and needed to keep busy. She had already started getting back into exercising, going for runs most mornings, and just trying to keep her mind and body active. But that wasn't enough, and that was why she decided to contact her supervisor and ask for some work to do at home.

It was very simple for her, she could set aside time in the days she wanted to work, and she had multiple places in the apartment that she could sit to get on with work, or even a local café should she want a change of scenery.

At the same time, while Pan was forcing herself back into normality, Noca postponed his return to work, but mostly so he could remain there for Pan. There were times where Pan would become overwhelmed by something, or was reminded of Rei, and Noca was there for her in those moments to help ease her, and she appreciated that. It was a part of the reason why Noca didn't go back to work – because Pan still wanted him there. They were lucky to have each other.

Pan was also lucky to have her friends, which was something else that offered normality without making everything strange. She had her university friends Sakura and Lisa who she would occasionally spend time with, and then there was a day where she jumped on a group video call with Bra, Holline, and Kiera, and all of them, with Noca and Dom, made plans to meet up as a normal group of couples.

Noca was initially surprised when Pan jumped at that opportunity, half-expecting her to mull it over but she was very eager to continue transitioning back to normality. The plan was set. The three couples would meet up somewhere in Satan City centre and find a nice place to go and just have a good time.

Tuesday 13th June Age 798

West City – Capsule Corp. Compound

There had been quite a few things happening around Capsule Corp. in recent days, whether in the tower or at the compound. However, more often than not, there was always something weird happening at the compound.

These days, Bulma was finding herself less and less involved in the business side of things, mainly because she was beginning to accept her age and would rather spend her time enjoying herself and working on things that mattered to her, rather than sitting in boardrooms and talking to a bunch of business-minded people. Recently, she had enjoyed working with both Bra and Dom in the labs. She missed the hands-on lab-work and was glad to have some projects to work on again.

Meanwhile, it was Gohan who had started to take on some more executive roles at the tower, and a lot of Bulma's old roles, but it was also seen as the right time for Trunks to move his focus towards bigger things too. As the older child of Bulma, and with his own family to look out for, Trunks felt it was right to point his intelligence in another direction that could benefit everyone. Although, following recent events, he had found himself setting aside time to train again.

It was pretty much settled that Trunks would move towards the business side of things within the company, as it was clear that Bra was the one who would take over from Bulma on the technology side, alongside her work-partner and boyfriend, Dom.

Speaking of Bra and Dom, it wasn't a standard Tuesday for the young couple. They were out of university for the summer and wouldn't be expected back to their studies until late September, so they had plenty of time to focus on some personal projects, or even get a head start on their projects for the next semester. However, their focus had been drawn towards something else instead, something bigger.

With the help of Bulma, and the extra-terrestrial robot AIR-3N, Bra and Dom had taken on the task of helping to adapt a Capsule Corp. shuttle for long-range space-travel so that the crew of Talia, Niku, Surto, and the aforementioned AIR-3N could leave planet Earth and head back out to do whatever they needed to do next.

Not that it wasn't an exciting project for them all to work on, and with Bulma's previous experience working on space-travel, and AIR-3N's extensive databanks and knowledge from outer space, the project was moving faster than it would were Bra and Dom doing it alone. Plus, there was the extra positive that came from working alongside AIR-3N. It meant the young couple could learn more about the advanced tech that made AIR-3N tick, and they could figure out how to incorporate that into the future of Capsule Corp. tech.

With AIR-3N keeping himself busy, his crew figured they should do the same. Surto had gone travelling with Piccolo, hoping to learn lots from his fellow Namekian, someone he shared a kinship with, which was even more important now that they were supposedly the last of their race.

This left Talia and Niku at the compound, and both of them were finding ways to keep themselves busy. Oddly enough, Niku was fitting in very well, managing to share a small bond with Vegeta. They both fought side-by-side on Kuyato's warship and had similar experiences working within the Cold Empire, and they could perhaps learn from each other. Niku also had a good time working with Dom on stuff for their new ship, as he would take care of the bulk of the heavy lifting, which was handy for everyone.

Niku wasn't the only one learning from Vegeta, although he was the only one actively learning from conversations. Talia managed to pick up a few things about energy control from the Saiyan Prince, seeing as she had a blossoming power that she knew very little about. She jumped at the chance to train inside the gravity room at the same time as Vegeta because it meant she could refine her skills and watch the Prince go through his own training regimen.

However, it had not gotten to the point where Vegeta would actively train with Talia or let her spar with him. That was the inevitable next step should they continue training in the same room, but for the most part it had been silent fighting. Although it was clear that the trio had a lot more in common than it had ever seemed before.

The gravity room was where all three of them were on this fine Tuesday, each doing their own thing. Vegeta in his zone, doing some speed training in strong gravity, trying to hit his target drones. Niku had his own gravity zone, where he was trying to improve his speed and agility with his axe and hammer. Talia, however, was doing something very different from both of them. She wasn't in a gravity situation, and instead was sat off to the side, on the ground with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. She was trying to focus on energy control with the distractions of the training going on around her.

Not far from the gravity room, in the main secret hangar, Bra and Dom were busy working on the brand-new capsule-shuttle as it was getting closer and closer to completion. AIR-3N, still just a head without a body, was hooked up to a computer that was connected to the ship, and Bulma was sat at said computer doing her part. She was sifting through the maps and charts that AIR-3N had stored within his databanks, which would serve as a benefit to the Earthlings, so they could learn more about space without having to actually go searching too hard. Bulma loved to learn, but she couldn't deny she loved an effective shortcut every now and then.

Bra and Dom were sitting up the front of the incomplete ship, inside the cockpit, or control room. Dom was sitting in the pilot's chair at the front control desk, while Bra was on the floor next to him, with a panel open and a bunch of wires laying all over the place. She was fiddling with the odd wire here and there, reaching right inside the panel, while Dom had a capsule-pad in his hand that he was tapping.

"Hey, Airen," Dom said, "could you upload that file?"

AIR-3N might have been outside the ship, plugged into a computer, but he was connected to the ship and could speak through the control panel of the ship while still working on the computer outside.

"Of course," AIR-3N replied.

Almost instantaneously, a file flashed up on Dom's pad and he tapped the icon, opening a page of code.

"That's good, it's uploading now," Dom said, "could you make sure all the additional data is sent up too?"

"Miss Bulma," AIR-3N said, "please open the file that is labelled 'STAR-CHARTS' and input this series of numbers and letters."

Bulma opened what she had been told to and readied herself over the keyboard.

"Go ahead," she said.

"ZERO-ONE-E-O-FOUR-TWO-ZERO-Z-D-SIX-NINE-B-STAR-C-C," AIR-3N said.

"Done," Bulma replied, hitting enter.

"Got it," Dom said, through the speaker on Bulma's computer.

Back on the ship, Bra sat back from the open panel of messy wires and looked up at her boyfriend.

"I'm nearly finished with this stuff," Bra said, "hand me those cutters, would ya?"

"Sure," Dom said, grabbing some wire-cutters and handing them to the young woman. "Make sure you cut the right ones."

"I know what I'm doing," Bra said as she grabbed the cutters and reached back into the panel.

She cut something and then placed the cutters on the floor beside her and reached both arms back inside, but there was a quick spark as a light flashed in front of Dom and Bra winced, pulling back out immediately.

"Ouch," she said, moving away from the panel and shaking her right hand.

"Are you ok? Did you cut the right one?" Dom asked.

Bra shot him a glare and sighed.

"Yes, I'm fine, and yes, I cut the right one," Bra said, dropping into the seat beside Dom. "Airen, can we try switching her on?"

"Yes, everything looks ready on my end," AIR-3N replied.

"Good," Bra said quietly to herself.

She reached her hands out and started to flip a few switches while Dom kept his eyes on the pad. The panel came to life, lighting up, and the program on Dom's pad started running through a lot of code. Bra then pressed a big button on the control desk and the main engine of the ship seemed to come alive too. Although, that wasn't what they were testing this time.

In front of both Bra and Dom, in the middle of the control desk, a big holographic map appeared, although it flickered a lot, barely staying on long enough for anyone to get a good view of what was even being displayed. Bra groaned.

"This holo-map still won't work," she said.

"That is fine," AIR-3N replied, "at least it is fine for right now. We can still input the co-ordinates."

"Ok," Bra said.

She pointed to Dom, and he swiped across on his pad until he found what he was looking for. He tapped something and then reached forward to tap another thing on the control desk. The map flickered off for a moment and then it finally flashed again, showing the image of a planet, although the image continued to fizzle and flicker.

"Is that right?" Bra asked.

"The co-ordinates were for a planet known as Eoz. Is that what you see?" AIR-3N asked.

Dom looked down at his pad again and then up at the hologram. There was some writing on the hologram and Dom managed to find the information on his pad that aligned with what he could see.

"Yeah, it's the right planet," Dom confirmed.

"So, we've got it working?" Bra asked, "it's showing the right thing?"

"It looks like it," Dom replied.

"Finally," Bra exclaimed, exasperatedly.

"This is very good," AIR-3N added, "could you please set a course for the planet Eoz."

"Sure," Bra said, and she leaned forward, tapping some stuff on the control desk before hitting the final button.

She looked up at the hologram and it flickered off again but didn't come back on. Bra groaned and clenched her fists in frustration and then slammed one hand down on the console, causing Dom to flinch. The map flickered on again and this time it displayed a much wider view. There was a green dot labelled as Eoz and then there was a blue dot labelled as Earth, and there was a red line that weaved its way across the hologram, linking the two dots.

"There it is," Bra said, holding her arms up and turning to look at Dom, with a big smile.

"Airen, we've got it working," Dom said, "we do still need to make sure the holo-map stays on but, yeah, it's working."

"This is great news, thank you," AIR-3N said.

"There's still some stuff we need to refine," Bulma added, dampening the mood a little bit, "we should run a few more diagnostics, but at the moment, it's all running at a satisfactory level."

"Satisfactory is good for now," Bra said, turning all the way around in the chair and slouching down, checking her watch. "But I think we've made a great breakthrough today."

Bra stood up and stretched her arms up and out wide, definitely feeling stiff from being on the floor for so long.

"What's the time?" Dom asked.

"Coming up to four. We should probably wash up and get ready, Pan and Noca will be here soon," Bra explained.

It was actually closing in on 4:30pm when Noca and Pan arrived. When the couple landed outside, they went straight through to the residential building and met with Bulma in the open plan kitchen- dining-living room area. She was leaning against the counter having a small glass of wine after a busy day, with her capsule-pad in hand.

"Hey," Bulma greeted as the Saiyans walked in.

Pan and Noca both greeted Bulma, with the former going over to give the older woman a quick hug.

"Is Bra about?" Pan asked.

"Yeah, they just finished working about a half hour ago, said they were going to get ready so they shouldn't be long," Bulma replied, then she looked to Noca. "Vegeta has been asking when you're coming back."

"I'll bet he has," Noca said, rolling his eyes. "What did you tell him?"

"I said you'll be back to work when you feel you're ready, and that you'll visit if invited," Bulma said.

"I suppose he didn't want to invite me himself?" Noca questioned, a half-amused tone to his voice.

Bulma scoffed and shook her head.

"Well, he knows how to find me if he's that desperate," Noca said, rather dismissively, but trying to remain polite while speaking to Bulma.

Pan whacked Noca on the arm, although she didn't put any power in it.

"I'm gonna go up and see if Bra is ready, maybe you should go find Dom," Pan said, deciding to gently rub Noca's arm after giving him a whack.

"She's in her room, probably still messing about with that diagnostic," Bulma said, as Pan left the room. "Dom might be back in the hangar though."

Noca turned to look back at Bulma.

"Oh, thanks, I'll go give him a kick," Noca joked, smiling at Bulma as he turned and left the room too.

He descended the staircase, knowing full well that the gravity room was down that way too, but he kept in his mind that he was going to the hangar and hoped the only person he would see was Dom. Fortunately, as he stepped into the hangar he saw that Dom was indeed still there, standing at the computer with AIR-3N's head next to him, and Niku was standing there too.

They knew Noca walked in when the doors slid open and both of them looked over right away.

"Oh, you're here," Dom said, waving to Noca then looking to his watch. "Is it that time already?"

"Yeah, it's that time," Noca said, walking in, offering a friendly nod to Niku as well. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm well, Noca. And you?" Niku asked, politely.

"Can't complain," Noca said, saying the most neutral thing he could think of. "How's everything coming along with the ship?"

"It's getting there," Dom replied, "just a few kinks to work out with the engines, and some of the systems, but we're running a few diagnostics on some stuff now. It's hard work, man."

"I bet," Noca replied, scoffing as he stood with his hands in his jacket pockets.

He glanced up at the Capsule-Shuttle in its incomplete stage, but it was clear they had been making great progress and the ship looked rather interesting, design-wise.

"You should drop in and train with us sometime," Niku said, patting Noca on the back.

"Us?" Noca questioned, with a frown.

"Yes, Talia and I have been training inside Vegeta's gravity room," Niku explained, "it's been quite the experience getting to know more about the way Vegeta trains himself."

"Cool," Noca replied, sounding uninterested as he spoke, but doing his best to maintain a polite air.

"The gravity stuff is interesting, I'm certainly feeling stronger than before, and I feel like Talia is doing well too," Niku explained, "she even mentioned that she might challenge Vegeta to a spar soon."

"I thought you said you were training together?" Noca questioned.

"Not exactly. Vegeta keeps to himself, and we kind of observe or do our own thing," Niku replied, "although I have spent some time talking to Vegeta about his time with the Cold Empire."

"Vegeta's not usually the best talker," Noca said, rolling his eyes, "but he's a very motivated fighter."

"He seems different," Dom said, offhandedly.

"What do you mean?" Noca questioned.

"Why not come down and see for yourself?" Niku suggested.

Noca sighed and stared dead ahead, and then took in a deep breath and put on a false but friendly smile.

"Sure, why not," he said, sounding like he was being forced into it, feeling like he was backed into a corner. "I suppose I haven't spoken to Vegeta since the memorial, I'm sure he's chilled out a lot since then."

Noca shot a look to Dom that was rather telling about how Noca really felt about the situation. Niku and the Saiyan walked away together, with Noca keeping his hands in his pockets while Dom remained standing at the computer, watching them walk off for a moment.

"Uh, Airen, once the diagnostics are done can you sent them to Bulma?" Dom asked, taking off his lab coat and leaving it on the back of a chair, "then you can power down for the night."

"Sure thing," AIR-3N replied.

Dom ran to catch up with Noca and Niku, and they all walked down the hallway together towards the gravity room. Noca had told himself he wanted to avoid the gravity room. What was he doing? Niku was leading the way, so he was first to enter the room, and Noca was behind him, but before he entered Dom grabbed his arm.

"Noca, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Dom suggested, seeing that Noca clearly didn't want to face Vegeta.

Noca shook his head.

"Sooner I get this done with the sooner I can relax," Noca replied.

Dom let go of Noca's arm and let the Saiyan enter the gravity room behind Niku, and then the blond man followed up behind them. He knew that Noca and Vegeta hadn't left on good terms the last time they saw one other, after their altercation at the memorial for Rei. He knew it was a tender situation that needed the right person there to keep control of them both. Dom was not that person in either regard, so he was beginning to feel anxious.

When they entered the gravity room Vegeta was keeping himself busy, hovering in the air and throwing a bunch of rapid punches and kicks at nothing, moving around swiftly within his own gravity zone. He didn't spare a glance in the direction of the new arrivals, although he could sense that Noca was with them.

Noca looked over at the computer and saw that the gravity was set at 500x, which was a regular setting for Vegeta, meaning that he wasn't planning to over-exert himself. It was an ordinary workout for the Prince. Noca's eyes moved across the room, and he spotted Talia, sitting cross-legged on a bench with her eyes closed and her hands on her knees.

Unlike Vegeta, Talia was distracted by the new arrivals and her eyes slowly opened to see Niku standing with Dom and…

"Noca!" Talia said, standing up and walking towards them. "So, you finally came to visit us?"

"Well, I'm actually here with Pan, to see Bra and Dom, but I suppose I can say hi to you too," Noca said, offering a friendly smile.

At this point Vegeta had taken a pause and glanced down towards Noca, meeting the young Saiyan's eye for the briefest moment, but then he went back to his punching and kicking. Noca continued to give Vegeta the side-eye for a moment longer, but then shifted his attention back to Talia.

"So, what's been happening with your training then? Niku says you've been down here a lot," Noca asked, genuinely taking an interest in learning more, knowing that Talia has a deep well of power that she had not yet managed to fully tap into. "Were you in a meditative state when we came in?"

"I was," Talia replied.

"I've spent a lot of time meditating in the past, but I'm surprised to see you doing it. It's not something Vegeta would do," Noca said.

"Well, no, but he did briefly mention that it helped you and could help me," Talia said, "although that's the most help he's actually given me."

Noca nodded.

"It's helped a lot though, I'm really learning how to draw out the energy I need and I'm figuring out how to control it better," Talia continued.

"It'll be really effective for making yourself stronger in combat down the line," Noca said.

"I'm hoping to learn how to properly use Ki attacks like you, but I know that'll come in time," Talia said, and then she nudged Noca. "Maybe you and I should have a spar."

Noca scoffed, but it forced Talia to frown at him.

"Do you think I'm too weak to fight you?" Talia questioned.

"What? No, of course not," Noca said, getting defensive, "I just don't…"

"You afraid you'll lose to an amateur?" Talia teased.

Noca smiled and chuckled softly, knowing that Talia wasn't really offended and was just messing with him, but the mood changed when Vegeta scoffed loudly, comically so.

"Good luck getting the boy to put any effort into anything anymore," the Prince called out.

Noca's smile vanished, turning into a frown that was aimed directly at Vegeta.

"Why don't you come down here and say what you have to," Noca said.

Vegeta completely halted his movement and brought his arms down to his sides and scoffed to himself. He quickly descended to the ground but didn't turn to face Noca.

"You're lazy. You've shown me where your real weaknesses lie," Vegeta started, and he lifted his head slightly, but he still didn't look at Noca. "You're a real disappointment.

Noca scoffed again, a slightly amused smirk appearing.

"That really doesn't sound like me," Noca said, shaking his head. "Maybe, just maybe, I'm a tiny bit fed-up with being beaten to near death on a regular basis and then calling it 'training.'"

Noca brought his fingers up for air-quotes when he said 'training,' and that earned another scoff from Vegeta.

"It might come as a surprise to someone like you, but I actually enjoy spending time with my loved ones," Noca added.

Vegeta had started wiping his sweat with a towel, but he glanced over at Noca, meeting his eyes. Noca's smirk faded into a frown, and he stepped towards Vegeta, once, just taking him away from Talia.

"What? Speak," Noca demanded.

He was starting to get sick of Vegeta's antagonistic nature, and even though he knew what Vegeta was doing, he couldn't ignore it.

"If you have a real problem then stop hiding and just step up. Speak!" Noca snapped.

Vegeta chuckled quietly and then inhaled deeply through his nose. He gripped his towel tightly and then threw it to the ground. He turned completely and started to walk towards Noca.

"You may be the only person who hasn't noticed that you have a responsibility, and it requires your full attention. There is a path that has been laid before you and what do you do? You turn you back on your fate, your destiny. Why?" Vegeta started by coming out swinging, but ended it on that question, although Noca felt like he didn't need to answer. "Are you scared? Are you too weak? Or do you truly not care about the people that you claim to love?"

Vegeta left a pause for Noca, even though he knew the boy wouldn't answer. He wanted to give Noca the space for his words to sink in, for Noca to really listen to what the Prince had to say, because like it or not, Vegeta was speaking from the heart. But Noca couldn't hear that and only saw it as Vegeta's typical antagonistic nature, and he frowned again, awaiting Vegeta's continuation.

"You've turned your back on your people, the Saiyan race, just so you can spend some time with your girlfriend. Pan. A Saiyan warrior in her own right. You might not want to see it or understand it, but Pan knows the importance of your journey, but I think it's clear that everything you do is for your own selfish needs," Vegeta continued, unrelenting. "You don't care. Maybe it's time to stop lying to yourself and make a decision. This isn't for Pan, or your friends. It's all for you."

Vegeta jabbed his finger into Noca's chest, and the younger Saiyan rocked slightly from the strength of that action, but he remained standing. He just wasn't expecting it initially and had dropped his guard.

"If you truly gave a damn about everyone around you, if you really cared about Pan, then you would stand up and do your duty instead of pushing it further down the line until someone else gets caught in the crossfire," Vegeta said, lowering his tone, speaking quietly, softly. However, those words cut, as intended.

The words struck Noca to his core, and he tensed up, his frown hardened into a powerful glare. Noca's demeanour had shifted with the subtle accusation in the last thing that Vegeta said.

"Don't you dare," Noca growled, stepping forward, imposing his height over Vegeta.

Noca had spent plenty of time blaming himself for incidents in his past, only to be consistently told that none of it was his fault, but now that he was being accused of something, now that he was being blamed for something, it hurt. It hurt because Noca believed it. But he couldn't dwell on that fact right now. With his eyes growing watery Noca had to stand up for himself.

"I am sick of having the same conversation with over and over again, I'm fed-up!" Noca exclaimed. "You already tried to ruin the memorial with talk of this pathetic quest. I've had enough."

Noca finally turned away, knowing that he had given Vegeta what he wanted by engaging in that argument, but he had allowed Vegeta the chance to speak his mind. In fact, Noca had basically asked for it. He put himself in that situation, but now he desperately wanted out. However, there was a part of him that wanted to hear what the Prince had left to say.

Knowing that he needed to remove himself from the situation he started to walk towards the door, but Vegeta didn't stop.

"You really are weak and stubborn," Vegeta taunted, "and I think it's pretty clear that you are scared."

Noca stopped and chuckled.

"I'm stubborn?" Noca questioned, shaking his head, and laughing, ironically.

He turned around again to face Vegeta.

"I'm not scared, and I'm certainly not weak," Noca stated, "I could have killed him."

"But you didn't," Vegeta replied. "I think that shows weakness."

"I was going to kill him," Noca said.

"Then why didn't you?!" Vegeta asked, raising his voice.

"Because I couldn't! I had something far more important to worry about, because, unlike you, my pride and ego aren't the only things that matter to me!" Noca yelled in response, walking right back to the Prince.

Vegeta took the boy's anger, and they both continued to glare at one another, however, Noca was seething.

"You're scared. Your dignity took a hit when you lost that fight. It put a dent in your overblown ego, it hurt your precious Saiyan pride," Noca said, calmly, but he was berating the Prince. "I see it now. This is all so you can put yourself back on top."

Vegeta raised a brow, unsure of where Noca was taking that, because none of it sounded like it made any sense. But Noca wasn't going for sense.

"You realised something up there, something that I can see now," Noca started, with a smirk on his face. "You saw that you're just another weak, old man, living in the shadow of a stronger Saiyan, just like you always have."

Noca wasn't trying to make a valid argument. Vegeta could see that Noca was just trying to hurt him, because that's what he thought the Prince was doing. But that wasn't the case. Vegeta believed in his words, and he truly believed those things about Noca, but now, the younger Saiyan had taken to fighting words, and unfortunately, it worked.

Vegeta's expression softened slightly, but then he sighed and with a swift movement he slammed his fist right into Noca's face.

His fist struck the younger Saiyan right in the eye, sending him stumbling back. Noca quickly steadied himself and brought his hand to his left eye, while both Talia and Niku stood at the ready as if preparing to hold the Saiyan back. However, what happened next, it was far too swift for anyone else to have the time to react.

Noca brought his hands down by his sides, casually, slowly, and then clenched them into fists and flashed straight to Super Saiyan full power. There were some blue sparks for a moment as he threatened to go to Super Saiyan 2, but he stayed at the first level. He charged at Vegeta, and punched him in the chest, knocking him back into the computer console behind him.

Vegeta glared up at Noca as he clattered into the machine, his arms out wide to stop himself and lessen the impact. His eyes were wide for a moment, but they narrowed. Noca kept his arm raised but it changed from clenched fist to a pointed finger aimed right at the downed Saiyan Prince.

"Stay down, I don't want to fight," Noca said, calmly, although there was an edge to his tone.

Vegeta pushed off the console and cracked his neck as he glared at Noca.

"Tough," he spat, and then flashed Super Saiyan.

He phased forward, instantly, and aimed his own punch for Noca's chest. Noca managed to catch it before it made connection, but the strength that pushed through was enough to force Noca into taking a few steps back. He had to regain a bit of balance and then pushed and managed to leap over Vegeta.

Noca landed and stood straight with his hand raised, palm forward, and as Vegeta turned to face him the younger Saiyan fired a pulse of energy that knocked the Prince from his feet, throwing him away. However, Vegeta stopped himself almost instantly and launched a medium powered Ki blast down at Noca, but the younger Saiyan swatted it into the ground where it detonated safely.

But the Prince had something else up his sleeve, and threw himself towards Noca, punching down on his face and forcing Noca to drop to one knee. He was holding onto his mouth as he dropped, but then Vegeta touched down in front of the younger Saiyan and looked down his nose at the boy.

"Like I said before…" Vegeta started. "Weak."

Noca spat at the floor but didn't look away from Vegeta, so he didn't even notice the blood he spat out, and if he wasn't so blinded by his anger in the moment, he would probably taste it. He inhaled through his nose and shot up, firing an uppercut directly into Vegeta's chin with his right hand, which created an opening for Noca to thump a left-handed punch into Vegeta's chest.

The Prince stumbled back and Noca flipped forward, closing the gap between them, and crashing his foot down on the top of Vegeta's head. The attack flattened Vegeta on the ground, but he pushed himself up quickly, growling with a bubbling anger. He went to move but as soon as he looked up Noca was standing with his hand out again.

"Stop it," Noca said, holding a stern expression with a tone to match.

Vegeta gritted his teeth and bowed his head, but swiftly threw his hand up and grabbed Noca's wrist, moved it out of the way and then fired a Ki blast right into Noca's torso. The blast, at very close proximity to both of them, exploded upon impact and threw both Saiyans in opposite directions.

Noca was thrown back into the console, with the front of his clothes shredded from the attack, and Vegeta was slammed back into the ground due to the angle, creating a large dent.

A couple of floors up in the building, Pan and Bra were sorting through outfits in the latter's bedroom when there was a minor shaking of the ground beneath their feet.

Bra stumbled, having to grab onto her dressing table, and she immediately looked over to Pan.

"What's going on?" Bra asked, knowing that Pan could sense things.

"Well, Noca and your dad… I think that was your dad," Pan said, her brow furrowed.

There was a knock at the door moments after the blast and then, without warning, Dom entered. He looked rather flustered and red, like he had been running.

"Sorry," Dom said, after rushing in.

"What's wrong?" Bra asked.

"It's Noca and Vegeta," Dom said.

"Yeah, Pan can sense them," Bra said, feeling like that wasn't enough to warrant him bursting in when she was with Pan.

"But it's not training…" Dom said.

"It's not?" Pan questioned.

Dom shook his head, showing Pan a worried look.

"I think they're really fighting," Dom added.

The fight had not slowed down, despite the Ki blast exploding between them. It only seemed to get them even more riled up. Vegeta rushed in for two very quick punches but found both of his fists caught in Noca's grip, easily. The younger Saiyan, maintaining a tight grip, lifted Vegeta's arms up high, just showing that he could overpower him.

It allowed Noca a moment to meet Vegeta's eyes again, and look right at him, to try and reason with him.

"Stop fighting me," Noca said, but it came off as a demand, with an undertone that made it sound like Noca believed he could win.

"You wanted this," Vegeta growled.

He kicked Noca in the gut and it was strong enough to get him to let go and stumble back a couple of times. Vegeta grabbed his advantage and moved forward, cracking his knee directly up into Noca's face. The younger Saiyan stumbled back further and brought his hand to his nose, feeling the warm blood in his hands, but it still didn't register in his mind. In his combative state it just didn't faze him.

Noca shook his head, groaning and growling, as if trying to get rid of the pain and amp himself up for whatever came next. He clenched his fists and started running for Vegeta, but the Prince acted quickly and attempted to meet Noca's run with a strong punch. However, Noca acted just as quickly and grabbed Vegeta right wrist with his left hand and moved it aside, out wide. Then the younger Saiyan thrust his own right hand forward to try and grab Vegeta around the throat.

Vegeta wasn't going to allow that to happen and managed to grab Noca's hand with his own free left hand, stopping Noca inches from grabbing his throat. The two of them were locked in that position for a moment, glaring at each other, seething with anger.

"Give up," Noca said, "you can't win."

Vegeta scoffed and twisted Noca's wrist, which came as a shock to Noca who hadn't prepared himself. It caused Noca to let go on Vegeta's other hand and the Prince kicked at Noca's knee, knocking his leg out and forcing the young Saiyan to drop to one knee. Then Vegeta punched down into Noca's face and twisted around him, wrapping his arms around Noca's head in a sort of sleeper hold or headlock, slightly choking him.

He wasn't trying to suffocate Noca, he was just trying to make it difficult for him to think or act effectively. Noca tried to get out of it but, for the most part, he wasn't putting that much effort in.

"Go on, you can do it," Vegeta said, taunting him. "If you think you're so strong and capable then break out of this and beat me!"

Noca knew what Vegeta was doing, so he slowed his attempts to break-out. He let Vegeta have this one because he knew just how much that would frustrate him.

"What are you doing?" Vegeta asked, tightening his grip briefly, hoping to see a response from Noca. "Go on, do it!"

Noca still did nothing. Vegeta started to growl, quietly, but it very quickly grew into a louder and more intense yell.

"Fight back!" Vegeta yelled, basically into Noca's ear.

He didn't respond.

Vegeta huffed and tightened his grip further, intentionally trying to hurt Noca at that point. There was no sense in holding back. He wanted to push Noca. He wanted the boy to make the right choice. It wasn't working.

Before the situation could get even more intense or dangerous the doors opened behind Talia and Niku, and Pan rushed in followed by Dom and Bra. Pan stopped when she saw what was happening and the state Noca was in, but Bra pushed past her.

"Dad! Let go of him!" Bra called out.

Vegeta looked up and saw his daughter. He sighed and dropped Noca, letting him hit the ground. The Prince stepped back in a huff and started to walk away. Noca took in a deep breath as he lay on the floor and started coughing, as he clearly couldn't breathe. Pan rushed over to him and helped move him, so he was sitting up.

"Are you ok?" She asked, holding his arm, and putting a hand on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Noca replied, sounding out of breath. He coughed again and looked at Pan. "How are you?"

Pan sighed and helped him up off the floor. Noca managed to turn and look at Vegeta as he stood, but the Prince wasn't even facing him. Noca put his hand on Pan's shoulder and nodded at her to show he was ok to stand and walk by himself.

Noca started towards the exit, ignoring everyone else as he walked, and Pan followed closely behind, although she stopped to speak to Bra first.

"I wanna get him home and see how he is, but I'll call you," Pan said, knowing that they had plans together.

"It's ok, go," Bra said, nodding.

Pan left the room, following Noca, and it left everyone else to just stand around awkwardly in the gravity room. Talia and Niku looked at each other, while Bra just glared at her father.

"He got what he wanted," Vegeta stated, but then he scoffed to himself, grabbed his towel off the ground and walked away to the showers.