Disclaimer: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, and their respective franchises are the property of Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama.

Dragon Ball Saga, Part 8: Out of the Fire

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Seriously?!"

"Yep. The radar doesn't lie: it's definitely in there."

Vegeta groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fantastic," he muttered.

Bulma nodded, tucking the Dragon Radar away in her pocket, before sighing as she looked up at the mountain that lay before them. "No kidding."

Three days had passed since their encounter with Yamcha and Puar. The group had completed their trek across the Diablo Desert, which had been sped up considerably by Yamcha's car, and were now approaching the source of the next Dragon Ball: a tall, craggy mountain, shrouded in clouds, with a large stone castle at its summit.

The only problem was that the "clouds" were actually smoke. Because the mountain in question was on fire.

Not just the plants on it. The mountain itself. The entire thing, from ground level to the very top, was engulfed in a fiery inferno, its hellish glow visible for miles. Curiously, despite the absence of anything that should be able to burn, the flames continued to rage, swirling over the barren stone as if it was dry grass.

The most annoying part was that, according to Bulma's Dragon Radar, the Dragon Ball they were looking for was located inside the castle, at the very top of the mountain.

"Any ideas?" Bulma inquired as the group made their way through the scrubland towards the base of the burning mountain. "We'll have to get through that fire somehow if we're going to get to the castle."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow, thinking it over. Well, it's fire, not a physical barrier, so I'm not sure how well blasting our way through would go… "I could just fly to the top," he murmured contemplatively, "but I'd still have to get into the castle and find the Dragon Ball. The heat wouldn't be a problem – I could use my ki to shield myself from the flames – but there can't be much oxygen up there."

"Yeah, this place looks pretty dangerous," Goku remarked, frowning. "That fire's really big."

"Not to mention the Ox King," Oolong muttered.

"What?" Goku blinked curiously. "Who's the Ox King?"

"Supposedly, he's the guy who owns this mountain and the surrounding lands," the shapeshifter explained, glancing around nervously. "He's supposed to be some kind of monster who drives away or kills anybody that trespasses within his domain."

"Oh, wow!" Goku's eyes widened and he grinned excitedly. "He sounds awesome!"

Yamcha hung back, a little apart from the others, with Puar remaining faithfully by his side. The bandit kept quiet, not wanting to provoke Vegeta's anger. The memories of the beating he'd suffered during their fight, and of Vegeta's anger when he'd found out about the deal Goku had made with him, were still vivid in his head.

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Oh, come on, Vegeta! He won't get in the way, I promise!"

"It's completely out of the question, Kakarot! Bringing the girl and the pig along is bad enough; I'm not going to tolerate bringing this weakling as well!"

"But you don't understand!" Goku exclaimed, his eyes wide and beseeching. "You're the one who's always telling me I need to get stronger. And having another sparring partner will help me do that! C'mon, please?" He turned to Yamcha, smiling. "You won't cause any trouble, will ya?"

Yamcha nodded quickly. "Yeah, he's right!" he seconded. "I don't care what you guys are looking for; I just really want to meet the Turtle Hermit, and I'd be happy to teach Goku some of my moves in exchange. And I won't cause you any trouble, I swear."

Faster than the bandit's eyes could follow, Vegeta phased into view directly in front of him, the younger man's cold eyes now locked with his own. Yamcha flinched back violently, but managed to stand his ground.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed slightly, sending a threatening glare. "For your sake, I hope not," he growled, before turning and walking back to the others. "Fine, Kakarot. You can bring him along. But keep this in mind, Scarface." He shot another glare over his shoulder, his dark eyes sending a chill down Yamcha's spine. "If you make me regret this, I'll kill you myself."

Best to just stay out of the way and avoid making him mad, Yamcha thought to himself. The kid seems nice enough, but that Vegeta guy's crazy. Not to mention… He blushed as he glanced over to Bulma, who was checking the radar again. It had always been his one fatal weakness: his damn shyness, unable to do so much as talk to a girl.

Doesn't matter, he reminded himself. You're not here to make friends; you're here so they'll take you to meet the Turtle Hermit. If training with him is how Vegeta's so strong, and you can get to that level too… He grinned a little. Then this will all be worth it. For now, though, it's probably best to avoid any confrontations.

As the group approached the base of the mountain, the heat of the fire grew even more intense. Vegeta was able to shield himself using a gentle flow of ki, but the others were sweating profusely.

"Right, then," the Saiyan prince muttered, tilting his head back and gazing up at the distant castle atop the mountain. "If no one has a better idea, I'll have to fly up there and see if I can find it."

"Sounds like a plan –" Bulma was interrupted by a sudden crashing in the bushes nearby. The group turned as one towards the source of the noise, Vegeta, Goku and Yamcha taking up fighting stances in front of Bulma and the shapeshifters, just as a huge figure emerged into the open.

"Who dares to trespass on my land?!" the giant demanded in a deep, booming voice. Easily seven feet in height, he towered over the small group. A huge axe hung from one of his massive hands, and he wore a helmet adorned with a pair of curved horns.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. Well, what do you know. Looks like the pig was right after all. Out loud, he called out, "You're the Ox King, I presume?"

"That's right!" The burly man scowled, his hand tightening on the handle of his axe. "And who are you? A gang of thieves, here to steal from me?"

"Whoa!" Bulma paled, her eyes wide. "No, that's not it! We… we didn't mean to trespass, I swear! We're just looking for –"

"My treasure, no doubt?!" the Ox King snapped, waving his axe. "Well, you won't be getting anything from me!" He charged, swinging his axe in a backhanded sweep aimed at Vegeta, who was closest to him.

Vegeta sighed. "Oh, for god's sake…" He shot a glance at Goku and Yamcha. "You two, stand back. I'll handle this." Taking a few quick, bounding steps forward, he hopped into the air and somersaulted forwards over the Ox King's head, his arm flicking out and notching a chop into the back of his opponent's neck. The mountain of a man toppled, crashing facefirst to the ground, Vegeta landing neatly behind him on his feet.

"Guh…" The Ox King rolled over, groaning and rubbing his neck. "What was that?!"

"That," Vegeta replied tersely, "was a warning." He turned to face the larger man, folding his arms over his chest. "For your information, we're not here to steal from you. We're looking for a set of artifacts known as Dragon Balls, and one of them is in that castle up there." He jerked his head towards the top of the burning mountain. "If it belongs to you, I'm sure the girl over there would be happy to pay you for it."

"Yeah, he's right!" Bulma seconded, before pausing and scowling as Vegeta's words sank in. "Wait… hey!"

The Ox King's eyes widened as he sat up. "Oh! My apologies, then. Gangs of bandits are fairly common in these parts, so I assumed that must be why you were here. Sorry about that." He rose to his feet, still rubbing his neck. "Well, if that little rock's all you're interested in, I'd be happy to give it to you; I've got no use for it. But, unfortunately…" He frowned ruefully, glancing up at the mountain. "With the fire, there's no way to reach the castle."

"Um… sir?" Goku spoke up curiously. "We were actually wondering about that. Why is the mountain on fire?"

"Well, the fire is magical in nature, you see," the Ox King explained. "This mountain was once known as Pleasant Mountain, if you can believe that: it was a beautiful place. But I wanted to help protect my castle from bandits, so I hired a wizard to create a magical fire around the castle. Unfortunately, the magic was too strong, and the fire grew out of control and consumed the entire mountain. I've spent years trying to find a way to put it out, but I didn't figure it out until very recently."

This caught Bulma's interest. "So, wait… there is a way to put it out?" she asked.

The Ox King nodded. "Yes, there should be… a magic artifact known as the Bansho Fan. Last I heard, it was in the possession of the great Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi. I sent my daughter Chi-Chi off to find him a couple of days ago, but she hasn't returned." He removed a slip of paper from his pocket, holding it up to show them a picture of a young girl, about the same age as Goku, wearing a rather revealing purple outfit that vaguely resembled a swimsuit.

His mention of the Turtle Hermit caught Vegeta's attention, as well as those of Goku and Yamcha. "Wait… Roshi?" the Saiyan prince asked. "You know him?"

"Of course!" The Ox King grinned a little. "He was my master: he taught me the ways of martial arts." He frowned. "You know him too?"

"I do," Vegeta confirmed. "I've also trained with him."

"Oh!" The large man smiled, considering for a moment. "Well, as a favor to me… would you be willing to help me find my daughter, and the Bansho Fan? If you can get the fan, we'll be able to put the fire out, and you can have the Dragon Ball."

"Sure!" Goku grinned. "Vegeta, you know where Master Roshi lives, right?"

"Obviously," the prince retorted with a grin. "All right, here's what we'll do. Kakarot and I can fly, so we're the fastest." He glanced to Goku. "Kakarot, you go find this guy's daughter. I remember where Roshi's house is, so I'll go find him and get the fan thing so we can put the fire out. We'll meet back here."

"Right!" Goku called for the Nimbus, the small golden cloud dropping from overhead and hovering beside him. "Don't worry, Mr. Ox; I'll find her!" He hopped onto the cloud and flew up and away, soaring off into the distance.

Vegeta smirked a little at the amazed reactions of Yamcha, Puar and the Ox King. "I'm off too. You lot, stay out of trouble while we're gone." He nodded to Bulma, before flaring his ki and blasting off back the direction they had come.

Goku soared through the air, scanning the ground below for any signs of life. He strained to detect anyone, but for the most part the lands below him were empty and barren. C'mon, c'mon! he thought to himself.

After an hour or so, his eyes finally fell on a small, humanoid figure far below. After a moment, he recognized her from the picture the Ox King had shown him. There we go! That must be her! He smiled and leaned forward, steering the Nimbus into a swift descent.

"Um… hi!" he called out as he approached the girl, waving in a friendly manner. "Sorry, but are you Chi-Chi?"

The girl turned, her eyes wide in surprise and amazement as she saw him dropping out of the sky. "Um… y-yes?" she answered, stammering a little. How did this boy know her name? And… is he really flying?

"Cool!" Goku smiled, bringing the cloud to a stop a few inches off the ground, right in front of her. "My name's Goku!" Remembering his manners from what Vegeta had taught him, he bowed to her. "Uh, your dad asked me to come and bring you back home."

"Oh!" Chi-Chi smiled, blushing a little. He's so polite! "Well, all right. Thank you; that's very sweet of you."

"Um… thanks?" Goku replied, smiling. He wasn't sure what she meant – Sweet? Like honey or somethin'? – but he shrugged it off. "So… let's go, I guess. Just hop on, and I'll fly us back." He held out a hand, beckoning to her.

Chi-Chi's blush deepened, but she took Goku's hand and let him lift her up onto the Nimbus cloud. She was amazed by the fact that she was actually able to stand on the cloud, but Goku didn't seem to regard it as odd, so she didn't say anything about it.

It didn't take long for Goku and Chi-Chi to make it back to the mountain; the girl stuck close to the young Saiyan once they'd returned, clearly taken with him. The group settled in, waiting for Vegeta to return. To their surprise, it didn't take nearly as long as they'd thought; within a few more hours, a dot appeared on the horizon, and rapidly grew into the form of the Saiyan prince. He touched down a few yards away, strolling up to them.

"So… how'd it go?" Bulma inquired. "Did you find him?"

"Did he have the fan-thingy?" Goku put in.

"Yes, and no," Vegeta answered each of their questions matter-of-factly. "I did find him, but unfortunately he says he lost the Bansho Fan some time ago."

"Oh, no!" The Ox King sighed, sinking to the ground in defeat. "Then there's nothing we can do?"

"I didn't say that," Vegeta corrected him. "The good news is, the old man said that he can put out the fire himself." He nodded to the horizon, where another dark dot had become visible. "So he agreed to come back with me."

Sure enough, this dot turned out to be Roshi's pet turtle, spinning at such high speeds that its momentum kept it airborne. The old master was perched in the center of the turtle's shell, crouched low to keep the wind from launching him off of its back. He hopped nimbly off of Turtle's back as the pair settled to the ground, leaning on his cane for a moment to steady himself. "Ah… so what's this about a fire, then?" he questioned, cracking a grin.

After Bulma and the Ox King quickly explained the situation, Roshi ambled towards the base of the mountain, taking up position on an elevated piece of ground. He shrugged off his Hawaiian shirt, exposing his bare torso, and took a few deep breaths as he readied himself.

"Need any help?" Vegeta spoke up, arching an eyebrow.

"Nah, I've got this," Roshi replied, waving off his student. "I've got enough in me to put out this little fire." His eyes narrowed as he cupped his hands to his side, beginning to focus his energy. A full-power Kamehameha ought to be more than enough…

Vegeta smirked, arms folded as he focused on Roshi's energy. The others were standing further back, Goku and Yamcha both focused intently on the famed Turtle Hermit. So far, the bandit was keeping quiet, not wanting to annoy Roshi and ruin his chances of getting to train with the legendary master.

"Ka… Me…" Roshi chanted. His energy began building up, slowly at first, then faster. A gust of wind whipped up around him, as his muscles suddenly expanded, bulking up dramatically. "Ha… Me…" His eyes focused intently on the mountain, and he swung his hands forward, launching the attack. "HAAA!"

Everything was light and heat and noise for about ten seconds, the entire area was lit up with a blinding flare of blue light, and the roar of the energy blast was deafening as the Kamehameha smashed into the mountain. Everyone else had to cover their eyes and duck for cover; even Vegeta had to squint against the glare.

After about ten seconds, the light and noise died down. The group turned back to face the mountain, their eyes widening in amazement as the smoke cleared.

Sure enough, the fire was gone completely. The problem was, so was the castle, along with most of the mountain. The whole thing had been leveled by the power of the blast.

Roshi's eyes widened, and he chuckled softly. "Heheh… sorry about that. Guess I put a bit too much 'oomph' into that one."

Vegeta was grinning a little. "Not bad, old man," he commented dryly. "But if blowing up the mountain was all we had to do, I could have done that myself."

Yamcha was gaping. Holy shit… what the hell are these people?! He looked from Roshi to Vegeta and back again. They're both so strong… I've got to get to that level! Somehow…

"That was so cool!" Goku exclaimed, beaming. He scampered over to Roshi and Vegeta, his eyes wide. "Was that the Kamehameha? The move you taught Vegeta?"

"Yep!" Roshi replied with a weary grin. "My strongest technique, that one." He glanced at Vegeta, chuckling. "Though this one made it look easy the first time he tried it."

Vegeta laughed. "Oh, please. Like I said, old man, I'm a Saiyan. Learning new techniques comes naturally to us."

As the master and student bantered, Goku was still thinking about what he'd just seen, remembering how Roshi had made the Kamehameha look so fluid and effortless. If Vegeta was able to learn it right away… maybe I can too! He focused on a large boulder a few yards away, one of many strewn about all over the place after the mountain's destruction. Cupping his hands to his side, he carefully mimicked Roshi's movements, focusing his energy in the same way. "Ka… me…" he murmured. "Ha… me…"

Roshi glanced over, frowning as he noticed Goku's pose. "Um… Goku?" he asked, his eyes widening a little. "What're you…"

Goku grinned, his energy rising to a peak. Got it! He swung his hands forward, aiming at the boulder. "HA!"

And, just as Roshi had a few minutes earlier, a blue energy beam shot forth from the Saiyan boy's palms. It hit the boulder squarely and detonated, blasting it into rubble with a small but powerful explosion.

Roshi's eyes were wide in amazement. Him too?! Man, these Saiyans are something else… His lips curled in a grin. Well, that settles it: I'm definitely looking forward to training this one when he's ready.

Vegeta said nothing, but his smile widened and he nodded approvingly. Nicely done, Kakarot.

Fortunately, the Dragon Ball hadn't been damaged by the explosion or the mountain's collapse, as its signal was still showing up clearly on Bulma's Dragon Radar. With Vegeta, Goku and Yamcha available to do the heavy lifting, it didn't take long for them to dig through the rubble. Sure enough, after just a few minutes, Goku called out to the others, hopping out of a hole with the shimmering sphere held triumphantly in one hand.

With the Dragon Ball in hand, the group parted ways with their new friends. Roshi and Turtle had left to return to their island, the Turtle Hermit bidding a temporary farewell to Vegeta and Goku.

Chi-Chi, meanwhile, seemed saddened by Goku's departure. "Are you sure you have to go?" she asked, swaying back and forth a bit while playing with the lining of her skirt.

"Yeah, I do," Goku replied. "We've gotta finish finding the Dragon Balls, and then Vegeta's gonna take me to train with Master Roshi." He smiled a little, looking at her. "But, um… I could come back and visit sometime, if you'd like."

Chi-Chi's eyes brightened and she smiled brightly, blushing. "Really?" she inquired hopefully.

"Sure!" Goku smiled happily. "Your dad's a really good cook, and it's nice to hang out with somebody my age for a change. Vegeta's fun, but he's usually kinda grumpy." He and Chi-Chi both giggled.

"Kakarot!" Vegeta's call drew their attention. "Come on, we're leaving!" The Saiyan prince beckoned to the younger boy, before walking off towards where Yamcha's car was parked, followed by Bulma and the others.

"Okay!" Goku called back. He shot a quick smile at Chi-Chi. "Sorry, gotta go. But I'll come back sometime, I promise!" He turned and hurried off after Vegeta, Chi-Chi's eyes following him all the way to the car.

The Ox King's daughter smiled as she watched him leave. You'd better, she thought to herself, her blush deepening.

The remote camera feed from the small spy drone tracked the small group as they walked back to their vehicle, zooming in briefly on the mesh bag full of golden stone spheres carried by the girl.

"Excellent," a high-pitched, grating voice murmured. "Those fools have gathered all six. They'll be on their way to us now."

Two other figures – a humanoid canine wearing a katana, and a young woman dressed in blue – turned to look up at the diminutive figure perched on the throne. "Uh, Emperor?" the doglike figure inquired hesitantly. "Why, um… why have we just been letting them gather the Dragon Balls? Don't we need them for your wish?"

"Of course we do, you idiot," Emperor Pilaf snapped, shooting a glare at his underling Shu. "But in case you haven't been paying attention, that group has three powerful warriors among them. Particularly that one." The imp's eyes narrowed, focusing on the image of the dark-haired young man standing beside the blue-haired girl. "His power is far beyond anything I've ever seen. We'd be no match for him in a fight." His thin lips curved in a smile. "Fortunately, we don't have to fight them, as they've been doing our job for us. They've already gathered six of the Dragon Balls, so there's only one left for them to find." He glanced over to a nearby stone pillar, where the shimmering form of the seventh Dragon Ball sat on a cushion. "And we have it. Which means they will have to come here, and they'll bring the other six right to us."

"Brilliant, Master!" Shu exclaimed.

"Yes!" his comrade Mai agreed. She frowned, looking up at the screen. "But… won't they be angry when we take the Dragon Balls from them and use the wish ourselves? If we can't fight that one, how are we going to stop him from killing us when he finds out what we're planning?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be quite upset." Pilaf chuckled, his grin widening. "But considering what I'm going to wish for – namely, total control over the entire world – they won't be able to do a thing to us once it's been granted. They, along with every living thing on this planet…" His eyes sparkled cruelly in the light of the Dragon Ball. "…will soon be mine."

A/N: Greetings to all! Fortunately I was able to update sooner this time, and I hope to continue that trend in the future. We've got one more chapter to go; then that should be it for the Dragon Ball Saga, and we'll be on to the next one!

To clarify, by the way, since somebody did ask about this in a review: the term "Dragon Ball Saga" refers to what, in canon, is known as the "Emperor Pilaf Saga", not to the entirety of the Dragon Ball era. The next saga, which will be entitled "the Turtle School Saga", will cover the events of Goku's training with Master Roshi, leading up to the events of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. Following that… well, we'll have to wait and see!

Oh, and one other thing: the newest Dragon Ball movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, has finally debuted in the U.S., and I recently had a chance to see it. Without giving any spoilers, I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and I would definitely recommend seeing it!

Shout-outs to The Sith'ari, Jokermask18, RHatch89, ShadowLDrago, Luke, Pie 555, KatoGS123 Youtuber, Jjj, David-El, GamerGaz, Wangz, and foxchick1 for reviewing!

As always, I love getting feedback from you guys, so if you have any questions or comments regarding this chapter or the story as a whole, please review! (No hate, please).

Next chapter, we reach the climax of this saga, as the heroes face off against Pilaf for control of the Dragon Balls, and we'll find out whose wish will be granted! Stay tuned!

Review Q&A:

Q: Boy, it seems like the Vegeta and Yamcha Rivalry has already taken root. Though, I do have to ask, will the characters outside of the Saiyans get more development than they did in the Canon?

A: Yep, sure seems that way! And yeah, I actually hope to give plenty of development to as many characters as possible. One thing that I actually really like about bringing Vegeta into this early portion of the story is that, while he is very overpowered for the time period, it gives the characters a glimpse of DBZ-level power much earlier. And, as we've seen with Goku and Yamcha, that means the other fighters have a much greater motivation to push for higher levels of strength than they did in canon.

Q: And there goes Yamcha. Didn't take too long. Then again, Goku was roughly on par with him in canon, his stomach just got the better of him. Vegeta is on another level. And showing his trademark characteristic and Saiyan love of playing "Tank The Blast" or in this case, Technique, instead of dodging or blocking as he probably should.

A: Yup! I figured if canon Goku was able to match Yamcha, he'd stand no chance against Vegeta. And yeah, one thing that I really want to show is that Vegeta's not too different from his canon persona at this point; he's just a lot less evil, since he grew up on Earth instead of in Frieza's army.

Q: ...just pointing out that 'King Vegeta's plan to save the Saiyan Race'...by sending two MALE Saiyans to the same planet stupid!

A: To be fair, King Vegeta was always shown to believe that his son is the future of the Saiyans (and, if you've seen the new movie, they definitely keep him that way).

Q: I bet Vegeta won't be happy that Goku made that deal without his knowledge! XD

Who knows, maybe Goku will get a taste of what a spanking feels like when given from the hands of the Prince of all Saiyans? XD

Oh and I can't help but wonder what I would do if I was in Vegeta's shoes. When he summons the dragon, he won't have to "wish" to know what happened to the rest of the Saiyans. He could just ask if the Dragon knows what happened to them. And then he could use the wish so that all remaining Saiyans could...lets say be able to change into a great ape at will while staying in full control. From a tactical point of view, that would be a great advantage to have.

A: Heh, yeah, Vegeta wasn't happy about Goku's deal, but he's willing to let Yamcha tag along as long as he doesn't cause any trouble.

And, regarding the wish thing: I will say, the only time in canon when the Z-Fighters used the Dragon Balls just to ask Shenron a question was in Battle of Gods, when they wanted to ask him about how to summon/create the Super Saiyan God. And, in that movie, they did have to use a wish to get their questions answered. So, keep that in mind.

Q: Before I start, I have to say, I love this story so far.

I'd like to point out some things tho…

[Lots of questions here; some were spoilery, so I'm just going to answer the non-spoiler ones]

…you claim you only have 2-3 chapters left for the Dragonball era, when there is still a lot of points in that era left, meeting Krillin, Both tournaments before Krillin's death, Demon King Piccolo, Fortuneteller Baba (and by extension, Halo Grandpa Gohan), Piccolo Jr, and if you add the movies and filler, there are still a ton of stuff missing!

Then I have another question, does Vegeta have full control of his Great Ape form and Goku have some control over it?

Also regarding SSJ forms, if you get to Super, will you add on higher forms of SSJB? Like get it to tier 2 and 3 or even (if you give our favorite Saiyans SSJ4) Super Saiyan Blue 4?

A: The Dragon Ball "Saga vs. era" thing was explained in the note above; yeah, we'll have a few more sagas to go before we get to the DBZ era, although most of them won't be as long as this one has been.

Regarding the boys' Oozaru forms: Vegeta has a little control over his, but not nearly as much as he did in canon, since I assume he did most of his training to control that form while working with Nappa and Raditz, so he never got most of that training here. Goku, meanwhile, has never trained to control his Oozaru form, so he's got essentially no control over it at this point, just like in canon.

And regarding the whole Super Saiyan forms thing: I won't be combining Super Saiyan 2, 3 or 4 with Super Saiyan Blue, if that's what you're asking. I am, however, hoping that if/when I eventually get to the events of Super (which, spoiler warning, is definitely going to take a while), I can adapt the various forms slightly so they'll hopefully make more sense.

Q: Great story! I'm super looking forward to the developments! Hope all is going well with your real life and you find time to write soon!

A: Thanks, I really appreciate that! As a full-time college student, I don't always have too much time to write, but I really love writing fanfiction, so I'll do everything in my power to keep putting out work for you guys.

Q: You know, I thought my story was the only one with a 'Vegeta comes to Earth early' idea, and I am glad to see that I was wrong! While mine is clearly going to go in a different direction, I hope you don't mind if I borrow some ideas, so long as I let you know first, and give you the credit.

A: Well, thanks! And, I mean, as long as you let me know first, and you're not just copying anything that I've written, then yeah, I'd be fine with that. :)

Q: I read this in a manga

A: Well, one of my inspirations for this story was actually a fanmade manga, titled "Dragon Ball Sai", in which Vegeta comes to Earth at the beginning of Dragon Ball. However, that manga is significantly different from this story. For one thing, in Sai, Vegeta is sent to Earth instead of Goku, while Goku (who's still Kakarot in this version, having never gone to Earth and hit his head) spends his early life conquering planets with Nappa and Raditz, and ultimately becomes the villainous leader of the trio. I would recommend reading "Dragon Ball Sai" to anybody who hasn't, actually, as it's an interesting story.

Q: Will Raditz and Nappa rethink their takeover the world stick when they find out Frieza lied to them when Vegeta tells them the truth?

A: We'll have to wait and see! For anyone who's wondering, though, we probably won't be seeing Raditz and Nappa again until we reach the DBZ era.