He flew back to West City, landing in front of the Capsule Corp building. The city was still mostly empty, having evacuated as soon as he was sighted. He walked into the front entrance like he owned the place, and was greeted by Bulma, rushing out of the lab, looking frantic. "Oh, hi Vegeta, back so soon? Er, well I did have the chance to think about what cities I wanted you to definitely spare, but-"

"Woman, I'm staying here, for now. I've been thinking." He smiled, still savage, still absolutely full of confidence. "I really should be far more grateful to you, than I have been. Your little talk about why I need, or rather, don't need, to destroy the world gave me some perspective." He reached over and grabbed her chin, bringing her head a little lower to match his own height, in a mockery of intimacy. "Until it's time to gather the Dragon Balls, consider this planet more-or-less spared in its entirety. After all, once I've become immortal, I'll become ruler of the Galaxy! A gift such as that shouldn't be taken lightly without some kind of recompense." He pulled her closer. "From now on, I will only destroy those that annoy me. How about that for a compromise? No more poor, innocent bystanders?"

"Sound's great!" She said nervously, forcing a smile.

He released her chin and walked further into the building, looking around. "Let's see what you've got here. I want to see this space ship you were so proud of, that doesn't even break the light barrier."

"Oh, uh, sure." She turned off one hallway, leading him into a massive hanger.

Vegeta mostly tuned out Bulma's explanations of her various prototype spacecraft. She had bought it, and he was thrilled. If there was something Vegeta would not do, it would be to throw himself at the mercy of others. His pride wouldn't allow it. His pride as a fighter, as a soldier, as a Saiyan, as a Prince. But, although his father taught him it was a form of weakness, it was within his power to exchange his own mercy for favors from his lessers. He held control, as the master who granted mercy to a servant who had done him a great favor. That was all.

It wasn't at all because without his scouter he had no idea where to find anything.

It was strange, really. He had never been without his scouter before, or at least, never when it mattered. He was shocked at just how large a planet is. He had destroyed planets, before. He felt, in some more abstract, emotional part of his brain, that he himself was bigger than a planet. Dominant over mere planets. When he landed on one, everything that his eyes touched were his to destroy, without consequence, as long as it didn't directly violate Freeza's orders. His scouter told him where people were, and he followed its guiding arrow, flying at speeds that could usually beat any aircraft he came across, he would go to them, exterminate them, move on to the next signal. He had never had to navigate a world, never had to care where anything was, or where anyone was. He would just go to them. Usually saving the strongest fighters for last, or close-to-last. That was when he would lose his scouter, sometimes. In a fight with half-decent natives, sometimes they would knock away his scouter, or he'd just destroy it himself so that the glass wouldn't get in his eyes or obscure his vision. But in those cases, he had his ship ready for him, often with spare scouters, or he had Nappa and Raditz with him, and he could simply take one of theirs. Never before did he have to remember the places he had been, or look by eye. He had no idea where he had left the Namek, or the brat. He vaguely remembered the surroundings, the strange tower, but not where it was. It was only through sheer luck he stumbled across the woman. For the first time in his life, it felt like he was lost on a planet. The planet felt like... a world. With different locations and different people that mattered. It was a place you had to learn to get around.

He hadn't felt like this about a planet since Planet Vegeta.

That thought brought on its own slight wave of nostalgia, and for a fleeting second he wondered what the other remaining Saiyans were doing. Nappa and Raditz would be panicking by now, if Freeza hadn't killed them for not telling him where Vegeta had gone off to. And the other only (as far as he knew) Saiyan was the brat, somewhere in the world somehow not killing anyone.

His eyes widened, as realization hit him. If all else failed, there would have to be one last Attack Ball on Earth. How else did that lowblood brat reach this world otherwise?!

He glanced at Bulma, who he had allowed to lead him throughout her lab. Sneaking out his remote, he pressed the homing sequence, meant to bring the Attack Ball to him. It was keyed into his own ship, but it should be picked up by the brat's ship too. It would at least send a return signal. Nappa's and Raditz's pods would always at least echo back... Maybe...

"Woman."

"Uh, yes Vegeta?" She stopped her discussion with herself about the engines or something, turning towards him.

"Before you start on my cannons, we have the small issue of getting the ship it'll be attached to."

"Oh yeah, the Namekian's ship." She frowned. "The bastard who exploded me and Goku off the side of that weird tower."

"Yes, him. Though, and it should be obvious, there is one more option. The ship that the brat arrived in."

"Goku? I never heard him mention anything like a ship but..."

"Yes, yes, but how else could he have gotten here? There's not more humans on earth wishing up Saiyans, are there?"

"Well, I hope not." Bulma said sighing. "But honestly, Goku had no idea he was an alien at all. His ship is probably long-gone. Something as complicated as a space ship needs constant maintenance, leaving something like that open for more than a decade in Earth's conditions probably won't be useful."

"Maybe for a human ship. Attack Balls are specially-made to carry super-soldiers across the galaxy and survive almost anything they're hit with, from the outside at least." He tossed her the remote. "Here's the remote for my ship. It'd be out of range, of course. But Goku should have had one like it connected to his own ship. Maybe you can work your science magic on it and get me something half-salvageable."

"Uh, right away!" She took the remote, before smiling evilly to herself. Two pieces of insanely advanced alien tech! She would have many all-nighters in the future, but the stuff she would be able to make afterwards! Shifting her eyes to his outfit, she gave the armor on his back a subtle poke.

The Saiyan immediately turned and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, sorry! I just wanted to see if there was anything strange about your armor, if I'm going to be looking at one piece of alien tech, why not look at all the stuff we've got available?"

He shrugged, pulling off the armor-looking part. A strange white chestplate with connected yellow shoulder and groin/hip guards. He was left wearing what looked, for the life of her, like a blue jumpsuit and silly-looking gloves and boots. To take off the armor, for a second, he unfurled his tail from around his waist, before wrapping it back around himself. The armor was surprisingly light, and seemed to pull in on itself, shrinking. It could be pressed and pulled, giving like a stiff foam, but when she tried to quickly pinch it it was as hard as steel, probably harder. It felt like a malleable plastic, but it also had the strength to resist her laser.

She found herself grinning giddily. The Saiyan watched her with a certain degree of discomfort as she pulled and prodded at the broken armor, giggling to herself. Without a word, without even looking at him, she ran off with the armor and the remote. Left with nothing to do but follow, he went after her, nearly growling. No one ignored the Prince of all Saiyans.

He came out into a large lab full of bits and pieces of metal, half-dissected vehicles, radars, massive firearms, machine parts, and tools lining the walls. Also, lining the walls, were pictures celebrating boy bands, singers, movie stars, and, in the corner, on a small loft connected to a ladder, was a large pink bed. "Is this... your room?"

"Yeah, it is. What about it?" She asked, clearing a complicated machine off a table with a swipe of her arm, sending it to pieces on the floor, among many, many other failed or discarded projects. Vegeta knew his boots would protect him, but he still felt nervous about stepping on the ridiculously crowded floor.

"How can you even take a single step in this mess? How do you not cut your foot open any time you stroll from one of these stupid tables to the next?"

"I'm careful, duh?" She said. "I'd get the robot to clean it up, but who knows when some of this stuff will prove useful?"

He sighed, before leaving the room. "I'm hungry." He decided. "Woman, where's the food?"

"Down the hall there's a kitchen, help yourself."

"I don't 'help myself', if I'm going to be eating something someone's already killed, I'm sure as hell not preparing it. Don't you have servants? You have your own manor in the middle of a city, so you must be some kind of minor nobility at the least."

She grinned at the compliment, putting a hand over her mouth and doing the most stereotypical snotty laugh she could. "~oh-ho-ho-ho~" Vegeta actually winced, and she smiled. She was in her element, figuring out something strange, she was finding it difficult to be intimidated by the murderer right now. "Well, the Briefs family is in fact one of the most powerful families in the world, though we're more obscenely wealthy merchants, more than royalty. Capsule Corp is the most profitable company on the planet, and its best products are created through my father's and my genius."

He rolled his eyes. "Good for you, so, you're not Nobles then? Just rich salesmen?"

"We're inventors, first and foremost, though being a merchant's a good part of it."

"Eh, so, peasant blood runs through your veins then."

"Oh? A peasant? Me?" She turned up her nose. "Oh please, how can you be considered a peasant when you're the richest girl in the world? Besides, I've got a Prince pining for me, that makes me as good as a Princess."

"Pining?" Vegeta asked, insulted. "You're the one who brought me here."

"Details details."

Six Months earlier

Tao Pai Pai blinked in fury and frustration. He had accepted, on the climb up, that he would be second in strength to Korin, and when Piccolo's spawn arrived, he accepted third. But this... this fat man?!

They fought Piccolo for a day and a night, but his speed was too ungodly. Everything they threw at him, punches, kicks, jabs, beams, even bullets and missiles from the Major. By the end of it, the humans were exhausted, almost to collapsing. The strongest of them lasted the longest, fighting constantly into the night. Eventually though, as dawn broke in the distance, the only ones able to move were himself, Korin, who was not part of the challenge, Duet, who had still not taken a hit, and, of all the fighters, Yajirobe.

The fat man was winded, tired, definitely. He muttered and complained about the whole ordeal near-constantly. But all the same, he was coming closer than even Tao was to touching the demon.

Duet hovered in the air, using a version of the skydance technique that seemed subtle and instinctual, as if flying came as second nature. But even with Tao able to fly and Yajirobe not, simply by jumping, the swordsman could come closer in a smaller time.

Using his anger as a fuel, he forced himself forward. He supposed it was his own fault, truly. He had accepted his natural defeat by the demon, and Korin had proven more than his match in skill. He set a limitation in his own mind. The only reason Yajirobe was getting closer was because the swordsman didn't have those limits. More determined than before, Tao launched himself with renewed vigor.

Launching a series of beams into the air, he tried to force the demon to floor of the lookout. Trying to predict where the demon would set down, he flung himself into a spinning kick that caught nothing but air as Duet dodged upwards, flying higher up rather than down.

Yajirobe was somehow up there with Duet, sword unsheathed and swinging almost faster than Tao's eyes could follow. But Duet still had time to lazily avoid every blow while keeping himself within range of Yajirobe, as if to taunt him. When the demon became tired of it though, he gave a sharp blow to Yajirobe's stomach, launching the young man into the floor of the lookout with an impact strong enough to shatter the tiles.

Tao cursed, and fired a series of small beams, Tao was running out of chi fast, and the demon had barely used his own chi at all. Glancing at the others in various stages of exhaustion and collapse, he jumped backwards, refusing to turn his back on Duet, but he stopped next to where the other Crane students had collapsed. "Tell me, Chiaotzu, are you awake?"

"Uhnggh." Was his response.

Tao nodded, it was satisfactory. "How long can you keep Duet held in your telekinesis?"

"Not at all. He shrugs it off like nothing."

"Even an instant?"

The tiny jiangshi shook his head sadly, barely conscious. "He doesn't even notice it."

"Damn." He groaned. "If he could stop from moving for even a half-second, I could end this!"

Groaning, from near the other end of the pile, Chi Chi got up, and then gave a loud grunt as she pulled her father up enough he could stand on his own. "Just... a half second?" the Ox King breathed. "That's all it'll take?"

Tao narrowed his eyes. "I don't need your help, Turtle."

The Ox King coughed, and then threw his arms up in the air. "Hey! Duet! I'm going to crush you!" He roared.

"Yeah!" Chi Chi agreed, putting her hands to her helmet and firing a series of quick laser beams. Duet dodged them easily, and smiled to see more opponents getting up.

"Good!" Duet shouted. "I was worried for a bit that I had been going too hard on you all. But as I can see, this is the proper level of determination required. Everyone! Get back up, or I'm knocking you off the Lookout!"

Korin frowned. "We're not wasting them like that."

"Why not?" Duet said evilly. "If they can't survive a mere fall, then they're pathetic. And the trip back up will do wonders for them, won't it?"

Korin thought about it for a moment, and in their fear, the humans rushed to force themselves off the ground despite their pain or exhaustion. "No." Korin said, to the human's relief. "We will not be tossing them over the side if they collapse." The cat then grinned mischeviously. "We'll have Mister Popo ferry them there."

While better than being splattered across the ground, it proved to be a bad enough fate to be a sufficient motivator. Those who couldn't move were supported by those who could. Eight personally holding up the two more 'normal' human Red Ribbon fighters.

Ox King rushed forward first, launching himself from the tiles of the Lookout up into the air, making a wild swing for Duet that the demon simply floated around. But in doing so, the demon found himself nearly caught by Chi Chi's beams. "Come on everyone!" The Ox King roared. "We just need one hit!"

Yajirobe grunted, and flung himself insanely fast through the air, forcing Duet to dodge under his sword swing, and get closer to the ground. Tien and Chiaotzu acted together, rising into the air and circling Duet, trying to keep him from getting too far from the main group or the surface of the Lookout. Nam and Chappa dove for his feet, circling him on the ground, between Chiaotzu and Tien's positions in the air, forming a square. Shen flew up himself, getting into a ready stance floating above the square, boxing in Duet.

The Demon was grinning, they were finally getting somewhere.

Outside the circle, laser fire from Chi Chi forced him away from getting too close to any edge of the square, while Metallitron's missiles and projectiles from the Ninjas did about the same. Yajirobe since landed, and circled outside the square, looking for an opening, Tao doing the same on the opposite end. Ox and Eight joined the roaming circle, while the weakest fighters, Silver, Violet, and Ranfan, formed a wide triangle outside the formation as a last chance to grab them.

At that point, it was a standoff. Duet's movements had been limited to about twenty cubic meters of air, fighters surrounding him. If he made a dash in any direction, at least one attack would clip him. He crossed his arms, and decided he would allow the group to play out their formation another minute, and then he would blow it apart with a kiai. He counted off the seconds in his mind, his eyes shifting from fighter to fighter, feeling their chi and constantly moving to dodge projectiles and beams, but not too far, to keep out of range from any of the fighters.

When only a few seconds remained, and the group began losing their strength, the determination losing hold with the presence of the standoff, Blue shoved himself from the ground, and pointed at the demon. "Hey! Duet! Look here!" He shouted.

Duet met the fighter's eyes for only a moment when he felt the paralysis hit him. Suddenly enraged, he began immediately fighting off the effects of the human psychic, but it was the moment the group was waiting for. Yajirobe, Eight, Tao and Ox flew forward the moment they sensed his weakness, each coming from different angles, and every possible escape route was cut off as the square of fighters closed in their trap, Shen and Tien powering up their Dodon attacks.

Roaring with rage, he shattered Blue's control, and released a wave of simple force of chi, the force of an explosion rippling out from his body and forcing back every fighter there.

He gave a huff of irritation as he looked at nearly everyone back on the ground once more, the groans and sounds of complaint and pain had become more adamant.

He then looked down and noticed the steel blade sliding out of a shallow wound in his thigh. Glaring at Yajirobe, he picked up the sword and threw it into the ground next to Yajirobe's head. "What kind of swordsman throws his blade?!"

The heavy man pushed himself off his back with a pained grunt, and gave a satisfied smile. "It worked, didn't it?"

Duet rolled his eyes. "Fine. You may all rest. Training will begin at dawn." He turned toward the main building of the Lookout's top, and shouted "Mr. Popo! Prepare food and drink for our... champions, here."

"Yes Kami." Popo said before he could catch himself. "Apologies, Duet... um, sir?" Popo began. "Popo was wondering if you still wish to hold the position of Guardian of Earth, or if you want to choose an Heir to give the position to?"

Duet narrowed his eyes. The position of Kami held a lot of meaning for him, for both halves. "...I will be acting Kami until this Vegeta incident is over." He decided. "We'll decide which of the maggots here will replace one of my dear Fathers once we are reasonably certain the Earth will even survive."

"Understood sir."

Chi Chi pushed herself off the ground and made her way to her father. "Yajirobe got the hit, we can finally rest."

"So... this is the kind of training that Master Roshi did all those years ago?"

Korin walked over, pinching bits off of a Senzu bean and giving a sliver to both Chi Chi and her father. "Actually, your Master Roshi only had to endure my own training. Training under Kami is far more intense, and even then, training under Kami's son... will be orders of magnitude more intense than even that." The Elder Cat informed.

"Amazing..." Ox King whispered, breaking into a wide grin. "Oh, if your mother could see us now! Training with Kami to save the world!"

Present

Krillin and Launch stood on the opposite end of the clearing, both facing Goku in ready stances. Sitting on a tall boulder, overlooking the impromptu arena, was their teacher. "Begin!" Roshi called, and the three blasted across the grass to meet in an impact that Roshi could feel in the breeze.

Krillin and Launch were both slower and weaker than Goku, but together, they could force him into nearly equal footing. While it took nearly half a year of training to get her to the point where she could use her muscles effectively against the younger, stronger, students, her long limbs had finally become a key advantage. If Goku's fists were the equivalent to a club, Launch's own attacks were like fighting with a long staff. She stood above Goku, able to hit him while he wasn't close enough to hit her, while Krillin was smaller than the Saiyan, able to dodge through Goku's own defenses.

Goku was a fighting genius, and would be able to overpower and outmaneuver either of them one-on-one, but against both, it was an equal match.

Roshi watched with pride as his three students blended together in a dance of martial arts and turtle shells.

He didn't know, honestly, what kind of hellish training Ox and Shen would be doing with Korin, or if the six months of merely Roshi's training alone would be enough to let his students catch up to the rest of the group. But either way, in only half a year, he had allowed all three of them to transcend the limits of what is accepted as humanly possible. Launch would never be threatened by a rival thief or a policeman, Krillin would be able to wipe the floor with the Orin school that had rejected him, and Goku... well, he was even more of a monster of a fighter than before.

He was proud of their progress. If this was to be Roshi's last year on Earth... training these three to this level, it would be enough. Launch and Krillin he felt could both someday surpass the Ox King, and Goku he knew would go on to become the strongest of any of his disciples over the three centuries he had lived. He had few regrets.

The fight lasted several minutes, and Krillin and Launch together narrowly defeated Goku, forcing him into the dirt until he was buried to his waist, before both collapsed onto their butts and sat on the ground catching their breath. "Good work!" Roshi applauded, and grabbed Goku's foot, yanking him from the dirt and giving a rough shake to Goku's hair to knock the dirt loose. "Absolutely wonderful, all three of you... as you've probably noticed, six months have passed... I think it is time we went to train with Korin to defeat Vegeta."

His three students forgot their weakness and became serious, listening to their master carefully. "Now then, Krillin, my boy, Launch my dear... this isn't your fight. Well... it is in a way, but I'm not forcing you to come with. Both of you are now genius martial artists, you'll never want for success in your life. Me and Goku have personal reasons and responsibilities to defeat Vegeta. And so... with this, I conclude your training! You have mastered the basics of the Turtle form and have become brilliant battlers, all three of you. Any decisions you make from this point on will be your own. But, I must ask, come with us, and continue your training under the God of Martial Arts, to save the world."

"Of course Master!" Krillin shouted, looking proud. "Vegeta won't know what hit him!"

Good Launch looked determined, and gave a sweet smile. "Of course Master." Scrunching up her face she focused for a second, and made herself sneeze. Bad Launch grinned evilly. "I'm not going to miss on something this badass! Besides, I think I've come to appreciate this whole training thing. If there's someone even better than you willing to show us what to do, why not?"

Goku grinned widely. "You don't have to ask me!"

"Good!" Roshi exclaimed. "Then let's go! Everyone, drop your shells!"

The three students blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes! You've all graduated the Turtle School, you have no more need for your shells." He smiled, knowing what would come next.

Untying the heavy metal shells from their backs, the three stretched and looked at him expectantly. "Jump." He ordered. "High as you can, just see what you can do."

Goku, of course, was the first to respond, and he squatted first, before pumping his legs and launching himself straight up through the air. Krillin and Launch winced as the impact left cracks in the ground, the air whistling from his speed as he became a speck in the clouds.

Krillin stared in awe, but Launch grinned, and pumped her own legs, launching herself incredibly fast through the air, she watched in shock and awe as the island became tiny below her. Goku waved at her from still far above her, the child looking ecstatic with his new power. Krillin soon joined the three of them, and as one, they landed back in the clearing, creating a crater and a massive dustcloud that left their teacher sputtering and coughing.

"So, you three like the fruit of your training?"

"Yes!" Goku agreed.

"It's amazing." Launch commented, still elated.

Krillin nodded soundlessly, rolling back and forth on his heels in excitement.

Roshi smiled. "And that's just with me. Imagine what Korin'll teach you."

Yamcha and Puar rode through the wastes on their high-power motorcycle. The weeks spent in the city helping Bulma had been a nice break, but getting back into the wild was satisfying. He had found himself almost caught in the trap of society. The Doctor Briefs nearly enrolling him in a high school in the city before Vegeta showed up and ruined everything.

But in the end, he knew that he wasn't going to be a baseball player, or a student, or even the boyfriend to a rich heiress.

He was Yamcha the Desert Bandit. Feared ruler of the dunes. Expert marksman and devastating martial artist. And now... his one weakness, his crippling fear of girls, had been conquered. With renewed vigor setting out, he began getting back to his roots. Stealing the armored motorcycle they were riding now, and anything else he needed. But a lot of his supplies had been simply taken. Vegeta's rampages had left dozens of cities destroyed utterly, others left mostly intact but unlivable, and others had simply been abandoned ahead of time, not wanting to paint a target for Vegeta's rage on their backs as people began to move into small towns and villages out in the country.

In a capsule in his jacket's chest pocket was a laser cannon capable of, at the very least, hurting Vegeta. At every place he stopped, he asked around, trying to find scientists. But as he got further into the desert, he realized who his best bet would be, when it came to replicating and making use of the laser cannon.

In the distance, the castles of the Red Ribbon's complex became visible.