DBZ Omega War: Chapter 1

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((Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters indiginous to Dragonball Z and its affiliates. I am only borrowing characters and concepts for entertainment purposes only, not profit. Original characters are mine, please do not borrow or use without my permission. Thank you!))

There was very little about family picnics that the Saiyan Prince Vegeta found enjoyable, apart from the massive quantities of food. Picnics were boring to him, nothing but the mindless prattle of useless conversations and annoying children bobbing about at their stupid little games. Picnics served no purpose in his mind other than to waste time and consume food.

Son Goku's wife Chichi had outdone herself again, with a whole carload of goodies. Bulma Briefs and her mother had set the domestic robots working overtime. Even Videl, Gohan's wife, had contributed to the affair. Three picnic blankets and two tables loaded with delectable eats had graced Capsule Corporation's back yard. A veritable mountain of wondrous delicacies waiting to be consumed.

With the presence of two Saiyans, three half-Saiyans, and one very small quarter-Saiyan, even that amount of food didn't last long. And now that there was nothing to eat, well...the picnic became boring very fast.

The women--Chichi, Videl, Bulma, and her mother--were seated on one of the blankets with a small amount of food that they had requisitioned as Humans Only, thereby saving a bit of sustenance for themselves. They chatted endlessly about matters in general and Bulma's condition in particular--she was quite visibly pregnant and glowingly cheerful. In fact, she was expecting a little Saiyan female, a feat which Vegeta felt privately very proud of.

The Saiyans, having gorged themselves on boatloads of delicious food, had sprawled about on the remaining blankets or various shady spots like a pride of dark-maned lions to snooze, as was their fashion after a big meal with no battles to worry about. It seemed the thing to do, since their women had absolutely forbidden them to spar or fight or train for any reason whatsoever short of mad dictators trying to take over the world--and then only if said dictator tried it in Bulma's back yard.

The naps had taken an hour, and the women were still talking. Vegeta, still lying on his back in the shade of a leafy tree, tried not to listen to the endless prattle.

Trunks and Goten--ages thirteen and twelve, respectively--had gotten bored with sleeping rather quickly, and had taken up a game of catch--Saiyan-style catch; the "baseball" they used was an old iron shot put, and they didn't bother with gloves. They zipped about on the ground, becoming an entire collection of players all by themselves, a blur of small bodies and flailing limbs, their laughter filling the air along with the rapid thunks of the iron ball being caught.

Gohan still slept, his year-old daughter Pan sound asleep on his chest. They made a cute pair--both drooling in their sleep, the elder one slightly less than the younger.

Only Goku seemed to be in the same state of restless immobility that Vegeta was in. The Saiyan Prince eyed his fellow warrior as Goku sat across from him listening to Chichi's comments. The younger man still wore his cheerful, vacant expression, but Vegeta knew better--Goku was antsy, and his eyes kept flicking away from Chichi whenever she wasn't speaking directly to him.

Vegeta knew how to read Saiyan body language, how to recognize things the Earth-Saiyan probably didn't know he was broadcasting. He knew Goku was attempting to be an attentive husband but his stomach was full, he was rested, and he was filled with energy--energy that needed to be channeled someplace. Vegeta grumbled under his breath to himself that he ought to just say to hell with the women and drag the big oaf off to spar somewhere. He knew he could use the workout as well.

The abject nothingness went on for a while longer before the prince could no longer stand it. Coiling up and rising, he stalked over to the woman-covered blanket and stood over Goku.

Goku's eyes brightened, and he almost went for it before Chichi grabbed his arm.

"Oh, no you don't, mister," his wife warned. "You promised me an entire day of no martial arts nonsense."

"Vegeta, go play with your son or something," Bulma huffed, as indignant as Chichi. "You made the same promise."

If Vegeta had still had his Saiyan tail, it would have been puffed and wagging in annoyance. As it was, he looked bristly enough. "Woman, I do not play. I am sick and tired of doing nothing all day long, as 'entertaining' as this picnic nonsense has been. Kakarot and I are Saiyan warriors--we can't simply lie about like slugs and expect to stay sane."

"Yeah, what he said," Goku interjected, showing his support for Vegeta's reasoning.

Vegeta rolled his eyes but appreciated that Kakarot agreed with him. "Besides, why do I have to ask your permission to do as I please?"

"Becase I can turn off the gravity room, disconnect you from the kitchen, and make you sleep on the couch, that's why!" Bulma retorted.

"I can train with Kakarot, I can hunt my own food--and since you've been this pregnant I may as well be sleeping on the couch!" Vegeta shot back hotly. "Woman, you have nothing I want!" He turned to stalk away.

"I have your daughter," Bulma replied, her voice even more smug than Vegeta could manage on his best days. "You're not going anywhere."

"You said it yourself--the first and only Saiyan female left in the galaxy, a valuable asset." Bulma giggled at the surly, pouting expression on his face.

"She doesn't count--she's mostly human," Bulma replied smugly. She went back into girl-chat mode and turned back to her friends, ignoring her Saiyan lover as he growled at her and flopped back down in the shade. "Vegeta got almost teary-eyed when we found out I was going to have a little girl. He's gotten quite full of himself lately--haven't you noticed? 'Producing a female' is the one thing he's been able to beat Goku at."

"I could do that," Goku said defensively, as if stung that Vegeta might have one-upped him at something.

"No, you won't," Chichi said, cuffing him lightly upside the head. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Goku ducked his head a little, as though actually embarassed about something for once in his life. "I know, Chichi. I just said I can."

Chichi giggled and kissed his cheek. "Yes, I know you can. And you did very well with the ones we have, thank you."

Bulma cleared her throat, interrupting their lovey moment. "Anybody want to clean up the rest of the potato salad?"

Back under his tree, Vegeta was privately fuming as the afternoon wore on and the young boys quit their roughhousing in favor of the ice cream Bulma's mom brought out for them. He blamed his utter boredom on his damnable woman, whom he'd never been able to say "No" to. She had him by the tail even though he didn't have one any more! And Kakarot--twice his measure for power--had been even more sissy, even staying over there to "clean up" the potato salad. Vegeta absolutely would not admit that he'd wanted some of that salad too.

Have Saiyans always allowed their women to lead them around by the balls? he wondered to himself with a snort. I wonder if my father was this stupid when it came to my mother...

Afternoon wore on into evening. Trunks and Goten wore themselves out playing and flopped out next to Gohan, who was currently awake and playing babysitter for Pan. Goku managed to extricate himself from Chichi and had come over to sit next to Vegeta, and the two of them were actually having something akin to a conversation--about fighting, of course, but at least it was a conversation. Discussing Evil Buu, of all things, and how much whooping it had taken to defeat the demon. Goku, as usual, was doing most of the talking, with grunts, snorts, or brief comments in response from Vegeta, but every now and then the Earth-Saiyan would say something that Vegeta would retort long and vociferously.

The sun was near to setting when Vegeta finally noticed an odd stillness. It came from his companion, who had lost his perpetually cheerful look and had replaced it with something focused and concerned. He was glancing about, though not actually turning his head, as if he'd sensed some unknown danger.

After a moment of frowning at him, Vegeta suddenly got it. The crickets and frogs and other nighttime denizens of the backyard and surrounding shrubbery should be doing something; making some kind of noise. But they were silent--not a single rustle or chirp. His hunter's instincts, lulled by the boredom of the day, suddenly came online, alerting him to a presence he couldn't detect with his seventh sense, only his sixth.

"We are. Something's nearby," Vegeta responded, not changing his own expression or posture at all.

"It's strange, though," Goku said, glancing about. "I can't sense anything at all. But I know something's there."

"If you can't sense anything, then it's either nothing or something very bad," Vegeta said, unable to banish the gnawing feeling inside him.

"Maybe it's just an animal," Goku said hesitantly before turning back to his companion.

Vegeta glanced at him. "Go do something about it, then." The Saiyan Prince rose and stalked over to the blanket currently occupied by the other members of the family as they finished their ice cream. He didn't know what it was, but something made him want to be nearer to his mate and son. He wasn't concerned, he would firmly tell anyone who might ask. Just cautious.

He turned to see if Goku was following, but saw that the other Saiyan had apparently taken his offhand suggestion seriously. He had vanished from his spot, and Vegeta could faintly sense him somewhere in the vicinity of the backyard's borders, the ones overgrown with trees and shrubs, creeping silently through the brush.

Stupid moron, chasing alley cats around in the dark. Vegeta felt inclined to snort at the other's apparent stupidity as he sat beside Bulma, but couldn't manage to muster the haughteur necessary for the move.

A crack, a yelp, and a scramble brought him whirling around and straight to his feet, along with everyone else. The previously quiet yard became alive with rapidly moving Saiyans, loud shouts, and the flaming glow of ki. They converged on the tempest in the brush with the single-minded focus of a pack of hounds.

Goku stumbled backwards out of the bushes, falling to his rump in the grass and looking quite startled indeed. The charging Saiyans ground to a halt in a semicircle around him, nervously alert but puzzled.

"Kakarot, what the hell happened?" Vegeta demanded, hauling the larger Saiyan to his feet by his shirtfront and shaking him roughly. "What was it?"

"Ugh--I dunno--ack--leggo!" Goku pushed himself upright and shook off Vegeta's hands. "I don't know. I guess we kinda surprised each other, and it ran off." He looked oddly miffed--for him, anyway--as he plucked a few leaves from his hair and dusted off his clothing.

Goku shrugged. "Some kind of animal, I guess. It had a long tail and it ran on all fours. But I couldn't see much else." He seemed almost sheepishly embarassed about tripping over a critter and falling on his backside in front of everyone, which seemed strange for someone like him.

Vegeta relaxed. It was only an animal. Not a crazed enemy out to harm him or any of those he--grudgingly--cared about. He wasn't sure if he was relieved, or if he was mad that it wasn't anything whose butt he could kick and burn off his restlessness. And yet...the entire episode filled him with a vague sense of foreboding. "This picnic is over," he said lowly, turning on his heel to head back to the house.

"Mm. The mood's spoiled, anyway," Bulma concurred, threading her arm around his waist and snuggling up to him as she followed.

Amid murmured statements of agreement, the others trundled back towards the remains of their afternoon picnic to clean up and head for home. The last to move was Goku, who scanned the brush one last time for any signs of the feral intruder. Finally, he reluctantly followed his friends to the house.

A few days passed following the picnic incident before anything of interest happened. Goten reported catching a fleeting glimpse of a very strange animal in the woods behind his house on Mt. Paotzu, a shadow that had run away through the brush and vanished before he could chase it. Trunks concurred the next day, telling his father that he thought he'd seen the creature Goku had run into out behind Capsule Corp. again. Goku would off and on get the feeling of being watched, but Vegeta had no contact whatsoever with anything unusual. Gohan and Videl, in their little house in the city, said they had seen nothing out of the ordinary--only when they went to visit Goku and Chichi. The sightings seemed focused around the Son house, with occasional glimpses at Capsule Corporation.

The strangeness of it all was enough for Vegeta to grow suspicious enough to call a meeting after a week of such occurences. He was the only Saiyan who had not seen hide nor hair of the creature--or creatures; Capsule Corp. and the Son household were too far apart for there to be only one of them--apparently stalking them, and it frustrated him. He wanted to know what they were up against, and only had a few vague descriptions from Goku, Goten, and Trunks, who had seen the things closest: Lean, agile creatures about the size of a very large dog, moving like a cat and loping like a wolf, posessed of a long catlike tail and large eyes that flashed reflectively in the dark when lights shone at them. Usually seen closest at night, they consistently whipped out of sight and range whenever attention was focused on them. No one could track them or find them.

So Vegeta, with uncharacteristic formality, requested that the Saiyans gather at Capsule Corporation in one of Bulma's private, soundproof meeting rooms to discuss what might be either a series of weird coincidences or a serious threat. They all sat around the table--including Goten and Trunks, who looked supremely bored. Besides that, Trunks had been rather touchy lately, and extremely reluctant to participate in the meeting as well as much of his training and exercise with his father. He was becoming an obnoxious, high-powered Saiyan teenager, his mother often mused. Gohan had gone through a somewhat more polite version of the phase, which Vegeta had described to them as a second "terrible twos" for Saiyans. Male Saiyans became more agressive, territorial, and temperamental as they went through adolescence.

"Are we the only ones seeing these things?" Gohan asked, after the evidence was reviewed.

"Apparently so," Bulma replied. "I've checked all over in computer databases, and there have been no reports of strange animals in people's yards. All the stray animals reported in Satan City have been verified as normal cats and dogs and raccoons and other things when captured by Animal Control."

"So this is localized," Vegeta observed. "These things are concentrating on us."

"I guess so," Goku concurred. "I only actually saw the things three times; the kids have seen them more than me."

"But they pop up at Kakarot's house more than here." Vegeta sat back and regarded Goku and his family. "Perhaps there is something about you that they want."

"Maybe it's Goten," Chichi suggested, her face pale with a mother's worry. "He's seen them the most."

Goten shrugged and looked quite thoughtful. "Uh...I don't think the ones I saw were looking for me," he said seriously. "The closest I came to one, I saw it in the trees outside the house. It wasn't looking at me; it was watching the house. I surprised it 'cause it wasn't paying attention to me. But it left really fast after that."

"The ones I saw were always doing that, too," Trunks agreed. "They're always looking at something else."

"What?" Vegeta sat up straight, nearly coming off his chair, his eyes focused on the youngest warrior.

"They watch you, too, Papa," Trunks said softly, as if afraid to break the sudden stillness.

Vegeta sat back down, eyes hard and focused. "I don't think these creatures are as stupid as normal animals, if they have specific targets as the boys describe."

"What should we do?" Chichi asked, sounding a bit worried for the safety of her family. She had been blessed to have gotten Goku back from the dead a third time--she didn't want to lose him again. She leaned her head on her husband's arm.

"I think we need to catch one and find out what it is," Goku told them all. "That way we can maybe find out what they want."

Vegeta snorted. "Just kill the damn things. I don't want to bother. What does everything else that stalks us want? It usually wants us dead. So kill them before they kill us."

Goku gazed at him sternly. "I don't think that's necessary, Vegeta. I've had those things following me around for more than a week now, and I've never sensed any anger or hostility."

"You couldn't sense them at all!" Vegeta protested angrily, banging a hand on the table.

"I'm talking about sixth sense, Vegeta. You know, the one I used on you, at the beginning, when I asked Krillin not to kill you?" Vegeta flinched ever so slightly, but Goku pressed on. "I didn't use my ki-sense to decide that--I used my heart and instinct. And I was right about you. I think I'm right about them. They're only watching us."

Vegeta huffed, but relented, leaning back in his chair with a dismissal shrug. "Whatever."

"How are we supposed to catch something we can't sense and can hardly see?" Gohan wondered aloud, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "Even Piccolo hasn't been able to track one down."

Everyone except Vegeta glanced around the table at one another, somewhat at a loss. The Saiyan Prince gave a short, snorting laugh. "Heh. What a bunch of helpless whiners. Does not a single one of you know how to hunt? Using all that 'sixth sense' you have." He looked across the table. "I know that at least Kakarot, out of all of you soft-bred Saiyans, knows how to hunt."

Goku looked somewhat abashed. "Uh, Vegeta, I was just a kid getting by in the forest..."

"In which situation your Saiyan instincts allowed you to survive quite comfortably on the prey you yourself caught," Vegeta interrupted smoothly. "My mate has regaled me thouroughly with tales of your adventures as a brat. Including her close encounter with a six-foot fish you bagged when she first met you."

Goten fidgeted eagerly in his chair. "Dad, does this mean I can actually chase those things? Mom always--"

"Oh, no you don't, young man!" Chichi shrilled suddenly. "This is a job for the men! I will not have my youngest baby tromping around in the forest after dark with dangerous animals around!"

Vegeta snorted but kept silent, not mentioning that there was nothing on the planet that stood much of a chance of harming her son--present company excluded, of course. "I, for one, relish the challenge of a good hunt," he growled aside to Bulma, an eager, dark gleam in his eye. "Perhaps these creatures will prove interesting after all." He raised his voice. "Kakarot, be sure to tell those human friends of yours, Krillin and Yamcha and the others. They might be of some use."

Gohan, who sat holding Videl's hand, tapped his father on the shoulder as the younger boys began to fidget and talk. "Um, Dad, I don't think I'll be too much use--it's been an awfully long time since I've roughed it, and I don't know that--"

"Aw, c'mon, it'll be fun!" Goku wheedled. "Just you and me, out in the woods chasing things. Remember what it was like when Piccolo was training you? We can have that kind of adventure!"

"Vegeta, I think the meeting's degenerating," Bulma whispered to the Prince, seeing the various mini-conversations cropping up. "Suppose we should head to dinner now?"

A sudden hush fell over the table--except for Chichi and Videl, whose chattering soon died out at the silence. Every keen Saiyan ear had heard the word "dinner."

After the "seek-and-capture" edict went out, all the Saiyans spent a considerable amount of time scanning the woods hoping to be the one who brought down their elusive quarry. Unfortunately, the creatures seemed to have gotten wind of their plot, for they became considerably more scarce after the first three days following the warriors' meeting.

"Do you think we'll actually catch one of those things?" Goten asked Trunks one day during lunch at school. "I haven't seen one in a long time."

"I don't really care," the purple-haired boy replied. "I just thought they were annoying, always snooping around like cats on a garbage can. Always watching my dad."

"I want to go out with Gohan and Dad and Piccolo when they go hunting but Mom won't let me," Goten complained. "Did you go hunting with your dad?"

Trunks shrugged. "That's stupid--of course I didn't. It's dumb and boring, and I don't know how to hunt anyway. Papa probably wouldn't let me; he'd just say I'd slow him down or get in the way."

Trunks crushed his juice can in one fist and lobbed it across the cafeteria to land perfectly in the trash receptacle. "Don't want to."

"Are you kidding? You like to do anything with your dad. C'mon--are you chicken to ask him?"

"If I know Vegeta, he'd love to teach you anything about being a Saiyan. And I guess hunting's part of it, like the fighting and the moon an' stuff."

"Saiyans are like animals," Trunks sniffed disdainfully. "I've heard Mom say so. They have tails, even. Papa gets all growly and prowly, especially when he kisses Mom or he wants to go hunt or spar. I don't want to be like that."

"Well, what do you want to be like? I thought you liked your dad," Goten puzzled.

"I'd rather be like my mom," Trunks replied, finishing of his fourth--and last--tuna sandwich. "She's normal."

"Uhhh...." Goten looked cautiously thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think Aunt Bulma's very 'normal.' She doesn't act like most ladies I know. Why would you want to be like her? You already look like her. But she's kinda weird, you know?"

"Sorry." Goten winced and started putting away his lunch mess. "Anyway, I don't think you can be much like your mom, Trunks. I can't be like mine very much. She says I'm too much like Dad. And that's cool, you know? I want to be a Saiyan warrior just like my dad! You're a Saiyan too, y'know, not a human. Both of us aren't normal."

"Yeah," Goten shrugged as they rose from the table and exited the cafeteria. "But we're still not normal."

"So what? We can still fit in and be regular students. I just want to grow up and become president of Capsule Corporation."

"It's really hard to fit in," Goten observed somewhat sadly. "I can't really be in sports or games, 'cause I might hurt somebody by accident. I gotta be careful all the time not to break stuff or go too fast. We don't need to fit in, though. We're special!"

"At least I look human!" Trunks snapped suddenly, his tone malicious. "You look just like your dad and the rest of the Saiyans! All of you with your strange black hair sticking up all over the place, and weird big eyes that everybody notices! When you walk down the street people stare at you! They don't think I'm weird like you!"

Goten was taken aback, hurt and insulted by Trunks' sharp jab at his not-quite-human appearance. Helplessly, he scrabbled for some common ground. "But...but...we all look the same when we're Super Saiyans!"

"I don't want to be a Super Saiyan any more. I don't want any more trouble to come here. I want to be a normal kid and go to school like everybody else," Trunks informed him. "I don't want to be a Super Saiyan, I don't want to fight evil monsters, and I especially don't want to do Fusion ever again!"

Goten drew back. What Trunks was saying was just...wrong somehow. He assumed, from Trunks' earlier attack on Saiyan appearance, that he didn't want to Fuse ever again because he didn't like Goten anymore--because Goten looked much more like a Saiyan than Trunks did. Something in him broke, and he caught his breath. "Trunks, you're awful!" he cried before blasting off.

Students in the hallway screeched at the sudden sharp wind that blew clothing and papers willy-nilly. Fortunately, Goten was moving far too fast for them to see what he was, and was out a window before anyone identified the source of the breeze.

Briefly, Trunks softened, realizing he'd said some very hurtful things to his best friend. For a second he almost took off after him to apologize. But then his resolve returned; Goten needed to wise up about life, anyway.

Goten was more than halfway home, speeding through the air, when he realized he'd get in trouble at school and at home for leaving so early. The school part he couldn't help and didn't care about, but the home part... Maybe he should wait for a bit before going any further.

The youngest half-Saiyan dropped speed and altitude, landing on the road that led to his house. He was still several miles away, but if he stayed for a while he could make sure he didn't arrive home before his mother was expecting him. With a sad sigh, he plopped down on the grass at the side of the lane to think. He stewed for a long time over the hurtful things Trunks had said.

What if he doesn't like me any more? he wondered. I guess he hates Saiyans now. I don't know why. Did he have a fight with his dad? Maybe it's got to do with his new baby sister being born soon. Mom said Gohan was a little jealous of me when I was a baby. He went around and around in his head, but couldn't seem to find any forthcoming answers to his problems.

Goten looked up. Standing across the road from him was a small woman, her angular dark eyes warm and kind, a half-smile on her face. She had thick black hair that rose in a shaggy mane around her head and neck, with wild bangs that nearly hung into her eyes. She wore strange, almost medieval clothing--a dark-colored tunic and vest with bound sleeves. As she came closer he could see she was barefoot, carrying her shoes--moccasins, rather--in one hand, as if enjoying the dust between her toes. Most of her clothes were earth-toned and dark, with fur leggings and bracers. An intricately patterned scarf or bandanna was tied loosely at her throat, embroidered with a crest-like symbol in the corner.

The woman stopped a safe distance from him--close enough to offer concern without inferring threat. "Little cub, are you alright?" she asked again.

He looked into her calm, softly smiling face and found himself trusting her instantly. "Uh, yeah, I'm okay."

"That is good." She was a very small woman, Goten realized when she was standing this close to him. Smaller than his mother, even, by quite a bit. But she wasn't dwarfish; her arms looked thin, yet seemed lean and strong. Her features were petite and sharp, with high, pronounced cheekbones, large, expressive eyes, and oddly long, almost jutting jaws. Her face was too abrupt, her features too lean to be considered beautiful, but she was not unpleasant to look at, and was pretty in her own way. "Why are you here? Is it not time for you to be in school?"

"Why are you not there?" Her rough alto voice carried some unidentifiable accent, something that clipped her long vowels, made her consonants hard, and stretched her lower pronunciations, making her R's almost growls.

Goten glanced up at her. "We didn't fight fight. I...he...we said some stuff..."

"Well, um...our dads are...from somewhere else. So we don't look just like most of the kids here. My friend looks a lot more...normal than me, and he wants to fit in better with all the other kids. I look like my dad so I think he hates me. He doesn't want to be like his dad any more, and he doesn't want to be friends with me any more."

"I do not think he does," the woman told him. "He is beginning his time of transition, starting on his path to becoming a man. His body is changing, as well as his mind, and he wants to become his own person and assert his own independence. He does not want to stand in his father's shadow any longer. He does not want to be bound by his father's life and his father's ways. This beautiful planet is his world--he does not know his father's. Give him time to grow. He will find himself and be happy again."

"You think so?" It somehow didn't occur to Goten to find it odd she knew their fathers were from another planet.

"I do. You, too, will soon face this period of life, as all of us must. And then you must decide who you are."

"You are very welcome, little one. Go now--go back to school before you get into trouble."

Goten glanced back down the road in the direction of school. "Uh, I think I'm too far away to make it back before..."

"Oh, I think you could make it if you ran fast enough." She winked at him. "Hurry and get going! You are a good boy and a good friend, Son Goten."

Goten, who was gazing off in the direction of school, jerked back towards her when she spoke his name. "Hey, how did you--?"

"Impossible..." Briefly, Goten looked around for her, but couldn't sense any presences. He had the feeling he wouldn't find her unless she wanted him to. With nothing else to do, he cast about one last glance before shooting off back to school. Maybe he could make it back before lunch period was over...

"Hm?" Goku looked up from his crouched position and spotted Vegeta hovering above him. "Oh, hi Vegeta!" he greeted cheerily, abandoning his hiding place in a clump of ferns. "What brings you all the way up here?"

Vegeta set down beside him, looking as though he were contemplating the right words to say. "You are hunting the creatures."

Oy, that must have hurt, Goku thought, regarding his friend and fellow Saiyan. "I was gonna ask you if you wanted to, but you beat me to it," he half-lied, trying to preserve the prince's easily-bruised dignity. "If we're going to work together, how do you want to do this?"

"Are you merely waiting for it to happen by?" Vegeta snorted. "That's a slow method, and a stupid one. Let's go hunting."

"Well...sitting here is kinda boring..." Goku scratched his head. "But how else can we find them?"

Goku nodded, and without another word, the last two true Saiyans headed deeper into the woods, vanishing into the forest like mountain cats on the prowl.