Chapter Text
Training had been… intense. Even that didn’t seem like an appropriately strong enough word to describe it. Vegeta pushed himself beyond limits he never knew he could do, determined to work harder on his Ultra Ego and Hakai. After all, he was competing with both Kakarot and Broly on this damn planet. And who knew how strong Frieza was at this point. If Vegeta thought training with Whis was tough, training with Beerus was grueling work. However, he thrived under the strict regime.
Currently, Vegeta’s face was being pummeled into the ground by the cat God. That damned purple being seemed to make a habit out of that. Vegeta could barely breathe, tasting divine dirt and struggling to get back up.
Suddenly a spike of familiar yet large energy came to Vegeta’s senses. This compelled him to push Beerus off of him with his own strength, sending him a kick back as he stood up to gain his composure. Beerus looked at him, impressed. Something in Vegeta wanted to investigate this sudden incredible power that seemed to come from… Earth?
At the same time, Goku also noticed the energy. While Vegeta was training with Beerus, Goku was training with Whis. His progress on mastering his own version of Ultra Instinct was going well, untethered from strictly following the Angels’ path and forging his own path with it. The future excited him.
Goku and Vegeta locked eyes. “Is that our kids and Piccolo?” The taller Saiyan asked.
Vegeta grunted in response. “They might be in trouble, fighting an enemy we can’t sense. It doesn’t seem like they’re struggling, however. Hell, they don’t seem to be moving at all. As if they’re just standing there like bumbling idiots in a circle.”
“Wanna go check it out? I could go for another sparring match with Gohan or Piccolo.”
Vegeta crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the ground. Something was weird. Especially with his son Trunks. Trunks had been slacking off in his training lately. At this point, Vegeta was fighting a losing battle trying to force him to enjoy training. This energy he felt from Trunks, though, was stronger than usual. Vegeta had felt his son’s full power before, but this time it felt more invigorated. It felt angry, desperate, and… afraid?
Was his son okay? Was the rest of his family okay?
Vegeta looked over at Whis. “Whis, can you use your staff to contact Bulma before we go? Let her know we’re on our way back.”
Whis nodded, singing about how much he missed Earth food and couldn’t wait to hear if Bulma had any meals ready for her, despite the sudden arrival. His staff glowed but no one was picking up. “Well that’s a shame. I do hate being ignored.” Whis sighed.
Vegeta tried not to panic when Bulma didn’t answer. There could be a million reasons why she didn’t. She could be enjoying one of her 2 hour long baths, could be in the kitchen gorging on strawberries, maybe participating at one of her boring Gala events, or too busy being enthralled by some sappy romance movie to notice the ringing from Whis. No, no, no everything was fine… right?
“Kakarot, let’s go. Now.”
“Okay, buddy!” Goku reached out his hand, but Vegeta opted to grab Goku’s shoulder instead. Placing his two fingers on his forehead, the taller Saiyan tracked down Gohan–the strongest energy of the bunch–and they both disappeared.
Vegeta was correct when he assumed that it was just all of them powering up in a circle. Trunks immediately stopped powering up when he felt his father, and hurried over to him. “Dad!”
Everyone else powered down as well, feeling exhausted from using their full strength. “What’s going on?” Goku asked, confused at the fact that there was no imminent threat around. Much to his secret dismay.
The group went quiet, with everyone looking at Trunks. Trunks’ demeanor shifted into a solemn face and he took a sigh before stating the reason why they signaled for his father and pseudo-uncle to come here. “Mom’s gone. It’s like she disappeared from thin air. And her lab is gone. A-And the dragon balls and dragon radar that were in her lab are gone too. I don’t know where she could be or what’s going on…”
Vegeta initially didn’t understand what Trunks was saying. He couldn’t process it. He took a quick ki scan, and found… nothing. For the first time since Buu, he couldn’t find Bulma’s ki anywhere on Earth. He never noticed how much he used her ki to ground him to sanity until now.
She wasn’t just gone, she wasn’t on earth at all. He had no idea where she was. And the stupid dragon balls were gone too so they couldn’t just wish for her whereabouts. His emotions then swelled to anger and he clenched his fists. How the hell did Trunks not notice someone trying to take her? This is what fucking happens when you don’t train enough!
But that wasn’t fair to think. He was just placing blame, trying to make sense of such strange and sudden news. If anything, he should be angry at himself. He wasn’t even here when Bulma was taken. He swore he’d protect her no matter what. He failed.
Goku was the one who spoke up first, interrupting Trunks’ panicked rambling by placing a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna find her.” The clown’s tone was more serious than usual. This response snapped Vegeta out of his thoughts.
“Kakarot. Namek, now. We’ll wish for the dragon balls to bring Bulma back to Earth.” Vegeta’s words were sharp. All the thoughts consuming him was how to formulate a plan to bring his wife back home to him. He was good at plans, surely he could solve this.
“Right.” Goku complied, placing his fingers on his forehead again. It took a bit longer to locate the Namekians' energy, as they were pretty far and significantly weaker. As Goku searched, Vegeta looked over at his son. They locked eyes. “Don’t worry, son. I’ll find her.” He said, determination filling his steady voice. “You did good powering up today. Your ki is stronger. I’m proud.” Vegeta was never good at expressing sentimentality, especially to his son. But he was working on it.
Trunks was in awe at the words, about to respond until Goku interjected. “Found it!” And with that, the full-blooded Saiyans were off.
Goku and Vegeta landed in front of Moori. “Oh, Goku!” The Namkeian elder greeted. “What brings you here?”
Goku chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Hey, Moori! Long time no see! How’s things been since Moro–”
“Where are your dragon balls?” Vegeta interrupted with a growl, growing more impatient.
Moori blinked at the rude interjection. “Don’t mind him, we’re just really in a rush and need the balls ASAP. Do you mind helping us out?” Goku pressed his fingers together as he asked.
“For the warriors that saved our planet? Of course! Anything you need.”
“Yes!”
“Unfortunately,” Uh oh. “They won’t be available for 10 more days. We recently used to dragon balls to eliminate a virus that was plaguing our–”
“10 fucking days?!” Vegeta shouted, grabbing Moori by his shirt and letting out an angry snarl. “Bulma could be dead by then, you useless sack of impertinence!” Moori was visibly shaking in fear, getting flashbacks to when Vegeta was evil and mercilessly slaughtered his people.
“Hey,” Goku forcibly pulled Vegeta away from the terrified elder Namekian. “Calm down!”
The notion made Vegeta even more upset. “Calm down? My wife is somewhere out there in space and I have no fucking clue where or how or why!” His loud words were drawing a crowd of concerned Namekian onlookers. “She could already be dead for all I know! Hell, she probably will be in 10 days! My Bulma was kidnapped without a trace but here you are, making smalltalk with this old waste of space who can’t even give us what we want in time! You fucking moronic clown, it’s like you don’t even care–”
Vegeta’s face was met with a punch so hard that the impact of his head on the ground made a crater. “Bulma is my oldest friend! How dare you say such a thing, of course I care! I’m just trying to stay calm instead of acting like a whiny brat throwing a tantrum! You think I'm not worried?”
Vegeta looked at Goku in awe, too stunned to speak. “Look, these are the only dragon balls we got,” the taller Saiyan continued. “I can’t get to Planet Cereal from here and our Earth’s dragon balls are gone. This is the only lead we got.” Goku sighed. “Besides, it’s Bulma, she’s always been resourceful ever since I’ve known her. I’m sure she’ll survive. And when we find her, we’ll save her, alright?” Goku ended his words with a soft smile, reaching a hand out to help Vegeta up.
Surprisingly, Vegeta took Goku’s hand and stood up, letting out a deep sigh. “Fine.” He said, calming down. He looked over at Moori, expression filled with remorse. “I-I apologize for my behavior.” The elder Namekian nodded in forgiveness. “That’s alright. I understand that this is important to you.”
Vegeta’s eyes darted towards the sky. “10 days, huh? Might as well distract myself by kicking your ass, right Kakarot?” He tilted his head to face the other Saiyan. “After all, I’ll need to be in tip-top shape to beat the shit of whoever took Bulma.” He said with a sadistic grin.
Goku smirked back and nodded. “Right.” Together they flew off to an empty wasteland on the planet, devoid of any people. There, their 10 day training session began.