It took everyone a couple days to come to terms with the fact that Gohan was the source of that ominous energy they had all felt.

Unfortunately a couple of days were all they had as they arrived at some distant planet on the outer edge of the known universe, or at least the northern section of it.

Whatever the warriors of the resistance had expected to see, the visual conundrum they witnessed before them was definitely not it.. They were staring at what was clearly a massive planet, every bit the size of Earth. According to the ship's computers it was actually a little bigger.

However, unlike the Earth, every inch of the planet seemed barren and brown. Well every part save a singular, lucious tree which was colossal in nature and shined a vibrant gold. From their view in space they could clearly see the thing took up a full third of the surface of the planet with ease. Each of the warriors marveled in their own ways as the ship breached the planet's atmosphere for landing.

Vegeta honed in on the coordinates transmitted by Turles's scounter, and within 15 minutes the ship had made a shaky landing close to the space pirate's own.

All 14 of the warriors descended from the ship as a group, with Vegeta leading in the front. He waved a hand over his shoulder beckoning the others forward as he began to march. "Hurry up, quickly, don't fall behind or I swear to god I'll leave your sorry asses.." Most of the others rolled their eyes but complied nonetheless.

Kakarot for his part wore a heavy frown, not because of the saiyan prince, but rather because the system files on the ship said that this was a planet teeming with life and people.

If that were the case.. Why couldn't he sense any energy?.. Well that wasn't entirely accurate… Kakarot looked up at the ridiculously large tree towering over the horizon. 'Maybe they all live in there..?' He thought with inexplicable apprehension. Something on this planet just felt wrong.. He put his head down and began to walk faster.

Before long the group came upon Turles and his gang but what they saw when they laid eyes on the leader of the gang caused them to do a double, and then a triple take. The Earthinglings shared a collective gasp and began looking comically from Kakarot to Turles repeatedly. They were identical in nearly every single way except maybe their skin tone. Turles appeared to have almost ashy gray skin while Kakarot sported a deep tan. The newest introduction of the saiyan race did a mock bow, before crossing his arms and smirking directly at Kakarot.

"Hello, Kakarot! So it's true what they say? You look just like that bastard Bardock. He and I are the same age, you know? We went to the academy together hahaha!" His laugh sounded hollow and unnecessarily loud to the saiyan raised on Earth so he said nothing as the space pirate continued.

"Of course things were different in those days.. before King Vegeta, rest his soul, seperated the elites from the low class." While speaking the man had looked briefly over at Vegeta before turning his attention back to Kakarot. "You should know.. Your father was a warrior through, and through. He didn't care for politics or to try and take the throne although.. Many say he stood the best chance of us all." He smirked, pausing in his monologing to gaugethe reaction of the others.

Many of the Z-warriors spared a glance towards Vegeta half expecting him to rage out and defend his father's honor, but apparently if the man wasn't being directly insulted himself, he truly didn't care.

Either that or he actually agreed with what the other saiyanclass saying. Possibly both. Vegeta crossed his arms and sighed. "How long are you going to drag this on for Turtles? Why have you brought me all the way out here and what..?" He paused, pointing sharply to the massive tree in the background. ".. In the bloody hell is that?!" He demanded.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Turles chuckled a bit and gestured widely behind him in an exaggerated manner. "I'm glad you asked, Lord Prince." He said with reverence. "This is in fact what I brought you here for. This is the key to defeating Frieza. Behold, the tree of might! Hahaha!" The man's laugh was haughty and villainous but his words were sincere.

Vegeta's eyes widened as he looked once more up at the impossibly large thing. "The tree of might..? I've heard of such a thing in legends but to actually see it for myself.." He stammered.

A few steps behind him Kakarot frowned and scratched his head. "I don't exactly see how a tree is supposed to help us beat anybody, even if it is freakishly huge.. What's the deal, Vegeta?" The naive saiyan asked, confused.

The prince scoffed and turned to face the youngest saiyan, aside from the man's hybrid son of course. "It's not the tree itself you idiot. It's what it does." He stated, turning back to the massive golden tree. "It bears fruit that gives the user all the power and life force the tree has harvested over the course of a year."

Kakarot's easy expression fell off his face as he slowly came to the realization of just what the saiyan prince was implying. He looked down at the dusty, cracked dirt beneath his feet. How hadn't he noticed it before..? This planet.. There were signs everywhere.. A recently dried up riverbed.. A pile of fresh bones strewn about here and there every now and again..

With a trembling gaze he slowly looked up at the swaying tree and it's millions of golden leaves, each one signifying another devoured soul to the saiayan's eyes. Behind him the Z fighters began to piece together what their saiyan friend already had and they began to murmur amongst each other.

"What's the matter, Kakarot?" Turles asked with a knowing smirk. "Don't tell me you're just like that goody two shoes father of yours.. Too chicken shit to get our hands a little dirty? That was his only flaw. The reason why he never stood a chance against lord Frieza." He laughed in a mocking manner.

Kakarot shook with rage. He was just about to explode forward and make this man answer for every living soul that once inhabited this planet, when Vegeta's voice cut through the air. "That's enough, both of you!" The prince demanded.

Turles merely shrugged and laughed but Kakarot hesitated, stepping forward and pleading, "But Vegeta.." The shorter man cut him off with a dangerous glare, "But what? You already knew that in order to stand a chance against Frieza we were going to have to take drastic measures, did you think that no blood would be spilled in the process?" The prince clenched his fist and shook it in Kakarot's face as more passion entered his voice.

Kakarot took a step back and sighed, wincing at the ground. "Not like this.." He whispered.

Vegeta shook his head. "It's already done. There's nothing we can do to bring them back anyways… Turles!" Vegeta yelled, turning toward the other man and beginning to march his way towards his position. As the two engaged in conversation out of earshot Kakarot and Raditz shared a look. Raditz shook his head vehemothly, immediately interpreting the desperate look in his brother's eyes. The older brother's response, though unspoken, was clear. 'We can not let Vegeta know about the dragonballs!'

It had been something of a process for Kakarot to get the rest of the gang to agree to telling his brother about them even after months of Raditz trying to convince them that the man was trying his best. Raditz had even went so far as to defend the Earthlings from Vegeta's occasional rampages.

In time, with Bulma backing up the word of her husband, as well as the man constantly risking his own well being for theirs and of course, with lots of enthusiastic support from his nephew.. They all gave in. The first thing uttered out of Raditz's mouth was that Vegeta and Frieza must never learn about the dragonballs no matter what the costs. Naturally the others agreed. The results would be catastrophic for everyone in the entire universe…

Shaking in silent anguish, Kakarot clenched his fists.. 'No matter what it takes.. Frieza will die.. And you saiyans will do better or you too, will perish by my hand..' He looked over at his son, who's gaze was glued to the ground with a sense of gloom covering his aura. 'Nothing will endanger my son.. Not his life nor his happiness.' The man vowed silently.

With Vegeta and Turles..

"So how many of these damn trees are left?" The saiyan prince asked bluntly. Turles jerked his thumb behind him. "This is the last one in existence." He said with a hint of disappointment. "I saved ten fruits, two for all five of us saiyans.. For obvious reasons I won't be sharing any with the rest."

Vegeta nodded in concurrence. "Obviously. I'm assuming you've already had at least one of these fruits…" Vegeta all but growled. Turles shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "Of course, sire.. I had to make sure they were worth your time and effort of course, plus as far as being a space pirate goes, there's the finder's fee and all.." He chuckled.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes and waved the man's silver-tongued words away. "Yeah, yeah whatever. I don't care about your treacherous tendencies, as long as this fruit turns out to actually be worth my while. I've come a long way for this and I wanted to be well out of the North quandrent by now. And it's just as well that there isn't any more.." He admitted.

"It's a shortcut to power at best, and that buffoon Kakarot is one hell of a self righteous pain in the ass about these kinds of things. I'd just as soon not have to listen to his incessant whining about innocent lives being sacrificed." The man said, cleaning out one of his ears.

'Is the prince going soft.. Better watch your back Vegeta.. That crown may yet slip off your pretty little head.' Turtles mused internally while narrowing his eyes. Of course.. he wouldn't dare utter these words out loud.. Not yet.

End of chapter 21