All standard disclaimers apply. Dragon Ball Z, its characters, and all likenesses of which belong to its creators. I simply interfere with their lives in my spare time. All I can lay claim to is the plot of this fic since it is of my own original conception. I am not paid for spending all of my free time writing, I do this simply for the sake of fandom and for the entertainment of its readers. ^_^
~ AN OBVIOUS ANSWER ~
For as long as he could remember since coming to this green planet called "Earth", Vegeta had been in constant battle with Goku, always trying to find a way to become the more powerful of the two warriors so that he might finally beat the other saiyajin at his own game. Well, it was a game, and a splendid one at that. The two were in continuous competition over just about everything, and since the knowledge that they were the only two living, full-blooded saiyajins left in the universe hung between them, whoever came out on top was, under no uncertain terms, the "best". The primary contest, of course, was to see who obtained the higher power level, since the higher your level was, the greater your overall abilities. It had quickly become something of an obsession for the two men, and they were almost always training now. And because of their unique backgrounds, they excelled at what they did with a disturbingly high rate… always improving… becoming stronger, faster, or more accurate, but never truly gaining the advantage that he did not already have. So, it was a truly frustrating, drawn out contest, but neither of the men would give in… Goku wouldn't because of his intense love of the sport and Vegeta wouldn't because of his immense desire to become the ultimate warrior. It was his quest to regain the honor that he was certain Goku had somehow stolen from him, when he was the one who had been rightfully destined to such greatness.
So, the years passed, and time only served to make their rivalry grow fiercer, as well as strengthen the unspoken bond of friendship between them. For the most part, Goku was always on top, which annoyed Vegeta to no end…though he did have his days, however rare. It seemed to him that the man just had this natural ability to accelerate at anything he did with an alarming speed and grace, even for a saiyajin. Goku's grace off of the battlefield, however, was a completely different matter. But for all of that, Vegeta was still thankful that the younger alien was on his side now.
In the beginning, it hadn't been that way… both Vegeta and Goku had originally come from the planet Vegeta, of which the former had been the saiyajin prince. The saiyajin race was a violent one that thrived on war and prided themselves on their unusual strength and battle prowess. Their bloodlust had run so high that they even took on the occupations of mercenaries and planet brokers, clearing entire populations from their respective planets to sell to the highest bidder. Goku had been chosen to "clean" the Earth and had been sent there as an infant with the orders to destroy. Fortunately, because of a brush with amnesia, he never accomplished his mission. Instead, he grew up on Earth, alongside those he was sent to exterminate, firmly believing that he was one of them. 23 years later, Goku had learned of his heritage through his long lost brother, Raditz, who also revealed that Vegetasei had been destroyed and that he was one of the last four surviving saiyajins. He had come to "collect" him, so that they could go conquer the universe together.
To make a long story short, Goku helped to kill his own brother in battle so that he could save the planet and a year later, a very arrogant, hot-headed Vegeta arrived on this planet with the firm intention of destroying it, but also failed at the hands of Goku. It hadn't made much sense to him at the time, but somehow, as well as summoning the strength to defeat him, a super-elite, in battle, Goku had also had the strength to show him mercy and spared his life. Even then, they were still strictly on the opposite sides of the team. But when they crossed paths again on Planet Namek, they had reluctantly formed a devastating alliance that would shock everyone, including themselves. An alliance that would carry over after the war on Frieza in the form of a cold, calculated rivalry, from which their present companionship had formed. The heartless prince of a dead race and the optimistic, third class soldier who would always whoop his ass while wearing a huge, lopsided grin… who would've guessed?
So here they were, several years later, facing off once again… this time, though, it was just a little "friendly" competition. They sparred frequently to keep themselves and each other in check as well as to see who had improved the most since their last session, which was never too long ago considering that lately, the frequency was up to at least once a day. But today, Vegeta had a different strategy. Yes, it was true that he was at a natural disadvantage as far as strength went, that he could admit, if only to himself… but he had a quick, clever, agile mind… and right now, he was sure that he'd just found the way to beat Goku hands down. Things were about to get pretty interesting, indeed…
~~~~~~
Goku and Vegeta were poised for battle, every muscle tensing, palms sweaty with anticipation, fingers flexing… focusing themselves on where they wanted to attack first. It was vital that they discern their opponent's weak spot immediately if they wanted to gain the upperhand early on. Then suddenly, like a flash of lightning, it started: they flew at each other with all that they had. Energy balls and lightning fast blows were flying everywhere and the men started to power up as fast as they could to keep ahead- it was essential to be the first to reach your maximum level if you wanted to maintain your ground. They moved so quickly that the most that one could see were blurry, bouncy images that made you sick and disoriented if you stared too long.
Adrenaline rushing madly through his veins, Goku fought hard against Vegeta's awesome attacks the best he could, but it was soon quite obvious that he was fighting a losing match. "How?" was all that he could sputter angrily as he found himself knocked once again to the ground. There was no time! Suddenly, Vegeta took advantage of the break in Goku's defense and bombarded him with several smaller energy attacks. "No fair!" Goku cried out indignantly, shielding himself as the concurrent flow of energy between the two started to take on an inverse flux. There was no denying it now. He was scared. His energy level started to drop rapidly, leaving him even more vulnerable to further assault. Vegeta's confidence and strength, on the other hand, was growing by the second.
"Take that Kakarotto!" he crowed as he made another round of attacks on the hapless saiyajin. He used Goku's saiyajin name, as always, which he knew that, in times like these, irritated the hell out of his partner. Right now, Goku had bigger things to worry about than names, but he refused to let Vegeta have the satisfaction of knowing that he felt cornered.
"No way! I'm not giving up now!"
"You're finished!"
"Don't speak so soon!"
But for all of his confident words, Goku sure didn't feel confident. As the battle progressed, it only looked worse and worse for him. To make matters worse, he was still only on the defensive! This was insanity! How on Earth could Vegeta be beating him like this? Where had Vegeta learned all of his new techniques? They were too strong, and what was more, Goku's defense was dropping and he had nothing to throw back. Silently, he thanked Kami that none of his friends were around to witness such a humiliating defeat. And to think that he had actually tried to coax Gohan into taking a few hours off to stick around and watch! Finally, with a speed and strength that would've broken his controller, Vegeta landed the last blow, sending Goku flying into the nearest wall.
"YAAAAH!!!"
"N…No! It can't be!!"
"I have beaten Kakarotto!! Yess!! I did it!!"
Goku slammed his fist down into the table that was supporting the Nintendo 64™, trying to keep in mind that if he broke it, Bulma would kill him. Vegeta just snickered at him and set the game for another round.
"You're a sore loser, Kakarotto"
"I am not! You must've cheated!"
"Hn, you're just upset that I'm better than you are. Besides, with all that time on your hands, you'd think that you'd be able to fight on a lousy video game better than Pan."
"What?!"
"You can learn a lot challenging Trunks to those 'StreetFighter' games, you know…"
"How on Earth did you become so good at video games?"
"Practice, Kakarotto… lots and lots of practice…"
~ Owari ~
Muahahaha!!! Kawaii ne? ^_^ This is the first and currently ONLY of my Dragon Ball fics to be archived. This is also the SHORTEST one I've ever done. It was written in response to a really cute comic strip I found over a year ago while surfing the Internet where Goku and Vegeta were playing a video game and Goku lost. A friend of mine challenged me to see if I could expand on it. I still have the strip, for those who are curious. Just email me and I'd be glad to send it to you. ^_^
Curiously, most of my DB/DBZ fics have NOT been converted to a writing processor. Instead, they lay in old notebooks collecting dust… add to the fact that I am no longer a diehard DBZ fanatic, chances are that I won't be doing a lot of Dragon Ball fanfiction. Whether or not I get the drive to actually start typing them out is all up to my readers.