Isala stood on the soft soil of Namek, which was green as far as her eyes could see. She hopped up and down a couple of times, testing the gravity and frowning.
"Lots of power levels here..." She muttered, just before Trunks' voice appeared in her ear and she started gliding up for a better view of their surroundings.
"Hey! Your target is, uh, Vegeta." Trunks said, instantly seizing Isala's interest. "He's almost got all of Namek's Dragon Balls, and it's up to Gohan to steal one and stop him. But, Vegeta's just received a power upgrade from the people meddling in time. He'll get there before Gohan's stole one of them. It's up to you to stop him, and beat that upgrade out of him."
Isala cracked her knuckles, her eyes narrowing at the horizon as she did so. "That's not gonna be a problem." She promised, as old thoughts flashed to the forefront of her mind. This wasn't actually going to help her at all, but it was going to be extremely satisfying to knock the pride out of some incompetent royalty.
"...right. We've put you exactly the path Vegeta will be crossing, so it's only a matter of time. Remember, he's more powerful than you might remember, and this time he has a boost. We'll pull you out if we have to, but still."
"Uh huh, sure." Isala said, as she flexed her power to the tips of all of her limbs and let her anger flow to the forefront of her mind.
"Uh. Remember, you can't kill Vegeta. This is important."
"I get it!" Isala snapped at Trunks. It was at this point that a distraction rocketed into view, in the form of a Saiyan prince clad in blue with a dragon ball tucked under his arm. She flew down to his level, every muscle in her body tensing up as he got closer and closer, until she could just about start to lunge at him.
Then he stopped dead in mid-air. His eyes narrowed at the Saiyan standing opposite him, his grip on the Dragon Ball tightening. "And who are you meant to be?" He asked, his voice laced with arrogance.
Isala didn't answer, instead growling as she pounced at the former Prince. He dived beneath her rabid lunge, landing on the ground and spinning to hurl his Dragon Ball across the horizon. He dodged to the side as Isala speared down, her boots cracking the ground where he'd just been standing. He span around, his arm coiled like a spring, which shot straight into Isala's gut as his faint purple aura flared to life.
The smaller Saiyan wheezed at the fist buried in her gut, but didn't take her gaze off of Vegeta's for a moment. She grabbed for his arm, but he kept it buried where it was. Energy started to coalesce around his limb while it was stuck into her abs.
"I didn't know there were any other survivors. I'd have hoped they would be tougher than a weakling like you." Vegeta mused aloud. "Perhaps I'll let you live, if you can survive this."
Isala's tail darted between her legs, wrapped around Vegeta's wrist, and yanked it into the ground. He stumbled forwards while Isala slammed her knee into his temple and he grunted hard, clenching his fist despite it being buried in the ground. She started to rapidly swing her knees at his right shoulder, hitting it again and again until Vegeta unleashed a blast right into the ground that sent the pair of them flying away from each other among a cloud of yellow.
"So you're not entirely worthless." Vegeta chuckled darkly, as Isala's power level rose closer to its true strength. "But you'll have to do better than that if you want to keep me from my prize." He said, as he brought his hands together at his side and suddenly thrust them forwards. A purple column emerged from his palms, headed straight towards Isala.
She leaped backwards, creating enough space for blue spheres to surround her hands before she brought them together for a beam that met Vegeta's in mid-air. The energy swirled and crackled as it met, endlessly shifting even as Isala soared higher into the air, each of them keeping their focus on the struggle, pouring all the energy they could into their attacks. Vegeta's confidence slowly turned into a scowl, while Isala's had long been set in rage.
Isala started to close the gap. Her beam did not overpower Vegeta's, but she moved closer with it in hand. The mutlicolored laser got shorter as she flew closer, the power they were each pouring into it getting brighter and casting the surrounding Namek in in an almost blinding light. She pushed herself closer and closer, until there was barely ten feet between them and they couldn't even see each other through the massive sphere of ki between them.
Then she released her grasp on her energy. Vegeta's poured into the sphere, sending a beam that soared across the horizon as a smirk came to his face...one that quickly vanished as he spotted the Saiyan that had slipped beneath the orb and grabbed both of his ankles. The momentum of her flight was transferred to her body, as she swung her legs up and both of her boots met the most vulnerable parts of Vegeta's body.
Vegeta cried out in pain, even as his armor helped distribute the force over his torso, and pushed both of his palms flat against the woman floating beneath him. He poured his faded reserves of energy into a series of rapid attacks, before she could do the same, forcing her to release him lest she receive a few hundred ki blasts to the face.
Still catching his breath, holding back his groans, Vegeta span around to face the troublesome Saiyan. "Have you no concern for the future of the Saiyan race?" He growled at his silent opponent, who simply glowered and rushed forward once more. Her boot found the center of his chest, sending the Prince hurtling backwards, while she rushed to keep up with him with a flurry of kicks to his right shoulder.
They eventually landed, Vegeta skidding across the mucky ground of Namek until flipping back over to his feet and catching Isala by the tail in the split second it took for her to slow down. He slammed her into the ground on her back and dipped low as she bounced, using both feet to kick her in the back and sending her soaring into the air. One of his arms was aching, but still he shot after her and brought both of them up, slamming her back towards the ground with an overhead swing.
Isala hit the ground with a grunt, sending a spray of mud across the surrounding countryside. She groaned, blinking passed the pain that ached dully across her torso, and just managed to sense the power in Vegeta's fingertips. She coiled up, focusing her ki on protecting herself just as an explosion surrounded her and the stench of burned grass filled the air.
She took the chance to scuttle out of the crater her falling body had made, having to dodge the hail of ki blasts that Vegeta sent to chase her, then darted high into the air. The volley followed her, but she pirouetted and sent herself crashing towards Vegeta, flicking aside the weak blasts as she went. The Prince gritted his teeth, clenched his right fist, and focused his power into his left hand for a mighty swing…
That met nothing but air, as Isala stopped a couple of feet away from Vegeta and performed a backflip with one foot extended. A sphere of energy had been building there, hid behind her silhouette against the sun, and exploded. Vegeta was knocked backwards, while Isala's momentum had taken her right back to facing him.
Isala lunged at the stunned Vegeta, twisting her body around his and latching her legs around his arm, locking it in place with her thighs while her hands seized the rest of it. Vegeta's eyes widened, his left arm lashing out to protecting his other arm, but was halted by Isala's tail seizing its wrist.
"No!" Vegeta roared. Isala snarled and cranked his elbow as far as it would go, separating the elbow and sending pain shooting through the empowered Saiyan's body. She kept her grip focused tightly, torturing the Prince with the pain, before she finally released the crippled limb and hurled him to the ground with her tail.
Isala caught her breath while she watched the crippled Vegeta land in a crater of his own, clutching at his right arm and writhing in pain. It was satisfying to watch him, and to get a chance to recover from some of the aching pain shooting through her. She watched Vegeta force his arm back into place, but she knew the damage was done. He deserved it for everything he hadn't done, for the things he did, and now, for damaging her battlesuit, her one memento of home.
The part of her that wanted to keep wailing on the injured Prince was vindicated as sparks of white energy started to surround the fallen Vegeta. A blast of crystalline power surged where she stood, barely giving her enough time to dodge the bulk of the blast, but she could feel the power rippling off of it all the same.
Vegeta launched himself upwards, chopping Isala in the ribs with his remaining good hand and following it up with a palm to the gut. "You will not steal my destiny!" He cried out, as a spout of blue ki poured out of his palm and dissipated, leaving behind a thoroughly scorched Isala who fell slowly to the ground.
The Prince didn't stop his attack even then, as flames licked around his left hand and he sent them careening towards Isala, his own body right behind. She managed to dodge out of the way of the fire, but not Vegeta, who swung his leg around for a kick aimed at the back of her head. It struck true, forcing her to stumble forwards and get tackled to the ground.
Vegeta swung his left fist at Isala's face again and again, trying to jab it into submission as he attempted to climb atop her, pin her arms to the ground. It hit her again and again, maing her gasp and grunt in pain with every hit, until her tail wrapped around Vegeta's neck and tightened around it. A field of white energy surrounded Vegeta, creating just enough space that her tail could no longer contort around his throat.
Now pinned, Isala's tail hit the ground and, along with her legs and arms, managed to force Vegeta around with some small struggle. He was beneath her, one arm crippled, both legs in the air. He made a grab for her throat, which she leaned back to avoid, then hopped up into the air and slammed both of her boots down on his skull. She darted into the air, just about avoiding a grab for her ankle, and glared a hole in Vegeta's face as he clambered back to his feet.
Isala brought her palms together, focusing her ki between them. Purple energy flashed into existence around her, then around them, forming a ball. Vegeta's grimace only grew as recognition flashed in his mind. She hovered above him, scorched, beaten, and bloody, pouring all of her anger into the stolen technique until it just about reached its boiling point – then unleashed the attack.
Vegeta fell unconscious and the purple ki made way to his purple aura, which faded just as quickly.
Isala allowed herself a few moments to lavish in the sight of the fallen Prince, then felt the familiar tugging of time and disappeared from Namek.
