Chapter 08 – The Legend vs. The Prince
Out of the corner of her eye, she'd spotted another fighter had joined the mix: Krillin was rushing over to where her unconscious brother lay. At least she wouldn't have to worry about him being completely helpless and in harm's way.
Broly was still determined to strike her down, it was getting harder and harder to dodge and parry his attacks with the toll it took on her stamina. Chiri flinched as her stomach gave another jolt; a shockwave from a previous attack had apparently hit and unsettled it once more. She felt a wave of nausea wash over her but had more pressing matters to attend to, namely blocking the gigantic hand attempting to rip her off the ground by her hair! She had to act fast before he gained too much of the upper hand over her but with his current speed, it was going to be difficult to find an opportunity to do what she had to do.
Taking a tall jump back, Chiri was aiming to lengthen the distance between the two of them. Of course, Broly followed in hot pursuit, now he had her on the run. Another jump back did not increase the gap and if anything, Broly sped up, fingers inches from her wrist-
A green hand shot between the two of them. It snatched hold of Broly's outstretched hand and yanked him away; Piccolo's other hand was pelting straight for the bulky fighter's face, slamming him clean between the eyes. The shot forced the Legendary Super Saiyan to lean back but was unable to floor him; the fighter had immediately regained his control and had turned, attention focused purely on the younger Super Saiyan. Chiri's heart lurched into her throat as his blank eyes settled on her, sensing Piccolo's movement as the Namekian moved to intervene. Broly charged at her with terrifying speed; there was no way Piccolo could outrun him. So she launched herself towards Broly, hoping she could time herself right. There! She threw herself violently to the left, swerving around the giant Saiyan and past him, now heading on a collision course with the Namekian, aiming to pass him and put him between her and the Saiyan-
Broly caught her by the ankle; Chiri lurched backwards, again feeling that wave in her stomach. The world blurred as he began to spin her above his head like a lasso, ready for Piccolo's incoming attack and launching an energy attack point blank into the Namekian's face. Piccolo hollered out an agonising scream as he shot back, crashing into a nearby bluff and altering the local landscape. Chiri's head was unsurprisingly spinning as the movement continued, unable to tell what direction was up until she was slammed face-first down into the ground, several cracks breaking the neat clean sheet of grit and dirt below. A boot to the spine forced her body to jerk involuntarily, the air forced out of her lungs with a bizarre squeak. She lay in agony, body burning with adrenaline while her pain receptors went into overdrive. Once again that little voice in her head telling her to escape was lecturing her and now she felt she understood why. His speed was unlike anything of any of their Super Saiyan transformations and he clearly had much more a power boost to his version. In a way his form was the ultimate, the crème de la crème of the Super Saiyan listings.
No wonder Vegeta had remained so reluctant (for once) to join the fight. What was he even doing now, anyway? Was he just going to stay passive and watch this brute kill her? He did have a dislike of her father but surely he wasn't so pathetic as to let her die, just because of who her father was? He was the only other Super Saiyan on their side who remained conscious and capable of doing something. Growing increasingly agitated, Chiri moved her head to the right, spotting him off some distance away, still standing and watching. What the hell was he doing?
Broly's boot slammed into her back again, Chiri howling out a cry of pain. Piccolo was out again from the looks of things. He hadn't come charging back in to intervene. Her brother was apparently still indisposed and it was unreasonable to expect Krillin to attempt to intervene with how outclassed he was compared to everyone else here (apart from Paragus – maybe he could take Paragus?) So why was Vegeta still standing there like a statue? She could rip him a new one with all the unnecessary suffering she was going through. If only she had some way of telling him her plan so he could distract Broly long enough.
Her scalp was on fire. Large fingers had grasped against her hair and had pulled her up off the ground, Chiri hissing involuntarily. She was held at an arm's length, defiantly keeping her eyes closed. She didn't want to see the ugly expression on his face or show any other sign of pain; she believed the eyes were the gateways to the inner self and she refused to allow Broly the privilege of seeing her inner feelings. Even when he delivered a fist to her stomach and once more pushed the air from her lungs, she kept her eyes clamped firmly shut. Several more punches struck the same spot, Chiri tensing and retching several times, finally bringing something up and out, vomiting on the ground below. Still Broly delivered more punches, the pain and ache of her stomach and ribs growing more and more severe to the point where her vision was starting to fade. If Vegeta was going to intervene, now would have been the perfect time.
She dropped. Someone had struck Broly and had forced her from his grip. Was it Vegeta? He had good timing, she barely registered her acknowledgement. Chiri did not hit the ground, rather, she was caught in what felt like warm, sturdy arms, held close to whoever had caught her. She could hear their heart thumping loudly in their chest, finding the sound oddly peaceful. As her vision and senses returned, she finally allowed her eyes to open and with great relief, let out a huge sigh. "'Bout time."
The look in her brother's eyes was serious, more serious than anything she'd seen in a long time. Not only did he mean business, he also meant to cause harm. Furthermore, the static in his aura was making her hair stand on end and itch at her forehead, irritating her further. Within a flash, they were several hundred metres from the Super Saiyan, Gohan having teleported them.
"A-Are you alright?" Krillin was beside them, looking awestruck. Gohan settled Chiri down upon the ground, Chiri sitting up immediately but not forcing herself to do anything more demanding. Her stomach was very tender and was trying to convince her that there was more that needed to leave her system. She gulped down and told herself mentally that nothing more was going to leave the wrong end.
"I'm ok," She mumbled glumly.
"Krillin, do you have any more senzu beans?" Gohan asked calmly.
Krillin dug into his shirt and pulled out the familiar pouch. "… Only one more I'm afraid."
"Pass it to Chiri," Gohan instructed, much to their worry.
"Are you sure we can't put this to better use?" Chiri asked, a part of her wondering why she was refusing to end the pain she was in. "What if you need it?"
Her older brother gave a small smile, "I'll be ok."
"If you're thinking of taking on Broly, you might have to wait a minute," Krillin interrupted, pointing over in the brute's direction. "Looks like a certain someone's done waiting!"
It was true; Vegeta had gone most of the journey towards Broly, his Super Saiyan aura flickering around his body defiantly, bright and powerful. How that power-up had gone undetected by any of them was beyond Chiri but she was curious as to how well he'd fare against Broly. He'd done little other than train for the past seven years so perhaps he would surprise them all. But then again, she still had a few surprises up her sleeve.
"What about Piccolo?" Krillin asked. "We have two of you still in need of care – I'll have to split this bean between the two of you."
"That'll have to do," Gohan nodded in agreement. "As long as we have everyone at our best. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out but I have a bad feeling."
Krillin snorted and quietly muttered, "of course you do; it's Vegeta we're talking about."
The guy did have an unfortunate trail of losses recently when it came to powerful opponents, only to come back at a later stage and dominate them. It was hard to tell whether this would be a nineteen-moment or a perfect-Cell moment; would he dominate or would be make a big mistake that'd cost him the battle.
"Has the prince come to die?" Broly asked, a maniacal grin plastered across his tiny face, seemingly shrunken further when compared to how much muscle mass he'd acquired.
"No, he's come to kill," Vegeta jeered back, stopping and standing inches from his foe, dwarfed by his opponent's height. "You won't be killed by some commoner's half-breed son or daughter, nor will you be slain by a Namekian warrior. It'd take more than that to bring a monster such as the Legendary Super Saiyan down. Unfortunately for you, it turns out that it'll take someone like me."
Broly chuckled at this remark. "I see. The great prince sounds as foolish as his father."
From the corner of her eye, Chiri spotted Paragus cautiously making his way closer. Immediately she was on-guard, still chewing the half-of-a-bean Krillin had passed to her. "Watch it."
"Broly will have no recollection of what the King tried to do to him but he has heeded my warnings…" The aging Saiyan muttered. "Finally we will have our revenge on the Saiyan royal bloodline."
Revenge or not, it wasn't going to happen, Chiri was sure of it. If Vegeta fell than one of them would naturally step in to put a stop to him.
It was on, a shockwave from the two Saiyan's fists meeting sent Paragus flying backwards, Chiri grasping onto the rocky surface below. She hadn't expected that to be as powerful as it had been! Suddenly the two had taken to the skies, locked in a fierce hand-to-hand session and again with each connection they made, the ground shuddered. Vegeta was on the attack, Broly seemingly either checking him out or in more serious trouble than he'd realised. It wasn't too difficult to keep up with them although Chiri was still surprised by how fast the Legendary Super Saiyan could move with all that bulk. Perhaps observing and seeing him battle Vegeta would alert them to a weakness of some kind.
"What's he doing? He can't win at that level!" Krillin gawked. "Vegeta's gonna have to work much harder than that!"
"He's not being serious!" Piccolo's barking voice startled the others, Chiri having forgotten that Krillin had just revived him. "He'll be testing Broly's power out before he grows serious – just like Goku would be if he was here."
Gohan frowned. "… Surely he'd want to be going all-out right now. This is a dangerous opponent"
"Gohan's right," Krillin agreed, sounding just as concerned. "Vegeta ought to be giving this everything he has, not treating this like some game to win! This is our planet we're talking about!"
Piccolo said nothing to this but Chiri had the feeling she knew what he was thinking. It angered her as much as it did Gohan and Krillin; he was a Saiyan so he was going to try and enjoy this fight. Broly was probably doing the same thing as well.
High in the air they continued, Vegeta still on the attack with Broly dodging or parrying his every move. It was clear that Vegeta had vastly improved but would his stamina hold out against Broly? Chiri couldn't tell but she did know that right now, Vegeta's energy felt on par with that of her brother's… and a voice inside her – her gut, perhaps – was telling her that he was probably conserving his strength.
Suddenly Broly lunged forward, driving a fist clean into the Saiyan's stomach, a kick ploughing into his ribs before the other swiped him clean around the head. Vegeta tumbled rapidly, suddenly metres from the group of spectators - a controlled halt from him spared him the embarrassment of colliding into them like a bowling ball into skittles. Immediately after regaining control, he was back on the attack, his life force burning brighter as he delivered a powerful punch to the Legend's abdomen.
Chiri felt the shockwave even with the distance between them. It made her realise just how much she was shaking. But she wasn't scared, was she?
No one had noticed the two younger Saiyans had made it back to the battle zone, peering cautiously from behind an outcrop watching in awe. It was taking all of Trunks' concentration not to shout out and cheer his father on.
Another blow to the stomach sent Broly back through the air, Vegeta hot on his heels. His fists slammed clean into the taller warrior's face, his bulk barely able to move from the force created before Vegeta's foot booted him higher into the sky, the prince chasing after his prey. Several punches made contact with Broly's spine, each pushing him further and further out of view.
"He's completely dominating him," Gohan didn't sound too pleased, despite the turn of events in their favour.
"It's too soon to say whether or not either of them are being serious," Piccolo was thinking along the same tracks as his former pupil. "Stay on your guard, the pair of you. We might still be needed."
Vegeta slammed his fists into Broly's body, the large bulk shooting dangerously quickly towards the ground, slamming hard and dislodging several large chunks of rock, vanishing amongst a choke-inducing dust cloud. The smog slowly deteriorated, Broly face-down upon the ground in a heap; the sight startled the spectators who were left agasp as Vegeta landed inches away. His right arm moved, palm facing towards his fallen opponent, eyes glued to the spot. Slowly Broly shifted and got to his knees, glancing over his shoulder to see Vegeta holding his hand out, ready to fire at any given moment. Broly only had time to grunt an animalistic roar before Vegeta's palm released his energy, the ball of light shooting and striking within an instant.
"Down!" Piccolo hollered; in the same moment, the group were all thrown from their feet, hard onto the ground as it suddenly shook violently, cracking under the pressure. The area lit up with a blinding flash, the roar from the explosion momentarily knocking Chiri's sense of hearing out of action. She took a moment before she worked out where she was, face-down and hugging the ground tightly. The ground below her was slowly ceasing its shuddering, the shockwaves of the attack still pulsating through it. Shakily she got to her knees, sitting cautiously trying to get her sense of balance calm again.
There was a large indentation where Vegeta and Broly had been mere seconds ago, she had no idea where either of them were. Both their life forces were detectable, so clearly they were still alive.
"Everyone ok?" Gohan's voice called out; he was rising to his feet, holding his head.
"Yeah," She answered, still slightly shaken. "What the hell was he thinking, firing that so close to the ground?" Her voice seemed to have found that flame associated with her anger.
"That's Vegeta for you," Gohan still looked worried. "… I can still sense him and Broly. What happened? Did he miss?"
"No," Piccolo shook his head. "He hit him point-blank."
Indeed it seemed that Broly had been struck. That much was confirmed when he emerged walking up the side of the fresh crater, looking more-or-less untouched. It confused Chiri immensely; how had he gotten off so lightly from an attack like that? Vegeta'd barely held back enough not to blow up the planet!
The prince had apparently taken to the sky and was watching down, looking a little stunned to see Broly looking so well. Within the moment, his expression had changed back to his usual air of confidence. "As expected of someone of your apparent title… No matter, I'm just getting warmed up."
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Krillin grumbled looking worried.
Vegeta charged. Broly merely smiled and extended his own arm, firing off a large green energy ball towards his incoming opponent. Vegeta halted, readied himself and threw his hands forward, the ball slamming straight into him. It forced him back a few metres before he began to match it, struggling against the powerful attack. With a roar, Vegeta chucked the blast over his head, sending it out of harm's way, dodging the surprise attack he'd anticipated coming from his foe, launching his own attack. Broly countered, the two once again locked in fierce hand-to-hand combat.
"Have you noticed it?" Piccolo asked.
"Yeah," Chiri nodded anxiously. "His energy is still rising."
"But so is Vegeta's," Gohan pointed out.
Vegeta dodged another powerful shot, having his own attack deflected and parrying an elbow inches from his head. The two sprung back, Vegeta once more charging at the bulkier Saiyan. This time Broly grabbed hold of his fist, slamming a knee into the Prince's stomach. Vegeta was pulled back in again, once more Broly's knee digging deep into his abdomen, bouncing off it again. The third, Vegeta raised a knee, stopping himself from being struck down again. His free hand fired an energy shot striking Broly clean in the cheek. He didn't budge, just looked as if he'd had a small pebble chucked at him. Vegeta sent out another shot, then another. Broly's upper torso and head were quickly engulfed by dust and smoke as the Prince continued to fire attacks, waiting for the moment when the grip of his hand would be loose enough for him to break free.
"He's losing stamina with every attack," Piccolo frowned. "If Vegeta can't free himself quickly then he's going to find himself in a difficult situation."
"Well then, why don't we step in?" Gohan readied himself. "If Vegeta needs help then why are we standing around here waiting for him to not ask? He'd never do that in a million years."
But no one did move, not even Gohan. They all knew what would happen if they rushed in.
Vegeta shot back suddenly, having freed himself or been pushed back was unknown. Nevertheless he continued to dominate Broly with a barrage of rapid fire energy blasts, the Legendary Super Saiyan now completely engulfed in an ever expanding plume of smoke.
Finally Vegeta stopped, his shoulders moving up and down as if he were struggling for breath. The dust quickly subsided, revealing his target was still alive and well, merely coated in specks of dust. On closer inspection, Chiri could see the bruises and cuts barely visible on his massive bulk, worried by how little damage he'd taken. Her eyes drifted across the sky to observe Vegeta again, noting how tired he appeared.
"He's worn down," Krillin clenched his fists together. "If Broly decides to attack now, Vegeta's gonna find it difficult to defend himself."
"Now, Broly!" Came Paragus' surprise holler, a look of delight spreading across his face. "Attack!"
