Suddenly, he was hit with a blast of some kind, which tumbled him into the water below. He plummeted deep into the depths, and had to kick like crazy to make it to the surface. Spluttering, he reached the surface near the shore, and pulled himself out, looking for who had hit him. The shock on his face was comical when he saw who it was.
"Vegeta! You traitor!" Dodoria was livid as the Prince smiled coldly at him.
"Is that your way of saying you missed me?"
"You were the one who ambushed me! Weren't you!?"
"Its been so long. I thought you'd never stop clinging to Frieza. There was no sense in taking on more than I needed to at one time... " Vegeta said confidently.
Dodoria puffed up angrily, but he wasn't as dumb as he seemed to be. He was a seasoned warrior, and absorbed small details very quickly. He saw that Vegeta was alone, and had a scouter. He needed to get that scouter from him for Frieza, so he decided to be merciful to the doomed Prince.
"Pretty arrogant for JUST a Saiyan, aren't you? Now, hand me your scouter and leave, and I'll let this incident slide!" He sounded very condescending. Vegeta didn't like it one bit. He sneered and uncrossed his arms.
"Soooo... you HAVE lost all your scouters after all. I thought that might be the case. I heard that Namek blast them... What a perfect opportunity for me to slip in, eh?" Dodoria grimaced in frustration at the speech; he'd never liked how long-winded the Saiyans were.
"Now listen, Vegeta... "
"I know it'll take you all days to get back to Frieza 79 and get more scouters. I can see why you want this one..."
He reached out with his left hand. Dodoria tensed, preparing to battle for that scouter, when to his surprise, Vegeta pulled it off his ear and held it out. "Here, take it then. It's all yours." He let it fall from his fingers. Dodoria smiled triumphantly and strode forward to retrieve it.
"Finally see what you are up against here, eh? Well, I may just spare you for this... " He stopped as Vegeta lifted his foot and placed it over the precious scouter, and proceeded to crush it to tiny shards under his heel. Dodoria yelled in surprised frustration; Vegeta had totally destroyed the scouter!
"What the... what do you think you're doing?!" He shouted. "Why the hell did you destroy it!?" Vegeta laughed like he was insane.
"Let me just say, I didn't need it anymore."
"Are you telling me that you are hunting for those Dragonballs too? Without that scouter, you'll never find them, the Nameks or Master Frieza!"
"Once I'd have agreed with you. But on a little dustball called earth, I discovered beings that could detect the location and power of a person's KI without any mechanical assistance. One of these beings was a fellow Saiyan, and if he could do it, I can also, no?" Dodoria growled, nearly ready to blow.
"It was easy, once I got the knack of it. It is impossible if you are only concerned with brute strength, like you and Frieza... Or myself in my younger days.
"Then those two little brats I destroyed must have been from Earth! And you've joined forces with them, haven't you?" Dodoria asked, trying to figure all this out. It almost made sense...
Unseen by the two men, Raimi dropped down a short distance away. She listened carefully, disgusted by her excitement at getting to see this confrontation. She found it fascinating to see Vegeta in action, as long as she wasn't the target for his wrath, that is! She could feel Vegeta charging up slowly, readying himself to defend when Dodoria finally attacked.
"Earthlings... There is no way earthlings could get out here. And for your information, if there were any, I'd destroy them!" Dodoria laughed at the baffled Saiyan.
"I can't believe this! There were two of them, they swooped down and saved a Namekian brat from me, then flew off. I got them though; you see, you can't sense Ki without a scouter, and you just destroyed the last one, you imbecile! Now get out of here before I get rid of you too!" He yelled. Vegeta shook his head, looking over-dramatically sad.
"What are you so afraid of? Why don't you just come for me? Could it be because you monitored my fight with Kiwi, and you saw that I am much stronger than before? You did see my power level, didn't you Dodoria?" Dodoria was raising his arms over his head even as Vegeta spoke, and a yellow ball of energy flared to life in his hands.
"That rating was a mistake! I gave you a chance to get away, arrogant brat, and you blew it!" He shot a hail of beams at the Prince, causing a massive explosion. He kept firing them, so enraged that he held back nothing, sure that Vegeta couldn't survive this assault. Finally he stopped, watching the dust clear slowly from the decimated spot. Panting, he smiled as he viewed the holes that were where Vegeta had been.
"The scouter was broken? That poer reading was a mistake?!" Vegeta said from behind him. Dodoria looked over his shoulder and stared in disbelief. The pink giant swung his fist sideways and tried to punch the Saiyan, but Vegeta caught his hand and leapt gracefully into the air as Dodria tried to kick him, then dropped behind him and grabbed the other arm and pulling both limbs back hard. Dodoria gasped and gave a half scream of pain as his tendons were pulled to the limit. Vegeta smirked and pushed down and in, bringing the arms closer together behind the monsters back.
"Let me explain some of the Saiyan secrets for you! See every time a Saiyan fights, he gets stronger; the stronger my opponent is, the stronger I become. There is no end to it, and no way to win because of it. Your scouter was right because I was nearly killed on Earth; get it now, Dodo-brain? That is why we Saiyans were called the Warriors of the Universe!" Dodoria's arms were literally groaning; Raimi could hear the tendons and bones creaking from where she was. Vegeta was now standing behind Dodoria, who was bent backwards, trying to ease the pressure on his arms.
"That is why we Saiyans were called the Warriors of the Universe! And you, you slacked off, hiding behind Frieza! Look what has happened to your power, the power you were once justly proud of... I hope you will be reincarnated as a true warrior!"
"Ahhh! Vegeta stop, please! If you let me go, I'll... " He gasped, the pain making him dizzy. Vegeta increased the pressure, and he began to babble helplessly. "I'll tell you a secret! One about Vegeta-sei!" The pressure stopped as the Prince hesitated, curious.
"A secret... about Vegeta-sei? What secret would I not know?"
"Let me go first." Dodoria said weakly. There was a pause, and with a humph of disgust, Vegeta released him. Dodoria stumbled away, rubbing his bloodless fingers gingerly.
"I thought they were going to come off! That was a great move Vegeta, where did you learn it?" Vegeta glared and stepped forward menacingly. "Ok, ok, I'll tell you, but first, you have to promise not to kill me!"
"I'll kill you now if you don't start talking, Dodo-head!"
"Well, you see... " Dodoria explained about Frieza's realization that the Saiyans were getting stronger with every generation. Then he remembered a fable based in truth, the story of the legendary Super Saiyans. These extraordinary creatures were supposedly strong enough to even be able to destroy Frieza. While no such Saiyan had yet emerged, he decided to destroy the whole race, rather than risk it; but first he took the Crown Prince, Vegeta himself and his bodyguard into his protective custody. Such power was useful, after all, and he could bind the young Prince to him, encourage his loyalty from a young age. Then, he called all the Saiyans home, and destroyed Vegeta-sei and all the Saiyans at once. A rumor was spread that it was a comet crashing into the planet that destroyed it, but that was a lie.
"It was Frieza who did it! And we both know that you aren't that strong, not even close! You were skilled and powerful, and this saved you, until now. Sorry if the shock is too great to bear. I think I'll take this chance to head back to Frieza now!" He had been rising slowly into the air as he told his sad tale, and now turned to leave.
Vegeta's face was dark and brooding. He was furious at hearing this story. His home, his empire, destroyed because Frieza was scared of them! It wasn't even the Saiyans he was scared of, but a legend, fables told to children to inspire them, to make them want to be stronger and more ruthless. He himself had passionately wanted to be a Super Saiyan, and had never really given up on this dream. He might make it one day, with the right training, and enough fights under his belt. He looked up and scowled at Dodoria.
"Don't you get me wrong, Dodoria. I don't care about the planet, my feloow Saiyans or my parents. No, I am just angry that I letmyself be used by you cowards! No, I can't kill Frieza yet. But I can kill you now, and I need some cheering up after your story! Blasting you to bits will make me feel so much better! What do you say?" Dodoria hunched up in fear and shook his head.
"No! You promised!" He screamed, and turning, began to fly away, desperate. Vegeta smiled coldly, and thrust his hand out towards the hapless creature. A huge beam raced up toward him, and fatalistically, Dodoria turned to face his doom. It hit him, and like Nappa, he seemed to stretch out, eyes bulging as he disintegrated. His death cry rang in the air after he was gone.
Raimi shivered as she looked at Vegeta's face. He was beyond angry. His eyes were colder than she'd ever seen them even on Earth. He trembled as he stood, looking at the cloud left from his beam, trying to get himself under control.
"That fucking little bastard, I'll get him for that, for my Empire! I'll have his Empire in its place, I swear it!" His head cocked to the side, and he looked over his shoulder, back towards where Dodoria had appeared. "Wait, that's right! Earthlings, here on Namek. Maybe I should check this out." Raimi stiffened, remembering Kurilin and Gohan were out there with little Dende, without any protection but their wits. She stepped out to confront him, try to distract him, but he took off without seeing her, forcing her to follow him. She'd have to play this just right, or they all would be dead...
