"Vegeta...I-it hurts, Vegeta..." Nappa gasped. Vegeta was steaming mad, glaring at Goku with murder in his eyes. Raimi couldn't hear him, but could just guess what he was thinking, because they were all thinking it. How had Goku multiplied his power like that?BR
P
Kurilin broke the heavy silence by asking Goku what had just happened to Nappa. "Was that something you were taught by the Lord of the Worlds?" Goku smiled and nodded.BR
P
"Yeah, it's called Kaio-ken. You control the entire IKi/I in your body, and then amplify it for a heartbeat. If you get it right, your power and speed and everythin' suddenly just go zoom!" He explained. Kurilin and Gohan's eyes bulged out.BR
P
"Amazing! You mean...you mean you're even stronger than yourself...?" Kurilin asked, trying to grasp this possibility. Raimi chuckled and shook her head. Kurilin laughed. "What're you messing around for, then? If you had that up your sleeve, you should a just let it out, and tore them up off the bat!" Raimi and Goku exchanged looks. She raised an eyebrow in question, and he nodded.BR
P
"See Kurilin, it isn't quite that easy. See if Goku doesn't control his IKi/I perfectly while he goes into overdrive, well he can kill himself..." The stunned pair looked between Raimi and Goku, who smiled wryly as he eyed the fuming Vegeta.BR
P
"See, Kaio-sama said that I have come farther with the Kaio-ken than even he was able to get. But I have to be careful at my present level of skill. Even the smallest slip in control and I might destroy myself. He said to increase it no more than twice my normal power; any more, and the strain on my body could prove too great. It couldn't contain the rush of power, and my own IKi/I would explode...that's when I told him to shut up 'cause I got it...and there we are!" He finished cheerfully, not seeming to care about the danger his own attack was going to place him in.BR
P
Raimi shook her head again, laughing at the irony of it. Only someone as simple as Goku could possibly use this kind of technique. Anyone else would forget themselves and blow up. She certainly didn't care to try it. Just then she heard a hiss of pain from Nappa as he tried to raise his hand to Vegeta. She clenched her teeth, trying to remember that the pain Nappa was suffering was only a small fraction of the pain he had delivered in his surprisingly long life. She refused to feel sorry for the beast.BR
P
"Vegeta...help me, please..." Nappa begged of his Prince, the man he had raised since he was a child. Nappa had never shown his affection to Vegeta, because he thought Vegeta had no such feelings to return. But he did care for the Prince, and was hoping that at last Vegeta would show him something, anything...Vegeta stared at Nappa's hand, and then took it gently. Nappa was overwhelmed. "Thank...you, Vegeta," he said smiling with all the warmth he had hidden all these years.BR
P
"No problem..." Vegeta smiled too...a cold, wicked smile. Nappa's smile started to fade; he knew this look, but he'd never had it turned upon him before.BR
P
"What good are you, if you cannot fight?!" Vegeta said. He tightened his grip on Nappa's hand, and without any visible effort, hurled the giant around and up into the air. He laughed and powered up hard. Goku and the others cowered in the shock wave of Vegeta's power. Raimi dug her toes into the earth, getting ready to shield herself from the attack Vegeta was readying. Nappa was howling, not believing what was happening.BR
P
"What good are you? INone at all!/I" Vegeta's voice rose over the roar of the rising wind. He stepped forward and sent out a HUGE white beam. It raced at the helpless Saiyan, who cursed in Saiya-go as he disintegrated. There was a massive explosion, and dust flew, hiding Raimi and Vegeta form the others view.BR
P
Raimi dropped her arms, her skin tingling from his power, and looked at Vegeta's back. He stood unmoving, but not unmoved. She strode forward, wanting to ask him something. Raimi saw his shoulders droop slightly as she came up to him, and heard him sigh as if in sadness.BR
P
"So, even you feel remorse, eh?" Raimi said quietly. She was also feeling sad despite herself, and was surprised when he replied without a smart-ass remark.BR
P
"He was a total Baka, but he did raise me, after we...after the planet was destroyed, and he would have thanked me if he'd thought about it. He would never be able to fight again. He would've rather died than be a cripple, I know, I knew him." He murmured. His back straightened again. He turned to face her.BR
P
"Now why did you do this?" he asked. She stood straighter.BR
"I just wanted to say, I really did earn this armor. And I was the woman Nappa thought I was." She said. He didn't bother to ask her how Nappa and she could possibly know each other. Instead, his eyes swept up and down over her. She shivered, feeling naked under that gaze.BR
P
He turned to look up at Goku and the guys. They were arguing quietly about Dragonballs, and getting Gohan and Kurilin back to the Kamehouse. She nodded to Goku as he looked at her, trying to get her to come up to him, but didn't move to do so. She almost jumped out of her skin when Vegeta shouted up at Goku.BR
P
"What's keeping you boy? Feeling a little scared, Kakarrot?" He laughed. She grimaced at his bravado. His pride was unbelievable! Goku suddenly dropped down and stared intently at Raimi.BR
P
"You should go now, Raimi..." Before she could reply, the Prince butted in.BR
"No, she stays. I'll follow her and destroy everything in sight if she leaves, got that?" Vegeta said. Raimi stared at him, eyes wide, while Goku seemed perplexed.BR
P
"Oh, you have this all planned out, do you?" She snapped, but backed down when Goku raised his hand in a peace gesture.BR
"Fine, she stays, we go. We are gonna go fight somewhere else. She can come or not." Goku said. Raimi suddenly jumped up to where Kurilin and Gohan hung in the air, watching with sad eyes.BR
P
"Listen, keep an eye out for a bad moon on the rise...be prepared to return, and I mean return quickly, got that? We might need help. Wish us luck!" She said quickly, and then with a wink, dropped back down to the combatants. They took off immediately for the badlands of Piccolo's island.BR
P
As they flew, Goku in the lead, Raimi trailing, signs of life dwindled, and finally disappeared. The landscape was bleak, with tall towers of rock and small flat plains in between. Goku nodded once and set down on one of the towers, while Vegeta choose one that was taller, so he could look down upon his opponent. The Prince smiled.BR
P
"You should be honored, a low-class boy like yourself hardly ever gets a chance to try himself against an Elite warrior like myself." He looked up at Raimi who stood above both of them. "Did you explain the ranking system to him?" He asked her. She sighed.BR
P
"He just got resurrected, remember? I've barely said boo to him!" Raimi called. Vegeta nodded and looked back to Goku's patient gaze.BR
P
"We Saiyans are tested for combat power soon after we're born. The pathetic babies with low figures are shipped off to a planet with no serious opponents...Just like yourself..." Vegeta jeered, but Goku was not upset to hear that a race of killers had not found him to be nasty enough for them.BR
P
"I don't care about your opinion of me, and how weak your system says I am. I'm glad I grew up here. On Earth, anyone can become the best, if he works hard enough, and wants it real bad..." Goku said thoughtfully. Vegeta laughed at Goku's proud words.BR
P
"Ha! At least you learned some humor here. Now I'll show you the wall that you cannot breach, no matter how hard you hard work..." he dropped into a ready stance, and Goku did the same. The stood for a moment, then leapt into it. They traded a flurry of blows, none of which landed on either man. Then Goku swung a kick at Vegeta, who jumped backwards and kept going for a hundred yards. Goku took off after. Vegeta stopped his backwards movement and came at Goku, landing a nice punch to his jaw. Goku arched backwards, set one foot on the rocks behind him and leapt up above the scene. Once there he was baffled to find Vegeta gone. He looked back and forth, and then ducked as the Prince appeared behind him and tried to swipe his neck. As he ducked, Goku spun to the right with a roundhouse kick that Vegeta barely avoided then countered with his own kick. Goku leaned back so the kick missed, then they went into more blows, flying upwards.BR
P
"What's wrong, Kakarrot? Where is all your power?" Vegeta taunted. He drove his foot into Goku's belly with enough force to stop a freight train. "This is not how you defeated Nappa! Come on, show me, try it with me!" He moved up above Goku, them slammed his doubled fists into the top of the younger man's head. Goku plummeted to the ground, but caught himself, landing at his original spot. Vegeta did the same, and they stood again, resizing each other.BR
P
Raimi grimly smiled. "So, has Goku realized that Vegeta is stronger than he is? Vegeta is just playing around right now, Goku better step it up..." She sighed; she knew what was going to happen, but still, she felt that some thing was different. Maybe she should jump in...no, she had promised Kami-sama that she would do as little as possible. Sure enough, Goku smiled.BR
P
"Okay, then! I'll show you!" He said. He spread his feet, and powered up then switched to his Kaio-ken form. Vegeta showed obvious surprise at this, as Goku's body shimmered, then his IKi/I erupted as a reddish fire around him. Goku grinned wickedly.BR
P
"Kaio-ken! Hai-yah!" Goku called, his voice ringing with power, rather like when he powered up a Kamehameha. He reached out with his hand, and the rocks Vegeta stood upon disintegrated; he leapt up, and found himself with Goku in his face in the blink of an eye. Before he could react, Goku punched him twice, then landed a kick on him as well. As Vegeta soared away, and Goku followed; but Vegeta recovered very quickly, quicker than Goku had expected. He disappeared, then reappeared in Goku's face, and kicked him square in the jaw. He knocked Goku for a loop, and then they stopped, hanging in midair once more. Vegeta smirked, unimpressed.BR
P
"I hate to say this, but, if that was your best, then...I'm real disappointed, Kakarrot..." He purred. Goku was shocked, but recovered quickly. Raimi reached out to Goku telepathically.BR
P
"IHey, you gonna be okay/I?" BR
"II can't believe him...but yeah...in a weird way...I'm getting kind of excited/I!" Goku replied.BR
"IWelcome to being a true Saiyan, my dear; the Saiyan motto is; win or else/I..." Raimi told him. He laughed at that, and Vegeta laughed as well, though he couldn't have heard the silent exchange. She could barely hear him as he thought out loud, not caring if Goku could hear him.BR
P
"He's laughing; has he given up and stopped caring, or can he increase his power even more?" He mused, then tossed off the question, and prepared for the next round. "I'd say you've hit your limit, so let me show you something new before you die. Behold the overwhelming power of an Elite Saiyan warrior..."BR
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead all ready!" Goku replied, anxious to finish this.BR
P
Kurilin broke the heavy silence by asking Goku what had just happened to Nappa. "Was that something you were taught by the Lord of the Worlds?" Goku smiled and nodded.BR
P
"Yeah, it's called Kaio-ken. You control the entire IKi/I in your body, and then amplify it for a heartbeat. If you get it right, your power and speed and everythin' suddenly just go zoom!" He explained. Kurilin and Gohan's eyes bulged out.BR
P
"Amazing! You mean...you mean you're even stronger than yourself...?" Kurilin asked, trying to grasp this possibility. Raimi chuckled and shook her head. Kurilin laughed. "What're you messing around for, then? If you had that up your sleeve, you should a just let it out, and tore them up off the bat!" Raimi and Goku exchanged looks. She raised an eyebrow in question, and he nodded.BR
P
"See Kurilin, it isn't quite that easy. See if Goku doesn't control his IKi/I perfectly while he goes into overdrive, well he can kill himself..." The stunned pair looked between Raimi and Goku, who smiled wryly as he eyed the fuming Vegeta.BR
P
"See, Kaio-sama said that I have come farther with the Kaio-ken than even he was able to get. But I have to be careful at my present level of skill. Even the smallest slip in control and I might destroy myself. He said to increase it no more than twice my normal power; any more, and the strain on my body could prove too great. It couldn't contain the rush of power, and my own IKi/I would explode...that's when I told him to shut up 'cause I got it...and there we are!" He finished cheerfully, not seeming to care about the danger his own attack was going to place him in.BR
P
Raimi shook her head again, laughing at the irony of it. Only someone as simple as Goku could possibly use this kind of technique. Anyone else would forget themselves and blow up. She certainly didn't care to try it. Just then she heard a hiss of pain from Nappa as he tried to raise his hand to Vegeta. She clenched her teeth, trying to remember that the pain Nappa was suffering was only a small fraction of the pain he had delivered in his surprisingly long life. She refused to feel sorry for the beast.BR
P
"Vegeta...help me, please..." Nappa begged of his Prince, the man he had raised since he was a child. Nappa had never shown his affection to Vegeta, because he thought Vegeta had no such feelings to return. But he did care for the Prince, and was hoping that at last Vegeta would show him something, anything...Vegeta stared at Nappa's hand, and then took it gently. Nappa was overwhelmed. "Thank...you, Vegeta," he said smiling with all the warmth he had hidden all these years.BR
P
"No problem..." Vegeta smiled too...a cold, wicked smile. Nappa's smile started to fade; he knew this look, but he'd never had it turned upon him before.BR
P
"What good are you, if you cannot fight?!" Vegeta said. He tightened his grip on Nappa's hand, and without any visible effort, hurled the giant around and up into the air. He laughed and powered up hard. Goku and the others cowered in the shock wave of Vegeta's power. Raimi dug her toes into the earth, getting ready to shield herself from the attack Vegeta was readying. Nappa was howling, not believing what was happening.BR
P
"What good are you? INone at all!/I" Vegeta's voice rose over the roar of the rising wind. He stepped forward and sent out a HUGE white beam. It raced at the helpless Saiyan, who cursed in Saiya-go as he disintegrated. There was a massive explosion, and dust flew, hiding Raimi and Vegeta form the others view.BR
P
Raimi dropped her arms, her skin tingling from his power, and looked at Vegeta's back. He stood unmoving, but not unmoved. She strode forward, wanting to ask him something. Raimi saw his shoulders droop slightly as she came up to him, and heard him sigh as if in sadness.BR
P
"So, even you feel remorse, eh?" Raimi said quietly. She was also feeling sad despite herself, and was surprised when he replied without a smart-ass remark.BR
P
"He was a total Baka, but he did raise me, after we...after the planet was destroyed, and he would have thanked me if he'd thought about it. He would never be able to fight again. He would've rather died than be a cripple, I know, I knew him." He murmured. His back straightened again. He turned to face her.BR
P
"Now why did you do this?" he asked. She stood straighter.BR
"I just wanted to say, I really did earn this armor. And I was the woman Nappa thought I was." She said. He didn't bother to ask her how Nappa and she could possibly know each other. Instead, his eyes swept up and down over her. She shivered, feeling naked under that gaze.BR
P
He turned to look up at Goku and the guys. They were arguing quietly about Dragonballs, and getting Gohan and Kurilin back to the Kamehouse. She nodded to Goku as he looked at her, trying to get her to come up to him, but didn't move to do so. She almost jumped out of her skin when Vegeta shouted up at Goku.BR
P
"What's keeping you boy? Feeling a little scared, Kakarrot?" He laughed. She grimaced at his bravado. His pride was unbelievable! Goku suddenly dropped down and stared intently at Raimi.BR
P
"You should go now, Raimi..." Before she could reply, the Prince butted in.BR
"No, she stays. I'll follow her and destroy everything in sight if she leaves, got that?" Vegeta said. Raimi stared at him, eyes wide, while Goku seemed perplexed.BR
P
"Oh, you have this all planned out, do you?" She snapped, but backed down when Goku raised his hand in a peace gesture.BR
"Fine, she stays, we go. We are gonna go fight somewhere else. She can come or not." Goku said. Raimi suddenly jumped up to where Kurilin and Gohan hung in the air, watching with sad eyes.BR
P
"Listen, keep an eye out for a bad moon on the rise...be prepared to return, and I mean return quickly, got that? We might need help. Wish us luck!" She said quickly, and then with a wink, dropped back down to the combatants. They took off immediately for the badlands of Piccolo's island.BR
P
As they flew, Goku in the lead, Raimi trailing, signs of life dwindled, and finally disappeared. The landscape was bleak, with tall towers of rock and small flat plains in between. Goku nodded once and set down on one of the towers, while Vegeta choose one that was taller, so he could look down upon his opponent. The Prince smiled.BR
P
"You should be honored, a low-class boy like yourself hardly ever gets a chance to try himself against an Elite warrior like myself." He looked up at Raimi who stood above both of them. "Did you explain the ranking system to him?" He asked her. She sighed.BR
P
"He just got resurrected, remember? I've barely said boo to him!" Raimi called. Vegeta nodded and looked back to Goku's patient gaze.BR
P
"We Saiyans are tested for combat power soon after we're born. The pathetic babies with low figures are shipped off to a planet with no serious opponents...Just like yourself..." Vegeta jeered, but Goku was not upset to hear that a race of killers had not found him to be nasty enough for them.BR
P
"I don't care about your opinion of me, and how weak your system says I am. I'm glad I grew up here. On Earth, anyone can become the best, if he works hard enough, and wants it real bad..." Goku said thoughtfully. Vegeta laughed at Goku's proud words.BR
P
"Ha! At least you learned some humor here. Now I'll show you the wall that you cannot breach, no matter how hard you hard work..." he dropped into a ready stance, and Goku did the same. The stood for a moment, then leapt into it. They traded a flurry of blows, none of which landed on either man. Then Goku swung a kick at Vegeta, who jumped backwards and kept going for a hundred yards. Goku took off after. Vegeta stopped his backwards movement and came at Goku, landing a nice punch to his jaw. Goku arched backwards, set one foot on the rocks behind him and leapt up above the scene. Once there he was baffled to find Vegeta gone. He looked back and forth, and then ducked as the Prince appeared behind him and tried to swipe his neck. As he ducked, Goku spun to the right with a roundhouse kick that Vegeta barely avoided then countered with his own kick. Goku leaned back so the kick missed, then they went into more blows, flying upwards.BR
P
"What's wrong, Kakarrot? Where is all your power?" Vegeta taunted. He drove his foot into Goku's belly with enough force to stop a freight train. "This is not how you defeated Nappa! Come on, show me, try it with me!" He moved up above Goku, them slammed his doubled fists into the top of the younger man's head. Goku plummeted to the ground, but caught himself, landing at his original spot. Vegeta did the same, and they stood again, resizing each other.BR
P
Raimi grimly smiled. "So, has Goku realized that Vegeta is stronger than he is? Vegeta is just playing around right now, Goku better step it up..." She sighed; she knew what was going to happen, but still, she felt that some thing was different. Maybe she should jump in...no, she had promised Kami-sama that she would do as little as possible. Sure enough, Goku smiled.BR
P
"Okay, then! I'll show you!" He said. He spread his feet, and powered up then switched to his Kaio-ken form. Vegeta showed obvious surprise at this, as Goku's body shimmered, then his IKi/I erupted as a reddish fire around him. Goku grinned wickedly.BR
P
"Kaio-ken! Hai-yah!" Goku called, his voice ringing with power, rather like when he powered up a Kamehameha. He reached out with his hand, and the rocks Vegeta stood upon disintegrated; he leapt up, and found himself with Goku in his face in the blink of an eye. Before he could react, Goku punched him twice, then landed a kick on him as well. As Vegeta soared away, and Goku followed; but Vegeta recovered very quickly, quicker than Goku had expected. He disappeared, then reappeared in Goku's face, and kicked him square in the jaw. He knocked Goku for a loop, and then they stopped, hanging in midair once more. Vegeta smirked, unimpressed.BR
P
"I hate to say this, but, if that was your best, then...I'm real disappointed, Kakarrot..." He purred. Goku was shocked, but recovered quickly. Raimi reached out to Goku telepathically.BR
P
"IHey, you gonna be okay/I?" BR
"II can't believe him...but yeah...in a weird way...I'm getting kind of excited/I!" Goku replied.BR
"IWelcome to being a true Saiyan, my dear; the Saiyan motto is; win or else/I..." Raimi told him. He laughed at that, and Vegeta laughed as well, though he couldn't have heard the silent exchange. She could barely hear him as he thought out loud, not caring if Goku could hear him.BR
P
"He's laughing; has he given up and stopped caring, or can he increase his power even more?" He mused, then tossed off the question, and prepared for the next round. "I'd say you've hit your limit, so let me show you something new before you die. Behold the overwhelming power of an Elite Saiyan warrior..."BR
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead all ready!" Goku replied, anxious to finish this.BR
