"How did I get talked into this?" whined Yajirobe, for what seemed to Bulma to be the millionth time. They were inside a small jet, flying towards where the scouter (taken from the body of Goku's brother), told them the battle was taking place. Bulma absent-mindedly touched the small pouch at her waist, carrying the last few Senzu beans that Master Karin had grown in preparation for the Saiya-jins arrival.
"You agreed to this," she snapped, "because: (a), you have some stupid desire to watch this fight, (b), Karin asked you to, (c), you're the one who has the jet, and (d), Chichi threatened to disembowel you if Gohan comes back badly hurt because we didn't get one of these beans to him."
"Great," he grumbled, "so why did you decide you needed to come?"
"Because you were too lazy to let me show you how to operate the scouter, that's why." Yajirobe looked over at her, trying to come up with a really scathing response, but couldn't find one on the top of his head, and decided that to actually spend time thinking one up would require too much energy. He turned back to his task of piloting, trying to remember if his jet had a passenger side ejector seat and, if so, had it come with a parachute?
Goku slowly strode across the battlefield towards Nappa. Kuririn's demise had finally pushed him too far.
"Dammit, I couldn't help them. It happened too fast, and Kuririn's already died once. We won't be able to bring him back," he muttered, unaware that Vegeta's Saiya-jin hearing could pick up every word that was said.
"Again with this business about resurrection," he thought, "Probably just babbling, but still... after Nappa has finished with Kakarrot, I will find out what this nonsense is about." Goku stood in front of Nappa, and squared off, ready to fight.
"All right, Kakarrot, I'll be gracious," sneered Nappa, "a third-class warrior like you doesn't stand a chance against an Elite like me, so I'll give the first move to you." Nappa waited, but Goku just stood there, staring at Nappa with a fiery rage.
"What, no speeches?" snorted Nappa, "No discourses on 'honor' and 'goodness', like you gave Radditz? I heard them all over the scouters. Oh, I get it, you're scared stiff. Just like your worthless Chikyuu-jin fri- whuff!" Goku had shot forward and driven his elbow into Nappa's stomach.
"That was for Yamcha." He snapped his bent arm straight, sending the still-stunned Nappa flying backwards into a nearby cliff.
"That was for Chaotsu." He shot forward again, and delivered a kick which left Nappa in a cracked indentation on the cliffside.
"That was for Tenshinhan." He rose high into the air and raised his hands above his head, forming a ball of chi.
"And this, is for Kuririn!" The blast hurtled down into the cliff and blew it to rubble around Nappa's head.
"YEAH!" cheered Gohan, "way to go, Dad!"
"Don't celebrate just yet," growled Piccolo, "this isn't over by a long shot." A deep rumbling emanated from beneath the pile of rocks, and built higher and higher, until Nappa burst out, bruised and bloodied.
"DAAAAMN YOOOOU!" he screamed, "A third class warrior like you should be spit-cleaning my boots! YAAAAAAAARR!" The bald warrior flew straight up into the sky faster than most could follow. He met Goku in a flurry of kicks and punches that appeared as no more than a blur. Those who could follow what was going on could see that so far not a single punch had landed. Goku was blocking every one of Nappa's attacks. Nappa finally broke away and came to rest away from Goku, slightly higher in the air than him. Both fighters were sweaty and panting.
"Not bad, Kakarrot," said Nappa, between breaths, "You're actually forcing me to use my strongest attack." Goku stared with a bewildered look as Nappa opened his mouth to its widest. The look changed to one of shock as a massive chi blast exploded out and came streaking at him.
A startled "GAH!" was all Goku got out before the beam struck him. Vegeta smirked as the beam went through where Goku stood, apparently obliterating him.
"That should wipe the grin off Kakarrot's face," he thought, "There's no way he could've- what?" Nappa's blast had slowed, and was almost at a stop as it reached the ground. It was as if someone was holding pushing the attack, trying to turn it back. Nappa was sweating even harder than before, pumping more of his chi into the blast. Vegeta looked closer at the blast, heightening his senses.
"No... it cannot be..." he thought as he stared at the blast, "Kakarrot!" Indeed it was. Goku was at the front of the blast, both hands forward, holding the blast back. He was also sweating heavily, his muscles aching from the strain; and he was still being forced back, little by little. He reached the ground, and his feet began making a furrow in the soil beneath him. Then, it was all over. The blast dissipated as Nappa ran out of chi to feed it with. Nappa floated in the air, panting and staring with disbelief at Goku, standing on the ground a long distance from his friends.
"Oooowwww," he said, waving his hands to cool them off, "That really hurt!" Vegeta stared at this in wide-eyed shock.
"What kind of training did Kakarrot go through?" he wondered, "For a third class warrior to take that blast and come through unscathed..." It seemed that Nappa had similar thoughts running through his head, because he chose that time to voice them.
"You... took.. my... strongest attack... a third class warrior..." he growled, his voice filled with shock that quickly turned to rage. "I... will.. KILL YOU!" With an all-mighty yell he turned in the air and shot down towards Goku, intending to rip him limb from limb. He had not gone a foot when Vegeta regained his voice.
"Nappa! Stop!" The giant heard and, to the Z-Senshis' great surprise, came to a halt so fast that Goku could have sworn he heard tires screeching.
"Vegeta stopped him with only a yell," thought Goku in shock, "How much stronger must Vegeta be... to elicit that sort of response?"
"Vegeta-"
"Kakarrot has already proved that he is stronger than you. I will finish him." Nappa turned to Goku, shaking with rage.
"You have humiliated me in front of my Prince," growled Nappa, "I will leave you to him, but I will not leave the field as it stands!" With that he wheeled around in the air and shot towards Piccolo and Gohan. Goku saw his intention in an instant and launched toward them also, trying desperately to reach them before Nappa.
"Dammit," he thought, "Won't be able to make it... not fast enough... got to..." Suddenly, Goku felt his chi being unconsciously being manipulated, as if he himself were doing it, and yet, not him... The entire world seemed to spontaneously slow down around Goku. Power flooded through his body.
"What's going on?" he thought, but this was quickly supressed by a small part of his mind that shouted: "Wo cares? GO! GO! GO!" Nappa suddenly found himself paralyzed and held in the air, with Goku's fist in his back.
****
Kaio-sama frowned as he watched the events on Chikyuu unfold before him. The arrival of the Saiya-jins was bad enough, but Son Goku's means of defeating Nappa was somehow more troubling.
"Hmmm. This is most disturbing. I thought that I was the only one who even knew of the Kaio Ken's existance," he thought aloud, "but even I have never been able to actually do it!" He had tried ,for many centuries, to master the elusive technique, but had always met with failure. This made Goku's sudden mastery of the technique all the more disturbing.
"To do it so spontaeneously, without ever receiving training..." he paused for a moment as this all sank in, "Kami-sama certainly was right when he said that this Goku was an extraordinary being!"
"Ooook! Oook!"
"Well," he mused, "I guess there's nothing I can do but watch. I certainly do hope that they survive this battle. I would like to find out how he mastered the Kaio Ken without any sort of training." He sighed and turned his attention back to the unfolding mystery beneath him.
Vegeta stared. From what his scouter told him, Goku's power had jumped astoundingly when he had... was that an attack he had used? If it had been, then it was unlike any attack Vegeta had ever seen.
The jump in power had lasted only for instant, though. His reading was now back to what it had been. Thoughts chased each other wildly around the inside of the Saiya-jin prince's head.
"What the hell kind of technique was that? For an instant, a mere heartbeat, his power and speed increased dramatically! Still, his power level was no where near my own." Meanwhile, Goku was talking to Gohan and Picoolo, making sure they were all right. They, however, were more interested in Goku's mysterious attack.
"What on Chikyuu did you do, Goku?"
"I have no idea, Piccolo. I was running, my chi started feeling really weird, and well," he gestured to Nappa, who lay on the ground where Goku had tossed him. "You saw what happened. Speakking of which..." He turned toward Vegeta.
"Come and take your friend back to his ship!" he yelled, "He can't fight anymore! Take him and leave!" Vegeta stared at Goku for a moment, then walked over to the prone Nappa. He grabbed Nappa's outstretched hand.
"Vegeta..." he said weakly, "thank you..." Vegeta's lips curled to form a sneer.
"What good are you if you cannot fight?"
"Wha-"
"Nothing!" With that, Vegeta flung Nappa high into the air. He extended his arm downward, pointing two fingers.
"VEGETAAAAAAA!"
"Get back!" yelled Goku, grabbing Gohan and Piccolo and jumping back as far as he could.
Vegeta brought his arm up in a swift motion, creating a powerful blast that flattened a large circle around him, and disentigrating Nappa. Goku and the others stared in dumb shock at what they had witnessed.
"Destroyed.. with a gesture..." whispered Piccolo, "what power..." Goku, however, was staring at Vegeta with a rage like that he had aimed at Nappa. He walked slowly forward.
"There was no need for that, Vegeta! He couldn't fight anymore! He didn't stand a chance!" he leveled his gaze at Vegeta before continuing, "He was your friend, and you destroyed him without a second thought. I will not let you hurt anyone else."
"Yajirobe, are you sure this thing can't go any faster?" The scouter had told her that, while there had been nine life signs at the start of the battle, (seven belonging to her friends) there were now only five left. Unless the Saiya-jins were weaker than they'd expected, she knew this could only mean one thing: four of her friends had already died.This didn't upset her as much as she would have imagined(probably because the Dragon Balls were lurking at the back of her mind), but this itself was causing her stress.
Yajirobe ground his teeth together before answering: "Same as the last dozen times you've asked: NO! Do you think irritating me to death will magically make the jet go faster, or something?" This response finally caused Bulma to loose her temper.
"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR WANTING TO GET THERE BEFORE ANYONE ELSE DIES! You will burn out the engine getting there or I will help Chichi to disembowel you! And when the Saia-jins KILL everyone on this planet, I WILL find you in the afterlife, and DISEMBOWEL YOUR SOUL!" Bulma then proceeded to spew out a string of obscenities that would have made a Saiya-jin blush. Yajirobe stared at her for a moment, filled with an unholy terror. He turned back to the windshield of the jet, and broke the air-speed record of the time.
"You really think that you can take me, Kakarrot?"
"We're about to find out, aren't we, Vegeta?"
"Very well, Kakarrot. It will greatly amuse me to wipe that insolent expression off your face."
"Just promise me one thing. That you won't attack Piccolo or Gohan while we're fighting."
"I didn't realize that you were in a position to be making such demands, Kakarrot. But don't worry, they wouldn't present enough challenge to worth my time." Goku nodded before turning to Gohan and Piccolo.
"You two stay back," he paused for a moment before saying, "move the bodies, too." Vegeta and Goku readied themselves for the fight. Each irradiated an air of complete and total self-confidence. The thought of losing occured to neither of them: one, because losing was impossible, the other, because loss was not an option. For a moment, they stared into each others eyes, hoping the other would blink. Then, they launched.
The air-pressure from their super-fast movements shattered any rocks that were too close. Goku was putting up a valiant fight, but he was losing. The difference between his power and Vegeta's was enough to make him loose by itself, but the mysterious move he had used to defeat Nappa had left him feeling spent. Vegeta, however, was putting forth more effort than he would have thought neccesary to win the fight.
"Hmmm, Kakrrot's not that bad," he thought, "I'm actually breaking a sweat! Before I kill him, I must thank him for the workout."
"Errgh!" thought Goku, "Vegeta's too strong. I can't win this the way things are now! Gotta focus. There must be a way to beat him." Goku's thoughts flashed to his mysterious defeat of Nappa.
"How the heck did I do that?" Vegeta's fist planted itself in his gut. "I've got nothing else. I've got to try it! Just have to buy a little time first..." A thought struck him. He jumped back from the fight and looked Vegeta in the face.
"Hey Vegeta!" He brought his hands, fingers out, up to either side of his face.
"Wha-"
"TAIYO-KEN!" A blinding light flashed for a few agonizing seconds, and Vegeta took the full brunt. He clutched at his face, cursing Goku at the top of his lungs.
"DAMN YOU, KAKARROT! WHERE ARE YOU?" Goku had used the oppurtunity to jump back to a safe distance to focus and try to remember how he had performed the mysterious technique.
"How. Did. I. DO IT!?!" he mentally screamed at himself as he ran: trying to put a little distance between Vegeta and himself, to buy some time.
"KAAAAKAAAARROOOOT!" Goku turned and saw Vegeta hurtling toward him. A rush of desperation filled him, and he could almost hear his brain click. Again the world slowed. Vegeta did not seem to be moving quite so fast. Nor did his chi seem to be quite as large, when Goku compared it to his own.
To Gohan and Piccolo, it seemed that Goku was now an even match with Vegeta. They were now both landing hits on the other, Goku easily making up for his earlier weakness.
"Wow! I didn't know that Dad was that strong!"
"Neither did he, I think," Piccolo was worried about what sort of reprecussions this technique of Goku's would have. "I just hope-" he was cut short by the sound of a jet landing behind them, soon followed by the sound of said jet being encapsulated. Bulma came walking over to where Piccolo and Gohan were watching, open mouthed. Yajirobe stayed farther back, cowering behind a rock.
"Kuso, I can barely see them, they're moving so fast!" she paused before adding, "I may not have needed to bring these Senzu."
Vegeta broke away from the fight, bleeding and panting. He stared at Goku for a moment, as if in disbelief. Slowly, a smirk spread on his now dirty and bloody face. And he laughed.
Goku couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Here was an opponent, beginning to loose, his pride being driven to the ground, and he was laughing."Never have I thought that the Prince of Vegeta-sei would be matched by a third-class warrior, Kakarrot. Now, you die." He raised his hand, a ball of chi on his palm, "This is a most interesting technique, for use when the natives of the planet put up a little too much resistance for a normal Saiya-jin to handle. Artificial moonlight."
"Moonlight?" said Bulma curiously, but as comprehension dawned on her, her face filled with fear. "H-he isn't going to-"
"I think he is!" shouted Piccolo. He was remebering the first night in the wilderness. The night he had destroyed Chikyuu's moon. The night Gohan had changed.
Next: Vegeta Goes Ape!