Son Goku surprised Vegeta during their last sparring match by revealing that he has been secretly training at night! Though Vegeta is impressed, his pride has been severely wounded!

Tale 191: The Pride of a Prince

"Grr…Kakarrot."

POW!

SLAMMO!

BWACK!

"I can't believe he deceived me…!" Vegeta growled in anger.

SLAM!

BAKO-O-O!

"That imp! Does he not know that I am his Prince?"

DOOOM!

"L-lord Vegeta, he is just a boy…and he's my brother. So, you probably shouldn't be ranting about him to me…" Raditz muttered weakly, breaking Vegeta out of his rage. Vegeta blinked and quickly rushed over to Raditz to help him up. He and Raditz were doing some light sparring…or, they were until Vegeta started to think about Goku!

"I am sorry, Raditz. I got carried away!" Raditz smiled slightly at Vegeta's current composure. The Prince of Saiyans was not known to get like this very often. Even though Raditz was technically an underling to Vegeta, he was the closest thing to a big brother that the Saiyan Prince had. So, when Vegeta was flustered over Raditz, it made the older saiyan smile a little on the inside.

"It's okay, Lord Vegeta. I know how you can be when you are riled up. You just need to remind yourself that your strength far exceeds mine and it has done so for fifteen years now!" Raditz chuckled in amusement.

"I know…it's just that Kakarrot really got to me yesterday. He tricked me, Raditz! I didn't foresee him pulling a move like that and I most certainly was not counting on him exceeding me in strength! It didn't help that I later overheard his friends talking about how he's always been a talented fighter…" Vegeta grumbled as he sat himself and Raditz down on a nearby bench.

"I know how prideful you are," Raditz remarked softly, "…but you can't let that be your weakness. Remember what I have taught you; there will always be someone stronger than you. Besides, Kakarrot's strength along with Gohan's may be just the thing we need to defeat Nappa once and for all!" Raditz said with a hint of a smile upon his face.

"I hope so…" Vegeta sighed in irritation, "Don't get me wrong, I am happy by his progress. It's just that…he didn't train side-by-side with us as we were growing up. A year ago, he didn't even know we existed!"

"Why does that matter?" Raditz asked. Vegeta stared blankly at his companion.

"I…I don't know."

"Then don't let it bother you, my lord. Come on, let's take a dip in the artificial pond to cool off."

"It's called a pool, Raditz," Vegeta chuckled. Raditz smiled sheepishly at Vegeta. The two got up and were about to make their way to the pool when Piccolo stopped them in their tracks. He had a very alarmed look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Vegeta asked quietly.

"I just got word from Kami…Nappa is almost here!" Piccolo answered hoarsely. Vegeta and Raditz looked alarmed.

"…is he sure?"

Piccolo gave a short nod, "Because of the location of his palace up in the sky, Kami can sense chi better than those down on the surface. He told me that an ominous and evil chi is quickly approaching this planet. He told me that it will arrive within the hour."

"We've got no time to lose!" Vegeta bellowed. He pushed Raditz towards Piccolo, "Get him a senzu and gather Kakarott's clan. I'll get the others. We need to get out of here and get to where Nappa will be touching down!"

After a chaotic fifteen minutes of gathering up the other fighters, our heroes use Kami's guidance to pinpoint where Nappa will be touching down on Earth...

"Good, in the middle of a desert," Yamcha muttered as he looked around.

"The nearest city is over 500 kilometers away. As long as we keep him busy with us, he'll have no reason to attack any innocent people," Goku stated with a serious expression on his face. He was, once more, donning his Turtle Gi, as a homage to the Muten Roshi, a.k.a. Kame-Sen'nin. Yamcha and Kuririn, of course, followed his example. Gohan, on the other hand, was donning an outfit similar to Piccolo's. The only thing he was missing was Piccolo's signature hat. Chi-Chi was donning her usual black gi, though she did have the Turtle Insignia stitched on the back of the shirt. Tenshinhan and Chaozu were in their usual fighting attire, as expected.

"Why is he here so early…?" Vegeta growled through gritted teeth, "We weren't expecting him for at least three months!"

"I don't know, my lord. Thank the stars for this Earth's Kami-Sama! At least we are aware of his soon-to-be arrival," Raditz commented stiffly.

"…yeah, he will be landing in roughly fourty-five minutes….NO, don't COME here!" Yamcha barked into the cell phone he was talking into, "…oh, you're sending a drone to watch the fight? Are you sure that's wise? Okay…okay, well, if things get bad, you know what to do…okay, take care." Yamcha then ended the call before turning to Goku and the others, "Just got off the phone with Bulma. She's sending one of her drones to watch the fight."

"Of course she is…" Kuririn grumbled, "She should be evacuating to Kami's Lookout with her folks!"

"Her place of residence has a secret underground floor that does very far below the surface," Vegeta remarked assuringly, "She and her kin will be fine."

Yamcha scoffed.

Why does he know about a secret room that I never even knew about?!

"Alright, everyone. This is it," Vegeta spoke up as he addressed the fellow fighters around him, "This, right here, is the moment we've been training for over the last nine months. Do not forget what we have told you about this treacherous scum. The fate of this planet rests in our hands. We must defeat him, even if we all perish."

Goku smiled at Vegeta and turned to face the others, "We will show this creep that this is our planet. Let's make 'im regret pickin' a fight with us!"

"Y-yeah!" Kuririn shouted, "We won't stand around and let him destroy everything we love!"

"I am not letting him get in my way when it comes to fulfilling my dream of getting married!" Yamcha declared triumphantly. The others stared at him blankly, "…what?"

"Y-Yamcha, seriously?" Kuririn stammered.

"…oh! It's Bulma's scone!" Goku called out as he pointed to the sky.

"It's drone, dear," Chi-Chi muttered in Goku's ear. He smiled at her sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry! Still getting some words mixed up with others, y'know!"

The drone got close to the group of fighters, revealing that it had a small television screen. Bulma was smiling at them on the screen.

"You guys like the addition I made? Now you can see me as well as hear me!" She said happily. Goku nodded and he grinned back at her.

"Oh yeah! Good t' see ya again Bulma!"

Vegeta approached the drone and regarded Bulma with an odd look in his eyes, "Have you and your parents retreated underground?"

"Yes, we have. It took longer than expected. The cats, dogs, and dinosaurs were not cooperating!" Bulma huffed. Vegeta smiled softly.

"Good. I do hope that we'll see each other in person after today," he said softly. Bulma's eyes grew slightly moist as she smiled back at him.

"We will and that goes for all of you. Good luck, guys!" The Bulma drone then flew off to a safe distance.

"Don't take her rushing away like that personally, bud. That's her wall," Yamcha said to Vegeta when he noticed the hurt look on Vegeta's face, "She cares about you."

"…and I care about her, too," Vegeta muttered softly. Yamcha had a bittersweet smile on his face.

"As do I."

"LOOK!" Raditz cried out as he pointed to the sky, "HERE HE COMES!"

"Shoot! He's even earlier than we were told!" Kuririn said as he watched the sky. The small dot in the sky was rapidly getting bigger.

"Clear out! He's right on top of us!" Piccolo yelled. He and the others narrowly got out of the vicinity just as Nappa's ship touched down. Like Raditz and Vegeta's ships, his left a large crater in its wake. Cautiously, the group of fighters gathered around the edge of the crater and peeked down. Vegeta stiffened up considerably.

"…that explains it…" He muttered as he examined Nappa's ship. Goku looked at Vegeta.

"Explains what?"

"That ship is one of Freeza's. It was designed like a Saiyan Comet but it is almost twice as fast. That's why he's here so early," Vegeta explained shakily, "Freeza must have given him this ship after Raditz and I stole his original ship to escape from him…if that's even him in there…"

"Eh?!" Kuririn squeaked, "Y'mean…that might be Freeza in there?!"

The pale look on Vegeta's face answered Kuririn's question. They all took a few steps back when the door of the ship opened; it spat out a very thick steam. Goku kept close to his wife and son, his stance was alert and his tail was erect. Piccolo stood by his former enemy, he stood in a protective manner. Tenshinhan and Chaozu were slightly levitating, their stance was very alert as well. Kuririn and Yamcha stood tall to hide their uneasiness.

"Heh…what a long ride that was!" A gruff voice chuckled from within the ship. Vegeta relaxed, barely.

"It is Nappa," he spat. A moment later, a mountain of a man hovered slowly out of the crater. He grinned down at his welcoming party.

"How cute," he laughed coldly, "The little princeling and his dog have brought along their new friends!" He then turned his eyes on Goku, "…oh? I see that Bardock's other brat is here as well. I will give you credit for surviving on your own… but on such a pathetic planet, it's barely a feat…" His eyes narrowed when his eyes landed on Gohan, or more appropriately, Gohan's tail, "A half-bred brat. If I wasn't going to annihilate the life on this planet before, I certainly am now! I am the only Saiyan that is allowed to exist. Not even halfling brats can co-exist with me!"

"Are y' all just talk or are we gonna fight already?" Goku yelled at Nappa. While Goku's friends were not surprised by this sudden outburst, Vegeta and Raditz stared at Goku in shock. Nappa smirked; he slowly flew closer to the group before lowering himself to the ground.

"You are brave…and stupid," Nappa sneered; he walked up to Goku and stood a foot away from him, easily towering over him by several feet. Goku smirked at Nappa.

"Musta been pretty cramped in that ship, huh?" Goku inquired. Nappa cracked his neck without breaking eye contact with Goku.

"…what is your name?"

Goku grinned, "My brother and Vegeta know me as Kakarrot…but I am known as Son Goku here on Earth."

"Well, Son Goku, I hope that you are prepared to die."

SQRSH-SH-SH…!

"U-ugh…!"

"GOKU!"

"KAKARROT!"

…what? I am just as oblivious as you guys are! Did Nappa just kill Son Goku?! Either way, Nappa has proven that Vegeta and Raditz were not exaggerating his strength at all! Will our heroes be able to defeat this beast?! Up Next: The dandelion!