Chapter 8

When Vegeta woke up, he was sprawled on the ground with an arm completely numb from being pinned underneath him. Ro was sitting in the lotus position, about five feet away, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"What happened?" Vegeta asked, wincing. He felt as battered as ever, but at least he regained some of his energy back.

"I punched you in the head so you lost consciousness," Ro said, instantly out of his trance or awake or whatever he was doing. "It looked like you needed a break."

Vegeta couldn't help but laugh at this. "You know... I wouldn't have minded so much if you just left me alone for a few hours..."

"True, but where's the fun in that?" Ro smiled fiendishly. Vegeta was still getting used to someone like him after his decades long hiatus on Earth. At least his company was good. "Besides, it's better exercise."

Vegeta stared at him. "No. That's not exercise."

Ro stretched and stood up. "Then it was an exercise. An exercise in pain. Whatever. I'm bored. Fight me."

Vegeta got up, too. His Saiyan blood was just wakening after a long sleep and he wanted to fight... but his mind and body were getting sluggish... rubbery. He wasn't used to this kind of training. Saiyans did get stronger after taking heavy damage... but in training, Vegeta had always stuck with exercise instead of pain. This training with Ro resembled an actual battle more than anything, but a battle that never ended and was almost lethal... but not quite. He couldn't even tell if he was getting stronger anymore... he hadn't had the chance to heal properly. And every day, he was just getting more wounded. "One of these days... what's going to happen if I die?" He gave voice to a concern that he'd had for a while, but he was also stalling. Every moment that he wasn't exerting himself was a good moment.

"Don't worry about it," Ro said. "I'm controlling my blows. It's hard, but I'm doing it. When you're dead, your energy matters more than your physical self, which is why you haven't eaten and you can still function with so little sleep. So you should be able to last like this for a long time, if not indefinitely."

"Great," Vegeta exhaled. He still hadn't been able to achieve the Sabaku-Kaze x2 even once, let alone master it. He could see now the walls that Ro told him about... they barred him. He had probably only been able to skip around them with Boo because he had had no scruples about dying. But that just wasn't the case now. If that happened now, he would have wrecked his last chance.

So Vegeta carried out his sustained torture in silence, his wounds weakening him every hour. If only he had a chance to heal.

Three days later

"...Vegeta," Ro said thoughtfully, right before one of the breaks was over.

"...What... is it?" Vegeta cleared his throat, voice flimsy from disuse. There was a certain look in Ro's eyes that made him wary all of a sudden, though he couldn't say why.

"It's been ten days and you still haven't been able to achieve the Sabaku-Kaze of any sort." His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

Vegeta gritted his teeth and looked at the floor. "I know..." he said bitterly. "I know I should have done it... especially training with you..." Vegeta had no idea how hard it was to force his chi that high. But that wasn't all. "You know... with all of the injuries I've sustained... if I healed from that, I'd be able to do it."

"What's that got to do with learning the Sabaku-Kaze? It's not about power, it's about the technique."

"It's impossible for me to focus enough like this. If I was restored to full power, I could concentrate fully on the technique. It would be easy and you know it. So why don't you let me take the time to heal?"

"If you get stronger it'll just be that much harder to multiply your power. Besides, is it really my fault that you can't ignore your wounds?"

Vegeta glowered. He was one to talk. Vegeta's status had carried him a certain distance forwards to becoming a true warrior... but he had taken himself the rest of the way through unwavering discipline and perseverance. Vegeta bet that airhead had never known any sort of real pain in his life. He just sat around in this weird place, comfortable in the knowledge that he was the strongest being in existence. But he hadn't earned it. He wasn't real.

"And to be honest, I'm not surprised," Ro said, when Vegeta remained silent. "But you're no good to me the way you are now, and it won't be too much longer before your energy's so low that you can't do it at all."

Vegeta held his tongue and refrained from telling Ro again that his energy levels wouldn't be a problem if he'd just let him rest.

"So," Ro finished, "If you don't succeed in doing the Sabaku-Kaze by the end of today, I am going to destroy you."

Vegeta closed his eyes. He had known this was coming... "An ultimatum..." That was it for him, then. If Ro refused to let him heal, Vegeta wouldn't be able to do it. It wasn't a matter of motivation or skill, nothing that he could control, he simply didn't have the resources. Vegeta had figured out how to do the Sabaku-Kaze the day before, but now he was too damaged to pull it off.

"Spot on as usual," Ro said. Then he held his hands about three feet apart. An hourglass appeared in between them. "Once all the sand is gone, in approximately ten hours, I'll come back and see if you did it."

Vegeta stared at him. "Come back...?"

"I'm bored, so I'm going off for a bit to see how the fight's going on Earth," Ro said. "You'll be on your own. Is that okay?" He shook his head and laughed. "Just kidding, I don't care." Ro gave Vegeta a knowing smile before he flew off.

Vegeta had ten hours to learn the Sabaku-Kaze or else he would die- for real. And he didn't have Ro's superior strength and speed to spar with.

This was going to be easy! Vegeta had ten whole hours to himself. Well, it wasn't that much... but it should be enough.

There was no time to lose. Vegeta dropped to the ground. He couldn't feel Ro's energy, so he must've gone somewhere else to use whatever strange powers he had to spy on the Earthlings. Good. That meant Vegeta could stop having his chi raised to the maximum.

Vegeta was finally able to relax both his chi and his tense muscles. Already, he could tell he had gotten stronger... but not by as much as he should have. He needed to be healed before he could get a real increase.

Ten hours wasn't enough for his wounds to mend... he would just have to settle for sleep, then. Taking deep breaths, Vegeta slowed his heartbeat until he felt himself drifting off. It had been a long time since he needed to feel safe in order to sleep.

OoO

Even from the depths of sleep, the moment Ro appeared back in the dimension again made Vegeta stir.

Suddenly Ro's energy spiked, breaking Vegeta out of his nap altogether. In an instant, thoughts of warning blared in his head.

"He's going to destroy me right now."

"I didn't have the time to heal."

"What did Ro say about energy mattering more than physical selves in death?"

"SABAKU-KAZE x2!" Vegeta's chi skyrocketed and he suddenly found himself crouching, both hands gripping the fist that had been hell bent on punching a hole through his chest. Before a second had passed, Vegeta used Ro's momentum to flip him over his shoulder and smash him to the ground.

And just like that the Moment was over, leaving Vegeta his normal self. Fresh, immaculate and full of energy.

"How was THAT for the Sabaku-Kaze!" he shouted, exhilarated, as Ro picked himself off the ground. "You felt that one, didn't you."

"No, not really," Ro said, completely unfazed. "Don't get too cocky. You need more than that to be a match for me. Now we'll work on increasing the multiplier and, eventually, you'll add it permanently to your own power."

"..." Vegeta didn't say anything for a few moments, irritated by Ro's imperiousness. "... Sounds li-"

Before Vegeta could finish his sentence, a vicious blow to the stomach knocked the wind out of him.

"I thought I told you to keep your chi raised to the maximum at all times," Ro said, voice dead.

Doubled over and gasping for breath, Vegeta glared up at Ro and felt real hatred towards him for the first time. At least the Earthlings had some concept of respect. Ro was acting like he was Vegeta's master when all he had done was tell the Saiyan about the multiplier technique. A flash of heat as Vegeta was overcome with the desire to know what colour Rokuma's blood was... and it died out. There was nothing he could do. Ro was too strong. Vegeta just had to play his game for now, and hope that the Sabaku-Kaze x20 would be enough to kill him.

OoO

"Stop... attacking me," Vegeta said, sides heaving with the effort of pushing air through his lungs. "I just... need to rest... then... you'll have your... Sabaku-Kaze x20..." It was all he could do to get the words out, having to deflect Ro's never-ending assault.

"No." The more haggard Vegeta grew, the more merciless Ro was. "It's part of your training. Maybe I'd consider it if you were already up to times twenty, but you're still only at ten. You haven't even managed to do more than heartbeats."

"... Condescending... swine... maybe I would if you let me rest," Vegeta hissed, every aching muscle struggling to keep up. "It worked last time." A flash of movement and he reacted blindly. "Sabaku-Kaze x6!"

"Doing that little trick again won't help your stamina. Haven't you noticed? Your chi works differently now that you're dead. You would have gotten the same effect from meditating, and yet you chose to sleep. You're still thinking like a mortal."

"..." Vegeta barely listened, too focused on drawing in air while Ro was busy talking.

"Even if you're still evil, Earth extracted the Saiyan part out of you. Where's your will to fight? All you've done for the past few days is grovel and beg for me to let you rest!"

Vegeta still said nothing, busy attacking this time, but he felt the sting of humiliation. What the hell did Ro know about being a Saiyan? There were some things that you couldn't get from watching. He had never begged.

Defiance converted into energy, Vegeta used the Sabaku-Kaze x12 to catch Ro off-guard. A thin trail of blood trickled down Ro's cheek. So he did bleed, just like a normal person.

The scar the cut left would stay with Ro for the rest of his life.

Vegeta kept moving despite the pain. Even with his battered body that was flagging more and more, he would not relent. Seeing the brief flash of irritation in Ro's eyes was enough. Finally, Vegeta had won.

His victory over Ro was nothing more than the desperate grin of a condemned man.