Vegeta stands beneath the smirk of Zarbon who hovers high above him.
"However did you manage to scuttle out alive?" says Zarbon. "I guess you're more of a rat than a monkey."
Zarbon glides down to the island. Vegeta backs away from the shore as he lands. Zarbon flicks his ponytail over his shoulder.
"You're lucky," says Zarbon. "I won't be trying to kill you this time as Lord Freeza would love to have a word with you over your little betrayal. Oh, and he was looking forward to telling you about your father, so if you could act surprised for him, he'd appreciate it very much."
"I'm not Freeza's plaything anymore," says Vegeta. "After I deal with you, Freeza will be next."
Zarbon laughs. "Oh Vegeta, you are an endless source of amusement. I understand now why Lord Freeza kept you around this long. But all good things must come to an end."
"I wish I could say the same about you, but I've never met someone more insufferable."
"Ouch, Vegeta. Do you really think so poorly of me? Too bad."
Zarbon holds out his hand. Energy gathers in his palm.
Vegeta points in retaliation and shouts. "Attack now!"
The command surprises Zarbon. Sloshing water splashes behind him as shadows dance on the grass.
The grinning faces of Saibamen greet him as he faces the ambush. Five minions grapple his limbs and torso.
"Get off of me!" he says. "How dare you attack a high ranking officer. Desist immediately. I order you to attack Vegeta."
The grips only tighten as Zarbon squirms in them.
Vegeta chuckles. "You know they're designed to only follow orders of the one who grew them. Or did you forget that's why the low ranked officers carry them around?"
Zarbon glares at Vegeta who gathers a foaming white ki in his palm.
"If you were hoping this would be enough to save you," says Zarbon, "think again."
A dome of energy expands from Zarbon. Vegeta throws his hand upward to release a pale orb.
A lime green field pushes the Saibamen off of Zarbon. The energy disintegrates them upon its surface. When there is nothing left of them, the field vanishes.
"You see, Vegeta, it's hopeless. You even wasted your only moment to get a free attack in."
"Actually, Zarbon, I used that moment just how I planned. Look above you."
Zarbon tilts back his chin. High above is a spectral sphere. It pulses with primal intent.
"The false moon technique!"
He looks back at Vegeta who stares at the mesmerizing orb. His body is already reacting. His teeth sharpen and elongate as his mouth and nose drive out to form a snout. Hair sprouts from his neckline.
Zarbon induces his own transformation as Vegeta's height climbs skyward.
Vegeta plucks the robotic eye from his socket and tucks in beneath his breastplate. His bones and organs inflame as they gain mass. He watches Zarbon shrink before him as he reaches the full height of his Ozaru form.
He smiles and raises a foot. He sends it crashing down on Zarbon who finishes acquiring his bulked up state.
Now coated in a blubbery skin, Zarbon races out from under the foot. His blue aura streaks from beneath the earthquaking stomp. He curves upward as Vegeta throws an open palm.
Zarbon performs an evasive maneuver and flips to face the beast. He extends his right arm while his other hand grabs his bicep.
"Ereganto Burasuta!"
A huge beam of orange energy floods forth to punch Vegeta in the side. He stumbles off balance. After a few quick steps, he regains his footing. Chunks of the island crumbles into the sea from the heavy stomping.
"That ugly form is so ungraceful, Vegeta. I may not be my best looking either, but at least my poise remains intact."
Vegeta lashes out with grabbing hands. Zarbon zips between their clutching fingers. Vegeta slaps his hands together to crush Zarbon between them. The loud smack rings far.
Zarbon shoots over the knuckles, having dashed back at the last second. He flies straight at Vegeta's face. With a swift flip, he slams both heels against Vegeta's forehead.
Vegeta's legs backpedal to keep up with his tipping upper body. They cannot, and he crashes hard to his butt and elbows.
Zarbon laughs.
Vegeta drops open his mouth. Pink energy lights the back of his throat. Zarbon gasps as a radiant beam rips from the maw.
The size and speed of the energy are too great to avoid. The attack consumes him. The force burns and beats his body as it drives him back.
The beam eventually relents, and Zarbon escapes it. He coughs out smoke. Short, jagged edges are all that remain of his shoulder pads. Torn slits riddle the sleeves of his arms and legs. His cape hangs in shreds.
Vegeta pants and rises to his feet. Zarbon drifts towards him.
"You monkeys are just full of surprises," says Zarbon. "But looks like that transformation of yours is very burdensome while mine is my natural state. You can't win."
"I assure you I have everything I need to crush you, Zarbon. I just have to get my hands on you, and it's over."
"Hah, good luck."
Vegeta bends down to wrap his arms around a mountainous hedge. In one motion, he twists his waist, rips the earthen heap free, and hurls it at Zarbon. While his opponent is busy dodging it, Vegeta leaps from the ground. With Zarbon right before him, he reaches a hand.
Zarbon spins around the hand only to find the second waiting for him. He grits his teeth and flies upward. He shoots a ki bolt to knock back the palm.
A bellowing bark followed by snapping jaws sends Zarbon into a frenzy of dodges. The hands close in again. Zarbon backflips away from them and dives downward. A huge knee cuts him off. Upon crashing against it, he tumbles to the ocean below.
"Where are you, Zarbon?" says Vegeta, wading into the sea up to his waist. He peers through the crystal green water, but all the shapes appear the same. "How does it feel to be the one drowning?"
He hears a splash behind him. He looks down his back to see Zarbon skimming up it. He flicks his tail. It slaps Zarbon against his armor. He turns and throws an elbow. The strike stabs Zarbon and throws him to an island.
As Vegeta follows, his vision blurs and nausea washes through his head.
I'm almost at my limit, he thinks. I need to finish this now.
Vegeta sloshes to the island Zarbon lies on. He steps on shore and approaches the still victim. His good eye zeros in for a killing blow.
Zarbon's eyes flash open. He smirks with glee. Ki explodes from his hands straight into the ground. It breaks outward with tremendous force. The plateau beneath the water buckles. The island crumbles as the sea consumes it.
Zarbon takes flight while Vegeta sinks with the island. Zarbon takes aim as his adversary struggles to stay standing.
"Die you ugly beast!"
He clamps a hand on his right bicep and fires a cannon of orange ki. The blast collides with the side of his opponent's head.
The smell of burning hair and skin infiltrates Vegeta's nose. The hammering of the pulsing wave softens his skull and bruises the vulnerable tissue below. His consciousness fades as the unrelenting pounding continues.
Vegeta's body shrinks, and the animalistic qualities recede. He falls free of the beam. He spirals at an angle to another island.
Zarbon heaves for air. His body loses mass until he returns to his slender physique.
"My my," he says. "Our little Prince has grown up." He floats towards Vegeta's unmoving body. "I can't believe you were able to push me to the limits of my transformed state. But it's time to answer to Lord Freeza for your treason."
Vegeta stirs. "A Super Saiyan doesn't answer to anyone, especially someone as afraid of them as Freeza."
"Still on about that myth, huh. I knew Lord Freeza shouldn't have put such a silly notion in your head. You probably don't even have any power left."
Vegeta struggles through the monumental effort to pick himself up while resisted by stabbing pains of splintering bones and splitting headaches.
"Actually, my adrenaline is just getting pumping. I can taste its bitterness with every beat of my heart. I didn't think my Saiyan Soul would be burning again this soon after my battle on Earth. Yes, I should be able to defeat you now for sure."
"I think you've taken one too many hits to the head if you think a bluff like that will work now."
"Oh Zarbon, you don't understand. When we Saiyans get pushed to the edge, we unlock another level of power. That's why I returned from Earth so strong. And after this battle, I'll achieve even greater heights."
"You're lying!"
"Why don't you find out if I am. But don't forget, you're still worn down from our last battle while I'm just beginning to tap into the deeper wells of my heritage."
"Pathetic. Is clinging to that childhood fantasy all that's kept you going? Believing one day you'd become a Super Saiyan, kill Lord Freeza, and save your father and that stupid oaf. Honestly I almost feel bad for you."
A pang of rage runs through Vegeta. "His name was Nappa."
"I don't give a shit what his name was. He was just as worthless as the rest of your lot."
"We Saiyans aren't worthless!"
"Enough of this!"
Zarbon charges forth. He throws a punch. Vegeta catches it and sends a hooking fist. Zarbon reels as the knuckles smashes his cheek. He clutches at his jaw. Blood oozes between his fingers.
Zarbon retaliates with swift, far reaching kicks. He keeps his opponent at a distance with the flurry of fluid strikes. He lands a light blow to Vegeta's left elbow. His foe flinches more than he expects, opening a brief window.
Zarbon moves in close with an open palm slam to Vegeta's chest followed by a slicing chop to the burns on the side of his head. Zarbon spins into a crouch while sweeping out a leg.
He knocks Vegeta's ankles out from under him. Vegeta falls on his bad elbow and grunts with pain.
Zarbon stabs his toes into Vegeta's gut to roll him over. He steps on the exposed elbow. Vegeta cries louder.
"You disgusting animals have always sickened me. I told Lord Freeza not to resort to using such barbarous creatures as it would tarnish our image.
"But he assured me your innate desire for destruction would lead to your inevitable demise. And he was right. Watching your numbers dwindling felt like washing filth from my body in a soothing shower.
"And when just you and Raditz came back from Earth, I cannot tell you how relieved I was that the biggest and ugliest of your kind had died. His hideous appearance was the most offensive of all."
Vegeta grits his teeth. "I told you his name and you will address him by it."
Zarbon presses his heel down harder. "I don't care what that brute's name was. I'm just glad I'll never have to see his hideous face again."
Vegeta roars and rolls onto his trapped arm. His right hand grabs the tattered cape hanging from Zarbon's armor. He yanks down on it to make Zarbon step back two paces. With his arm free, he launches forth.
Vegeta throws one laborious punch after another. He lands a heavy gut shot followed by a nose cracking hit to the center of Zarbon's face.
Zarbon cups his nose while retreating backwards. Blood fills his palm. Vegeta takes the moment to catch his breath.
"How dare you damage my beautiful face."
"You shouldn't be worried by such fragile things in the middle of a fight, Zarbon. But I guess it's all you really have."
Zarbon frowns and glides with ease to approach Vegeta. He swirls outside a few attempted attacks while striking from afar with the full length of his legs.
"You don't even deserve to look upon my beauty," says Zarbon after landing a kick to Vegeta's stomach.
Vegeta drops to his hands and knees. Zarbon grabs the sides of Vegeta's face with a thumb over his remaining eye.
"Let me bring some much needed symmetry back to that face of yours."
He presses his thumb down. The nail digs into the edge of the eye to scoop at it.
Vegeta flails as the nail rips deeper. His hands reach for any weakness they can find. They grab hold of Zarbon's earrings and pull apart. They tear free of the lobs taking chunks of flesh with them.
Zarbon squeals. His grip loosens in the moment. Vegeta knocks the forearms aside. He grabs Zarbon's ponytail with both hands.
Blood trickles from Vegeta's eye as he swings Zarbon around several times. He throws him skyward and puts his hands beside his left shoulder with one cupping other.
"Gyarikku Ho!"
A purple aura bursts around him as his hands crackle with electricity. Zarbon finds his balance, and Vegeta jams both arms at him. The beam leaps from his palms.
Zarbon shoves out his hands as the beam crashes against them. Agony burns his wrists as they bend back. His forearms and shoulders shriek as they instantly tire. He presses a knee against the blast for more leverage against the forceful wave.
Zarbon mutters while handling the storm of energy. "I can't believe he has this much power left. But surely it's the last of it."
Vegeta yells as he pushes out his ki. His breath is strong but fleeting quickly. As his lungs cry out for air, his body yearns to stop expelling stamina. He presses on despite the numb emptiness spreading over him.
Zarbon wrestles with the imposing beam. It burns his hands as he digs in his fingers and brings in his other knee. He works his right hand above the middle of his knees. With a secure platform, he gingerly raises his left arm from the plasma.
The wave churns but remains in place. Zarbon grips his right bicep and dredges out the last of his energy.
"Ereganto Burasuta!"
He fires an orange beam to combat the Gyarikku Ho. His attack forces back the opposing attack.
Vegeta's posture crumples beneath the pressure.
"You see Vegeta! You never had a chance. You repulsive Saiyans don't deserve to exist!"
Vegeta's form shrinks as his beam loses ground.
"Now go join that stupid…boorish…worthless friend of yours in Hell."
Each word assaults Vegeta's pride worse than the pain from maintaining his attack. He grinds his teeth. He forces his body to stand against the mass bearing down on him. He shouts over the thunder.
"His name…"
Vegeta thrusts to his full height with arms stretched high.
"Is Nappa!"
A burst of energy inflates the Gyarikku Ho. The extra power pulses up to the apex and consumes Zarbon's wave.
"This can't be!" says Zarbon.
The violet energy devours the rest of his own and snaps at his forearm and shins. They vaporize in the heat so the beam can slam against his torso. He screams as his body stretches and rips. His form dissolves as the beam infuses his body with more power than he can handle.
The Gyarikku Ho streaks across the sky and disappears. Vegeta gasps and stumbles forward. His arms swing down and dangle before his whole body flops to the ground. He inhales dirt while trying to satisfy his need for oxygen.
Despite the numbness, a small sense of joy takes root. He chuckles with each gasp of air before passing out from exhaustion.
###
Freeza's lips squirm as he watches Zarbon's power level cease to exist on a large screen. An irritated hum rumbles from deep in his throat. Red electricity arcs from the various devices around the room. The lights oscillate from bright to dim. The walls and floor vibrate as his power and rage leak out. His three henchmen cower against the back wall.
Freeza inhales a deep breath with his nose. The phenomena around the room stop. He issues a stern command.
"Summon Captain Ginyu."
"Right away my lord," says all three henchmen.
They all use this as an excuse to leave Freeza's presence without trying to figure out who it was directed towards.