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It was eerily symbolic how they trained; Gohan and Piccolo would spar together on the ground or just above it while Goku and Vegeta crashed against each other time and time again far above, nearly invisible save for visible shockwaves and differently colored beams of ki energy being loosed. It almost declared that the saiyans were on another level entirely from the rest of the Z-Fighters.
Despite the overly powered aliens on their side, none of the others had slacked off from training. Indeed, they had thrown themselves whole-heartedly into the task at hand, all too clearly remembering the words of the time-traveling youth, that the androids would far surpass even a super saiyan. To that end, the humans and namekian had recognized that the coming conflict would need all of their contributions if they didn't want to perish like their future counterparts.
Nimbly dodging away from a heavy punch, Gohan flipped backward to gain a little space between himself and his mentor. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Piccolo sent the same arm shooting out as the rubbery sinews that made up his arm elongated and grabbed the boy by the leg. Squawking in surprise at the oft forgotten tactic, Gohan managed to put his hands out in front of him before he was slammed harshly into the rocky ground, unleashing a formless blast of golden energy that propelled him back up.
Realizing what his protégé was about to do, Piccolo released the half saiyan and jumped straight into the air as high as he could go, narrowly dodging the cumulative explosions of countless ki bullets homing in on his previous location. Discerning Gohan's ki signature, Piccolo took flight and sped towards him and delivered a kick to the gut. However, the visage of the boy fizzled away to reveal it as only an afterimage.
Taken aback, he didn't avoid the Masenko that collided with his back and launched him towards the horizon. Before he could go too far, he spun around and grabbed the golden beam with one hand to stop its course and punch it with the other, sending it skyward to harmlessly detonate. That was when Gohan struck, using his previous attack as a smokescreen, he came hurtling towards the turban wearing namekian at an arched angle, intent on delivering a powerful punch to the green face.
The impact never came as, with twin roars from on high, a force of wind that could scare away a typhoon crashed against them. Nearly being thrown through the air like a toy, Piccolo brought a greater degree of his power to bear and anchored himself in the air. Impressively, Gohan had managed to do the same, arms crossed in front of his face to try and ward of the gale.
The namekian didn't even need to look up to see what the commotion was about. With his senses alone, Piccolo was nearly driven unconscious by the feeling of two super saiyans in such close proximity. They had apparently decided to check how they measured up against each other at their fullest might and had proceeded to have a race of sorts, determining who could power up the fastest.
"Hey!" The less than jolly green man called up to the golden warriors, catching their attention. "How about a little warning before you pull a stunt like that again?"
Goku chuckled meekly, rubbing the back of his head in usual manner. Vegeta simply grunted and rotated his shoulder a few times until satisfied. They simultaneously dropped their transformations, an eerie tick they had. Piccolo had also noticed a distinct decline in performance when they were separated. From what he had surmised, they had plenty of time to spare on Yardrat and had sparred often, to the point of adapting their fighting styles to accommodate the other's.
Goku was as usual decked out in the customary Turtle School gi, complete with weighted clothing and King Kai's kanji on the back emblem. Vegeta more or less wore the same body suit that he usually wore, with his white gloves and yellow tipped boots also present. Foregoing the armor, he now depended only on his own strength to protect him from glancing or blunt blows.
"Sorry about that. We weren't really thinking, But hey, Gohan, I noticed that your power is ginormous! Great job buddy." Goku ruffled his son's hair, eliciting a giggle of happiness. Piccolo wondered how those hadn't been beaten out of him during their year long training in preparations for the saiyan's arrival awhile back.
"Namek." Vegeta's use of Piccolo's now demolished home world as a name was peeving, but tolerable. "I couldn't help but notice that you prefer to use your left side when on the defense. Stupid really. Any half-wit could see that that is your more developed side and decided to attack from the other way." Piccolo saw through the harsh words and tone and recognized advice when he saw it. Vegeta wasn't yet used to having allies that depended on him and vice versa, so his team building exercises needed a little polish.
"It's getting pretty late," Goku noted, ignoring Vegeta's rudeness and looking towards the sun sitting on the horizon line. "Chi-Chi should have dinner ready."
"It better not be fish again," Piccolo muttered darkly to himself.
"Wanna come over tonight Vegeta?" Goku inquired, his usual cheerful self.
"No," Vegeta responded in usual short fashion, wiping sweat away from his eyes and scar. This had been his answer every time Goku had asked, as though he expected that situation to change at any second. Nobody had ever actually 'invited' him anywhere before. He usually just blew the wall down and marched in.
"Well alright. Gohan, Piccolo." Their names were instruction enough and they placed their hands on his shoulders. "See ya tomorrow then Vegeta." And then he was gone with a 'whissh' of Instant Transmission. Deciding against using the same technique, the prince began the flight back, needing the time to think.
Ever since the mysterious youth had appeared nearly a year ago, everything about Vegeta's life had seemed to drag into slow motion. Every day felt like the last and everything he did was now familiar enough for him to call it habit. Daily routines ruled his life, and they were strange ones indeed: wake up, eat a saiyan sized breakfast, train in the newly minted Gravity Chamber Dr. Briefs and Bulma had created, shower, eat lunch, train some more, shower again, train with Goku until sundown, come back to CC, eat, shower one more time and then sleep. Rinse and repeat.
At any time before Namek, this would either have been considered adequate or not extreme enough, but now it seemed almost…dull. Like one of the basic stews Nappa (the only saiyan with any degree of culinary instincts) used to make on missions. Usually consisting of just water and meat from some prey he had caught, he would on occasion find native herbs and seasonings that made the flavor pop excitably. Neither Raditz nor Vegeta had ever complimented him, and this made the prince feel a slightly hollow.
These thoughts and memories were still swimming through his head when he landed in front of the Briefs family home and strode right on in. As expected, the matriarch of the household had already crafted a veritable banquet for his supper that night. Digging in with his customary gusto, Vegeta observed the family as they ate, having acclimated to his incessant gorging. They talked, laughed, debated, smiled and frowned. It was all part of the family package that he had never experienced, and if he had been focused solely on surpassing his rival then he would have missed this display.
Finishing faster than usual, he stacked the plates on top of each other and stood up from the table. Pausing there, he felt the urge to clear his throat loudly. When he had done just that, the Briefs were eyeing him curiously and without any actual fear. Feeling slightly flummoxed, he shifted his weight onto his other foot before speaking.
"The food was…good." And then he was gone, walking away with customary pride and poise but feeling like a fool. Unseen by the royal, the Briefs were watching him go with shocked faces. He had never, to their knowledge, complimented anybody on anything at anytime anywhere. Bunny Briefs tittered happily as she rose to collect the empty plates and Dr. Briefs nodded amicably as he puffed on his cigarette and pulled open a nearby newspaper.
But it was Bulma that was affected the most. Unknown to the prince, she had been helping her mother cook his afternoon meals for weeks and to actually hear him compliment her work was, well, thrilling. Smiling but trying to keep it a small one, she felt heat rise to her face and that long disguised kernel of attraction towards the saiyan resurfaced at this, the slightest of encouragements.
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Damp from his shower, Vegeta dressed quickly in the black T-shirt and gym shorts that had been provided for his pajamas so as to avoid another incident of him walking around in the buff. Sitting on the corner of his bed, he gazed into the closet of clothes that he probably would never wear yet had been provided anyway. The hospitality they had been showing him was almost unsettling. Anywhere else in the galaxy and it might have meant that they were trying to lull him into feeling safe before striking.
Humans were far more complex than he had initially thought. Landing on this planet with his life long ally and caretaker, he had thought them no more than incompetent insects that were only good for getting squashed beneath the heels of greater beings such as himself. Admittedly, he still thought this about most of the populace to a lesser degree, but there were those that had surprised him.
The Briefs, for one, with their unbelievably fast mastery of improving on technology years ahead of them and the hospitality they showed a former threat. The human members of the Z-Fighters were also impressive, some even stronger than he had been upon first arriving on Earth, though he would never admit it. Goku's wife, the klaxon named Chi-Chi, also had her merits, being capable of housing, feeding and corralling two saiyans by herself for years.
Extending on his metaphor from earlier that night, Vegeta realized that perhaps the saiyans as he had known them were the plain soup, and humans with all of their imperfections and bizarre quirks were the seasoning. His race had nearly died out despite being powerful and in contact with higher levels of technology. Humans lived on. Were they that worth defending by some of the strongest mortals in all of space?
Deciding that he had done enough introspection for that night and the next, Vegeta headed out of his room in search of a snack, suddenly peckish. The kitchen refrigerator yielded a jar of pickles witch he ate and then drank the juice from. It wasn't nearly as sour as some of the plants he had been forced to survive on in the past, but it was a close thing.
Striding out of the kitchen with a mega-stuffed and ramshackle ham and turkey sandwich in his hands, the Prince noted voices coming from the living room. Curious despite himself, he peeked inside and saw that Bulma, illuminated only by the light of the TV, was watching a movie on the couch, large bowl of popcorn in her lap. Once again unable to resist, he observed that her nightwear consisted of a pink top that may have been smaller than what would have been considered 'proper' and yellow shorts that were eye catchingly short on her legs. A pair of childish dinosaur slippers had been kicked of at the foot of the couch.
Catching himself staring at her, Vegeta turned to leave but found that he was listening to the movie as two men argued angrily (his body didn't seem to want to cooperate that night). Standing in the hall for a few minutes, he eventually returned to the open doorway to watch the movie, or more accurately, her. This carried on for a while until he decided that he would not just stand here with a warming up sandwich in his hands like a sneak. A hungry sneak.
He cleared his throat again.
"You don't need to ask," Bulma spoke up without taking her eyes off of the screen. Startled, he moved a little farther into the room.
"You knew that I was there." He formed it as a statement.
"I have peripheral vision too buddy," she clarified, eating a handful of popcorn.
Deciding that it wouldn't pain him too badly to stay and watch for a few minutes while he ate his sandwich, Vegeta stood as the opposite end of the couch from Bulma and silently watched the film. He had no idea what the plot was, but it proved to be far less exciting than he had initially thought. No one died explosively for one thing.
"Okay, I've got to ask;" Bulma at last turned her head away from the TV screen to properly appraise the prince. "From what everyone said about you, I expected you to be a real chatterbox, always claiming superiority over others and how you were the prince of all saiyans blah blah blah. Yet when you and Goku land on Earth you barely say five words unless asked directly. What gives?"
Vegeta scowled at the way she dismissed his heritage but kept his anger in check.
"As you know, Kakarot and I escaped Namek in the Ginyu Force's attack pods. Kakarot managed to get Captain Ginyu's pod and it had a permanent communication link with all other pods. For the entire trip to Yardrat and then to Earth that clown just would not shut up. He talked about almost every single event that happened to him while he was first looking for the Dragon Balls and then his fight with King Piccolo and then about his son. What's more, the Ginyus had depleted the tranquilizing gas on their trip to Namek so I couldn't just sleep through his ramblings. Over those very long weeks, I developed an affinity for silence and found that I was loathe to break it."
"So Goku pretty much talked you into shutting up?" His disdainful grunt was her answer. "Ha! Gotta admit that that's a new one for the guy." She chortled to herself, returning to the movie while the prince vehemently took a bite from his sandwich as though it had insulted him as she had just done.
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Cooler arrived with absolutely no fanfare whatsoever. His single ship slipped onto the planet smoothly and the Armored Squadron was dispatched to locate the saiyan that had bested his brother on Namek. Indulging in the wine that he had received from Barculian merchants hoping to cut a deal (they had been killed, naturally, though not before he had thanked them for the wine), the slender arcosian studied the planet they had landed on. It had a back-woodsey charm to it, perhaps good for a vactation spot for those that saw such worlds as 'quaint'.
His reverie was broken as the communications hub in the nearest console bleeped, alerting him that one of his Squad was contacting him via scouter. He no longer wore one due to his budding energy sensing abilities, but the same could not be said for his underlings.
"Report," he commanded as he pressed a button with a slim finger, sipping again from his fluted wineglass.
"Lerd Coolah! E ave fond ze umans zat were own Nameak as well as ze saiyan zat we wear looking for!" Salza's thickly accented voice came over the air waves.
"Excellent, you may engage but do not kill the monkey until I get there." He turned the device off and drained the rest of his drink. Looking thoughtfully at the crystal, he placed it gently on a side table before departing. No use breaking it when he planned on a celebratory toast afterwards to commemorate his inheriting his father's mantle as supreme lord of the galaxy.
So many people to kill, so much time to do it in.
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"Well this is most unfortunate," Cooler remarked, unsure whether he felt anger or disappointment at arriving only to find all three of his men dead by beam attacks. Well, Niez looked like he had been cooked, but that was irrelevant. Even Salza, who dwarfed Captain Ginyu in strength had been slain. The perpetrator was a tall Namekian, now standing stoically several meters away with arms crossed. "Do you have any idea how bothersome it is to recruit henchmen as strong as they were from the pathetic masses?"
"If that's all you're worried about then I did them a favor," the namekian remarked coolly. Behind him stood the midget human and a pig wearing a button up shirt and overalls. The saiyan and his son were nowhere to be seen, but he could just barely sense them no more than a mile away. The saiyan seemed to feel weak.
"I take that they teamed up against the saiyan named Goku?"
"Yes. He was trying to protect his son, so they managed to injure him." Cooler hummed to himself. The namekian actually had done them a favor by killing them quickly if they had so readily abandoned his orders. Bills only knew what he would have done to them if he had been the one to dole out their punishments.
"I guess I'll just have to find contentment in slaughtering an infirm monkey. Should be easy considering I've done so numerous times in the past." The namekian shifted into a fighting stance.
"You'll have to get through me if you want to face Goku."
"Oh I was so hoping that you would say that."
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Vegeta landed like a meteorite, crashing into the ground and creating a shallow crater. He knew that time was most definitely not on their side by the way Piccolo's power had just plummeted, reminding him far too much of Namek. Having encountered Gohan on his way towards the battlefield, he knew that the situation was dire with Goku incapacitated.
Springing out of his crouch, he bounded across the pitted landscape and towards Cooler, who was holding aloft a semi-conscious Piccolo by the throat. Snarling, the prince jumped forward and missile kicked his way onto the scene. Surprised, Cooler dropped the namekian and staggered back several steps, holding a hand to his cheek, more annoyed than injured.
"Vegeta! I had heard you survived as well but thought you would have ditched this planet long ago." A sly smile crept onto his purple face as he regained his cool (point to me!). "Maybe challenge me for lordship over the galaxy?"
"Pah! Hardly. Only a fool would think that he could actually own the stars. If you hadn't noticed, not even the kais can exactly maintain their dominions."
"Oh don't tell me that you're a religious monkey on top of everything else," Cooler guffawed. While that was enough to piss off Vegeta, he didn't immediately lash out, instead opting to wait for a prime opening. He could sense Cooler's power and it was pitiable compared the full might of Frieza, let alone a super saiyan. The only way he could get a work out in would be for him to remain in base form.
"Well, considering I did actually talk to one on Namek might suggest that they are a little more than just the superstitions of space pirates and smugglers."
"I second that," came the slightly fuzzy voice of King Kai through their minds. Apparently the lazy 'god' had actually been paying attention for once and had followed the events of Cooler's attack.
"W-what kind of trick is this?" Cooler jerked his head about, trying to find the source of the voice. He hated telekinetics, but he absolutely loathed telepaths due to a slight mishap when his father had enlisted a Trididian mind bender to tutor his sons in the art of mental warfare.
"I grow sick of your pettiness," Vegeta growled, not pleased himself with King Kai's sudden interruption and anxious to get on with the fight. He sank into his refined fighting stance, the one that held trace amounts of Kakarot's school as well as a touch of arcosian as well.
"So be it Vegeta!" Cooler shouted, still rattled by the intrusion into his mind. Without even going into his starting stance first, the last of the Cold Dynasty rocketed forward, propelling a limp Piccolo away in his wake. His fist slammed home into the saiyan's raised forearm, sending up a shock of vibration that ran down both of their bones. But Vegeta held his ground and attempted to swing his own fist into the ice demon's gut, dodged only at the last instant.
Ducking beneath a sweeping tail, he attempted to fire a ki blast from his palm, only for his hand and entire arm to be jerked painfully to the side, leaving him wide open to receive an open palmed blow to the chest. Rolling away, Vegeta jumped to his feet with his arms crossed, anticipating the next assault. Cooler had also anticipated this and had instead flown straight up until he was a good two dozen meters off of the ground before lifting an index finger above him and creating a Death Ball.
"Welcome to Oblivion!" He called as he launched it with all of his might toward the saiyan prince below. He didn't like cutting his enjoyment short, but he was suddenly aware of the energy signal he had guessed to be Goku's suddenly jumping back up to what it had been before the Armored Squadron had wounded him, possibly even a bit stronger.
Vegeta, for his part, merely frowned at the oncoming attack. Perhaps it would have been enough to utterly annihilate him a few months back, but that was before he had unlocked the power of the super saiyan and consequently raised the upper limits of his base form.
Bringing his hands in close by his side, he very quickly gathered the ki energy necessary for the attack before thrusting his hands out again.
"GALLICK GUN!"
The column of amethyst erupted into the sky to meet the black and red orb halfway, stopping it dead in its tracks and then just blasting it away completely, only just missing Cooler. Obviously, the arcosian didn't take kindly to having one of his strongest attacks being overpowered that easily by anyone, let alone one of the monkeys he and his brother had shared a common interest in belittling.
"Damn! Damn you! DAMN YOOOUUU! Do you think you can just mock me like that and get away with it?!"
"Yeah."
"This will put you in your place!" The easily enraged iceijin charged up two Death Balls this time, ready to erase the ground for at least several miles in either direction. No chances would be taken that day.
But, as he ever had a habit of doing, Goku arrived just as things looked darkest with a fizzle of Instant Transmission. Already grinning from the prospect of a fight, he didn't look as though he had been nearly catatonic just a few seconds ago save for the large scorch mark on the back of his gi, mostly destroying the Kai kanji.
"Oh come on Kakarot," Vegeta growled upon seeing his rival and fellow surviving saiyan. "I've been fighting him for all of five seconds and you already show up to take over? I will have none of that!"
Goku laughed heartily, scratching the back of his head like usual. Cooler was frozen (yet another point to me!) above. THIS was the Super Saiyan of Legend? Frieza must have been very sloppy to have lost to such a… clown.
"Well, I suppose you can fight him for awhile and then we can switch," Goku tried, attempting diplomacy. Vegeta quickly put a stop to that.
"No! He's mine. I barely fought Frieza so it's my turn by right."
"But he's the only real challenge we've had since then and I was hoping to test out my new power," Goku complained right back.
"Ditto, and since I'm the only prince around here, I believe that grants me some special privileges every now and then, wouldn't you say?"
Goku frowned, realizing that there was only one true way to settle the decision without bloodshed.
"Rock-paper-scissors!" he declared, thrusting his fist out between them. Vegeta seemed to fizzle with anger for a few seconds before relenting and extending his own fist. With lighting speed, they threw out their ammunition but found it an immediate draw with two rocks. The next match saw the same results. As did the next several that followed.
By then of course, Cooler was livid with indignation at being so blatantly ignored. He would show these imbeciles exactly why he deserved the fear and respect he had acquired for over five centuries.
The two Death Balls melted away and were replaced by an enormous sphere of gurgling orange energy, ready to detonate and wipe away all traces of planet Earth.
"Guess what saiyans:" he called down to them, interrupting yet another tie, "Supernova beats everything!"
And with that he threw the colossal attack down at them, beyond confidant that this was the end, now matter how short the engagement had been. He needed only halt this ridiculous story of a super saiyan and then he could leave, probably even making it back to his ship in time to take off and have his toast as the planet detonated behind him.
It was then that he heard the sound of thunder despite the clear skies. Whatever was causing the disturbance eluded him and he deigned to utilize his energy sensing to see if he could narrow down possibilities. What he sensed was two super saiyans now effortlessly hoisting his Supernova above their heads chucking it into the sky where it would drift off into space before harmlessly giving out.
"Oh," Cooler murmured, now realizing that, perhaps, there was something to this legend after all.
"Very rude, interrupting us like that," Vegeta coldly remarked (zing!), crossing his arms over his chest.
"Even I'm annoyed now," Goku agreed, rolling his shoulders to warm himself up for the now inevitable fight.
Cooler, ever a pragmatist, decided that now would be a good time to unleash his own transformation, ascending into the 5th form of his race.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" He declared before hunching forward as he forced all of hi latent strength to the surface of his being. In response to the massive shift in energy, his body underwent a metamorhis. Growing taller by several feet, he now boasted more bone armor on his face, arms and chest. His head had sprouted a four horned crest that pointed in different directions. As he came to grasps with the incredible boost he always received when he transformed, a bone face plate slid in to place over his mouth, casting his face into darkness and leaving only his glowing red eyes visible.
"Now, I will crush you. Not even two super saiyans could possibly hope to beat me now!" He laughed triumphantly to prove his confidence. Goku and Vegeta merely shared a look and a shrug before simultaneously launching themselves toward the arcosian.
The beating and many explosions that followed don't even bare repeating, but it would be very safe to say that Cooler would most definitely never be having that toast anytime soon.
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