AN: First fight scene inbound. Let me know what's good and bad so I can get better.

Also just found out there is another fanfiction of a saiyan named Sprout called 'The Saiyan Gamer'. I really thought I was clever with the name, but I guess not. The fic isn't really my cup of tea, but some of you might like it.

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One does not simply do many things; Throw people off of cliffs, fly to Mordor, and most importantly one does not make Mr. Nappa wait.

Especially if the field you are training in is on the actual other side of the planet.

Ignoring my parents warning me not to stay up late, I did what any other kid would have done and stayed up until I gave in to exhaustion. I had hoped to find something that could potentially be useful, but the book was deceptively dense. Each chapter is a planet and I hadn't even made it through two before falling asleep. It included the planet's history as well as their legends, so I couldn't gloss over anything in case it was important somehow.

Unfortunately I hadn't found anything useful last night, just some very interesting tidbits about a planet called Kahkle, pronounced knuckle, and how they somehow actually know how the afterlife works. It even included how King Yemma fell in love with Princess Snake, though I don't know if that is true or not. At some point I'd love to visit and ask questions. I'd rather be there right now actually. It turns out oversleeping has consequences.

"If you're early you are?!"

"On time!"

I was currently receiving the full drill sergeant course from Mr. Nappa because I was late. It sure is one way to make sure I never repeat that mistake.

"If you're on time you are?!" Nappa called.

"Late!" I responded.

I've been doing laps for the past two hours just chanting this stupid call and response shit. Normally two hours wouldn't be anything, but Nappa was right behind me making sure I'm going full speed the whole time.

"And if you are late?!" He yelled once more.

"It's unforgivable." I screamed. The running was long past the point where breathing hurt.

"That's damn right you little shit! Take five." He said

The moment those words came out I immediately put my hands on my knees and hurled the very light breakfast I had that morning. Normally I'd be concerned about throwing after working out, it's been a daily thing ever since we began 'physical acclimation' Nappa called.

Turns out there is a very good reason for the existence of incubation pods. Saiyans aren't from planet Vegeta originally. That means that while adults are able to handle the higher gravity, for babies it's anywhere between potentially dangerous to very dangerous. It depends on the power level at birth.

What the pod does is stimulate the muscles so that when the baby is released it doesn't need to adjust to the weight. When the release happens depends on when the parents think their kids are ready, typically at the age of four. The pod has a bunch of other miscellaneous functions, like teaching language, history, and so on so the parent doesn't have to. Lucky bastards. I wish I could just download stuff into my head like Inception.

I have a theory that because of the lack of a family to grow up with it makes the saiyan form stronger connections with those that they battle with. It makes sense, considering that those four years are crucial to cognitive development. They probably emotionally latch on to their comrades because those are some of the first people they spend a considerable amount of time with.

"Alright breaks over," Nappa barks at me. "Time for something new."

That piques my interest. So far it's just been all sorts of crazy exercises and learning which fork is the salad one. Something new is much appreciated.

"First, I'm going to need to check your power level." He said as he brought his hand to his waist where his scout scope was attached. He was using one that looked identical to what was used in the Broly movie; another indication of where I was in the timeline.

After a click and a few beeps the device, it outputs my power level. I could feel my chest puffing out in pride as I heard Nappa give a low whistle.

"Damn kid. You are, without a doubt, your father's son." He said as he passed me the scout scope so I could read it.

1,425. It felt large, yet at the same time I knew it was practically nothingin the grand scheme of things. Freeza had a million I think, and that's not to mention Cell, Buu, or anything from Super. Hell, at birth Raditz had a power level of 1,101. 1,425 is a joke.

I must have been making some sort of face, because Nappa had slapped my back while chuckling.

"Have some pride, kid," he said. "If you keep growing like this you'll become one of the top saiyans by the time you are your father's age."

I get he's just trying to cheer me up. He was surprisingly nice like that, but he doesn't know what I do. They do say ignorance is bliss.

"Look Sprout," Nappa said. "If you're that disappointed with how strong you've gotten then how about we switch up trading for today?" That got me to pay close attention. Seeing change in mood he gave me a small frown.

"Under normal circumstances I wouldn't suggest doing this until you're a bit older, but I think you can take it." He told me

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "Whatever it is, I'm willing to do it, I promise."

Nappa mumbled under his breath, something about kids these days. It made him sound like an old man even though he's only twenty five.

"In that case," he said as he stood up straighter. "You'll be fighting one of these." He then pulled out a small container of sorts, before pulling out a seed and a green vial.

I could feel the color drain from my face. I don't care if I was stronger than them. Saibamen freaked me the fuck out even through a screen. I was not excited to see what a real one looked like.

"If you paid attention during our history lessons then you should know that this is a saibaman seed." Nappa lectured while planting the thing. "Once it's in the ground like this, you pour the growth accelerator like so annnnd…"

Immediately there were sounds of ripping and tearing. I could feel the ground shake slightly as the saibaman matured under the earth, a process that was entirely unnatural. It lasted only ten seconds. Ten seconds of unholy squelching and snapping.

Then there was nothing. All I could hear was the wind howling through mountains surrounding us. Then there was the clicking. I could immediately tell that sound was going to be in my nightmares for weeks. It was faint, slow, and rhythmic. It was akin to a heartbeat.

Nappa seemed unamused at the process that unfolded before him. "Stop being dramatic Root, and get your ass out here!" He yelled.

Just as those words left his lips the ground tore open. I had to look away and shield my eyes so I didn't get anything in them.

When I looked back I saw the thing in its entirety. A giant, bulbous head that was disproportionately large to the rest of the small, spindly body. It's off yellow skin was wet with the green liquid that had been poured over him moments prior.

Nappa began speaking while fiddling with his scout scope. "As you can see, sometimes saibamen have… quirks. The Cold Force scientists are trying to remove them, but they are entirely functional otherwise so it's not that much of a priority." He said. "This one here is actually an experimental Kyukonman. Hence the yellow."

After checking it's power level Nappa seemed satisfied. "1,632. Perfect." He mumbled under his breath. It was stronger than me.

"Alright Sprout, here is what you should focus on learning today." He said like this was in any way similar to our other lessons. He then held up his pointer finger. "First is how to take a hit. It doesn't matter how strong you are, if you lose composure after getting hit you're dead." He held up a second finger. "Second, how to hit back. You can't kill your enemies by diving their attacks." He then held up his third finger. "And third. How to deal with an opponent that's stronger than you. Saiyans are always deployed to planets that are at, or exceed the squads average power level. So you must learn how to fight someone stronger than you."

He took the time to look at me dead in the eye with a slight grin.

"All that being said," he paused. "Three, two, one go!" Nappa said that last part so quickly that I didn't even know we started until the saibaman had his hand buried deep into my gut.

The punch drove me to my knees. I laid on the ground, trying to decide if I should breathe or vomit. Unfortunately Root had made that decision for me when it kicked me in the stomach. The blow sent me tumbling across the flat area we were using. I eventually came to a stop after slamming into a pillar of rock, which is where I emptied my breakfast.

As I laid there with my vomit mere inches from my face I began thinking while I tried to put air into my lungs. Instead of having normal thoughts like 'How can I get out of here?' or 'Where can I hide?' I found myself thinking something that I never would have considered before.

'How can I win?'

It wasn't a thought born of despair, or out of a need for survival. It came from parts of me I hadn't even known I had. It came from rage; how I wanted to beat his head in for hitting me. It came from wanting to show off my strength. To prove to Mr. Nappa that I was more than my power level.

The thought had come from my pride.

The saibaman had waited for me to get back on my feet. Once I was up I saw his cocky smile, and it made my simmering blood boil. I decided to launch myself at him and wipe that smirk off his face myself.

The punch I threw was sloppy, and Root took advantage of that. He dodged it, and before I could figure out that I overcommitted to the attack he punched me in the side.

Realizing that punching it until it dies isn't a good idea I tried to make space to think by flying backwards. That proved to be another mistake, as it very quickly caught up to me. I fired a Ki blast at him, but he merely slapped it away while continuing his way towards me.

Then all of a sudden it stopped chasing me, allowing me to briefly get away from him. It confused me until I realized that it let me get away, and as much as it angered me that it was toying with me I wouldn't let myself make the same mistake twice.

This thing is faster than me, stronger than me, and has more experience fighting than me.

I can only pray that it's dumber than me too.

Thinking back to my lessons with Mr. Nappa I tried to remember the weaknesses of saibamen. Because while reliable tools, they could never replace an actual saiyan warrior.

Due to their plant biology they can only survive about a day and a half without any water, and only two days without direct sunlight. It's why they are never used on desert planets or planets where civilization is underground. Their moves are also limited to simple moves like punches, kicks, and the basic Ki blast. There's also their self-destruct, but Mr. Nappa won't let him use that one.

Then there is also the fact that the growth serum is extremely flammable, but that's not useful-

The realization hit me like Mike Tyson. I just found out yesterday that Ki can get ridiculously hot. If it's hot enough to melt stone, then it's certainly hot enough to ignite the volatile plant juice.

The saibaman got tired of standing there, looking pretty, and he started spamming Ki attacks. Despite the lack of effectiveness from the show, many of them found their mark. And they hurt like a bitch. Not enough to be debilitating, but enough for you to not want to get hit by them.

The dust cloud that it's attack created gave me an idea. If I can block its vision, then I can probably nail him with an attack. Even if it would impair my vision too.

Root didn't like that he couldn't see me based on the fact that it was screaming bloody murder as it charged me this time. Because he was so loud I actually managed to hit him this time. It was only a punch to the forearm, but it was the first time I'd actually hit anything in both lives. It was immensely satisfying.

The blow seemed to anger the saibaman even more somehow, as this time he fired a beam of Ki at me. If not for the fact that its Ki beam is slower than its blast, then the fight would have ended there.

I flew up into the air to dodge and to make it rush me where I could actually see it. It worked, as when it spotted me after leaving the dust it immediately flew up to meet me.

I was determined for this exchange to not be like how the rest of the fight has been. I waited for it to get probably too close before launching my own beam attack at it.

The plan had mostly worked. I hit the damn thing, but I only managed to clip its left foot. Not a huge advantage, but if we're ever back to fighting on the ground then that will change things.

Right when I thought the thing couldn't get angrier, it suddenly redoubled its efforts and continued its charge. Because of how close I let it get to me I didn't have enough time to do anything and its fist crashed against the side of my face.

That blow was probably the worst one I'd taken damage wise, but because I'd seen it coming and was ready for the blow, it didn't rattle me as much. Even though it was a headshot.

With the saibaman in melee range I kicked him in the same leg I had hit with my beam attack, followed by two whiplike strikes from my tail. If his look of shock was anything to go by, it wasn't expecting me to recover that quickly. I got lucky and hit him in the side of his knee, making the entire limb useless.

The saibaman, sensing that my head was in the game, exercised much more causation than it had up until this point. Root flew away from me and actually managed a scowl with its horribly deformed face, giving me time to make a rough plan.

Get it on the ground, blind it, and hit it hard.

Its leg was fucked up, so it would probably try its hardest to stay in the air. I'd either need to force it down, or lure it. Then kick up a dust cloud and glass the bitch.

With a rough plan in mind I decided to try the force approach first, and flew towards it as fast as I could.

It was ready for me though, and was even throwing the first punch. I quickly punched back, careful to not overextend this time. I over adjusted. The punch landed, but it did no damage.

The thing just proved how much of an idiot it was, as it grabbed my arm and actually threw me to the ground before giving chase. I decided to take a risk and didn't try to cushion the impact by flying, instead I sped up my descent to create as big of a dust cloud as possible.

The bastard had the gall to laugh as he descended near me. That was fine though. I was about to wipe that shit stain off the face of the planet.

I strained my ears to try and hear where it was, but I couldn't pinpoint where he was. Our surroundings throwing the sound of his laughter around.

Then once I heard it touch down, everything went silent. The only thing I could hear was the wind blowing, slowly carrying away the dust cloud.

I knew I'd be blinded too, but this isn't how the plan was supposed to go. I was supposed to sneak up on it. I was supposed to blow the rotten cabbage into smithereens. I was supposed to win.

Once the wind had been blowing for a minute my vision began to clear. As I strained my eyes to spot Root I grew more frustrated. Minute by minute my vision cleared, and I still could not find the fuckface anywhere.

Eventually the dust settled completely, and the saibaman was nowhere to be found.

"Where the hell are you!" I screamed wherever it was. "I thought you were a saiba-man, not a saiba-bitch." Everything was going so well. My plan was supposed to work, and it was supposed to leave a smoking corpse behind.

Suddenly the ground in front of me exploded into a shower of rock and dust. I felt something grab my arms and bring to my side, with a weight settling on top of my chest. Once the shower of rubble dissipated I saw that the saibaman was clamping my arms, and sitting on my chest.

'Mr. Nappa wouldn't let this happen.' I thought. Its self-destruct would absolutely kill me. I looked around for him, but the battle had carried us far from where we had started.

The yellow coward began to glow, gathering in intensity. I began a relentless assault with my tails, and while it was doing significant damage it wasn't letting go.

As the light began to intensify, I grew more desperate. I strained against its ironclad grip, and hit him with my tails harder. Even if the strikes were sloppier.

It wasn't working, and the light grew. The primal need for survival fueled my thoughts and actions, and before I knew it I was charging up an attack.

It was a normal one. It hadn't come from my hands or feet, they were useless right now. No, it was being built elsewhere.

And building fast.

Struggling against its grip one last time I then turned all of my efforts into my last attack. The saibaman had mistaken my efforts for the acceptance of death, and it started laughing in my face.

I merely let loose a smile that wouldn't look out of place on Demon King Dabura. This angered the saibaman. It wanted my last moments to be in fear, not defiance. The intensity of its light began to grow faster, but my attack would finish first.

Taking in a deep inhale I focused myself. "You think you're hot shit, huh?" I yelled in his face. The saibaman was only confused at my words. "Well I'll show you hot shit."

As I felt my attack begin to boil over I knew I couldn't hold it in any longer. So I looked the saibaman in its stupid face and screamed.

"Ash Attack!"

A red and white beam of hellfire was launched from my mouth, and before I knew it my world was filled with my white hot glory.

As soon as Nappa's scout scope picked up their power levels rising he figured that he probably made a mistake. The only thing a Root can do to raise his power level would be to self-destruct, which it had explicit orders not to. The thing is still in development, so it's likely something went wrong.

He flew there as fast as he could, following the readings that his scout scope initially gave him. He had to leave the machine behind as it would only delay his arrival. The machines were damn useful, but they sure as hell weren't portable.

Nappa smelt it before he saw it. A pungent sulfur smell only found on lava planets. It got so bad that his eyes even began to water. He was sure that lesser beings would have choked to death on the smell alone.

As he flew towards where the smell was coming from Nappa saw it. Starting from a single point there was a line of molten glass, carving a valley into the nearby mountain. One might even think that it's snowing, if not for the dark gray color.

Nappa touched down onto the ground, his high power level protecting him from being burned by the molten glass. It was there that he saw his student, as well as the half-dead saibaman that caused this whole mess.

Technically it was Nappa's fault, but that wasn't going into the report.

Nappa walked towards Root after seeing from a distance that Sprout was still breathing. He pulled out an orange vial and poured its contents over the saibamen. Once the liquid had hit its skin, it began to revert into its seed form. Nappa would love nothing more than to obliterate the thing, but its deliberate refusal to follow orders needed to be studied. This is something that cannot be allowed to happen again.

Once the saibaman was safely tucked back inside of Nappa's pouch he made his way over to his protege. All in all he hadn't taken too much damage. Some bruises were already forming, with some nasty ones on his side; they were probably cracked.

"That's one hell of a mouth cannon you pulled there kid." Nappa told him, even if he was unconscious. The damn kid must've known it too, because despite being unconscious he was smiling like he was getting married.

At least Nappa thought he was smiling. It was kinda hard to tell, because his front teeth were melted off.

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AN: For any wondering why I have Raditz at such a high power level, the way I see it is this:

1. High power level gets him on a squad with Vegeta and Nappa

2. Slow improvement to his power level leads him to being mocked

3. Decades of mocking leads him to develop a toxic mindset that he's worthless, which leads to further inability to raise his power level

If he was born weak then it doesn't make sense for him to be in Vegata's squad. It's my headcanon that he was born strong, but lacked the natural ability to greatly improve his power level. His meager five hundred increase from birth to when he appears in the show is why everyone shuts on him. Because after thirty years he's barely stronger than he was when he was a baby.

It's also a bit of a theory of mine that people stop getting stronger when they think they can't, or feel like no one is above them. The Z Fighters would reach a level of strength, plateau, encounter a threat stronger than them, get stronger. It also adds a bit more to the lesson Master Roshi taught Goku when he was Jackie Chun at the world martial arts tournament. I trust that Master Roshi knows his stuff.

Also I realized I said scouters instead of scout scopes in the last chapter. I fixed it, but that's my bad. In terms of the dragon ball timeline that's later this year.

Those are just my thoughts. If you disagree let me know. I think it's always interesting hearing other people's takes on things like this.

Anyways like, comment, subscribe, repost, whatever. Or not. I'm not your mother. (Though do please leave a review, as knowing exactly what problems I have makes it easier to fix)