What's Good About Life? (Dragon Ball Z SI Chapter 7)
"It's over." Gohan fell back, and sat down on the ground out of sheer relief. "It's finally over, right Dad?" He looked up to Goku.
"Looks like it." Goku said while staring at Dive, thinking of what it's like to fight the Super Saiyan.
"That was amazing!" Shouted Raditz, in all his excitement walking up to Dive without worry. "How are you this strong!? Why is your hair red? Is that makes you a Super Saiyan?"
"...Yes, you have to dye your hair red if you want to be a Super Saiyan." Dive said with a twitching smile.
Raditz fell on his face from shock, before quickly standing up. "Wait, seriously!" He shouted bug-eyed.
"Hahahahaha, no, of course not!" Dive held his stomach as he laughed again.
"Hey!" Piccolo called out with a gruff voice, cutting through the jovial mood. "That thing that you said when you first arrived, about 'conquering the Earth', is that something you're planning to do?" And suddenly the mood became tense once more.
"Nah, I was just fuckin with ya." And immediately went away with Dive's chuckles and light tone. "The looks on your faces were just ridiculously hilarious."
"So you...don't want to take over Earth or anything?" Goku asked, Gohan standing up again apprehensive but having caught his breath.
"No, I wouldn't even know what to do with it. Seriously, does no one that ever take over a world, think on what they will do next? Because after conquering is ruling and ruling is, you know, work." Dive waved him off. "Nah, screw that. I wanna relax not work."
Goku held his chin with a wide-eyed look. "That is a good point. Why do people that wanna take over the world, don't think on what they'll do afterwards?" He then looked up. "Then again usually they just try and kill anyone they want afterwards, so I don't think ruling the world was what they had in mind at all?"
Piccolo and Raditz looked away.
"Exactly! See!" Dive agreed with the Saiyan Earthling.
"Are you really Dive?" Nach voice cut through the discussion, getting the focus on her. "Are you...actually Dive?" She looked at him nervous, yet hopeful. She almost wanted to ask if he knew who she was.
"S'up, Nach." Dive looked back with a relaxed smile. He remembered her.
Nach however was taken aback. He remembered her and yet his eyes...
It was a completely different to the eyes she remembered. To her, Dive's eyes always looked loathing, resigned, afraid, yet rebellious in a way.
Now however? There was no hatred, no resignation, no fear. There was nothing but calm contentment in them. As if he no longer held any weight on his shoulders at all.
It...unnerved her a bit, at how different he was now from her memories. Yet...
Then his eyes turned mirthful.
"Sorry but I don't have any lunch money on me." Dive said.
"Huh?" Nach blinked in confusion.
"Thinking about it, these pants don't have any pockets. They really should have added those." He said after panting his pants twice. "Actually, I've been a hobo for like, millennia now." He chuckled to him, making Nach feel awkward and confused.
"Yeah I know that feeling." Goku chimed in. "I didn't know what money was till I was 14, when I met Bulma."
"Wait, you're a millennia hobo too?" Dive said with a wide smile.
"Well not millennia, I'm definitely not that old." Goku said back.
"Hobo Buddies!" Dive raised an hand for a high five.
"Yeah!" Goku reciprocated the feeling without thinking, and brought his hand up, and hit Dive's open palm. Dive stopped his hand just a centimeter before hitting Goku's so as not to hurt him. "Ow!" Goku waved off his hand. "Wow, that was like hitting a wall...that doesn't break." He clarified.
"Me too!" Raditz wanted to join in on the high five.
"Sur-" Dive raise a hand only for the mood to get interrupted.
"Enough!" Shouted Vegeta, who lost his patience at the antics before him. He marched up to Dive looking him up, square in the face." Are you really Dive the Deserter, the Coward of the Saiyan Race?"
"If you mean the guy who stole a ship and ran away to avoid fighting, then yeah I'm him." Dive answered back, his relaxed expression never leaving his face. "Although I did not expect I would get to have so many titles or stories about me. I actually didn't think anyone would bother to remember who I am." He said with a thoughtful look.
"How?" Vegeta hissed, ignoring Dive's pondering. "How did you get this strong?" He demanded.
"100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squats, and a 10 kilometer run. Every single day." Dive immediately said back with a grin.
Vegeta let loose his ki in anger. "You think you're being funny!" He shouted.
"Bitch, I'm adorable." Dive just smiled back completely unconcerned.
"Guys, calm down! There's no need to fight away more." Gohan said raising his hands in a placating manner, only for his father to put a hand in front of him, to stop him from getting between the Red Saiyan and Saiyan Prince.
Vegeta gritted his teeth before forcing himself to calm down. Then he glared back up at Dive with a resolute look.
"Do you know who're speaking you?" Vegeta growled.
"Vegeta. I know." Dive nodded, making the Saiyan Prince grin and think he would acknowledge his authority now. "You look literally the same as your father. Just without the beard."
"It's Prince Vegeta." Vegeta said back with a sharp tone.
"Eeeh, debatable." Dive shrugged.
"I am the Prince of all Saiyans, and you will tell me how you attained your power!" Vegeta shouted.
And suddenly their was an invisible pressure on the Saiyan Prince. Dive didn't release his ki, power up or do anything. He just looked at Vegeta pointedly.
The others stood back, letting this confrontation happen.
"Pride or Royal Blood?" Dive finally spoke after a long moment.
"What?" Vegeta blinked at the non-sequitur.
"By what reason are you demanding? Pride? So what you want me to teach you? Why? We're not friends nor allies to help each other, either it's teaching or sparring. Heck, I'd figure with any Saiyan Pride you had, you'd just try to grow strong on your own, rather than have it handed to you." Dive explained his question.
"Don't you dare speak to me about 'Pride', when you have none of it. I am the Saiyan Prince, and that is all the reason I need to command you!" Vegeta spat back.
Dive's smile turned a tad cruel. "The insults don't refute my argument. And it's Royalty then you wanna lean on? Alright." He tilted his head and closed his eyes for a second, confusing the group. "Not counting those of mixed blood, there are currently less than 20 Saiyans in the entire Universe." Dive opened his eyes, staring directly at Vegeta. The pointed look making the Saiyan Prince take a step back. "You are no Prince. You have no kingdom, no planet and no people to rule over. None that would accept you at any rate." Dive looked to the group for a second, before focusing on Vegeta again. "Maybe it's that royal blood gives you some special power? Something that shows why you are royalty?"
"That's right." Vegeta said getting his baring. "I was born with a Power Level of 1000. From birth I had the power to lead the Saiyan Race. That's why I am the Prince of all Saiyans! Your Prince, you word weaseling coward."
"Oh! So Royal Authority is derived from strength, huh?" Dive's eyes lit up in a mocking way. "Because you know, he's stronger than you." He gestured with his head toward Goku. "And if we're talking about innate strength, there is a Saiyan at the edge of the universe with a Power Level that engulfs literally everyone here, sans myself, combined." Dive said, to the shock of everyone present. "And from the feel of his ki, it doesn't feel controlled in a disciplined way, meaning he never trained, that's just basically his strength due to his birth. " Dive then looked thoughtful. "Huh. A lot of anger issues there. Gonna have to go look at that guy and talk to him later."
"Y-You're lying." Vegeta stuttered, making Dive's attention back at him.
"You honestly think I need to lie?" Dive raised and eyebrow before continuing. "And if we're talking about strength in general, then go ahead." He spread his arms. "Defeat me. Show how mighty that royal power is and make me submit." Dive released his ki for a moment, making an aura that looked like thick red and orange flames wrap around him. Vegeta looked terrified of this power, falling down to the ground. Dive dismissed his ki. "In the end, regardless of the argument, you have nothing.
"Even then, those arguments, Pride or Royal Blood, are contradictory. So are you just a hypocrite that switches between them whenever convenient?" Vegeta clenched his fist, gritted his teeth and looked down. "You wanna know how I got so strong?" Vegeta looked up. "I trained and earned my strength. That's all, Vegeta." Dive turned and walked away. Vegeta said nothing.
"...Damn." Muttered Raditz.
Dive asked if the two ki signatures he sensed a bit away, were people the group knew, and Goku confirmed. Dive disappeared to go get them.
And as for Vegeta, he was left defeated on the ground by Dive, without a single punch thrown.
AN: Don't like this one. Wanna go back to the fun comedic atmosphere. Hopefully will do so next chapter.