Chapter 44

Wicked Prince's Counterattack

Moments after Vegeta disappears along with his Earth-shattering attack, Kakarot and the surviving Earthlings collapse in a state of exhaustion. Chichi fell to her hands and knees heaving for air. Krillin immediately collapsed to a sitting position while Kakarot fell onto his back, arms wide, smiling at what seemed to be a complete victory. They used an unbelievable amount of Ki, but they knew it was necessary. They were already warned by both Kakarot and Vegeta that his Galick Gun would have meant an end to everything. They didn't have a choice, but they couldn't have won without sacrificing anything.

Yamcha dropped to his right side and began groaning and yelling out in agony. His muscles were convulsing, and horrific looking veins appeared on his arms. He had to overclock his Kaioken yet again, he didn't have a choice. If he hadn't they would have died the second the Galick Gun reached them. He just hoped the Senzu Bean he had could fix this. Despite his efforts however, he couldn't reach for his belt, where the bean had been stored. His body wouldn't move like he wanted it to. Everyone gave him a panicked look, Kakarot rolled over but wasn't able to do much more to reach him. Krillin managed to force himself to his feet and walk his way to Yamcha's side.

Yamcha pointed at his belt and muttered while fighting back the pain, "H-here, it's h-here…!"

Krillin collapses on all fours and pulls out the bag from under Yamcha's belt. He quickly takes it out and puts it in Yamcha's mouth. He proceeds to chew it up and swallow it and as expected the pain vanishes…almost vanishes that is. Also as expected his body is very sore, those painful looking veins have disappeared and his muscles were no longer contorting in agonizing angles but he still isn't at one hundred percent. After a moment of rest everyone can finally muster the energy to sit up. Yamcha however, needs to use a nearby rock formation to force himself into a sitting position.

Krillin looks at Yamcha and asks, "Are you alright?"

Yamcha responds with, "I'll live…Did we get him?"

Yamcha steers the conversation back to the matter at hand. If Vegeta is indeed alive, then they need to make a new plan. With how winded everyone is, any more combination attacks are going to be short of impossible. Kakarot lays back on the ground while staring up at the sky. He stares for a few more moments before he suddenly says, "Nah, I doubt it…"

High in the upper atmosphere right above the highest clouds Vegeta floats motionless, seemingly unconscious. Space seems to be in front of him but he's lucky. He's in a part of the atmosphere which still has breathable air so despite his newly damaged state, he's perfectly safe for the time being. Vegeta's armor took a beating from that blast, his right shoulder pad which had already been snapped in half was now even more broken. Leaving only a piece that hovered over his shoulder. His battle skirt was completely destroyed as well and there was now a hole over his right knee. There was a small crack over Vegeta's right chestplate. His left shoulder pad had been completely destroyed and left shoulder was exposed thanks to a hole in his undersuit. Lastly, his tail is no longer wrapped around his waist, it floats freely behind him.

This trip so far has been a disaster for Vegeta. The Prince couldn't help but rack his brain over what went wrong. He thought he was quite crafty with his handling of Kakarot. It was clear that Kakarot and Raditz were hiding something important given Freeza's actions and Raditz's strange behavior. He managed to rig the Scouters his squad had to be impervious to eavesdropping by Freeza. He thought he was particularly crafty by giving Kakarot a bugged Scouter allowing him to discover the existence of Earth's Dragon Balls.

Everything began to spiral out of control the second they came face to face with those earthlings. First the Saibamen were taken care of faster than anticipated, an action Vegeta initially found interesting but soon grew bored of due to how low a bar they were to him. Then came Raditz's bout with the earthlings which was initially amusing, seeing how much stronger the low class Saiyan had become. Unfortunately the introduction of the Namekian complicated things. He now had an individual he needed alive, outside of that Earth woman and Raditz proved no match, so much so the Namek targeted him instead of Raditz. Vegeta would have killed Raditz for this failure if it wasn't for the looming threat of Freeza.

Raditz was crafty and most importantly not stupid enough to defy him. His cowardice was his most appealing trait to Vegeta, it made him easy to keep in line. His classification as a Low Class Saiyan was still detestable but at the very least he had some brains. Nappa on the other hand was loyal but was nothing but a dumb brute. His carelessness and recklessness was a frequent irritant to Vegeta and should things go wrong on this planet, they could be detrimental to Vegeta. The prince grew increasingly irritated as the fight went on as he failed to put down opponents far weaker than him. What's more, for a brief moment Nappa attempted to defy his orders. He straightened up a moment later but he didn't expect such insubordination from Nappa.

Things got even more complicated upon realizing Kakarot might cause more trouble; his betrayal was unexpected. Vegeta knew from the conversations he overheard that he was growing soft but he was sure he would fall in line like always. Kakarot out of all of his squad cared about their race the most. Now that Kakarot had nearly caught up to him, reaching the level 10,000 was shocking but his own power level of 80,000 made that level a non-threat. Despite that Kakarot and his allies pushed him farther than they should have. It was inconceivable, they even repelled his strongest technique.

Like that Vegeta's eyes shot open, he turned around and looked down at the Earth. He immediately began to descend down to the lower atmosphere, breezing through the heat that came with it. Even in his damaged state he was still plenty sturdy. He passed through the clouds and was now high in the sky, still out of view from the Earthlings far below. Vegeta now recalled what happened right before he lost consciousness. When he was hit by the Turtle School United Kamehameha Wave, instead of simply exploding, it continued pushing upward. It pushed Vegeta higher and higher and by the time he saw the darkness of space. He pushed himself to the edge of the blast until he finally escaped it, leaving him floating in the upper atmosphere of the planet.

He screamed angrily at his near death experience, mainly because of who caused it. Kakarot, a low class warrior who Vegeta has grown to hate along with his low level Earth companions not only nearly killed him, but also embarrassed him. His strongest technique was overcome by a technique created on a planet where the average power level is apparently a meager five. All of his frustrations of the past five minutes boiled to the surface.

He screamed out again yelling, "I'm a Saiyan, the strongest Saiyan in the universe! How could such feeble trash push me like this!?"

He was so full of anger he felt lightheaded but after letting it all out, he had a moment of calm. He suddenly smiled at himself and said, "It's time to stop worrying about appearances. I'll use the great Oozaru to crush him and his companions, I'll force him to watch as I squash his new "friends" like the insects they are!"

He then made one more ominous statement, "The form is so frightening it even terrifies me!"

Down on the surface with Kakarot and the others, they finally are able to feel his Ki. Kakarot asks an obvious question, "Do y'all feel him now?"

Krillin yells out a curse, Yamcha mutters in shock, "H-his power hasn't dropped all that much either! What is that guy even made of?"

Kakarot says in response, "Vegeta's in a league of his own."

Chichi asks, "What would he do next?"

Kakarot thinks for a moment, pulling himself up but stopping at a lean. He then says, "He's probably never been pushed this hard before. This would hurt his ego."

Krillin with a wavering voice asked, "Is that a good thing?"

Kakarot lets out a chuckle before saying, "Ordinarily it would be bad. He would go for his Oozaru form, thankfully we already took care of the Earth's moon so that isn't an option for him."

Kakarot then said, "Instead he should come back down here. Though he'll probably be pretty mad that we blew up the moon."

Kakarot let out a sigh and said, "When he comes back we will have to rely on a death move."

Kakarot looked at Krillin and continued, "We're too winded to beat him in a straight fight. It would be best to use something like that disk move he dodged earlier."

Krillin nodded, muttering to himself, "I might have one more of those in me before I'm out of Ki."

Kakarot looks at Yamcha who's rubbing his left side, "The Kaioken is out of the question now. I don't even think you're in a good enough condition to fight, so just try and recover your strength."

Yamcha didn't put up a fight, after the pain he just endured from upping his Kaioken to level three, he didn't feel inclined to use it at all at the moment. He simply nodded without the slightest sign of hesitation. A worried look blanketed Chichi's expression. She remembered something that Raditz said which was now worrying her. She reluctantly asked, "A-are you sure he can't use this form you were talking about?"

Kakarot looked at her, a little surprised by the question, "I already told you all about the whole thing, the science of it and everything. No moon means he's out of luck, especially with Nappa down and out."

Chichi reluctantly said back, "W-well Raditz said something about that. He said he learned some new tricks or something."

Kakarot looks even more confused, he looks in front of him and begins to mutter to himself, "What could he have meant? Only Nappa knows a way and Vegeta-...!"

Kakarot stops his sentence abruptly as a grim look covers his face. After a short moment Kakarot quickly says, "We need a new plan, things are a lot worse than I thought they were!"

Krillin, looking worried now asks, "Why are you panicking all of a sudden?"

Kakarot pulls himself to his feet, causing everyone except for Yamcha to do the same. Kakarot holds his ground as he explains himself, "He knows the Artificial Moon Technique, there can be no other explanation."

Yamcha muttered, "Slow down, what do you mean by an "Artificial Moon"?"

Kakarot quickly explained, "It's a special technique where a Saiyan can create a substitute for a full moon on planets that don't have one."

Krillin was the next to ask a question, "Why didn't you tell us about it?"

Kakarot immediately explained himself again, "Nappa was always the only one who knew it and Vegeta never bothered with it. He said that there were enough of us that he wouldn't need it. I doubted Nappa would use it unless I entered the fight so I figured it wasn't worth mentioning."

Kakarot speculated on why he learned it, "I guess with one less Saiyan on the team, planets that we could normally handle together, would be more challenging now. He must have learned it to compensate for our reduced numbers."

Kakarot then muttered under his breath, "Plus with Freeza actually trying to kill us, Vegeta probably thought it would be good for him to have just in case Freeza tried to get rid of him."

Kakarot turned to Krillin and asked, "Can this "Kienzan" cut through anything bigger than its length?"

Krillin nodded and said, "Yeah, I used to practice it on mountains, it would chop them clean in half."

Kakarot crossed his arms and said, "That's good but he's already seen the technique and seeing how he blew it up after it flew past him, I'm guessing he's going to be overly cautious with it."

A grim look overtook Krillin's face as he said with a nod, "Yeah, he saw that we could have one of us grab it with Ki and toss it back, after the big guy dodged it."

Kakarot frowned at this before saying, "What's worse, despite the form making him large, he'll still be plenty quick. Is this really all we have to rely on?"

Yamcha's face lights up at that last sentence. He raises his hand and chimes in, "Actually the Kaioken isn't the only technique King Kai managed to teach me."

Kakarot looks at Yamcha with a slightly hopeful look and asks, "How powerful is it and can you use it in your state?"

Yamcha says with a smile, "It's plenty strong, I'll bet it could do him in if I charge it properly and land a direct hit."

Kakarot questions the first part of his answer, "What do you mean if you can charge it properly?"

Yamcha says with a frown, "We were short on time, so I haven't completely mastered it but it's only the gathering of Genki part that I have trouble with. King Kai can speak to us from afar. So If I get some guidance from him then it shouldn't be a problem."

Krillin immediately asks what Genki is and Yamcha is quick to explain, "It's called the Spirit Bomb (Genki-Dama) and you use something called Genki to create it. Genki is a type of Ki which comes from living things, plants, animals, you can even get some from the sun."

Yamcha finishes explaining the technique, "You take a little bit of Genki from every living thing around you and then condense that Genki into a Ki ball. It's harmless to good people, pure of heart and all that but for people like Vegeta…"

Yamcha lets out a chuckle before finishing, "I'll bet it will be really effective, don't you think?"

Kakarot smirked at the thought before saying, "Yeah, that sounds like the technique we will need to put him down for good."

Yamcha smiles back and pulls himself to his feet before saying, "Even if I get King Kai's help, I could use another pair of hands."

Yamcha briefly glances at Chichi but then looks back at Kakarot. Kakarot nodded, understanding what he was trying to do. Krillin nods and asks, "What do they need to do?"

Yamcha answers, "They simply need to place their hands on my back and concentrate on gathering Genki. King Kai can help with guiding them too. After gathering it I should be able to do the condensing easily enough. I only really struggle with the first part."

Krillin nods at this and asks, "Who should help him?"

Kakarot immediately suggests Chichi who replies with a surprised, "What?"

Kakarot cleared his throat and said, "I don't mean ta' insult you but Krillin would be more useful with occupying Vegeta until the Spirit Bomb is ready."

For a moment Chichi grits her teeth before her expression softens as she lets out a sigh. "I understand…"

Chichi cracks a sad smile and says, "I'm the weakest in the group. At my level all my kicks did was irritate him and he'll only get stronger from here."

Chichi throws her hands over her shoulders in a shrugging motion before saying with a huff, "I was only able to stay in the fight because I was acting as support. With there only being two who can keep him busy, I would just drag you down."

Everyone smiles at this statement, they had feared that she would take it badly but to their surprise she was being very reasonable. This is when she gave them a playful smile as she put her fists to her hips and slightly leaned forward, "It is a little insulting you had to resort to secretive glances to get everyone on board with talking me down."

Everyone's expression falls out of surprise, Chichi lets out a chuckle as she stands up straight. "I'm not a child ya know, I understand my limits better than anyone. Just tell me if you want me to stay out of the fight. I'm mature enough not to throw a fit over it."

Krillin scratches the back of his head while Kakarot mutters, "R-right…"

Yamcha lets out a weak chuckle and says, "G-got it!"

Chichi walks over to Yamcha and gives him a shoulder to lean on before saying, "We should find a good hiding spot before he gets here."

Yamcha nodded and pointed toward a large rock formation at the edge of the battlefield. Chichi guides him that way, leaving Kakarot and Krillin to deliberate over what they should do to keep Vegeta distracted while the Spirit Bomb is charging. After they are no longer in earshot of Kakarot and Krillin, Kakarot speaks in a troubled tone, admits his doubts, "I have my doubts about this technique really being able to put Vegeta down in one shot."

Krillin nodded and said, "It would be best to have a backup plan just in case. I find it difficult to wrap my head around one technique being enough to take him down. He somehow survived a Kaioken boosted combined Super Kamehameha Wave."

Kakarot said in response, "If we can cut his tail off then this Spirit Bomb would be more effective."

Krillin nodded in agreement and they soon began to plan their next move and conserve their stamina for the fight to come.

Meanwhile high in the sky Vegeta grows increasingly frustrated as he goes about searching for the moon. "Where could it be? It's past the time it should be out!"

He then muttered, "I would never dream that I would need it to take care of them and yet…"

Vegeta searches for another couple minutes before stopping and thinking about something, "Wait…Kakarot allied with them long before we arrived…!"

He gritted his teeth and cursed, "That bastard must have destroyed it in preparation for our arrival."

Vegeta's eyes widened as he blurted out, "That's why he removed his tail, there wasn't a point since he decided to get rid of the moon."

It was obvious that Kakarot had given his new Earth friends plenty of information on them. The idea of him destroying the moon wasn't a far fetched one. He guessed that was why Kakarot was so confident he could beat him back when he mistakenly thought they were on the same level. The thought that Kakarot outsmarted him was even more infuriating. The thought of that thickheaded bastard getting one over on him was unthinkable to the Prince. His pride wouldn't allow it, a smile crept on the Prince's face as he muttered dangerously, "What a fool, if only that were enough to stump me. I'll lose a bit of power but that's fine."

The smile on Vegeta's face grew unnerving as he said in a sinister tone while looking down in the general direction of Kakarot and his allies, "The look of terror on their faces will be worth it."

A couple minutes later Vegeta descends beneath the clouds where he sees Kakarot standing alone in the middle of the battlefield. Vegeta landed across from him by a few meters, he questioned to himself about Kakarot's missing companions in a whisper, "Did they run away or are they simply waiting in ambush?"

Vegeta openly stated, "It doesn't matter."

Vegeta smiled at Kakarot and said, "You must have thought you outsmarted me…destroying the moon will not save you."

"Don't bother with the grand reveal, I already know you learned how to create an Artificial Moon." Kakarot decided he wanted to break the news to Vegeta before he started gloating.

Vegeta paused before letting out a huff, he muttered, "That's a shame, the look of shock on your face would have been exhilarating."

Vegeta had indeed learned of the Artificial Moon after he faked Kakarot's death. Previously he hadn't bothered since Nappa knew it and the size of his squad meant they didn't often need to rely on the Oozaru unless Freeza really pressed them to finish a planet quickly. The revelation that Freeza has begun making more than one move against them was enough for him to swallow his pride and ask Nappa to teach it to him. Vegeta still remembered the look of joy on Nappa's face when he asked him to teach it to him. Ordinarily Vegeta would have found that irritating however…as much as he hated to admit it, it didn't actually bother him this time around.

Vegeta shook the thought away and finally said, "No matter what you and your companions have up your sleeve, it will fail in the face of the Mighty Oozaru!"

Vegeta placed a balled up fist in front of him and concentrated on something. After a short moment he opened his palm creating a small illuminated white Ki ball which he would soon chuck high into the sky. Kakarot thought to himself, "I would've liked to at least try and stop him but that would be a waste of stamina. I've recovered a little of my strength but not enough to keep up with him. If I wear myself out trying to stop him then I won't have the strength to keep him busy when he eventually transforms."

Vegeta then squeezed his hand shut and yelled, "Burst open and mix!"

The small Ki ball in the sky lights up, casting a blinding shine over the whole battlefield. After the blinding light faded a massive ball floated high in the sky. Vegeta then muttered as he stared into the ball of light, "It's too bad you discarded your tail, prepare to suffer for attempting to humiliate me, you traitor!"

Kakarot muttered under his breath, "You're one to talk."

Soon enough Vegeta' body begins to change, his body begins to grow larger and larger. His pupils disappear but the whites of his eyes turn blood red. Fur begins to cover his whole body as his features become more ape-like, with pointy ears and a snout replaces his mouth and in that mouth are massive sharp teeth. Vegeta's armor grows along with him thanks to the material it is made from, made specifically for the Saiyans' convenience. Vegeta speaks in a booming monstrous voice, "What do you think Kakarot? I bet you haven't gotten a look at this form seeing how you lose your mind during your transformation."

Kakarot grimaces at the monstrous transformation. What Vegeta said wasn't inaccurate, Kakarot never had control of his Oozaru. He along with Raditz would just go on a berserker rampage upon transforming unlike Vegeta and Nappa who gained control of theirs through strength of will and likely other factors they neglected to tell them. This is the first time Kakarot got a good look at the transformation since his time as the Oozaru was always a blank. Vegeta then said, "This form makes me ten times stronger than before. This is a benefit you can't profit from for obvious reasons."

Upon peeking at this transformation Chichi stared at Vegeta with a deep scowl before hiding back behind the rock formation a ways away from the battle. Yamcha at this time is raising his hands to the sky with his palms open wide. Chichi returns to Yamcha and puts both of her hands on his back as instructed. Yamcha, having already gotten his own peek earlier said, "Bulma more or less told me everything that happened after Kakarot got back but she didn't really tell me much beyond the Saiyans can transform. I get the moon being important but why is it so important?"

Chichi explained that moonlight apparently contained some invisible energy, almost like Ki called Blutz Waves. Saiyan are able to absorb these waves through their eyes and when they absorb a certain amount their tail reacts to them, triggering the transformation. After the explanation Yamcha said, "That must have something to do with why Raditz's tail was a weakness."

Chichi lets out a chuckle and says, "Some of the details escaped me as well, it's been a while since he gave us that lesson on his race."

Back with Kakarot and Vegeta, Kakarot says, "I don't need such a monstrous form. I'd rather live like a human rather than a monster."

Vegeta lets out an angry, animalistic growl before saying, "You're a fool Kakarot! No matter how much you want to, you can't distance yourself from us, the Saiyan people."

Vegeta then points his enlarged finger at Kakarot and says in a booming voice, "You may have cut your own tail off, but you can't fight your love of battle. Your Saiyan blood eternally links you with the people you despise. It's impossible to ignore this love of battle, that's what makes us a Warrior Race!"

Kakarot scoffs at this and in response Vegeta says while balling his right hand into a fist, "I'll show you the thrill of battle before I kill you."

Vegeta charges at Kakarot at a speed that should be impossible for a creature of his size. Kakarot narrowly dodges two strikes from Vegeta leaving behind two giant fist sized craters. Kakarot quickly mutters to himself, "As expected, he hasn't lost much speed!"

Vegeta lets out a deranged laugh and says, "Do you feel your heart racing?!"

Vegeta suddenly disappeared, shocking Kakarot when he reappears behind him. He doesn't react in time to dodge the kick which sends him flying into two rocky pillars. Kakarot regains his momentum but still hits a rock formation although he lands on his feet right after. Kakarot muttered, "To think he can still pull those kinds of stunts at his size, he really is amazing."

A bitter tone colors the end of Kakarot's sentence. He ignores Vegeta's previous comment and fires off a barrage of Ki blasts while dashing to his right. Vegeta lets out a monstrous laugh and says, "What a pitiful barrage!"

Vegeta charges straight through the barrage without being slowed down in the slightest. Kakarot expected Vegeta's durability to be insane in this form but it's still a shock to witness it first hand. Kakarot thinks to himself, "I still need to buy more time…this next move might do more than just distract him."

Vegeta finally reaches him and slams both of his hands together toward Kakarot in a clapping motion. Kakarot however, manages to vault over the attack and reach the monster ape's face. He smiles and opens his palms wide while placing them to the sides of his face sideways. His fingers touch the sides of his face as he yells out the name of this technique, "Solar Flare (Taiyoken)!"

A blinding light covers Vegeta as the Solar Flare successfully blinds him. Vegeta howls in pain and frustration, "Kakarot, you trickster!"

Vegeta thought to himself, "Damn him, this is the same technique he used to escape Freeza!"

Vegeta shields his eyes as he attempts to fight through the pain in his eyes. Kakarot flies over Vegeta's head and lands a strong kick to the back of his head, knocking him forward and onto the ground below. Kakarot quickly grabs Vegeta's tail with both of his hands and flies as high as the length of his massive tail. Kakarot finally yells, "Krillin now!"

Krillin jumps out from a nearby hiding spot and immediately conjures one last Kienzan. He immediately throws it, aiming for Vegeta's tail. Kakarot could feel he had a firm grip on the tail but was surprised by the lack of resistance from Vegeta. He knew that weakness didn't work on Vegeta but he still would have thought he would be more defensive of his tail given the position he was in right now.

That was when without warning Kakarot was yanked down to the ground below, slamming into it hard. The Kienzan narrowly misses the tail causing him to yell, "Damn it, no!"

Vegeta turns his head toward the disk and opens his tooth filled mouth. He fires a Ki wave from his mouth which destroys the Kienzan. Vegeta jumps to his feet and laughs, "Haha, that trick won't work on me, I can even dodge it with my eyes closed!"

Vegeta spins on his heel and charges straight for Krillin despite still being blinded, leaving Kakarot who was too stunned from getting slammed to immediately stand up to help. Krillin attempts to retreat toward some nearby rock formations and rocky pillars. Unfortunately he's too slow and Vegeta catches him in a swiping motion. Krillin's body is sent flying as it grinds against the ground leaving a trail. Kakarot jumps to his feet while yelling, "No!"

Kakarot leaps toward Vegeta but before he can reach him, Vegeta's tail slams down on him without Vegeta even needing to look at him. Kakarot was stunned again, stuck in a crater while Vegeta's tail rose back up. Vegeta then said while giving Kakarot a toothy grin, "Your ability to detect battle power is very useful. I hadn't quite gotten the hang of it until I transformed and you blinded me!"

Right as Kakarot began to pull himself back up Vegeta slammed his tail on top of him again. Vegeta turns around and looks at Kakarot with his eyes closed. Vegeta then speaks in a threatening tone, "Don't you worry Kakarot, the only one I want to torment right now is you. The other earthlings can wait until after I've completely crushed you!"

Vegeta scoops Kakarot up with his hands and holds him so tight that even after Kakarot recovers from being hit with Vegeta's tail three times, he still can't overpower Vegeta's grip. Kakarot gives it another try but it's to no avail. Vegeta laughs and after a short moment he opens his eyes before saying, "There you are."

Vegeta lets out a laugh and says, "Do you feel any excitement from this Kakarot? In the past, early in your years you said that it's the danger of battle that motivated you. Tell me, Has that changed?"

Kakarot bites back, "The only joy I get is when I compete with my rivals and fellow students! I don't care about the struggle or the danger anymore!"

Vegeta lets out another laugh and says, "I doubt that, come on Kakarot, tell me how you really feel?"

Kakarot fights as hard as he can but there is a feeling of exhilaration that creeps up on him. He ignores it, shaking his head as he attempts to pry himself free again. Vegeta frowns, "Fine, I'm done with these games."

Vegeta thinks for a moment before he smiles and says in a booming voice, "I doubt your allies have really abandoned you. I bet they are attempting to regain their strength or preparing another of your irritating strategies."

Vegeta began to yell out, "Come on out you insects! If you don't then I'll crush him, I'll make it slow to give you time to decide!"

Kakarot lets out an angry growl but he fights back the urge to yell at his allies to stay put. If he says anything it will confirm to Vegeta that his allies are indeed close by.

In their hiding spot Chichi and Yamcha exchange worried glances. They had hoped their allies would be able to hold out but it seems Vegeta's transformation was too much for them. With Kakarot's capture, they aren't sure just how long they can afford to stay in hiding. After a long silence Yamcha whispers, "We can't, the Spirit Bomb is our last shot. Even if we do go out, we won't be able to do anything."

Chichi gives him a reluctant nod but her expression is soon colored in even deeper worry when Kakarot lets out an agonizing scream. Vegeta began to slowly squeeze the life out of Kakarot. Vegeta yells out, "Go on, Kakarot, "sing" for your friends!"

Through his screams Kakarot yells, "Don't come out!"

Vegeta laughs and says in response, "So they are still around, good!"

Kakarot thinks to himself, "It doesn't matter, if anyone would reveal themselves after hearing my screams it's Chichi…I can't let that happen!"

With Yamcha, Chichi gives him a desperate look wondering what they should do. Yamcha thinks for a moment before letting out a sigh, "We should have about enough, I'd like more but if we take any longer Kakarot won't survive."

The loss of Kakarot wouldn't just mean losing a capable fighter, without Kakarot they don't have a way to take care of Raditz if he starts trouble. Yamcha lets out a heave and says, "I'd rather Krillin do the distracting but it sounds like he's out of action too."

Yamcha looks Chichi in her eyes and asks this, "I hate to ask you to do this but could you distract him? You just need to get his attention, don't do anything risky."

Chichi gave him a firm nod and was about to jump out when Vegeta suddenly said, "Hmm…nevermind just stay put."

Chichi stopped in response, Kakarot looked at Vegeta confused. Vegeta then turns his head and looks directly where Chichi and Yamcha are hiding. Vegeta opens his maw and without warning fires a Ki Wave from it completely destroying the rock formation they were hiding behind. The two earthlings yell out with Chichi's body being launched out in the open, in clear view of Vegeta and Kakarot. Vegeta let out an uproarious laugh and said, "I think I'm finally getting the hang of this technique!"

Vegeta then said, "I knew I felt something over there but after you blinded me, I got a better handle on where it was."

He then said, "Please tell me that was important to you."

Vegeta had stopped squeezing Kakarot at this point leading to him yelling at him angrily. Vegeta then turned to Chichi's unconscious body, "Do you think she's alive?"

Kakarot's eyes focus on her body as a great rage fills him. He mutters under his breath, "...No!"

Vegeta laughs again and says, "She could just be unconscious, we should find out."

Vegeta begins to walk towards her at a lazy pace while saying, "We'll find out when I crush her underfoot."

Kakarot mutters angrily, "Don't you dare!"

Vegeta mutters threateningly, "Don't you worry Kakarot, after all you'll be joining her…wait…?"

Vegeta then purposefully pauses and brings Kakarot closer before saying with glee in his monstrous voice, "You're a Saiyan so you're destined for hell!"

Kakarot growls angrily but right then Krillin appears atop a rock formation a few meters from Vegeta. He raises a hand and conjures a Kienzan, The Bald Monk spoke threateningly, "Don't you take another step!"

Krillin mentally said, "I don't have enough in the tank to make an actual Kienzan. All I can do is build a weaker version, it won't actually do anything if it hits and that's assuming it will keep its shape long enough to make contact. I just need to buy Yamcha a little more time to recover. This bluff is my only option!"

Vegeta laughed at the bald earthling's threat and said, "Go ahead baldy! That technique won't work on me, you shouldn't have wasted it on my tail."

Krillin grinded his teeth but couldn't do anything now that Vegeta called his bluff. He froze in place when Vegeta lifted his foot and hovered it over Chichi's body. He lightly squeezed her in order to torment Kakarot who had a desperate angrily look on his face. Chichi lets out a pained groan but doesn't open her eyes. Kakarot muttered under his breath with fury coating his tone, "D-damn you…!"

Vegeta laughs and says, "It seems she's unconscious after all! How unlucky for her, she'll really feel this next part."

Kakarot angrily said, "I-i'll crush you!"

Kakarot puts his all into trying to break free even as his body screams at him to stop due to the pain. It doesn't work but Vegeta takes note of the effort, finding he still has a lot more fight in him, "Impressive effort but your struggle is futile."

Vegeta raises his foot and prepares to crush her in one stomp, he then says, "Say goodbye to this woman, Kakarot! Be sure to blame yourself plenty when you're rotting in hell!"

Kakarot and Krillin yell out of anguish but right before Vegeta's foot reaches her, he suddenly stops. Kakarot lets out an irritated growl thinking Vegeta's still toying with him. However, Kakarot noted that he had a look of confusion on his face. He then lets out a pained groan before looking behind him. Kakarot gets a good look too and is shocked by what or rather who he finds. They both see Yajirobe of all people behind Vegeta's waist with his Katana unsheathed. Better yet Vegeta's massive tail falls to the ground having been freshly cut. Vegeta yells out, "M-my t-tail!?"

Kakarot looks at him in shock, not believing what he's seeing. When he talked to Korin, he was certain that Yajirobe would be as far from the battle as possible. Yet here he is, swiftly achieving the objective both he and Krillin had failed to complete. If the situation wasn't so dire and he didn't feel so grateful, Kakarot is sure he would feel a little embarrassed at being shown up by Yajirobe of all people. Vegeta muttered, "I didn't sense him, how can that be?"

Kakarot could feel Vegeta's grip loosening as the Prince's body began to slowly revert back to normal. Soon enough Vegeta dropped Kakarot, who landed next to Chichi, on his back. Yajirobe immediately scurries off, disappearing as swiftly as he appeared. Kakarot muttered to himself, "I didn't feel him either, did he master Ki Suppression?"

Kakarot then smiled at the retreating fat man and muttered, "Can't believe I'm sayin' this but I'm glad that coward was around."

Kakarot then shifted his attention to the sleeping Chichi, turning his head to look at her and confirming that she was unconscious. He felt a wave of relief upon realizing she was breathing. Kakarot smiled and muttered, "She looks so peaceful, lyin there…"

His smile turned into a pained frown as he said, "Wish she'd just wake up already n' stop worryin' me."

Kakarot grit his teeth as he slightly raised his voice, "Come on, wake up!"

His effort was fruitless as Chichi didn't even stir, "This ain't the time to be a heavy sleeper. You nearly got crushed and yet yer' still napping like a baby."

Kakarot looked over at Vegeta and smiled as he witnessed the Prince's body returning to normal. Fur disappeared; he was shrinking at a steady pace until he was back to his normal size. Kakarot thought to himself, "Best yet his Ki has dropped by quite a bit."

Kakarot then noted something, his Ki was a little lower than before Vegeta transformed. Kakarot guessed that creating an Artificial moon took a bit out of the user. That was a boon in its own right however…Kakarot frowned and said to himself, "He hasn't lost enough strength to make beating him in a straight fight doable."

Kakarot then thought to himself, "I hope Yamcha survived that blast, the Spirit Bomb is our only chance now."

Vegeta looks at himself shocked and frustrated with having his transformation cancelled. He grits his teeth angrily before muttering in a low yet spiteful voice, "You suicidal fools! Do you know what it means to anger me!"

Vegeta yells out, "Are you asking me to kill you?! Fine, I'll oblige you!"

Vegeta turned toward Kakarot and Chichi, giving them an angry glare. He approached them with ill intent clear in his eyes, it didn't take a genius to know what Vegeta wanted to do. Yet the Prince told them anyway, with a sick smile, "I'll send her away first, you can "follow" her right after."

Kakarot scowled at that threat but before Vegeta could follow through with it, Krillin appeared behind him and reeled back a kick. Vegeta in the span of half a second spun on his heel and delivered his own kick before Krillin could make contact. Krillin was launched forward until he hit the ground and then bounced off of it only to fly through a small rock formation and into a rocky pillar before finally landing in front of it, on his stomach. He did not stand back up from that immediately. Kakarot used all the strength he could muster to lean forward and speak threateningly, "I…I'll make you pay…!"

Snickered before saying back, "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Vegeta circled around to Chichi's other side and stepped on Chichi's head before turning her head his way. Vegeta frowned and remarked, "Looks like she's having one hell of a good nap."

Kakarot glared at Vegeta angrily but didn't say anything, not wanting to provoke Vegeta. Vegeta looked at his former subordinate and questioned, "Is this really any better? Now you get to watch her die up close!"

Meanwhile Krillin was on the ground barely conscious trying his best to wake up to rejoin the fight. "D-damn it all, yet another plan down the drain. Everything I do either fails or backfires. If…if only Master Gohan was here! He'd know what to do in this situation."

Suddenly he heard a new voice in his head, "I don't know about this master of yours but I'm sure I can lend a hand... in a manner of speaking."

Vegeta began to press his heel into her head causing Kakarot to scowl angrily, feeling helpless all the while. Suddenly Yamcha appears on a rocky pillar above the trio. In his open palm he holds a glimmering basketball sized light blue Ki ball. It had a shining texture to it which made it look distinct compared to a regular Ki blast. It was as if hope itself had manifested itself as a round object. Kakarot muttered under his breath, "That must be…!"

Vegeta looks up at him and exclaims, "They're just like cockroaches, right when you think they're dead…! B-but what is that strange looking Ki orb?!"

This particular Ki blast felt strange to Vegeta, it felt familiar but for some reason he could tell there would be trouble if he let it hit him.

Yamcha closes his eyes for a moment and thinks to himself, "Alright just do it like King Kai told you."

Yamcha recalled King Kai's teachings, "Feel out the malice in his Ki, it will act as a beacon of which to aim your Spirit Bomb (Genki Dama)."

After half a second Yamcha felt it at last, it was a disgusting feeling. Vegeta's Ki was like a ball of evil intentions and malicious ideas. It would be harder not to feel it but now that Yamcha was specifically looking for it, it was hard to miss. Yamcha then exclaimed to himself, "I'll hit the bastard dead on!"

The second he threw it his body fell limp to the ground with his arms hanging off the edge of the Pillar. That Spirit Bomb was all he had left and now he watched on as the ball glided down the edge of the pillar he laid on until it reached the ground where it would suddenly change its direction, going straight for Vegeta. Right when it reached Vegeta however, the Saiyan Prince leaped over the attack sensing that deflecting it would be a bad idea. Kakarot muttered angrily, "Damn it, why didn't he throw it from a hiding spot!?"

Vegeta yelled out, "I told you already those kinds of tricks don't work on me!"

However, Yamcha's smile didn't waver as he muttered, "Not so fast, you arrogant bastard."

Suddenly Krillin appeared a few feet from the ball with a voice in his head saying, "Quickly now, clear your mind of impure thoughts. It will only work for a moment but it will be enough!"

Krillin muttered under his breath, "Right, King Kai."

Krillin cleared his mind and in that moment, he touched the Spirit Bomb with his open palms. Krillin gave it a good push, sending it launching right back at Vegeta. He yelled out, "Stop underestimating the Earth!"

Vegeta peered behind him, but it was too late, the ball was shot back not far from him so by the time he looked over his shoulder the Spirit Bomb (Genki Dama) had already made contact with his back. At the last second Vegeta yelled out, "No!"

The second it made contact it increased in size wrapping itself around Vegeta in a bright light. Electric tendrils popped out from every inch of Vegeta's body. The pain he felt was like nothing he's ever felt before. He felt the heat of the attack as well as an overwhelming pressure which pressed itself against his whole body, attempting to crush him in his entirety. It began to launch him higher and higher into the air until at long last he disappeared from sight.

Everyone smiled as they watched this display with Kakarot muttering, "That's what you get, arrogant moron…!"

A weak chuckle escapes from his lips as Krillin yells out in congratulation, "Yeah, finally! We got him!"

Yamcha chuckled weakly as he mentally said, "Thanks King Kai, I wouldn't have been able to let Krillin in on my plan without you."

King Kai, using his long-range telekinesis, spoke to Yamcha from Other World, "Don't mention it kiddo, it would be a shame if I had to say hello to you so soon after saying goodbye."

Yamcha chuckled to himself and said, "Hey, don't you miss my cooking?"

King Kai stammered, "W-well yeah b-but still!"

After a moment of congratulation Kakarot stares up at the sky with a smile. But then a thought crosses his mind, and he frowns, "I hate to admit it but I feel somewhat disappointed."

Kakarot lets out a deep sigh before continuing that thought, "I guess what I really wanted out of all of this was to beat him myself."

Kakarot closed his eyes for a moment as he continued to self-reflect on the climax of this battle, "In the end he was right. I can't bury every part of me that I dislike, being a Saiyan isn't something I can forget after spending so many years being one. It's impossible to completely change yourself in such a short amount of time."

Right then Yamcha and Krillin approach Kakarot and Chichi, though Krillin did help Yamcha by carrying him down from that pillar he was stuck on. Krillin helped him sit up by leaning against a large rock Krillin brought him from the nearby debris of the battlefield. Yamcha frowned at her unconscious body, but Kakarot saw that look and said, "Don't worry, she's alright."

Yamcha shook his head and said in a low, depressed tone, "If I'd done a better job suppressing my Ki then he wouldn't have located us."

It was now Krillin's turn to shake his head, "That wouldn't have mattered, you couldn't hide the Spirit Bomb (Genki Dama) which was probably much easier to detect than your actual Ki. That's probably why he kept dodging our big moves, they were easy to detect."

Yamcha let out a dissatisfied grunt clearly not finished blaming himself. Before they could say anything else about that Kakarot saw something falling from the sky. The object landed several meters from the group, but it was close enough for it to be clear what or rather who it was. It was Vegeta's seemingly lifeless body, his arms laid above his head. His armor had taken an even worse beating thanks to the Spirit Bomb (Genki Dama). His Left shoulder pad along with the left corner of his chest plate was destroyed leaving only skin poking out of his torn blue undersuit.

He was bleeding a little bit above his left eye. The rest of his armor was cracked here and there and now his left knee is completely showing since the hole above it got bigger. They didn't feel any Ki from him, but Krillin still left to check his body, not wanting any more surprises. Krillin approached him and muttered while looking at his dead body, "For a nasty guy you sure were strong, if this was a tournament I might have respected you for it. Still, you at the very least deserve a grave."

Right then the "dead bodies" eyes shot open and the assumed dead Saiyan Prince suddenly said, "Keep one for yourself!"

Everyone froze in shock; it was a complete surprise that he survived. Yamcha guessed that he probably survived because he only managed to preserve most of the Spirit Bomb after getting shot by Vegeta. He's sure if it hit him while at full power and the Prince would have actually died. But that's beside the point now, Kakarot scowled but couldn't fight back a sickening sense of relief he got from seeing that bastard alive again. As Vegeta began to get to his feet as shaky as they were he remarked, "You gave me quite the beating. I'll admit I almost thought I was going to die."

Vegeta finally got to his feet, meeting Krillin's gaze, he then said, "That last attack took a lot out of me but I should have enough to finish you all off!"

Vegeta then struck Krillin with a swipe of his hand, although Krillin managed to block it, he was still knocked to the side. Vegeta then said, "After I kill everyone here, I'll have no choice but to spend some time recovering before I finish off this trash heap of a world."

Vegeta then thought to himself, "Blowing up this world would make tracking me more difficult for Freeza. I'm sure by the time I recover he'll realize I'm up to something. He'll also have no earthlings left alive to tell him about the Dragon balls."

Vegeta began to march closer to everyone as he did this, he muttered to himself, "These pests actually taxed my abilities, actually hurting me, making me work for this victory."

Vegeta then muttered angrily, "What hurts the most is my pride. How embarrassing, to struggle against the scum around me!"

Vegeta crossed his arms as he began to gather his remaining Ki. Kakarot's eyes widened in realization, he suddenly yelled to everyone, "Everyone, brace yourselves!"

Right when Vegeta spread his arms upward while yelling, Kakarot used all of his remaining strength to leap on top of Chichi and cover her body with his back facing Vegeta's direction. He grits his teeth as he prepared himself to withstand what he knew was coming. Suddenly the whole battlefield was enveloped in a massive, bright explosion which hit everyone around Vegeta. Rocks went flying, the ground shook, the clouds above were pushed away while being reduced to nothing by Vegeta's power.

Soon enough the explosion dissipated, and the battlefield was left in a worse state than it had been prior to this point. Rocks and boulders lay everywhere, Yamcha lays on a boulder while Krillin is bruised under three large rocks. Kakarot is still atop Chichi having shielded her from the brunt of the explosion. His back is colored a mixture of red and black and yet he is still breathing. They are all battered and beaten however they are all alive. Vegeta watches in horror upon realizing his attack ultimately failed.

He remarked in a shaky voice, "T-they are alive…e-every last one of them?!"

He slumped over in a moment of weakness before regaining his strength enough to look up with one eye half open. "I-I took more damage than I realized!"

Vegeta began to shakily float toward Kakarot and Chichi while muttering, "I need to at least finish him off. If he recovers after taking this much damage he'll become a real problem."

Chichi's eyes begin to flutter open as she finally regains consciousness. The first thing she sees is Kakarot hovering over her with only one eye barely open to meet her gaze. He mutters, "How'r ya feeling?"

Chichi ignores that question and instead blurts out, "W-what about you, you look in worse shape."

It was Kakarot's turn to ignore her question as he leaned to her left, giving her a better view of what was going on. Kakarot still had an arm hovering protectively over Chichi as he glared back up at a scowling Vegeta. Chichi scowled at their current predicament and tried to get up only to stop herself when her body was wracked with pain. Kakarot spoke threateningly, "Don't come any closer, you stubborn bastard!"

Vegeta then said, "I couldn't care less about your warnings, I need to put you down, for good this time."

Kakarot attempted to put himself before her but all he could do with the strength he had was to hold her farther back with his free arm. Chichi spoke his name in a worried tone but Kakarot ignored her. Kakarot says back, "That's enough, we've done enough damage already."

Vegeta's eye twitches at this statement before he shakes his head and says while pointing his open palm at Kakarot, "Fine, you can die together."

Vegeta felt power enter his palm as he prepares to finally finish off his ex-subordinate. Suddenly he feels a Ki blast hit him from behind. He flinches from the pain and nearly stumbles forward but manages to stop himself. He remarks, "That's impossible, none of them should have this much power left!"

When he turns around he sees something surprising yet familiar. He stammers with his words, "W-what are you doing here?!"

Kakarot looked forward and was in shock at what he saw. It was as if he was reliving a moment from what felt like a lifetime ago. Kakarot recalled a charcoal colored world, on a newly made battlefield, the scar of that battle was evident both on Kakarot and the landscape. Before both Saiyans stood an individual with long black hair and brown Saiyan armor. Raditz stood before them with his arms crossed giving Vegeta a cold stare. He has finally arrived at the battlefield but who's to guess what his intentions are. Soon enough this colossal series of battles will soon come to a close and it will all be determined by a single seemingly insignificant Saiyan Warrior.

Author's Notes: Alright! This chapter came out much quicker thanks to me doing the previous chapter got me in the mood to finish up this fight. It's also a bit longer than normal since I wanted to end it on the Raditz reveal. I had other ideas for the Spirit Bomb scene but given the fact in Canon and in this version of events, this fight was about multiple weaker fighters whittling down a stronger fighter until he finally went down. I thought that the teamwork route was for the best. Although generally teamwork is kind of the big lesson when it comes to the Earthlings' way of fighting.

In this version of events, it's how the Earthlings survived without Goku being a factor. I have an idea about combining the Spirit Bomb and another one of Yamcha's special techniques but that will have to wait for a few full arcs, so don't expect to see that idea until much later. The next chapter will definitely be the last one for this arc. Just like when I finished the Earthly Reunion and Rejected Legacy arcs, there will be an extended wait as I make the overall Roadmap for this upcoming arc. That means brainstorming ideas for the arc, making an order of events and finally figuring out what will make this arc different from the original continuities. One last thing, in the last chapter I got my power levels a little mixed up when it came to Vegeta. I corrected them a little after posting that chapter but at the time I mistook Vegeta's full power 80,000 for 150,000. I will not make that same mistake this time, anyway here comes the Power Levels

Power Levels:

Kakarot (Full Power): 10,000

Vegeta (Suppressed): 10,000

Vegeta (Full Power): 18,000

Vegeta (The Mighty Oozaru): 180,000

Chichi: 5,000

Krillin: 5,450

Yamcha: 6,000

Raditz: 6,500