It's… surreal.
Trunks couldn't help but look in astonishment at the city below him as he flew high above any perceiving eyes.
These buildings and streets… they are all intact.
The young man's gaze swept across the skyscrapers and smaller buildings of the city stunned at the lack of destruction. Even from this height, he could see people walking along the streets going about their day. A city bursting with activity was as alien to the teen as he would see if the citizens got a good look at his flight path.
Keep focus. Trunks told himself. You've already messed things up as it is. I need to get back to the North Mountains, find my sword, then Goku, then get back home.
Surging forward and leaving the bustling city behind, Trunks scanned the area for landmarks. A lot of things seem to be different, but at least the geography is the same. I should close in on the mountains soon.
His reasoning was sound, but as time passed, Trunks worried. The miles melted away as he flew, but he wasn't seeing any mountains in the distance.
That's weird. I should be there by now, right?
Stopping so he didn't overshoot, Trunks scanned the area for any of the rock structures he had seen before, only to find none. The entire ground was devoid of the giant rock structures he had seen a short time earlier. Bits and pieces of the mighty mountains had been reduced to dust, burn marks coated the ground, and vast craters were dug out from the Earth.
Woah.
Dropping out of the sky and touching down, Trunks looked around in amazement at the remnants of the battle that took place.
Well, it is Son Goku we are talking about. I guess I shouldn't be to be surprised. Trunks thought to himself as he walked through the remains of the North Mountains. Still, hard to believe Gohan's father is this powerful.
As he walked, it wasn't long before the young man caught sight of a crater holding the scattered scraps of a massive spacecraft.
That's right, this is where that Cooler guy landed, it must have been destroyed during the fighting. Might still be salvageable, too. As Trunks stared at the wreckage, his mind processed his situation. Wait, I remember the ship was destroyed before I passed out and that guy… that must have been Krillin. He spoke to me and looked like he was ready to fight, but Son Goku hadn't arrived yet.
Looking around in the hopes of an explanation, Trunks found none as his confusion deepened even more.
What… what is going on here? Everything is different from what it's supposed to b-
The young man's train of thought stopped as a fresh fear slithered into him. With eyes wide, he leaped back into the sky, an aura of ki trailing him as he flew.
Oh no oh nonononono.
Scouring the ground like a hawk, Trunks felt his heart pound in his chest, pleading that his fear was unfounded, only to find the worst.
Please no.
Landing on the ground, Trunks beheld a massive stone pillar knocked over and laying on its side. Underneath the mass of stone lay bits and pieces of a machine, he was quite familiar with. With panic fueling him, the young man dug, pleading that what he was seeing was not happening. Soon enough, the former mountain was tossed aside to fully realize Trunk's fear. The five legs it had used to stand upright had been crushed completely. An egg-shaped exterior that held only one seat inside had been smashed from the outside in. The multiple engines was utterly squashed and the capsule corp logo was almost unrecognizable. With shaking hands, Trunks slowly picked up a piece of wreckage and whipped away the dust.
Hope Trunks thought, reading the piece to himself before falling to his knees clutching the shredded piece of machinery. "What… what am I supposed to do now?"
"So, what nonsense does this room hold?" Vegeta asked as Krillin directed him into the space.
"It's just a room with a wide enough space so we don't have to hold back," Krillin said, closing the door behind him. "Or risk anyone getting caught in the crossfire."
The two had left Korin's tower and returned to the lookout, with Krillin leading the way. Descending deeper into the floating vessel, Vegeta followed the human until they arrived at a door he had not seen before. Inside, the saiyan beheld a wide-open space with ample room to move in any direction with the ceiling high enough to include flight. Its design appeared solid and built to contain any conflict, no matter the intensity.
"I suspected you would try to convince me to fight in your pendulum room again. Perhaps to avoid a death that was no mere illusion?"
"It's obvious you wouldn't agree, so why even bother?" Krillin said, walking past the prince and stretching out his arms. "Besides, if we going to lure out these Trunks we need to give him a trial to follow. Might as well bring him here so we can fight undisturbed."
"Humph, you seem confident enough to believe I won't kill you here and now, human,"
"I know you'll try."
The monk's retort marked the end of words. Both warriors sized the other up and slid into a fighting stance, the tension in the room now heavy.
Give nothing away. Krillin calmly told himself. He's faster and stronger than you, but as long as you don't show it, you can keep him off guard. Keep calm and let his temper get the better of him as usual. Dodge and find the opening.
Studying the saiyan closely, the monk searched for marks of anger, only to find none. What's more, as the time ticked slowly on, Krillin realized Vegeta wasn't making the first move.
What's going on? I thought he'd try to rush me down by now. Krillin asked as he felt the weight of the saiyan's stare push down on his shoulders. He's being far more cautious than I thought he would be. I'm keeping my energy low now, but even if I pushed it, I couldn't match him. Is that not enough of a bait for him? Why is he being so calm? He's… As the realization hit Krillin felt his focus waver for just a moment, He's not underestimating me anymore. Which is just what Vegeta was waiting for.
Like a coiled spring, Vegeta broke the stalemate. With a ferocity comparable to his fight with Cooler, he slammed a dense kick into Krillin's side. The monk's barrier broke instantly, and he wasn't fast enough to pass a jolt of electricity onto his attacker. All he could do was let the strike break his stance and send him backward in the hopes distance would change the momentum of the fight.
"Galick-"
Krillin's eyes went up as he landed back on his feet to see ki emanating from Vegeta's hands.
"Gun!"
Purple lit up the arena as a burst of pure power dove toward Krillin's head. His side still aching from the kick, Krillin's formed a small destructo disc and heaved it underhand at the stream of energy. The disc slid through the beam just enough for Krillin to leap upward and out from the path of destruction, and into Vegeta's reach.
"To slow human," the prince grinned as he had correctly predicted where the monk would try to escape.
Having reached above his head with both hands, Vegeta swung down with a overhead smash that connected cleanly with Krillin's skull. The blow blurred Krillin's surroundings as his eyes glazed over from the pain. Yet he could still feel Vegeta grip his head with both hands and ram his forehead into the center of his face.
"Guh!" Krillin coughed before the prince hit him again, the crack between skulls echoing out.
The collision was intense enough to drive the two back onto the ground, Krillin's back slamming into the ground as Vegeta's hold remained firm. Yet as the prince reared back for another headbutt, Krillin regained his focus and struck out with his elbow, hitting the saiyan in the temple.
This was enough to push the prince off and back away for a moment, giving Krillin the room and the momentum needed to infuse his leg with lighting and throw it like a spear into Vegeta's stomach. The kick sent Vegeta backward, his heels skidding across the ground before coming to a stop.
As the monk tried to catch his breath, he watched his electricity crackle through Vegeta, only to see him shrug it off as he stood back to his full height.
Great, seems I don't have enough power to stop his movements completely. Krillin thought as he calmed his breathing and pushed his own pain down. Or I'm not hitting in the right place.
"I see you're taking this seriously," Krillin said, looking over at the large hole the galick gun had made in the arena's side.
"And you are not," Vegeta glared. "Stop holding back."
"I'm doing my best here," the monk chuckled weakly. "Have you considered you're just too much for me?"
"Do not mock me!"
The prince's aura erupted out a blast of wind hitting Krillin and pushing him back an inch.
There we go. Krillin thought, returning to a fighting stance. Nice and angry.
Vegeta summoned ki into both hands and started throwing them out in succession. Moving as quickly as his legs allowed, Krillin dashed along the side of the arena, the ki blasts exploding behind him as he tried to stay ahead.
Got to keep him off guard as much as possible. He thought as he generated two compact discs of ki and sent them careening at the prince from two different angles.
"That won't work, human!" Vegeta cried smoothly, dodging both energy attacks
Doing so took his focus from the monk for two whole seconds. When the danger had passed, he found himself under assault from three different Krillins. Each of them wielding lightning in their fists.
Vegeta weaved through the first two punches and dodged a sharp kick before retaliating with a punch of his own. It hit home and he could feel nearly every rib in Krillin's body snap and shatter. Yet he still glimpsed a grin as Krillin coughed out.
"W-wrong guess."
The clone seemed to fade, allowing more of Vegeta's fist to pass through its chest before morphing into pure electricity running up and down the saiyan's body.
"Uh!" Vegeta spat as he took a step back. The discharge wasn't enough to stun but was enough to startle, leaving another monk room to toss out two more discs of ki.
Summoning and firing two dense beams of energy with enough power to erase the discs and leave a deep hole in the arena's side. Bits and pieces of the wall scatted around, almost covering up the next wave of discs aimed at Vegeta's head.
Dodging both discs, Vegeta pushed himself to move faster than the nearest Krillin could react. With speed beyond the monk's capabilities, the prince's fist dug deep into Krillin's cheek, sending him hurling across the room and crashing into the stone wall.
A smirk dressed Vegeta's face until he heard a loud crack overhead. Looking upward, large chunks of stone dropped down onto his head. Little snake cut a hole in the ceiling! The saiyan thought Barely evading the danger of being buried underneath, Vegeta's keen eyes searched for his opponent through the dust and found him tossing out two more discs.
"I already said that won't work!" Vegeta cried as he charged and slipped in between the space of the energy discs to avoid their edge.
Krillin smiled as his hands twitched to activate his trap. A line of dense electricity burst out from the side of the discs, catching the saiyan's body as he moved. Before he could react, the two discs spun around him, wrapping him up as if a rope had caught him.
"What?" Vegeta cursed as streaks of lighting momentarily held him in place, but a moment was all Krillin needed.
Vegeta saw the monk rear back a hand as he leaped at him. Time seemed to slow as Krillin curled each of his fingers into his palm and lit it up with an outrageous amount of voltage.
Got you.
With speed, momentum, and his entire body weight behind the blow, Krillin connected with Vegeta's temple and discharged everything he had into the punch. The sheer impact cut into the stone beneath the two, shaking the entire room from its power.
Yet, as the light from the discharge faded and Krillin had moved back into his stance, he could already feel something was wrong. He had hoped hitting a pressure point in the prince's head would render him unconscious, or at least paralyzed. Instead, his strike only reward was a fierce glare and a question.
"Is that it?"
Before Krillin could answer, Vegeta flexed his energy and muscles to burst out of the electric bolas in a terrifying show of power.
… that's right. I almost forgot.
The prince descended, lashing out with a strength Krillin could compete with and a speed he could not match. His vision blurred as the prince's punches hit home. Stumbling away, the monk spat out a wad of saliva before clenching his teeth in frustration.
He's been easy to handle him up to a point… I got cocky.
With bleeding bruises, Krillin threw out a ki blast only to see it effortlessly smashed away as Vegeta closed the gap. With an echoing scream, the prince let lose a vicious kick that crunched into his stomach.
In the end, I'm still a human.
"KAMEHAME!" Krillin cried out as he tried to hold himself upright. "HA!"
Blue bloated out from the human's hands diving at Vegeta with all the force it could muster. Holding up both hands, Vegeta stopped the beam short. He then pressed his body inward and with one clean motion ripped apart the ki blast with his bare hands. As the energy dispersed and the blue light faded, Krillin was left with little options and one last thought.
And he's a saiyan.
He didn't see Vegeta move, but felt his hands grip the side of his head once more and bring down the full weight of his skull onto his forehead. Krillin felt his arms lose power on the first hit and then his knees buckle on the second, the third put him flat on his back.
Breathing heavily as blood slithered down from the top of his head, Krillin's view was covered by Vegeta looking down at him and stretching out his hand with energy already gathered.
A hard silence gripped the arena as Krillin struggled to catch his breath, his eyes locked onto Vegeta's.
"Why didn't you use that move on Cooler?" Vegeta spat, his hand still aimed at the human's head.
"He was moving too fast."
"And I wasn't?"
"I've fought and watched you fight for a while now," Krillin coughed. "I know how you move."
"Not well enough to change anything."
"No… I guess not."
As the moments ticked by, the human couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "You can't do it."
"Quiet, human," Vegeta growled, his tone sharp enough to cut. "You lost."
"I did," Krillin admitted. "But you can't kill me, can you?"
"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do, human!" Vegeta snapped the energy in his hand, increasing. "I decide whether you live or die!"
"You're right, you are in control. Just like when you saved Yajirobi on Namek and when you saved Yamcha just a few hours ago. No one told you to do that."
"I said quiet!"
"You don't have to fight us anymore, Vegeta. You could-"
A blast of ki aimed an inch away from his head stopped Krillin cold. A firm grasp around his throat silenced him completely as his entire body was lifted off the ground and shoved into the stone wall.
"Stop fighting?" Vegeta laughed. "I'd sooner kill myself than live without purpose! You're correct in that I won't kill you here, human, but it's not because I can't. It's because there is still a fight to be had!"
"W-what are you talking about? You… you won." Krillin choked out before Vegeta's grip tightened.
"I told you to stop holding back, human! This pitiful display is not all that you are capable of!"
"I-it… it is-"
"DO NOT LIE TO ME!"
Effortlessly hurling the human onto his side and watching him skid away, Vegeta continued through gritted teeth. "The strength the namkeian used to kill Cooler, it wasn't his! I sensed that same energy here days ago!"
Krillin froze as he understood what Vegeta was getting at.
"That power came from you, human," the saiyan said, his tone shaking with hatred. "What are you hiding?"
"It doesn't concern you," the monk coughed as he struggled back onto his feet. "This fight is ov-"
"This fight hasn't begun!" Vegeta roared, his aura appearing and shaking the arena. "This battle was an insult and the prince of all saiyans will not be mocked! Not by you or anyone else!"
… he's not going to stop, is he? His ability to sense ki is better than I thought if he could pick up my ki signature even while hiding it. Krillin thought, gritting his teeth. He might not kill me now, but at this rate he'll get angry enough to tear the lookout apart looking for answers.
Breathing slowly, Krillin tried to sooth his nerves before coming to his answer. "Alright, follow me."
Without another word, the monk started to walk, though his pace held a bit of a limp to it. Vegeta silently followed.
This is a bad idea. Krillin told himself as he made his way back through the lookout. I'm not sure how I'll handle him or what I'll say when we meet face to face. Not even sure what his reaction will be. Krillin winced as his head throbbed, still sore from the several headbutts he received. Can't say he doesn't deserve it, though.
The pair walked in silence until they arrived at a door at the end of the long hall.
"Here we are," Krillin said, gesturing to the door for the saiyan.
"You're not going to open it?"
"I'm right behind you."
Vegeta scoffed and walked through the door, into pure white.
"What!?" Vegata said, recoiling in a mixture of awe and confusion.
He had walked through a door to what he presumed would be a new room, but this space of a room would do little to describe his surroundings. It was a landscape that seemed to stretch out into forever as endless white took up everything in front of him. Save the entrance which held a small covering and a few amenities, there was almost nothing here.
"What kind of trick is th-" The prince was cut off by the door closing behind him, leaving him alone in the white. "Bastard!"
Spinning around, the saiyan marched at the door hoping to rip it open, only for his senses to pick something up in the distance. Slowly turning back around to face this new sensation, Vegeta was surprised to again see nothing in the distance, but he could feel its approach.
His instincts taking over, Vegeta took a fighting stance as his senses panicked. A thin line of sweat rolled the side of his face. This power, it's… no… no that's impossible! Despite the prince's internal protest, the energy he felt continued its walk towards him, walking out of the white.
"W-who are you!?" Vegeta demanded, flexing his power.
"You know who I am, prince."
The familiar voice echoed all around him, yet he could still not see who it belonged to. The line of sweat rolling down was joined by another as Vegeta's breathing started devolving into gasps.
"After all, you were the one who asked for this," the voice said accompanied by the sound of steps reverberating out and closing the distance.
A sharp roar was the only response the voice from the white got as Vegeta lunged forward into the void. While he was unsure where his opponent was, he would be the first to act. Yet as soon as he stepped off the platform from the entrance, a weight he was not prepared for smashed into him from above. The force was enough to bring him onto his hands and knees as his head plunged downward to face the pure white ground.
"This… this is idiotic!" Vegeta growled, a vein pulsing across his head as he gathered his strength to stand.
Before he could, a pair of simple shoes came into his line of sight, shoes he recognized. Leaping to his feet, the saiyan prince came face to face with Krillin. Aged by decades.
"Hello Vegeta," the old monk said with a smile. "In a sense, it's nice to meet you."
"Yet another trick!" Vegeta snarled as he again took a fighting stance. "What is this human!?"
"Would you like an explanation?" The older Krillin said softly. "Or do you want to finish our fight?"
A low growl was the elder monk's answer, followed by a swift punch laced with all the prince's power. His fist was aimed at the human's head and was allowed to reach mere inches away from its target, before being smoothly evaded. The attack was repeated with Vegeta's other fist, yet again the result was the same.
"Bastard!" Vegeta cried a dense aura erupted around him as he renewed his charge.
A multitude of punches and kicks came at Krillin from every angle Vegeta could think of, but none hit their mark. It wasn't until his rush ended did the prince realize that not only could he not hit the human, he couldn't even make him move. The older monk had not taken up a fighting stance, nor had he stepped out of where he had appeared. Hands behind his back, Krillin took no action towards Vegeta and, with cutting eyes, patiently waited.
"H-how?" Vegeta asked, his hands unfurling from fists. "How did-"
"I know how you move," Krillin softly interjected.
The already dense aura doubled in size as the prince's anger grew. Leaping into the sky, his arms were already in an easy-to-recognize position.
"LET'S SEE YOU DODGE THIS ONE!"
Purple energy lit up the white sky and streaks of deadly ki skated around Vegeta's hands. Vegeta dug deep into himself for even more energy as he chose power over control. Wisps of energy flittered away as the mass of ki doubled in size. Smirking and ignoring the deluge of sweat running down his face screamed, "GALICK GUN!"
Krillin's view turned purple as the mass of collected energy was fired downward toward him. The energy held the intent to kill, to destroy, to consume completely. It would fail. The beam collided and stopped several feet from reaching the monk. The impact seemed to rattle the ground, yet still the monk stood, unmoved.
"WHAT?" Vegeta asked as the massive beam of ki struggled against an unseen force surrounding the human. Pushing harder into the blast and using up more energy thickened the beam, yet it continued to falter against this unseen force.
It's a barrier. Vegeta thought, cursing the human. It's that barrier he's always putting around himself, but this time he's pushed it out to encase more space. If he can do this, that means he didn't even need to dodge me earlier… he's toying with me!
Vegeta cut off his energy blast as it used too much energy and became clear that he could not break through. As if reading the saiyan's mind, Krillin turned away completely showing Vegeta his back. Walking several steps away on the entrance platform, the older monk spoke.
"The time chamber's weight won't affect you back here," he said with a soft gesture. "You'll be able to swing faster."
That dreaded sense of humiliation wove its way into Vegeta's mind. His eyes grew bloodshot from the disrespect on display.
"ARROGANT HUMAN! YOU CAN NOT COMPARE TO ME!"
Shooting down from above as if he were a meteor, his rage fueling energy into new realms of power.
Stepping into the entrance, Vegeta felt the weight of the chamber dissipate, adding to his speed as he closed in on his target.
"I AM VEGETA!" The saiyan howled, rearing back, his fist snapping and crackling from the concentrated energy laced within.
The strike was the culmination of every bit of power Vegeta held. Years of fighting, killing, and destruction was summoned and transferred into this one punch.
"PRINCE OF ALL SAIY-"
He awoke on a bed, unsure of how much time had passed. His eyes adjusted to the white quickly as he slowly sat up, shaking his head to combat the throbbing.
"Here, water will help."
Vegeta flinched at the voice but turned towards it to see a small glass with enough refreshing liquid in it to state his thirst, held by an old man he had just tried to kill.
"As if I would trust anything you would give me."
"Oh really? Didn't have that problem during the buffet, did you?"
"That was different."
"I suppose you're right. You had Yajirobi and Gohan to keep up with you." The old monk said with a laugh.
"… who are you?" Vegeta said through a glare.
"Fairly obvious, isn't it? Might be a little older, but there should be no mistaking this face."
"How is this possible?"
"This is the hyperbolic time chamber," Krillin said, putting the glass down on a nearby table then sitting at the foot of the bed. "It's a special location on the lookout."
"The lookout? You expect me to believe this place lives on the lookout?" Vegeta snapped. "It's far too big!"
"Looks can deceive, prince. The doorway you walked through is an entrance to another dimension. Walk back through that door and you'll return to the lookout."
"A-another dimension?"
"Yes, here, time moves differently. One year in here is only 24 hours outside."
"A year?" Vegeta repeated, trying to make sense of what he was being told. "You've been in here for years!?"
"Allows a lot of time for walking."
"Walking?" Vegeta recoiled as if he had been bit. "You've gotten this strong just by walking!?"
"In a manner of speaking," Krillin said with a soft smile. "Though I don't think that's the question you truly want to ask."
The prince flinched before squeezing the bed sheets tight enough to rip them. "… did I lose?"
"You did."
"How?"
"I hit you."
"One hit? That's all?"
"That's all."
The prince burned with frustration. Gripping both hands tight enough that his shoulders and the small bed shook.
"Would you like to know why you lost?" The old man asked, momentarily dampening Vegeta's fury.
Silently Vegeta watched the monk rise from the bed and start walking off the entrance and back into the white space. With his curiosity overriding his disgust at his failure, the prince threw off the blanket that covered him and marched after the human. This time prepared for the weight of the chamber as it fell onto his shoulders, Vegeta followed Krillin with purpose. Yet as the walk continued, the saiyan could feel more and more pressure mount on his body. The deeper they traveled, the more the weight grew.
"You're stalling human."
"Am I?"
"Clearly," Vegeta snapped his steps, dragging behind. "Are you going to explain what new trick you used to defeat me or not?"
"I could, but I merely asked if you wanted to know. I have yet to receive an answer."
"You need me to spell it out, human? Why else would I be following you?
"Perhaps you wanted to see the benefits of a pleasant walk?" Krillin asked, his back still turned to the saiyan.
"Enough of this farce!" Vegeta shouted, his voice echoing out into the white. "If you won't tell me, then I'll-"
It was then the prince noticed that the entrance he had walked through had long since vanished. Looking from side to side in search of the exit, Vegeta found nothing but white.
How… how long have we been walking? The feeling of a cutting cold followed the thought slithering through his body. Wrapping his arms around his body to combat the chill, it was suddenly replaced with a vicious heat. Sweat pooled and poured down his body to combat the sudden burns, yet in the next instant, he could feel them freeze as the cold returned.
"It's easy to get overwhelmed here, prince," Krillin said, his stride not slowing in the least. "You need to be careful."
"Damn you!" Vegeta cursed, willing his body to continue to follow.
Through the white, they marched step by step with the human leading the saiyan. The only pause in their long walk occurred when Vegeta's legs finally gave out. Hitting the side of his head as he landed, his body racked with chills and red from the heat.
"This… this is nothing!" Vegeta said, trying to push himself up off the ground.
Panting widely, Vegeta could lift his head high enough to see Krillin offer his hand. Scowling, he used what energy he had left to smack the hand away the gesture.
"Don't look down on me, human!" The prince spat as he continued to struggle against the weight of the chamber. Krillin watched Vegeta grunt and groan onto his knees, his teeth clattering from the cold while drenched with sweat. "I DON'T NEED YOU!"
Summoning all the strength he still held, Vegeta battled against the immense pressure of the hyperbolic time chamber. Nearly slipping on his own sweat, the saiyan eventually returned to an upright position.
"I… I don't…. need anyone-"
He awoke in a bed, unsure of how much time had passed.
"You passed out standing up." Vegeta turned to see the smiling older monk, this time offering him another glass of water. "First time I've ever seen that."
"How did I get here?"
"I carried you, which wasn't easy, mind you."
"… why?"
"To see if you understood."
"Understood what?"
"The reason you lost."
"Stop speaking in riddles, human!"
"Sorry," Krillin laughed. "Though I must admit it's quite fun talking like this. I wanted to show you how far you can go and how far you could. The only reason I won against you is because I have taken the time to connect with others and rely on them when needed. I'm only here because I met Kami and I can only stay because I have the others. Our little stroll was an example that by ourselves we all have limits, but had you taken my hand, who knows how far you could have walked."
"Ridiculous," Vegeta spat. "I don't need to resort to tricks or rely on others."
"No tricks?" Krillin asked with an eyebrow raised. "Then tell me when you first fought Goku on Earth and transformed into a giant ape, what do you consider that?"
"… a tactic."
"And defeating Frieza was something you did on your own?"
"… I simply took advantage of you and the other humans."
"So you say," Krillin smiled. "We fight in different ways, Vegeta. In your eyes, helping others and using everything at your disposal might not be the most honorable or keep your pride intact, but it's the reason we're still alive, and why you're still alive. Deep down, I think you understand that."
"Are you asking me to throw my pride away, then? I refuse human."
"Then perhaps you should consider what your pride has given you lately. Has pushing people away and fighting everyone on your own accomplished what you want?"
"What do you care?" Vegeta snapped.
"You helped save my friends and my planet. Perhaps unwillingly, but I've thought about you a lot while I've been in here. We have been on opposite sides and the same for a while now, but it's only recently have I have started to understand why Goku asked me to spare you on Earth."
"Oh?" Vegeta snarled. "Indulge me than human."
"Despite your best efforts, it's clear there is good in you, Vegeta, or at least the potential for it."
"Good?" The prince laughed. "Keep that flawed reasoning to yourself, human, and understand that all I wanted was the power to crush anyone under my heel. The power to rise from the ashes of my race and to realize the legend of the super saiyan. To show this universe the true meaning of power!"
The prince's last word held in it a blast of energy shaking the small entrance.
"Yet the reason I have achieved none of this is that of you humans and you in particular!" Vegeta continued.
"Funny how a species you once compared to dirt can thwart you so many times, but that's the crux of it, isn't it? You thought we were beneath you, but our way of fighting has helped us catch up quite a bit. It's changed how you see us. It started off as a curiosity, didn't it?"
"What are you implying?"
"Your actions and your words don't line up Vegeta," Krillin said smoothly. "Your pride and strength are important to you, and you have achieved most of it on your own. You are strong, Vegeta, but it hasn't been enough to beat us. Not completely. We've put you in enough no-win scenarios you've had to fight with us, so you've gotten to know us better. You've been trying to figure us out and you can't, because we've been interacting with you in you a way you've never been treated before. We've trained with you, fought with you, ate with you, and helped you become stronger. It's clear your feelings have changed. No longer the weaklings we were during our first battle, are we? Perhaps now you see us more like allies, and it's that thought you hate, because you think that will make you weak. You hate that you care."
The punch was swift and aimed with precision. Fast enough and strong enough to force Krillin to extend a hand and catch it out of the air.
"Enough!" Vegeta snarled. "I do not care!"
"Then why did you rescue Yamcha on Earth?"
"He was in the way! Why would a saiyan care for a human!? Why should I care for anyone weaker than me!?"
"Why indeed," Krillin said calmly, barely reacting to the punch. "You're a saiyan and we are humans, but that doesn't mean we have to be enemies. Goku's shown us that hasn't he?"
Still holding Vegeta's hand, Krillin turned it over and tensed his grip on a pressure point, allowing it to open. With one smooth motion, he placed the glass of water onto the saiyan's hand.
"Saiyan or human, we're stronger together."
Vegeta stayed silent as the old monk removed his hand and left the prince holding the small glass of water. Looking down at it, Vegeta could clearly see his reflection. His face was one of confusion, of conflict, yet there was still a deep thirst for something more. With a tense glare shot at the smiling monk the prince of all saiyans drank the water in one go, and it helped.
"With that, I've said my piece, and our agreement has ended."
"W-what?"
"I've told you all I know about the super saiyan, you fought Cooler, and you've fought me. You are now free to do whatever you wish, Vegeta. The rest is up to you. You can leave through the door you came through; I'd imagine only a few minutes have passed back on the lookout."
"I… I still haven't beaten you!"
"Given enough time, you eventually will," Krillin said with a smile. "Your saiyan biology will make you stronger than me in a fraction of the time it took me to get to this point, but I won't fight you," Krillin said, standing up from the bed. "I don't have the time."
Vegeta watched the old monk turn away from him and strolled away, back into the endless white.
Author's note: Okay, so I usually save these author notes at the end of the chapter in case I have something more important to share than a hi and a compliment, unfortunately, this is no different.
Let me clarify that this is not the end of this project. I have both the passion and support to see this series to its conclusion; it is time that I am lacking. My current living situation has gone from an issue that caused a slight delay to something that needs to be addressed and until that is settled, it will have to be my focus.
I have been trying to write and take care of the problem at the same time and it hasn't been working out. I didn't know how thinly I was stretching myself until I realized I haven't been replying to reviews and that is unacceptable to me. You have all given me a good deal of your time and attention. Being unable to respond to your comments is not something I want to continue.
So, as easy as it would be to disappear into the void and say that I do not know when the next chapter will be out, I would like to have a schedule of some sort as I work through this. This project started because I wanted to grow as a writer and improving in any creative field means working through the complications that life throws at you. I also feel that it is important to be as transparent as possible when you have an audience of any kind.
To that end, my current plan of attack is to delay the next chapter by a month.
I apologize, but I'm hoping that the delay will give me more time to make something better than just straining myself to fit everything in. I plan on continuing to write during the delay, which I hope will mean that once I settle everything, I'll be able to post chapters that have more attention put into them than usual.
I will do my best to answer for any comments, questions, and concerns as we move through the next few uploads. As always, thank you for reading and your continued support. Take care for now!