Ch 18
He stood on the bridge of his
ship, blinking in the unnaturally bright light as he tried to peer out the
window at the planets rushing past.
“That was the planet known as
Uranus to the locals,” Zarbon’s voice said in his ear. “We should be at Earth
in a few minutes, decelerating once we get within orbit distance.”
Vegeta shot a glance at his
aide, still trying to get his eyes to focus after his stint in a rejuvenation
tank. He had spent the last week and some in one of the devices, his every
crevice filled with fluid that healed his body while his tortured mind was
ushered blissfully into unconsciousness. The darkness of that slumber and the
weight of the liquid seemed to fill him still, and he blinked again in his
fight against the aftereffects. “There’s a transmission coming in, my lord,” a
smaller voice said, and he realized that one of the techs was speaking to him.
“It bears Commander Nappa’s signature.”
Vegeta scowled and gave Zarbon a
look. “Patch it through,” he sighed. All he needed now was Nappa’s bestial
ramblings. Nappa’s blunt features peered at Vegeta from the screen and Vegeta
felt his lip curl in disdain. How he despised dealing with the meat-headed
commander.
“What is it?” he snapped,
folding his arms over his chest and tilting his head so that the circles under
his eyes would be less evident.
Nappa swallowed, hard. “Sir,
just thought you should know that there have been uprisings on a few of the
worlds,” he reported with a little salute. “Those responsible have been taken
prisoner and we’d like to know what you would have us do with them.”
Vegeta’s dark eyes narrowed,
looking all the more sinister because of the bruise-like coloration beneath
them. “I hope none of this has happened because of a mistake on your part,” he
said quietly. “That would merit severe punishment.”
Nappa paled a bit and shook his
head vigorously. “Absolutely not, Vegeta,” he said roughly. “We’ve done nothing
to provoke them.”
Vegeta rested his chin on his
chest for a moment as he thought. “If I ever find that you’re not telling me
the truth you’ll wish you were never born,” he said coldly, not taking his eyes
away from Nappa’s stare. “Keep those arrested as prisoners,” he replied after
another brief silence. “Make sure they’re treated well. I shall deal with them
personally upon my return.”
“But, Vegeta,” Nappa began.
“Earth has come into view, sir,”
one of the navigation employees interrupted. Vegeta’s gaze flickered away from
the view screen and he terminated the signal, Nappa’s frustrated face blurring
into nothingness as he did so. He strode over to the window and stared down at
the planet, a little startled at the sheer volume of blue water he could see
moving over the surface. The entire planet, in fact, was covered with lush land
masses and extensive water systems, giving it a delicate and valuable look.
“It’s beautiful,” Zarbon
commented to the side.
Vegeta nodded once, not taking
his eyes off of the planet. “It almost seems a shame that we’ll end up blasting
it out of existence,” he replied with a chuckle.
Zarbon raised an eyebrow and
looked at him. “You’re not going to try to take it over?” he asked in surprise.
Vegeta shook his head. “It’s
claimed two Saiyans, regardless of whether or not they were taken alive. I
don’t want that sort of power just roaming around the universe unless I can
find a reason to justify it,” he said sharply.
Zarbon exhaled and shrugged,
looking back out the window at the blue planet floating silently in space.
“Well, I hope something comes up then,” he said quietly. “It seems such a shame
to just destroy it.”
Vegeta ignored Zarbon and turned
to one of the crew members. “What are its specs?” he demanded.
The alien tapped some commands
into the computer and waited as data flashed across the screen. “Earth has a
concentration of oxygen that’s roughly one-fifth the total. Its environment
appears to be stable, and is carbon-based. There are a variety of land types,
and the whole planet is teeming with life, the dominant species being humans, a
fleshy, bipedal race. The gravity is equal to 1G, sir,” it reported, not
glancing away from the screen.
“One G, eh?” Vegeta muttered to
himself. “This should be easy.”
Zarbon took his eyes from the
smirking prince and let them rest upon the image of Earth. He wasn’t certain
why, but the whole venture made him very uneasy. Nevertheless, he took his
station by his lord, clasped his hands behind his back, and waited for Vegeta
to choose a place to land.
“They’re here!” Kami gasped,
startling the warriors around him. They all stopped their training and stared
at him, mouths pumping noiselessly in shock. “They’ve just passed the moon and
will be landing shortly,” he breathed, leaning heavily on his staff as sweat
beaded and was caught by the deep creases in his weathered green skin.
Yamcha blinked at Krillin, Tien,
and Chao Tsu. “Can you guys feel that?” he whispered, throat tight with fear.
They all nodded, Krillin
starting to tremble as Chao Tsu latched onto Tien’s calf. “It’s horrible,”
Krillin moaned, wringing his shaking hands. “Their auras are horribly dark!”
Tien glanced at Kami, all three
eyes narrowed and hard. “There are two incredibly strong ones,” he said softly.
“I thought you said there was only one Saiyan on the way.”
Kami nodded, swallowing hard.
“There is. The other ki, the stronger one, belongs to some other type of alien.
I don’t know what the story is, and it doesn’t really matter now,” he breathed
nervously.
Yamcha’s eyebrows shot up. “You
know that your behavior isn’t exactly encouraging, right?” he asked, spreading
his hands. “I mean, if you of all people act like we have no chance it’s not
gonna help us out.”
Kami looked at him from
underneath his wizened brow ridges. “You have no chance if each of you stands
alone,” he said quietly. “And maybe no chance if all of you fight together, if
you don’t have Goku. He should be here within the day, but you’ll have to hold
them off until then.”
“That doesn’t sound fun at all,”
Krillin stammered, sweat streaming down his shiny bald head.
Yamcha shot a scowl at the
little man in disapproval and then redirected his gaze to the rest of his
fellow warriors. “I don’t know about you guys, but I have things on this planet
that I love and want to protect,” he said vehemently, balling a hand into a
fist. Bulma’s sparkling eyes and smile passed across his mind’s eye, and he
found himself smiling a little himself at the recollection. “There’s no way I’m
gonna let anything happen to them!”
Tien answered him with a smile.
“Then it’s agreed,” he said. “As soon as we know where they’ve landed we’ll go
and stop them.”
The rest of the warriors nodded.
“The Earth is counting on us,” Yamcha said, and looked off into the blue sky.
The two pods landed forcefully
on the ground, creating two massive craters and throwing up a large cloud of
dust, simulating dusk in the middle of the day to any creatures roaming on the
surface of the planet. Whirs and clicks emanated from the pods as the two
inhabitants stepped out and rose into the air noiselessly. Vegeta looked around
at the mountains behind them, watching as dark thunderclouds rolled overhead,
sparkling with unshed lightning. Zarbon was casting around anxiously, searching
for anyone that might be approaching. “What I wouldn’t give for a scouter,” he
muttered under his breath.
Vegeta snorted. “Such a device
is merely a weakness. Machines malfunction. If your senses malfunction,
however, you have a far more serious problem on your hands than reading power
levels.”
Zarbon glanced over at Vegeta,
raising an eyebrow and cocking his head to one side, his cape whipping in the
wind. “Do you mean to tell me that you can locate power without a scouter?” he
asked, voice dripping with skepticism.
Vegeta nodded, a grim smile on
his lips. “Yes, I can, and if my senses are serving me correctly we’re going to
have company soon.”
Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chao
Tsu pulled up short when they saw the specks hovering in the distance. Krillin
whistled softly and wrung his hands together. “That’s them?” he asked, voice
quavering. “They sure have big power levels.”
“And evil ones,” Chao Tsu
offered, sweat starting to bead on his pasty temple.
Tien shook his head. “It doesn’t
really matter,” he said gruffly. “We just need to stall them until Goku
arrives.”
“We’d have to be pretty lucky to
beat them even with Goku,” a deep voice said, and the four whipped around to be
confronted with a sharp-toothed smile. “But if we fight together we might have
a chance.”
“Piccolo!” Yamcha gasped. His
eyes darted down to Piccolo’s side, where a taller and more scruffy-looking
Gohan was hovering in the air. “And Gohan! You sure got big,” he said, leaning
down and tousling the boy’s hair.
“Thank you,” Gohan said sweetly,
but his eyes glazed over as he looked off in the distance. “That’s them?” he
asked, tugging on Piccolo’s pant leg and pointing. “Those are the men who have
come to take Uncle Radditz away?”
“Yeah, kid,” Piccolo replied, narrowing
his eyes. “And they seem to be waiting for us.”
Krillin swallowed hard. “You
don’t think they’d leave if we just turned over Radditz, do you?” he asked
nervously.
Yamcha sighed. “If you can’t
take the heat I understand, Krillin. You’ve already died once, after all. If it
gets too tough you step out and make sure whoever is killed gets wished back,
okay?” he said gently.
Krillin scowled and
straightened. “I’m not afraid, Yamcha. I’ll fight no matter what it takes,” he
proclaimed, voice still a little shaky.
Gohan squinted, not letting go
of Piccolo’s pants. “I think they’re getting bored,” he whispered as he peered
off into the distance.
“Then there’s no point in
waiting,” Tien answered, and rocketed off towards the pair floating in the sky.
The others nodded to one another
and took off after him.
Zarbon was vaguely surprised at
the motley crew that assembled before him. There was a large man with three
eyes, a little doll-looking thing, a short bald man, a menacing Namekian, a man
that looked like he could be a Saiyan with that unruly mop of hair, and a
little boy. What sort of planet was Earth that it would send such a strange
assortment of warriors to fend off the two of them? He was about to make a
comment when Vegeta’s short laugh cut him short.
“You have got to be kidding me,”
he said with a chuckle. “All of you put together don’t come close to being on
my level. Zarbon, we might as well just destroy them and be done with it.”
“We don’t have to defeat you,”
the Namekian said.
Zarbon raised an eyebrow. “Why
not?” he asked with a small smile.
“We just have to wait for my
daddy!” the child blurted. “He’ll never let bad men like you take Uncle
Radditz!”
That got Vegeta’s attention.
“Uncle Radditz? Child, who is your father?” he demanded, eyes narrowing.
The little boy beamed and stuck
out his chest a little. “My dad is Son Goku, the strongest warrior on Earth,”
he said proudly. The Namekian let out a low snarl.
Zarbon glanced at Vegeta. “Could
it be Kakarott?” he said quietly, eying the child carefully.
Vegeta scowled. “Of course it’s
Kakarott!” he snarled. “Who else would it be?”
The skin on the back of Zarbon’s
neck began to prickle in frustration, but he took a deep breath and managed to
calm himself. “If Kakarott’s this kid’s father then Saiyans must be able to
interbreed with humans,” he stated. “Even half-Saiyans would be nice additions
to your empire.”
Vegeta stared at the little boy
and grunted. “Then it’s a good thing we didn’t bring Nappa. He’d be doing his
damnedest to get as many offspring as possible.”
The long-haired Earthling came a
little closer and scowled. “Hey, are you two going to babble all day or can we
get down to business?” he shouted.
Zarbon smiled as Vegeta’s
features darkened further. “Are you so eager to die, Earth man?” the Saiyan
snarled.
The three-eyed man came forward.
“Is there anything we can resolve without fighting?” he asked, spreading his
hands wide. “If you want to see Radditz that isn’t a problem. In fact, we’ll
welcome you with open arms and offer what assistance we can, so long as we can
keep the peace.”
Vegeta raised a gloved finger to
his chin and tapped it there for some moments, dark eyes studying the man. “No,
I’ve had enough of peace,” he said finally, moving his hands together and
cracking his knuckles. “I’m going to see how many of you I can kill before
Kakarott gets here. Then if he won’t join me I’ll kill him, take Radditz, and
destroy this worthless planet,” he said calmly.
“No!” shouted the little boy,
and Zarbon watched Vegeta’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He gritted his teeth
and wished once again for the scouter. The power emanating off of the boy was
so strong that even he could feel its heat, although he had no idea as to how
high the rating was actually going. By the look on Vegeta’s face he could tell
he really didn’t want to know.
Vegeta barely had time to block
the vicious kick to his midsection, grunting under the impact the little boy’s
leg made on his forearm. He tossed the child aside and darted in with a
lightning-swift jab of his own, catching the boy in chin and knocking him up
into the air. The boy spun and angled back downward, fists outstretched and
face contorted with concentration. “Very good, little one,” Vegeta snickered,
“But you’ll have to do better than this to defeat me.” The boy’s eyes widened
in shock as Vegeta seemingly phased out of existence, only to materialize once
again behind him and kick him in the back of the head. The boy jerked once,
then began a furious descent to the earth, unconscious. Vegeta smiled as the
tall green alien dashed forward to catch the child, clutching him to his chest
and glaring up at Vegeta hatefully. The smile on Vegeta’s face broadened
dangerously. “Did I break your toy?” he sneered, putting a gloved hand on his
hip below where his tail was curled around his waist and cocked his head a
little to the side.
“You bastard,” the Namekian
hissed, and was about to set the boy down when the three-eyed warrior put a
hand on his shoulder and stepped forward.
“Are we fighting one-on-one,
then?” he asked.
“Tien!” the doll-like thing
gasped. Vegeta raised an eyebrow.
“I take it that the two of you
aren’t going to gang up on us?” the three-eyed man continued.
Vegeta glanced over his shoulder
at Zarbon, expression unreadable. “There’s no need to ‘gang up’ on you,” he
said coldly. “I can take every single one of you by myself.”
“Arrogant!” the Namekian hissed,
muscles tensing as if to start forward once again.
The three-eyed man nodded his head.
“Very well. Then I shall be your next opponent,” he said calmly. He turned his
gaze to the Namekian for a moment. “Gohan wasn’t ready. He attacked out of
anger,” he murmured.
The Namekian’s antennae twitched
slightly. “I taught him better than that,” he grunted. “Show that Saiyan a
thing or two, Tien.”
The man called Tien smiled and
raised two fingers in acknowledgement, his green pants fluttering in the high
pre-thunderstorm winds as he took a step forward, all of his eyes fixed upon
Vegeta. He rose into the air and stopped suddenly several yards from Vegeta,
making strange motions with his hands.
“Are you going to mime me to
death?” Vegeta snapped, growing impatient. The screaming in his head was
becoming ever-louder and he could feel it sapping his strength. He normally
would have had no problem dispatching them one at a time, or even all at once,
but his power was waning at that very moment and he wasn’t sure how much longer
he had.
Tien smiled at him and suddenly
blurred, his image superimposing itself on another image of him, until Vegeta
found himself faced with several three-eyed men. A snarl curled on his lip and
he crouched a little as the multi-Tiens moved in with a flurry of blows. Vegeta
whirled around to block a powerful blow to the kidney, barely moving out of the
way as a kick swished past his hair. Sweat broke out on his brow as his
concentration was spread thin, constantly trying to break through the mental
noise and keep tabs on the myriad limbs attacking him. He lashed out blindly with
a fist, trusting the probability that it was more likely to hit an opponent if
there were more of them, and grunted as a knee came up into his ribs,
dissipating the force of his blow. Vegeta spun a little in the air, trying to
get his bearings, when another hand shot out and connected with his stomach.
Scalding anger boiled up inside of him, clearing out the
sleep-deprivation-induced cobwebs in his brain, and suddenly he was filled with
white-hot energy, his voice seeming dim to him as he screamed his frustration.
He was aware of the three eyes widening in horror, of Zarbon’s mouth curling in
a frightened ‘no’, but it suddenly ceased to matter as the power surged up
inside of him with the pounding force of the ocean. He cackled madly as he
began to release it, the bright light that emanated from his body washing out
the three-eyed man’s expression of pain as the energy hit him, the power
burning Vegeta’s veins as it began to flow from him. The pain increased, and he
realized with shock that he could no longer control the energy; it was like on
Arlia, but far, far worse...and then he felt a soft thud against the back of
his armor. Vegeta turned his head as far as it would go, and he saw the black
cap of the little doll thing at the fringes of his vision. It had latched
itself onto his back, and expression of agony ripped across it’s bland
features. “You won’t kill Tien,” it gasped, and began to glow with its own
light. Vegeta roared in anger and tried to reach it, but it was too late.
Foreign energy invaded Vegeta’s body, ripping him apart from the inside, and he
felt himself drop several feet in altitude as his body twitched in pain. He
howled and the world exploded around him, white and blue sparks speeding
through the empty air as the light became a fountain on its way to space.
Zarbon’s shout disintegrated in the sonic boom, and when the smoke cleared two
new bodies lay on the ground.
“Vegeta!” Zarbon shouted,
lowering to better see the Prince.
Black eyes gazed up into his
reproachfully. “I know better, Zarbon,” Vegeta wheezed, his clothing torn. He
looked down and nudged the body of the doll thing with the toe of his boot, his
face tightening as he realized that the little fellow had unwittingly tempered
the force of Vegeta’s power, saving them all from self-destructing. The man
called Tien also lay on the ground facedown, although he was still breathing.
“No one is dying,” Vegeta said
crossly as he clenched his fists.
“You will when Goku gets here,”
the Namekian snarled, and launched himself at Vegeta. Vegeta was still groggy
from his brush with destruction, and as such was barely able to dodge the
whirlwind of blows the Namekian was bestowing upon him. White-nailed green
hands seemed to fly at him from every direction, and he wove from side to side,
his coal-black eyes following every swipe and jab. The Namekian howled with
rage, showing his white fangs, and dealt Vegeta a blow to the cheekbone. Vegeta
grunted and staggered back, the force blurring his vision further as his hands
came up in front of his midsection defensively. He brought up his heel and
struck the Namekian in the side of the head with a roundhouse kick, then sank
his fists into his back. He powered up his hand, shaping the ki into a blade
and plunging it toward the base of the Namekian’s skull. Another voice cried
out from somewhere, and suddenly Vegeta was lying on the ground, his armor
stinking of smoke from a ki blast.
“I thought there was no ganging
up,” Zarbon shot from the sky, voice scratchy with peevishness.
The longhaired Earth male
shrugged and smiled, the scars on his face altered slightly by the motion. “I
thought you guys were supposed to be tough,” he said. “But shorty over there
fell for one of the oldest ki tricks in the book.”
“The Prince’s attention was
elsewhere,” Zarbon hissed.
The Earthling’s smile grew
bigger. “Then he must not be very good,” he replied.
“Enough!” Vegeta shouted,
throwing one of his arms in the air as he watched the Namekian crawl over to
the boy’s prone body. “I settle my own scores,” he spat with a purposeful look
at Zarbon.
Zarbon’s expression cooled and
he floated off a little, his eyes finally fixing upon the Namekian. “Fine,” he
growled. “Just don’t let your guard down again or I’ll be forced to intervene.”
“If you interfere I will end
you, Zarbon,” Vegeta snarled.
“What a nice boss,” the
Earthling sneered. “I think you’re lucky you’re still alive with this little
toad around, pretty boy.”
Zarbon stiffened, his lips
pressing into a line. “Finish this one off, sir,” he said coldly.
Vegeta flexed his hands. “Of
course. It will be my infinite pleasure,” he replied, already relishing the
thought of dismantling the snotty Earthling piece by piece.
“You wouldn’t be acting so tough
if Goku was here,” the Earth man said coolly, examining his nails. “But then he
probably wouldn’t even notice a weak dwarf like yourself,” he finished,
narrowing his dark eyes.
“Goku is still several hours
away,” the Namekian whispered to the Earthling.
Vegeta’s brow raised. Was that
the source of the scarred man’s bravado? The hope that Kakarott would come and
bail them all out? The thought made him laugh out loud, something that
evidently startled the Earthling. “Were you thinking he could save you?” Vegeta
chuckled. “I hate to ruin the surprise, but I’m a Saiyan super-elite. Kakarott
is only a third-class soldier. There is no conceivable way he could ever beat
me!”
The scarred man paled but didn’t
change his expression. “We’ll see, won’t we?” he said, sinking into a battle
crouch, his hands reached out in front of him, fingers hooked.
“Oh yes,” Vegeta assured him and
dashed in, aiming a punch at his gut.
The Earthling moved out of the
way surprisingly swiftly, his hair swirling in the air as he dodged and tried
to land his own blow. Vegeta evaded it easily and moved to the left, executing
a leg sweep. The Earth man used his levitation to keep from completely crashing
to the ground, but Vegeta could tell by the way he was now moving that he had
damaged the ankle in some manner. Vegeta licked his lips and released a small
ki spear, heaving it at the Earthling. The muscles in the other man’s neck
tensed as he threw himself to the side in an attempt to avoid the spear,
screaming as the ki pierced his leg and pinned him into the ground. His breath
came heavily as he watched Vegeta approach, his fingers clawing at the hot
energy in his thigh. Vegeta smiled and leaned down, giving the beam of light a
flick with his finger. The Earthling bared his teeth, eyes frantic, and gripped
the leg with both hands, his face contorted. “I think it’s time you said
goodbye,” Vegeta whispered tenderly.
The man took a deep breath and
seized the spear with both hands, yanking it mightily from his thigh and
rolling over as he gasped for air, the spear dissipating into the air. “I’ll
never give up,” the Earthling gasped.
Vegeta scowled. This man was by
far the weakest of the Earth warriors, if one didn’t count the ridiculous
doll-thing, and yet he was still conscious. “Then I’ll destroy you,” Vegeta
replied coldly, continuing to stroll toward the fallen man. The Earthling
rolled onto his back and shouted, a ball of ki shooting from his hands and
speeding towards Vegeta. Vegeta smiled and moved to the side, the ki missing
him by mere inches. “Is that it?” he sneered. “Are you done?”
The Earthling only smiled in
return and moved his index fingers in a complex pattern. Vegeta scowled and
moved forward to kick him when he felt the heat of ki at his back. He turned
his head just in time to see the blue-white ball of ki explode mere inches from
his face, sending him flying. He hit the dirt with a crash and coughed as blood
filled his mouth. “Vegeta!” he heard Zarbon shout, and a corkscrew beam
exploded in the corner of his vision, the flash momentarily blinding him. When
the whiteness began to fade he saw Zarbon’s pale green skin contrasted with the
rich green of the Namekian’s, Zarbon’s yellow eyes glittering murderously. The
Namekian snarled and spit in Zarbon’s face, which earned him a slap. “I’ve had
enough of your meddling,” Zarbon sniffed, and whacked the Namekian in the
shoulder so hard that he immediately crumpled to the ground. Zarbon dusted his
hands and daintily picked up a corner of his cape and began to wipe his face.
Vegeta heaved himself to his knees and was about to stand when another light
caught his attention. The short bald man, hitherto inactive and therefore
unnoticed, was standing on a rock, a spinning disk of light hovering above his
hand.
“Zarbon, pay attention!” Vegeta
bellowed, and Zarbon whipped around, his green braid flying through the air as
the ki disk was unleashed.
Zarbon raised an eyebrow and
stood his ground, crossing his arms and watching the disk with interest.
Vegeta’s eyes widened as he realized that Zarbon had no idea of the potency of
the beam. “Don’t let it hit you!” Vegeta shrieked, Zarbon’s face opening up in
surprised comprehension. He threw himself to the side at the last second, the
disk slicing through his cape and part of his arm before continuing on to slice
the top off of a distant mountain. “Fool,” Vegeta spat, scowling hard at
Zarbon. “So much for your preaching.”
Zarbon’s mouth twisted bitterly
and he headed towards the bald man with resignation. “Don’t you dare hurt
Krillin!” the downed Earthling man shouted, reaching out as he dragged his
injured leg across the ground. Zarbon flashed him a dismissive glance and put
on an extra burst of speed, a rolling clap of thunder accompanying the bang
made by Zarbon surpassing the speed of sound. The bald man yelped and turned
tail, but Zarbon whipped a hand out and grabbed him by the back of his gi. The
little man turned and struggled, punching and kicking ineffectually. With a
quick movement of his hands Zarbon incapacitated the human, letting the small
body slide to the ground devoid of awareness.
“Why don’t you kill them?”
Vegeta snapped, standing slowly and flexing his damaged muscles.
“We don’t want Kakarott filled
with any more righteous rage than necessary,” Zarbon replied calmly. “Besides,
you’re not in any condition to fight,” he said as he turned his face up to the
rain that began to fall.
Vegeta smiled, the effect
chilling. “I don’t have to fight. I just have to kill,” he replied, taking a
step towards the scarred man.
The Earthling stood, wiping his
face with his forearm as the rain began to fall in earnest, soaking his orange
gi instantly. “I’m not going to let you hurt what’s important to me,” he said
in a low voice.
“You Earthlings do babble on
so,” Vegeta hissed, suddenly lunging forward and grasping the Earthling’s neck
between his hands and squeezing. The man gurgled and tugged weakly at Vegeta’s
gloved hands, making the Saiyan smile in pleasure. “Oh yes, I’ll go get Radditz
and then kill the rest of your useless race,” he murmured gently. “It should be
a nice vacation.”
“No! Bulma!” the man shrieked,
gathering enough energy to blind the Saiyan and throw Vegeta off of him. Vegeta
skidded across the dirt, horrified that the Earthling’s frantic cry was nearly
identical in cadence and pitch to that of the one that haunted his skull.
“Die now!” Vegeta shouted,
speeding forward, and was met with a surprise yellow ki ball. He felt ribs
crack, cursing his weakened state, but pressed forward. The man’s dark eyes
widened and he pressed the heels of his hands together, a look of extreme
concentration on his face, and Vegeta knew the Earthling was almost out of
power as well.
“Kamehameha!” the man shouted,
and Vegeta felt pain tear through his skeleton as the energy leapt into him and
sent him flying. Zarbon’s shouting voice came closer, and Vegeta felt very
comfortable flying through the air under a different power, the noises fading
in and out. He felt the cool rain upon his face, and strong hands grabbed the
collar of his armor and hoisted him to his feet. Over Zarbon’s shoulder Vegeta
could see the scarred Earthling take to the sky.
“Let go of me,” Vegeta hissed,
shaking off Zarbon’s hands.
Zarbon let go but didn’t back
off. “I don’t want you destroying yourself,” he said crossly. “Your condition
is fragile.”
“I said leave me alone!” Vegeta
shouted, giving Zarbon a mighty shove and taking off after the Earthling.
“Damn it,” Zarbon said to
himself, and took to the skies after the combatants.
17 / Bulma’s Hideout / 19