First of All, I Am Vegeta Ch.30

— Vegeta —

“Is that all you got, Vegeta?!” Kakarot roared with a confident grin. My fingers dug into my palms as I clenched my fist and pointed it at him, a smirk on my lips.

“You forget who I am, Kakarot. I am Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, and I’ll be damned if I lose to you!”

Two towering pillars of light shone bright opposite in the infinite void of white. One bright blue and the other purple. I could see it in his eyes, and I know mine were an open book as well.

Now more than anything, I wanted to see just how far I had come.

Without another word, both of us blasted forward, our auras clashed against one another as our forearms met in a powerful blast of energy. I was the first to throw a punch, one aimed at his head. He pushed my fist away and slammed his head into mine.

“Gah!”

I winced and took a step back and was met with a hard kick to the gut which almost made me double over, once again forcing me to leave myself open. He followed up with an uppercut that sent me flying into the air before vanishing above me with the intention of knocking me back down.

I managed to slow my body down and stop in the face of his attack. I blocked it with my arms and sent a kick out, one that struck him in the side and shook his whole body. My cocky smirk retook its place as I brought my hands together and slammed them atop his head, knocking him back down into the void of the Time Chamber.

*BOOOOM*

His body crashed hard into the ground but unsurprisingly he didn’t stay down for long. He pushed himself up to his feet and brought his hands together in a form I recognized all too well. I stared down at him with my arms crossed, a look of anticipation on my face as he began to speak.

“Why don’t we take this up a notch, eh, Vegeta?” The excitement was clear in his tone and I could feel the sensation of goosebumps on my skin.

“I’ve never known you as one to skip to the good part, Kakarot.” I admitted as I uncrossed my arms and brought my hands up near my head. “But I cannot say I dislike this change.”

“Hehe!” Kakarot chuckled and narrowed his eyes in focus. “Kaaaaa-Meeeeee-Haaaaaa-Meeeee…”

“Galick Gun…”

“Haaaaaaaaa!”

“Fire!”

The two beams of blue and purple met each other in a vibrant clash. I grit my teeth as I poured more power into the beam, overwhelming Kakarot for a moment before he did the same.

As we struggled I took a moment to appreciate just how far he had come. Whereas the guy had once barely even been too much of a challenge for me, now he was actually giving me a good run for my money, and he hadn’t even activated Kaioken-

“Kaioken!”

Ah… there it is.

“Shit!”

The sudden burst of power added to his blast nearly sent me flying backwards as his Kamehameha completely overwhelmed my Galick Gun, but what kind of man would I be if I gave up that easily?

“That’s far from enough, Kakarot!” I roared as I poured more ki into my blast, evening the odds once again. I couldn’t see Kakarot’s face through the blinding lights of our attacks, but I didn’t need to, I could feel his excitement.

“Times two!”

The beam pushed back again but I held on firmly as I pushed my body and power to the limit!

My aura began to change but I paid it no mind as I focused everything on the fight in front of me.

“Times three!”

Even as he rose another level I held my ground, pushing his beam back toward him and dominating the battle. My eyes narrowed as I felt the ki in my body depleting by the second.

“Give me everything you got, Kakarot!” I demanded.

“Times four!”

The wave of his energy finally pushed me back to the point where all that remained of my blast was the bit of ki in my hands. I grit my teeth as I struggled to push back.

Kaioken times four… was that all it took to defeat me? I couldn’t care less how strong Kakarot is… but to allow him to be stronger than me… no, such a thing was infeasible!

“No!” I growled as the ki in my hands began to change color. With a powerful burst of energy, I managed to push the blast back to Kakarot in a sudden show of strength. The vein on my forehead bulged as I grit my teeth so hard I thought they’d shatter.

“Vegeta?!” Kakarot shouted in surprise as the blast pressed down on him, pushing him against the ground. “T-Times eight!”

The boost of power gave Kakarot all he needed to push the clashing blasts up a bit and jump into the air.

*BOOOOOOM*

The ground beneath us was destroyed and our energies detonated.

I let out panting breaths as I struggled to catch my breath. Every muscle in my body was screaming for a break, and the increased gravity was not making things better. As I panted, I let gravity pull me down to the ground where my body crashed against the earth.

As I laid on the ground catching my breath, I heard the soft patter of Kakarot landing just behind me. I let out a groan as I looked up to see him looking down at me with an impressed smile. The exhaustion coursing through my body wanted me to avoid even exchanging another word with him, but knowing Kakarot…

“Jeez Vegeta, I knew you were strong but I didn’t know you were that strong! How long have you been holding out on me?”

“Dunno.” I answered curtly and refocused on breathing. I could feel my muscles contracting and locking up. It was a feeling I experienced a few times when training on the ship, but never had it been this bad.

“I mean I’ve never seen you do anything like that! One second your aura was purple, the next it was orange and you were so strong!”

“Kakarot… not now.” I narrowed my eyes at him as I felt my vision begin to darken.

“Oh come on, Vegeta! Just tell me!”

“Kakarot… just shut the fuck up.” As my eyes closed, the sound of Kakarot’s voice faded to nothingness. Even with the rippling pain searing through my body, my lips tugged as I welcomed unconsciousness.

— Turles —

Twelve hours had passed since Prince Vegeta and Kakarot had decided to head off on their own and in that time the Saiyans and Earthlings had not forgotten their own responsibilities.

They had spent so much time on this planet training that it had become less of a job and more of a habit. The Earthling women had said the Saiyans act like drug fiends when it comes to training, and Turles could understand where they were coming from.

The feeling of growing stronger was intoxicating. A Saiyan did not train their hardest and only made a minimal unnoticeable gain. No, they could fully understand and recognize their growing strength.

To start training one day and look back a week later and understand just how much you grew… such a thing was addicting. It made foes like Freeza look surmountable with enough time and hard work.

The darker-skinned Saiyan grit his teeth as he blocked the attacks of the larger Saiyan man. The man who had been considerably stronger than him at a time. Now they were almost equals.

“Is that all you got, Professor?!” Turles roared as he launched a barrage of punches aimed at Nappa’s head and torso. The bald-headed Saiyan managed to block most of them, but when Turles feinted a blow and exchanged it for one aimed at his gut, the older Saiyan could do nothing but take the blow and double over. “You really need to stop focusing on those foolish Earthling endeavors and refocus on your training.”

“Hehe, never.” Nappa stood back up to his full height, towering over Turles. “Modeling, movies, partying and fucking! This world is great! Better than any other world I’ve been to!”

“Then you’ll be left in the dust of your betters!” Turles roared as he stepped forward and threw a punch aimed at Nappa’s face.

*BANG*

Turles paused as the punch was caught in the massive hand of the Saiyan before him.

“Mhm! But not today!” Nappa threw a harder punch at Turles’ face, sending him flying into the wall of the gravity machine.

*BOOOOM*

His body collided and tore a hole through the metal, launching him out the ship and onto the grass outside.

“Fuck! My head!” Turles winced as he looked up at the gray clouds in the sky. His eyes narrowed in pain.

“What was that?!” The sound of a woman shouted and Turles let out a sigh as a group of footsteps grew near.

He pushed himself to his feet and stared at the four women standing in front of him. They weren’t looking back at him, instead their eyes were locked on the Turles shaped hole Nappa had made in the ship.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Tights stepped forward and glared at him. Turles looked at the hole, then back at the women and shrugged.

“Does it matter, you both can fix it right?”

“Of course it matters! We aren’t your personal mechanics to be summoned whenever you two lunkheads are dumb enough to break our stuff!” Tights placed her hands on her hips. “Look at the mess you’ve made!”

Nappa stepped out of the ship through the door and held his hands up.

“Bulma… Tights… it was Turtles’ fault.”

“What the fuck do you mean it was my fault, you launched me through ship!”

“That never happened.” Nappa shook his head. “His fault.”

Turles stared at the bald man, absolutely dumbfounded.

“That’s all the proof I need, what about you Bulma?” Tights turned to her sister who had her eyes closed as she rubbed her growing belly.

“I have enough to worry about with my own man and this unrelenting gremlin he put inside me, Tights, you can deal with your man yourself.”

A blush came to Tights’ face as she held her head high and turned away.

“Fine, don’t back me up! What are sisters for anyway?”

“I wonder the same thing everyday.” Bulma sighed.

“You’re gonna help me fix this, since you wanna make such a big mess.”

“Like hell I will!” Turles argued.

“You muscleheads are the ones that use this ship. I have no reason to fix it, and if you don’t help, I won’t. I wonder how Vegeta will react when he hears you refused to repair the damage you made and as a result everyone had to go without training.”

Turles’ head filled with thoughts of the scenario. Indeed Prince Vegeta would not be happy. At best he’d get slapped around a bit, even if he explained the truth of the situation, he was still partially to blame for the damage. Slowing down others because his own pride called for it would not fly around Prince Vegeta.

“Tch.” Turles looked away with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. Just like that he had been framed for something he only had a small amount of blame in. This woman was as manipulative as she was smart.

“Wonderful! Then why don’t we start immediately.” Tights clapped her hands together and put on a joyous smile, one Turles knew was only born thanks to his suffering.

“You’re an evil woman…”

“What was that?” Tight’s eyes narrowed while the smile on her lips remained.

“I said nothing.”

“That’s what I thought! It doesn’t hurt to make sure though!” Tights giggled.

“I should take notes.” A blonde-haired Launch whispered beside Bulma.

“Oh dear, to keep a Saiyan under control you need to show them just how much power you have over them. You’ll learn in time.” Chi-Chi informed Launch with a bright smile. “How do you think I manage to keep a strong man like Goku under control?

“Really? I’ve just been using my guns but they don’t really work on Raditz. He still listens to me… sometimes.” Launch frowned.

“Violence is never the way Launch. There are other things a woman can do to stop these fools from having their way.” Bulma gave the blonde an evil smile.

“Like cooking?”

“Yes!” Chi-Chi clapped with a proud smile. “Among other things.”

Turles frowned at the group. Evil women teaching evil things.

Suddenly something filled his senses. A large foreign power!

His head looked up and he suddenly flew into the air, startling the girls for a moment as he locked his gaze on the sky directly where the power was coming from. Whoever it was, they still weren’t in the Earth’s upper atmosphere yet.

“Turles, what’s wrong?!” Tights shouted from below.

He turned back and flew back down. His mind ran wild as he tried to figure out who the hell could have shown up. The power was distant so it was hard to tell just exactly how strong they were, but he was certain it wasn’t Freeza. If it was he would have been a few levels above startled.

“Turles?!” Tights shouted again, retaking his attention.

“That’s not good.” Nappa said as he walked over.

“No kidding.” Turles frowned.

“What’s not good? What’s going on?” Chi-Chi asked as they all looked at the two Saiyans before them.

“Someone’s coming to Earth… someone strong.”

— Krillin —

In his life Krillin had learned a multitude of techniques, skills, and had gained an exceptional amount of combat experience. Hell, he had even died facing one of King Piccolo’s soldiers, even if he hadn’t put up much of a fight in that time.

The Saiyans may be much stronger than him and the other Earthlings, but the fact of the matter is Krillin and the others were without a doubt the last line of defense for this planet, their home. They were the strongest fighters this world managed to produce and they’d defend it until their dying breath. Just as they had done for King Piccolo and just as they were prepared to do for the Saiyans.

Once the Earthlings and Saiyans made peace, the fear of future threats hadn’t lessened thanks to the words of Prince Vegeta… the promise of a powerful threat on the horizon. One who could destroy their world as easily as he snaps a finger.

It terrified him. Did it even matter if he trained when he could never hope to match such a foe?

It had taken a great deal of blood, sweat, tears, and time to realize that yes, it did matter. For all the reasons he had come to acknowledge and accept. He is Krillin, disciple of Master Roshi and a Master in his own regard. He has come so far that at this point, he couldn’t dream of looking back… of running away.

So when a power level stronger than anything he had felt in his life appeared… he could do nothing but fly to the others and prepare.

As Krillin touched down at Capsule Corp, he quickly realized that he wasn’t the last to arrive. Almost everyone was there, Turles, Raditz, Nappa, Tien, Yamcha, Piccolo, Chiaotzu, Gohan… but they were noticeably missing their two strongest fighters.

“Good, Krillin, you made it.” Tien said with a quick side look at him. The three-eyed man looked tense, tenser than usual. Krillin didn’t miss how most of the other Saiyans didn’t bat an eye at him. He had already known them well enough to know what they were thinking.

“Yeah… but where are Goku and Vegeta?” Krillin asked slowly as he looked around. Even Launch, Chi-Chi, Bulma, and Tights were here… but the two people who had the best chance of fighting off this threat were nowhere to be seen!

“Still in the Time Chamber. It hasn’t been a day yet.” Raditz answered with closed eyes and arms crossed over his broad chest. Beside him stood a blonde-haired Launch holding their daughter.

“And we’re just gonna fight this Freeza guy without their help?!” Yamcha asked and for a moment Krillin was relieved to not have to ask that question.

“You’re a fool.” Turles scowled at Yamcha. “This power level is strong, yes, but if you truly believe this to be Freeza, you’re weaker than I thought, and that was already a pretty low bar.”

Everyone went quiet at his words as all the Saiyans stared up at the upper atmosphere where the power was coming from.

That power level… wasn’t Freeza?! Krillin couldn’t believe it! The power felt stronger than Goku and Vegeta! How could this foe be anything less than Freeza?!

“Then who is it?” Piccolo asked with narrowed eyes at Turles.

“I don’t know.” Turles admitted with a frown which noticeably sent a wave of fear through the women present.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Tights demanded. The short-haired woman placed her hands on her hips and glared at Turles and he met her glare with indifference.

“What I said… At first I thought they may be the Ginyu Force… but Freeza wouldn’t send just one member to fight us. I don’t know a single unit in the Freeza Force that holds this much power.” Turles further explained.

Krillin frowned at his words. In truth he could sense a hundred or so people descending on the Earth, but only one of them was incredibly strong. There were four others that were strong but they weren’t even on Piccolo’s level.

“Could be Salza…” Raditz spoke up, getting the attention of everyone.

Turles scrunched his nose at that while Nappa rubbed his bald head.

“That… could be true. But why would Cooler send his best man to face us now?” Turles pondered while the others remained quiet.

“Who’s Salza?” Launch asked curiously.

“Cooler’s right hand man.” Raditz answered before he paused at the confused looks everyone gave him. He rubbed the back of his head as realization struck his face. “Cooler is Freeza’s brother.”

A tense silence fell over them for a few seconds before all hell broke loose.

“Brother?! Are you saying there are more threats to us?!” Yamcha growled out, waving his hand aside as he took a powerful step toward Raditz. “Why the hell didn’t you tell us?!”

“Watch yourself.” Raditz warned Yamcha as he faced him. Both men glared at each other and for a moment Krillin feared his friend was about to get his ass kicked.

“Calm down, Yamcha.” Piccolo stepped forward and lightly brushed Yamcha aside. He continued forward and stopped just in front of Raditz. “But he’s right. Why did you Saiyans fail to tell us about this… Cooler.”

“Because he’s not all that important at the moment.” Raditz crossed his arms, standing his ground. “Freeza is the tyrant that has lorded his power over us all our lives. We’ve barely seen Cooler and when we do he barely pays us mind. He may be Freeza’s brother but it’s a well known fact throughout the galaxy that Freeza and Cooler don’t get along too well.”

“If he’s willing to send one of his men here, he seems pretty important.” Tien stared at Raditz and Chiaotzu nodded in agreement beside his friend.

“We still don’t know for sure if it's Salza… I would have thought he would be stronger than this.” Turles returned his attention above and the others did as well. “Regardless of who it is, they’re a threat that needs to be dealt with.”

“That we can agree on.” Tien narrowed his eyes toward the sky.

The group waited as the ship grew closer to the planet. The closer the ship got, the clearer they could sense the lesser power levels. Each of them would be easy to handle, even for Chiaotzu, which was far from the terrifying fight they expected.

“It seems like they’re going to touch down north of here.” Turles noted.

“Mmm.” Nappa nodded which got Raditz attention.

“You’ve been quieter than… ever, Nappa… is something wrong?”

“Raditz… I’ve lived a long time. I’ve conquered planets, destroyed the lives of countless people, and have made the best damn movie this universe has ever seen…”

“… Why was that last one rele-”

“- If there’s one thing I know, Raditz… it’s killing people and building something new on their ashes.” Nappa stared at Raditz with an intensity no Earthling has seen on his face yet. “Which is why… I think this’ll make a great movie!”

And just like that he was back to his usual self.

“Can you see the headlines now?! Aliens vs. Earthlings: A Tale of the Strongest Earthling! Starring Hercule Satan! This thing is gonna make billions!”

“Can you be serious for one moment?” Tien facepalmed.

“Why would I be kidding?! This is the easiest money grab of my life! Maybe I can even get Vegeta to co-star! Hercule Satan and his sidekick, Hell-Boy!”

“I’d pay to see that.” Bulma admitted with a mischievous grin.

“Throw Turles in and I’ll fund the whole thing myself.” Tights grinned madly as Turles turned to her with an unamused frown.

“A threat is approaching the planet and you lot are talking about a movie that won’t matter if we all die here?” Piccolo raised a brow.

“Don’t you know? The good guys always win!” Nappa placed a hand on his hips and wagged his finger.

“And since when were you a good guy?” Tien glared at the man who just admitted he had killed countless innocents.

“Bitch… I’m the Director, I can be whatever I wanna be!” Nappa shot back with a laugh and the group stared at him like he had lost his mind.

“… Can I co-star?” The group turned to Yamcha and showered him with shame filled gazes. “What?! I’m short on cash.”

“Serves you right.” Bulma whispered to herself, earning laughs from the women around her.

“I refuse to be among you fools for even a moment longer.” Piccolo spat out before blasting off and taking to the sky.

“I’m just gonna go…” Gohan whispered out quickly before he followed after his master. A look of surprise worked its way over Chi-Chi’s features as she looked up and shouted at her son.

“Who said you can go?! Since when has my son become so rebellious?! My baby boy!” Chi-Chi immediately turned her glare to the closest responsible figure she could recognize and walked over to him. She stopped in front of Raditz and tightly grabbed the collar of his shirt. “You will return my baby to me unharmed or I promise you… my wrath will make itself known to you. Do I make myself clear?”

Fear shone on Raditz’s face as he looked to the mother of his child who just bounced their baby in her arms and whistled like she hadn’t heard a word of Chi-Chi’s malice.

“…Yes mam.” Raditz whispered out in defeat. Chi-Chi nodded to herself and walked away toward Capsule Corp.

“I guess that’s our sign to go. Good luck guys, the world is counting on you.” Tights waved at the group before she stopped behind Bulma and put her hands on her shoulder, pushing her toward Capsule Corp.

“Wait, Tights!” Bulma demanded but Tights wouldn’t stop, instead she giggled mischievously as she bullied her pregnant sister into their work home.

The group stared at the three forms of the retreating women before they refocused on the threat at hand.

“You Earthlings have been using the gravity machine within the ship just as long as us.” Turles crossed his arms as he floated into the air. “Don’t let all that training be for nothing.” With those last words he flew off in the same direction Piccolo and Gohan went.

“Dick.” Yamcha whispered underneath his breath.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Krillin grinned at Yamcha. Contrary to his human friends, Krillin actually enjoyed the presence of the Saiyans. They may lack manners and often spit in the face of his years of training and hard work, but he knew they weren’t bad people. If they were, they would have just left when a threat made itself known, or sided with them.

“Regardless of how much of a “dick” he is, we may need to rely on him… and the rest of you.” Tien stared at Raditz and Nappa who met his gaze.

“I’ll help protect this planet.” Raditz glanced at Launch and Raunch who were still standing with the group. “Let’s go.”

“Right!” Krillin nodded and the remainder of the group took to the air, leaving behind the woman and her daughter who waved as they flew away.

As the group flew through the crowds, the urge to speak to Raditz grew strong in Krillin’s mind. Something about the way Raditz had just left Launch and his daughter without saying anything rubbed him the wrong way.

Krillin stared forward at Raditz before he shook his bald head and sped up to catch up to the long-haired Saiyan. He stopped just beside him and earned his attention through his long stare.

“Do you need something?” Raditz asked with a not so friendly tone but Krillin didn’t take it personally.

“You didn’t want to say goodbye?” Krillin asked as he flew beside Raditz.

Raditz paused for a moment, clearly surprised by Krillin’s question. He went quiet as he looked forward. Seconds passed without an answer, then after around half a minute, he spoke.

“Did I need to say anything? This isn’t a goodbye. We’ll kill some fools and go back home to call it a day.” Raditz shrugged.

His confident words put Krillin’s worries to rest. Not because he was so confident in killing the invaders, but because of what he had called this planet.

Home.

To all of them, that’s what it was, and no matter how strong they were, they’d fight until their last breath to see this planet safe from any threat.

— Chapter End —

Beta Readers: @herofan1 @Forzarismo

Author’s Note: It’s been way too long since I’ve updated this fic but here it is.