The So-Called Gathering

"Milord... the item you requested has been completed!" Just as Betkas was on the verge of dozing off, the catfish-faced alien from before spoke to him with a slight shiver.

"Oh, it's done already!" Betkas blinked his drowsy eyes, then took the new set of battle armor. It felt surprisingly heavy.

"Not bad, less than an hour. If there's anything else in the future, I might come back." Betkas felt the weight of the gear in his hands, quickly stripped off his current battle armor, and changed into the new set with a faint smile.

"...Please take care..." the catfish alien said respectfully. Betkas, meanwhile, trudged forward step by step, each footfall as heavy as a thousand pounds, thudding loudly against the ground.

"Good thing Vegeta's still asleep, giving me time to get used to the weighted clothing. Otherwise, he'd definitely see through it!" Betkas thought to himself as he struggled toward his room. This new gear was really tough on him. Back on Planet Vegeta, he'd done weight training, but here on Lord Frieza's spaceship, there was no such gravity. For Betkas, it was a whole different ball game.

When Betkas reached his room, he took a moment to catch his breath, then sat on the floor, removed his scouter, and scanned himself.

"Beep, beep, beep!!!"

"Battle power: 4452."

Betkas put the scouter back on and thought, "Dropped three hundred points. That's fine. At least no one will suspect anything for a while."

"Now, time to train. I wonder where Frieza's heading in such a rush. He seems anxious."

Betkas gazed out at the endless expanse of space rushing by, a flicker of doubt in his mind. But he didn't let it stop him from training, especially while Vegeta was still asleep. He needed to get used to this weighted body to avoid slipping up later.

"One, two, three, four, five, six...!" Without further delay, Betkas started doing one-armed push-ups. For him, two arms were too easy; one arm was just right. If his current condition allowed, he'd even try one-fingered push-ups. Pure physical training like this was the best.

Time passed like that. Betkas waited nearly four days for Vegeta and Nappa to wake up, which left him speechless. In those four days of training, his battle power had risen to over 4500 while wearing the weighted clothing. If he took it off, he estimated it would be close to 4800.

Even with the weights, he hadn't surpassed Vegeta, but it was still impressive. If he kept training like this, he might actually overtake him. Perhaps sensing through his scouter that Betkas's power was closing in, Vegeta started training hard too. He couldn't stand the thought of a Saiyan stronger than him—if anyone was going to be the strongest, it had to be him.

Nappa, watching the two of them push themselves, had no choice but to follow suit. Falling behind meant risking death at the hands of an enemy someday, and he didn't want that. So the three of them trained in silence, exchanging no words.

Then one day, Frieza's spaceship landed on a technologically advanced planet. Some personnel came to warn them.

"This is the planet of King Cold, Lord Frieza's father. If you want to live, keep your heads down. Even Lord Frieza has to follow the rules here. There's even a rumor that Lord Frieza's brother, Lord Cooler, has arrived."

Hearing that warning, Betkas broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected all three of the universe's greatest emperors to gather here, and for some unknown reason. He decided not to leave the ship. This wasn't Frieza's territory, and Frieza was arguably the weakest of the three emperors here.

If someone picked a fight, it wouldn't end well. For the sake of his own safety, Betkas wisely chose to stay onboard. But out of curiosity, Vegeta wanted to go see. Betkas wanted to stop him but knew he couldn't, so he gritted his teeth and followed, with Nappa tagging along. The three stuck close to Frieza's main force, avoiding any solo moves that might cause trouble. Vegeta understood that too, or he'd have already disappeared.

"Zarbon, Dodoria... keep a tight leash on those fools who might make stupid mistakes. This isn't our turf."

Frieza, apparently heading off to discuss something, turned to Zarbon and Dodoria.

Zarbon and Dodoria nodded gravely. "Understood, Lord Frieza!"

The moment they spoke, Frieza lifted off and flew toward a massive building ahead.

"So that's Cooler. I can't sense his ki, but that pressure... it's strong. Still, in the end, you're just a stepping stone."

Betkas noticed Frieza was gone and caught a glimpse of a figure zipping past, similar to Frieza. He thought to himself.

"Once we're back, I need to come up with a reason to leave. Otherwise, I won't get much stronger. The universe is full of dangers and changes—it's hard to adapt." Betkas glanced at the sweaty faces of their own crew. King Cold's planet had ten times the gravity of others, making many struggle. Even Vegeta was having a tough time, though Betkas figured it was just temporary. Once they adapted, Vegeta would get a bit stronger.

For Betkas, though, it wasn't that big a deal. He was tired, sure, but it was just initial discomfort. Once he got used to it, he'd be fine.