"Forgive me, Goku. I promise this is the last time!"
"I don't believe a word you say, you liar Vitelli! Stop right there!"
Goku shouted angrily. He ignored his exhaustion, powered up, and immediately took off after him!
One chased while the other fled, and their figures quickly disappeared over the horizon.
Only Goku's angry shouts and Vitelli's shameless laughter echoed across the wasteland.
Back where they stood, Raditz and Nappa, who had just managed to get back to their feet, looked at each other in dismay.
Then they both raised their heads and stared at the sky where Vegeta had disappeared.
There was nothing there anymore.
After hesitating, Raditz said to Nappa:
"Nappa... maybe... you could fly up and look for Prince Vegeta? Bring him back?"
At that, Nappa shook his bald head like a rattle and lowered his voice as he replied to Raditz:
"I may be stupid, but I'm not an idiot! If I go up there now and see the prince at his most pathetic, he'll definitely kill me to keep me quiet once he's recovered! Are you trying to get me killed?"
Raditz thought about Vegeta's personality and decided Nappa made a lot of sense.
So the two Saiyans had no choice but to keep standing there with their necks craned, silently praying:
'Prince Vegeta, please be all right...'
And, 'Please hurry up and fall down. Standing here with our heads tilted back and staring at the sky is so stupid...'
Chapter 32: Anything Is Possible (Haha)
The atmosphere in the living room at Brief Manor was a little awkward.
Goku looked aggrieved, like a child complaining to his parents, as he chattered to Bulma about how Vitelli had tricked him.
Bulma listened, first raising her eyebrows in surprise, then shooting a reproachful glare at Vitelli, who was trying to pretend he was admiring the scenery.
After hearing Goku's complaint, she first instructed the Robot Butler:
"Prepare the most lavish feast you can, and make plenty of meat!"
Then she reached out, grabbed Vitelli by the ear with perfect aim, and gave it a hard twist!
"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts! Easy, sweetheart!"
Vitelli immediately grimaced and begged for mercy.
"I swear, you!"
Bulma's tone was reproachful.
"Goku's simple-minded enough as it is, and you still go and trick him? Are you happy when you see him upset? If you're really that bored, come run errands and do some work for me!"
What could Vitelli do when his wife made a demand like that?
All he could do was nod repeatedly, smile obsequiously, and agree:
"Yes, yes, it's my fault, my fault. Run errands for you? No problem! Leave it to me!"
Before long, the robot servants had brought out a lavish feast, the table laden with dishes that looked delicious and smelled wonderful.
A whole roasted lamb, golden and crispy; a giant dinosaur steak bursting with juices; all kinds of delicate, tempting desserts...
Goku instantly forgot his grievances. He was practically drooling onto the floor.
His eyes sparkled with happiness, and he looked ready to dive in and start eating.
Vitelli looked at the spread and suddenly said:
"Hold on before you dig in. I'll invite Vegeta over too. He's actually not a bad guy; he's just a little tsundere, a little foul-mouthed, a little short, and a little stubborn... Ahem. Anyway, you might become pretty good friends someday."
Goku immediately stopped drooling over the food and nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! Since you made all that stuff up earlier, Vitelli, Vegeta didn't send anyone to kill everyone, so he's not a bad guy!"
Vitelli smiled at that and couldn't help muttering under his breath:
"He was about to kill you, and you still think he's not a bad guy? That's so you, Scum-rot."
After saying something that left Goku utterly confused, Vitelli vanished from the dining room in a flash.
Atop a snow-covered mountain somewhere on Earth, where snow fell all year round.
The wind howled as Vegeta stood alone at the summit, arms crossed. His tattered Battle Suit flapped loudly in the wind.
The wounds he had sustained fighting Goku had yet to heal, and a few small cuts were still oozing blood.
His expression was dark as he stared at the distant, roiling sea of clouds, his thoughts unreadable. An aura that warned others to stay away radiated from him.
Whoosh!
Vitelli appeared behind him without warning.
"Hey, Vegeta."
Vitelli greeted him with a grin.
"Want to come eat? My place is full of delicious food!"
Vegeta stiffened slightly, but didn't turn around. He merely let out an icy snort through his nose.
"Hmph!"
In his mind, that bastard Vitelli had made up a vicious lie about him to provoke the idiot Kakarot into transforming. Kakarot had become a Super Saiyan just like him, and Vegeta had been defeated in front of his own subordinates!
Vegeta would remember this humiliation! He would remember it for the rest of his life!
Vitelli didn't care one bit about Vegeta's cold attitude. Grinning, he walked over and casually slung an arm around Vegeta's shoulders.
The gesture made Vegeta stiffen all over again.
Meanwhile, Vitelli instinctively compared their heights. The top of Vegeta's head came up to about his chest.
"Pfft—"
Vitelli couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Vegeta whipped around and glared at him, fury building in his eyes.
"You... What are you laughing at?!"
Vitelli hurriedly waved his hands, offering an apology with no sincerity whatsoever.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it... It's your fault for being so short! Kakarot and I have both been shooting up over the past few years. How come you haven't grown at all? Did you stop developing?"
Vitelli was now exactly 1.8 meters tall, while Goku was around 1.75 meters. As for Vegeta...
By Vitelli's estimate, he might not even have reached 1.65 meters.
"You...!"
Vegeta's face instantly turned bright red. Veins bulged on his forehead, and he looked as if someone had stepped on his tail.
He practically roared his reply:
"I'm a Saiyan! The prince of the noble warrior race, the Saiyans!!! I may not be tall, but my power level is high!!! You bastard, Vitelli! Don't you dare laugh!!!"
As he spoke, he swung an enraged punch at Vitelli's face!
Seeing Vegeta completely lose his composure and fly into a rage, Vitelli laughed even harder.
His shoulders shook as he ignored the punch landing on his face. It didn't hurt him in the slightest.
"Heh-heh-heh... Hahaha... Sorry... But it's really funny..."
Vegeta looked as if he were staring at the man who had murdered his father!
If looks could kill, Vitelli would have become Shang Yang by now.
Vitelli finally laughed himself out, wiped the tears from his eyes, and patted Vegeta on the shoulder.
Half joking and half serious, he said, "So, Vegeta, who are you comparing your power level to? Goku? Goku just beat you. Or... do you think you can beat me?"
He paused, then added in a deliberately irritating tone:
"Want me to stand right here without fighting back and let you attack me with all you've got for ten minutes? We can see if you can even get through my defenses."
Vegeta's face, which had only just begun to calm down, turned red with anger all over again!
He huffed and puffed for a while before finally forcing the words out through clenched teeth:
"Ka... Kakarot only won because he fought dirty! Y-you interfered in our fight! Otherwise, I wouldn't have lost!"
Vitelli shrugged indifferently.
"All right, all right, it's all my fault. Happy? It was all my fault. So now, Prince Vegeta, are you going to eat or not? If you don't, Kakarot and I are going to start without you. There's so much good food. Are you sure you don't want any?"
Vegeta looked terribly conflicted.
On one hand, he really didn't want to be nice to that irritating Vitelli.
On the other, after such an intense battle, his stomach was rumbling with hunger. He'd also learned just how delicious Earth food could be...
In the end, hunger won out over his pride.
He gave a heavy snort, turned his head away, and spoke with the air of a mighty warrior:
"Hmph! Fine! I'll go! You'd better see for yourself! I might not be able to beat you right now, but at the dinner table, you're no match for me, Vegeta!!!"
Vitelli grumbled inwardly:
'Good grief, what a weird competitive streak...'
"Sure, sure. Come on, Your Highness, Champion of the Dinner Table."
Vitelli rested one hand on Vegeta's shoulder.
Whoosh!
The two of them vanished from the snowy mountaintop in an instant.
In the next moment, they reappeared in the warm, comfortable dining room at Brief Manor, filled with the aroma of food.
As soon as they arrived, Vegeta jerked his shoulder and shook Vitelli's hand off, as if he'd touched something filthy.
Without even glancing at Vitelli, he strode straight to the table, dropped into an empty seat, folded his arms, and lifted his chin high, doing his best to maintain his haughty bearing.
But... his tattered Battle Suit and the wounds on his face made it impossible for him to look dignified.
Goku, who had been staring at the feast and swallowing eagerly, immediately greeted Vegeta with a cheerful smile when he saw him arrive.
"Hey, Vegeta! You're here!"
Vegeta couldn't be bothered to look him in the eye. He simply snorted and said firmly:
"Next time we fight, I'm the one who'll win!"
Without giving Goku a chance to reply, he grabbed the knife and fork beside him and launched an attack on the food with blinding speed!
His speed, his intensity—it was as if he weren't eating, but fighting a fierce battle!
Seeing that, Goku panicked and shouted:
"I'm not going to lose!"
Then he immediately joined the table war.
Watching those two instantly wolf down the food and occasionally taunt each other with their eyes, Vitelli couldn't help thinking with heartfelt emotion:
'Those two really are... bound by a strange fate...'
He wasn't foolish enough to compete for food with those two ravenous gluttons, eating until their faces were red.
He turned and wandered into a small dining room next door to enjoy his own meal.
Come on, did they even know what it meant to have a private meal? Bulma had definitely saved the best food for him!
After eating and drinking their fill, Goku and Vegeta slumped in their chairs without a shred of dignity. Their bellies were round with food, and even moving a finger felt like too much effort.
But even so, their "war" was far from over.