"All right," Son Goku said, clapping his hands to break the silence. "It's over. Let's go home!"
"Over?" Piccolo snorted. "I'd say it's only just begun. Vegeta's not the type to let this go. And besides... Frieza's still behind him."
Son Goku's smile faded, and his eyes grew serious. "I know. So... everyone, keep working hard at your training!"
"You don't have to tell me!" Krillin clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. "After seeing a monster like that, who'd dare slack off?"
"Exactly!" Yamcha chimed in. "Next time we meet, we'll make that so-called prince regret it!"
The group laughed and chatted as they leaped into the air, streaking toward West City like beams of light.
A few hours later, inside the Gravity Chamber.
"Ugh..."
Nappa let out a pained groan and slowly opened his eyes.
First he saw a glaring light, then a metal ceiling. He bolted upright, only to discover that he was tied to a chair. With his strength, he could have snapped the restraints at any time, but he didn't dare.
Because standing before him were Raditz, Piccolo, and the black-haired man who filled him with fear down to his bones: Son Goku.
[Where's Prince Vegeta?!]
Nappa looked around in alarm, but he couldn't see the familiar, short figure anywhere. The training room held nothing but cold metal walls and several machines he couldn't identify.
[Where is His Highness?]
"Don't bother looking," Raditz said, folding his arms with a faintly mocking smile. "Vegeta's gone. He abandoned you. Said you were 'useless trash.'"
"W-what?"
Nappa shuddered, his massive frame trembling violently.
[Impossible...]
He lowered his head and stared at his shaking hands, their thick fingers covered in scars.
[I'm a warrior directly assigned to the royal family... I've been at Prince Vegeta's side since he was four. For twenty-three years.]
[When he killed an enemy with his own hands for the first time, I stood behind him. When Frieza humiliated him for the first time, I knelt and swore I'd grow strong enough to share his burden.]
[How could I be... trash?]
"Prince Vegeta... abandoned me?" Nappa's voice was hoarse. "He... he really said that?"
"Every word," Raditz said, crouching to meet Nappa's gaze. "I heard him myself. Those were his exact words: 'What use is useless trash like that?'"
Nappa's pupils shrank.
[Those exact words... That really does sound like Prince Vegeta.]
He closed his eyes, and Vegeta's cold, retreating figure flashed through his mind. His Highness had never needed weak followers. That was the Saiyan way, and Nappa knew it better than anyone.
[But I thought... I thought I was different.]
[I thought at least... at least I'd die on the battlefield, not be tossed aside on an unfamiliar planet like some old piece of equipment.]
Nappa opened his eyes, their rims red.
[It's over... Everything's over...]
"Listen, Nappa," Raditz said, raising a finger. "You've got two choices."
Nappa lifted his head. His eyes held no fear, only a numb, bewildered emptiness. He looked at Raditz, his former comrade, who now stood over him, gazing down from above.
"First," Raditz said coolly, "you behave, follow Earth's rules, and train with us. You tried to kill us earlier, but Goku says he's willing to give you one chance."
"A-and the second?"
Raditz grinned, showing his gleaming white teeth. "Second, you can try to fight back. But I should warn you—"
He pointed at Piccolo behind him. "That Namekian has a power level of twenty-five thousand. Mine is fifteen thousand. Yours is no higher than four thousand. How many seconds do you think you'd last?"
Nappa's face turned deathly pale.
He looked at Raditz, then Piccolo, and finally at Son Goku, who stood in the doorway smiling at him.
[Kakarot... That monster.]
[Prince Vegeta turned into a Great Ape, and Goku defeated him with one move... I'm no match for His Highness. How could I possibly fight back?]
Nappa clenched his teeth, the taste of blood filling his mouth. He lowered his head, veins bulging across his bald scalp as he wrestled with himself.
[If I fight back, I'll die for sure.]
[But if I surrender... Am I still a Saiyan? Am I still worthy of calling myself a warrior of the royal family?]
His fists clenched, then loosened, then clenched again.
[No...]
[Prince Vegeta doesn't want me anymore, but I can't just die here.]
[If I die here, I'll never get another chance... never get the chance to show His Highness what a loyal warrior he threw away!]
Nappa abruptly raised his head. His voice was hoarse but resolute. "I choose the first."
Raditz raised an eyebrow. "Oh? That was quick."
"I'll obey," Nappa said through clenched teeth. His voice trembled, but he didn't look away. "I'll do as I'm told. But—"
He glared at Raditz, enunciating every word. "It's not because I'm afraid to die. I'm a Saiyan, a warrior of Prince Vegeta. Even if he doesn't want me anymore, I won't be crushed like some worthless weakling."
Raditz froze for a moment, a complicated look flashing through his eyes. He stood, stayed silent for two seconds, then patted Nappa on the shoulder. "Good. Now, the first rule: on Earth, no killing people on a whim, no destroying cities, and no picking on the weak. If you break the rules..."
He drew a finger across his throat.
Nappa nodded.
Son Goku watched from the doorway without smiling, simply studying Nappa's eyes.
"Do you hate him?" Son Goku suddenly asked. "Vegeta."
Nappa stiffened.
[Hate him?]
He lowered his head. "No... His Highness did nothing wrong. I was too weak. If I'd been stronger... he wouldn't have left me behind."
Son Goku was silent for a moment, then smiled. "Then get stronger. Here, you don't need anyone's permission to grow stronger."
With that, he turned and left.
Nappa stared blankly at Son Goku's retreating figure. His lips moved, but in the end he said nothing.
[Grow stronger... without anyone's permission?]
[In the Frieza Force, only Saiyans approved by their superiors were allowed to undergo intensive training. The weak... were fit only to be sent to their deaths.]
[But here...]
Raditz undid Nappa's restraints and tossed him a set of Earth workout clothes. "Put these on. Starting today, you train with me. Five in the morning, Gravity Chamber. If you're one minute late, I'll break your legs."
Nappa took the clothes and gripped them in his hands until his knuckles turned white.
[Prince Vegeta...]
[I'll grow stronger.]
[Even if you don't want me anymore, I won't disgrace the name of a Saiyan warrior.]
[One day... One day I'll stand before you and make you realize that what you threw away back then wasn't trash.]
From that day on, a bald figure joined the others in the Gravity Chamber.
At first, Nappa was clumsy and silent, training as if his life depended on it. When Raditz told him to run fifty laps, he ran eighty. When Raditz told him to lift five hundred kilograms, he lifted seven hundred. Sweat soaked through his clothes, and his muscles tore and healed, but he never said a word.
[Still not enough... Still not enough!]
[A power level of four thousand... That doesn't even qualify me to be the weakest one here!]
Before you continue