At the Lookout, Goku and Gohan sat bored outside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, waiting for Vegeta and Piccolo to come out.
Whenever Goku thought about fighting Vegeta, his Saiyan blood boiled with excitement, and he could barely contain himself. He'd thought he had reached the end of the road and grown strong enough, but his battles with his brother Raditz and with Vegeta had shown him that the road hadn't ended—he'd simply had no one to advance alongside him. Now that he had Vegeta, he could fight and grow stronger! (Piccolo: Is that any way to talk? I'll beat you to death when I get out!)
The doors to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber slowly opened. Two figures gradually emerged.
Goku looked at the pair, their clothes torn but their energy brimming, and asked, "Piccolo? You've gotten so strong, too. I don't think I could beat you now!"
"What do you mean, Goku? Are you looking down on me? Don't forget, before the Saiyans came, I was your greatest rival," Piccolo said angrily.
"Ah, well... I just didn't expect it, that's all! Sorry, Piccolo!" Goku said awkwardly.
"Hmph. How about we have a go? You're a bit stronger than me now, but I can hold back," Piccolo said.
After a year of training, including plenty of merciless beatings from Vegeta, Piccolo had grown somewhat stronger. His power level had risen a little from what it had been after just over ten days in the chamber, and now stood at around 20,000. After all, breakthroughs required a solid foundation, and there were bottlenecks to overcome. To make another major leap, he'd need a stroke of luck!
"Sure, sure! Let me see what new moves you've come up with," Goku replied.
After his near-death battle, Goku's power level had reached around 18,000. (In the original, when Goku reached Namek, he used a tenfold Kaio-ken and Ginyu detected a power level of around 180,000. I won't get into the details here. This is a fanfic, after all, even if it respects the original!)
Vegeta said, "You two, go fight somewhere else. Don't damage this place."
At his words, the two flew off the Lookout and went about ten kilometers to its left. They both let out a loud cry and unleashed their full power, then darted toward each other. At high speed, they traded blows—fist against fist, knee against knee. Just watching them hurt!
With their power levels slightly different, Piccolo caught an opening in Goku's attack and slipped between his fists. Dodging Goku's punch, he drove an elbow into his chest and sent him flying over ten meters! The terrifying shock wave scattered the white clouds overhead. Goku rubbed his aching chest. His figure vanished, and he raced back in front of Piccolo at high speed. "Wow, you've gotten so strong! How did you train? Tell me!"
"Are we fighting or not? Quit talking so much. I'll tell you after we're done," Piccolo said.
"Of course we're fighting. We've only just started. I was just curious," Goku replied.
Goku raised his fists, one forward and one back, bent his knees, and charged at Piccolo at high speed. Piccolo called out, "Soul Strike!" An invisible wave shot through the air straight toward Goku's mind. Goku couldn't sense any energy, so he paid it no attention and kept charging. Suddenly, he appeared in place, clutching his head in pain and shouting, "It hurts! My head's going to explode..."
It took Goku about five minutes to recover. "What kind of move was that? I've never seen you use it before. Is it new? I couldn't sense any energy at all, then suddenly my head was killing me. Never mind. I don't want to fight anymore. That was a weird move!"
"Hey, hey, why are you quitting? We haven't decided a winner yet. Don't think I didn't notice—you still haven't used the special move you used against Vegeta last time!" Piccolo said sternly.
Goku replied, "I can't control that move very well yet. Last time, it wasn't just Vegeta who broke every bone in my body. The backlash from the Kaio-ken left me with aftereffects, too! My body just can't handle it. I came to the Lookout to train my body so I could use the Kaio-ken better!" As he spoke, Goku relaxed his fighting stance.
Piccolo lowered his hands and explained, "I owe that move to Vegeta pointing it out. We Namekians naturally have powerful minds, but few of us know how to use them. The Guardian of Earth has some strange abilities, while I'm only good at fighting. So after hearing Vegeta's advice, I trained my mental strength and developed this move. It's not that powerful, really. If an enemy is facing me and ready to fight, they'll be on their guard and protect themselves with their ki. Then this move won't work!"
"I see. No wonder I sensed something strange just now, but couldn't feel any energy. I didn't think much of it," Goku said.
"You still haven't gotten rid of that careless habit of yours. Luckily, this was just a sparring match and I only used a third of my strength. If you'd been facing a real enemy, you'd be dead!" Piccolo scolded.
"Haha. I'd never seen a move like that before!" Goku said with an awkward laugh.
The two flew back toward the Lookout as they talked...
Vegeta said, "System, open my status."
Status
Name: Vegeta
Race: Saiyan
Power Level: 200,000
Skills: Artificial Moon, ...ellipsis
Special Combat Technique: Killing Intent Fist, First Level (increases battle power fivefold)
Super Saiyan: Not yet awakened (S-Cells developed: 35%!)
Vegeta had also hit a bottleneck. Aside from teaching him how to control his ki, Piccolo hadn't helped him increase his battle power much. After all, Vegeta couldn't feel threatened by him, so he couldn't break through the bottleneck. But with their departure fast approaching, Vegeta knew he still had a long way to go before he could match Frieza. Even with the Killing Intent Fist boosting his battle power fivefold, his base power was too low. He'd only reach a mere one million, not even enough to match Frieza's second form, let alone his final form's full power of 120 million!
Vegeta suddenly asked, "System, when will you issue a new mission?"
The system explained, "Missions are random. A new mission will be issued when the host reaches the relevant trigger point."
Goku and Piccolo returned, too.
"Hey, Vegeta!" Goku called, waving.
"Hmph, Kakarot. You're still nowhere near my level. Train hard once you go in. If you fall too far behind, I'll consider finding myself a new whetstone," Vegeta said disdainfully.
Goku narrowed his eyes and looked at the short man, who was several times stronger than him. After sensing Vegeta's strength carefully, he realized that even with the tenfold Kaio-ken, he couldn't beat him! He had no idea that Vegeta had a similar trump card. If Vegeta used the Killing Intent Fist, Goku would need a hundredfold Kaio-ken to have any chance of winning! But in the entire history of Dragon Ball, Goku never trained his body to that level.
"I will. I understand. When I come out, let's have a proper fight!" Goku's fighting spirit surged, and he looked at Vegeta with burning eyes.
"Hmph. That is, if you're worthy of standing up to me," Vegeta sneered.
Goku and Gohan headed toward the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Piccolo's magic surged, and a familiar cloak and turban appeared on him. He headed toward the Guardian of Earth...
Vegeta turned to Mr. Popo and asked, "Mr. Popo, weren't you going to teach me some things?"
Mr. Popo replied expressionlessly, "All right. Go back and get ready. I need to prepare some things. Come back in three days."
Vegeta had no choice but to go along with it. There was nothing he could do—he couldn't beat Mr. Popo, and he wanted to learn from him! Saiyans were violent and loved to fight, but they weren't stupid. Even they feared those stronger than themselves! (What, fearless? Just look at how King Vegeta knelt before Frieza.) Those without fear ended up like Bardock: fighting to the death, only to be reduced to ashes. (The movie is the movie; we're going by the original here!)
Vegeta looked at his tattered clothes and muttered, "These lousy clothes just aren't good enough. If I hadn't protected them with my ki as much as possible, they'd probably have been reduced to scraps! My Battle Suit is still better." With that, he flew toward Bulma's house.
West City,
Vegeta landed slowly and walked into the lab. Bulma's modified spaceship was almost finished. He went up behind Bulma. "Hey, Bulma!" Startled, Bulma reflexively swung the wrench in her hand at him! Vegeta caught it in one hand. "Hey, woman, do you think you can get away with this? You actually dared to hit me!"
"Let go! You're hurting me! You're the one who startled me. Haven't you heard that a scare can kill a person?" Bulma retorted.
"Ding! The system has issued a new mission!"
Just then, a mechanical voice rang out in Vegeta's mind.
Choice One: Take Bulma tonight. Reward: Break through the bottleneck and gain 500,000 battle power!
Choice Two: Just rub against her, but don't go in! Reward: One "Worse Than a Beast" title!
Choice Three: Make Bulma offer herself willingly. Reward: Two S-Cell Boosters!
"System, can I choose two missions? Taking Bulma and making her offer herself don't seem to contradict each other. At worst, I'll go to her room and tease her until she can't help offering herself. That should count as taking her, right?"
"Bzzzt, bzzzt... Crackle... The system has malfunctioned. This time, the host's choices will both be accepted. This kind of bug will not occur again. The system requires repairs. Estimated time: three months?" the system stammered.
"Ding! Host has accepted missions one and three. Rewards will be issued automatically upon completion and will not be affected by repairs!" The final words faded, and the system fell silent.
"Haha, what a busted machine. I actually got lucky! I don't know what this system is, but I'll figure it out one day!" Vegeta thought. His exchange with the system had taken only an instant.
Back to the story.
Bulma looked at the man in front of her, whose clothes were in tatters. Through the rips, his muscular body was faintly visible. Bulma's blood pressure rose, and a warm trickle ran from her nose... She'd gotten a nosebleed!
Vegeta smirked. "What's wrong? Can't resist my mighty body? I'll let you leave your door unlocked for me tonight. I'll come and take you to bed, haha!" He was teasing her, but also trying to set things up for the mission!
Bulma's face turned red. She lifted her head and headed for the bathroom, calling back as she went, "Don't flatter yourself, you narcissist! I'll never let you have your way..." Yet she couldn't get the image of that hormone-charged man out of her mind...
Before you continue