Part 7, Chapter 4: A Saiyan's Pride

So that makes three more righteous Saiyans left to find...

Are you REALLY sure we should be including Bardock?

Yeah! Don't worry 'bout a thing. Now come on! These Saiyans ain't gonna find themselves!

Shallot, do you read me?

Whoa! Mai? What's up?

Sorry to bother you in the middle of your mission, but I have a request...

I think I may have some intel on Zahha!

You serious?!

Yeah. I just got a set of coordinates sent from his communicator. I'll forward them to you now.

Let's see... The coordinates are for a location not too far from here.

So... Is he trying to tell us where we can find him?!

He could be! Which is why I want you to look into it for me. Oh, but be careful, alright?

Huh, why? Zahha's calling! We gotta get over there as fast as we can!

I think she's right, Shallot. This seems a little fishy...

Zahha goes missing, then all of a sudden only sends us his coordinates right out of the blue? It's suspicious, if you ask me.

I mean, why didn't he just contact us directly with a video transmission?

Are you saying you think Zahha wasn't the one who sent these coordinates?

I think it's possible. An enemy might have gotten hold of Zahha's communicator and is using it to lure us into a trap.

Gah, I hate sittin' around guessing! Let's just go and see for ourselves! Time to move!

Whoa, whoa, Shallot! Don't leave us behind!

Mai just said to be careful! Would it kill you to listen for once?! *sigh* Or are we gonna die 'cause he won't...

The coordinates Mai got are for somewhere around here...

Hm? Someone's fighting over there...! Could it be Zahha?

NOW PERISH!

Oh no you don't!

Gwagh!

Heh, just in time!

No way...

Shallot?!

Master!

Gohan?! And Cabba, too?! What're you guys doin' here? Where's Zahha?

Hmph, actually, you can tell me once we've gotten rid of these goons...

Heh, glad to see you both doing alright!

And you too, Master!

There you are! Finally... Oh, hey, Gohan! Haven't seen you since the Super Cell Games!

So why are the two of you here?

It's kind of a long story...

I see...

So, Cabba, you've been looking for Shallot, Zahha, and everyone else since you got separated from them?

Yeah. I was especially worried because I haven't seen Trunks or the adult Gohan since Majin Buu got them...

But I'm really glad to hear that Trunks is safe, at least.

And then you met up with this younger Gohan during your search, started traveling together, and finally...

...You found Zahha's damaged communicator after driving off those dark Ki nuisances...

That about sums it up. I had to use his communicator because mine's completely broken.

I tried my best to make it work and managed to send some coordinates to Mai.

Gohan and I decided to wait here until Mai got the message and arrived.

So it wasn't Zahha who sent the coordinates after all...

Sorry for disappointing you, Master...

Nah, it's just...

Actually...! Now that I think about it, this is pretty good too! It's great to see you're both safe and sound!

Yeah! And we got two more righteous little Saiyans to boot!

Two...more?

Oh yeah! Lend me a hand, you two! Then we'll only need to find one more righteous Saiyan!

What...?

...And that's the long and short of it.

So... We're the third and fourth of these "righteous Saiyans" that you're looking for?

If we manage to gather five, then we may have a shot at defeating the mastermind behind all this. So, what do you say? Mind helping us out?

If we defeat him, then we can put an end to all this...?

If that's the case, then gladly!

I'll help you too!

Hell yeah! Thanks guys!

Right, where to next...

Wait a minute... This Ki...!

Heads up, we got an enemy coming! Bulma, Jaco!

We know the drill!

We'll go somewhere safe. Good luck!

So, you are the one called Shallot...

(Woah, he looks just like...like Frieza!)

So you're Frost, eh?

Oh hoh? I didn't realize I was so well-known!

Wait, this is Frost? He looks different from the Frost I know...

Oh, I didn't see you there, Cabba. What an unexpected turn of events...

Hey... Who is this?

He's called Frost. He's a hero in the universe I'm from!

(Wait... Did I hear him right? Frost...? A...hero?)

What brings you here, Frost?

Heh heh heh...

Oh! Have you been on patrol protecting everyone from people with dark Ki?

I'm afraid not, my dear Cabba. Quite the contrary, in fact... The reason I'm here is to find Shallot...

...And kill him!!

Wha-?! Are you serious?!

He reeks of dark Ki! If he's on the mastermind's side, he's goin' down!

W-Wait, Shallot! Don't just rush into things! He...!

Haaaaah!

Ngh!

Damn...you!

Tch, it's not workin'!

Alright, this'll finish it!

W-WAIT! Master!!

Frost isn't a bad person! The dark Ki has just twisted him!

Cabba, open your eyes! He...

Huh?!

Shallot?!

What's happening?! I...don't feel so good...

Heh heh heh...

Looks like it's starting to take effect...

What did you do?!

What did I do, indeed? Mwa ha ha!

I warned you not to rush in!

He's been using poison!

What...? When?!

He's got a hidden poison needle! Don't approach him carelessly or you'll end up like Shallot!

G-Got it!

You are a perceptive one, indeed... But my trick being exposed now changes nothing.

I can't believe this... Frost, why would someone like you resort to using such an underhanded tactic?

I've been trying to tell you, Cabba! This is what he's REALLY like!

Heh heh heh, now, now, no need to get so flustered. The POISON won't kill you, just make you temporarily... vulnerable. Heh heh...

And now with you unable to even squirm, I will have the pleasure of torturing you until you breathe your last...!

Ngh!

This makes me sick.

And who might you be?!

Is that...Vegeta?!

How pitiful, Shallot. Such a sad sight.

Yeah, yeah...!

Did he say Vegeta...?

And who are you? Don't say the name of the prince of Saiyans so lightly.

Oh, you don't know me? I suppose you must be a Vegeta from a different time.

How I do regret not killing you in the Tournament of Power, dear Vegeta...

But I don't mind making a small concession... You may be from a different time, but you'll make a fair substitute!

No, Vegeta!

Ahh, that felt ever so good! Very well, now time to teach this brat a lesson...

YOU will be the one who dies today.

Are you serious?!

Ah! Wh-Why?! I disposed of you!

The longer I look at you, the more you irritate me. Your face, your voice, your reliance on dirty tricks to win... It all ticks me off!

But most importantly...

The one who will defeat Shallot is me! Not you nor anyone else!

No... No... NOOOOOOO!

Worthless trash...

(He looks like Vegeta, but he's nothing like the one I know! His intensity... His strength... He's so different!)

Um, Vegeta, I...

I have no business with you, Gohan. Go hide with the other two over there.

Huh...?

Wait, Vegeta! You're not planning to fight Shallot again, are you?!

Shh! What'll we do if he decides to go for us next instead?!

What, you're saying we should just sit and watch?!

SHUT UP! Both of you!!

Eep!

Shallot!

I will give you time.

What are you on about...?

But only enough time for you to deal with that poison. When you have, we fight.

N-No way, he's going to wait?

There is no honor in defeating Shallot while he's weakened due to that fool.

I wish to pulverize him at his full strength!

Heh, Vegeta, you don't mince your words.

B-But, how are we meant to deal with the poison?

Don't worry about it, Cabba. I feel my strength coming back already. I just need a little more rest!

Even now your recovery speed astonishes me...

...

Shallot, while you're resting, can you tell me what's going on with Vegeta...?

Huh? Do you know Vegeta in your own time or something?

Yeah! But...

I don't understand... He just shows up and demands to fight you...

Was he really your master, Master? Why is he on the enemy's side?!

The Vegeta I know is too proud to do something like this... What happened to him?

Don't ask me, but...

But...?

This is like him. To wait until this poison is purged from my body before we fight...

It's proof that he's not completely gone. We just need to find a way to bring him fully back!

Yeah! With the three of us, I'm sure we can! First, we need to beat him in battle, right?

Sorry, Cabba, but I'll be fighting him one-on-one!

Huh...?

He came here specifically to fight me. I need to honor that and fight him alone!

...

...Alright. But can I talk to him first?

There's something I need to ask.

Sure. Just don't throw any punches, got it?

I'll look after Jaco and Bulma.

Thanks, Cabba!

Good luck out there, Shallot!

Alright, all better! No more poison. Let's do this, then!

Hey, Vegeta!

Finally ready, are you? Tch, you do realize you wasted a lot of my time in falling for his foolish trick, don't you?

Hm? Why are you here, Gohan? I thought I told you to leave.

Vegeta, I need to know... What made you do all this?

Yeah, we thought we could ask a few things before we fought and...

Pft...

Ha ha ha ha!

Um, Vegeta?

Are you serious?!

Huh?!

I do hope you're joking with that "we want to talk" crap!

You brats really know how to wind me up!

Shallot! Enough of this! It's time to fight me!

Ugh, you never listen, do you...?

Ungh!

You're a fool if you thought you could beat me in that form!

Shallot!

Keep out of this, Gohan!!

B-But!

Listen to him! I already warned you to keep your nose out of it, so do as you're told!

...!

Shallot, how about you hurry up and get serious?!

You seem pretty set on getting me to go all out, Vegeta!

Of course I am! You sullied my pride, so I'm going to prove beyond all doubt that I'm better than you!

...!

You're nothing but a soft, foolish brat, yet you had the gall to possess a power that rivaled my own!

I sold my soul to beat Kakarot, and yet you still equaled my strength!

I will not stand for it! I won't ever forgive you, Shallot!!

(Wait... Vegeta became like this all to beat Dad...?! For that one reason?!)

Vegeta, is that really the truth?! Did you really do all that just to win?

Winning is ALL that matters to me. Not that someone like you would understand.

First with Kakarot in the Cell Games, and now you...as though I'm being left behind...

But things are different now!

V-Vegeta!

I will return to my world, and there I will finally defeat Kakarot!

But in order to do that, I have to beat you first, Shallot! So hurry up and get serious!

Dammit...!

This is pathetic, Shallot! This can't be your full power, I'm sure of it!

SHOW ME ALREADY!!

Gagh!

Shallot, please, let me help!

No...!

This is our fight!

Please...!

Listen, Gohan... I'll be the one to snap him out of this! So sit back, got it?!

Shallot...

...Alright. I'll head to Cabba and the others.

Please... We're counting on you, Shallot.

Don't worry, I got this.

Finally that pestering brat is gone. You can fight with no holds barred now, I presume?

Hey, Vegeta, I finally get you...

You get what?

There's someone you wanna surpass.

And in order to do that, you'd do anything to get stronger.

...

But...to work with the mastermind and get infected with dark Ki?! You gotta be kidding me!

Cut to the chase...

Alright. Vegeta... YOU'RE A DAMN IDIOT!

It's wrong, man! Your whole way of doing this is messed up!

What?!

Look at you! You're bendin' over backwards to the mastermind and doing his bidding like some kinda slave!

...Shut up...!

I thought you were pride itself! Are you really happy with this?!

Answer me, Vegeta!!

SHUT UP!!

I don't care about how I do things anymore!

I've returned to my old self!

Returned to that cold and ruthless Saiyan warrior I once was!

This is all to defeat him!

All so that I can finally fight with Kakarot right to the end!

You're wrong!! The old you hasn't returned at all!

Can't you see, Vegeta? The old you was...

Don't make me laugh! I'd rather die a hundred times than swear loyalty to you!

The old you was...

He was nothing like the loser before me now!!

What did you say?!

You're nothing like you were!

What the hell would you know?! You know nothing about me!!

Don't you dare talk to me like you do!!

I'll beat some sense into you... And then...

You'll remember just who you really are, Vegeta!!

Hraaaaah!

Ngh! You've gotten even stronger?!

Well, yeah! I can't lose to this current, pathetic version of you, can I?!

I still owe the old Vegeta!

You...what?!

Ugh... Ngh... I saw...in you...

True...Saiyan pride...

You were the one who taught me the true meaning of Saiyan pride!

What?!

We tossed our pride in battling away... and even worse...served our power as a tool to please Frieza...

I will not accept that...! That is not true Saiyan pride...!

The old you always fought with pride in his own strength, no matter the situation!

You were a truly proud Saiyan... I looked up to you, dammit!

Which is why I'm sick of seeing you now! You've become what the old you hated the most...

A pawn who serves rotten pieces of scum!

...!

I know you realize it too!

That this is NOT true Saiyan pride!!

...!

Shallot... You are a Saiyan untainted by all that...

So...fight... Defeat Frieza... He must be taken down by a Saiyan's hands...for the sake of our pride...

If you hadn't been there during that fight...

If I didn't have the pride you taught me...

Then I wouldn't be alive right now!

I wouldn't be as strong as I am now!!

Nngh!!

*pant* *pant*

Y-You...insolent...little...!

If I hadn't been there for you, eh? Pft... Ha ha ha!

The reason for your strength is clear to me now, Shallot...

So the one who made you who you are today is the old me...? What beautiful irony!

Dammit, Vegeta!

Don't act so chummy with me. I'm not the Vegeta you know! We know nothing of each other!

You talk too much. I hate people who waste their breath with such pointlessness.

Heh, if you hate it so much, why not make it so he can never speak again, hm?

Huh?!

...You! Majin Buu!

Haven't seen each other since we spoke to "Him," eh, Vegeta?

Did you just say Majin Buu?!

Time to tap out, Vegeta. I'll be killing Shallot for you. You can thank me later.

Heh heh heh, I've been looking forward to meeting you, Shallot.

This is Majin Buu...?

(But what happened?! He looks totally different than before...!)

Like my new look?

...!

Tch, why are you here? What's your game?

Dearie me, you are cold.

Did you forget what the previous Majin Buu said?

He said he would blow you to bits! So here I am, come to do just that! Mwa ha ha!

The previous Buu...? So you're...?!

Hold it, freak. Don't you dare interfere in another man's fight. He's mine!

Feh, you're the one interfering.

Now step back!

Agh?!

Whoa, Vegeta!

What a fool. He sure likes to talk big for someone so weak.

You...

You won't get away with that!

Gahh!

How does it feel, Shallot? To be completely and utterly overwhelmed! Heh heh heh!

Ngh... Grah...

(His power is outta this world! He's nothing like the Buu I know!)

Are you really Majin Buu?! I can't believe it...!

Hah, you're curious as to the source of my new power? You will die soon anyway, so let me tell you...

This power has been attained by absorbing this world's warriors, one after the other!

Did you just say...absorb?!

Heh heh heh, I am at the peak of my strength! I am the strongest Majin there is and ever will be!

Ngh!

Well, since it seems your friends out there won't be joining us...

I'll send them a gift, your body pummeled so hard they won't be able to recognize you!

Tch, as if I'd let a piece of scum like you get away with that!

Oh, still have breath to bark, eh? Bark all you like, you don't have long left, after all!

Dammit...!

Haaaah!

Huh?!

*pant* *pant*

No way... Vegeta?!

Tch, and what do you think you're doing all of a sudden?

I told you...! I will be the one to defeat him, not some freak like you! Now get lost already!

Heh, and if I refuse?

Then I'll...!

Desist, you two.

Who's that?!

You, eh?

This is not the time for pointless squabble. Majin Buu, I order you to retreat.

You seem to have mistaken my offer to cooperate as a sign of something more...

I have business with Shallot. Even if you order me to retreat, I...

Did you not hear me?

Huh?! What's happ...

Whoa, Majin Buu just...vanished?!

HEY! What did you do?!

...

(His aura isn't like anything I've ever encountered... He's trouble...!)

Now you can fight Shallot to your heart's content, am I right, Vegeta?

What?!

Now, then... Kill him!

...

I refuse!

Huh?!

And why...?

I wish to kill Shallot at his full strength. There's no point in doing so while he's this weak and pathetic.

Even if I were to tell you that if you killed Shallot now, I would grant your wish...?

I don't care!

I will finish things with him MY way! The SAIYAN way!

And know this! When I do kill him, it will be because I have CHOSEN to, not because you told me to!

I'm the one who will decide how we settle things!

...

Heh, very well.

As long as you bring results, I have no qualms about the method. I await the good news, Vegeta...

H-Hey, wait up! WAIT! Tell me who...

Shallot!

Tch, what?!

Our fight will have to be put on hold. Don't you dare lose to anyone else before we meet again.

...

You got it, Vegeta.

If you're fightin' out of your own will, then I'll take up the challenge any time!