Vegeta: the Prince of Pride - Chapter Four

    Once again dust sprayed across the training field as a small group of people punched and dodged any incoming blows with unrelenting speed. Gohan and Krillin were bouncing across the boulder tops in some form of chase game, and Tien and Goku were battling it out in their usual spot just across the patch of grass before the tree line. Vegeta had never been one to find any joy in observing people train, but today was an exception. For some reason, after Fortina’s recovery she had decided to remain on the planet for longer than he had hoped for. Vegeta knew the motives and reasoning behind everyone in their pathetic group, but this new Saiyan threw a spanner in the works. He didn’t know anything about her and once more she wasn’t an easy book to read. The sooner she left the better. Today however presented an opportunity to learn more about the newest addition to their group, since she had finally given in to Yamcha’s persistent nagging to spar with him. But so far she was yet to turn up.

    About an hour passed before Vegeta stood up. He had had enough of listening to Kakarot mumbling to his son about ‘core strength’ and the ‘energy within’ and if he had to hear any more of it he wasn’t going to be held responsible for what destruction he released. He was just about to leave when a flicker of energy appeared on his mental map…no two flickers. He spun around just in time to see a grinning Yamcha and passive Fortina kick their feet onto the dusty earth. The female Saiyan’s tail flickered in the wind behind her and Vegeta found himself in a lost case of nostalgia. Ever since losing his tail he had often found himself missing the additional power it gave him, even if he did rarely use it. It was strange, he barely considered it when it was still attached, but now without it he wanted it back more than ever. Of course, he would never admit it. Instead, he found himself staring enviously at Fortina. He hated her even more.

    “All right! Yamcha exclaimed, punching the air with his fist. “Let’s get this started!” Fortina brushed her long hair from her face and smirked. “What’s my first lesson?” Vegeta watched intently, waiting for either of them to make the first move.

    “Well, just try and hit me first,” she replied calmly.

    “What, that’s it? I mean, I don’t want to hurt you, you’re not even wearing proper armour…” She rolled her eyes in response as if to say ‘just do it’. Without any more hesitation, Yamcha lunged forwards and swung at Fortina with all his might. He felt the wind spread through his fingers and with every second his strike became faster and stronger. He threw his full weight into it and relished at the impact that was about to happen. He felt alive, he felt free, he felt…nothing.

    “What?!” How had he missed? She was just there! Yamcha merely stood still with his arm outstretched, punching nothing but air.

    Several metres away, Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows. She was fast, but that wasn’t the reason he was annoyed. Ever since she arrived on Earth the new Saiyan had been hiding her true power level. The reason for that Vegeta never knew, but he figured it was because it was one of the ways she had managed to escape discovery of the other Saiyan pursuing her. She probably just continued to suppress it out of habit, but that wasn’t good enough for the Saiyan Prince. By watching Fortina training, he had hoped she would raise it at least a little if only to give him an indication of her true power. But he felt nothing. It was infuriating.

    Yamcha threw punch after punch, never managing to land a blow and all the while Fortina danced around him like he was a toy. Soon, Vegeta realised he wasn’t the only one watching their sparring session. Tien, Goku, Krillin, and Gohan too were eagerly watching their battle. It suddenly dawned on him that he wasn’t the only one who had never watched her fight before; everyone else appeared to be curious as to what she had in her also. No one spoke; the only sound came from Yamcha as he heaved with every blow. It didn’t take long until he stopped, panting heavily over one knee on the ground.

    Fortina stood over him with folded arms, baring an indignant expression as if to ask whether that’s all the energy Yamcha had in him. He stared up at her, dazed. For a second, panic swept over him as he looked at the Saiyan towering over him. His mind brought him back to the day Vegeta had first arrived on earth, and how the terrible Nappa had laughed while Yamcha struggled to draw his last breath.  Now, before him stood another Saiyan bearing just as much fire in her eyes as her former conspecifics. If she wanted, she could kill him in the blink of an eye without breaking a sweat. Any movement she made could result in his inevitable death. He daren’t move. But then, she did the unimaginable. She stretched out a hand towards him.

    He looked at it blankly. She wriggled it. “I mean, unless you want to stay on the ground.” Fortina’s voice seemed to pull him back to reality. It was then that he realised the woman stood before him was no killer. Her eyes held the same cold stare that all warriors had, but behind the darkness, there was light. He grabbed her arm and she pulled him onto his feet. “Not bad” she smiled, and Yamcha started laughing, if only out of relief. Soon everyone else joined in as if they too, had been reminded of the true hostility of Saiyans, only to have their fears revoked at the last second. Vegeta however, was certainly not laughing.

    “Enough of this!” He shouted whilst kicking off the rock he was currently perched on. Everyone turned to look at him with confused expressions; Goku’s in particular resembled that of a rabbit in headlights at his sudden outburst. “Fortina,” he grumbled before realising it was the first time he had said her name out loud. It felt strange on his tongue. “You’ve been hiding your true potential ever since you arrived here on Earth. Fight me. I want to see if you’re truly worth the Saiyan label.”

    “Well sheesh, you could have just asked.” He heard Krillin mutter under his breath. Had it been any other day and he would have shot him a death stare, but right now he didn’t have time for his sarcastic comments. His eyes were focused solely on the dark-haired woman in front of him who merely raised her head at his oncoming challenge.

    As he closed the distance between them, everyone else moved away to either give them room for the upcoming fight or out of fear at Vegeta’s rage, but he didn’t care either way. All that mattered now was the woman before him. She raised an eyebrow.

    “All right Prince-y, let’s see what you’ve got.” Vegeta lunged forwards and they both disappeared from sight.

    Both moved with incredible speed, every now and again coming back into sight before vanishing again almost instantly. Vegeta threw punch after punch, trying to anticipate the maximum speed his opponent could take. But every blow he tried to deal missed, and each time he found himself striking nothing but air. She was fast, that much he could tell. At first it annoyed him; he could feel her toying with him as she had done Yamcha, but his mood brightened as a strike of realisation hit him as he finally understood just how she was just about able to dodge every blow.

    Back on their home planet, Saiyans were trained in battle from an unbelievably young age. However, this training was split between a trade-off for both power and speed. The normal routine was to split training equally between the two, but occasionally different groups of Saiyans would dedicate more time to one area over the other. Vegeta of course found that notion ridiculous. If you trained more in power, then speed would become your weakness, but if you dedicated your time to speed then power would be your downfall. So of course the most popular thing to do was to cut your losses and train equally in both, just as Vegeta had done. But for Fortina, it seemed that this was not the case.

    Her speed was unprecedented, but that meant her power training would have ultimately suffered as a result. Speed was great if you could dodge every blow your opponent dealt, but eventually you would tire and one strike from the enemy would be a great deal more deadly than if power had been your main training focus. Vegeta of course, would use this to his advantage.

    The minutes drew on as both Saiyans dashed around the training area, neither showing any sign of waning. Vegeta was yet to land a hit, and Fortina was yet to try and deal one. It seemed as if the Saiyan Prince was set on attacking and the other on dodging, but neither tactic appeared to be winning or losing. The only thing that seemed to be progressing was their movement towards one of the unstable pile of boulders at the far end of the field.

    Before he knew it, Fortina had her back to the pyramid of rocks facing him. Now he had her, there was no where she could go. With one mighty surge, he threw his fist at her, aiming straight for her shoulder. If he hit, he would finally have an indication as to how much power she had buried deep within depending on how well she took it.

    The air around him seemed to whistle as his hand launched forwards. He could just about feel the impact drawing nearer with each millisecond. And then he felt it. But it wasn’t what he expected.

    Vegeta’s hand collided with the pile of boulders with such force that they shattered almost instantly. Before he had time to realise his mistake, the rocks fell with an all-mighty crash, covering him from every direction. Everything within a ten-metre radius clattered as the stones eventually settled, leaving nothing but a mound of rubble where the two Saiyans once stood.

    Moments later, Vegeta’s fist punched its way out of the rubble, followed by the emergence of a very annoyed Saiyan Prince. He spluttered and coughed as the dust tickled his throat. The ground rocked unevenly beneath his feet as he tried to adjust to the new mess he had just made. But just as he was able to find better footing, a sudden movement to the right of him caught his attention.

    He looked down just in time to see a hand grip his forearm. The next thing he knew, his weight was being lifted from beneath him and before he had time to counterattack, his body was launched into the air.

    Seconds later, his back connected with something cold and hard and he felt the wind leave his lungs. He hit the ground with a thud.

    The blow he received wasn’t painful, it merely took him by surprise. Consequently, it didn’t take long before he was back on his feet again. Vegeta raised his eye line across the field just in time to see Fortina rise back up to full height after hurling the Prince across the ground. She clapped her hands together and watched the cloud dust that formed afterwards, before raising her own gaze to meet that of her components.

    He stared at her intently. Vegeta’s immediate response was rage; first at Fortina for throwing him across the training field, but then at himself for allowing him to let his guard down. Yet as he looked into her dark, fierce eyes, she reminded him of himself. He too, had once shared that passion for battle, relishing at the thought of a challenge whenever the chance arose. It was as if he was staring at a younger version of himself; a time before he had known the fear of death, and a time before the destruction of his planet had resulted in the feeling of desolation that stemmed within him.

    This new Saiyan was gritty, and for some reason Vegeta felt some level of intrigue towards her.

    Everyone was silent, not sure whether the spar was over, or whether the two Saiyans were going to transform the training session into a fully-fledged battle. The tension in the air was so thick it was as if Chi-Chi could cut it with a knife, bake it, and transform it into a cake. But out of everything that could have happened next, no one would have thought Vegeta smiling would be an option

    But smile he did.