Back at the medical bay Zukki was getting dressed after being released from her healing chamber. Pulling on the dark body suit while actively stretching muscles that hurt hours prior.
The little girl wasn't the type to marvel at little details. Zukki was already accepting that she was fine and moving on. Her tail flicked as if signalling she was all set; mimicking the many peers and superiors that wrap it around their waist.
The man standing to the side was a tall bald man that held similar features to her father, save for the fact he had burnt off all the hair on his body including his tail. Also he did usually smile a lot, not today of course.
"Ready to go?" Karada says, flicking his gaze over his shoulder now that the rustling had stopped. He turned with the lack of a response and saw the girl staring off at a machine, her lips curled down into a frown.
"Ready.." he started to repeat only to get interrupted by the kid's energetic voice.
"Yea, unchie" she says sharply, grinning while looking at him before that expression becomes neutral. No excitement to be found. "Are we going to see Antie Hikari?"
Karada nodded before guiding her out the door. The two of them took a short trip across the hall to where Hikari would still be healing.
Hikari had lost a lot of blood and had to recoup that as well, all a part of the healing chamber process.
When they arrived they saw a man with sharp wavy hair leaning against the chamber that contained a nude woman.
Ringu turned to face the two entering the room when their familiar silhouettes crossed his peripheral vision. His eyes looked tired and thoroughly stressed, but they softened ever so slightly as he realized he was in friendly company.
"Glad tooooo see you are alright Zukki" he says with minimal drawling as if his personality is tired. "I'll stick with Hiiikari here. You two must want to return back to the base"
Karada is prepared to accept the consideration, especially on Zukki's behalf, but the girl herself needed to know how the woman she fought for is doing.
"Is she going to be ok?" Zukki asks, her experiences with healing technologies up from zero to the one time just now.
Ringu exhaled through his nose and met the girl's eyes before they seemed to guide the attention of the floating woman. A pale Lithe figure, her hair shoulder length, and choppy, fluttering in the liquid. Hikari's combat strategy was more refined than most other people he had ever met.
"Oooof course she is" he responds and sees his own reflection in the glass. "Focus on your own training liiitle one. Your own fire shouldn't burn you all the time, remember that"
Ringu had turned to her and gave advice that puzzled her. Zukki did at least nod with a pensive attitude; everyone was off after what had transpired. Right after she would leave with Karada who waved his comrades goodbye.
Tomorrow they all would be in a better mood but for now they had to fly home. Zukki was carried over one shoulder, sitting on Karada as he blasted off towards the base. The first priority was dropping the girl off to her parents.
***
While Hikari finished up her healing, on another floor the prince was requesting fights with Saibamen. Nappa was on his way to chew out an arrogant talent like he should have from the start.
Woosh! Splat!
A saibaman was broken and battered on the ground. A second was already on the floor, its head removed and laying just an inch away.
Vegeta had already mapped out the group of pink men that he had to face. Remembering their positions and not hesitating to twist his head.
The third little pink man was twelve feet back and had scuttled around to the left out of Vegeta's sight before unleashing an energy blast wave. A small condensed cylindrical yellow light that would hit Vegeta sooner than it would cry out.
Vegeta wouldn't fall for the same strategy. Turning his head he noticed the outstretched hand. Standing firm on the metal floor he whipped his own hand up and shot his own Energy blast, just a yellow spherical light the size of a football.
Scree-whoosh! Bam!
The wave came out faster but the blast packed much more of a punch. As they collided, it seemed the waves user lacked the commitment to push it further causing the momentum to end. Resulting in a twelve food smog of burnt air.
Incidentally this room is much smaller than the last one he fought some Saibamen in. This one was the size of a boxing ring. A tall metal square box.
Vegeta stepped as far as he could and prepared another energy blast. He didn't know what the Saibamen was thinking, but it dove out as if springing another trap. He shot that energy as fast and as powerfully as he could without breaking the room.
Woosh! Splish! Bam!
The Saibamen was ruthless and turned into just four limbs on the ground. The energy blast firing faster than the creature could comprehend. Its limbs laid in the little metal crater.
"Defective trash" the prince says before clenching his teeth in anger. Sweat poured down his temple as undeniable proof of effort. "Grrr" he growled still angered he didn't just kill the girl when he had the chance.
Clenching both his fists at his sides the floor started to vibrate. Concreting his energy out of anger made it so volatile, lacking skill and technique caused it to move unseen so much the room itself would move. His proof force–no the saiyan brute force way of channeling large amounts of energy.
But before he could release any energy the door opened and he relaxed all the tension in his muscles. The invisible energy building in and around his body slowly left him.
"I thought I felt the air getting thick," Nappa says, interrupting Vegeta's moment.
The Prince let out a disinterested grunt, then as if remembering his throat was dry he gave the general some attention. Despite receiving many attacks in the pursuit of mastering the Saiyan's combat strategies, his respect for the man had dwindled.
So low he gave the decorated warrior a command as if he were one of the aliens below them.
"Grab a the nutrient pouch Nappa" he waves his arm, taking his eyes off the man before wiping the bead of sweat off his forehead. "Then you'll show me those combat forms again and again until satisfied."
Vegeta was still frustrated he had let himself fall for a trick again. It angered him to no end. Distracting him almost fully, that is aside from the other presence in the room. He wasn't moving towards the door, however the steps the prince heard–or rather the single step had been towards him.
"Na–" Vegeta starts before seeing the silhouette of a fist beside his face.
Wham!
Vegeta was struck with a cannon ball sized fist. A right hook that smashed into the prince's face with little mercy. As his cheek crushed in, he felt his feet leave the floor.
In spite of the surprise Vegeta flipped back, curling his limbs to speed up the motion naturally. He was off the floor so he floated in the air to catch himself. Spreading his limbs as he frantically kept his balance. Holding his now pulsing red cheek in anger.
Before he could properly catch his bearings a cocked fist caught his eye. Nappa had pulled his fist back and prepared another.
Yet as Vegeta lifted his guard he failed to foresee the feint.
"Tch" Nappa scoffs as his right leg is lifted. He had to hold back regardless of his intent so the kick didn't hit the same spot as his previous punch.
The kick swiped low, sending Vegeta spinning in the air like a fan.
"Gha, stop this at once!" Vegeta growled from the pain on top of the disorientation. Anything else he has said would be cut off by a decisive strike to his gut.
"Guuuuah!" Vegeta spits as he feels as if he had been disemboweled by that attack. His body folded around the attack before he was sent flying back into the wall.
Smack!
He hit the wall upside down and stopped spitting. His peak-like hair crushed between his head and the floor. Eyes white from the sheer pain and he was out like a light.
***
Moments prior, after Nappa had gotten his transmission from the King.
The lonely mountain of a man was standing beside a stick in the ground. Contemplating his path ahead. Perhaps for him it was frustrating to have to really think about it and it ultimately made the actual choice in the end easy.
Bam!
With an energy ball Nappa shot the stick and the spot where a hole had been filled. Something symbolic yet wholly incomplete. Her body wasn't there, no, just obliterated out in space somewhere.
"This just makes more sense," he says to himself. Standing on a far off empty plot of land. Saiyan's don't bury their dead, they certainly don't mark graves, they just die in battle off planet.
"You should just remove it, keep your mind off the tuffs remaining there" A voice whispered into his ear, a distant memory.
The bald man ran his hand through his head, where a tuft of black hair once was. He couldn't help but admit that after he got rid of it, his intimidation factor went up, and seeing wimps cowering just at his sight was great for him to see.
"Zana" he whispers her name for one last final time, the man feeling as though his partner was fading from this universe already.
They won't honor a mid class warrior saiyan dying on an escort mission.
He stood there clenching and unclenching his fist. Thinking had never really been his strong suit, that's why he was focusing more on the feeling of his fists as they tightened. The numbness shifted into cold focus.
Then as if honoring her wisdom, he solidified his resolve to properly push the prince. Leading us forward to the moment that transpired after Vegeta had finished dispatching three Saibamen.
***
The first thing that Vegeta saw when he woke up was the Grimace that shifted into a smirk.
"Ba-" Vegeta caught himself from repeating an insult he had heard recently. Instead of processing why, he just continued speaking, holding his cheek as he rose to his feet.
"NAPPA! What f*ck was that? Last time I checked pouches weren't shaped like rocks, you better give me a DAM good reason why attacking your future King was the right play." The barely three foot tall boy spat, his threats empty, but the weight was real–to him.
"Because you are going to learn what it's like to be a real saiyan warrior. The coddling stops now." Nappa doesn't let the future danger tug at his wild smile. Killing his king's heir would be the same as suicide, but letting the man he swore loyalty lose a son to weakness felt like a worse betrayal. "You aren't strong yet, prince, but when I'm done with you. You can pay me back ten fold. How about that?"
Vegeta didn't look for an exit, his daggers were aimed directly at the man who had the audacity to strike him seriously. Then the boy smirked, showing he too had the battle lust that would rival every member of the race he plans to rule.
Nappa's question was rhetorical. The two of them clashed violently right there after.