Piccolo arrived without ceremony.
No flash of light.No dramatic entrance.
Just the quiet pressure of his ki settling into the air like a warning.
Vegeta was already training when he felt it. Broly stood nearby, fists clenched, breathing slowly, earth fractured beneath his feet. Piccolo folded his arms.
We need to talk . Vegeta didn't stop moving. Another strike. Another step.
Make it quick. Piccolo's eyes narrowed. "This isn't about Earth."That made Vegeta stop. Broly looked up.
Piccolo continued, voice low. "There's an ancient myth. Older than the Kais. Older than most gods care to remember."
He reached into his cloak and produced a cracked, green stone tablet—etched with symbols worn smooth by time.
"A planet called Yaught."Vegeta turned fully now. "Never heard of it."
"You wouldn't have," Piccolo said. "It was erased from most records. Not destroyed. Buried."Broly frowned. "Why?"Piccolo tapped the tablet. "Because Yaught doesn't grow life. It consumes it."
Silence.
Piccolo went on. "At its core is something called the Tree of Life. Not like the legends Turles chased. This one doesn't just strengthen the body."Vegeta's eyes sharpened. "Then what?""It strengthens potential," Piccolo said. "It forces growth. The kind you don't get to control."
Broly shifted uneasily. Vegeta asked the question Piccolo hadn't said out loud yet."The cost?"Piccolo didn't answer immediately.
Then the planet dies.
Broly's jaw tightened. "You mean—"
"To awaken the Tree," Piccolo said, "Yaught has to be broken. Its surface. Its core. Everything anchoring it."Vegeta scoffed lightly. "So it's true power, then. Nothing is free."
Piccolo looked straight at him. "The myth says the Tree only bears fruit once the planet accepts extinction."
Broly stared at the ground. "And if it doesn't?"
"Then the Tree rots," Piccolo replied. "And so does anyone who tries to take from it."
Vegeta crossed his arms. "And you're telling us this, so why?"
Piccolo's expression darkened. "Because something is already moving toward Yaught."
Vegeta's ki flared—controlled, sharp.
Who?
Piccolo hesitated. Just a fraction.
Broly looked up sharply. Vegeta didn't ask the name.
He didn't need to.
Piccolo finished quietly, "If that Tree bears fruit… whoever eats it won't just become stronger."He met Vegeta's eyes.A long silence followed.
Vegeta turned toward the sky.
"Then we go.
Broly nodded slowly.
Piccolo watched them both. Vegeta smirked faintly."Good," he said. "We've crossed worse."
The air shifted. Far away—on a dead world no one remembered—roots began to stir.
Planet Yaught did not look dead. That was the first lie.
From orbit, it was green thick with forests, oceans coiled around massive landmasses, clouds heavy with moisture. Life everywhere. Too much life.
Broly frowned. "This place feels… wrong."
Vegeta crossed his arms. He felt it too. The planet's ki wasn't wild or chaotic. It was tight. Compressed. Watching.
Piccolo's voice came through their link. "Don't lower your guard. Yaught doesn't repel invaders."They broke the atmosphere. The moment they crossed the cloud layer, the pressure changed. Gravity didn't increase but resisted, like the planet was pushing back without force.
They landed in a clearing. Perfectly circular. Trees bent inward, trunks twisted as if grown around something that was no longer there.
Silence.
No wind.No insects.No birds. Broly took one step forward. The ground pulsed. Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "It's alive."Piccolo landed last.
Roots slid beneath the soil. Vines crept along the stone. Trees leaned—not toward them, but away, as if bracing. Then a voice spoke.Power that arrives without permission must be weighed.
The ground cracked.A path split open before them, leading downward—stone peeling back to reveal ancient stairs spiraling into darkness. Piccolo swallowed. "It's letting us pass."
Broly looked at Vegeta. "Or leading us somewhere."
Vegeta stepped onto the stairs without hesitation. "Same thing."
They descended. With every step, the air grew heavier—not physically, but spiritually. Memories surfaced uninvited. Loss. Rage. Standing back up when the body begged to stay down.
Broly's breathing quickened. "It's pulling things out of me."
Piccolo nodded. "Yaught doesn't test strength. It tests what you carry."The stairs ended in a vast cavern . At its center stood the Tree. Not towerin g.Not radiant.Ancient. Immense. Its roots spread through the cavern walls like veins, glowing faintly with slow, steady pulses—matching the planet's rhythm.No fruit yet.
Piccolo's voice was grim. "The myth says the Tree doesn't grow fruit until the planet begins to die."
Broly looked up at the canopy. "So it wants us to destroy it."
A pause.
Then the voice returned—deeper now, layered with something old and patient. Destruction is not demanded. It is revealed. Far above them, the planet groaned—not in pain, but in acceptance.
Vegeta clenched his fist. Somewhere else in the universe A familiar chill passed through space. The Tree reacted the moment Vegeta stepped closer.
The air thickened, pressing inward not on their bodies, but on their ki. Power that once flowed freely now felt… filtered. Measured. Vegeta snarled under his breath. "It's suppressing us."Broly dropped to one knee without warning. The stone beneath him cracked as he caught himself, breathing heavy. "No," he growled.
Veins of light flared along the Tree's roots. The glow crept outward, spreading across the cavern floor like slow-moving veins.
Strength that exists only to dominate will be returned to the soil. The voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. Broly roared and forced himself upright, aura exploding outward in a violent green surge. The cavern shook. Roots shattered. Stone collapsed.
For a heartbeat,t the Tree didn't move. Then Broly screamed.
His aura was dragged inward, siphoned through the air as if seized by unseen hands. His power didn't vanish—it was rejected, forced back into him all at once. He collapsed again, clutching his chest. Vegeta stepped forward, teeth clenched. "Get away from him."
He raised his power, not all of it, but enough. Blue-white ki wrapped around him, sharp and controlled. The Tree responded instantly.y Roots tore free from the walls, not striking—encircling. Space folded between them. Gravity spiked, forcing Vegeta's boots into the stone.
His knees bent. Just slightly. Vegeta's eyes widened."…No."
He pushed harder. Muscles screamed. Ki burned. The cavern groaned under the pressure. The Tree didn't break. It leaned closer. Images flooded Vegeta's mind uninvited—his father's back turned. endless training without praise.standing up alone, again and again.
Pain tore through Vegeta's body as the feedback slammed into him tenfold. He skidded backward, crashing into the wall.
Broly staggered to his feet again, rage boiling over. "I WON'T BE HELD DOWN!"
He unleashed everything.The Tree's glow dimmed for the first time.
Vegeta wiped blood from his mouth and laughed quietly. Not amused.
He looked at Broly—still fighting, still refusing to fall.
The Tree's roots halted.
For the first time
They hesitated.
Then you will break the planet, and see what remains of yourselves.
Vegeta clenched his fists.