"Vegeta?" Applejack asked, confused.
She'd never heard the name before, but obviously her little sister had, because Apple Bloom's face was full of deadly concern as was Goten's.
"Who's Vegeta?" She asked them.
"You see the guy with the gold hair flying in the sky down there, Applejack?" Goten described. "That's Vegeta. He's a friend of ours back on Earth."
"He's been tryin' to get the Dragon Balls to bring Goten here back to life and give me a new body..." Apple Bloom added in.
"And it looks like those evil Dragon Ball hunters are back on the scene...and there's two of them this time..."
"And Vegeta is all alone! He's gonna get killed!"
Applejack blinked several times; that was alot of answers that did nothing but make more questions.
"I--I'm so lost..." The orange mare in the stetson stuttered. "Dragon Balls? New body? Dragon Ball hunters? What the hay have you been up to little sis?"
Apple Bloom looked her sister in the eye, and shook her head slightly. "It would take too long to fully explain, but my training with Goku back on Earth requires me to have a body better suited to train with them...yknow, a biped with opposable digits? The Dragon Balls are wish orbs that can perform miracles like that; we also have to wish Goten here back to life because he died on a mission with us to find them. That's how we ended up here."
Applejack figured she understood, and just nodded. "And this Vegeta fella, there...he's your friend, and he's losing? I don't know, he looks mighty powerful to me."
"Looks can be deceiving, Applejack." King Kai cut in. "Vegeta is totally outclassed here. I'm guessing he's trying to bluff the two hunters into thinking he's gotten a much bigger power up, and trying to find an opening to escape."
Apple Bloom remembered back to her one-on-one with Izotz in the ice museum; even though it had only been a short skirmish, that monster's power was undeniably strong. In her training, she'd learned to sense power levels, or at least those of people she could see. She wasn't good at detecting presences, but if she could make visual contact, even from a ways away, she could get a reading.
Now that King Kai was allowing them to watch Vegeta's fight, she could see the two he was battling. Their power levels were immense; simply off the scales.
Strangely, she felt something similar in the power levels of the hunters to Trunks; maybe it was just their raw power, and Trunks was on the same level. She decided to leave that thought for later.
* * *
Vegeta looked down on the two warriors in black standing amidst the scared and injured peddlers and traders. Kakarot would've scolded him for fighting in a populated area, but that didn't matter right now. He wasn't planning on staying too much longer if he could help it.
The power levels of the two were even stronger than Kakarot's by a longshot; Vegeta couldn't fathom that people that strong that weren't gods existed. That tall one was the one that worried him most; so much death hung in the air around him.
He saw that his transformation into Super Saiyan 2 state hadn't impressed them; that didn't bode well for his next move. There was no way he could fight the even one-on-one, and as proven so far, the two of them together were too much. If it weren't for the area being so damn full of people, he would've simply fired off his Final Flash, and escaped in the brief confusion it would cause. He was going to have to be a little more crafty than that here.
"Well, Super Saiyan 2, aren't you going to come down and destroy us?" The tall one named Dosne mocked, a bit of sand still floating about him. "Or are you just talk like all the rest?"
Vegeta ignored the ominous one's prodding, and looked around the market. He spotted a clothes cart with rags just like the ones the populous was wearing; if he could get over there as inconspicuously as possible without dying, he could cause a panic in the people (which he was surprised weren't panicking already), and in the confusion, cover up in the clothes and get out under disguise while hiding his power level.
The only problem left was how to maneuver the battle over to that position.
"Alright!" He shouted out, booming his voice across the sky. "Here comes the pain!"
Vegeta dashed downward towards the two, and right before pulling up, fired a ki blast at the girl, Seaiga.
As expected, she quickly dodged it, and hurled her own bolt at the saiyan prince; the pink electric energy taking only a split second to cross the gap between them. He had counted on that speed, which is why his flight pattern now took him straight towards Dosne. He moved to the right just as he would've collided with the sand-bender, and the bolt of pink electricity was aimed straight at him.
Dosne gave a grunt, and barely managed to disintegrate himself into sand to avoid the brilliant attack. The bolt flew past and struck another stand, which exploded violently, throwing several unfortunate people into the air, and burning up a few others.
Vegeta cursed himself for the death toll that was racking up, but if he could do this without too many more innocents dying, he could always wish them back at a later date. He smirked; he was a Z Fighter alright.
Dosne rematerialized himself in the way of Vegeta's path, moving two large waves of sand to crash down on the saiyan from both sides. Vegeta was just barely faster, and moved out of the death trap of desert blanketing before placing a huge kick into Dosne's face, which exploded into sand. He used that moment to jump an aisle over, and come face to face with Seaiga.
"What do you call this game, Vegeta?" She giggled evily. "Catch-Me-If-You-Can?"
"Yeah." Vegeta grinned, happy his plan was so far working; he was already halfway to the stand. "I'm the world champion; bet you can't beat me."
She cackled loudly again, the sound still grated on his ears. "I assure you, today is the day you lose your title, and your life."
The two stood for a moment, and Vegeta feinted an attack, which Seaiga dodged. Once she realized he never intended to attack when he flew by her, she took off after him, Dosne trailing beside the two in the other aisle on a wave of rolling sand.
Vegeta turned around and fired off an old move of his.
"Finish Buster!" He shouted as several orange colored energy balls fired in rapid succession from his hands.
Seaiga dodged each one as fast as the lightning she wielded; her glee at the chase evident.
Vegeta saw Dosne make a motion out of the corner of his eye; the sand-bender was attempting to grab at the saiyan prince with tendrils of the hot particles below him.
Vegeta did his best to weave through the grasps of each one, but he realized too late they were a decoy attack. Dosne charged through the stands into Vegeta's aisle, a look of pure primal joy at the prospect of another kill on his face; dancing in his violet eyes.
Vegeta reacted too late, as the big behemoth tackled him to the ground, mashing his head into the sand. Vegeta felt the ground-up dirt crawling all over his face.
"I'm going to end this. I'll crush your skull, Mr. Super Saiyan; a quicker death than I want to give you, but we're on a schedule." He said, the happy look never leaving his haunting face.
"Awww, does this mean playtime is over?" Seaiga asked with real sadness this time.
"Sorry, Seaiga." Dosne said. "I'll let you have more fun next time."
The burning hot sand encased Vegeta's entire head, cutting off his oxygen. He knew he had only seconds to save himself before his skull was popped like a jelly bean by the evil Dosne. He channeled every ounce of his Super Saiyan 2 energy and released it in a blast.
The sand blew apart, away from his head, and Dosne was reduced to pieces again. Vegeta knew he'd reform soon, so he fired a blast at Seaiga to get her attention.
"We're still playing, right?" He asked in a sarcastic tone; his golden hair returning to it's normal jet black.
She giggled and lighting once again crackled round her. "I think it's my turn, if I remember correctly."
She dashed forward, Vegeta moving just enough to counterattack with a quick elbow strike, sending her into the ground. He took off, expecting her too throw another bolt at him, and this part of the plan was going to hurt. The clothes stand was right there, all he had to do was wait for the pain to come.
The bolt she had thrown after him struck, and it disintegrated his sleeveless leather jacket, also burning a hole in his red tank top underneath. He hit the ground on his hands and knees, slightly paralyzed but mostly unharmed. The attack had been about as strong as he expected, but he hadn't counted on the partial paralysis. He had to overcome it if his plan were to work, he just needed to cause a scene and distract the two fighters.
He sensed Dosne's death scented power incoming through the ground. He manage to stand up, slowly but surely. He jumped into the air as the sand-monster tried to wrap him in a death hug as he emerged from the sands. It was now time to cause a panic with his improved technique.
"You know what?!" He shouted, making sure everyone in the area heard him. "I've had it with all of you losers! You can all go straight to Hell, when I destroy this entire planet!"
"Did...did he say destroy the planet?!" One of the many vendors asked.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!"
The hysteria was instant; everyone started to trample over each other in throves attempting to grab as much as they could and leave. Vegeta found it stupid that they never ran from the battle going on in their turf, but now they thought they could outrun a planet's destruction. Stupid humans; maybe he should actually destroy the planet, he thought sarcastically to himself.
"Galick Gun..." He yelled charging up his old planet busting attack.
Dosne and Seaiga actually looked a bit worried; if the planet went, the Dragon Balls would go too, and they couldn't have that. They powered up, prepared to stop Vegeta's attack from hitting the surface.
"...FIRE!!" Vegeta shouted at the top of his lungs.
The large beam of purple energy blasted forth at great speeds and headed straight for the duo who put out their hands to stop the blast.
The saiyan prince smirked; it was time. He clenched his fist shut, and the Galick Gun beam exploded in a radiant light that nearly blinded even him. He would only have a few seconds before the light faded to disguise himself.
He zipped down, hiding his power level as soon as he hit the sands, and grabbed the first rags he could, throwing them over himself. The light dissipated, and Vegeta was already "running away from the planet killer" with the rest of the crowd, the three-star Dragon Ball in his grasp.
* * *
"He did it!!" King Kai yelled out. "He escaped! HE got away with the Dragon Ball!!"
Apple Bloom and Goten were dancing around in excitement, as King Kai did a little heel clap, and a jig.
Applejack wished she could be that excited about it, but she still didn't fully get what was going on.
"That Vegeta fella sure is a good bluffer..." She said, fanning herself with her hat. "I thought he actually was gonna do it..."
Goten stopped dancing to smile at Applejack. "No way! I knew it was his plan all along! Vegeta is one of us, through and through!"
Apple Bloom had to admit; she had a newfound respect for Vegeta. She'd only seen him as a grump before, but after hearing his words, and now seeing him risk everything for her and Goten's sakes...
"He really is somethin'!" She exclaimed.
He really was. She was going to have to thank him profusely after they gathered all seven balls. Then a thought came to her; Vegeta hadn't defeated the two hunters. In fact, he had only barely escaped their notice. What if they tracked him down again? Would he be able to pull something like that off again?
"King Kai?" She spoke up. "What about those two who were fightin' Vegeta?"
King Kai seemed to think for a moment, and after another minute of what she assumed was him searching the Earth, he spoke.
"Right now, they have no idea where Vegeta is." He said; the yellow filly relaxed, and was nearly brought down by the gravity when she did so.
"What's the likeliness of them finding him again before we make our wishes?" Goten asked.
King Kai patted the half-saiyan on the head; his smile returning to his round face. "No need to worry about that right now. Vegeta is ok, and the three-star ball is in his possession. I say, we let them handle it for now, and get back to training. With full bellies, Bubbles should be easier to catch...right?"
The three students put on determined grins and as soon as they stepped hoof and foot outside, they were off after the primate again, vigor renewed.
In the back of King Kai's mind, he did worry, though. He didn't think Goku could even beat them...what would they do, indeed, when (not if) the time came to deal with them?