Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

Fava Beans With a Bit of Garlic

"So, if you're here, I reckon Nappa's already dead?" Vegeta turned his nose up. He didn't look like he was offering even a tiny bit of leeway in terms of hearing Chayote pleading her case or asking him to spare Earth. This was just the scenario Chayote dreaded the most – she'd have to confront the Saiyan prince and fight to protect Earth against not just her own people but the royalty she still felt submissive toward.

"I doubt it. The blockhead can take plenty of damage. He's in no condition to fight though," Chayote replied, adamant about not taking her eyes off of Vegeta for one moment as he was far too dangerous of an opponent to underestimate. Even after duking it out with Bardock, Chayote could sense his Ki soaring above anything she's ever sensed before.

"Tsk, a Saiyan that can't fight is of no use. May as well have doomed him," Vegeta grit his teeth in disgust. "That's too bad though, he was quite useful as a meathead he always was. He lasted by far the longest in my service, more than I would have expected of a mid-class Saiyan warrior."

"My prince," Chayote took to her knee. "If there's any chance of it, I'd be willing to serve by your side if you spare this planet. Given how I have beaten Nappa in a one-on-one fight, I would be more useful to you than he was."

"Pathetic," Vegeta turned away in disgust. "Your power level is abnormal for your class, I'll give you that, but you've got an ounce of Saiyan pride left in you. Belittling yourself to have a lump of useless space rock spared? Defying your prince by intercepting his justice and protecting some rebellious dirtbag? You will be useful, in giving you one final lesson that no matter how strong low-class garbage might get, they'll never even begin to measure up to the rank of the Saiyan elite."

Chayote clenched her fists and rose from the ground. Deep down her trust in her king and her folk has been shaken though it wasn't that which made her skin flush with red. It was the embarrassment and the thoughtless madness that it brought to be. She didn't want to oppose her prince, she didn't want to strike him or defy the Saiyan royalty but just like the case always was when her fit of rage came into play – she couldn't help it.

So be it. Just for once, Chayote felt kind of glad to submit to that primal force bubbling up deep down inside her and roar out, let her Ki unfurl and power her up to her very limit. She was anything but nobody. She was the self-appointed queen of Planet Babari and what she's learned from her subjects was that sometimes letting loose and being proud of one's own strength was nothing to be ashamed of.

"Growl and show your teeth, it won't change the purity of your blood one bit," Vegeta smirked and took a fighting pose.

Chayote didn't charge into the fray of battle blindly, instead, she chose to circle her prince before driving her entire body right into his. There was no grace or elegance behind her movements. Martial arts became sashed and locked away in the more rational place of her mind. Now Chayote just had to fight for the fate of Earth where she had found her paradise and the martial arts that she had learned would have conflicted with the wrath she unleashed.

Vegeta answered Chayote's charge by locking his arms with hers. He turned awkwardly to confront her, throwing some of his potential for physical force away as he couldn't build up nearly as much vigor to overpower his opponent as he'd have liked but he humored his very physical opponent with a clash of strength. There it was, that cocky smile.

Something snapped, though it wasn't another barrier preventing the rage unfurling in Chayote's mind from leaking out. It was something painful, something in her hands. The pain forced clarity back into Chayote's eyes. Despite being larger than her opponent both in terms of bulk and in terms of height, Vegeta's fingers dug deep into her hands and began pushing her backward, bending her to where Chayote could have sworn her knuckles would soon chatter from the force affecting them and her wrists would dislocate while her spine broke into two.