Rivals

Vegeta forced his matted eyes open and was surprised to see the sun nearing the desert's horizon. He'd been unconscious for hours. Summoning his strength, he pushed himself up onto his elbows and focused his blurry eyes on his surroundings.

Blood. Everywhere.

How much of it was his own and how much belonged to the unmoving figure beside him, he couldn't tell. He itched from it dried onto his skin in the brutal afternoon heat. The sand was saturated with it. The air reeked of it.

Muscles screamed of the battle waged. Broken bones ground with every movement. Ripped clothing hindered his progress as he inched across the burning sand. With mixed feelings, he confirmed the body was still breathing. Barely.

Searching through the man's clothing, Vegeta found what he sought and pushed it into his mouth. Within seconds, a wave of strength washed away the pain. He jumped to his feet, marveling at the satisfying increase of power as he flexed his muscles, making dried blood flake away to be carried off by the gentle breeze.

He stood over the bloodied and battered figure, his shadow darkening the man's face in his eclipse. "You know I could easily terminate you," he said with a sneer.

With one tattered boot, he gave the prone body a gentle shove, rolling him over onto his back. Black scorch marks across the exposed chest testified to Vegeta's relentless ki blasts. An arrogant smile spread across his face. It had been a good fight. Intense and challenging. They'd battled with both their trusted old attacks and experimented with new ones that effectively caught each other off guard.

Slowly, the smile slid from the Saiyan Prince's face. As he replayed the fight in his mind, he realized a flaw in his otherwise obvious victory. As anger seeped through his body, his muscles rippled with tension. He had to force himself to take a deep breath to keep from blasting a hole in the defenseless man, snuffing out the last spark of life still barely hanging on deep inside the body.

"Damn you!" he cursed. Vegeta opened his hand...not to deploy the fatal attack, but to reveal a second Sensu bean resting innocently in his palm. "You're lucky I need you, Kakarot. You're the only one who can make me stronger." He shoved the bean into Goku's mouth, grabbing his opponent's lower jaw to help crush the bean between his teeth. Resisting the urge to give the unconscious body a resounding kick, he strode off to await Goku's recovery.

He didn't have long to wait before the annoyingly cheerful voice once again grated on his nerves.

"Whoa! Look at this mess! That was some battle hunh, Vegeta? Good thing we had those Sensu beans or we'd have both baked out here until we were extra crispy. Oh great! Another outfit ruined! Chi Chi's gonna kill me! She already complains about how much time I spend training, how much food I eat, how I don't help out around the house, how much mending she has to do on my clothes...and how much food I eat."

Goku laughed at his own joke until he realized Vegeta wasn't responding. He stood, arms folded and back turned as usual, staring at the last rays of light streaking across the sky. Yet there was furious tension radiating off him like waves of heat.

"What's up, Vegeta?" Goku reached out a hand to lay on Vegeta's shoulder.

As soon as their skin touched, Vegeta spun around faster than the speed of light, his fist planted deep in Goku's stomach. The younger Saiyan doubled over as the air was driven from his body by the unexpected attack. He staggered back a couple steps before losing his balance and landing hard on his seat in the soft sand. Gasping for breath, he looked up at his assailant in confusion.

"What was...that...for?" Goku managed, struggling to force his lungs to respond.

In answer, Vegeta struck him across the face with the back of his hand. Goku, seeing the attack coming in plenty of time to block or dodge, allowed the blow to land and jerk his head to one side. Slowly, he turned his face back up to stare calmly into Vegeta's.

"Problem, Vegeta? Or are we starting this fight all over again? I'm out of beans, you know."

"Damn you, Kakarot!" Vegeta roared. "You had the upper hand and you backed off! You could have easily defeated me with that head lock, but you loosened your grip enough to let me escape!"

Goku calmly got to his feet. "That's right. There were at least four different times I could've ended it. But what good would that have done us?"

Vegeta shook with barely contained fury, and his opponent's flippant response to his frustration only fueled the fire inside him. "You weren't taking this battle seriously at all! You were just playing with me, letting me think I could defeat you just once!"

"Vegeta, this wasn't a real battle. We were just training. What good would it do either of us to end the fight as soon as possible? The longer we keep it going, the more practice we get. More practice means we both get stronger. You're helping me just as much as I'm helping you. That's what friends do."

Vegeta raised himself off the ground just enough to be able to look down his nose at his fellow warrior. "We're not friends, Kakarot. We're rivals." With a burst of energy he flew off, leaving his rival in the middle of the sandy desert painted black with their dried blood.