Vegeta allowed himself a thin, almost appreciative smirk.
The bald one had guts. Krillin had actually stepped forward, shielding the boy and the screaming woman with his own trembling body.
Not bad for cannon fodder.
"Full recovery seems to have shocked you," Vegeta drawled, voice dripping with mockery. "Tell me, how is Kakarot these days? Still picking pieces of his spine out of the dirt? So broken that his little fan club had to fly across the galaxy just to scrape up some magic balls?"
Krillin's fists shook. Gohan's eyes blazed with helpless fury.
They wanted to rip him apart.
They couldn't lay a finger on him.
If only they'd finished the job back on Earth. If only Goku hadn't begged for mercy…
Regret tasted like rust in Krillin's mouth.
Vegeta savored their hatred for one delicious second then his face turned to stone.
Killing intent rolled off him like a tidal wave.
Both Earthlings locked up, legs buckling under pressure they couldn't even comprehend.
Vegeta raised one hand.
BOOM!!
A single finger beam lanced across the horizon, missing them by inches, and punched straight into a distant island.
Two armored figures burst out of the foliage a heartbeat before the entire landmass detonated in a column of fire that clawed at the sky.
Frieza Force armor. Standard scouters. Low-level trash.
Krillin and Gohan stared, jaws slack.
Vegeta… had just saved them?
No.
He had simply chosen who got to kill them.
The prince rose lazily into the air, arms folded, staring at the two trembling scouts with the mild interest of a cat watching cornered mice.
"I haven't decided yet," he said, voice soft and lethal, "whether today is your lucky day… or the worst day of your miserable lives."
The scouts dropped to their knees in mid-air, foreheads practically scraping the clouds.
"L-Lord Vegeta! Mercy, please!"
"We didn't know it was you! We only detected the ship and came to investigate!"
"Lord Zarbon's reconnaissance team, sir! We swear we weren't spying!"
Sweat poured off them in rivers. Their scouters had already exploded from Vegeta's unsuppressed ki.
Pathetic lies. Everyone present knew it.
Vegeta's smile never reached his eyes.
"In the old days," he said almost conversationally, "I would have let the Earthlings kill you. Saved me the trouble."
He glanced down at Krillin and Gohan still frozen in shock and then back to the scouts.
"Today… I'm in a generous mood."
A single finger lifted.
The scouts screamed.