Ch. 76: Vegeta and Nappa at Guru's

"We've been flying for days, Piccolo... I think. How far do we have left?" Krillin asked during one of our lunch breaks.

"I'm not sure. Quite a ways." Piccolo replied.

"Don't you think we're far enough away from Vegeta that he won't be able to sense us if we pick up the pace just a little?" Krillin asked.

Piccolo bit his lip, thinking to himself. "You may be right... but I don't think we should risk it." He decided against it.

"Piccolo, at this rate we'll never get there. I think Krillin's right." I threw my lot in with Krillin. I needed Vegeta to catch up with us right as the Ginyu Force arrived, and I could feel them coming in as we spoke. It'd only be a few hours at best. 

"I can't even sense Nappa anymore, and my dad's gonna be here any day now." Gohan agreed.

Outvoted, Piccolo gave in. "... Okay. We'll use top speed, then. All or nothing." He decided. Finishing our break, we flew off at top speed this time (for Krillin, the weakest among us. It was a pretty leisurely pace for the rest of us).

...

"Nappa, let's go. I can sense the earthlings. I thought they'd make an attempt to steal the Dragon Balls, but they seem to be halfway across the planet."

"Okay, Vegeta." Nappa stood reluctantly.

"Whatever they're up to, we can't afford to lose them this time, Nappa. Make sure to keep up." Vegeta told Nappa, picking up a Dragon Ball as a safeguard against thievery before flying off. 

"Whatever, you, say." Nappa sighed, following closely behind Vegeta. After his fight with Zarbon a few days ago, Vegeta's power level had risen to around 35,000 or so. 

But Nappa's power had also spiked considerably after his fight with Gohan 55K. Currently, he was touching 30,000. Not very far behind the prince. The previously untenable gap between the two in terms of strength, unbeknownst to Vegeta, had narrowed, just a little bit, after everything that had happened.

...

"Guys, do you feel that?!" Piccolo suddenly shouted, stopping in place. I stopped beside him.

"Yeah. Vegeta must have noticed us after all. He's coming in hot." I noted.

"Damn." Piccolo cursed, "I hoped that he wouldn't notice... It doesn't matter. Guru's house is in sight. Krillin, Gohan, go inside and have Guru unlock your potentials. Hanna and I will stay here and hold the two of them off." He immediately decided.

"But Piccolo!" Gohan tried to argue, but Piccolo shouted at him.

"GO NOW!" He roared.

"Frankly, Gohan, he's right. As it stands, you and Krillin aren't exactly assets in battle. Go get your powers unlocked, then we'll stomp them together." I agreed with Piccolo, but I didn't actually expect a full-scale fight. The Ginyu Force was going to be breaking through the planet's atmosphere any moment now, and Vegeta's senses would definitely pick it up.

"O-okay." Gohan relented. He and Krillin flew towards Guru's house as fast as they could, leaving Piccolo and I alone to face the coming threat.

"Are you ready for this, Hanna?"

"More than, Piccolo." I shot him a grin.

We waited in silence, sensing Vegeta's fast approach. Finally, he stopped in front of us. Discreetly, I released part of the next seal that I'd placed on my power. Not fully releasing it meant that my pure power level didn't increase by more than about 5,000 or so, but my senses expanded fivefold. This way, even while fighting Vegeta and Nappa, I'd be able to sense the exact moment that Guru unlocked Gohan and Krillin's potentials, to stop the balance from being broken.

"The last Dragon Ball. The one-star ball. Give it to me." Vegeta demanded.

"Why in the world would we do that?!" Piccolo roared.

"You may have gotten stronger... a lot stronger, Namekian, but you're still not as strong as me, and Kakarot's daughter is nowhere near as powerful as Nappa. I have the upper hand, so GIVE ME THE BALL!" Vegeta shouted.

"We don't have it." I said, suppressing a grin.

"We'll see about that." Vegeta answered coldly. 

"Ah! Vegeta!" Nappa let out a gasp as he sensed Nail's power.

"Huh?" Vegeta looked in the direction of Guru's mountain. "There's a huge power level coming from that mountain. Is that where you've hidden the Dragon Ball as well?" He asked, interested.

"It doesn't matter. You'll have to get through me first, and that's not going to happen." Piccolo told him.

"Is that so?"

...

"You have quite a bit of power sleeping inside you, young man. Since your intentions are pure, allow me to help you unlock it." Guru placed a hand on Krillin's head.

"I think you've got something wrong, here. I'm not the one with potential, that's definitely Gohan. You should do his first!" Krillin told the old Namekian, but Guru was already working his magic on him. In an instant, his power, similar to Piccolo's, tripled.

"WOW! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! SO MUCH POWER! HAHAHA!" Krillin laughed maniacally, overwhelmed by his new power. But he knew that he was still not quite as strong as Piccolo. "Sir, please do Gohan now!" He begged.

"Come here, child." Guru stated, ignoring the sounds of battle outside where Piccolo and I were holding Vegeta and Nappa off by force.

"Okay, sir..."

...

"Get out of my WAAY!" Vegeta shouted, kicking Piccolo into a cliff. He followed up by blasting the cliff with a barrage of energy. That was going to hurt, but it wouldn't keep Piccolo down for long and we all knew it. Meanwhile, the fight between Nappa and I was still at the 'close combat' stage. Neither of us really had our hearts in it, after all. I wasn't using anywhere near the full power of my Grey Mode, and Nappa wasn't using his full power either, so we just punched and dodged while my mind was somewhere else. Then, I felt Guru begin to mess with Gohan's soul. Almost immediately, I blocked the intervention before reapplying my seal, the potential unlocking being effectively finished. Now, I was ready to actually fight.