Chapter 55 – Vegeta, Suffering

The force of Pinpoint Impact was just as intense as it had always been, but this time, however, Vegeta's knees intersected, forcing him to kneel for the first time in a very long time. Clutching his "royal penis", he crumpled and half-collapsed to the ground in a state of utter shock and agony, a high-pitched wail squeaking out of his throat that honestly did not sound possible from a monster of such a size.

"Y-you dishonorable– p-pieces of filth!" Vegeta's fur was slick with sweat as he hissed his humiliation through gritted teeth, experiencing a level of indignity unparalleled in his entire life thus far.

'Hurry! Where's the Special Beam Cannon?' Krillin's impatience manifested telepathically.

'I'm still charging it, you dolt!'

'Pressure! Pressure! Keep up the assault!' Ajax yelled at the two of them while charging a second Kienzan. These idiots were wasting precious time!

Krillin frowned at the frustrating delay in Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. Why was the first one charged so quickly while this one took a literal eternity? Turtle could've finished a marathon before Piccolo was done! Krillin initiated the charging process for his Destructo-Disk, swiftly circling behind Vegeta to target his vulnerable tail. Seizing a strategic opening, Krillin and Ajax simultaneously unleashed their attack.

"Destructo-disk!"

"Kienzan!"

Despite the soul-crushing pain, Vegeta retained just enough mental acuity to register the attacks and their target. He desperately evaded both Ki blades by clumsily launching himself sideways, crashing through a nearby pillar in the process.

Piccolo's pupils constricted as his focus honed in on Vegeta's airborne silhouette. With stunning precision, he unleashed his own attack, anticipating the Saiyan prince's trajectory.

"Special Beam Cannon!"

The concentrated beam of energy shot through the air with deadly accuracy, zeroing in on where Vegeta would be. The beam intercepted the Saiyan prince in mid-air with near perfection. Vegeta, catching sight of the threat, was forced into a desperate twist, contorting his body through the air in an attempt to mitigate the impact. However, his efforts were only partially successful.

The Special Beam Cannon slammed into the side of Vegeta's stomach, penetrating through both flesh and armor before exiting through his back. The effectiveness of the attack left Vegeta momentarily suspended in the air, his body contorted in pain and astonishment.

Then, Vegeta landed heavily on the ground, a subdued growl escaping his lips as he instinctively clutched his hand to the injury inflicted by the penetrating beam.

Vegeta assessed the extent of the damage. Though Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon had not been lethal due to the beam's small relative size to Vegeta's torso, it was an undeniably significant injury. Drilled straight through was still drilled straight through, and a wound of this nature was dangerous no matter its size relative to his body.

Vegeta felt the warmth seeping the injury onto his fingers. This was a humiliation beyond humiliation! Not even Kakarot, the best among them, had inflicted an injury such as this upon him. Vegeta's snarl could be heard across the battlefield, a visceral sound that carried with it a deep-seated loathing.

First, they had completely disregarded the UFBC, then they had the gall to injure him! The very idea of being bested by anyone other than Kakarot on this accursed planet was utterly unacceptable! Actually, scratch that– he refused to accept being bested by Kakarot either.

His eyes locked onto Ajax, who advanced with silver energy cloaking his fist. The other Z Fighters were all converging on him as well, likely to take advantage of his downed state. Feeling the pressure mounting, Vegeta's frustration reached a boiling point. Infusing all of his contempt and frustration, he raised both hands and slammed them into the ground with tremendous power.

"Why won't all of you just die!?" The shockwaves from Vegeta's ground-shaking action propagated outward, creating a literal barrier of displaced air that sent the Z Fighters tumbling away from him.

As the Z Fighters regrouped from the makeshift Kiai blast, Goku's chastising voice entered their telepathic space.

'Hey, you guys… you broke the Universal Fighting Bro Code! You can't just go for that spot in a fight, it's unfair!'

"Wait, what the f*ck?! The universal fighting bro code is real?!" Ajax couldn't contain his astonishment. He had initially dismissed Nappa's mention of it as a gag, but it actually existed? There really is a bro code? More importantly, how on Earth did Goku learn of it?" 

He conveyed his question to Goku telepathically, and Goku's reply followed nearly instantly.

'It doesn't need to be taught. Every bro just knows it!'

'Bullshit.' Ajax thought to himself without hesitation.

Although Vegeta was not privy to the telepathic exchange, he did catch Ajax's incredulous outburst about the existence of the UFBC. It was truly absurd, Vegeta thinks, that there could even be such ignorance about something as basic and commonplace as the UFBC. Even Kakarot knew and all of them had lived on the same shithole of a planet.

"What kind of backwater, backwoods, backward planet doesn't even know about the UFBC?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

Struggling to rise, Vegeta finally managed to ascend to one knee with great difficulty, feeling only minimally recovered from the devastating blow to his family jewels. Sensing that his enemies were engaging him once more, he let loose a mighty roar, more like a Kiai than any expression of frustration. The powerful wave of energy unleashed by Vegeta once again blasted everyone in his vicinity backward.

Observing Vegeta's actions, Piccolo scowled as he recognized the shift in the Saiyan's tactics. Utilizing their telepathic link, Piccolo shared his insights with the other Z Fighters.

'He's preventing any of us from getting close again. And he'll be vigilant against attacks on that area in the future. Any more brilliant ideas, brat?'

Ajax had one or two. It was unfortunate that their shameless strategy of targeting 'Trunks' for an opening to sever Vegeta's tail had failed, but other than that, outlasting Vegeta was always an option. Ajax narrowed his eyes. The better option was to deal so much damage that Vegeta was either rendered immobile or voluntarily reverted from his transformed state. But that's easier said than done, and it's too dangerous for anyone other than him to carry out.

Ajax shifted his eyes to Vegeta. He, alongside the others, was unable to approach Vegeta and could only observe from a distance. The Saiyan Prince still visibly trembled as he rode out the waves of pain from the unscrupulous strike to his manhood, but despite semi-curling on himself on one knee, the Saiyan prince glared at them with an intensity that sent shivers down their spines.

After a moment more, Ajax finally spoke.

'Remain vigilant, but still stick to the plan. Outside that, our only option is to outlast him. Goku, if you've got any other great moves in your arsenal, now would be a great time to whip them out.' Ajax said, thinking of the Spirit Bomb. He needed that thing ready on demand. The last thing theyneeded was to sit on their ass, twiddling their thumbs waiting for Goku to charge the darn thing. He had watched Megamind before, and he could certainly learn from other's mistakes.

'Oh yeah! I've got one in mind!' Goku spoke with a sudden burst of enthusiasm. His words were delivered with an air of enlightenment as if he had just discovered the existence of the most powerful move within his repertoire.

Piccolo took charge of the situation. Through their telepathic link, he directed Gohan with a firm command.

'Gohan, stick close to Goku and guard him while he charges up whatever this move is. Also, Goku, how long is the charge time of this technique?'

'About five minutes.'

Piccolo grimaced. 'This is a terrible technique.'

'You're one to talk!' Krillin chimed in, amused but also subtly judgmental.

'Well, brace yourself for even more terrible news. I pushed my limits too far with the Kaioken earlier, so my Ki control is entirely out of whack right now. I'm gonna need some time to get to a good enough state to concentrate on gathering that Ki,' Goku explained, a subtle undertone of something lacing his tone. 'What, Piccolo? Just stall for a bit against someone far beyond your level. It's not that hard, I promise! I believe in you, buddy!'

'...are you holding a grudge?' Piccolo asked tentatively, so taken aback by Goku's uncharacteristic sarcasm that his brain literally ceased functioning. 'Uhh– what was I saying? Gohan, stick close to Goku and protect him while he charges his technique.'

'Alright, Mr. Piccolo,' Gohan replied, a bit confused by the repetition. He ultimately chose not to question it and responded with respectful acknowledgment.

Ajax shot a private message directly to Piccolo, 'Want to keep your boy out of the meat of things? You said that twice~.' In reality, Ajax had no qualms about it since he still had to keep his promise to Chi-Ch. He just wanted to tease Piccolo.

'You shut the hell up.' Piccolo did not need Ajax of all people to poke fun at him.

Fair enough. There were more pressing matters at hand than something like this. As he observed Vegeta rising in the distance—still unsteady but recovering—Ajax tightened his grip on his resolve.

Thanks to his extensive canon knowledge, Ajax had recognized the names casually mentioned by Nappa and Vegeta. It sparked an intriguing idea he wanted to attempt. It most likely won't work but it's worth a try. With a mischievous glint in his eye, Ajax decided to exploit this knowledge to his advantage.

"Hey, Vegeta! Nappa received a call from your boyfriend, Recoome, a little while back. He sends his love and kisses!" Ajax's shout rang out towards Vegeta.

To Ajax's pleasant surprise, his distraction worked far better than he expected. Unexpectedly, Vegeta froze for a solid few seconds. Ajax's words seemed to ripple through the Saiyan prince, causing his fur to bristle in waves as a full-body shiver seized him.

Unbeknownst to Ajax, Recoome actually did have such a habit. Recoome had done these calls on the regular until Vegeta and Nappa decided to blacklist his number and all of his subsequent ones.

Faced with such a realistic scenario that so closely resembled previous encounters with Recoome, Vegeta really needed to grind his gears for a second to realize that he was being punked. After all, how could Recoome call when neither he nor Nappa had their scouters? Even if they did, their external communications had been disabled!

"YOU SHUT THE F*CK UP!!!" Vegeta's momentary confusion swiftly morphed into absolute fury as realization dawned upon him. With a roar of rage, he lunged forward with both hands, intending to obliterate Ajax into an unrecognizable mass of flesh.

Ajax, capitalizing on the distraction he had created, assumed a stance reminiscent of the Solar Flare. His palms faced outwards instead of inward as he prepared for a maneuver that took advantage of Vegeta's predictability to the Solar Flare.

Responding instinctively to what he believed to be another Solar Flare, Vegeta immediately shut his eyes tightly, one hand instinctively moving down to protect his groin, while the other gripped the base of his tail. A surge of energy enveloped the tail immediately after, fortifying it with an additional layer of protection.

However, Ajax had no intention of targeting either of Vegeta's vulnerable areas. He wasn't charging a Solar Flare either. With a swift spin and a graceful curve in the air, Ajax arrived at Vegeta's right shoulder and extended his arms, a smaller Kienzan spinning in his hand. This one, he was not planning to throw.

In a calculated motion, he thrusted the Kienzan into Vegeta's right shoulder. Then, he descended.

Ajax definitely was not the World's Strongest Swordsman, but at this moment, he certainly felt like him as he carved an enormous parting gift from Vegeta's right shoulder to his left hip. For once, he didn't mind all the blood.