"Leave the truck and get lost!"
One of the robbers leveled his gun at Goku while the other two grinned, clearly pleased with how easily their trap had worked.
Goku looked between them and the stranded vehicle in the ditch.
"What are you talking about?"
"We're robbers! That truck belongs to us now."
"Robbers?" Goku scratched his cheek. "Then I definitely don't want to give you a ride to the station."
The leader's patience immediately began to fray.
"Are you stupid? Nobody wants a ride! Hand over the keys, leave the truck here, and get out of our sight!"
"Oh! You want my truck."
"Yes!"
One of the other men actually sighed with relief.
"Boss, this thing's brand-new. We could sell it for a fortune!"
The leader laughed as he looked over the expensive maglev truck.
"Looks like today's our lucky day!"
His two partners joined in.
Goku started laughing with them.
That killed the mood.
"What are you laughing at?" the leader demanded.
"Bulma gave me this truck because I promised I'd work properly." Goku smiled at them. "So I can't let you take it."
The leader almost seemed amused by how badly Goku had misunderstood his position.
"You really are an idiot. Fine. I guess I'll beat some sense into you first."
He threw a punch.
Goku stopped it with one finger.
The robber had just enough time to realize that something was terribly wrong before Goku flicked that finger forward and launched him across the road. He crashed headfirst into the gang's own vehicle.
The other two immediately opened fire.
Goku vanished from their sights, appeared behind them, and dropped one with a punch and the other with a kick before either could turn around.
Once the three robbers were sprawled around the road, Goku flexed his shoulders and thought about how sluggish the whole exchange had felt.
"I really have gotten rusty. If I keep skipping training, Vegeta might actually pass me."
That possibility bothered him enough to make the vegetables temporarily less important.
Goku pulled out his communicator.
"Vados? You there?"
No answer came back.
He tried again, still staring at the silent device.
"Why isn't she answering? I wanted to go train…"
On the God of Destruction's Planet in Universe 6, Vegeta was already doing exactly that.
He remained in his base form while driving punch after punch toward Vados. She slipped around every attack with almost no wasted movement, forcing Vegeta to constantly adjust his timing and read where she would be rather than where she appeared to be.
"You're improving, Vegeta," Vados said. "There are far fewer unnecessary movements in your attacks now."
Champa watched from a distance with very little enthusiasm.
"Boring."
Vegeta lunged again.
His fist passed through Vados as her figure blurred into something indistinct.
Instead of blindly turning after her, Vegeta expanded his senses and searched for the real presence behind the feint. Vados appeared at his back, but he ignored the image and punched straight ahead.
The Vados behind him dissolved.
The real one was already standing in front of his fist.
She stopped it with one finger.
"Very good. You saw through it." Her approval was genuine. "You've made considerable progress."
Vegeta gave a curt acknowledgment before immediately resuming the attack.
Watching him train with that level of intensity finally drew Champa's interest.
"Vegeta's taking this pretty seriously."
The Oracle Fish floating nearby knew exactly why.
"He fell much farther behind Goku during the battle with Zamasu."
Universe 7 had its own Oracle Fish, and Universe 6 naturally had one as well. This one was noticeably rounder than its counterpart, with a body that made it resemble an irritated little pufferfish.
Champa remained unimpressed.
"Then his level is still too low."
The Oracle Fish wisely chose not to argue.
"You predicted before that Vegeta and Goku would eventually become powerful rivals for me, didn't you?"
"I did."
"If Ken hadn't interfered with their growth, neither of them would ever have become a threat to me!"
Champa slapped his large belly with complete confidence.
The Oracle Fish gave him an answer he liked considerably less.
"Hard to say."
Champa was about to argue when another thought occurred to him.
"Wait. Something about this doesn't make sense. Vegeta is already a God of Destruction apprentice, but there aren't any vacant universes left for him to take over."
The Oracle Fish delivered the obvious possibility with maddening calm.
"Maybe he'll become the God of Destruction of Universe 6."
Champa's stomach suddenly felt much less comfortable.
Was Vegeta being trained to replace him?
Was that Ken's plan?
Suspicion immediately poisoned the way Champa looked at the Saiyan.
"Vegeta!"
The shout brought the sparring session to a stop.
Vegeta turned toward him.
"You've improved quite a bit."
He waited for Champa to get to the point.
"How about fighting me?"
Champa's grin widened.
"You're a God of Destruction apprentice, aren't you? You should be honored that an actual God of Destruction is willing to teach you personally."
That offer caught Vegeta by surprise.
Vados seemed much more entertained by it.
"My, how unusual. This should be good training for you, Vegeta."
After a moment of consideration, Vegeta accepted.
"Fine. I won't hold back."
The two moved apart until several dozen meters separated them.
Champa raised one finger before they began.
"One condition. If you lose, you don't go crying to your guardian afterward."
Vegeta knew exactly who he meant.
"You're talking about Ken."
"Exactly."
"Do I look like a child to you?"
"Good."
Champa's grin took on a sharper edge.
"I heard Beerus beat you pretty badly the last time you fought him."
Vegeta did not rise to the bait.
"He did. Beerus is the strongest God of Destruction, and I still have a long way to go before I can surpass him."
Then he looked Champa up and down.
"But among the Gods of Destruction, you're one of the weaker ones, aren't you?"
Champa's face darkened instantly.
One of the weaker ones?
Vegeta gave him no time to complain.
"Let's go, Champa-sama."
Red fur spread across Vegeta's body as he transformed into Super Saiyan 4.
Champa beckoned him forward.
"So that's the form you're starting with. Come on."
Vegeta exploded across the distance and drove a fist directly at him.
Champa caught it in one palm.
Vegeta increased his power, hanging in midair as he pushed against the God of Destruction with everything Super Saiyan 4 could produce.
Champa did not move an inch.
"Not bad." His grin returned. "But remind me—who did you call one of the weaker Gods of Destruction?"
His free palm struck Vegeta square in the chest.
The blow sent Vegeta flying, though he managed to roll with the impact, regain his footing, and launch himself high into the air.
A massive energy sphere formed between his hands and came crashing down toward Champa.
Champa casually backhanded it away.
Vegeta used the distraction to appear behind him and attack from close range, but Champa slipped around the first punch and continued avoiding the barrage that followed. No matter how quickly Vegeta increased his pace, every fist and kick found empty space.
Champa eventually hopped backward to create some room.
Vegeta immediately chased him.
This time, Champa did not bother dodging.
He thrust out his enormous stomach.
Vegeta ran face-first into it.
The impact rang through his skull hard enough to leave his vision spinning, and he dropped to the ground before he could recover.
Champa looked down at him with open contempt.
A God of Destruction apprentice was still only an apprentice. Vegeta had a long way to go before he could challenge the real thing.
Vados covered her amusement behind a smile.
"My, my. Vegeta still has plenty of work ahead of him."
The Oracle Fish agreed.
Vegeta sprang back to his feet, fury replacing the dizziness.
Champa was careful not to push the humiliation too far. Vegeta was Ken's apprentice, after all, and the only reason he was training here was that Ken had entered another period of intensive cultivation and asked Vados to supervise him in the meantime.
"You still want to continue?" Champa asked.
Vegeta answered by drawing a deep breath.
Fiery red light ignited over his Super Saiyan 4 form.
God ki poured through him as Super Saiyan God layered itself over the transformation, changing the entire pressure surrounding his body.
Champa could immediately feel the difference.
"So you've improved that stacked form. It's much better than before, but this still won't be enough to beat me."
Vegeta had no interest in debating it.
He became a red streak and attacked.
The difference from his first attempt was obvious. Champa could no longer brush everything aside without effort, and after several exchanges, the God of Destruction finally threw a serious punch.
Vegeta brought up his forearm and blocked it.
Holding his ground against a direct strike from a God of Destruction sent a thrill through him, and his grin showed every bit of it.
Champa disengaged and gave him another appraisal.
"Not bad. You really did get stronger. You're still nowhere near me, though."
"We'll see."
Vegeta attacked again, this time releasing nearly everything he had.
His speed climbed with every exchange, and his punches carried enough force that Champa was finally forced to defend rather than simply evade. Vegeta kept pressing, refusing to let the God of Destruction settle into a comfortable rhythm.
Vados watched the transformation with clear approval.
"Vegeta has finally stabilized Super Saiyan God over Super Saiyan 4. He's no longer losing control of the layered power the way he did before." She followed another furious exchange with interest. "At this rate, the gap between him and Goku should continue shrinking."
The Oracle Fish looked toward Champa.
"Is he actually fighting seriously?"
"Not yet. Champa-sama is still playing with him." Vados's smile turned slightly uneasy. "Though I do think he should start taking Vegeta more seriously. If Vegeta lands a clean hit and Champa-sama gets angry, this could become troublesome."
The Oracle Fish shared that concern.
"When Champa gets angry, he causes just as much trouble as Beerus."
"Well, they are brothers."
The Oracle Fish seemed to remember something.
"You and Whis are siblings too."
Vados turned that observation around immediately.
"And what exactly is your relationship with Universe 7's Oracle Fish?"
The round little fish puffed up even more.
Vados already knew enough to keep going.
"You haven't seen each other since that argument, have you?"
"He can come apologize first. Until then, I have no reason to see him!"
"My, you're practically turning into a balloon."
The Oracle Fish blew an annoyed bubble and refused to answer.
Their conversation ended when Vegeta suddenly roared.
He broke through Champa's defense and buried a fist in the God of Destruction's face.
Vados's eyes widened.
The Oracle Fish had just enough time to realize that the exact thing they had been discussing had happened.
Vegeta pulled his fist back with a thoroughly satisfied grin.
Champa's forehead bulged with veins.
His hand snapped around Vegeta's wrist before the Saiyan could withdraw.
"That's enough arrogance out of you."
The strength in Champa's grip changed the atmosphere immediately.
Vegeta tried to pull free and discovered that he could not move his arm at all.
Only then did the true difference between them become clear.
Champa had been playing.
Even this supposedly weaker God of Destruction possessed a level of strength Vegeta was nowhere near ready to overcome.
The Oracle Fish urgently moved closer to Vados.
"You should probably put up a barrier before Champa loses his temper."
"Of course."
Vados reached into her dimensional storage for her staff.
Her hand came back empty.
"My, my… where did I leave it?"
The Oracle Fish stared at her in horror.
"Vados…"
A thunderous explosion cut off whatever complaint was coming.
The entire God of Destruction's Planet lurched under the force of the blast, and the Oracle Fish immediately darted behind Vados for cover.
Vados could only sigh as the shockwave rolled across the landscape.
"They're making quite a mess again. Perhaps Ken should train here for a while next time. Champa-sama tends to behave himself when Ken is around."
The Oracle Fish cautiously emerged once it realized the explosion had not reached them.
For the moment, at least, they had survived Champa's temper.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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