Nappa strode straight toward Yamcha, cracking his knuckles with a series of sharp sounds.
He couldn't hide his ki — the aura pouring off him was almost suffocating. But there was no turning back now: if he fell, not only Capsule Corporation but the whole city would be utterly destroyed by this Saiyan.
Swallowing hard, Yamcha forced his fear down and let out a shout as he rushed at Nappa. Bulma used the chance to shepherd the ordinary civilians back toward safety; along the way she pulled out her phone and called Chi-Chi.
Neither Goku nor Piccolo normally carried a phone, so Bulma had no choice but to try Chi-Chi.
The call connected and Chi-Chi's voice answered, "Hello? Who is this?"
"Bulma! Chi-Chi, where's Goku right now?"
"Bulma? Goku took Gohan out to train. Ah! Gohan's still so young and—"
"Don't talk! Hurry and find Goku! A Saiyan has landed at my place!"
"Huh? Oh — okay, okay, I'll go right now!"
Chi-Chi, not yet as irritable as she would be later, understood the gravity of the situation. She hung up and barreled out the door.
She was almost knocked down by a blast of wind — Goku and Piccolo had already sensed Vegeta and the others' ki and were flying to Bulma's location at high speed.
That gust of wind came from Goku and Piccolo's rapid flight.
...
Back at Capsule Corporation,
Nappa had planted his huge boot — over fifty yards of force — on Yamcha's head. He grinned savagely, kneading Yamcha's skull with his foot. Puar was being held tight by Bulma and cried out, "Yamcha!"
Yamcha was soaked in blood, his skull pulsing with pain as he thrashed frantically. But his struggling only seemed to excite Nappa more.
Nappa bent down, grabbed a fistful of Yamcha's hair, hoisted him up, and snarled,
"Still not going to tell me where Kakarot is? Say another word and I'll twist your arm right off."
Yamcha glared at Nappa and, through clenched teeth, spat out,
"You disgusting big bald idiot — I'll tell you nothing!"
Calling him "big bald" hit Nappa's nerve. He hated that more than anything.
Back on Planet Vegeta he'd fought people for the same insult; among a crowd of hairy Saiyans his shiny bald head stuck out like a sore thumb — impossible to ignore.
A vein popped wildly on Nappa's forehead. If Vegeta hadn't given strict orders, Nappa would already have crushed Yamcha's skull.
He grabbed Yamcha and slammed his face hard into the ground, carving a human-shaped crater in the pavement.
Bulma couldn't hold back her tears as she watched; she clapped a hand over her mouth. In that moment she truly felt the cruelty of the Saiyans.
Vegeta, who had been half-dozing, suddenly lost patience. He opened his eyes and said,
"Alright, Nappa. This one's got guts, but I don't think we're getting anything useful out of him. Finish him."
"Gotcha! I've had my fun!" Nappa's face twisted into a cruel smile as he lifted his boot, aiming for Yamcha's skull.
Bulma couldn't stand it any longer and screamed, "No!!!"
Whoosh!
A small figure suddenly appeared above Nappa and flicked her finger against his bald head, sending him flying.
Bulma stared in shock at the newcomer's face and cried out, "Lazuli?!"
Android 18 landed and glanced at Bulma, clearly not in the mood to chat.
While Bulma was stunned, someone's hand landed on her shoulder.
She turned and saw Kaito smiling.
Kaito shook his head with a hint of helplessness and said,
"I was going to let Goku and the others handle this, but I didn't expect a Saiyan to land at your company. What a coincidence."
"Kaito, you know Goku?"
"Sort of. I met him once when Raditz came."
Bulma's eyes widened. "What!? You're the mysterious guy Goku mentioned!?"
"That's probably me. Did you call Goku?"
"I did. They should be on their way!"
"Fine — they can come, but they'll be wasting their trip this time." Kaito looked at Android 18 and said, "18, finish that bald one. You were too gentle earlier — you can't handle enemies like that."
Android 18 still hadn't fully slipped out of her civilian persona; she'd been afraid of using too much force and outright killing Nappa. She nodded, then shot a quick, sullen glance at Kaito's hand on Bulma's shoulder.
A massive lump swelled on the top of Nappa's bald head. He staggered up from the ground, his skull feeling like it might split open.
Vegeta frowned and looked at Android 18 and Kaito. He walked over to Nappa and pressed the detector on his face.
Beep, beep, beep… bang!
Android 18 couldn't hide her ki — her internal eternal energy reactor made it difficult to conceal. Vegeta's detector screamed for a moment; when the numbers reached twenty-one thousand it exploded.
Seeing the detector smoking on the ground, Vegeta and Nappa fell silent.
After a moment, Nappa lifted his head and stared at Android 18 in disbelief.
"Impossible. Could this woman be the one Raditz met?"
Vegeta's face went sombre as he shook his head. He glanced at Kaito and said,
"No — that voice should be from the man who came with her. This is bad. I didn't expect there to be two people on Earth with this kind of power."
Nappa hurriedly scanned Kaito with his detector but got nothing.
Vegeta snorted coldly.
"I told you — these Earthlings can hide their ki. I think that guy's power is even higher than that woman's!"
Hearing that, doubt crawled into Nappa's mind. Facing two opponents each over twenty thousand made his scalp tingle.
"So what do we do? Maybe we should consider retreating—"
"You idiot! What are you talking about? You think they'll give us that chance?"
Vegeta finished his insult and the tail wrapped around his waist slowly unfurled. He glanced up at the blazing sun and snorted, "It's still too early. Looks like we'll have to use that move."