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‘What does it take to kill him?’
After fighting Goku, after getting his tail cut off, after getting hit with a Spirit Bomb, and even after having a giant ape-child fall on him, Vegeta still wasn’t dead. What’s more, he had enough strength to summon his ship and try to escape. Krillin was seeing it happen, and could still scarcely believe it.
Fortunately, even if he wasn’t dead, the Saiyan was pretty banged up. Barely able to crawl to the pod when it arrived. Krillin could scarcely move himself, had to basically roll off the bluff and then pick himself up off the rocky ground, but that put him ahead of everyone else.
The gleam of the sun off Yajirobe’s sword caught his eye. Some of the monks at Orin Temple trained with weapons, but Krillin never made it that far. Its weight was unfamiliar in his hand. He’d never killed anyone before today, or at all, depending on whether you counted the plant guys, but he’d tried to kill Vegeta’s big buddy. This was just more of the same.
“We’ve come. . . this far. Gotta. . . finish it.”
He shuffled forward as fast as he could, right leg dragging behind him. Could feel his bones grinding against each other. Everything was too bright and his breathing was too loud in his head. All the while, his target was getting closer to safety, oblivious to his approach.
Krillin raised the sword over his head. Maybe his breathing is as loud as he thinks. The Saiyan turns, eyes wide with shock. Heard him mutter something about not being able to move. Krillin closed his eyes.
“This is for. . . everyone you’ve killed!”
‘Krillin, stop!’
Goku. Goku’s voice, inside his mind. Goku, asking him to let the Saiyan go.
Krillin stopped, but the sword kept the Saiyan in place. “Goku, he tried to kill all of us! Tried to destroy the entire planet! Do you really think he’s gonna turn over a new leaf like Piccolo? There’s nothing good in him!”
‘Yeah, probably not.’
So Goku agreed, but wanted to spare him anyway. Krillin shouldn’t be surprised. Goku was a great fighter, but also a merciful one. Wasn’t the sort to torment a beaten opponent, let alone kill them.
‘But I couldn’t help thinking, “What a waste.” I trained so hard, thought I’d reached the peak, but he was still even stronger. It was terrifying, but also exciting. To face that kind of power. Krillin, please, I want to surpass him.’
Oh. Goku wanted to beat the guy on his own, without help. Krillin shouldn’t be surprised at that, either. He knew how much Goku loved fighting, and even more, how much he loved a challenging fight. Sometimes it seemed to Krillin like Goku enjoyed having people try to kill him, because it meant he had to fight that much harder.
Still, that was it? Krillin is just supposed to let him leave so Goku can have a rematch? He knows that isn’t what Goku means, but it feels like he’d preferred they all just stay out of it so he could handle everything himself, win or lose. It was almost lose, before Gohan and Krillin arrived. And they wouldn’t have been enough if Yajirobe hadn’t stepped in.
Krillin needed to make him understand how close it was. “Goku, he and his buddy already wiped out an entire city. I can’t give him a second chance to come back and kill everyone!”
‘I know, and I know he’d try, but I promise I’d beat him.’
Krillin wavered, the sword trembled against the Saiyan’s neck. Or maybe it’s the earth beneath his feet. His palms were sweaty and slick. He focused on his grip. It would be so easy to just drop the sword. Let the Saiyan escape. To just not do, anything, leave it to Goku. Like they usually did.
And it usually worked. Krillin believes in his best friend. He has to. Krillin’s alive because of Goku. Not just because he convinced Kami to restore the Dragon Balls so Krillin could be resurrected. Krillin was about to die today until Goku arrived. If Goku wants to have the chance to handle it himself, doesn’t Krillin owe it to him?
But. . .
Goku’s not immortal. He already died once saving the world from his own brother. He almost died again today, too. Impossible as it seems sometimes, Goku can be beaten. He can be killed. Just like all the people in East City who died as soon as the Saiyans touched down. The only reason more people didn't die was because Vegeta and his buddy were having so much fun fighting them.
‘Killing us,’ he thinks. Because they all trained for this, not just Goku. Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien, Krillin. Piccolo and Gohan. Even Yajirobe, in his own way. And they weren’t enough. Not even Piccolo. Even if Krillin’s wild hunch about there being more Dragon Balls is correct, there’s no guarantee they can undo all the loss. He grips the sword more tightly, the ground feeling a little more solid under his feet.
“I know killing him doesn’t bring anyone back, but if he returns to do it again, doesn’t that mean all their sacrifices were for nothing?”
Goku is silent in his mind. Krillin’s never understood Goku’s attitude towards fighting, especially against opponents set on killing him. To Krillin, fighting for his life is only terrifying, never exciting. The product of too many "fights" against the older students at the temple. Where Krillin tried his best, but was really just playing punching bag until they got bored. In Krillin's experience, when you fought someone stronger than you, they would hurt you, and enjoy doing it. Even when he'd fought Goku in the Tournament, he'd been a little afraid of that. Krillin might forget it temporarily, get excited or angry, but this battle with the Saiyans had never been fun. The thought of what happened if he and the others failed always loomed in his mind. But Krillin fought anyway, because he thought he had to try.
Krillin eyed the Saiyan. Not so different from those students at the temple. Vegeta enjoyed this fight when he was certain he was so strong he could do whatever he liked. Once it turned on him, he tries to run away. Case in point, he's still trying to inch into the pod. He froze when he realized Krillin noticed. Hatred stares back at Krillin. Hatred, and beneath it, fear.
You wouldn’t think it to look at him, but Yajirobe takes good care of his katana. It pierced the Saiyan’s armor, and his heart, easily. The fear replaced by shock, despair, and finally, resignation, as the eyes went glassy and dull. The last of Vegeta’s ki fades to nothing and his body slides bonelessly down the side of the escape pod, blood wetting the dirt beneath him.
Krillin lets the sword clatter to the ground.
“Sorry Goku.”