Before Goku could use Instant Transmission, Temat suddenly threw back his head and let out a hoarse roar.
The sound cut straight through Goku's concentration. He turned to look at him in confusion.
Temat clutched his head with both hands as even more power surged from his body. The force of it shook the entire planet.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?" Goku asked, baffled.
"Get out of here... everyone, get away from here now!" Temat shouted, still gripping his head, his face twisted in pain.
"What happened? What's going on with you?" Goku asked again.
"Go!" Temat roared.
"Kakarot, you idiot! He's like the old Broly—he can't control all that power! He's about to go berserk! We need to get out of here now!" Vegeta shouted.
Goku nodded at once. "Yeah, you're right!"
He used Instant Transmission without another second of hesitation, vanishing with Vegeta and reappearing beside Raditz.
"Quick! Raditz, grab on!" Goku shouted.
"My dear little brother... you didn't leave me behind!" Raditz said, so overwhelmed he looked like he might cry.
Off in the distance, Renso, Cabba, and the others were still trying to understand what was happening.
"What's wrong with His Highness? He looks like he's in a lot of pain!"
"His energy's still climbing! What is he trying to do?"
Renso frowned deeply.
"You all need to leave too!" Temat shouted at them from afar.
"The prince told us to run. Should we?" Lusen asked uncertainly.
"We're leaving first," Renso said in a heavy voice.
But just as they were about to take off—
Goku used Instant Transmission again and appeared beside them in a flash.
"Hurry! Grab onto me! I'll get you out of here with Instant Transmission!" he said.
"Are you kidding? You broke Raditz out of prison! Anyone can tell you're up to no good!" Lusen shouted.
"There's no time to argue!" Goku said, looking thoroughly troubled. "Are you coming or not? If you wait any longer, it'll be too late!"
Lusen hated Goku, but even he could see the situation had gone terribly wrong. He quickly put a hand on Goku.
Cabba and the others did the same.
In an instant, Goku used Instant Transmission and vanished with all of them.
And the very moment they disappeared—
Temat's power exploded again with a deafening roar.
A vast, violent wave of energy surged outward from his body. The earth shook so hard it seemed ready to split apart, while streaks of pink lightning crackled across him.
His power was even greater than before.
When they looked again, his eyes had turned completely red.
He screamed over and over, clutching his head even tighter, his expression growing more and more painful.
Then he transformed into a streak of light and shot off into the distance.
Goku reappeared with everyone in the area where Caulifla and her gang were gathered.
They had already finished preparing their spaceship and were just about to board it and head for Earth to "save" Kale.
But before they could go, Goku arrived with a whole crowd of people in tow.
Caulifla and the others all froze, staring at him in surprise.
Then Caulifla saw Renso, and the corner of her mouth twitched awkwardly.
"Caulifla! What exactly are you planning to do?" Renso asked with a frown.
"Isn't that Renso?"
"Why is Renso here with that weirdo?"
"Are they together or something?"
Caulifla's underlings began whispering among themselves.
"Brother..." Caulifla said with a forced grin.
Brother?
The word shocked a good number of people on the spot.
"So you were here all along, Caulifla," Renso said, brows knitting tighter.
Caulifla: "..."
This was all that meddling Son Goku's fault.
He had actually dragged her brother here.
"My god... so that's Boss's brother?"
"Now I finally get why Boss is so strong!"
Her underlings looked like they had just reached enlightenment.
So Caulifla was Renso's little sister.
"You all know each other?" Goku asked, scratching his head.
"You meddling idiot!" Caulifla shouted.
But before anyone else could say more, Vegeta's expression suddenly hardened. He looked sharply up at the sky.
"Kakarot... that guy's coming this way fast. He's tracking us."
Goku tried sensing him too, and his face immediately changed.
"It really is him. He's heading straight for us at incredible speed," Goku said grimly. "And his ki is even stronger than before."
"Then move! We need to get out of here now!" Vegeta snapped.
Goku looked troubled. "Go where? Unless we leave the planet..."
Vegeta: "..."
"What is going on?" Caulifla asked, confused.
"Get on the spaceship!" Renso ordered decisively, pointing toward it.
"Oh? So that's a spaceship? Weird design," Goku muttered, but he did not waste any more time and flew straight inside.
"What happened?" Caulifla still did not understand.
"There's no time to explain. If you don't want to die, get on!" Renso barked, shoving her onto the ship.
"Could you be a little gentler? I'm your sister!" Caulifla snapped.
"Just get on!" Renso shouted.
Everyone else hurried aboard as well.
One of Caulifla's men slammed the launch button.
The spaceship shot up into the air—
And at that exact moment, Temat arrived in front of it as a purple streak wrapped in pink lightning.
"Damn it! He's here!" Raditz cried.
Temat raised one hand and stopped the rising spaceship dead with sheer force.
Inside, people stumbled and fell in every direction.
He held the entire ship in place with one hand as if it weighed nothing.
Through the glass, everyone could see it clearly now.
The prince's eyes were still blood-red.
There was naked bloodlust in them, as if he wanted to devour everything in sight.
"He's completely lost his mind," Vegeta said in a low voice.
"This is bad," Goku said, his face shifting again. "There's no way around it now. We have to fight."
"Tch." Vegeta clicked his tongue, but he knew Goku was right.
Renso looked grave and conflicted.
This was still their prince.
Even now, he did not know what the correct choice was.
"Who is that guy?" Caulifla asked in shock.
"That's Prince Temat," Cabba explained beside her.
"The prince? Then what happened to his eyes?" Caulifla asked, staring out through the glass.
"I don't know. But it looks like he's lost control," Cabba answered.
Caulifla glanced back at him, then did not say anything else.
Before Goku and the others inside the ship could keep hesitating—
The spaceship exploded with a deafening boom.
Everyone was blown out in every direction, battered and blackened with soot. Some of Caulifla's underlings were hit so hard they lost control and dropped straight out of the sky.
Goku did not hesitate. He transformed into Super Saiyan Blue at once.
Vegeta's whole body burst with golden light, and he rapidly expanded into a giant golden ape.
Then, as he roared, his body immediately began shrinking again until he was roughly the size of a normal person.
He still looked like a giant ape, though, and he pounded on his chest with both fists.
Because his body was smaller, the chest-beating looked more ridiculous than intimidating.
Goku blinked and turned to him. "Huh? Vegeta... why'd you shrink?"
"Hmph. A giant body gets in the way. This size is much more practical," Vegeta replied.
Goku gave a small sigh. "Shame it doesn't increase your power at all. You just got smaller."
Vegeta felt another knife go straight through his heart.
Kakarot, you bastard, can you stop saying things like that so casually?
"Come on! Let's do this!" Vegeta shouted, dropping into a battle stance.
Goku did the same, and the two of them rushed Temat together.
After destroying the spaceship, Temat clutched his head again and let out several more anguished roars. Then he saw Goku and Vegeta charging him.
The next second, he moved.
He shot straight at Vegeta and grabbed him by the head.
Vegeta: "..."
That was when he felt something go very, very wrong.
Why does this feel so much like Broly?
I should never have made myself smaller.
If I'd stayed huge, maybe he couldn't have grabbed my head.
Unfortunately, reality proved him right the very next moment.
Temat smashed the back of Vegeta's head straight into the ground.
Vegeta's vision buzzed violently.
Then Temat dragged him across the earth by the head, grinding him hard through the dirt.
"Vegeta!" Goku shouted in alarm and rushed over to save him, driving a punch straight at Temat's face.
But Temat reacted as if he had already expected it. He casually raised a hand and blocked the punch, then reached out with the other and grabbed Goku by the head too.
Then he slammed Goku's head and Vegeta's head together.
Both of them went dizzy on the spot. Stars filled their vision.
Temat lifted them both by the head and hurled them into the air.
As they flew up, both Goku and Vegeta reverted to normal and began falling back down.
Temat let out a savage grin. Then he opened his mouth wide and began gathering energy.
And he was aiming it straight at the two of them.
The moment Goku saw that, his face changed instantly.
"Vegeta, quick! We need to get out of here!" he shouted, holding out a hand.
Vegeta gritted his teeth, but he grabbed it.
Temat fired.
A beam of energy blasted from his mouth at blinding speed—
And in that final instant, Goku used Instant Transmission and vanished with Vegeta.
Temat's pupils tightened.
Without even a moment's hesitation, he transformed into a streak of light and shot straight up into the sky.
Above the clouds, he roared over and over, his voice shaking the whole sky.
But after a moment, he stopped there and did not continue into space.
Down below, Renso, Cabba, and the rest were all pale with terror.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Renso made the call.
"We're leaving. Everyone find somewhere to hide!"
But the moment those words left his mouth, Temat floated slowly back down from the sky and smiled at all of them.
"B-Brother..." Caulifla whispered, going pale as she hid behind Renso.
For the first time in her life, she had the sudden feeling that her brother's back looked unbelievably safe.
Renso, Cabba, Lusen, and all the others were trembling.
Prince Temat was far too strong.
So strong it felt absurd.
How were they supposed to fight something like that?
If he wanted to tear them apart, it would take no effort at all.
"Is everyone all right?"
At that moment, Temat spoke.
His voice was soft.
Renso looked carefully and realized that Temat's eyes had gone back to normal. They were no longer glowing red.
"Your Highness... are you in control again?" Renso asked cautiously, letting out a small breath.
"Sorry for frightening all of you," Temat said gently. Then he looked at Caulifla. "Especially this lovely young lady. I'm sorry I scared you."
"You did scare me," Caulifla admitted, patting her chest. "I'm probably going to have nightmares now."
Temat bowed to everyone present.
For a moment, Renso and the others had no idea how to respond.
"Your Highness, you really don't need to do that," Lusen said quickly, stepping forward. "We all understand. You lost control by accident."
Temat let out a helpless sigh. "That's the one flaw in this transformation. It's easy to lose control... and the worst part is that I still remember everything afterward. I clearly still need more training if I want to keep my reason."
No one answered.
Mixed into the crowd, Raditz was panicking so hard he felt like his soul was about to leave his body.
You can't see me.
Please don't notice me.
I have got to find a chance to run.
If I stay here, they're definitely throwing me back in prison.
And Kakarot, you absolute idiot—if you were going to run, why didn't you take me with you too?
What was the point of leaving me here?
"Raditz," Temat said with a faint smile, looking directly at him. "Do you want to walk yourself back to the Grand Prison, or do you want to be escorted?"
Raditz's heart sank.
He forced out a shaky smile, but the moment he met Temat's eyes, a wave of terror washed over him.
This guy was too strong.
Even Prince Vegeta was no match for him.
I'd better behave.
Otherwise he'll beat me to death.
"I'll go back by myself," Raditz said quickly. Then his eyes shifted, and he pointed at Lusen. "But I don't know the way, so he can take me."
"Fine by me," Lusen said with a nod.
"Then it's settled," Temat said coldly. "This is your last chance. If you try to escape again, or run on the way back, don't blame me for what happens." Then he let out another helpless sigh. "As for me, I still need to go back and see how my sister's prince consort selection is going. Goodbye, everyone."
With that, he vanished on the spot.
A moment later, Temat returned to the royal palace and appeared inside the princess's room.
"You're back?" the princess said softly.
Her silver-white hair shone brightly. She wore flowing robes that accentuated her graceful figure, but her face was veiled, hidden completely behind a white covering.
"How did it go?" Temat asked, glancing toward the arena outside. "Have you found a suitable candidate yet?"
"Not yet," the princess said, shaking her head lightly. Then she shot him a cool glance. "You fought at full power just now, didn't you?"
"I did," Temat said with a nod.
"Didn't I already tell you?" the princess said, her voice low and cold. "Try not to fight at full strength. You lose control when you do."
"Forgive me, Grand Priestess," Temat said, his eyes shifting slightly as he immediately bowed to her.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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