Way of the Conquerer
In the soundless void of space, a lone sphere traveled. A blue contrail of energy streamed behind the ship, giving the spacecraft the appearance of an icy comet. The pod seemingly moved of its own accord, avoiding asteroids and various fragments of space flotsam expertly.
Within the attack pod was a lone man, his eyes closed in sleep and his body floating in artificial stasis. The man was very short, and yet still extremely intimidating in his own unique way. He wore a yellow and white piece of upper armor over a blue jumpsuit, an outfit that was inexplicably both aerodynamic and weighty. His haughty features were softened in sleep, and a crimson technological monocle rested on his left eye. However, his most distinctive feature was his spiky black hair, which bolstered his height by about three inches.
"Arrival time on Planet Deltos estimated in three minutes, Prince Vegeta." A cool female voice informed him through the ship's artificial intelligence. The man began to stir. Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, opened his eyes.
Normally, Vegeta traveled to subjugate other planets with his two remaining Saiyan comrades, Nappa and Raditz. This time, however, he was dispatched alone by Frieza, his boss and the ruler of the northern quadrant of the galaxy. He was informed that Deltos' inhabitants were naturally powerful warrior tribesmen. Supposedly, he was the only one powerful enough to handle them.
Inputting a series of commands into the pod's central console, Vegeta landed in a large quarry. Curiously, the planet's rocky surface was purple in hue, and the sky was a sickly shade of green.
"Atmosphere readings are positive. No filtration device will be required." The ship's computer informed him. "Very good." Vegeta grunted as he stepped out of the pod. Yawning, he took a few minutes to stretch his sore limbs. He practiced his fighting technique, performing a few punches, kicks, and slaps to get himself loose and limber after being in the ship for a few days.
"I'll need to be on my guard if these creatures are as powerful as they seem. I'm supposed to cleanse this planet in three days…" He mumbled to himself. Although the prince took no pride in committing wanton genocide under Frieza's orders, he was looking forwards to the prospects of truly testing his limits against a series of worthy fighters. He activated his scouter, numbers popping up on the small screen. Using this device, Vegeta could sense the life energy of individual organisms, and thus he could determine how strong they were.
Strangely enough, he barely received any readings, despite being told that the planet had a population of two million. "How odd…I wonder if the machine if malfunctioning…" He murmured again. Before he could fulminate further on the matter, the scouter beeped incessantly, picking up a large concentration of powerful beings.
"450…1300…5000…and one of them is over 9000!" He said in shock. "This warrants further investigation. It seems this group has done my job for me. I suppose I should go…thank them." He chuckled grimly before flying into the air. Surrounded by a fearsome violet aura, he rocketed over the canyons of planet Deltos.
"That was the last of them, Lord Boros. Planet Deltos is now the property of the Dark Matter Thieves." An alien foot solder bowed before his master as he delivered his report.
Lord Boros said nothing, but nodded as he heard this. Standing nearly eight feet tall, the alien overlord certainly was an intimidating sight. He was muscled and humanoid in his appearance, with the notable exception of his face, in which instead of two eyes, he only had a single large one.
He wore ornate golden armor, earrings, and various bangles. His spiky pink hair stood tall in every direction, and a white cape majestically flapped behind him. "Then I suppose we shall take our leave. The prophesized warrior was not here…sometimes I wonder if will ever find someone to match my strength." Boros' voice was not arrogant at all; he sounded sad, wistful even.
"Do not despair, my lord. We shall find the warrior someday. Please, do not give up!" A violet-skinned octopus creature encouraged his master faithfully. Boros looked upon him with something resembling appreciation. "Thank you, lieutenant Geryganshoop. You're right, the search must continue. Prepare the men for departure." The overlord requested.
"Actually, you're not going anywhere!" A strident voice boomed in the distance. Prince Vegeta's white boots touched down in front of the Dark Matter Thieves, his arms crossed confidently.
In the distance, Vegeta saw a fixture hovering in the air. It was a sleek grey spaceship, almost the size of a large city by his estimate. "I see, so these people are intergalactic travelers as well." He thought.
Boros regarded the boisterous Saiyan with curiosity. "I sense a mysterious power from this man…is he the warrior of prophecy?"
"How dare you speak to Lord Boros, dominator of the universe, in such disrespectful tone! Leave now, or you pay dearly for your loud mouth!" One of Boros' soldiers yelled in defense of his master.
"Oh, really? And what exactly do you plan to do with those pitiful power levels?" Vegeta cackled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyan, as well the greatest warrior in the universe!"
Claiming to be the strongest in the universe was a bald-faced lie on his part; he merely said this as a way of striking fear into his enemies. Usually, Vegeta could back up his claims with his forceful technique and relentless determination.
Boros smiled, an unnerving thing in and of itself. "Fascinating. I am Boros, and I am the one who destroyed this planet's population. You call yourself the prince of all Saiyans, correct? I do believe I fought a Saiyan once in the past, a warrior named Bardock. Have you ever met?"
"It hardly matters now. The Saiyans are gone. I am their sole heir. Now tell me, what do you want with this planet? You don't seriously think you can challenge Frieza's army for it." Vegeta haughtily interrogated.
"I don't know who this Frieza character is, but I have no intention of doing anything with this empty planet. The reason I came here was because of a prophecy." Boros explained lazily.
This piqued Vegeta's interest. Could this man know about the legend of the Super Saiyan? "What sort of prophecy?" He demanded.
"On my home planet, I am considered the strongest of my people. In order to satisfy my need for battle, I traveled to outer space. For nearly twenty years, I have voyaged across the universe, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake while I searched for a good challenge." As Boros said this, his crew began scampering back to the ship, aware that a titanic battle was about to take place.
"However, I was too strong. I defeated all challengers easily, and I soon began to know the pain of utter and all-encompassing boredom. There was no meaning or purpose to my existence at all, until one day, a seer from a faraway planet prophesized a great battle for me, one who could reignite my passion." The cyclopean warlord summarized.
Surprisingly, Vegeta sympathized with Boros' story. He could imagine how boring such a predicament could be. He himself had the opposite problem. Vegeta felt trapped in an inescapable hierarchy, serving under a tyrant whose power he sometimes felt he would never surpass. It was only his ironclad belief in the legend of the Super Saiyan that pushed Vegeta through his days.
The prince chuckled, lowering himself into a fighting stance. "In that case, allow me to cure your boredom!" Without any further delay, the Saiyan launched himself at Boros, who also was poised in a stance.
"Haah!" Boros' gloved fist enclosed in Vegeta's own, and the two conquerors locked themselves in a struggle, digging their feet into the ground. Slowly, Vegeta began to gain leverage, his much smaller frame allowing him to gain pressure more easily. Despite Boros being nearly twice as tall as him, Vegeta would not be intimidated. The two warriors struggled mightily for almost five minutes.
Breaking off, Boros threw a volley of punches at the prince, who was forced to avoid most of them. Grunting, Vegeta landed a blow on the overlord's face, knocking him back a good twelve feet. Boros rebounded off of a nearby mesa and landed a solid kick in Vegeta's gut. "Come, give stimulation to my existence!" Boros roared.
Placing both hands on Boros' chest, Vegeta unleashed a fiery blast of yellow ki. The explosion engulfed Boros' entire body and knocked him through several rock formations. His palms still smoking, Vegeta smirked, "Oh, I'll give you a fight, all right. I'll give you much more than that! I swear, by the honor of the Saiyans, I will strike you down!"
Boros silently emerged from the cave the blast had formed. His armor was deformed and melted, pieces of it falling off of his muscled body. Vegeta's scouter began beeping again. "What? His power level is increasing!" The prince gasped.
"You've sealed your fate…that armor limited the majority of my power. Now, my full power will be released." Boros' voice, before a classy baritone, was now deep and booming with released latent energy.
"I can't afford to hold back any longer!" Vegeta powered up to his maximum, his flaring aura blowing away stray rocks and dust. Boros, meanwhile, was undergoing a strange transformation.
Without the armor to hold back his power, light blue energy steamed from the alien overlord's body. Black physiological armor crusted over his blue skin, and his hair stood straight up. "Now, I can really enjoy this battle, Prince Vegeta!" He yelled before sprinting across the rocky terrain towards Vegeta.
Gasping in shock, the prince barely had enough time to raise an elbow to defend form Boros' first crushing punch. A shockwave of power rippled across the canyon as the two warriors exchanged blows at lightning speed.
Vegeta leapt backwards and shot a barrage of yellow energy balls from his fingertips, leaping across mesas and plateaus all the while. Boros doggedly gave chase, bounding over and under the ki blasts. Taking a long jump and coiling his legs, Boros hit the Saiyan prince with a heavy drop kick. "Augh!" Vegeta cried as he skid against the ground. With a grunt, the Saiyan used his momentum to flip back onto his feet. Without hesitation, he skyrocketed into the air, barely avoiding Boros' next punch.
Two hundred feet above the ground, Vegeta looked down to view the landscape as well as his opponent. Boros stood tall atop a nearby boulder, an infuriating smirk on his face. "His level of skill is more advanced than I hoped…this should be fun!" The Cyclops thought with a leer.
"Ah, so he isn't able to fly! That gives me an advantage!" Vegeta grinned. "Take this!" The prince unleashed another shower of energy blasts down at the planet's surface, carpet bombing the canyon in an effort to hit his enemy.
However, Boros was proving annoyingly nimble, able to avoid the energy spheres with impressive ease. He zipped about, batting some of the spheres back into the air while dodging the rest. Jumping off a rocky cliff, Boros met Vegeta in midair.
The two savage warlords clashed, exchanging even more attacks while falling to the ground. They disappeared and reappeared all over the countryside, until finally Vegeta found an opening. Landing a swinging uppercut, Boros was flung to the heavens.
The Cyclops coughed up blood as his arms flailed wildly in the air. Vegeta shimmered in a flash of hypersonic speed before appearing above Boros. Charging ki in his fists, Vegeta landed hundreds upon hundreds of punches upon Boros' airborne frame.
"What's the matter? Don't tell me you're finished already!" Vegeta somehow found the energy to deliver an acidic taunt in the middle of his combo. He sent Boros rocketing back to the ground with a double axe handle.
An enormous crater was formed, with Boros prone body at its epicenter. Blue blood leaked from several wounds all over his body, and his muscles twitched tiredly. At the edge of the crater appeared Vegeta, his arms crossed in a nonverbal expression of pure arrogance.
His scouter fell off in the middle of the battle, so he could no longer sense his adversary's power level. Catching his breath, he smirked. "You are strong, I'll give you that. Even still, I cannot be defeated." "Not before I kill that bastard Frieza with my own hands…" He thought privately.
Boros groaned, slowly standing up. "That's the way, Prince Vegeta! This has been an excellent battle. However, there is no way you can ever truly kill me." With a grunt of exertion, the cuts and bruises on his body spontaneously healed, slimy bodily fluid covering the areas that had been struck.
"Damn it…" Vegeta snarled. Boros chuckled companionably. "You see, my species lives in a harsh, constantly shifting environment on our home planet. To adapt, we have developed high-speed regeneration. Using my life energy, even the most grievous of wounds can be repaired in an instant!" He flexed his muscles in puffed-up fashion.
To Boros' surprise, Vegeta's grin grew wide with bloodlust. "So, it seems I'll have to tear you limb from limb and crush you until there's nothing left! Very well! I'm going to enjoy this..." The brutish Saiyan said with relish.
Vegeta's excitement was infectious, and Boros found himself overcome with the thrill of the battle. "This man makes me want to go all out!" Clenching his fists, a misty white energy field filled the air.
"Meteoric Burst!" Boros' skin had now become a milky white in hue, with volcanic black veins trailing over his body. His hair had turned white as well, and now trailed down his knees, like a barbarian's mane. His mouth had seemingly disappeared, although Vegeta could somehow still hear his voice.
"Impossible! He can raise his power further still! Just what kind of being is he?" Shocked thoughts ran through Vegeta's frantic mind as he tried to think of a strategy. Meanwhile, Boros had crouched into a runner's stance. With a mighty roar, he took off like a rocket.
The Dark Matter Thief was now far faster than what Vegeta could perceive. In nanoseconds, Boros closed the gap between them and landed an earthshaking punch to Vegeta's face. A tremor of pure power shook the planet's crust as the entire area was completely leveled. Vegeta was flung hundreds of miles across the planet's surface, coughing up blood from the single punch.
In an instant, Boros was upon him, landing dozens of blows upon the helpless Saiyan. "This form surpasses all of my previous limits, concentrating all of my latent energy into physical power!" Boros shouted before sending Vegeta spiraling to the ground with a spinning kick.
Before Vegeta could think straight, he was buried in an underground cave, where he seemingly had a moment's respite from his relentless opponent. Gasping for air, he struggled to his feet.
Although Boros' had only attacked him for a minute, Vegeta was heavily damaged. One of his shoulder pads had been ripped off by one of the alien's claws, and his armor was fractured in many other places. Blood leaked from multiple open wounds, and he couldn't put much weight on his left leg.
Although it damaged his pride to admit, Vegeta knew that he had no chance against a creature of such power and speed. At least, not the way he was now. He could not afford to die here, not before he could exact his revenge on Frieza.
As he formed a white ball of energy in his palm, a manic smile manifested on his face. "Now, Boros…now you'll see the true power of the Saiyan race!"
On the surface, Boros was hunched over, catching his breath. "This state puts a huge tax on my body…I'll need to rest after this. Still…what an amazing fight! I wonder if there any other Saiyans out there like him…" He huffed, preparing to return to his ship.
Suddenly, a silver sphere erupted from the ground beneath him. Boros flashed out of the way, desperately scoping around for Vegeta. "Haha! You missed me, Saiyan!" He gloated.
"No, I didn't." Vegeta's supercilious voice had devolved into a guttural growl. Boros looked into the air- the energy orb hung in the sky like some weird artificial star. "Prepare yourself, for I am about to unleash my true form!"
"Ah, yes, I've heard of the Oozaru form, but I've never seen it in action. How interesting. And yet, there is no full moon to fuel your metamorphosis." Boros said, silently expecting an explanation.
Vegeta cackled, his confidence slowly returning. "Oh, I think you'll find there is. You see, when elite Saiyans are still children, we learn how to create artificial blutz wave emitters with our own ki! And unlike that low-class Saiyan you fought, I have perfect control over my Great Ape form! You're finished!"
Boros' single eye widened in shock as he heard this. "I have to stop him!" The ivory-skinned alien sprinted towards Vegeta once more, only for the Saiyan to blow him backwards with a pressurized kiai wave. Boros was blown into the air, and as he fell back to earth, he realized it was too late. The transformation had begun.
Vegeta's irises and pupils vanished, leaving only horrifying white sclera. His teeth elongated into sharp fangs, and tufts of hair sprouted all over his body. He grew larger and larger, and eventually one of his feet became even taller than Boros' entire body.
Vegeta had become a Great Ape. His armor, made of a mysterious space-age rubber, expanded to fit his larger proportions. His eyes were now red and glowing with menace. "Now die!" Once the transformation was complete, Vegeta lashed his arm out at Boros.
"No way! He's gotten faster as well as stronger!" Boros barely avoided Vegeta's boulder-sized fist, leaping onto the ape's hairy arm. With another burst of energy, Boros raced up Vegeta's arm. He was so speedy, he only looked like a pink and white blur of lightning. With a bound, Boros aimed a punch at one of Vegeta's large, sensitive eyes.
However, the Saiyan was too quick. With his mere index finger, he flicked away the cyclopean warrior like a particularly irksome booger. Wheezing in pain, Boros skipped over the ground like a stone across water.
Although his regeneration quickly healed his internal bleeding, Boros was nearing the limits of his power. He never had to use Meteoric Burst for this long before, and now it seemed his opponent was even stronger than him.
"My only chance is to destroy the planet itself. I know that damn Saiyan can't breathe in space!" With yellow electricity arcing around his body, Boros slowly rose into the air. Vegeta glared at him with curiosity. "Just what is he planning now?"
"PRINCE VEGETA!" Boros cried as golden energy began to coalesce around his body. "If you truly want to test your strength, then take this! All of my energy will be released at once, obliterating you and this entire planet!"
Vegeta chuckled, knowing that Boros' own men would surely die if this attack connected. "I like his style…" Rearing his arm back, Vegeta roared, "Very well! I will show you how your might compares to a true Saiyan!" Purple ki swirled around his body, forming a crackling violet orb in his hands.
Up in the air, Boros heard it. That single heartbeat, the pulse that told him he was here, alive in the moment. He was acutely aware of wonderful it was to truly give a battle his all, to lay his life on the line. As he opened his single eye, Lord Boros achieved a certain barbaric enlightenment.
"COLLAPSING STAR ROARING CANNON!" His body nearly shaking apart, Boros fired a pulsing blue beam of pure electric power. The glorious light could be seen from space.
A thousand miles away, Boros' crew tremored, feeling the aftershocks of their master's pure power. "Lord Boros is going all out!" One of them cried. "Do your best, master!" Another voiced his support.
His fangs bared, Vegeta was also feeling the pleasure of the battle. Although the man was his enemy, the prince couldn't help but feel a certain measure of respect for him. In another life, perhaps they could have even been friends.
"GALICK GUN…" The monstrous ape charged up his final attack. "FIRE!" A purple beam of energy erupted from Vegeta's hands to meet the opposing blast head on. For one exhilarating moment, the lasers rushed towards each other.
And then, they collided in a spectacular display of lights and thunder. The clashing energies of Vegeta and Boros created a violent blue maelstrom that shook the very heavens themselves. For a second, it seemed that they were equally matched.
However, Vegeta was simply too strong for Boros. Transforming into the mighty Oozaru multiplied his power tenfold, allowing him to eclipse Boros' Meteoric Burst. Slowly but surely, the gorilla prince was pushing through.
As the Super Galick Gun overtook Boros, the Cyclops couldn't help but feel one last spike of gratitude. "At last, my quest has ended…my flickering, restless candle has become naught but ashes, scattered to the solar winds, a tribute to the gods of war." With no regrets in his heart, Boros was torn apart on an atomic, with no trace of his body remaining.
Panting, Vegeta watched with his hands outstretched as the Galick Gun soared off into space, where it would travel nearly a full light-year before dissipating.
Nearly out of energy, Vegeta shut off the artificial moon with his ki. The pale white light faded away, leaving a cloudless purple night hanging over the prince's head. The stars hung like shining pinpoints over the velvety black curtain of space.
With a howl of pain, Vegeta shrank back to his humanoid form. His screams rang out into the pitiless night, and he was reminded just how alone he was. He relished the rare moment of peace, knowing that the only thing the awaited his return to Frieza's base was more humiliation and subjugation. At least Boros offered him acknowledgement.
"Bah! What the hell am I thinking about? I should go kill those cretins before they escape." He balked aloud, curling his tail protectively around his waist. He didn't have the time to get lost in his thoughts.
In the distance, he heard an engine's whining. In the sky, the Dark Matter Thieves' city-sized ship had already taken off. With sneering contempt, the Prince charged a golden energy blast in his hand. He could've ripped the ship in two with the energy he was now exerting.
And then, slowly, he lowered his arm. The ki flickered and disappeared like a campfire, slight flickers still coursing on his palms. "Hardly worth the effort…I'll suppose I'll let them live. After all, they did my job for me…" He murmured.
That evening, he feasted on a particularly exquisite six-winged bird he found flying around the canyon. Without his scouter, he was forced to spend a significant portion of the next day scouring the landscape for his pod. Once he found it, he felt a moment of hesitation.
After a successful mission, Vegeta always felt the urge to simply drop everything and desert Frieza's army. Take Nappa and Raditz with him, spend their days adventuring through the galaxy, seeking out new sights and challenges. Perhaps they would even run into Raditz's brother. However, he knew it could never be. Frieza had too much influence in the Northern Quadrant. They would never be able to escape undetected, and Vegeta himself wasn't strong enough to even take on the Ginyu Force, much less Frieza himself.
He sighed; there was no way to magically make his wishes come true. Still, he would never give up, not until he, the legendary Super Saiyan, held the head of Frieza in his hands.
Grumbling, Vegeta closed the pod doors and lifted off, leaving Planet Deltos behind for good.
A/N
Greetings, lovely readers, and thank you for reading the story!
I absolutely adore One-Punch Man. I think the series does a great job of revitalizing the superhero/fantasy genre. It is a parody, but at the same time has a very distinctive creative identity, making it unlike any other comic out there.
In the series, Lord Boros travels to planet Earth in search of the warrior prophesized to be his equal. Unfortunately for him, however, he ran into Saitama, who defeated him in a battle that was amazingly epic while paradoxically being an absolute curbstomp. It is a truly breathtaking scene in Madhouse's anime adaption as well.
Here, Boros battles the Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta. This is quite fitting, as Boros is meant to be a parody of a Dragon Ball villain, and here he is fighting one! I hope I did a good job writing the fight as well as both characters. In terms of the timeline, this battle probably took place a few months before the Saiyan Saga of Dragon Ball Z. If the story made an impact on you, please give me some feedback! Thanks, and have a blessed day.