AN: Second chapter up :) I've got the writing fever :o Like dance fever, only not as cool...
So this one's all about everyone's favourite Saiyan prince ;) you've gotta love him, right?
Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or any of it's characters, but at least I have nice hair :)
"Oh, Vegeta..."
I cringed as the lizard's high-pitched, effemanate voice drifted through the open dooway. My two men turned to me with something like fear in their eyes.
I felt it too, but I would not give the bastard the satisfaction, so I turned around and walked into the room with my back straight and my jaw set. He
chuckled coldly at my determination and drawled,
"Ah, my dear Prince...take a seat, won't you? I have a delightful proposition for you and your men."
"I'd rather stand."
"As you wish...but we could be here a while."
"Hmph...you say you have a mission for me?" I said, trying to speed things up as much as possible.
"Yes, one that I'd say you will most likely thank me for. Dedoria here tells me that the scouters have picked up a handful of unusually high power levels
coming from the planet Earth. We know that they cannot be coming from the natives, they are far too weak to even make a blip on our screens...so I would
like you and your monkeys to investigate these anomalies."
I bit my tongue at his reference to my men and I as "monkeys", settling for glaring daggers at him. Besides, I had to admit that this mission did
intrigue me. Most of the errands Frieza sent us on were purging missions, hardly worthy of a true Saiyan. But this one...if there were high power levels
on this new planet then I may even get a good fight.
"And what are we to do when we find them?" I asked, with as little venom as I could manage in the face of Frieza.
"Ask them to join us."
I smirked.
"And if they refuse?" I queried, knowing well what his answer would be.
"They have a choice. Comply or die. If they refuse, then you may do with them as you please. But do not damage the planet, I hear it has many resources
to offer...and Zarbon tells me from his last purging mission that there is some very beautiful scenery...I think we could get a reasonable price for it.
I will allow you two weeks to carry out your mission and report back to me. You should have taken care of the strongest fighters in a week. Spend the
rest of the time evaluating the planet's value in terms of appearance and resources."
"Should I factor the artisan skills of the natives into my report?" I asked with as much faux interest as I could muster.
"Hmmm...if it's of an unusually high quality, then perhaps...yes, do. Besides, the attitude of our current slaves is beginning to bore me. They're just
not feisty enough anymore..."
"Master Frieza, if I may..." The large, purple monster towering above the little lizard spoke, and I scowled as he did. Dedoria, besides Frieza, I hated
him more than anyone.
"Yes Dedoria?"
"The current slaves are all dead. Remember? You gave the order not to feed them for three months as punishment for their disappointing work-rate."
"Oh, yes, that's right...well, in that case, Vegeta, I will expect a full assessment of the natives' skills. And if you happen across any particularly
attractive females...well, we could always use a few more concubines aboard the ship. After all, the men are so much more compliant when they're getting
laid every night. But the females of these weak species just don't seem to last very long..."
"Yes, Frieza." I answered, with a small incline of my head, more a nod of acknowledgement than a bow. My lack of respect, apparently, did not go
unnoticed by Dedoria.
"Arrogant, insolent little monkey prick! You will bow before Master Frieza!"
"Quiet Dedoria." Frieza silenced him, but not for long.
"With all due respect, sir, you are far too lenient with the monkey."
"Watch it, Dedoria." I growled, warningly. Frieza smiled, with cold amusement.
"You are dismissed, Vegeta. I have arranged for three space pods to leave the ship at 2400 hours. You and your men had better be in them."
"Yes, Master Frieza." I inclined my head even less this time, hiding my smile as Dedoria growled angrily. I spun around and strode out of the room.
"Well? What did he want, my lord?" I was greeted by Nappa, the large, bald man who had practically raised me, when I left Frieza's chamber.
"We are to leave tonight for the planet Earth. Apparently there are a few unusually high power levels on the planet that should not be there. We are to
try and persuade them to join his forces. If they refuse, they are to be taken care of. The planet is not to be damaged."
"He's going to sell it?" Raditz, the smaller of my two companions, with knee-length, jet-black hair, queried.
"He's going to try. I am to gather statistics regarding the planet's natural resources and the usefullness of the natives as slaves. And we are to take
the more attractive of the females as whores for the men."
"How will we know which of the females are attractive? I can never tell with these alien bitches..." Nappa muttered.
"I've been to Earth once before, with my father, when I was a boy," Raditz ventured, "We sent my brother there as a baby to cleanse the planet of it's
population, but he must have been killed because he never completed his mission...anyway, from what I can remember, the dominant life forms on the planet
are humanoid...they are not unlike ourselves, only pathetically weak and tail-less ofcourse..."
"Well that's good news atleast...maybe we can get some good whores after all." Nappa said, happily. I scowled at him and his smile faded.
"Nappa! You know a true warrior cares about one thing and one thing only, his strength. Do not allow yourself to be weakened by lust. And besides, what
is the one thing that our race prides above all else, besides power?"
He lowered his head and I knew I'd struck a nerve, as was always the case whenever our all but extinct way of life was mentioned.
"Honour." He muttered, solemnly.
"Exactly, honour. Would a man of honour fulfill his needs with a whore? I think not."
"You are right, my lord. Forgive me."
I said nothing, simply raised an amused eyebrow and folded my arms tightly across my chest before turning to Raditz.
"You say your brother was sent to the planet as an infant? Kakarott, wasn't it? Ah, yes, I remember...he was a big noise on Vegeta-sei for a short time.
The second son of the great warrior, Bardock...no wonder he was chosen for such a task."
"Yes. It is a pity he did not succeed in his mission."
"Perhaps not, though. If he had, we would not have the opportunity to escape the depressing dullness of this ship for two whole weeks." I replied, not
unaware that I had just waved off the death of my companion's only sibling because it bought us a vacation. He did not seem to see it like this, however,
merely smiling and nodding, respectfully.
"What is the hour?" I asked, turning back to Nappa, who recovered slightly from his earlier shame. He raised a hand to his scouter, engaging it, and
replied,
"2347 hours."
"Right. Go and change, quickly. Meet me in the brig at 2355. We are to leave at 2400 hours, and I do not wish to face Frieza's wrath if we are late or
miss our flights."
"Yes, sir." They replied, in Saiyan. I tensed...it was little things like that that still got me. I tried so hard not to think about the destruction of
my beloved planet...it was, after all, many years ago. I was a child at the time. Frieza had taken me from my father to work for him when I was a boy of
eight, forcing me to do his bidding for him. When I refused, he threatened to destroy Vegeta-sei and kill my father, the king. So I did everything he
asked, swallowed my pride, forgot myself, committed such acts of atrocity that would have made my mother weep had she been alive to see it...I did all that
he told me to, and the bastard blew it up anyway.
He did not know that I was aware that it was he who had destroyed my home, as I pretended to believe the lie he had told me, that a freak meteor shower
had been the cause of it, but I knew the truth. It was this knowledge, the knowledge that he broke me, stole my childhood, made me a slave, and, ultimately,
destroyed my world, that kept me going. It was increasingly more difficult with every day to live and serve under the tyrranical lizard, but I was not yet
strong enough to last five minutes in battle with him, let alone defeat him.
Becoming stronger than Frieza was my single goal in life, and it spurred me onwards, sending me into battles that I could have probably avoided, had I been
so inclined.
To me, defeating the Ice-jin and avenging my people was the most important thing in the universe, and I intended to make sure that it happened. I just had
to be patient. I knew that I had the potential...when I was a child on Vegeta-sei, my father told me of a legend, a birth-right that I, as a Saiyan of
royal heritage, possessed. Super Saiyan. The two words ruled my life from the very moment that I heard them. I knew that it was the thing that Frieza
feared most of all...it was why he had destroyed my people, for fear that one of us might someday acheive this legendary status. But he had spared me and my
two companions, ensuring that we were not present when he fired the ki blast that took my past life from me. We were the only three left. I knew that I had
to do it, I had to become Super Saiyan, it was the only chance I had of possessing enough power to make the Ice-jin truly pay for all of the pain and
humiliation he had inflicted on me and my race.
As I sat there, in the one-man space-pod, preparing to be launched into the black abyss of space on a straight course for Earth, I smiled to myself as I
imagined the day when I would stand in front of Frieza, surrounded by yellow flames, my dark brown, spiked hair flashing a rich gold, my ebony eyes a
fantastic green, electricity running through my veins and crackling over my bulging muscles, all of the power in the universe coursing through me...the look
on his face when he realised that the only "monkey" he had allowed to survive was the one who was going to pound his hide into the dirt.
"Yes, Frieza...one day..."