Chapter 3

Demands of Frieza

There was a lot of sadness in my home for the next few days, but the moment news came that Frieza was coming, we scrambled about. I had heard of him, but never had I seen him. My father always said that it was to protect me. I missed my mother. The King and I had talked at some length what was to be expected now in the absence of my mother and younger brother. It was our custom to not speak of the dead out of respect so that they could rest in peace.

I did not feel like playing so much now that all my excitement was crushed, but it was the way of the warrior. We had the hardships that any race had, the painful and often tragic lessons of how to keep going even after a loved one had died. Their sudden and ill-prepared departures made it hard to get close to any other Saiyan than my father. He knew what I was going through; he too felt it in stark reminder.

Nappa broke into my thoughts and gestured down the hall. With so much pent up inside, I was taking my fight training to a new level. I did not want anything like this to happen again. As it was, I felt weak and ineffective. Even at five years old, I was now stronger than my father was. My power had spiked to eleven thousand while my father has remained nicely at ten thousand. I was unaware of what was happening in the lower ranked sections.

By this point, I was going on missions not only set by my father, but also by that of Frieza. It was the first time I ever seen the tyrant up close and personal. Do you know that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach when you meet evil? I do not speak of just a slight evil that has a vendetta against your twin brother or your stepsister. I mean the feeling you get around pure, unadulterated evil. It is the feeling that makes your skin crawl and every instinct in your body screams for you to turn the other way and run as fast as you can away from it.

Bardock was already making a name for himself and that is when my father gained a message that Lord Frieza was coming. What I expected to be a tall and frightening figure, turned out to be small and rather unimpressive in size. He did not even look very scary, but Frieza's red eyes lit up when he caught sight of me. "King Vegeta, you failed to mention you had a son. You know how I hate secrets kept from me."

My father's poise grew more defensive, though I did not understand why. It was then he motioned for Nappa to take me to the training area to work more on my sparring. Frieza was not kind. Walking up to the throne, he took a seat on the King's own seat. It was an insult on a huge scale toward my dad. However, he remained firmly in his silenced thoughts. Frieza looked over at him. "Now for your rudeness, Vegeta, I could kill your son. No, that would make you want to attack me and we can't have that."

King Vegeta stood his ground with disgust written all over his expression. Frieza pressed him further. "Here is my offer. When the boy turns six, you hand him over to me as one of my soldiers. If you do not, I will destroy your planet and with it your entire race. So King Vegeta, you can give up your son to save your planet, or you can keep your son and lose him anyway in death."

It was really no choice. As much as my father loved me, he had to protect his planet too. King Vegeta knew that if the planet were to be destroyed, there would be no chance in defeating the tyrant that had enslaved my race. Giving me up was the only option he had, and the one that it mattered to the most had been taken from the room. That person was me. "You want my only son and I'm supposed to just hand him over? You arrogant..." King Vegeta's voice said in its deep baritone.

"You had better mind your manners Vegeta. You will find I get what I want. However, if you want to lose your planet instead, I'd be happy to oblige." The moment Frieza looked away, the warrior king's teeth would clinch and his fists tightened. He was not strong enough to defeat Frieza, and the tyrant knew it.

Looking back down the hall, he gave a cursory glare. "Alright, you may have him." It was one or the other. He had to think of his people, but his thoughts were not friendly toward the Changeling. With that now being agreed upon, my father watched as Frieza left our planet, sparing our world at the cost of his son. It was like bitter poison in his mouth that he could not get rid of.

I was unaware of what had transpired but Frieza soon departed. Walking back to the throne room, I looked at my father and knew something was going on. The look on his face told me more than words could. First, the hard birth had taken my mother, a weak power level took my younger brother, and now something was eating again at my father. Without words, I knew soon that I may be lost to him as well.

My last year with my father was filled with many things. He took extra time with me, teaching me the ways of the Empire. I found his teachings most valuable. What I did not know was that he was going to give me to Frieza and it was not until much later that he finally pulled me aside. "We need to talk my son."

This was not good. I could feel that twisting wrench again in the pit of my stomach. When he told me, I was furious. Logically I understood why he did, but I was his son. It had boiled down to either the planet or me. In some arrogant, twisted thought, I wished he had let Frieza destroy our world. It was a lot for my mind to take in. I wanted to be alone.

Not long before my sixth birthday, a soldier approached my father's throne and knelt down. "Sire, I have come to ask for just a couple more days to rid this planet we've been working on."

Fire burned in King Vegeta's gaze. "You need two more days? Have you forgotten that we promised to have that planet ready for Frieza by tomorrow?"

"No Sire! We need to wait to take our other form so that we can rid the inhabitants and the full moon is two days away." Nervousness was on the soldier's every movement.

"Get lost." He stated in a bitter tone. Things were certainly not looking up now. The soldier lingered as the King stood and raised a hand. "What's wrong? You heard me." With that, a ki blast was fired.

After that soldier was dispatched, Frieza chuckled and stepped into the room. "Vegeta, you're such a brute. Those two days did not matter to me. Oh well, too late!" He gave another laugh. "You should learn to be more lenient with your subjects." Looking at the throne, he walked toward it. "You wouldn't mind if I had a seat now would you?"

Before my father could say anything, Frieza was already sitting on the throne again giving a huge insult to the King. "I take the arrangements are still made?" Frieza asked of my father about the plans to have me again.

"You can…have him." The Saiyan King stated with hesitation and the moment that Frieza looked away again, he grit his teeth and his fist again tightened. Frieza soon rose and leave without further word. There was nothing that could be done now.

Soon after, Zorn stepped up and bowed in respect to his King. "I'd rather die than hand the prince over to him."

"I don't have a choice, Zorn. If I had two days, we might be able to win. Our day will soon come." King Vegeta stated with a tone of angered confidence.

"Yes my King." Zorn stated remaining rather quiet for now as they both left the throne room. My father was bitter, enraged, and insulted by the one tyrant that could carry out the whim any time he chose. Zorn understood this as he followed quietly behind my father.

Bardock and his crew had been sent off on a mission to Planet Kanassa. During this time my father and I were talking about why we sent our weakest to distant planets. The protection it offered from our enemies was for the survival of the race. "If you work really hard and prove yourself worthy, then perhaps someday, you will become a Super Saiyan yourself." My father's mouth tugged into a smile, and his eyes lit up.

I stood looking at the pods rocketing up toward the heavens. We sat there for a while, talking. My father was feeding my desire to know and understand the workings of the Empire. My battle skills were also impressive to any Saiyan standard and I was recently tested as the strongest upon Planet Vegeta. It was news that lifted my father's spirits.

It was not long after that Frieza returned to collect his prize. I backed away, not wanting to leave my home when my father took a firm stance toward me. "You are to go with Lord Frieza, my son."

"I don't want to. I want to stay here with you father." I countered back in tempered response. My father though was not yielding as he simply gave me a hardened gaze. Turning around, my skin crawled, and that sick feeling again opened in the pit of my stomach. "Father, please, let me stay with you."

Frieza looked at me. "It was agreed upon long before this moment Prince Vegeta. I am afraid you have no choice. It was either you or the planet and well, you see how you rank. To be cast out like a dog, oh dear." He laughed as I turned to my father again in frenzied question. It was of no use. My father turned his back and I was left to the tyrant. How could this be possible? How could my own father give me away like this? They were questions that I did not understand for a long time to come.

"I don't have all day, young prince. You will be taken aboard my ship where you will be given all your necessities. You will find my generosity endless while in my service." Frieza looked back at me and from the way my dad was behaving and Frieza's words, I knew I had no choice in this matter. I do not know what angered me the most, Frieza laying claim to me, or my father not standing up and fighting for me.

Once aboard the ship, I found myself in a foreign place that I did not like. People here followed only one law, kill or be killed. They obeyed this fiendish tyrant with fear and hushed whispers, silenced when he drew near. I knew that by their expressions they knew the one I followed down the hallway was not to be crossed. When I found my room, he opened the door and allowed me in. The place was dark and a chill ran down my spine.

Combat clothes were folded and placed on my rack. A new scouter was laid upon the clothing and Frieza nudged me inside. "This is your room. I expect you changed and up to the bridge in ten minutes." He looked over his shoulder at me. "And Vegeta, you will be expected to earn your keep around here."

After he left, I looked around. This place was not a room I thought of from home. This looked more like a prison cell, or an isolation cell. Either way, I could already tell, the pleasantries were merely a façade. This was going to be a place where I had to be on guard every moment of every day.

I quickly changed and headed up to the bridge where the green-skinned alien was looking back at me with golden eyes. Next to him was an overweight pink alien covered in spiky nubs all over him. Zarbon and Dadoria was a couple of Frieza's most trusted men. When the door cycled open, they followed me within. I stood, not bowing to the one that sat in the chair before me. Little did I know his true intentions of summoning me to this room.