A/N: Okay… I goofed. I've just been informed that Vegeta didn't create the Final Flash attack until after he came to Earth. And I call myself a Vegeta fan… shows what I know. If you guys don't mind, I'll go back and change it later… I don't want to confuse anyone. It isn't important to me which attack is mentioned in that chapter… I was just trying to use a powerful attack done by Vegeta, to be used as a comparison with Kress's new weapon system. The point is, (and I probably didn't express this well) that, while all the Saiyans admire and respect Vegeta, between Radditz and Kress there is a slight conspiracy when it comes to matters of power levels, particularly since Kress's has really been approaching and nearly surpassing Vegeta's. Neither of them are stupid… they don't want Prince Vegeta to find out that the child of a third-class weakling is as powerful as he is. I don't think I expressed this either, but it's been Radditz's hope that they would all become so powerful. That is what they've been training for, after all. Speaking of which, don't forget that these guys are Saiyans… just because Vegeta never set foot on Earth didn't mean he stopped training. Vegeta was in the business of getting progressively stronger long before he met Kakarrot; Kakarrot turning Super Saiyan just gave him yet another reason to do so, and a more realistic view of his goal. Remember, you first heard about the legend of the Super Saiyan from Vegeta when he was on Namek… he had thought he was a Super Saiyan before Kakarrot showed up with yellow hair. He had been shooting for that goal all his life. Also, they are always going out on dangerous missions, so it's only logical that they will be stronger at this point than Vegeta was on Namek. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Z fighters… a lot of the reason they are as strong as they are was because of Kami and King Kai, neither of which can help them in my story (King Kai because they haven't met him yet, and Kami because he died when Piccollo died).

I didn't mean to go on so long, but I hope I cleared some stuff up. Thanks to any hypothetical readers who may or may not be pointing things like this out to me… I would very much like to be, but sadly am not, a DBZ expert. One day, perhaps, but not today. I appreciate being told these things… that way I can change them before they become too embedded in my plot to fix. Once again, thank you.

Now, on with the story!

Frieza

Frieza gazed coolly out at the stars as he saw the approach of the errant Saiyan Prince in the reflection on the viewport. He did not turn around right away… such tasks as the one that lay before him, while necessary, did not demand the utmost importance. His empire spanned a great distance, and between him, his father, and his brother, they controlled a good portion of the known universe. Most people feared and revered him, some even worshipped him… so one Saiyan betrayer wouldn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things. But still… better to deal with these things before they became an issue, rather than have a mess to clean up afterwards.

"Prince Vegeta," he said softly, still watching the Saiyan's reflection as he knelt. "My people tell me you've been busy." He smiled slowly. "Tell me… how is the newest edition to your little group working out?"

Vegeta hated small talk. "Kress has become a warrior. His power is almost the same as his uncle's," Vegeta stated simply. If Frieza had something to tell him, he wished he would just come out and say it.

Frieza raised an eyebrow. "Really? At such a young age? Hybrid Saiyans must have some benefits after all. I wonder why your race hadn't thought of creating more of them sooner…"

Vegeta gritted his teeth, but remained outwardly calm. Frieza knew full well why the Saiyans would never purposely mix their blood with that of other species… he simply wished to goad Vegeta into making a mistake. He wasn't falling for it.

When Vegeta remained silent, Frieza shrugged. "Ah, well, the Saiyans were never really thinkers, now, were they…" he trailed off, turning to face Vegeta. "Let's take your planned coup against me, for instance."

So… he did know. Vegeta wasn't surprised. There were enough reasons for the Saiyan survivors to hate Frieza for him to suspect something like that by motive alone. He scowled. "Frieza, half your army wants to take you down. Surely you know that," he spat.

Frieza's mouth curved upward at his statement. "Of course, Vegeta. The only way to control an army is through fear, and even you, the great Saiyan prince, are still afraid of me." He approached Vegeta, who was still kneeling, and, circled behind him, admiring a painting on the wall. "As well you should be. I don't only hold your life in my hands, after all… I hold much, much more." Turning, he grabbed Vegeta around the throat with his tail and slammed him into the wall that held the painting. He gazed at the Saiyan, who was grabbing at his tail, trying desperately to breathe. "I don't tolerate division in my ranks, no matter how expected it is," he said slickly, tightening his grip. "You've been building a small army, waiting to grow stronger, until you could defeat me. Isn't that the plan, anyway?" Snarling, he let Vegeta go, and the prince fell to the floor. "I've been keeping an eye on your newest pet. And I must say, his power level is much, much higher than Radditz's. It's closer to yours," he said, turning away from the Saiyan so he could see his reflection once again in the viewport. He saw the look of surprise on Vegeta's face, followed by a deep scowl. "So, they've been conspiring against you, too?" he asked, laughter in his voice. "Well, well, I guess you can't trust anybody, can you?"

By this time, Vegeta was back on his feet. Frieza turned around. "I didn't say you could stand," he said menacingly.

Vegeta merely smirked. "You started this, Frieza. Now I'm going to finish it." With that, he powered up, disappearing as Frieza ran at him. Appearing behind him, he sent an elbow crashing into the back of Frieza's neck.

Frieza just stood there for a moment, then turned his head to look at Vegeta. "Now, now, you're not trying to attack me, are you?" he asked evilly.

Vegeta flew back, narrowly avoiding Frieza's whip-like tail, and began firing energy blasts at the Ice-jinn. He knew he was in trouble from the start… even if he had been strong enough to take on Frieza himself, he wouldn't be able to do it on this ship… the firepower necessary would destroy the ship's hull, leaving them in the vacuum of space. There Frieza would have the advantage… Vegeta couldn't breathe in space, but Frieza didn't need to breathe, and could easily survive the vacuum.

But it wasn't important. Vegeta knew Frieza was going to kill him… the Saiyan Prince simply preferred to die fighting.

Frieza didn't seem to want to cooperate, however, as he merely stood there, withstanding all of the Saiyan's blasts with ease. Suddenly, he was behind Vegeta, and the next moment Vegeta was on the ground, unconscious.

A door opened, and Zarbon walked in. Frieza gestured to the fallen prince. "Zarbon, take our guest to the holding cell. Turn the energy absorbers to maximum. I'm curious…"

Zarbon raised an eyebrow. "About what, Lord Frieza?" he asked.

Frieza smiled. "If a Saiyan can starve to death." At Zarbon's confused look, he continued. "Some creatures are incapable of it, you know, especially species with strong survival instincts. They will eat their own flesh before they starve… "

Zarbon's eyes got wide, but he covered it with a sadistic smile. "Right away, Lord Frieza," he said, picking up the Saiyan prince. Leaving the room, he swallowed. 'Note to self… do not piss off Lord Frieza,' he thought to himself, as he took the Saiyan to the holding cell.

Kress scowled as he hovered in the air, straining his senses to locate his attacker. Radditz hadn't been kidding… this planet's residents were dangerous, and he found himself wishing more and more for his leader's presence. They had tried transforming into their Oozaru forms, but the people on this planet were smart as well as strong… they had created a field which blocked the bluntz wave emanations of not only their five moons, but also of the Saiyans' personal bluntz-wave devices. Kress knew that, even if there had been a pause in the fighting long enough for him to attack the machines that were blocking the bluntz-waves, there hundreds of them, and many were hidden. No, the only way to do this was in their normal forms.

His scouter, which was useless against the fighters on this planet, picked up Radditz and Nappa not far away. So, they were re-grouping. Casting about with his senses one last time, Kress made his way quickly to where the others were hovering, fighting at least ten attackers back-to-back.

Powering up an energy blast, Kress fired at one of the green, reptile-like fighters as it rushed towards Nappa, who was currently fighting off two other attackers. The blast made contact, but only caused the fighter to come rushing toward Kress instead. Good. Kress waited for it to get close enough, then focused his energy into one hand and, imbedding it in the chest of his opponent, he blasted away all of its internal organs. A blank look entered the being's eyes, and he let the blast grow to disintegrate the rest of the body. In a flash he was beside his uncle and Nappa, his back to both of them. "Their skin is resistant to energy… you have to kill them from the inside out," he informed them by way of greeting, and was soon fighting off two attackers at the same time. Grabbing one with each hand, he allowed his tail to act as a stinger and punctured both of them with it, and allowed his energy to flow through his tail this time. Both attackers exploded, but there were three more to take their place. Kress wrapped his tail around his waist again, and created a shield to block the energy blasts that ensued.

"We have to get out of here," Radditz said to Nappa, who, with Vegeta's absence, was in charge. "They were ready for us… they have us outnumbered and out-gunned. We can't beat them without Prince Vegeta… even with him, we may not be able to win."

Nappa scowled as he took Kress's advice and drove his fist into the head of one of the attackers, then blew him up from the inside out. Grinning, he shot back, "We're not giving up. We can beat these things. We're Saiyans!" he shouted, then left the group to attack more of the creatures.

"Nappa!" Radditz shouted, but was unable to finish as nearly twenty of the planet's fighters appeared, and Kress and Radditz hovered back to back, each one contributing to the shield around them. Nappa had killed three of the green warriors before another swarm of them engulfed him, and they heard a cry as Nappa was struck by seven energy blasts simultaneously. "Nappa!" Kress yelled, but it was too late. Nappa was gone.

"We have to get out of here," Radditz said to Kress, who was scowling, anger evident on his face. Kress barely acknowledged Radditz, and Radditz could sense a sudden rise in his power level. His scouter was going berserk, and he turned it off to keep it from distracting him. Suddenly, Kress was crying out, and Radditz felt a jolt as Kress's power level jumped up even higher. He had never seen Kress this powerful… Kress seemed to be pulling more and more power from deep within himself, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw something he would never forget… Kress's hair turned to gold.

Kress held nothing back. He knew he had power… Radditz had told him enough times of his potential. He used it now, demanding more and more from within him. Finally, his attention turned to the green creatures around him.

His scouter was crushed, somehow he had damaged it either in the fight, or from powering up. He took it off now and held it in one hand. Crushing it into pieces, he opened his hand, and caused each fragment to hover in front of him. With a cry, he used his energy to push a fragment of the scouter into each of the fighters. As the fragments penetrated their bodies, Kress lifted his arms, and each fragment exploded, taking an attacker with them.

They kept coming, but Kress was ready for them. As his strength increased, so did his speed, and each alien he came to, he tore in half. The lifeless pieces fell to the ground, but before they made it, Kress would shoot energy blasts at them, blowing them up. It soon became necessary for Kress to find opponents to fight, and the search only made his anger grow. He destroyed city after city, never pausing, until he felt Radditz's hand on his shoulder.

"It's over, Kress. You did it… they're all gone," he said simply. Nappa had been right… the legend must be true. Kress looked at him with green eyes that burned like fire. Suddenly, his eyes returned to normal, his hair became black again, and he collapsed in Radditz's arms.

Radditz smirked. "If only you could have seen him, Nappa," he remarked to the air around him, then looked down at the boy in his arms. "I'm proud of you, nephew," he said, then pressed the button on the device on his belt that would call his space pod. He pressed the one on Kress's belt as well, and soon two space pods appeared, landing on the ground below them. Radditz placed Kress in one, and got into the other, entering commands that would take them both back to the nearest station.

A/N: Man, I'm gonna be late. I just had to get this chapter done, or I'd be thinking about it all day today at work. I gotta go… thanks to all who reviewed. Especially to one… you know who you are blushes . Anyways, tell me what you think. I'll fix all errors in previous chapters as soon as I've finished writing this section of the story… and for all of you who found my story by looking for Goten, don't worry… he'll show up very soon.