If only it had been that easy…

Kakarot had seen death before. He had even killed before. But this… this wasn't battle. This wasn't stopping someone bad from hurting other people. This wasn't even truly self-defense, because the other person in the Cage didn't really want to be there, either. This… was a waste.

A cruel, twisted, evil waste of life. That was what he was participating in.

It had been at least a few weeks now since he'd been captured, and in that time, Kakarot thought he'd never wash the stains off his soul from this place. Eating the blue stuff had been bad enough. Watching the Cage matches had been bad enough. And, when Uncle Turles had entered the Cage against a purple-skinned alien with strange horns on his head, Kakarot had known what the outcome would be, so he only winced a little when he heard the telltale crack that signified the breaking of the alien's spinal cord.

But then, he had to get into the Cage. With one of the aliens from his former cell, the green and yellow one.

And the alien was afraid.

Uncle Turles had coached him every day, in preparation for his first match. He had taught him to focus on his earliest memories, those days before he hit his head, when he thought everything that moved was food. He told him to decide, prior to going into the Cage, that he was going to be the one to survive. He told him that, whoever he faced in the Cage, was going to die, either by his hand, or by the guards' hands; that, in those rare instances when one fighter overpowers the other, yet refuses to take the other fighter's life, the guards would just kill both fighters. He even told him to focus on all the people he would be able to help, if he survived.

Uncle Turles told him a lot of things. None of them made what Kakarot was doing any easier. Nothing Turles said could make what he was doing right.

Kakarot had felt his strength returning to him once they removed his collar and quickly closed the door to the Cage. His former cellmate was there already, shaking. He remembered when Kakarot had attacked him and his… friend, before. He knew Kakarot was strong, even with the collar.

Kakarot could tell this was not a fair fight.

For a moment, as the buzzer sounded, and the alien backed away from him, cringing, Kakarot entertained the idea of trying to escape the Cage. The walls were electrified, and made of a strange kind of material that absorbed ki, but if he could just handle the electricity for a little while, he might be able to rip through the metal, get past the guards, lead the prisoners out to safety.

But it wouldn't work. There were too many guards, the prisoners all had those collars on, including his Uncle Turles, and without his tail, Kakarot wasn't as strong as he should be, he had no idea if he could even get himself out, much less anyone else. And, even if he did, he'd need to be able to get off planet. He needed his uncle, to fly the ship.

He wouldn't leave without his uncle.

They had to stick to the plan. Which meant…

Which meant his old cell mate had to die.

Kakarot looked away in shame. Part of him hoped the alien would take that moment to attack, making it easier for Kakarot, but after a long moment, the alien was still cowering in the corner, careful to avoid the electrified walls. All around them, guards and prisoners were booing. With a deep sigh, Kakarot said, "Look, we both know if we don't fight, we'll both die. I don't want to die, and I know you don't, either, so why don't you at least fight me?" he asked, his voice almost pleading.

The green and yellow alien blinked with eyes that took up most of his face. "You… you're too strong… I don't… I don't s-stand a ch-chance…" he stammered, shaking in fear.

Kakarot swallowed hard. He had seen this look of fear before, and had hated it, yet here he was, bringing it out in his opponents, all over again. It made him sick. "But, wouldn't you rather go down fighting? Knowing you at least did something?" he asked, hoping against hope the alien would stand up for himself.

The alien merely shook his head fervently. "I… I'm too scared… I… I don't wanna die…" he said, shaking.

Kakarot's pride was disgusted by the display, but he had been taught mercy by the humans, by Grandpa Gohan. If he were looking down on Kakarot now, and Kakarot deeply hoped that he wasn't, Grandpa would want him to help this alien somehow.

But there was only one thing Kakarot could offer him.

"Listen, I'm going to do it fast, so it won't hurt that much, okay?" he said softly, his throat almost as tight as his stomach. "Just… close your eyes, and think of somewhere better. Think of your home. Can you do that? It'll be over soon, just… just think of home…" he said, his voice cracking as he spoke.

The yellow and green alien's eyes widened at that, but he nodded, still shaking. He closed his eyes, and Kakarot saw his shoulder sag just slightly. Taking that as his cue, Kakarot called energy to his hands, enough to completely disintegrate his opponent in one fell swoop. He didn't use the Kamehameha… he would never, never use that attack for something like this… and then he fired.

The alien was gone in a matter of seconds. Kakarot hoped in his heart he ended up somewhere peaceful.

Kakarot's heart was heavy as the Cage opened, and the collar was placed back on his neck. He didn't even notice the snide remarks of the guards, or the booing of the other prisoners. They hadn't taken kindly to the fact that he had deprived them of a body, to dump into the blue crap they had to eat, but Kakarot could care less what they thought. This whole thing was wrong, all of it was, and Kakarot didn't speak to his uncle all day after that. Turles seemed to understand this, and left him alone. He didn't sleep when the others did, focused only on that yellow and green alien.

Kakarot made a decision that night. He was going to destroy this place. This prison, whatever it was. He was going to rescue the prisoners, and then, he was going to destroy this place completely. And the first part he was going to destroy was that Cage.

It wasn't enough to just escape, now. He wouldn't let this place continue to stand, continue to do this to people. As soon as he and Turles entered the ring together, it would all be over. He would see to it personally.

From his place on the floor, Turles cracked open one eye and regarded Kakarot, who was still sitting up, wide awake, with that same look on his face. It was obvious the cub had never been on a purge before, and had somehow escaped life as a member of the Cold Empire. He and Kakarot had planned to fight for a while, until they accomplished what they set out to, and then they would break the Cage open from the inside, and escape, killing any guards that got in their way. But, it seemed that Kakarot took an issue with taking life. Plan A wouldn't work if Kakarot hesitated every time they faced an enemy. Turles would have to force his hand.

Well, Kakarot was still a cub, more or less. And cubs were easily… persuaded. It wasn't the perfect escape plan he had hoped it would be, but still, Plan B was pretty effective.

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"I don't get it, why isn't it okay for a soldier to be stronger than the King, but it's okay for the Royal Guard to be stronger than the Prince?" Kakarot asked, weeks later. He had been in the Cage once more since his first match, but his opponent that time had been strong, and had been intent on killing Kakarot, so it had been much easier to kill him. He was still a little subdued, but that could also be due to the sleep deprivation and malnutrition. Keeping Kakarot distracted seemed to be beneficial to the boy, so Turles encouraged his questions. And really, it was the only way to get the cub to eat.

"The Prince is born to his position, Kakarot," Turles explained patiently, pointing to the bucket meaningfully. Kakarot grimaced as he dipped his hand into it, cupped some of the goo into his hand, and began to eat dutifully as Turles went on. "The King, on the other hand, is given his position by his people. He has to earn it, and he earns it by being the strongest. Would who your father is change, just because your power level was above or below a certain number?" he asked.

Kakarot blinked thoughtfully, and shook his head no. "So… Prince Vegeta will always be the Prince, no matter what… but, if he's the strongest, he'll be King Vegeta?" he asked.

Turles raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, that, and he needs two other things. The loyalty of his people, and a planet to rule. Then he'll be King. And, since our planet was destroyed, Prince Vegeta has no planet to rule," he explained, making Kakarot eat another handful of the blue stuff.

Kakarot swallowed the stuff down with a shudder, then said, "What if he had a different planet?"

Turles shrugged. "I suppose he could claim another planet, if he wanted. But that still leaves the loyalty of his people. His people have to acknowledge him as King. Like I said before, Prince Vegeta can claim anything he wants, ships, planets, lives, and as long as he is strong enough to hold onto them, they're his, according to Saiyan law. But, the Kingdom, that's something that can't be taken. It has to be given. A Saiyan always keeps his pride, no matter what, Kakarot. No one can rule over us unless we want them to. That's one reason why Frieza wanted us dead. Even though he had blackmailed King Vegeta, kidnapped his son, and pretty much occupied our planet with his men, we never really served him. We served King Vegeta, and Frieza knew that. I think he started to want our loyalty when he realized he couldn't have it, which led to his hatred for us," he explained.

Kakarot swallowed another handful of the vile stuff, then said, "Do you think Prince Vegeta will join us? Or do you think he really belongs to Frieza?"

Before Turles could answer, however, the guards came towards the entrance to their cell. Quickly, both Saiyans fell silent, waiting expectantly. Either one of them was going into the Cage.

But, today, it was both.

Kakarot did his best to hide his excitement. They had rehearsed this a thousand times. Turles was protesting loudly, and Kakarot was doing his best to look frightened and sad. They were supposedly going to be fighting each other to the death, after all, and it was painfully obvious to anyone who looked at them together that they were the same species.

Both of their collars were removed inside the Cage.

Turles took on the offensive, rushing at him, as was his typical method in Cage matches. Soon, Kakarot was being thrown about, and used his energy to cushion as much of the impact as he could, without making it look like he was. Then, Turles threw him into the electrified wall.

It was horrible. Kakarot knew it would be, but there was expecting something to be bad, and then there was hundreds of volts coursing through your body. He bounced off the wall quickly, but it was certainly enough to daze him, and he lay on the ground, twitching involuntarily, as Turles walked up to him… and slammed his foot into Kakarot's back.

Kakarot screamed. This part wasn't fake.

"What's wrong, Kakarot? Can't fight me?" Turles taunted, as he ground down on one particular spot on Kakarot's spine, eliciting another scream from his nephew. He was careful with what he said, with what he told Kakarot to say. He knew these fights were recorded, he knew what this place was, and who it was for. He knew that, the moment they did what they were going to do, all hell would break loose, and their time would be limited. "How pathetic! What a weakling! Where's your pride?!" he demanded, leaving out any mention of what they were and what they planned to do, while reminding Kakarot of both. Because the next part was up to him. He ground down harder with his heel.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Kakarot screamed, and suddenly, a thin, fuzzy brown tail emerged from his back. Quickly, Turles flipped him over onto his back with his foot, and Kakarot kept his tail beneath him, panting from exertion, the look of pain on his face a real one.

Turles stood over his nephew. "It's time to die now, Kakarot. I'll see you in hell!" he said, hoping his nephew had enough time to recover.

The blast that sent him into the electrified wall of the cage was his answer. He shot off the wall quickly, but Kakarot was there, punching him back into it, kicking him into it, over and over. Turles defended himself instinctively, but his nephew was quite powerful, and he didn't have to hold himself back much at all. Kakarot was keeping his tail tightly wrapped around his waist, and so far, the battle was entrancing enough for no one to have noticed. At least, the guards hadn't opened the Cage or killed them both yet.

Then, when Turles didn't think his nervous system could handle any more electricity, Kakarot slammed him to the floor, and began punching him in that same spot, over and over.

Now it was a race. Turles had mere seconds to re-grow his tail, before the guards caught on. If he didn't, if the guards figured out their ruse, they were both dead, and their bodies would be dumped in the waste reclamation system, to turn into food for the rest of the prisoners, the 'goo' as the prisoners called it.

Kakarot was using both fists, now, and Turles was afraid his nephew might actually break his spine. A Saiyan's body was built for combat, built to take quite a few hits, so using pressure points on a Saiyan was tricky at best. Not to mention, it was very difficult for an adult Saiyan to re-grow their tail, as their bodies didn't produce nearly as much of the hormone for growth as they did when they were cubs.

But Turles had planned around that. Slowly, over the years, he had been inserting tiny splinters from the root of a certain tree, into his back around the stub where his tail once was. He had been working on a growth serum from the sap of that tree, when he was captured. But, all this time, his body had been absorbing that same sap from the bits of root embedded into the muscles around the area.

And he was stimulating it with electricity, and physical pressure. All that was left was instinct. All that was left, was Plan B.

Calling energy into the palm of his hand, Turles seemed to cast an energy ball towards Kakarot, but the boy dodged it, and it stopped just above his head, hovering there. Turles closed his fist, and it seemed to explode, filling the Cage with light.

A particular kind of light.

Kakarot hadn't noticed, he was intent on trying to get his uncle's tail to grow, but Turles gazed up at the light, willing his instincts to remember, to react. He needed to transform, he focused on the need to transform, the need to do something, anything, other than end up in that blue goo.

Kakarot slammed his fists down on the spot once more, and there, the fuzzy brown appendage began to emerge, becoming full length. His eyes went to his uncle's face, and he noticed Turles was looking at something behind him. Quickly, he turned around to see what it was.

And his heart began to pound…