"I'd like to congratulate both of you for finishing at the top of the training camp rankings."
Frieza sloshed his wine glass as he observed the eight soldiers lined up before him in his throne room. On one side, the Saiyan crew led by Vegeta; on the other side, Cui's. The rival squads finished Cooler's camp tied for most cumulative points - Saiyans got there through raw talent, Cui through underhanded tactics. It had been a brutal month-long ordeal, but they'd all come out better for it.
"Forty-eight soldiers stepped in, and just under half stepped out." With an insincere sigh, Frieza frowned and placed his hand to his chest. "While the loss of every single one of those lives weighs heavily on my conscience, I'm sure they can rest easy knowing that the collective growth exceeded their worth. I mean, Vegeta - 24,000 now?! Stupendous!"
Even hearing the words from Frieza couldn't quell Vegeta's smirk. The cam had given him the exact results he was looking for, granting him a 30% power increase from the constant punishment on his body. And not just him - Raditz in particular had nearly doubled his power; fortunate given that everyone who finished the camp with a power level below 2,000 was slaughtered.
"I suppose it's quite auspicious I had Zarbon and Dodoria train under the Ginyu Force's supervision as well; they might have been in trouble!"
That made Vegeta frown, and given the coy smile Frieza wore, that was the ruler's very intention. Vegeta had hoped he could finally swing his weight around the two ass-kissers, but he should have known Frieza would never give his strength the chance to flourish without ensuring his inner circle stayed ahead.
"And Gohan, the runaway candidate for rookie of the year, you are! But a young pup and just over 8,000."
Vegeta could hardly believe the number himself when Salza scanned it, and he still couldn't now. After their talk, Gohan took on a relentless, business-like approach to training. He'd hardly reacted to the number then, and he still wasn't. The Prince had never seen a Saiyan grow so quickly - not even himself. Yet for the most extraordinary Saian specimen possibly ever, Gohan sure didn't seem to enjoy it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vegeta looked to his left at Cui's crew, specifically Arepa. The rift between her and Gohan had undoubtedly been the source of the latter's sour demeanor, but it had to be done if Gohan ever planned to be cut out to war with the tyrant standing before them.
"That's not to say your crew hasn't also been a gleam of light, Cui! In fact, that is why I've summoned both of you right now," Frieza said, taking one final sip of his glass before setting it down. "As you know, both of you are due for promotions, which was a result I didn't expect. So I gave it some thought…"
Vegeta's eyes widened. He didn't like Frieza's tone one bit.
"I asked myself, 'Self, what is the value of an A-Ranked Squad if there's so many of them?'" The eccentric overlord cupped his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture. A bead of sweat swam down Vegeta's head. "And so, I have decided to instead create a veritable Dream Team A-Squad!"
Cui's already wide eyes were even wider. And he wasn't alone.
"That's right, gentlemen & lady - I am hereby merging your two crews into one squad!"
Though everyone was shocked, the faces of the two leaders paled to sickly shades. Vegeta and Cui had despised each other since childhood. They could hardly even process the words Frieza had just spoken.
Though Vegeta still had enough sense to know better not to dispute Frieza, Cui was so dumbstruck he couldn't help but speak up. "F-Frieza, my Lord...is this necessary?"
With treacherously narrowed eyes, Frieza gave his answer. "If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked, Cui."
The two rival crews looked back and forth. Vegeta and Cui did little to hide their collective disgust, and the same was true for Stroh & Beari and Nappa & Raditz. The two children on the other hand, only exchanged awkward, pensive stares.
His brief warning done, Frieza perked back up. "Turn those frowns upside down, men! This is a tremendous opportunity for growth I'm giving you all! We are only stronger when united. Though you are the strongest of the bunch, Vegeta, I shall grant you and Cui joint authority!"
"WHAT?!" Yeah, now Vegeta had to speak. This went against everything instilled into him; everything he instilled into Gohan. This was yet another incidence in the colossal line of Frieza jerking him around.
Frieza giggled and tapped his pink scouter. "And don't forget, with these new scouters and their provisions, I can both see and hear what goes on if I so please; so I expect you two to make decisions with civility. You need to learn not to settle everything with your fists, dear Prince. You will be much better for this in the end."
Vegeta just averted his eyes to the floor with his teeth clenched, the only gestures blocking the obscenities in his head from leaving his mouth. Despite the lack of respect and Nappa's stupidity, Vegeta's only solace in his servitude was that he didn't have to regularly cooperate with anyone not possessing Saiyan blood. But this? It was an insult and Frieza knew it.
"Well, Dream Team, I hope you use your time wisely before your first joint mission. You are all dismissed!"
The crews - crew, rather - made their strained exit from the room, though Vegeta didn't join them. He just stood with his jaw hung open, trying to understand why he was stuck with such a nonsensical burden.
Frieza only took humor out of his anguish, however. "After all these years, I still fail to understand you, Vegeta. Finally getting a greater taste of that rulership you were robbed of, yet you're reacting like you just got the news of your planet's demise all over again."
No answer from Vegeta. Frieza's countenance grew less welcoming.
"You'd do well to appreciate all it is I do for you, Vegeta." His voice lowered to a haunting drawl. "You don't have much left to your name, after all. You don't want to become amongst those that you've lost, no?"
Still no answer. So Frieza cleared his throat.
"No, sir," Vegeta finally heaved. Dread to receive another order, he turned on his heel and left the room; his ears flinched when they picked up Frieza's fleeting chuckles. As soon as the doors closed, Vegeta punched a dent into the wall across. He didn't give a damn about the damages.
Vegeta's outburst alarmed most in the hall, but not the two children who stared at each other in silence. Gohan hadn't spoken a word to Arepa since his outburst after she grabbed his tail. Since Vegeta told him to disregard friends. He'd heeded the advice well.
"Sorry 'bout your scouter...and your tail," Arepa said in a guarded tone. She looked off to the side, almost to avoid Gohan's hollow gaze.
"Okay."
That was all Gohan said before he turned around and headed for a training room, basically leaving Arepa hanging. To him, it didn't matter if they were forced to be on the same side, where Arepa wouldn't be forced to act against him. He couldn't allow himself to grow attached to her; he just needed to focus on growing his ever-expanding power.
When he reached one of the training facilities, he groaned when he saw Stroh and Beari standing inside. His scorn was mutual, as the two men sneered at him upon arrival. Wishing to limit his interactions with his new crewmates as much as possible, Gohan turned on his heel to find another room.
"Fine, go! We don't need a chimp weighing down our training," said the high voice of Beari.
With a growl, Gohan stopped. He wasn't about to let a slight from those two weaklings stand. "Watch how you talk to me!"
The teal-skinned man and the red-furred bear exchanged glances and laughed boisterously. "What are you gonna do about it, twerp?!" Beari asked.
"If you two can talk so much, you can take him, right?"
Gohan turned around to the voice - Arepa. She stood with her arms folded and a scowl towards her two partners. The half-Saiyan cocked his eyebrow at her, wondering what brought her to their business.
"Oh, butt out, Arepa!" Stroh said.
Beari laughed in agreement. "Yeah, like you really think your lil' boyfriend's gonna pay attention to you again for this!"
While Arepa's face reddened with anger, Gohan threateningly advanced towards the two. "Hey, shut up!"
"Make us!" Beari challenged, folding his arms with a toothy smirk. "I bet our lunches that you can't take us in a spar."
The two children glanced at each other. If there was anything they could agree on, it was their disdain for the pair who stood across. With a nod of agreement, they turned their faces forward.
"Bring it on, then!" Gohan crouched into a fighting stance, as did Arepa. Stroh and Beari did the same, and as soon as they did, Gohan zipped forward and slammed Beari into the wall with only his forearm. Spar over.
Stroh grabbed Arepa by her arm and tossed her into the wall, but the plucky girl leaped off of it from her feet and flew fist first inte his gut. The force brought Stroh to his knees, allowing Arepa to kick him for good measure.
"Looks like we'll be eatin' good, then," Arepa taunted as she dusted her hands off. She didn't see it with her back to him, but Gohan cracked a smile. He forced it back as quickly as he could, however, and marched past her to the mess hall to cash in on his win. He missed Arepa's brooding change in expression as he left.
When he reached the mess hall, Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz were already eating their pedestrian meals, while Cui ate separately; nothing said that the new "Dream Team" had to interact beyond missions, after all. Gohan could tell just from how briskly Vegeta grabbed his mash of beans and chewed on them that he hadn't cooled off a bit from Frieza's choice.
"I can't believe we have that fish freak and his idiots dragging us down, now," Raditz. "We'll never get a good fight going if we have to clean up their messes."
"Not much different from working with you," Nappa quipped, to Raditz's displeasure. "Nah, but you're right. What's Frieza thinking?"
Gohan looked at Vegeta, waiting for an answer that never came. With the increased surveillance, Gohan knew why his Prince chose to keep it silent - the truth that it was just another measure to restrict the Saiyans' power. Their substantial leap would not go "unpunished," Gohan realized. He wondered just how long it would take to finally do something about Frieza - if he wouldn't see the tyrant's defeat until he was Vegeta's age. It was a haunting thought.
Before they could finish eating, Cui approached the four Saiyans at their table. "Hey, shorty!"
Gohan assumed he was talking to him, but didn't even look up to answer.
"What's this I hear about attacking Stroh and Beari, huh?!"
With an eye-roll, Gohan faced him to answer. "What? They called me out and wanted to challenge me and Arepa; bet their food on it. So we answered."
"I'm not buying that!" Cui approached Gohan with enough hostility to get Vegeta standing in only a split-second. Though Cui inched back from the imposing Saiyan prince, he maintained his hostility towards the half-breed. "I think this calls for a punishment."
Gohan rose to his feet at the threat, but Vegeta spoke for him. "Punishment, my ass. Don't blame the boy for your little cronies writing a check their asses couldn't cash."
Vegeta's defiant attitude never ceased to embolden Gohan, who smirked at Cui. "And I better not see those guys eating, 'cause they owe me and Arepa."
Cui scoffed. "You dare talk like that to your boss, brat?!"
"Yes, he does," Vegeta replied. "And as for those two punks who walk around with their lips on your ass, let them know that their boss says they better pay what they owe."
While Cui and Vegeta stared daggers into each other, Gohan saw Stroh and Beari limp into the mess hall. They moved around the room, almost like they were trying to elude eyesight. Gohan smirked, content to let them try sneaking around. The two grabbed treys and set them down at the closest table, but not even two seconds later, Arepa came seemingly from nowhere to swipe them away. With a mischievous laugh, she set them down at the Saiyans' table.
"I didn't make the rules, boys!" she called out to the two as they protested.
"I better not catch you eating that, Arepa," Cui warned just as the girl was lifting a withered steak to her mouth.
"Eat it," Vegeta commanded.
Gohan darted his eyes between both leaders, cursing Frieza for his manipulation. It didn't matter if he was trying to screw around with the Saiyans or not; giving two diametrically opposed leaders dual authority was just bad business. Small wonder his father had to intervene after Kabnet came to light, and that his brother's men ran his training camps.
The confrontation captured the attention of the other soldiers sitting in the mess hall. Neither Vegeta nor Cui budged an inch as they stared each other down; with the way their fists were clenched, it sure looked like they were about to come to blows. Gohan wasn't even focused on the food; he was just ready for whatever would unfold.
"Vegeta's crew! Report to the launch room at once! It is urgent!"
The voice of Zarbon cut through both the scouters and the tension amongst the "Dream Team." Vegeta took amusement in the fact that Zarbon addressed only him as the leader.
The divided front left the mess hall with haste, though Arepa grabbed that steak and tossed another one at Gohan. Like he had eyes in the back of his head, he caught it without turning around.
Zarbon waited for them in the launch room with an anxious expression, pressing his scouter like a madman. "One of our crews has been ambushed by Kabnet's men on Planet Porridge. We need you there, ASAP!"
"Perfect," Vegeta said with a ravenous grin.
The crew headed for their high-speed pods. Beari, the last in line, had a scouter shoved into his chest by Zarbon.
"Give this to Quincy, their leader. His scouter was destroyed."
"Uh, okay." Beari took the scouter and stepped inside his pod.
"Routing to Planet 1112JP."
Gohan pressed his fist against his palm in anticipation of a test for his newfound power. He didn't know what type of warriors awaited on the planet he headed to, but if it was enough to require their immediate attention, he could bet it would be a real battle.
As soon as Gohan stepped out into the copper skies, he could see why his crew's assistance was needed. Clouds of smoke emanating from toppled cliffs filled the air. Below his boot, a chunk of a Frieza Force armor plate lay.
Vegeta scanned the power levels on his scouter. "Alright, the strongest power levels I detect out west. My crew and I will handle that. Cui, you just make sure you and your fools don't die."
"Hogging the fun for yourself, are you Vegeta?!" Cui rebuked as Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose. "We need to all attack together and take on whatever comes."
"Of course a coward like you would like as much help as possible." Rancid contempt colored every one of Vegeta's syllables. "No thanks."
"Oh sure, let's go with your plan. Great way to get everybody killed!"
"Well don't threaten me with a good time."
Irritably planting his hands on his side, Gohan sighed. If anything was going to get everyone killed, it was the petty squabbling. He had to fight his urge to just go rogue and fly off to where he could feel the strong Ki signatures.
"Well there's only one way to settle this," Cui said with a foreboding tone, drawing nervous shudders from Cui's men and Gohan.
"You wouldn't dare," Vegeta said, his eyes narrowing.
"Rock-Paper-Scissors!"
Vegeta looked at Cui like he just poofed into a literal fish, while Gohan and Arepa fell on their faces. Even Stroh and Beari shook their heads in embarrassment. From what Gohan could sense, Vegeta and Cui were fairly close in power yet Cui carried on like he was as helpless as the most average earthling.
"What's wrong, Vegeta? Too chicken to lose to me?" Cui said with that insidious smile.
Even over something as trivial as Rock-Paper-Scissors, Vegeta seethed over Cui's challenge with a clenched fist. "Fine! Let's just get on with it!"
The two leaders threw their fists out. While Vegeta went with scissors, Cui chose rock.
"Of course I win!" Cui yelled, grinning from ear to ear. Vegeta snarled at his fingers, probably wishing to poke them into Cui's engorged eyes.
"Latesies!" Gohan yelled. "You went a split-second after Vegeta."
"Buzz off, twerp," Cui scoffed. "A win's a win, so I say we all go together."
Stroh, Beari, and Cui flew west, and though the Saiyans clenched their teeth, they and Arepa followed. Gohan could feel a few dozen Ki signatures clashing with each otherthe intensity growing the closer they got. When the band of fighters made it within a few miles, a stray Ki blast flew their way.
Vegeta swiped it away, but that was the cue to charge in and fight. On one end, there were fighters wearing the Frieza Force armor, on the other, soldiers wearing the purple & gold uniforms from Kabnet's organization.
"The Saiyans!" one of Kabnet's soldiers, a tall, furry man with a face like a fox's. "The bastards that took Kabnet out! After them, men!"
Of course, it was more like one Saiyan - Gohan - but the warriors would answer nonetheless. Kabnet's soldiers turned their attention from the Frieza Force fighters they'd been engaged with and fired blasts at the Saiyans. With only a burst of his Ki, Vegeta sent them all away while Gohan, Nappa, and Raditz went on the offensive. They easily thwarted Kabinet's reserves with only their fists, while Cui and his gang took on the scraps.
In the midst of the action, Beari attended to the wounded Frieza Force soldiers down below. A yellow man with long, green hair was the first one he spoke to. He was the lone fighter without a scouter. "Quincy! What the hell even happened here?!"
"We came here to purge and I think these bastards intercepted our scouters," Quincy said, spitting out blood. "Speaking of which, didn't Zarbon say you were bringing me a replacement?"
"Aw, crap, I forgot!" Beari replied, earning a scowl from Quincy. Beari looked up at the fight waging in the sky, a trail of nervous sweats spilling from his furry head. "Eh, these guys are handling it. I'll go back and get your scouter from my pod."
Beari took off, to Quincy's bewilderment. He was going to yell to him that he could just get it when the fight was over, but then…
The fox zipped to Beari and kicked him in the head, snapping his neck. He was dead before he even hit the ground.
"Beari!" Cui yelled, seeing the incident as he fought. "That dumbass couldn't even last a few minutes?!"
Not that it made much of a difference to Gohan and the Saiyans. In fact, as far as Gohan was concerned, he was more upset he didn't get to do it himself. He briefly admonished himself for having the thought, allowing himself to get blasted in the face by one of Kabnet's soldiers in the process. His scouter caught the worst of it, cracking and emitting sparks from the impact. After Gohan smacked against the ground, he rolled onto his hands and knees and pounded the pavement. Despite his resolution to detach himself, his mind still tortured him with doubt.
As Gohan stood back up and tossed his busted scouter away, a brown-skinned Frieza Force soldier dropped down next to him, breathing heavily. "I think your guys are taking care of business now, but a few of Kabnet's men snuck into the city, too."
Gohan nodded, knowing exactly what he was implying. He focused his senses out ahead and found a few strong Ki signals northbound. Feeling comfortable with how easily Vegeta and the others were picking apart Kabnet's men, Gohan flew off to confront the remaining soldiers.
The city looked to already be under siege, with droves of citizens whose skin covered the entire color spectrum fled burning buildings. The Kabnet soldiers in purple & gold armor didn't appear to be on the attack as much as they were in pursuit, possibly for more Frieza Force soldiers. Temporarily becoming the hero to Porridge's citizens, Gohan took Kabnet's men out with a barrage of Ki blasts. He groaned in disappointment, realizing that these guys weren't a challenge after all.
There was one particularly strong Ki he felt in the direction of a few ruins, however. He flew towards the rubble of stone and bricks, searching for a body that hid itself well. The Ki signal emanated strongest from a slab of bricks leaning against a steel pillar.
Gohan pushed forward to leap, but stopped himself. Fearing a setup, he planted his feet firmly and raised his hand. "Show yourself, whoever you are! Or I'll have to blast you out!"
No answer. So Gohan did as warned, blasting the slab of brick with just enough force to destroy it. As the smoke faded away, Gohan made a move to attack, but froze when he got a clearer vision of who had been hiding.
It was a boy. Probably a couple of years older than him. Wearing the purple and gold armor of Kabnet's soldiers, he bore green skin and puffy, dark blue hair. Despite being on the enemy side, there wasn't any malice in his eyes - in fact, they were twisted into a whimper as he sat with his arms resting above his knees. He spoke as a stunned Gohan withdrew his arm.
"Just do it."
"What…?"
"I wish you would've sent me away with the bricks," the green-skinned boy said. "I'm not gonna put up a fight, so just do it."
Mystified, but sensing no ill intent, Gohan lowered his arm completely and stepped forward. The boy didn't look up at Gohan at all; his eyes were just fixated on his hands, trembling. His lip quivered as he clenched his fingers against his knees. Gohan felt like he was looking at a mirror image of himself from his first night on Frieza's base.
"But, why?"
The boy's brows furrowed while he clenched his teeth. "I just want to be done with this. All of this."
Gohan froze.
Tears filled his eyes as he finally looked up at Gohan. "I was supposed to be an athlete, not this. I never wanted any of this, and Kabnet's dead anyway. So just do it."
I never wanted any of this.
I never wanted any of this.
I never wanted any of this.
Unconsciously, Gohan stepped back. The words spun through his head like a spiral; the very words he'd repeated to himself ad nauseam before he faced the reality of his circumstances. The half-Saiyan couldn't find the words to say. What could he say? Scold him for not toughening up like he's doing now? Had he even really embraced his own reality?
After a few moments, Gohan found an empty question. "Why don't you just leave…?"
"Because it doesn't matter if Kabnet's dead. These men have put far too much into this nonsense to quit. They'll see me as an enemy and go after me."
Of course Gohan knew his answer. He'd turned down his own escape twice already for the very same reason. Even when given the chance to do it instantaneously.
"So, your home planet is still around, then?" Gohan asked.
The boy only nodded. In his face, Gohan saw the pain he felt within his own self every day he woke up in Frieza's army. He wondered how long the boy had been stuck, and how he had been plucked away.
But he didn't ask. He just stared at him until he nearly saw himself sitting there in his place. He thought he had finally cracked the code and learned all of Vegeta's lessons, but he felt his ice cold resolve cracking like Boysen's arm all over again.
"Just leave," he finally said. "Kabnet's men might be bad, but Frieza's worse. He has his whole army mobilized against you guys, so they'll be wiped out soon. Trust me, you don't want to be on his radar."
The boy stared at Gohan with confusion. "Why do you care? You're one of Frieza's men, too."
Involuntarily, Gohan hissed through his teeth. The label got to him. Despite all he aspired to be, and all the reassurances he made to himself, this was what he was to the universe - just another one of Frieza's men. Not Son Gohan, brilliant scholar.
With an anguished glare, he answered. "We're a lot alike." He parroted Vegeta's frequent statements. "Except you can actually escape. So just do it."
Oh, how Vegeta would have admonished Gohan right then. Try though he might, the half-Saiyan couldn't part ways with his human side. He shouldn't have cared one ounce about this green kid's plight, instead gladly fulfilling his suicidal request. Even the boy himself bemusedly stared at him.
"I don't understand-!"
"Just go!" Gohan yelled, resentful tears spilling from his eyes. "Don't waste yourself, okay?! You can get out of this! You've got a ship, right?!"
The boy blinked a few times, almost wondering if he was hallucinating before shaking his head. "The other men from your army trashed it."
Gohan tried to figure out a solution as he brushed his tears away. Beari, that idiot - he'd gotten his neck snapped by the fox, right?
"One of the soldiers I arrived with got killed. You can use his pod." Gohan was fortunate his scouter had been destroyed, freeing their conversation of surveillance.
Though the green-skinned boy's despair gradually gave way to intrigue, he wasn't sold on the idea. "In a Frieza-marked pod? That doesn't seem like a good idea."
With his first real smile in weeks, Gohan reassured the boy. "I can fix that."
The boy lifted his head up, staring at Gohan with astonished eyes. Gohan hoped the boy trusted him; trusted him to lead him to what he'd desperately craved for himself. If he could free someone else of the shackles without consequences, then why not?
An explosion went off in the distance, alarming both children. Gohan's smile twisted into an urgent frown. "Looks like the fight's spreading over here, so we gotta hurry."
The green boy turned his head to the source of the sound before whipping it back to Gohan's. After one momentary staredown, he finally stood up. "I'll do it. Just lead the way."
The two stormed out of the city. Gohan ignored the Vegeta voice in his head questioning his actions. He didn't care about his power at the moment, instead jumping at the chance to do what was right. The image of Mentos's betrayed eyes before his demise still haunted Gohan's memories. He needed this to work.
"What's your name?" the boy asked, speeding up until they were next to each other.
"Gohan."
"I'm Kobe." Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared straight ahead. "Th-Thank you. I don't really know what to say. You're different from these others."
"Not all of them..." Gohan said, his thoughts drifting to Arepa. She, too, had seen herself in Gohan and saved him because of it. But when Gohan saw himself in her, he snapped and lashed out. Despite his attempts to distance himself from her, his loss of control still weighed on his conscience.
They arrived at the plains where the "Dream Team's" pods had left eight craters. Gohan floated down to the pod Beari had stepped out of earlier, just in case anybody with sharp memories was particular about which one they departed in.
"I'm gonna destroy the tracker in this thing," Gohan said, sticking his hand inside the pod and firing a blast at the top right corner of the interior. "Alright, it should be good."
"Thank you, again." Kobe marched forward and crouched inside the pod. "I won't forget your kindness, Gohan."
Before Kobe closed the space pod, Gohan reached his hand out. "Wait, what are the coordinates of your home planet? I might know somebody who can make sure Frieza never sends anybody there."
"It's called Planet Mamba, coordinates 0824LA."
"Got it." Gohan wouldn't dare forget those numbers. "Just press that red button on the control panel and tell it to reroute you to those coordinates."
"Okay," Kobe answered before looking back up at Gohan. For the first time, he smiled; hope glistened in his eyes. "I've done a lot of bad things before reaching this point. Maybe this will be you one day, Gohan. Don't give up."
Kobe's message froze Gohan. Don't give up. It was easy for this boy to say; Kabnet had ultimately proven himself defeatable, allowing all of those who were forced under his rule to find their own lives. That wasn't an option under Frieza.
As the door to the space pod closed, that blue ice that had haunted Gohan for so long enveloped around Kobe's skin. Losing his wits, Gohan reached his hand out, but by the time he could say anything, the door shut. Soon, the entire pod became encased in ice, even as it blasted off into the sky.
It left his sight, but not before his mind pictured it shattering.
His strength leaving him, Gohan fell and sat where the pod once stood. He wondered if he'd truly freed Kobe or just delayed his death by a few years. His hope was that Kiyomi or Lemo would be able to pull the necessary strings to keep his planet safe, but that didn't answer his most piercing question:
Was anybody really "free" as long as Frieza and his empire lived?
So strong was Frieza's rule that Gohan's father ended up on a faraway planet called Earth. So strong was he, that Raditz went to Earth in hopes of finding him so they could have an ally to rid him and the Saiyans of their shackles. Nobody could truly escape a man who could reduce anyone into a distant memory depending on his mood.
Had he done Kobe just like he'd done Mentos? Easing his conscience, but leading somebody to despair in the process? Despite everything, he couldn't shed his empathy in a world that thrived off of its absence.
"Hey!"
It was Vegeta's harsh voice yet again. Gohan looked up.
"What the hell are you doing, kid?! How long have you been sitting here?"
After taking a deep breath, Gohan stood back up and floated to meet Vegeta in the sky. The Prince had a few cuts and patches of dirt on his face and armor, but was otherwise sprightly.
"I uh...took a breather, I guess." Gohan braced himself for Vegeta to snap at such a notion, but received his piercing gaze instead.
"Hn. Your human side makes you impossible to read." Gohan blushed in embarrassment. "Anyway, Kabnet's men are finished. Zarbon wants us to purge the planet since those other guys are too worn out."
Purge? Oh, right - that's what Frieza's men were originally there for. But still, Gohan blinked from hearing that word. Vegeta immediately took notice.
"What? Don't tell me you needed a breather because those pests overwhelmed you."
Gohan averterted his eyes from Vegeta's lecturing stare. "No, it's just...forget it, whatever."
"Oh, come on."
Gohan whipped his head back up, caught off guard by Vegeta's disgusted tone. As Gohan had grown far too accustomed to, Vegeta wore an irritable frown "After everything on Planet Zuna, after everything from fighting Kabnet's people, after everything I've told you, you're still hung up on killing?!"
"It's different!" Gohan snapped. This time Vegeta was the one caught off-guard, his perpetually narrowed eyes ballooning. "All of those guys were attacking me. And you made me kill Mentos!"
"Mentos?" Genuine confusion filled Vegeta's tone.
Of course Vegeta didn't remember. "The kid from my first mission. I didn't choose to do that on my own. You made me."
"And…?"
"So I'm kinda not ready to kill innocent people!" Gohan snarled, eying Vegeta with the type of scorn he'd reserved only for Frieza. The pain from that first purge had hit him in the droves in the wake of his encounter with Kobe. The two Saiyans stared at each other for a few moments, Vegeta's expression losing its surprise and becoming more studious. He folded his arms.
"You have a point."
Surprised, Gohan snapped his head back. "Huh?"
"Not that killing is wrong," Vegeta quickly scoffed. "That I was shortsighted to think killing in self-defense would make you truly understand. I don't know what kind of rose-tinted bullshit you were raised to believe on Earth, but just remember this: death waits for us all. The question we all have to face is if we have what it takes to keep it waiting."
Gohan narrowed his eyes, giving another of Vegeta's lectures his full attention.
"Frankly, I don't understand why you're not comfortable with it, and I don't really care. But know that everyone who falls before us wasn't able to answer that question." Vegeta pointed his thumb at the smoky ruins behind him. "This right here? It could be any of us. Frieza can destroy anything he pleases depending on his mood. But he makes us do it for him."
Vegeta hadn't realized it, but he echoed Gohan's earlier musing. They were more alike than Gohan thought, indeed.
"Even if you're in a peaceful place like your home world, you're never really safe. But you know that first hand, right?" Vegeta asked with a coy smirk. Gohan stewed over his provocation, but it was the intended reaction.
Vegeta's lips folded into a frown. "At the end of the day, no matter where you are, this isn't a just world. It's the Cold world, and we all just live in it. When one clan can hold another man's life in their hands and make them do whatever they want, there is no good or evil, or right or wrong. There is only strong or weak. And if you're weak, you have no place."
As Gohan pensively hung in the air, Vegeta floated until he was only inches away from him. With his hair, he was almost a flame's shadow looming over the boy, waiting to burn him into a crisp. A dark smirk painted his face.
"So the question is, are you fit? Or are you still that little wimp I heard on Raditz's scouter, crying for daddy?"
Vegeta hit the ground so hard, his body left a crater that was just as big as the eight ones the space pod had left. It was so fast, Gohan almost winced at the now aching fist extended in front of his face.
But it wasn't a lapse of blind rage, like every other time. He knew exactly what he did. That was his answer, with interest.
With his eyes wide, Vegeta just rubbed his jaw as Gohan floated down to meet him. To his disappointment, his scouter had busted from the impact of Gohan's punch; there was nothing more he'd have liked to see than his power level reading. Outside of thrashings from every top ranking officer up to and including Frieza, Vegeta had never been struck that hard in his life. Every ounce of pride within him was telling him to correct such a grievous slight, but the true Saiyan inside of him couldn't have been more thrilled. He was even smiling.
Gohan's feet emphatically hit the floor.
"I am!" Gohan declared, his voice booming through the sky.
"Very well," Vegeta said with a hint of a chuckle as rose up from his crater and stood next to the half-Saiyan who had bested him. The boy's breathing was ragged, withering against the fire burning inside him.
"You don't have to like it," Vegeta said, opting for a calmer approach after making his breakthrough. "But the only way you're going to get stronger while Frieza still exists is staying on his good side. I don't really care if your Saiyan instincts ever truly overcome your human poisoning, but do what needs to be done. I don't have to keep saying that anymore, right?"
Gohan nodded.
"And just look at it like this - if anybody was strong enough to stop us from killing them, they'd do it. Fair game, in my book," Vegeta remarked as he dusted himself off. "That will be our reckoning. Until then, we'll make sure it isn't Frieza."
Unlike Goha, Vegeta knew exactly who he was, and where he stood on the moral end of the spectrum. True, Frieza forced him to conquer planets, but that was the Saiyans' pastime long before King Cold even came in the picture. He knew that only Hell awaited him in the afterlife, and he didn't fear it one bit.
"Hell is just another challenge, son."
Vegeta cracked the closest thing to a smile that his facial muscles allowed. It wasn't the words of his father, but his mother. She was always the smarter of the two. He looked down at Gohan, who was still distilling his words.
"Just remember who has your back, kid."
Vegeta paused. Where the hell did that come from? Not his voice, right? Whatever.
Though Vegeta didn't completely realize what he'd just said, Gohan did and hummed affirmatively at it. It was just as Kiyomi said - his people were all he had. They were what brought him here, they were what brought his power to the surface, and they were the only ones worthy of defeating Frieza.
As he floated to the sky, Gohan remembered not just what Vegeta had said moments earlier, but what he said in the training room after he'd gotten off Planet Trident. With everything he knew about the Saiyans, he definitely couldn't say they objected to killing people, but they unquestionably didn't want this - life under another's thumb.
Gohan didn't want this either. Neither did Kobe. But while he gave Kobe a reprieve, as a Saiyan, Gohan was going to take it head on. It was time for him to stop thinking about what he wanted or how he wanted it. When Frieza and his family were taken care of, he could have everything. But until then…
Gohan and Vegeta took off in opposite directions, resolving that splitting up would get the job done faster. Gohan stopped when he reached an island where he sensed an abundance of life.
He stopped in his tracks. He replayed Vegeta's speech enough times to overpower his own conscience. Everybody down below was weak. Whatever Gohan was about to do, it was on them if they couldn't survive it.
Gohan looked down at his armor. That brilliant shade of purple and gold - the color Frieza assumed, too. The color of the strongest; the ones who made the decisions while everyone else would simply have to accept it.
His teeth clamped down on his bottom lip as his arm slowly lifted. He didn't have to like it. He shut his eyes, forcing himself not to think of the individual lives going about their business. The ones who had aspirations like Kobe. Gohan could ill-afford to hamper his conscience with them if he wanted to see Frieza's end.
Kobe was what Gohan wanted to be. He let it go, and safely at that. So now, he accepted what he'd become. This wasn't like Mentos, where he had his fear of Vegeta looming behind him. This was his own choice.
Blue energy formed around his palm. He was going to get them out as quickly as possible. Their punishment for having the audacity to be weak in Frieza's world would be painless, at least.
He fired.