The Prince:
Chapter 1: The Royal Delinquent
By: senzubean
I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.
*Authors note: This is a continuation of The Queen series. You might want to read those fics first if you haven't done so allready. However, if you insist on being a rebel then this series could probably be read on it's own. Probably. Enjoy!
"Ouch! Damn it!" cursed little prince Vegeta. He looked around instinctively. The King didn't condone cursing although he did plenty of it himself.
"Hmph!" Vegeta snorted at the thought of his father's hypocrisy and kept crawling through the underbrush in the palace's garden. The thorns were scratching his bare arms and his cape was getting caught on the branches. He felt an urge to blast some energy at the plants in order to incinerate them, but if he did that his hiding spot would be unveiled.
He finally got to the wall buried under all the shrubs. He climbed up t he short wall, which was quite high for Vegeta, considering he was only four. It was invisible to any passerby. King Vegeta had more important things on his mind than his garden, so he let it grow over with weeds. So much the better for Prince Vegeta, it gave him somewhere to be by himself.
This was the case on this sunny afternoon on the planet Vegeta. The saiyans had just finished occupying several planets for Frieza and King Vegeta was returning from being away for almost two weeks. He was going to report to Frieza that afternoon and Prince Vegeta was expected to accompany him. Vegeta had another idea though, he was going to stay put this time. He was sick of traveling back and forth to Frieza's bases and ships. He didn't understand why he had to accompany his father anyway, he didn't go on planet occupations.
The prince climbed down the rock wall, he could have jumped down easily, but he liked climbing on things better. He lowered himself to the cobblestone ground. There was a walkway there enclosed by two long walls that ran all the way through the garden. The shrubs grew over top of it, creating an almost cave-like hideaway. Vegeta ran until he reached the bridge. He hopped over the bridge's ledge, landed on the bank below and took cover under the arc. He knelt down in the dirt, which was packed down from the Prince's many trips here. He leaned over the bank and peered into the murky water of the small river. There were usually some small fish or amphibians swimming about. Not today, though. The only image returned to him was that of his own face, so much like his father's. Vegeta was annoyed at this. He had skipped breakfast with the expectation hat there'd be a snack in the water.
"Hmph! " Vegeta complained "Sala had better hurry up and get here!"
"I was here long ago, you spoiled little monster!" A high pitched female voice said right into Vegeta's ear. Vegeta turned his head and looked the girl, unimpressed with her entrance.
"What took you so long? I don't have all day you know!" Sala chastised.
"You have all year if I say so!" Vegeta snapped at her.
"Everyone else may be afraid of you, Vegeta, but I am not!" She replied in a confident tone and tossed her messy hair over her shoulder. She was nearly two heads taller than Vegeta, even though she was just under two years his senior. Her armor was scratched and her clothes were full of mud. Even by saiyan standards her appearance was considered scruffy. She was hardly a very good example of the saiyan elite, but elite she was at only six years old.
Vegeta rose and crossed his arms. " I want to go now!"
"Hold on!" Sala replied. " No one will be there yet."
"We have to go now! Dumb as Nappa is, he's probably figured out that I've escaped and will be chasing me. Plus, Father will be back home anytime now and I sure as hell don't want him to find me!" Vegeta explained urgently.
"Awwww, are you scared of your daddy, Princeling?" Sala mocked. Vegeta fumed. He wanted to drop kick her, as he'd often done before, but Sala knew where she was going and he didn't. Plus he didn't want his Father finding out about his refuge. Not that he'd ever admit it but he was scared of his father. Especially since he'd probably learned by now of his antics while he'd been away.
"I want to go now!" Vegeta yelled. Sala made an angry face.
"Fine!" Sala said and placed an accusing index finger on his nose."But you pay attention on the way. I'm not going to show you again." She then shoved her finger forwards. The unsuspecting Prince toppled backwards into the muddy stream. Sala burst out laughing and took off into the air with the infuriated Vegeta not far behind.
*******
"King Vegeta!" A dozen voices called out at once. The King groaned softly as he stepped out of his spacepod and into the landing Pad.
The King quickly scanned the seemingly endless wave of complainers, all chosen officials, ready to bombard him. He held up his hand to silence the torrent of questions that was sure to begin. "How much damage has there been?" He asked as he walked towards the entrance to his palace.
"Quite extensive." One of his chancellors replied grimly. "The third quarter of the capital has been nearly leveled by rioters."
"What?" The King demanded angrily, his bad mood getting that much worse as the procession entered the palace. "What were those guards of mine doing?"
"They tried their best, Sire. But I'm afraid the only way to stop them would've resulted in the destruction of innocents: therefore.."
"Therefore, the rioters… " The King continued with a disdainful smile. "Would know better." He began to walk more briskly.
"Dispatch a few of the elite that have returned with me, I think its high time we made some examples."
"Yes sire." The chancellor replied grimly with a bow and went to complete his orders.
"Zorn," beckoned the king.
"Yes sire." A young elite replied and hurried to his side.
"What's being done to repair the damage?"
"A team is ready to be dispatched as soon as the rioting stops"
"Tell them to leave immediately." The King replied then looked around him. "Where is Nappa and the Prince?" His son was expected to be there upon his father's return, ready to report to Frieza with him.
"The prince ran away again this morning." Zorn replied cautiously and distanced himself discreetly form the king. "Nappa is searching for him."
"Ran away?" The King asked uncomprehendingly. "Again?!!!" he erupted. "How long has this been going on?"
"Since you left."
"That caniving little brat!" The King growled enraged and quickened his pace leaving his procession in the dust.
*******
"Why'd you do that Sala!?" Vegeta demanded as he landed beside her just outside of the palace's walls. "Now I'm wet and dirty!" He tried in vain to wipe some of the mud off his pants and armor but only causing the stains to spread.
Sala glared at her young superior over her shoulder and "hmph'd" much like he would. "You were too clean. Regular kids are never that clean!"
"But I'm all wet! Father will be angry if I get sick and miss training!"
"I think he's going to be pretty pissed off at you anyway, considering you missed training for two weeks with out the excuse of being sick!" Sala took off her armor and shoved it under some dead leaves. "Take yours off too." She instructed. "We don't want any strangers that may be in the woods to recognize us."
Vegeta did the same as Sala, doubting that he could be mistaken for an ordinary saiyan child. He then started to run towards his father's hunting grounds.
"No, you'll get caught!" Sala exclaimed, "Flying is quicker than going on foot!" She then shot off into the air towards the woods. Vegeta followed her, not liking all her orders. It took the kids four minutes to reach the woods. Sala landed and continued on foot with Vegeta on her heels marveling at the scenery that surrounded him.
"You're going to be in big trouble Vegeta!" Chastised Sala as she led the way.
"Hmph!" The Prince replied angered. "I can do without your observations, Sala. Keep them to yourself."
"I was just warning you is all." She replied with a shrug and continued to lead the Prince thorough his Father's hunting grounds.
Vegeta thought he heard something in the woods far off to his left. He listened, and prepared himself to take off if it turned out to be his trainer.
"Are we almost there?" Vegeta asked trying to mask his paranoia.
"Almost." Sala replied and looked at him over her shoulder. She smiled smugly at his paranoia. This did not go unnoticed by the Prince. Vegeta hoped that this humiliation and the danger he was putting himself in would be worth the trouble.
"Were you paying attention to where we were going?" Sala asked after a period of silence between the two.
"Not really." He replied. He'd been too busy marveling at Forrest as they flew. He'd never, ever flown away from the palace, he felt completely free, a sensation he'd never experienced before. He decided that he could get used to it.
"Well, I'm not showing you again!" Sala repeated her warning.
"You'll do whatever I want!" Vegeta snapped back nastily.
"I'm royalty too, you know, I'll do whatever I please!" Sala retorted in the same nasty tone as the one the Prince had used. She stuck her nose up in the air and strutted along in front of Vegeta, taking full advantage of the opportunity to lead the Prince around.
"You're not real royalty, you only got your title because your father and my father are best friends!" Vegeta corrected her.
"Well, King Vegeta gave me that title and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it."
"I'll be king soon enough, so you'd better start treating me with respect!"
Princess Sala whirled around and looked down at him. "Respect? Do you think I'm sneaking around the forest for the fun of it? I could get in big trouble for sneaking you out of the palace. Your Father will use us both as punching bags and I'm a hell of a lot less stronger than you!"
"So, you're scared?" Vegeta accused in an unimpressed tone
"Like you're not." Sala challenged the Prince icily.
Vegeta scowled and knocked her out of the way. Sala landed on her behind three feet to his left. Vegeta was tired of following her.
"Find it yourself, you dumb brat!" Sala shouted at his back and started to run back towards the palace.
"Fine." Vegeta replied. The Prince of all Saiyans could figure things out for himself.
" I'm telling your father where you are!" she taunted and took off the way they'd come. With that remark, Vegeta junmped up and flew after her. He almost immediately overtook her and came to a landing about five feet ahead. He was so fast that she didn't see him. Vegeta held out his arm stiffly in front of him and Sala ran right into it. The force of her slamming into him didn't even upset his balance but Sala was thrown to her back in the dirt. Vegeta folded his arms and stared down at her with a smirk on his face. Sala gasped as she tried to reclaim the wind that had been knocked out of her.
"Y..you.b..bas..tard!" She choked out between gasps. Vegeta laughed obnoxiously.
"You thought I would let you go? I always knew you were stupid, Sala but this just proves that you've got no brains at all!"
Sala glared at him, got up, picked some dead leaves out of her hair and flicked them at him, then walked away. Vegeta growled, and groped to get the dead leaves out of his tall hair. He had to follow again, He didn't have a clue where this place was so he needed Sala. And what annoyed Vegeta was that Sala knew that too.
******
King Vegeta stood at the huge picture window in his private study, staring at the city he'd built, watching it slowly being torn apart by his angry subjects. He was angry too and not because of his son's actions, although they contributed to his malaise considerably that morning.
Nappa walked into the Kings private chambers somewhat sheepishly and bowed.
"You summoned me your Majesty?"
"Why have you allowed the Prince's disobedience go unpunished?" The king demanded patiently without turning from his window.
"I didn't allow him to misbehave. I punished him with intense training but it didn't work. Whatever he is trying to get, he is set on getting it." Nappa replied. knowing that the Prince was angry with his father.
"He'll be getting discipline, that's all that he'll be getting from me. " The King replied angrily.
Nappa gulped nervously, the King was unusually reserved. This was very odd considering his famous temper that Nappa had been witness to countless times before. Nappa didn't like this at all.
The King side glanced at Nappa. "I want you to find him, now."
"Understood your Majesty." Nappa replied and rushed to leave.
"Nappa," The king interrupted just as Nappa was about to shut the door behind him.
"Yes, sire?"
"Quickly." The king's eyebrows furrowed. "We can't keep Lord Frieza waiting."
*******
"Were here." Sala announced about a half-hour later as they approached a ring of trees. Three Kids, one teenager and two pre-teens, were sparring inside. Sala had described the place to Vegeta the previous morning when had run into her in the palace's garden. She said they were her sparring partners and then, to the Prince's profound surprise, she invited him to join her.
Vegeta didn't understand why she did this, they weren't exactly the best of friends, but he didn't hate her as most people would think by the way they treated each other. Besides, Sala always gave him a good sparring session even though he could defeat her easily. But even if her friends were less powerful than she, taking all of them on together might actually be a small challenge to him.
Vegeta was impressed, they looked fairly powerful to him. He was glad he risked getting into so much trouble to go there.
Sala turned to him just as they reached entrance to the tree enclosed sparring ring. "Now don't go blabbing that you're the Prince ,all right? They'll fight better if they're not scared shitless." Sala warned. Vegeta scowled once again. How dare she give him ultimatums.
"And don't hurt them okay? They're my friends."
"Hey Sala!" A girl exclaimed as they walked in. "Who's your friend?"
"He's a fellow elite" Sala replied.
Vegeta examined them all, they all looked pretty weak to him now that he was seeing them up close. The older boy wasn't wearing a scouter, indicating that he wasn't a soldier. Vegeta wasn't impressed at all, a boy his age should be a soldier, unless he was pathetically weak.
"Oh please!" The teenage guy said. "You don't expect me to fight him do you?"
"Why not?" Sala smiled , her friend had no idea who he was insulting.
"Because he's a baby!" The guy landed in front of Vegeta and examined him. Vegeta in turn did an examination of the boy who was boldly hovering over him.. "How old is he? Two?"
"He's four, Tuce. And don't scoff! He's probably going got be quite a challenge to you. ." Sala replied.
"I don't have time to joke around, Sala. You know that my Father is coming home this week!" Tuce spat back. Vegeta noticed a touch of urgency in his voice.
"I'm not joking ,Tuce! He's much more powerful than I am. A fight with him will raise your powerlevel for sure!" Sala replied in all seriousness.
"Yuh better be careful, Tuce!" The other girl retorted. "You might end up in the hospital and then you'll be really vulnerable against your Dad."
Tuce glared at his companion then looked at Vegeta again in disgust.
The young boy, who was standing next to the slightly taller girl, shrugged. "It's possible that the could be that powerful."
"You're dumber than I thought you were, Chote." Tuce replied then turned his attention back to Sala. "You are such dammed liar Sala! I thought you were my friend!" He then turned his back and started to storm out of the ring.
"Oh you'll see!" Sala called after him , a mischievous smile passed over her lips and she chuckled silently.
Vegeta was getting angry. He felt that they were all intent on using him, the Prince! It would be a dishonor to fight someone of lesser status then himself seriously. He had been under the impression that this was going to be play. But it was obvious to him that this was to be a training session and Vegeta's talents were not out for hire.
"Sala?" Vegeta asked impatiently. "What is going on? I thought you said that we were going to have fun!"
"We'll have fun later," Sala whispered impatiently, "but Tuce needs your help first. Please?" Sala said pleadingly.
Tuce halted and looked at the girl. "I don't need the help of a toddler to increase my fighting ability!" He then continued on his way out of the ring.
"Hmph!" Vegeta grunted loudly and blasted an energy ball at his back. Tuce heard it coming and dodged while simultaneously returning an energy ball of his own. Vegeta remained stationary and casually batted it away with his arm. The ball smashed into one of the trees, cutting it in half. Everyone except Tuce and Vegeta scrambled to get out of it's way as it fell. It landed with a large crash between the two boys. Neither of them was shaken by it. They merely stared at each other in intense examination.
"Well," Chote said after a moment or so, "there goes our sparring ring." The falling tree had taken down half the enclosement.
"How did he do that?" Tuce asked amazed. "That was one of my weakest powerballs? It didn't have enough force behind it to cut down that tree alone?"
Vegeta was quite surprised. Weakest powerball? Vegeta had fought enough powerful Saiyans to know a powerful attack, and that was one of them. If the ball had been aimed at a middle class saiyan it would have taken his arm off.
"Impressive." Vegeta smiled and crossed his arms. He decided that he wasn't going to kill this Tuce for insulting him. His father always told him that it was unwise to destroy potential allies. This Tuce had great potential and Vegeta liked his attitude.
"How would you know, you little freak?" Tuce demanded angry that a little boy had deflected one of his attacks.
Sala burst out in hysterical laughter, causing everyone to stare at her. She quickly gained control of herself and pointed at Vegeta. "Tuce, Chote, Onyio, I would like to introduce His Shortness, " Sala glanced at Vegeta for his response to that. Vegeta ignored it. "Prince Vegeta.:"
They all looked at Sala blankly then Onyio and Chote burst out laughing.
"Yeah right Sala!" Onyio exclaimed. "As if Prince Vegeta would spar with us."
"Who is he, really?" Tuce asked exasperated, he was fed up with Sala's pranks.
"Prince Vegeta!" Sala insisted.
Tuce sighed and walked away from the group. "whatever Sala."
Vegeta was infuriated. I need more proof for these idiots!
"Fine, " Vegeta growled. "I'll prove it to you! But I'm not at all pleased."
Tuce rolled his eyes and huffed at Vegeta's statement. This enraged Prince Vegeta even more. He started to muster up all the energy he could, causing a red aura of energy to emanate from his small body. The clouds shifted and the ground trembled. The others started at him in shock except Sala, who was staring in fear. She knew that he'd inherited his father's temper and was nervous about what the Prince was attempting.
The kids were frozen with awe and horror. Vegeta waited for the rest of the tree ring to uproot and topple over as if they were nothing more than bowling pins. The trees fell between the kids, knocking Chote and Onyio off their feet and throwing Sala and Tuce off balance. He than let the energy return from where he summoned it. The sky returned to normal but the damage on the ground was great.
Sala sighed, relieved Vegeta hadn't killed them. She nervously glanced at him. He was sitting on one of the fallen trees with his arms crossed and a satisfied smirk on his cocky little face.
"What other kid could do that?!" Tuce said gaping at the child he'd mocked not five minutes before."He must be the Prince!"
"Seeee." Sala laughed. "thanks for helping me scare this idiot, Vegeta." Sala said and pointed to Tuce.
"You could have just asked me to do it." Vegeta said. "That was the most fun I had in a long time!" He laughed. "You should've seen the looks on your faces when I started powering up!"
Chote started laughing with him. Then Onyio started. Sala just smiled. But Tuce was very angry.
"Sala! Are you insane? What were you thinking bringing him here! I..I mean his highness..er..your highness..." Tuce looked at Vegeta staring at him and threw himself to the ground in the most submissive bow Vegeta had ever seen. "For give me your highness, If I had've known..."
Vegeta just laughed, interrupting Tuce's apology.
"No matter, this was fun!" Vegeta replied and jumped up off his tree. He padded pleasantly over to Tuce and took a fighting stance a few feet away from him. "Come on, let's spar. I promise I won't hurt'chya."
Tuce rose his head to look at his superior ready to fight with him.
"I can't." Tuce replied.
"I'm fully capable of altering my performance to fit my opponent. It's easy. Don't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid, Prince." Tuce said as he rose. "It's just that I know that you don't want to train with me."
Vegeta stood up normally and glared at him. "How would you know what I want."
"Sala's told us all about how ,his Majesty, has you train almost constantly. You have an opportunity to explore our whole planet. You don't want to waste it training, do you?"
Vegeta looked at him in astonishment. He didn't understand why Tuce would not accept the training. Sala seemed so urgent while begging him to help before. A smile passed over the prince's lips. "That's right, but it's nice just getting away from the palace for awhile. Besides, we have lots of time."
"Do we? Isn't your trainer going to miss you?"
"Well....yes." Vegeta replied.
"Then we had better get going and do something before he finds out where you are. It's best we keep moving, you know, to distance ourselves from the enemy."
Vegeta laughed. "Where are we going to go."
"Let's go to the city!" Oniya exclaimed. "There's lots of people to hide amongst and there's lots to do there too."
Tuce shook his head, trying to ignore the Prince's gasp of delight at the suggestion. "It's too dangerous in the city now. What with all the riots going on. If someone recognizes him and tries something...."
"What are they going to do to him?" Chote demanded. "He's the Prince, remember. He's probably ten times more powerful than a whole gang of rioters."
"I don't know, this is an awful big responsibility." Pondered Tuce.
"I'm responsible for myself!" Vegeta announced, crossing his arms over his chest."I'll be careful, just show me what to do."
Tuce looked at the heir with a helpless expression. He didn't know how to explain to the prince the dangers of the city.
"Please." Vegeta replied to Tuce's silent disapproval. "I've never been to the city before."
Tuce sighed. "All right, but we're only going to he outskirts of the city not the center, all right."
"That's good enough for me!" Vegeta replied with a smile. "By the way, " he started. "Could we go hunting first. I haven't eaten yet today and I'm awful hungry."
Tuce laughed. "I know a place that has better food than we could rustle up out here. Come on, the meals on Chote and I!" Tuce said with a laughed took off into the air, with Vegeta Sala and Oniya on his heels.
"Hey! Where are you planning to go Tuce!" Chote hollered from the ground then shot off into the air after his companions. "I don't get that much allowance! It's not gonna be expensive is it?"
******
Nappa was flying around the to the east of the planet looking for the Prince. The riots were still going on and the upsurge of power from the elite soldiers in the city was throwing off Nappa's scouter. He was unable to get a fixed location on the heir. Nappa sighed and turned the device off altogether. It was already too late to send him to Frieza with his Father. King Vegeta would never keep Frieza waiting for him Going without the Prince was better than being late. Nappa knew Frieza would be upset with the Prince's absence. For some reason the greatest warrior in e galaxy had a strange affection for the prince. Nappa also knew that King Vegeta didn't like it, but what was he going to do about it. So, the king told Nappa through his scouter that he was to locate the prince then kick his ass for running away.
Nappa shook his head. Vegeta is in for a double ass kicking I guess. I hope I don't find him.. For several months Vegeta's powerlevel had been rising rapidly, much more rapidly than an average saiyan child. It was only a matter of time before the Prince surpassed Nappa's power , therefore, he was always trying to be on good terms with him. It was sticky dilemma he was in. He was torn between sucking up to his future lord and master or obeying the current one.
Nappa felt the wind pick up and a slight tremor emanating form the ground .Only one thing could have caused all that to happen, the planet Vegeta wasn't prone to sudden earthquakes.. It was all originating from the west.
"Well, so much for not finding him," Nappa sighed. "what the hell is he doing?"
Nappa shot off in that direction to collect the delinquent. He was fast closing in on the location when his scouter's communication mechanism bleeped distracting him. Nappa stopped in mid-air and returned the device to his ear.
"What? I'm kinda busy right now!" He answered rudely.
"Commander, return to the palace, please." The voice of the queen ordered.
"I will , your Highness, " Nappa replied embarrassed about the way he answered his scouter., "As soon as I retrieve the Prince."
"You will return immediately, Nappa." Recely said with just a hint of impatience.
"But, his majesty.."
"Is no longer on the planet, I am in charge. You will leave my son be."
Nappa heaved a growl of frustration. He did not like being ordered around by a woman, whether she was the queen or not. "Fine!" He spat into his scouter and turned it off.
Back at the palace , Recely "hmphd" in disgust.