Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and its characters are unfortunately no mine! All belong to the brilliant Akira Toriyama. I have no money so there's no point in suing me anyway. :-p Any new characters or places are mine.

I finally finished. Its my longest chapter yet! The way I'm going to write this story, each chapter will be like an episode in Vegeta's life, instead of a continuous story. This one's full of action!! R & R.


A Saiyin Prince


Chapter 3: Vegeta is now thirteen (unlucky for some!), and has lived on the ship for a couple of years. Frieza is taking great interest in his favourite Saiyin's fighting abilities...

Freiza walked to the large window of the training room and peered through. His dark lips spread into a small, twisted smile as he saw his young protégé, the Saiyin Prince, dispose of some unworthy opponent. The child was an excellent fighter, full of promise. Over time, Frieza would mould him into his right hand man. Vegeta would far surpass the fat alien Dodoria, whose fighting skills left a lot to be desired. Frieza wrinkled his nose as he thought of his sub standard henchman - so hard to find good help these days.

Although he had just hired a new man who showed potential. Zarbon was a clever and talented individual, with a touch of class. The young man was charming and good-looking, as well as having style and respect. He was the sort of man who would make Frieza look good, and was supposedly the best fighter on his planet, Terra. This would have to be proven however, and Frieza was looking forward to seeing what Zarbon could do.

Frieza turned his attention back to the Saiyin boy who was facing off against a new opponent. The Saiyins had always fascinated Frieza, and although he had destroyed their planet he had leniently spared a few, keeping the boy with the Royal blood for himself. Most races who crossed Frieza were completely exterminated, but when it came to the Saiyins, he could not resist keeping the young Prince along with a couple of others.

He had Vegeta sparring and training every day for hours, with plans to turn him into a most fearsome warrior. This suited Vegeta fine, as he enjoyed fighting more than anything else. The desire to fight ran through his Saiyin blood. The hatred and anger he felt, which had grown from being pulled from his home by the psychotic Frieza, was vented when he faced an opponent. Every day as he trained, Vegeta kept in mind the words his father had told him three years ago...

'You will become the strongest Saiyin in the universe - it is your destiny... From this line, the Super Saiyin shall emerge.'


Frieza entered the room, walking past the two guards, who stood to attention saluting him.

'Vegeta,' he called across to the young Saiyin.

Vegeta turned round to see Frieza waiting for him, so he approached the master of the ship.

'You have improved greatly with your training.'
Vegeta nodded, 'Yes, Lord Frieza.' The words didn't feel right, but he said them anyway, addressing Frieza like he had been told.

'I believe you require a more challenging opponent, Vegeta,' Frieza smirked in his distinct voice, as his eyes danced menacingly. 'How boring it must be to fight such pathetic weaklings.'

Vegeta's eyes shifted. What did Frieza have in mind for him?

He signalled to the guards at the door, who quickly entered the code to open it. Vegeta was amazed when two Saiyins entered the room. He had not seen another Saiyin for over two years, and had sometimes wondered if he was the only one of his kind left. He had no idea there were Saiyins on the ship.

'It's you!' he muttered, recognising the Saiyins. They had been the young fighters in the tournament at his tenth birthday party. He felt a slight lift in his spirit at the sight of the two familiar faces.

'Lord Frieza,' they bowed to Frieza first, and then to the young Saiyin. 'Prince Vegeta.'

It was the first time Vegeta had been referred to by his proper title since he arrived on the ship. His spirit lifted even more.

'I think this pair will be more on your level, Vegeta,' Frieza stepped back, giving them room to fight. 'Raditz, you first.'

Vegeta looked Raditz up and down. He had a muscular build, and that same long black spiky hair he had recognised years ago. He was probably at least five years older than the Prince, but that did not faze him in the slightest. Vegeta was confident in his own abilities; he knew he was a great fighter, and the best of the Saiyins. He hovered into the air and took up his fighting stance.

'Begin,' called Frieza.

This one's over, thought Vegeta smugly to himself as he fired a ki blast at Raditz. To his surprise, Raditz moved out of the way at the last second and flew in close, swinging a punch at Vegeta's face. Vegeta managed to block the punch and came back with a crippling punch of his own, right into his opponent's gut. Raditz bent double in pain.

Hah! Vegeta thought to himself. He doesn't stand a chance against me.

He followed through with a club to the back of Raditz's neck, which sent him hurtling to the ground at high speed. Vegeta was surprised once again as Raditz got to his feet, ready to fight some more. Frieza was right - he was tougher than most of his opponents. Vegeta flew down to finish him off with another ki blast, but as he approached, quick as a flash Raditz flew around him and landed a blow of his own. It was no light punch, and Vegeta could feel the large bruise forming on his shoulder.

'AAAAHHHH!' he let out a roar, angry at being hit, and fried Raditz with a powerful ki blast. The fight was over.

Frieza let out an evil laugh and congratulated Vegeta in his sneering voice, 'Well done boy, you defeated that hairy monkey! Now let's see how you fare against Nappa.'

The big bald Saiyin stepped forward, and Vegeta could have sworn that he saw him smile at his Prince. Confused, Vegeta decided to forget it and focus on the fight. Nappa dwarfed Vegeta, and was a good ten years his senior. He made Raditz look small, and was without a doubt the biggest Saiyin Vegeta had ever seen. They took their places opposite each other in the air.

Nappa charged at Vegeta, catching him off guard - he was usually the first one to attack. The larger Saiyin struck Vegeta hard with his elbow, sending him spinning through the air.

'Concentrate!' Frieza hissed from below.

Vegeta stopped his mid air spin, and straightened himself before flying at Nappa at a frightening speed. He landed a boot to Nappa's mid section, expecting it to knock the wind out of the big fellow. Instead, it barely seemed to register as he thumped Vegeta with a massive forearm to the back. The blow shook Vegeta, and his pride hurt as he heard Frieza's disdainful words below.

'Come, come Vegeta. Are you going to let this low class Saiyin idiot beat you?'

Vegeta felt a rage fire inside him. Quick as a flash he sent a huge burst of energy straight into the unsuspecting Nappa. The beam carried him with a blast straight into the ceiling. Luckily it was specially made to withstand such destruction, or the whole ceiling would have collapsed. Nappa fell to the floor with a loud crash.

Vegeta folded his arms, and turned to look down at Frieza smugly from his spot in the air. Frieza raised an eyebrow at the cocky young Saiyin. He admired the boy's arrogance, especially when everyone else around him acted like a snivelling fool, scared to breathe out of turn. Still, there would be no harm in reminding him of his place. It would be foolish to let him think that he had reached his full fighting capacity when he had not even come close. In the scale of things, the boy was still very weak with a long way to go.

'Good, Vegeta,' Frieza conceded. '...I think you will enjoy facing my next opponent for you.'

Frieza had been looking forward to this encounter. It would be Vegeta's toughest fight yet. The training room door opened and a tall man with pale-green skin and long green hair entered.

Who's this pretty boy? Vegeta thought, scowling at him. As if reading his mind, Frieza provided him with the answer.
'Vegeta, this is my new assistant Zarbon.'
Zarbon smiled at the Saiyin Prince, 'Hello, Vegeta.' He spoke in a calm voice, with an English accent. Vegeta shot back an unfriendly smirk, looking forward to tearing him apart.

Frieza's cold eyes sparkled as he settled back to watch the clash. He eagerly anticipated seeing Zarbon's talents, but was most looking forward to seeing how the young Prince would fare against an opponent who outclassed him so much.

Zarbon smiled once again at Vegeta, aggravating him. Did he think this was some sort of a game? Did he not know that he was up against the strongest Saiyin in the universe?
'I'll wipe that grin off your green face,' he snarled, aiming a ki blast at Zarbon's head. He watched in surprise as the blast flew straight into the wall. Where had the newcomer gone?

Suddenly, Vegeta felt a presence behind him. Shocked, he looked over his shoulder to see Zarbon smiling at him again - how infuriating! Zarbon hit Vegeta hard, knocking him straight to the ground. Vegeta looked up just in time to see an energy blast coming his way. He gasped, rolling out of the way as the explosion hit the floor exactly where he had lain.

Frieza grinned as he saw Vegeta pick himself up and focus on the fight with all he could. He was faster and more alert, knowing that he had to be. The Saiyin charged at Zarbon, who stayed exactly where he was, apparently not intimidated in the slightest by the impending attack. Vegeta balled his hand into a fist and threw a hard punch at Zarbon. Zarbon simply caught the fist, and smiled once more. Vegeta fumed and threw his other fist at his opponent. Zarbon caught the other fist, leaving Vegeta stuck in his grip. Vegeta began to gather his energy but with a forceful downward push, Zarbon sent him flying to the floor once more.

Vegeta sprung back up and came at Zarbon again, advancing with an outburst of quick blows and kicks. But Zarbon was faster, and not one of the blows connected. Then Zarbon disappeared again. Vegeta's eyes went wide. Where is he now?

'Up here,' called out a singsong English accent.

Huh? Vegeta looked up and Zarbon aimed a little ki blast at him, hitting him square in the butt. Vegeta's hands flew to the burning hot area.

Frieza cackled below, 'Looks like he got you right in the tail, Vegeta!'

Now Vegeta was furious. His royal pride and ego were being flattened. He gathered as much energy as he could and sent it hurtling towards Zarbon. This time, Zarbon barely got out of the way in time, but it made no difference because right behind the blast was Vegeta, who followed up with a severe kick to the jaw. Zarbon's dumbfounded expression gave Vegeta a feeling of immense satisfaction as his green head whipped to the side with the force of the kick.

Frieza laughed loudly, glad that the feisty young Saiyin had hit his opponent. He hadn't expected it, nor had he expected the fight to last this long. He was quietly impressed.

Zarbon soon put Vegeta back on the ground, however, and this time held him there in a move which rendered him temporarily paralysed. Vegeta looked up, powerless and unable to move as he saw Zarbon gather a huge energy ball above his head. Vegeta's eyes betrayed the terror he felt as he saw the blast about to come crashing down on him. Zarbon roared as he raised the energy ball.

'Enough!' Frieza cut in. 'That will do, Zarbon.'

Zarbon stopped immediately and the ball disintegrated.

'Yes, my Lord.'

He hovered to the ground. The paralysing hold broke on Vegeta and he scrambled to his feet, dusting himself off and looking at Zarbon with contempt. Never before had he been defeated like that.

'That was quite a show,' Frieza praised the two fighters. He turned to Zarbon. 'I'm sure you will fit in very well around here.'

Vegeta's eyes flashed with anger, his pride still wounded. He had his own opinions on that matter.