Author's note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reads, & the reviews. I love getting those alerts. Please feel free to keep them coming, & let me know your thoughts as the story progresses.
Written by: SparkerLightning.
Edited by: StevenBodner
Chapter 62
Several minutes prior
At the back of the crowded square
A wave of applause rushed out from the front of the crowd, following dread. Several individuals who had begun to retreat, to exit the square, froze in place before turning to join the cheer. The noise level raised, although the mood continued to fall.
Raditz looked over his shoulder at Nappa. Fear was evident in his eyes. "What the hell is going on here? "
Paragus looked out over the dirt in which his empire would grow from.
Nappa returned Raditz's gaze. Where Raditz was nervous, frightened by what he had heard, Nappa was excited. A grin crossed his face, and his mouth watered at the prospect of once again having a true battle. "It looks like we may not be quite alone as we thought after all."
The dark-skinned Saiyan couldn't help but grin ear to ear.
"Y-Yeah…" Raditz stammered. "But he's no better than King Vegeta was. He's no better than Prince Vegeta was. He's no better than Frieza was."
A victorious chuckle began deep in Paragus' stomach.
"He's also alone." Nappa's expression sank. "He's weaker than Turles, by a large margin, and those aren't Saiyans he's with. Turles is going to roll right over him."
Paragus tried to maintain composure, but began to crack.
"Maybe not." Raditz disagreed, beginning to back away from the stage. "Maybe he'll join us. Maybe Turles can talk some sense into him, like he did us."
Throwing his head back, Paragus let his pride carry over the crowd.
"Not a chance." Nappa growled, taking a step forward. "He's a true Saiyan. He's a true warrior. There's not a chance he would join Turles, join us." The smell of iron soaked smoke danced through his nostrils. The sounds of buildings collapsing, bones breaking, women screaming, echoed through his ears. "He looks, familiar."
Raising his hands as high and wide as he could, Paragus bathed in the forced applause.
"Nappa, we are true Saiyans." Raditz ducked behind Nappa, speaking over his shoulder. "Turles is a true Saiyan, I am a true Saiyan, you, Gohan, Goku, are true Saiyans. He's a want-to-be tyrant. There is nothing that separates him from the others, even if you knew him."
Paragus slowly looked over his new subjects, taking in the invisible appearance of each.
Nappa's shoulders visibly deflated, as he only heard every few words from Raditz. "It doesn't matter though. Turles is far stronger than him. He won't join us. Turles will kill him. He, his team, they won't stand a chance."
As his eyebrow lowered in recovery from a surprise, Paragus turned to his soldiers.
"He may surrender." Raditz's mouth dried. "When he sees how strong Turles is, when he hears what Gohan did to Frieza, he may decide to join us. If it's that or death, he may choose to work with us."
Paragus mouthed a silent message to his troops.
"You know as well as I do that no true Saiyan would surrender." Nappa crossed his arms, rubbing his cold hands against his arms. "Death before capture. Die on your feet. He wouldn't surrender… you would."
The four soldiers stood in unison, walking to the edge of the stage.
Raditz took a half step backwards, bracing for recoil. "Yes, I would choose life over death. Just like you did." No blow came, so he continued speaking. "You know as well as I do, that if he won't join us, he'll die."
Paragus gestured with his chin, and the soldiers nodded.
Nappa swallowed his shame, before glancing over his shoulder. "What do you suggest we do?"
In a flash, the four soldiers vanished, and the crowd gasped in surprise.
Raditz took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. "I'm not sure, but we need to do something. Even if he is a Saiyan, he's enslaving these people. We need to get in touch with Turles before he gets here. We need to warn him."
"Turles?" A voice called from behind Raditz.
"Warn him?" A hand clamped onto Raditz's shoulder. "What would Turles need to be warned about, outsider?"
As Nappa turned to inspect the newcomer to their conversation, Raditz shot his power to the maximum. Every hair on his body stood on end. Every cell in his body screamed in terror. Something was wrong. His stomach lurched as he turned to attack the stranger. Something shifted, and not for the better.
Raditz's hand sailed through thin air as the armored soldier ducked under the punch. As he twisted to deliver a jaw cracking uppercut, his target took grabbed his fist. Stepping forward he wound up to kick the soldier in his undefended crotch, a low blow, but a fair one. Unfortunately, his attack fell short as the second soldier appeared behind him, wrapping his arm around his neck.
Nappa stepped forward, igniting his own aura. The crowd thinned around him as the locals were literally blown away. Several empty cloaks fell to the ground as their now nude former occupants scrambled for safety. Immediately forming a large ki ball in his hand, he swung at the exposed back of Raditz's catcher. He was a hair too slow though, as an axe kick dropped in from the side, knocking his hand into the ground. As Nappa recovered, a leg swept his feet out from under him, and a knee slammed into his stomach. Falling to his hands and knees Nappa turned to face his attacker, his nose being burnt by a held back blast.
"Stay down." The third soldier hissed through reptilian lips.
With little effort, the soldier with his arm around Raditz's neck swung his captive around, knocking him to the ground, and planted him next to Nappa. With a boot to the back, he too fell to his hands and knees. Forming an energy blast of his own, he held it behind Raditz's head, nearly burning the already black hair.
Realizing they still weren't alone, that a majority of the crowd was still present, Raditz's jaw began to shake. Looking up, seeing boots touch down, he stilled himself. Taking two shallow breaths, he held the third.
"RUN!" He shouted at the top of his lunges. To his relief, the locals took his warning, and the sound of shuffling feet filled the air.
Two hands came from above. Gently, they cupped the Saiyan's chins. "That was rude." His voice, as course as glass, was quiet. "But, as your king, I will forgive you."
He forced their heads higher, bending their necks as far as they could uncomfortably go.
Immediately, Raditz's jaw began to tremor once again. No, no, no, Saiyan, there was a Saiyan, touching him, addressing him, a dominant, cruel, monster, looking him in the eye. He was free, he had a purpose, he had a team that he could trust, they were the only Saiyans, they were a team, and now, and now there were more, more Saiyans, it was real.
His hand was as rough as old leather. His breath was stale. His eyes were, his eye was focused, cold, uncaring. In the moment, it didn't matter if Turles was on the planet, it didn't matter if Gohan was more powerful than Frieza, no, what mattered was he was here, a Saiyan commander was here, and he had earned whatever punishment would befall him.
"Now then." Paragus stood, holding a hand out to his newest, oldest, subjects. "I would say I'm surprised to see you, but I'm not."
Nappa eagerly took Paragus' hand, feeling the heat from the energy behind him being dismissed. This was weird, not bad, but weird. Vegeta would have thrown him into the air, punished him for being taken with a barely survivable blast to the back, and force him to crawl back to his ship. But he was being lifted up. He was being raised. This Saiyan, this warrior, treated him as an equal. He was already respected, and that was already better than his past lives.
Raditz was not nearly as willing. Recoiling back he pushed himself to his feet. The blast at back of his head slowly falling until it rested at the base of his spine.
Keeping his power high, but restraining his energy as much as his anger, as fear, his hatred, would let him Raditz leaned back slightly. The energy was immediately burning hot, but that was okay, that was good, the pain was real, the pain was obvious, the pain was a point for him to center himself on.
"What do you mean, you're not surprised?" He growled. "We were wiped out. Frieza, the tyrant, the monster that ENSLAVED us, blew our planet out of the cosmos. He destroyed us. No, he erased us."
Paragus' somewhat warm smile subtly shifted from that of familiarity to one of a predator.
"You broadcast our survival to the entire galaxy." His one good eye stayed set on Raditz while his, his wound, twitched. "And I'm okay with that. I'm even okay with you warning them, warning everyone, that we were coming, that we would win control over their planets. What I am not okay with, is you giving us a bad name. You gave me a bad name, you gave me son a bad name, you gave our race a bad name. Telling them that we were saviors? That we are to set them free? No, no, no, that is not us, and that is not good."
Nappa's stomach churned. His son?
"No." Raditz asserted indignantly. "You are soiling our name. You are ruining what my family worked so hard for, what I dedicated my life to. You are the ones giving Saiyans a bad name, while we are trying to redeem it. We didn't kill Frieza, to let some dark spirited traditionalist replace him."
The boy. The exiled. The future. The next level.
"Big words from such an insignificant being." Paragus sneered. "If it wasn't Saiyan blood pulsing through veins, you would be dead at my feet. But I can feel it in you, you have potential. And I promise you, under my watch you will reach it." He turned his attention to Nappa. "And you, do you agree with your soft, foolish, companion?"
His son. His blood. His, his potential.
It was Nappa's turn to fight his shaking hand, his chattering teeth, and the wave of dizziness that washed over him.
"Your son, is, is he here? Is he with you." Swallowing a lump in his throat, he choked for a moment.
He was in danger. He couldn't breathe. He shot his hands towards his throat, catching them, himself, as his swallow concluded. As he twitched, the soldier's hands shot to detain him, but the exchange was over quickly enough for them to stop as well.
Paragus grinned in delight. A pair of living Saiyans. One was week, cowardly, lacking drive, but the other, the other was already prepared for molding.
"You seem nervous." Paragus took a moment to absorb just how fearful Nappa was. "Does that worry you? Do you know who my son is? Do you know..." he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "... what my son is?"
Raditz looked between his elders. Nappa clearly knew something he didn't. He knew something he needed to. But, racking his brain, he couldn't place this man, he couldn't place that eye… Injuries were common, the disabled were rare, the blind, full or even partial, were virtually unheard of. He was someone, someone important… or the injury could have happened after the destruction of Planet Vegeta… that would make more sense… no Saiyan would be allowed to, or even able to, survive with that injury… Gohan did… the Super Saiyan did… this man, son, bloodline power… his nephew's blood… his blood… Super Saiyan? He was a Super Saiyan? They were… he was weak, he had their power, no more… maybe the power of Super Saiyan wasn't a flat increase? Maybe it was proportional? Turles was strong, he could save them… from a Super Saiyan…
Finishing his blink, Raditz realized how slow time was, he realized his heart was still beating, his hair was still growing… he was aware of everything, the world was slow, or he was fast… the wind left his sails, and the momentary panic was replaced with a hole just a moment later. He ran a marathon, and only a moment had passed… his blood…
Nappa blinked and it was over. Raditz's power expanded, before shrinking back down. For a moment he seemed to be as strong as Turles, but just as quickly he returned to his own strength, before dropping below even that minuscule amount.
"I do." Nappa said as he slowly sank to his right knee, not making any fast moves. "You are right. Your way is right. We are wrong. They are wrong. I, I was forced into this lifestyle by another, powerful, Saiyan."
Nappa took a deep breath, expecting Raditz to interrupt. The exhausted warrior did not do so as he was trying to maintain composure.
"Our direct leader, Turles, is nearly as strong as Frieza was, when he destroyed our planet.." Nappa let the words spill from him. "Their most powerful combatant, a boy, is a Super Saiyan. I've seen the transformation, his hair turns golden and his eyes turn green." He took a shallow breath before continuing. "Please, free me of these chains, let me return to our old ways, let me work with you, with your son, in rebuilding a true Saiyan Empire."
On his knees, where he belonged. Maybe there wouldn't be as much molding as he originally thought. "Tell me, what do you know of my son, and how do you know it?" He leaned forward, looking down on the former General.
Nappa kept his eyes level, trying to go back, to reactivate an autopilot that he hadn't used in years.
"I was in the court of King Vegeta." He tried to speak calmly with his uneven voice. "I was made aware of the birth of your son, and the incredible power he had at such a young age. I knew about his outbursts, and how as a newborn he rivaled the royals in power level. I could only imagine what he's capable of now."
Paragus stayed close to Nappa, still leaning over him. "You know who my son is. You know what my son is. But do you know what my son was tasked with doing? Do you know what I was tasked with doing?"
Sweat rolled off of Nappa's head. "I, I don't."
"My son, the most powerful Saiyan in history, was sent away. I had a choice, and I chose to go with him, to raise him." Paragus' eyes flicked upward for a moment, before returning to Nappa. "He was to spread his genetics as far and as wide as possible. He was to create a new a new Saiyan bloodline, a hidden bloodline." Anger flashed in his eyes. "He was to mix our blood with that of any and all-powerful species as we could fine. We were to raise any army genetically superior half Saiyans, bring them into our fold, under our control, and use them to overthrow Frieza, in the name of King Vegeta the third. My son was tasked with fathering a hidden army, I was tasked with leading it."
A flicker of hope gleamed in Nappa's eyes. "Frieza, and his clan, were destroyed by a half Saiyan, a Super Saiyan. Did, did your son succeed in his mission? Did he raise an army?"
Paragus' eyes fell. That was interesting, and to be addressed later, but now was not the time. "No, no children were produced. We were neither granted access to the Saiyan reproductive facilities, nor, despite much experimentation, were we able to find a species capable of breeding with Broly."
"He wasn't able to reproduce with another species?" Nappa closed his eyes for a moment, preparing to seal the Earthling's fate. "I can help with that. I know a..."
Raditz's elbow slammed into the side of Nappa's head, cutting the larger Saiyan off mid thought.
While Nappa went down like a sack of bricks, the soldier behind Raditz dismissed his energy ball. Taking a half step forward he wrapped his left arm around Raditz's neck. At the same moment, he grabbed onto the monkey's tail and squeezed it with all the force he could manage. Jerking his left elbow up, he lifted Raditz off his feet.
"Don't let him die." Paragus addressed his minion. "I still have questions for him."
Kneeling down he placed two fingers on Nappa's neck. His heart was still beating, he'd be fine once he woke up. Opening his palm, he slapped Nappa's face.
"Wake up." He snarled. "Don't tell me you're that weak."
He slapped Nappa's face once receiving only a grumble in return.
As the soldier continued to barely choke a struggling Raditz, and Paragus continued to slap Nappa, a pair of boots touched down on a roof overlooking the square. Turles took in the unusual scene. He was right, no one had fought, although it was clear his teammates had lost. He was about to jump in, kill them all, but the man over Nappa caught his eye, or rather, his tail did.
Letting his power come to the surface, ready for combat, Turles hopped off the roof and down to the street level. Landing a dozen paces behind Paragus, he cleared his throat. "What the hell is going on here?" He demanded.
Slowly rising to his feet once more, still standing over Nappa, Paragus turned to the newcomer.
"Oh look, another survivor." He rolled his neck. "I'll assume you're with these two? Are you the leader I was told about? The one as strong as Frieza?""
He was right. The troops he killed were right. A Saiyan, another, flesh and blood, Saiyan.
"That's me." He let his aura flare. "Now, let my companions go, and we can talk. We're the last Saiyans alive, we shouldn't fight each other."
"That makes what, five of us?" Paragus asked casually. "Well, five of us here, that is." His lips curled upward.
"There are more of you?" Turles voice cracked with excitement. "Join us, join us and get revenge against the Cold Clan." His lips curled upward. "We, the New Saiyan Empire, are destroying everything that Frieza, Cooler, and Cold, have created. We're breaking it down, and rebuilding it in our own image." He took two steps forward. "My grandnephew killed Frieza, Cooler, and Cold. He's done his part, now, it's up to us to carry on his work. What do you say? Will you join us to overturn everything that was made wrong in the universe?"
Paragus chuckled as he slowly let out a breath. Shaking his head, he spoke evenly. "No." He answered. "What you are doing is a stain on Saiyan history. I am creating the New Saiyan Empire. I am carrying on the will of King Vegeta the third. With his death, as the only survivor of the old Saiyan ways, I have become his successor. I am King Paragus, and you will kneel before me."
Two of the soldiers vanished from behind Paragus, beside Nappa and Raditz, and appeared behind Turles. One put his hands on the Saiyan's shoulders while the other kicked the back of his knees. Instead of taking him to the ground though, their efforts had no result.
Turles flared his aura, sending the two soldiers flying backwards.
"Listen, Paragus." Turles took another two steps forward. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will not let you do that. I won't let you follow in Frieza's footsteps, and I won't let you follow in King Vegeta's. You will either join me, or..." he took a deep breath "...you will not be allowed to proceed."
Paragus' eyes began to smile as well. This was fun. This was empowering. If this is what it felt like to be in control, he could easily understand the appeal to his predecessors. "I won't be allowed to proceed?" He deeply inhaled the threat. "And how are you going to stop me?"
Turles calmed his aura as he kept his power as high as he could. "I am stronger than, far stronger than, any Saiyan that ever lived on Planet Vegeta. My blood is shared with that of the first Super Saiyan in a thousand years. I am powerful, and I will stop you."
Paragus crossed his hands behind his back. "Second." He corrected, as he toyed with the ring on his right hand. Slowly, he tapped the center stone.
"I will not let another evil empire rise." Turles proclaimed. "I will let Saiyans be known as similar to Frieza. I will not let our reputation continue how it is. We are Saiyans. We are powerful. Together, we can undo the harm that has befallen this universe. Together, we can elevate ourselves to the highest of levels. I do not want to hurt you, but I will. I do not want to kill you, but I will. Join me, train with me, fight with me."
"You are far stronger than me." Paragus agreed, taking another two steps towards Turles. "I will not disagree with that, but..."
Turles continued forward. They were only six steps apart. "If you want to create a new empire, if you want to give Saiyans a new reputation, if you want to live for the battle, join me, or you will die. If you want to stop, if you want to settle down, live alone, live a peaceful life, you may do so as well. But you will not continue down the path you are on. So, Paragus, what will you do? Join us? Retire? Or die?"
Disregarding Turles' words, Paragus lifted his eyes to the sky, looking down his nose at the stronger warrior. "You are nothing compared to my son." Looking over his shoulder, back at the stage, at the palace, Paragus let his voice boom. "Broly, will you please out here?"
Turles' eyes shifted to the palace doors as a shadow overtook his spirit. Something was wrong, very, critically, wrong. Fear crashed over him like a white capped wave. Fighting the urge to flee, he stood strong.
A young man appeared out of nowhere, back to Turles, kneeling in front of Paragus. His black spiky hair ran down his back, nearly touching his white pants and red sash. A yellow belt nearly hid his tail, but the man was clearly another Saiyan.
"Yes, father." His voice was unexpectedly deep for a man as tall and lean as he was.
Paragus put a hand on his son's shoulder, and nodded at Turles. "This man, this Saiyan, he wants to kill us. He doesn't believe in us. He doesn't believe in our cause. Broly, kill him."
Broly slowly rose to his feet, before barely bowing his head to his shorter father. Turning around, he was struck by who he saw there. His palm tree like hair, the shape of his eyes, it was him. Decades later, a life later, Broly still recognized him.
"Kakarot?" He asked, his eyes narrowing.
"What?" Turles asked, stepping away from the beastly presence. "No, Kakarot is my nephew. I'm Turles."
"KAKAROT!" Broly screamed as his aura burst to life around him. His father, their companions, Turles, and the surrounding structures, were blown back by the incredible energy he was producing. "KAKAROT!" He shouted once more, his black hair whipping behind his back.
Original author's note: Next chapter, Turles and Broly meet…
New author's note: Time to own up … this wasn't supposed to be Chapter 62. This was supposed to be Chapter 61 … Due to a copy paste error in my file management, wires got crossed. I uploaded what is currently titled Chapter 61 by mistake, after accidently reuploading Chapter 60. This shouldn't happen again, and thankfully I think the story still works in the current order. I would like to hear your thoughts though on if I should take down the last chapter, and reupload it after this goes live, to keep things in order. Thoughts?
Also, next chapter, we're back on Earth. This chapter may be short, but I can NOT say the same about the next one.
As usual, thank you for taking the time to read, and hopefully review.