The king's boots tapped loudly on the floor that was made of the same materials the Frieza Army made its spaceships out of. The incubation chambers were dim, though the mechanical lights gleaming off of the incubation pods provided it with a magical glow. Similar to trekking inside of a cave filled to the brim with gemstone veins. Queued across the entire chamber were lemon-colored incubation pods of the low-class Saiyans. Placed in a colorful and higher-grade ring of incubation pods were the mid-class Saiyans with the only elite Saiyan quietly growing stronger inside of the most cutting-edge incubation pod that shined action-red.
The dormant Saiyan prince was just a cute little twerp. His arms and legs were noodly, because of the lack of training despite his advanced age for a toddler still confined to the incubation pod. Saiyans started a grueling training regimen at three years of age. Because of that, the baby was just a useless lump of meat and a loud one at that until that age. Most kept their babies inside the incubation pods until they were ripe for training, letting machinery take care of the toddler's needs.
Followed by a couple of his yes-men, King Vegeta approached the pod of his young son with a proud smile. It would have been impossible to confuse baby Vegeta IV for anyone else. He had his bloodline's signature haircut, even at a meager two years of age. King Vegeta's excitement didn't hold, he began laughing, overcome by the hype of his heir's potential before he even finished approaching the pod. The two councilors stopped by their king's sides and bowed, hearing their king's proclamation.
"Incredible! He grows stronger and bigger every day with no need for training. My son, the pride and joy of the Saiyan race. As expected of my heir, the latent battle power is enough to classify you as the only other elite-class Saiyan on Planet Vegeta and you haven't even been born yet…" King Vegeta boasted to his councilors about his own son. Even though both of them suspected that this was more about their monarch bragging of his own potency of producing such an excellent heir rather than expressing pride in his son's potential as he'd have had everyone believe, none of them dared speak up lest they'd be speaking their final words.
"Yes, without a doubt, it will be King Vegeta IV that will one day rule the entire universe…" a tall and burly Saiyan with a black bowl-cut and a square-shaped jaw, utterly browless and rather caveman-shaped for someone occupying the position of the king's councilor, proclaimed.
"While the boy will make for an incredible warrior, my king, we tasked him with a grueling mission that he will have to oversee if your hopes for him are to be realized — he'll have to slay Lord Frieza. Then, even if retired, he would still have to face King Cold…" a shorter man with a full mustache and beard said, almost as if talking to himself, though the king heard his worries.
"Frieza might be the strongest in the universe right now, but he is also cocky. Even now my son displays peerless power, just imagine when he starts fighting and training on a daily basis. By believing that the Saiyans will bark and stick their tongues out like loyal dogs of his, Frieza signed his own death warrant. He should have wiped us out when he had the chance, but he's grown too complacent with his position of Emperor," King Vegeta pondered. There weren't many people or aliens inside the incubation chambers. Saiyans were violent and bloodthirsty; they had little to gain from visiting the incubation chambers. Most aliens serving the Frieza Army saw Saiyans as a filthy and disgusting species, a lower form of life so most of them lacked the intestinal fortitude to stand inside a Saiyan breeding ground. If there was ever a safe place to discuss regicide, it was inside of a Saiyan incubation chamber.
King Vegeta placed his hand on the incubation pod and nuzzled the hardened glass with hungry eyes. The king couldn't wait to see his son justify his elite-class potential and succeed him. Young Vegeta had far greater battle power in his toddler years than King Vegeta himself had. He would bring the Saiyans the farthest they've ever gone.
Content with the showcase of his peerless son, King Vegeta turned around, dramatically swiping his regal red cape aside and stepping down the stairs to pass through the field of green-colored low-class Saiyan incubation pods. Something odd caught King Vegeta's eye as he walked toward the exit. It seemed like nothing at first, though there were far too many symbols on one of the pods. The King of Saiyans didn't immediately commit it to his mind that he was staring at a toddler with the battle power of 10 000, it was the fact that there were five symbols on the vitals panel that caught the king's eye at first. Though shocking horror seeped into his veins as if forcefully injected as he realized exactly what he was looking at.
"What is this child?!" King Vegeta turned around, raising his voice and demanding his councilors an answer. "How can he have a grander battle power than my own son!? The heir to the Vegeta bloodline that ruled the Saiyan people for centuries!"
"M-My king!" the shorter councilor jumped up, startled, nearly rolling down the stairs as his feet struggled to shuffle fast enough to bring him lower to the object of the king's outrage. "This toddler is called Broly. He has a confirmed battle power of 10 000. This must be some sort of an anomaly because his father is actually Paragus, a low-class Saiyan army officer. That is why we have placed him amongst the low-class children."
"This is ridiculous! Why didn't you swap him out of the incubation pod? I won't have everyone question the strength of my heir and foster doubts about the elite Vegeta bloodline! My son will be the strongest Saiyan in the universe!" King Vegeta clenched his fist, gnashing his teeth as he shifted from venting his wrath at his councilors to the baby with long black hair rolling around in a fetal position inside of the pod with a serene expression on his face.
"My king…" the larger councilor spoke up while the shorter one seemed to be out of breath and courage to speak his mind. "We've… We've calculated his battle power using a scouter. This is no malfunction of the incubation pod. The battle power checks out. We don't entirely understand why this child has such an abnormal battle power or why it is displayed so high, but we don't want to risk his life by extracting him from the pod even temporarily. He is of great interest to the science team and will be an excellent object of many studies in the future. Rest assured, my king, we will find out the source of the anomaly that has his battle power be displayed this high."
"You seem incredibly certain that Broly's battle power is an anomaly and not a true reading, are you just scared of punishment or do you have another reason for this belief?" King Vegeta noted. Normally, he'd have the baby's standing confirmed upon the initial scan of their battle power. A Saiyan's power level was to be examined at birth and their standing in society is set based on that battle power. It was almost as unusual for scientists to doubt their initial readings and assign a monstrous baby a different class than it was for such a baby to exist in the first place.
"Yes, you see, my king… Baby Broly's abnormal battle power reading isn't consistent. Some days the incubation pod cannot pick up any battle power reading at all, while on other days, his battle power seems to even break scouters apart entirely. Even the highest grade ones that are meant to calculate the battle power of the Ginyu Special Squadron and Lord Frieza…"
"This is a farce! Check his battle power now!" King Vegeta demanded. "We must sort this out immediately. I will not have my son's legitimacy as the ruler of the universe be questioned because of some low-class runt! Not to mention, if Lord Frieza finds out about a Saiyan baby who breaks scouters meant to measure his battle power, he might just snap and snuff us out before we grow strong enough to challenge him!"
With a quick tap of a couple of buttons and a silent whisper into the speaker of the scouter, a handful of Saiyans dressed in casual clothing with a light version of the standard Frieza Army battle armor rushed into the room and arranged for a successive scan.
"I pick up 3629!" a tall and athletic Saiyan scientist with short hair and two long spiky strands falling across his shoulders reported.
"9962!" the shorter councilor reported.
"Darn it!" the burly, browless Saiyan cried out as his scouter burst into a shower of pieces.
"I record the battle power of 923," a female Saiyan scientist reported.
"You've got to be kidding me!" King Vegeta bellowed, thrusting a fist into the panel displaying Broly's battle power reading to shatter it and force it to malfunction. The king gnashed his teeth, boiling in the pot of his bottomless hatred for this baby. "What are we to do with this low-class freak? Am I, King Vegeta III, to take his mockery as he spits right in my face with this ridiculous hogwash?"
"If I may, King Vegeta…" the shorter Saiyan councilor with a full set of facial hair erected his index finger, showing he wants to speak.
"That is your job, isn't it?" King Vegeta growled.
"Yes, well… It may be handy to keep this baby alive, my king. After all, the science team would love nothing more than to study what makes young Broly tick and what makes his anomalous battle power work this way. Not to mention, if we order them to be careful about indulging their curiosities and have the baby survive until he receives formal training, he could be an irreplaceable asset to you and prince Vegeta in the future. Who knows, maybe this strange baby may one day protect the future king's life?" the councilor spoke his mind.
"I have a theory about this boy, my king if you would have it…" the female scientist struck a sassy pose while stuffing her cybernetic panel underneath her armpit.
"A theory?" King Vegeta wondered, easing his bubbling wrath for a moment and moving on to genuine wonder.
"Long ago, in our recorded history, before our homeworld had its name, there was a foolish Saiyan warrior with a naïve and child-like heart. This Saiyan attempted to stage a rebellion and to lead the Saiyans down a different path, to make them merciful and weak like him. He, however, was anything but weak. The legend states that upon being cornered and seeing his comrades beaten before him, this Saiyan awakened the power that we now know as that of the Legendary Super Saiyan. However, this fabled warrior ran out of energy and ended up dying, and the Saiyan people continued to live their best lives. What if this baby is another manifesting the genes of this Legendary Super Saiyan?" the female Saiyan scientist pondered. "Of course… That's just a baseless theory… Just a hunch of mine. This baby and his oddities just reminded me of that silly old fable, that is all."
Sweat poured down King Vegeta's forehead as his face twisted and molded, going through an entire myriad of emotions that were difficult to decipher. One thing was evident: King Vegeta would not sleep peacefully that night as he contemplated if this youngling should have been allowed to live and if he would be a threat to his son's rule.
A Saiyan of an average build wearing a long white cape to signify his grander standing in the Frieza Army compared to the regular Saiyan grunt raced across the soaring hallway. A pair of guards standing on the other side of the door stepped in to stop the man but Paragus, a loyal military colonel and a useful asset to King Vegeta shoved his way through and even opened the door to the throne room and stumble inside, despite the guards' objections.
A councilor of King Vegeta's standing by the door raised his hand, informing Paragus that he had made far enough and that unless he wanted to undo all the good faith, his service with the king has afforded him until this point, he'd best advance no further. Paragus would've been long dead if he didn't have the instinct to take this social cue and bow to the floor, pressing his left knee and right fist to the ground while looking down submissively so that his king didn't take this insolence as straight-out treason and execute him on the spot.
"Forgive me for my intrusion, King Vegeta," Paragus mumbled with a sweaty face and a mad look on his face that telegraphed he was still working through something shocking deep down. The colonel's voice had been low in volume, though the excellent reverberation inside of the throne room carried his message across to the northern wing of the room where the king sat on his throne. Once Paragus felt like it was acceptable for him to gaze upon his king, his eyes lifted much calmer and more befitting those of an army official coming to his king with an inquiry and wishing his sovereign's favor.
"Paragus," King Vegeta said in an authoritative enough voice to not need the qualities of his throne room to be heard across. If anything, the echo only enhanced his poise. "I would have had you summoned in a moment. News reached me that you have accessed mission control without authorization. Since you've presented to me, I'll have an explanation."
"My king… I've heard that you personally commanded my son to be sent away. Because of Broly's battle power, this sounded odd to me. Normally, we keep our strongest Saiyan children and train them to serve in our army instead of sending them away. Not to mention that the king himself almost never oversees the matters of a child's destination, even if they are to be sent away. Forgive me, my king, but I wanted answers, and I dared not ask for them of you," Paragus bowed with both knees on the ground and pressed his head to the floor, asking forgiveness. Seeing how his king hadn't executed him on the spot, the king's decree was clear.
"Whoever told you this news was right," King Vegeta leaned to the right side and pressed his cheek to his knuckle for support. "And since you've accessed mission control, I take it you know his destination."
"I do, my king, but… Please tell me why. Grant me this answer as Broly's father, why would you send him away despite Broly's high potential?" Paragus pleaded with his king from a kneeling position. The monarch's court of war veterans, scientists, and advisors all turned their elderly, scarred, or just unsightly, in the most usual way, faces to Paragus. They all judged him like the king did, even though only King Vegeta had the right to decide his fate.
"You misunderstand, Paragus. Your boy's battle power is wildly inconsistent. It provides as many power levels as we do scans of it. By sending your son off to a faraway world and putting him through great dangers and tribulations, the boy will prove his true potential beyond the doubts of the scientists. Perhaps then he can do what no other Saiyan has accomplished before and shift his class. As his father, you should be proud, Paragus," King Vegeta replied in a monotone voice. "Not to mention, your child shall be a conqueror of an uncharted world, forever engrained in Saiyan history. He'll be a colonel like his father before learning to speak."
"Planet Vampa, my king?" Paragus pleaded, spreading his arms to the sides while staying on one knee and whimpering with his perturbed expression. "From what data the nearest space station provides, it is an inhospitable world. Devoid of intelligent life. What kind of life will he have there? I am humbly sorry for questioning your decision, my king, but my son shall never learn to speak in a world like that. He'll grow up as wild and monstrous as its inhabitants and be in no condition to serve in the army."
"Your son's condition places all of us in danger. If Frieza found out about a Saiyan baby with a battle power that fluctuates to the point of breaking a scouter meant to record his own battle power, we would all face his wrath, your son being the first one to die at the emperor's hand," King Vegeta pushed his cheek off his gauntlet, becoming more aggravated by this impromptu meeting. "You should be thankful that I am saving his life and hiding him away from the emperor's reach and interest."
"This… This isn't right!" Paragus stood up on both feet. The moment that the colonel looked at his king, the court knew that trouble was stewing. The man was as terrified as he was desperate. His wide, bloodshot eyes made white beacons wildly racing across the hall while the respected officer had the audacity to point at his king after disturbing his meeting with his interruption. "You're simply afraid of Broly! Afraid that he is the Legendary Super Saiyan reincarnated! Your legs are quivering that this time you won't be able to stop his second coming from taking over Planet Vegeta! You're using your own personal ambition as an excuse to exile my son! Don't bullshit me about this "good of the people" boloney because nobody buys it for one second!"
"The only reason you breathe right now is that you've crossed the line of execution so far that killing you quickly feels like mercy now. Say another word and I'll make sure to take away your gift of speech," King Vegeta said completely unmoved by the plight of the desperate father who served his entire life until his first batch of grey hair as the king's trusted army officer. "Killing your boy in front of you will be a given. I'm sure we can handle a baby with our combined forces, so I don't advise you to take that Legendary Super Saiyan gamble any further. You should have waited until I summoned you to tell you about your son's fate, Paragus. I had enough respect for you to tell you about Broly's fate once he left the cluster."
"You mean…!" Paragus' bloodshot eyes gaped wide open, and his jaw did its best to match it.
"That's right, it's too late to argue and try to stop it now. He's already gone. I had the pod launched before beginning the court meeting," King Vegeta waved his hand in dismissal.
Like a cornered wild animal, Paragus wriggled in his boots and thrashed about, before realizing the fruitlessness of his actions. He then turned for the colorful stained glass and charged at it head-first. Hardened glass meant to protect against the harshness of space shattered immediately on contact with Paragus, bursting out of the royal palace and taking off in flight without wasting a snap of time or a bruise on him.
No hesitation, no hampering of his step or asking questions or permission, Paragus strut inside the nearest ship and sat inside it. The landing dock workers objected, but none of them were military material and had the stones to challenge Paragus in his current berserk mood. They whined and shook their puny fists over their heads, but Paragus turned the cranks, pressed the buttons, and pulled the levers he wanted to, sealing himself off from the dock and taking off after his son.
Off to Planet Vampa.
"That is how it happened," King Vegeta III finished his tale to his unmoved heir. For a second there, it began feeling like sprinkles of life and joy returned to the monarch's eyes when he reminisced about the glory days of ruling his people as king. It must not have been long until Captain Ginyu pulled his switcheroo stunt and began leading in King Vegeta's place. "Later, we've received reports he commandeered one of our carrier ships and chased after his freak boy to Planet Vampa. That was the last we've heard of Paragus or his cursed son… If I had to guess, he's probably still marooned in that place. Planet Vampa is a stormy and desolate world at the outer edges of known space. In there, the universal expansion is still fresh and the conditions are simply unimaginable. A mere courier vessel wouldn't escape that region as it is expanding alongside the fabric of space-time further from the center of the universe."
"Hmph… So you didn't kill the brat or his treasonous father…" King Vegeta IV looked down and pondered on what he had learned for a good minute. "If what you told me is true, there's no way that he could have escaped Planet Vampa without an innovative powerhouse dreadnought."
"Wait, something else hardly makes sense…" Fortuneteller Baba raised her index finger to grab the Saiyans' attention. "King Vegeta III claimed Paragus was an accomplished veteran at the time of his betrayal and escape from Planet Vegeta. And yet the Paragus that landed on Planet Earth during the wedding and hijacked the airwaves didn't have a silver hair on his head and seemed to be plagued by scars, not wrinkles. He could have been barely older than Vegeta IV!"
"Hmm… It's true that Saiyans age differently, though Paragus was a veteran approaching retirement in a handful of years. He'd be an old man by now," King Vegeta III nodded firmly. "My son…" the violet-skinned alien approached Vegeta and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Do not succumb to doubt for one second. You are the true heir to the Saiyan throne, the one and only King of Saiyans. My biggest regret is not having been able to instill that Saiyan pride inside your heart and see you wield it as your armor that helps you vanquish Frieza's stranglehold. Don't you dare hand our people to some pissant claiming to be the king!"
"So… Whoever dared openly mock King Vegeta by declaring himself king across the entire Earth was just a pretender, using the weight of Paragus' name. The useless asshole must've stumbled into the archive entry recording his treason and settled on lying his way to challenge for the throne. But… What about his abomination though? Whoever that was, he was undoubtedly a Legendary Super Saiyan, just like Chayote…" King Vegeta IV pondered to himself, squeezing his fists until Hell began shaking from the pent-up tension and made the she-devil torturing King Vegeta III gasp in disbelief that such a thing was possible.
"The Legendary Super Saiyan, you say!?" the old king dropped his jaw, filling his face with swollen veins that struggled to keep up with the supercharged blood pressure, even though it could no longer kill him since he was suffering in Hell already. "Just what is happening out there in the world of the living?"
"It doesn't matter. This no longer concerns you," King Vegeta turned around and away from his father. Only briefly glancing back at the pathetic and quivering husk of the once proud and mighty king. "However, out of nostalgic sentimentality and gratitude for playing along, I'll tell you something you might want to hear. You won't be suffering here for an eternity, father. Only until your soul is cleansed of evil, redeemed, and ready for reincarnation. Then it shall be reborn in a new body, fresh to experience its new life again and have another shot at living it virtuously. I suggest you don't squander it."
Seeing as close to an affectionate look as the strict Vegeta family features allowed and a warm smirk on his son's face as he glanced back at his crooked and worn-out old man inside of a despicable alien body, crystalline tears accumulated in the corner of the old king's eyes before flooding them and forcing King Vegeta III's eyes shut while tears sprung forth. When the sobbing king opened them once again, his son and his curious entourage were already gone from his personal hell.
Just like King Vegeta III faced his Hell with a new determination to burn away his flaws and purify his soul for a new lease on life, his son too has gained his second wind to fight for his people and for all of their families. Both King Vegetas were reborn in their own unique way down in Hell.