Chapter Forty Eight
Author's Notes: I present the first "movie" of this series. Though technically a sidestory, events happening are very important to further aspects and events of the storyline.
If you want to get back to the battle on Earth, feel free to skip ahead to Chapter 53 (if reading from the future)!
While the fate of the planet and its inhabitants was being tested in the brawl against King Piccolo on Planet Earth, many light years away, it was but an ordinary day onboard the Frigid II, the adamantium coated royal vessel of Lord Frieza, Emperor of Space and heir to many things, including the Planet Trade Organization. Located about seventeen million miles from Planet Arcose, Frieza hadn't been this close to his homeworld in years but as if wanting a homecoming of some sort, his father had sent an invitation asking for his presence and when the king called you forth, even he and Cooler knew that it was best not to keep the tyrant waiting. He only hoped that his older brother would not be in attendance, the last time they'd crossed paths many bones had been broken in a brawl that had severed their relationship as brothers.
Onboard the space base, the prince of Saiyans was the very first soldier awake. This was a normal thing though, just as he made sure to be the last one out of the gym, Vegeta made sure that as soon as his body got the adequate nourishment and rest it needed after a harsh day of fighting, he was up and active before anybody else.
Even before the extermination of his race, back when his days were split between long days in the palace and whatever special training regime Nappa or his father had for him, the young prince and his brother, Tarble, had always been the first awake before any housemaids could stop them from running rampant in the very spacious royal palace. Vegeta long missed those days but knew that they had all served as just fuel to the fierce battle he had been fighting his entire life.
Arising from the small cotton bed to face the black walls of his cubicle, Vegeta's mouth pulled into a yawn as his hand scratched through the unruly head of black hair on his head. Slipping a white glove onto his hand as he awoke, the Saiyan prince walked over to the sink in the small room and reached for the bland tube of toothpaste. Brushing his teeth quickly, afterwards the son of kings changed into a fresh blue jumpsuit and exited the room.
Nowadays, Vegeta was known simply for being the first soldier awake. It wasn't anything he tried to do, it was just something that the young prince lived by. Although he wasn't proud to be working for another man as a prince himself, the young Saiyan knew that he was amongst the most capable fighters in Frieza's army. At a battle power of somewhere over 12,000, Vegeta could never let lesser blood outwork him. He was chasing after a prophecy that had lived with him every night since the death of his mother, father, and his people with them. The thought kept him going even when things got rough. His haters could jeer now -it was only a matter of time before they bowed down in respect to the dormant power of the almighty Super Saiyan of legend sealed within him.
It had been nearly fifteen full years since the meteorite had struck Planet Vegeta and Vegeta's dream of being a king one day died with it. Even to this day, the young warrior sometimes thought of the many lives lost in the tragedy. At just five years old at the time, he had grown up under the close eye of Frieza. By the age of ten, he was already the most disciplined and hardest worker that Frieza had seen -though training or fighting upwards of fifteen hours a day tended to do that to growing boys. At twenty, he was now one of the emperor's deadliest soldiers. As the prince of the fallen race of warriors, he could have been crowned king in the upcoming year had it not been for the sick twist of fate. Now, calling himself king would be nothing but the equivalent of spitting in the grave of not only his dead father but the many kings before him.
It never took long for the prince to groom himself and having awakened shortly after 0500, Vegeta was prepared and on route to the upper level training chambers not long after 0510. He liked the benefit of no hallway traffic that awakening this early brought and he knew that he and the others could train to their heart's content without the mindful eyes of Frieza's soldiers. It wasn't no big secret that every other race on the Frigid II hated he and his comrades simply for the one thing they couldn't control: their race.
Chaya was irritated by this. Nappa and Tullece usually got into pissing matches with the likes of Cui, Jeice and Dodoria over the issue. The treatment never bothered the Prince of Saiyans for the most part though. Whether things were different for him because of his higher battle power in comparison to his tailed companions or not, Vegeta hardly cared if you liked him. You were, however, going to respect him and his strength no matter who you claimed to be.
A small walk down the quartering chambers later, Vegeta came face to the door of another soldier. Knocking twice, the short Saiyan turned and rested his back on the wall adjacent to the door and waited patiently for it to open. Checking an imaginary watch a few seconds later, impatience took over and he knocked twice as hard twice as many times. After another thirty seconds came and went, the door opened to a Saiyan female that stood less than a head taller than Vegeta with hair twice as long and unruly. With two spiky bangs covering her eyes, Chaya used a gloved hand and a rubber band to pull her untamed hair back into a contained ponytail before speaking to her prince.
"Woman." The man of the two grumbled irritably as the other Saiyan exited the room. Looking at Chaya, a head taller than him, Vegeta shook his head before walking away with the woman following closely behind him. "I thought I told you to be ready at 0500 sharp." He began, not giving her time to speak in between statements. "I'm not keen on waiting fifteen extra minutes. You were told just like the others that I had a meeting with Frieza before breakfast."
"Why couldn't we get a break today then? We're heading out to do some recon in the hives of Planet Beehay at the end of the week, right?" The daughter of General Nappa retorted with a sheepish laugh before clearing her throat at Vegeta's groan.
"So I should expect the others to keep me waiting too then?" Vegeta asked the woman as they entered an elevator and raised to another level. Reaching the third floor, Chaya followed the prince out and down another hallway of soldier quarters.
"Father kept me up playing cards and matching rum shots until he and Tullece passed double digits." Chaya answered with the roll of her brown eyes. Seeing Vegeta roll his as well, she laughed inside. The two knew that Nappa was as big of an alcoholic as a Saiyan could come and that was before the youngest Saiyan of their posse, Tullece, began drinking shortly after his fifteenth birthday some weeks ago. Since then, Saiyan ego took its course as the two attempted to outdrink the other.
"You know Frieza keeps the good liquor for the Ginyu Force and his elite men, right?" Vegeta said snarkingly. "That cheap stuff they give to us soldiers will only give you a two day hangover. Don't think I'm holding back against you all just because you're still recovering from your slurness."
"You should stay and have a few drinks with us one evening and grow some hairs on your chest, Vegeta." Chaya countered the prince's bitter statement. Ruffling her gloved hand through the shorter Saiyan's black hair, she grinned playfully as his mouth dropped into a frown. "Maybe then you'll wake up and grow a couple more inches, my prince." She added teasingly.
"Bododuroi," Vegeta shot back bitterly as he rolled his eyes just as he reached the next door. Knocking twice, the Saiyan prince turned to follow up his harsh remark at the woman. "I would call you a bitch but that would be too high of an honor, I'm afraid." He spat on a different level of teasing than Chaya had begun with just as the opening of the room's door interrupted the woman's chance for a rebuttal.
[Budoduroi is a word from ancient Saiyru language used to insult those under you. Technically translates to both jester and dumpster.]
Expecting to see Nappa walk out, the Saiyan prince was shocked when he saw Tullece walk out of the cubicle first. At just fifteen, the young Saiyan was already only half a head under Vegeta. To Vegeta's surprise, Tullece looked like somebody had gotten to him and given him hell.
"What are you doing in the room of your superior, Tullece?" Vegeta asked the younger Saiyan warrior. Surveying the teenager, he took note of just how beat up the boy looked and wondered what he had done to end up like that. "And who did you piss off last night?" He demanded to know.
"He and Jeice got into a pissing match over some whore from demolitions," Chaya butt in, answering Vegeta's question as the younger Saiyan scratched through his unruly black hair sheepishly. "You know how them Ginyu boys get when their pride is insulted. He took quite the beating when Burter joined in… father had to watch him or he would have choked on his blood in his sleep."
"And of course, nobody bats an eye because he's one of us." Vegeta said, rolling his eyes as he reached towards Tullece's ear, grabbing the remains of the battered Scouter that the boy wore. "This thing's out of there." The prince examined, crushing the metal device in his hands. "I'll be sure to tell Frieza to send another one to your cubicle before nightfall."
"Thank you, my prince," Tullece finally spoke, bowing to the prince. Stretching his arm back, he tensed before sighing. "Chay, next time just tell the general to put me in one of those Rejuvenation Tanks. And have two ready for the flamboyant Ginyus!"
"Rejuvenation Chambers are reserved for personnel returning from missions, not little shits picking fights that they've been told not to." Another thunderous voice interjected as the much larger and older Saiyan, Nappa, walked out of the hallway to join the other three alien warriors. "You better not add on to this hangover by picking another fight. To think I used to drink like a fish at one point." The giant grumbled, rubbing his shaven head irritably.
"In my hayday before Frieza's folks brought over all this fancy technology, our kind relied only on our bodies and the natural world to heal from our wounds. We had to be tough for our Zenkais! Made us the fiercest brawlers in the universe too!" He proudly boasted to Tullece before turning to the other two Saiyans. "Prince Vegeta! Daughter. Top of the morning to you both," The general greeted his comrades.
"General." Vegeta replied sternly, nodding to the man who had practically raised him. Respectfully smirking, the prince cleared his throat as he began to speak to the entire group as they walked. "Maybe I should cut loose on the youngblood. That's the third fight he's been in this quarter. His Saiyan hormones won't let him relax until he's had an actual brush with death at the hands of his own kind." He said as Tullece lagged behind the group lazily. He could feel the primal urge barely staying contained in the young fighter and it made the warrior blood he had in him boil in anticipation.
"He is coming of age." Nappa retorted, scratching his shaved head before a smile crept across his face. "Not many people have the honor of fighting royal blood though. Teach him a good lesson Vegeta…" He sadistically suggested as he looked back at the Saiyan teen. "We only have room for one Saiyan with a period on this vessel." The large man finished, rubbing his goatee.
"Look at him," Chaya reminded the two elite Saiyans. "He wouldn't last a minute against either me or father. Let alone you, my prince. It'd be suic-" She tried to continue before Tullece's snort interrupted her statement.
"To hell with that." The Saiyan snapped back at the woman, his wine colored aura cackling brilliantly around his battered body. "I'll take on you all, the Ginyus and that purple bastard on the top floor too." Tullece cackled fiercely in rebuttal to the woman's concern for him. "A chance at knocking the prince himself down his pedestal… I can't wait." He finished as a hearty grin flashed across the son of Bardock's face.
Vegeta ducked under the leg of Tullece with just milliseconds to spare, avoiding having some of his teeth knocked out of his mouth. Closing the ground while stepping rightward, the prince of Saiyans shot a punch at his assailant. Faster than the young warrior could keep up with, the stronger Saiyan planted his fist in his opponent's sternum before Tullece could even try to react.
"That was a good one, Vegeta," The Saiyan applauded his opponent, picking himself up after being knocked more than ten meters across the room. Readjusting promptly, Tullece began to surge his energy slightly as he hoped to recover and find a way to counter. "I knew you'd keep me on my toes, your honor." He added as he flung his arm forward and three burgundy colored energy blasts were shot at the prince.
Vegeta moved swiftly, using his left hand to swat away the biggest of the three energy blasts. The next moment after it moved away from him, the royal fighter threw both arms across his chest and prepared to absorb the next attacks. As the heat pushed against his forearms before fading, the prince had a split second to react as he saw Tullece closing the ground quickly as the flash from his ki blasts died down.
Vegeta grimaced as he reeled his knee upwards, knowing that he was leaving himself vulnerable. As his knee gained contact with his opponent's exposed chin, Vegeta felt the boy's fist collide with his cheek. As both fighters made contact, a small sonic boom pushed the two apart. Tullece sent upwards, flipped backwards and landed on his feet just as Vegeta ripped his gloves apart using his hand to stop himself from sliding back too far.
"You've improved." Vegeta commented, pulling the torn remains of his gloves from his bare hands. Cracking his knuckles, the Saiyan prince charged his energy in anticipation as a grin stretched across his face. "Recovering from your injuries nicely, are you?" Vegeta asked the Saiyan as he fell into a fighting stance and prepared to pounce at the boy.
"You aren't scared of me, are you?" Tullece teased before taking the initiative and pouncing forwards towards Vegeta. Reeling his arms backwards, he attempted to slap the Saiyan prince backwards with his momentum but found that Vegeta was agile enough to backflip out of the way. "But how? You couldn't have seen me!" He shouted as the Saiyan floated in the air upside down.
"You've improved but you humor me thinking that you're on my level yet." Vegeta snarkingly spat as he quickly drew energy into his hands. Shooting a small but quick blue ki blast at his opponent, the prince gave himself the edge he needed to catch the boy off guard. "Try to keep up, foolish Tullece." He snickered as he waited for his opportunity.
Stepping sideways, Tullece narrowly avoided a burn and began to attack with a spinning kick. Seeing this, Vegeta raised his right forearm to his temple and absorbed the heavy blow. Expelling his ki just as his opponent's leg hit his open palm, the Saiyan prince was able to knock Tullece off balance and used the split second of panic that the boy seemed to be dealing with to grab his leg.
Knowing he had to move quickly, Vegeta grasped Tullece's leg tightly and shot upwards into the air. Using the dangling body's momentum against his opponent, Vegeta spun around in place before releasing his hold on Tullece's foot on timing to send him spiraling towards the ground uncontrollably. Not giving his foe time nor the space to defend himself, Vegeta shot two ki blasts from each hand before dashing towards Tullece's falling body and slamming himself into the Saiyan's stomach just before he could reach the ground. On the sideline, Nappa and Chaya watched on as time seemed to slow as Vegeta's body slammed into Tullece and then forced the younger Saiyan into a chasm in the metallic ground that gave in as the two titans continued to brawl.
As the large smoke cloud that formed died down, Vegeta was still on his feet and stepped out of the chasm with the same smirk on his face. Looking backwards, he saw Tullece's body shaking as the boy tried to stay on his feet before his body gave in and sent him falling forward seconds later. Reaching for his beeping scouter, Vegeta took this as a victory when he walked towards the door as he prepared to take an incoming call from Frieza.
Power Levels
Prince Vegeta: 15,200
Chaya: 3100
Nappa: 4000
Tullece: 1400
2100 (after Zenkai from barfight)
8000 (hormonal boost during fight with Vegeta)
Frieza: 530,000