*(Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or Dragon Ball GT. All characters and places associated with the Dragon Ball series belong to their own respected creators and I have not used them to make any profit in any shape or form.) *
Jason9000: Before we begin I just need to address this. There will be no Super Saiyan 4 or Super Saiyan God in this story. When I first started this story, I never once planned to include Super Saiyan 4 back in 2012. And even after Battle of Gods came out, I'm not putting in Super Saiyan God, because I personally find it stupid. This was started before the movie came out. I don't care if it's cannon. I am not putting that transformation into this story. Now I know some of you may be confused by this statement since someone appeared a while back, but he was a last minute thing and I was grasping straws at who could warn Gohan if he and the others failed. You'll see him again near the end of the story. Well now that I've got that out of the way let's begin the chapter*
King Vegeta was staring at the group before him. He had the aura of royalty pulsating from his persona. His eyes held the cold, calculating look of the absolute monarch. His gaze was boring down on Pan. It felt similar to his son Vegeta; however, none of the small embers of kindness within this Saiyan's gaze. The King of all Saiyans eyes held nothing, but contempt. He didn't care for Pan's well being at all. If he really wanted to, he'd kill her now and throw her body out into the wastes.
"So care to explain why you disobeyed my direct orders Bardock? I can't wait hear you talk you way out of this one," King Vegeta said tiredly.
Bardock slowly inched his head forward bowing to King Vegeta. He slowly took a deep breath.
"My King, as you know our sons will most likely fight against these Demons for the betterment of Otherworld," Bardock told him.
King Vegeta only stared at him. "And your point is…?" He asked him.
"If we were to keep her here under our protection, then when this is over we could return her to them. Since we haven't sided with those Demons yet, we wouldn't be punished for aiding them. Perhaps our own punishment would be lessened a bit, by doing this selfless act of…kindness," Bardock said as if the last word was foreign to him.
King Vegeta shifted himself so that he was leaning on his right arm. His fist was holding his head up and he looked quite bored.
"And this is important to me, because…?" King Vegeta asked slowly.
"Because, if we harm her, we'll have my son and grandson after us, not to mention everyone else in their little group. You've seen their strength there's no way we'd be able to best them," Bardock told him.
"Oh yes individually we don't stand a chance against them. But, we could over power them with sheer numbers. Even if they did kill us down here, our bodies would merely regenerate. Eventually they will tire. Not even they can stand against the trillions of us," King Vegeta said flatly.
"Yes, but why risk their wrath and fight against them when we could fight with them? If we were to aid them, then perhaps we could be rewarded. I know we will never enter paradise in Heaven, but perhaps we could participate in those tournaments they hold." Bardock stated.
"You and I both know that the chances of that are slim. Even if King Yemma and the others do prevail, there is no way we will be able to participate in the Otherworld Tournaments. We'd be lucky to become the new wardens of Hell," King Vegeta responded.
"Isn't that better than living the rest of eternity in absolute boredom, or in fear of the Demons trying to torture us for their pleasure? Our benefits with helping King Yemma and the others far outweigh with throwing our lot in with Daimaō. Even if he did promise us some corner of the Universe to do as we please, he'd probably go back on his word and have his children rip us apart," Bardock responded.
King Vegeta got up and walked over to the group. He stared at Bardock for a moment before speaking.
"Even you don't know the future for certain. Everything you've 'seen' has either been one possible outcome or you've completely mistaken the events and interpreted it wrong. Tell me…weren't you the one that said we needed to raise an army to fight Frieza? And it turned out that it was Frieza's men behind you?" He asked him crossing his arms.
Bardock bit his lip in frustration; he knew where King Vegeta was going with this. "Yes…" He said quietly.
"Didn't you also say that your son Kakarot would be the one to defeat Frieza and King Cold on Earth?" He asked again the scared Saiyan.
"Yes…" Bardock sighed to his King.
King Vegeta stepped closer till he was face to face with him. "And weren't you the one that said that your son would die from a virus, his friends from the Androids, and the Earth terrorized for years? Do I need to remind you of when you raved on about how Cell would be the greatest threat to the Universe, and then Majin Buu appeared?" King Vegeta asked him.
Bardock didn't respond as he looked at the ground for a minute in frustration. "Well?" King Vegeta questioned the former low class again.
"Yes I was," Bardock said looking back up into his King's eyes.
King Vegeta nodded and his eyebrows tightened in an angry manner. "Exactly, your predictions are either one outcome of what could happen or you completely misinterpret them entirely and you're wrong about the scenario," King Vegeta said walking back to his 'throne'.
"King Vegeta please listen to me! I'm only doing what I think will save the Saiyan race from being in thralldom by someone that makes Frieza look like an angel! I'm looking out for the betterment of our people!" Bardock cried to him.
King Vegeta had enough of this. He was tired and sore. He had no interest in listening to Bardock now. For years the Saiyan went on and on about his psychic powers and now it was annoying. Especially since he predicted that none of this was supposed to happen in the first place.
Pan couldn't follow the movements King Vegeta made. Suddenly he was in front of her with his back to her. The next thing she knew, Bardock was flying toward the entrance of the tent and then slammed back down onto the ground with King Vegeta standing on his chest.
"Listen to me Bardock and listen well. I am tired and do not want to hear you rave on and on about your 'visions'. Do you think you're the only one that is concerned with what will happen to us with this war? It took me weeks to convince the leaders of the other two Saiyan groups to not just charge head first into this mess! In case you haven't noticed we weren't wished back from that massive wish Daimaō made to bring everyone back to life!" He shouted down at the Saiyan.
Bardock was caught off guard that King Vegeta attacked him so quickly. He didn't think that the King of all Saiyans could react so fiercely when he was sleep deprived for three days. Then again adrenaline did do some amazing things with the Saiyans.
"I've tolerated your warnings and I have actually given heed to them in case you haven't noticed. Did you not say that if we didn't hide after not joining up with Daimaō we would be brought to his castle to be tortured in his dungeons? Contrary to your belief, the Universe is not dictated by your psychic abilities. Now before you even think of challenging me for the throne, you know that I do not have to accept the challenge until I am at my best. You would look dishonorable if you challenged me now when I'm physically exhausted from attending to important matters. No Saiyan would follow you if they valued their pride. Now get out or I'll have my elites beat you to a pulp," King Vegeta said getting off of Bardock.
Bardock stood up and rubbed his chest. He motioned for Pan and Raditz to follow him out.
"Well that could have gone better…" Bardock mumbled to himself.
"Grandpa Bardock…could you beat King Vegeta in a fair fight? Why not fight him and take command of the Saiyans to do what you want?" Pan asked him.
Bardock ignored her calling him grandpa and answered her question. "I'm not sure kid. I've never faced him in a sparring match to be honest. My strength is with the upper elites so maybe I could. But, challenging him now would be disastrous. A sudden change in power could cause the other two Saiyan groups to rally against me. We can't afford a civil war. No, we'll have to do as he says for now. Our only hope is to try and have him see things our way," Bardock told her.
"Don't you mean your way old man? I'm with King Vegeta on this; he does bring up fair points about you and your visions. However, the chance of our punishment being lessened does sound appealing. I wouldn't mind us replacing those pathetic ogres. They've got almost no strength so they're terrible enforcers. It's no wonder Daimaō was able to overpower them so easily," Raditz said.
They passed by the group of elites. Raditz was mulling what happened when he felt a rough hand grab his shoulder.
"And where do you think you're going?" A voice asked sarcastically.
Raditz closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Oh no…" The long haired Saiyan said shaking his head.
"Oh yes Raditz. You're coming with me. I want to see how you've progressed in the last month since I watched you spar against your old man. Try not to be a disappointment to Bardock by so much," Nappa said maliciously dragging the younger Saiyan away with him.
Pan watched her great-uncle being dragged away by the bald, grinning Saiyan. She didn't understand why Raditz looked annoyed at the prospect. Didn't he also get the excitement at facing someone like she did at times? Surely as a pure-blooded Saiyan he felt it more than she did.
She turned and saw Bardock way ahead of her. He didn't even turn to acknowledge that she stopped. "Keep up Pan; if you want to live, I suggest you stick with me for now. King Vegeta didn't say you were going to be executed, but he didn't say that you could stay either," He told her.
She slowly then ran to catch up with him since she didn't like the harsh glares the other elites were given her.
Uub and Mr. Buu walked through the door and it shut behind them. Goku felt tense as he saw their opponent. It was going to be tough for them. He remembered well how strong Kid Buu was when he faced him all those years ago. This one felt even more powerful than the last one. In his head he wished Uub had more time to train; based on this younger Buu's power in his relaxed state…he wasn't sure if Uub could even make a dent in him.
"So which group wants to be next? Will it be the Saiyans of royalty or the commoners that go next?" Daimaō asked them mockingly.
Vegeta pointed at the tall Demon Namek. "Get us there first, I don't want to hear any more of you inane babbling. You're giving me a headache," He told him.
Daimaō pretended to look hurt. "You wound me Vegeta; I thought that we could be friends based on your old record. Oh well, I'm not one to turn down a Death wish. One moment please," He told them.
He then held his hand out toward the door and concentrated on the coordinates that the Colds gave him. It was an old planet, barren planet in the heart of their once massive empire. It was used a training ground for the royalty of Frieza's race. They used near the beginning of their training and then moved onto other planets with harsher conditions.
The planet was in a binary solar system. The planet was in the middle of the two suns. They was no night time on this planet. Both suns were in the sky for around 12 hours, so depending on the season there would be maybe an hour of dim sunlight before the second sun rose, but never the nightfall of the Earth. The landscape was a rough rocky exterior with some planet life. It looked more like wastelands of the Earth. There were very few animals on land. Some variants of what looked like fish were sometimes found in the deep oceans, but this planet was either starting life on itself or was on its last legs, because of the destruction the Cold line did when training on the planet.
The door opened to a rocky exterior. Fifty feet away stood the Cold family. All three were waiting for them Frieza had his back turned to them staring off into the distance. Cooler was lying down with his arm over his eyes, showing his boredom. King Cold was staring right at them with his red eyes looking at the young sons of Vegeta.
"Enjoy facing your race's worst enemy. You know I find it ironic that the royalty on both sides are fighting each other to prove who's the strongest," Daimaō said out loud.
Vegeta ignored the Demon King and motioned for his two sons to follow him. He flew with his arms crossed with his sights on Frieza.
The door closed behind them and vanished. The only evidence was the indent it made in the ground. Mirai simply took a deep breath as he prepared himself for a tough fight.
"Get up Cooler, they're here," King Cold told his young son as the Saiyans approached.
Cooler merely grunted in annoyance and got up. His father stood in between Frieza and Cooler as the Saiyans approached them.
Vegeta landed right in front of Frieza with his arms crossed. He smirked at his old boss. The Saiyan Prince couldn't wait to fight him again. To Vegeta it didn't matter how much stronger his old employer got. All he wanted was the satisfaction of punching him in the face over and over again.
"So are you ready to be sent crawling back to Hell?" Vegeta asked them.
"Oh don't start on your pathetic speeches on how you're better than us Vegeta. I heard enough of them on Namek. No we just need to sort out who my father and brother are fighting on different sides of the planet," Frieza told him.
"Which one of you is the young man that brought about my Death on Earth?" Cold asked them.
Mirai stepped forward with his sword attached to his back again. He brought it with him since he didn't want to hold anything back and needed to go all out.
"That would be me, ugly. Ready to give me one of your best planets so I don't kill you again?" Mirai asked smirking.
Cold didn't respond to the remark. He merely powered up and hovered above the ground. "Follow me child," He said before taking off into the sky.
Cooler then looked at other young man that stayed behind. "I suppose that leaves you and me. Come along then, I would like to show you my own private spot that I used to train when I was a boy to mark your death. It would add to the sense of nostalgia for me," He said before flying off in the opposite direction of his father.
Trunks powered up to take off after Cooler. He spared a glance at his father and nodded at him. "Try not to let this oversized iguana make you lose your cool and make sloppy mistakes. I'm not sure mom would like to hear that I had to scrape you off the ground to bring you home," He quipped to him before leaving.
Vegeta growled at his son as he left. He watched him leave for a minute before turning his gaze back to Frieza.
Nothing was said between them. They only stared at each other. Each warrior couldn't hate each other more. Frieza hated Vegeta for reminding him of the Saiyan legend and how he had a huge role in his defeat on Namek. Not only that but, Vegeta's prophecy of how he would fall to a Saiyan of royal blood had come true. Sure at the time Vegeta thought it was himself, but it was in fact his son that dealt the killing blow and avenged his race. His Death had fueled Frieza's hatred of the Saiyan race more so than ever before. Now he was determined to wipe out the last of the Saiyans forever.
For Vegeta he was staring at the creature that made the first part of his life a living Hell. His planet full of the people he was supposed to rule was blown up by him, he was forced into a life of servitude against his will, and Frieza molded him into an instrument for his amusement. The thing he would consider good of working under Frieza was going to Earth and eventually meeting his wife and starting his own small family. He wouldn't admit this out loud, but it was all worth it.
"So Vegeta are you going to drone on and on about how you're going to beat me to a pulp and then 'blast me to the Otherworld' or whatever it was you used to say?" Frieza asked him.
"Don't bother your mind tricks don't wind me up as much as they used to. My strength has reached levels I never thought possible while working under you. I know I'm stronger than you. I doubt I even need to transform to defeat you," Vegeta said smugly.
Frieza closed his eyes in annoyance. "That probably is true. Before I had my power unlocked you could have probably bested me as loathe as I am to admit it. However, you seem to have forgotten one thing," Frieza told him.
Vegeta cocked his head to the side with amusement written on his face. "Oh and what's that?" He asked.
Without warning Frieza charged forward and punched Vegeta in the stomach. The force of the hit felt like Vegeta just got hit by a mountain. He was surprised that Frieza's fist didn't go through his body.
"Unlike you, I no longer have to waste precious time transforming to access my strength," Frieza said coldly as he hit the Saiyan Prince before he flew off from the blow of the hit.
Cooler led Trunks to the far side of the planet. They flew in silence for twenty minutes. Trunks was taking in some of the scenery and only paid enough attention to make sure Cooler wouldn't attack him randomly.
"I got to admit, this is a great place to train. Kind of wish I knew of this place when I was a kid. No people to bug you, I wouldn't have to hide my power, and it's quiet. No wonder your family prizes this planet," Trunks called ahead of him.
Cooler didn't acknowledge him and flew in silence. Unlike his idiot brother, he wasn't one for small talk before a big fight. He did want to ask the young Saiyan a few questions yes, but he didn't like to drag on and on with boring talk like his younger brother.
Cooler slowed down and then flew down onto an island. Trunks followed him and snapped to attention when they both landed. Cooler crossed his arms and studied the young Saiyan.
He had purple hair like his twin, but his clothing was different. He didn't wear the blue jumpsuit or any of the Planet Trade Armor. No, instead he wore a black shirt with grey colored shorts. He had the same boots as his twin, but he wore small black colored gloves that only covered his palms.
Trunks immediately powered up to his Super Saiyan form and stood in front of Cooler. Cooler sensed the power that Trunks radiated and he inwardly smiled. This would be a good fight between them. He would crush this pathetic Saiyan and then move on to keeping an eye on his little brother.
"Are you going to make the first move or am I?" Trunks asked him.
Cooler snapped out his thoughts and stretched his arms out in front of him for a moment.
"To show sportsmanship, I'll allow you to attack me first, but I have a few questions for you," Cooler told him.
Trunks blinked as he was not expecting his opponent to hold up the fight just to answer a few questions.
"Okay…what are your questions?" Trunks asked him slowly.
"I know that you want to stop Daimaō just as much as I do. To be honest the only reason I agreed to work with him was, because he was able to restore me back to life and increase my strength. Why not join forces with me? Together I'm sure we could find a way to stop Daimaō and his forces," Cooler told him.
Trunks looked confused at his statement. Cooler didn't look like the person to reform. From what he heard, Cooler was just as evil as Frieza and he doubted staying in Hell caused him to rethink his entire life and become good.
"What about your family? I'm pretty sure your father and brother have no intention of defecting to the side of good," Trunks said.
"I could care less for my brother Frieza. I honestly don't care if Vegeta kills him right now. He is of no value to me. My father is old and this is past his time. All I want is to take control of our empire and not being contested by that sniveling brother of mine," Cooler said.
Trunks glared at him. "So what you want to continue your tyranny and terror across the Universe all by yourself? Not happening pal. Unless you swear to reform completely from your ways, you're not getting anything!" Trunks snapped at him.
"Why do any of you care what I do? Many people out there want many planets and are willing to pay a fortune for it. I merely just provide what they seek. What is wrong with doing legitimate business?" Cooler asked him.
"If by legitimate business you mean that you're killing billions of people just to get rich? I won't let you terrorize the Universe, because you value material riches above everything else. You're really a sick person if your only enjoyment is to just make a profit for yourself," Trunks told him crossly.
"Look it's the way of the Universe, the weak die and the strong survive. It's a part of nature. I don't understand why you people even try to go against nature and help people. I believe the Earth term 'Eat or be eaten' is an excellent metaphor to understand my thinking," Cooler responded with what would be considered a raised eyebrow.
"You're just trying to justify your murderous acts to make yourself be right. That would apply if we were wild animals. But, we are creatures that can reason, think, and not act out of pure instinct. You're just a sick individual that is trying to justify your life with primitive thinking. I will stop you!" Trunks shouted powering up.
Cooler sighed. "So be it, I gave you a deal and you spit in my face. I know a lot of Daimaō's forces and could been helpful to actually take him down. Oh well you had your chance Saiyan, but as always a monkey is just a monkey," Cooler said getting into a defensive stance.
Trunks roared and punched Cooler in the face. He then vanished behind the giant alien and grabbed his tail. He spun him around a couple of times and let go having Cooler crash into the ocean below.
"Yeah…unlike my father, I don't care being called a monkey since I never had a tail," Trunks called out grinning.
*Jason9000: That's it for this chapter. Like I said before I love writing Pan's part of the story at the moment. I find it funny that she's in front of a group of people that are way unlike what she thought a Saiyan acts like. Next we have the Colds go up against the Vegeta and his two sons. That's gonna be interesting to write about. Well hope you enjoyed. By the way if any of you are fans of the Assassin's Creed series, I started my own story focused on the three Kenways. Please leave a review.*