Prologue 2- The Price of Victory

I own no part of Dragonball Z

Let's continue with the prologue

"I'm going to enjoy this!" King Vegeta threw off his cape and charged at Bardock with blinding speed. The low class Saiyan was prepared for this, serving many years in combat during the war of conquest he had seen Vegeta fight numerous times, something he could use to his advantage. He ducked under the punch at the last second, allowing Vegeta to soar past him. Bardock followed him with a sharp kick sending the monarch crashing into the wall. Vegeta stood up quickly, turning to look at the arrogant Saiyan, wiping his mouth from the collision.

"Oh, is that royal blood your highness?" Bardock taunted his opponent even more, knowing that fighting angry throws you off of your game. Vegeta was indeed the better fighter, although not by much which meant that Bardock would have to rely on other tactics in order to win. "I'll kill you!" The two warriors charged toward each other, fists flying at intense speeds. Through dodges and blocks, neither Saiyan could gain an advantage over the other, their hands connected and clasped together, shaking from the overwhelming strength.

"This is long overdue Vegeta! You've been allowing us to be Frieza's slaves for too long."

Vegeta laughed aloud at the foolishness of his challenger. "Haha, you will die," Vegeta began. "I will not bury your body, we will leave you for the bugs to devour your flesh and the vultures to pick at the remainders. I will tear your head off and display it for the entire race. I will mount your bones on my throne. I'll break your sons and the last thing they'll see in this life is me raping your wife!"

With that Vegeta sent a flying knee to Bardock's gut, causing him to keel over and blood to explode from his mouth. Vegeta punched him dead in the chest, as Bardock soared across the throne room. Echoes of laughter and applause rang out from the gallery of watching soldiers. Bardock stood up to face his adversary once more, Vegeta continued to push his advantage. Bardock's speed allowed him to duck and thrust Vegeta upwards. He phased out and grabbed the king by his neck, putting him a chokehold.

"AGHHH"

Seeing this, the kingsguard sprang into action flying towards their king.

WHAM!!! Broco was hit hard by a devastating punch from Tora.

"Don't even do it!" Tora shouted loudly. He was joined by Raditz, Shugesh, Gine, Fasha, Borgos and Paragus. Paragus was the father of a super powerful son that King Vegeta ordered to be killed moments before Bardock arrived. Fortunately for Paragus, there hadn't been time to carry out the sentence.

All of the Saiyans matched up with an opponent, leaving Bardock to fight the king by himself. Bardock threw Vegeta down hard, a mistake. The king caught himself and launched back in the sky towards his rival. Bardock shot a volley of yellow ki orbs, but the king was nimble enough to avoid them. Reaching his foe, he launched his own blast directly into Bardock's stomach sending him soaring through the roof of the palace. Vegeta followed him and kicked him hard, sending him crashing down into the elite camp below.

Inside the palace, the battle still raged on. Paragus was getting the upper hand on his opponent Broco and was pushing his advantage. Broco was powerful but way too slow for Paragus. He dodged the next attack and created a beam sword with his hand, cutting off Broco's head in one fell swoop.

Tora was having equal success against his opponent, showing how talented he was in battle. BOOM, he connected a powerful blow to his opponent's stomach and then a devastating to his head, disintegrating him instantly. "How's that's for lower class," he taunted.

Bardock came crashing down hard into the midst of an entire company of Saiyan elites. He leaned over and touched his ribs, clearly broken and his head bleeding from the back. He stood up gingerly, 'Damn, he hits hard.' Bardock looked at his surroundings, all around him was a corps of loyal Saiyan troops. At any moment, any one of them could join the fight and he would be done. Bardock counted on Saiyan pride playing a huge factor, none of them were members of the king's royal guard and a challenge on the throne could he respected. Although, the idea of a low class solider challenging the throne was completely preposterous. Vegeta landed in front of Bardock, he wasn't in great shape either. His battle armor damaged, his ribs may have been broken also. His face was bleeding and his neck bruised from the chokehold. "Stand down Saiyan, you have fought bravely. If you stop now, I'll kill you quickly," the monarch called out.

"Fuck you, Vegeta! You're making a mistake, you bastard. Frieza will kill us all!"

"Too bad," Vegeta grinned. "You won't live to see it."

Vegeta charged at Bardock again, punching him hard in the face then unleashing a ferocious combo of jabs which crippled the rebel. Bardock fell to the side, his vision going blurry to the sound of cheers from the elite soldiers.

Tora and Paragus quickly joined the fight outside, they could tell that Vegeta was winning and doing so handedly. The two rebels stood on the sideline watching the battle, each one cheering for a different purpose. Tora was cheering for his friend while Paragus was merely rooting against the king. "Shit, your boy is losing," Paragus pointed out.

"Fuck the king, Bardock can do it," Tora replied spitting on the ground.

"Well he'd better. I'll try after he does, but if he fails we'll both be executed for treason."

"Get up Bardock!"

This shout enraged the king, "You're next!" As he kicked Bardock hard in the stomach and spit on him.

In the next instant, there was another explosion at the palace. BOOOM!!

Gine's body was sent flying to the ground as she caught the full blast of a powerful ki beam. Her body collided with the Golden Vegeta statue, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Her opponent followed her and brutally began stomping on her stomach, each step releasing more blood and bile from her mouth until she was barely conscious. Tora tried to intervene but was engaged by another Saiyan warrior, since this wasn't part of a protected challenge it was fair game and Saiyans love a fight. Vegeta saw this happening and took advantage of the opportunity to torture Bardock. He grabbed a handful of Bardock's hair and forced him to watch his wife savagely be beaten. "Kale, end it!"

"With pleasure, my king!" Kale grabbed Gine's tail as she cried out in a shriek of pain which echoed throughout the entire planet. Kale angrily yanked her tail out of her body! Laughing maniacally!

"NOOOO!" Bardock shouted as he struggled to gain his footing.

All went silent, the only thing Bardock could hear in this world was Gine's voice "Bardock, my husband. Give em hell."

Those were her last words, Kale savagely twisted her neck killing her instantly. She was gone.

The woman he loved.

The mother of his children.

Throughout every battle, every war, every scar he never felt such pain. The pain was deep, unending, extraordinary pain. Every fiber in his being rocked, his heart completely shattered. His children would grow up without their mother, his soulmate gone.

And that was it.

Bardock snapped.

All he saw was white, white fire. He heard no sounds, his aura spiked a vibrant white as he unconsciously shoved Vegeta away from him. He launched himself towards Kale who was too busy laughing to defend against the attack. Bardock's fist went straight through Kale's chest, killing him instantly. Then the enraged Saiyan flew towards the king and unleashed his own ferocious combination. He battered the royal and refused to let up, his anger serving as a sort of adrenaline. It wouldn't take long for the king to regain his form however, he countered the blows with a ki blast to the stomach. Bardock retreated back and the two stared each other down again, Vegeta attacked first. His flurry of punches was blocked by a newly invigorated Bardock, bruising his forearms badly. Bardock knew that he needed to end this fight soon or he'd run out of fuel. 'How can I use Vegeta's arrogance to my advantage?" He escaped into the sky, one last move. Bardock launched two small ki orbs from his hands, Vegeta dodged them both laughing loudly. "Guess you're done now with pathetic moves like that!"

Bardock put his hands together and charged up his most powerful attack holding it for several seconds, giving it all his energy. If this move didn't work, he'd be dead and he knew it. Vegeta confidently put his guard up to protect against the attack.

Suddenly, he stumbled. Turning around he saw the two ki blasts from earlier had boomeranged back around and smacked him in the back, not enough power to hurt him. But enough to distract.

Bardock seized his chance and flew at top speed with his energy beam, when Vegeta turned back around his challenger was mere inches away.

YAAHHHHHH

Bardock shouted as he pushed his hands into Vegeta's stomach sending the beam straight through his body. A hole 8 inches in diameter appeared in Vegeta's stomach like a smoking crater. The monarch fell to the ground noiselessly.

The victorious Bardock collapsed to his knees from exhaustion. Tora walked over, raising his friend's hand triumphantly. "ALL HAIL KING BARDOCK!"

He was too exhausted to fight, but he took mental notes of the Saiyans who didn't show respect to the new king.

Bardock woke up inside a small pod filled with a warm, clear liquid surrounding him. He wore a breathing mask over his face and plugs on several places of his body. The injuries he sustained no longer ravaged his body. His broken ribs felt brand new, his severe concussion had receded as well as every other injury. These rejuvenation tanks were the ideal example of scientific ingenuity, a necessity in Saiyan life. The timer to the tank beeped and the fluid began draining immediately, Bardock freed himself from this tiny machine. The first person he saw was Tora, he wore a few bandages from his battle signifying that he hadn't yet went into a tank of his own. Bardock stood up quickly, feeling that his power had grown immensely from his near fatal battle with Vegeta. He briefly flexed his muscles with an evil smirk on his face, reveling in his tough won victory. It was easily one of the toughest battles of his lifetime.

"Where's Raditz," he grumbled to his friend.

Tora turned and bowed in reverence with a large grin on his face, "My king."

Bardock punched his friend in the shoulder, "Stop playing. Where's my son?"

Tora straightened up, rubbing his shoulder would show weakness and that was not allowed.

"He's in the courtyard, grieving." There was no reason to ask why, Bardock himself still felt the feeling affects of losing his wife in the battle. He passed out before all of the fighting was done, so there was still so many questions about how everything played out.

"Who survived the battle?" The new ruler asked.

"Besides us: Raditz, Borgo, Paragus, and Fasha. I'm sorry about Gine, brother."

"It's all right, at least she received a warrior's death. I'll go see Raditz, have you found Kakarot?" Bardock remembered this hadn't been a power grab, although he would enjoy the perks of kingship. The move was done in an effort to save his sons and free them from Frieza.

"Yeah, his pod left two days ago. He's heading to a planet called Earth."

"Alright, we'll retrieve him when we evacuate."

Bardock attempted to get up and walk towards the courtyard, but Tora stopped him again. "Sire-"

"Tora,"Bardock cut in gruffly. "don't call me that. What is it?"

"There are a couple of things we need to do. We need to reward everyone who helped you, prepare your coronation, root out traitors and threats to the throne."

"Look, I'll do that shit later. I'm going to find my son."

"Some of it we can do later, but the sooner we do it, the better. We need to solidify your position as king."

Bardock nearly stormed out, "You'd make a better king than me, maybe you should've killed the bastard Vegeta." He laughed as a thought popped into his head, 'I should have thought this out more.'

The courtyard was a large clearing behind the great palace of Vegeta. It was surrounded by some of the tallest trees on the whole planet. Trees with trunks half as wide as an Oozaru and taller than one. Their big leafy leaves produced some of the finest fruit in the galaxy, this one of the only places where fruit grew in abundance on the planet. The size and taste of the fruit, made it such a delicacy that it was reserved for only royals and super elites. The courtyard itself wasn't a really a courtyard, it was more so a graveyard for important Saiyans. Royal weddings could be held here as well as funerals.

Raditz was sitting in the center of the courtyard next to his mother's body. He wasn't crying, Saiyan warriors never cry. He might as well have been though, the emotion was completely crippling. He was paralyzed. After he heard the cheers of his father's victory he rushed out of the palace only to find his mother's body laid on the battlefield, desecrated without a tail. 'Had this fight really been worth this price?'

As his scouter blinked, he recognized the presence of the new strongest Saiyan on the planet approaching.

"Father."

"Son."

Bardock kneeled down next to his son, the two of them remained utterly silent for what seemed like an eternity. Neither man willing to talk, neither one able to express the emotion they were feeling in the time. "She died a warrior's death," Bardock finally said. It was probably the most emotional thing that a Saiyan could say.

"She died, so that we could live Father."

The two men stood to their feet, "Family before Crown" they both said solemnly. Unable to contain their emotion any longer, it manifested itself in another way and they both started laughing. "It's funny, cause you're the King now."

"And you're the Prince."

Raditz and Bardock proceeded to dig a large hole with their bare hands to bury Gine. Gently placing her inside the ground, protecting her body with an energy barrier. The barrier would keep the bugs from eating her flesh. Bardock then commissioned one of the Royal Aides to build a tombstone over her grave, "Gine, the greatest Saiyan Woman." His orders were rough, he had no idea how to be nice to servants. He and Vegeta had that and many other qualities in common.

Bardock and Raditz then flew back to the palace, "So father, what's next?"

"I don't fucking know, Tora has a bunch of shit for me to do. I don't wanna do it. I just wanna drink tonight, eat and kill something."

"That sounds like a good plan." They sped up towards the palace cruising over Bardock's new planet.

Tora had already been pushing the aides to get to work with Bardock's banquet, it needed to be held tonight.

"Get to work you lazy scum or I'll kill you myself!" Tora yelled at them.

"I see you got things in order here," Bardock laughed. "Hey you, fetch me and my son the strongest drink in the kingdom. If you take longer than 2 minutes, I'll blow you up." He berated one of the newer assistants. Tora laughed, "Same old Bardock."

One of the servant walked in slowly and tenderly, afraid to set off their new King. They knew the sensibilities of Vegeta, but Bardock was brand new and he was formerly low class. They had no idea what could set him off.

"My Lord, King Bardock, uhh your majesty," the servant boy stuttered out. "You have a visitor."

"Tell him unless he has whores and drink, I'm uninterested."

Nervously, the child responded "his name is Paragus sir. He said he needed a word with you."

Bardock grew angry quickly and a child not following directions was one of those things that set him off, Raditz knew that well. He reached over and grabbed the boy by his shirt, pulling him closer to his muscles. "What. Did I. Just. Say!"

Before the boy died of a heart attack, Tora intervened. "My lord, he helped us today. Go see him please."

Bardock grunted and dropped the child to his butt, "Fine! Where's my drink!"

"Right here Sire," another servant stumbled up to the king with an unopened bottle of Vegeta's finest drink. In an uncivilized manner, he ripped off the top and downed a big gulp while he headed to receive Paragus.

"Paragus! Welcome," Bardock belligerently gestured to the magnificence of the palace. "All this shit is mine! Ha, and you helped. What can I do for you?"

Paragus extended his hand to meet Bardock's.

"Well Sire, before you rebelled Vegeta had ordered my son to be killed."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. Of course, I'll make sure that won't happen. I'll get Tora right on that! That all you wanted, have a drink with me."

"There's something else, I'd like to take my son and leave."

"Now why would you want to do that?"

"Vegeta is dead. I've served the race for a long time now, I served you in your uprising. I think I've earned a break."

Bardock already had his answer prepared, he would use the boy as leverage also. If Paragus turned down the next offer, then he'd have to kill them both.

"Hmm, I don't know Paragus. You're a good fighter and I hear your son is tremendously powerful. I'll tell you this, we're all leaving soon before Frieza gets here but a leave from the kingdom? I'll tell you what, you may go wherever you please from here on one condition. If I call you are required to answer and come back to war, we may need that son of yours against Frieza."

Paragus realized by the tone of Vegeta's voice that he hadn't fully learned how to be tactful, this was going to be a one time offer.

"I accept your terms my king." The two men shook hands in agreement. Pushing the advantage more, Bardock continued, "consider it a reward for assisting in the battle. I'll see you tomorrow at my victory banquet."

"Of course, my lord," Paragus bowed as he took his leave. Wondering why he just didn't punch Vegeta first.

Bardock returned to his friends and his son, tonight they drank and ate and fucked to celebrate. Bardock brought the sexiest whore in the planet to his chambers that night, he drank and ate and fucked her to forget. Gine was gone.