He sat in his chair as his ship hurtled through space, toward planet Namek. His closest guards, Dodoria and Zarbon were close at hand, but Frieza was elsewhere, in another time, another place; lost in thought.

'You summoned me Father?'

King Cold sat on his throne, a chair of immense size that could barely contain him. He had the same smile as his son, and the same cold unfeeling eyes. He gestured to the seat before him.

'Come, sit,' he said.

His voice belied his stature; soft and sweet. Frieza walked across the room, and sat in the chair; he noticed its warmth.

'Has my brother been here?' He sneered

'Now Frieza, let's not be petty, he is your brother, and you are both my children.'

'I could make it so there were only me Father,' he smirked.

'While you're stronger than both he and I at your stage of life, you are still a way off overcoming your brother'

Frieza lost his smile, and folded his arms. 'Why did you summon me here?'

'The time has come,' he said, 'the Universe is vast, and it expands at an endless rate. New planets are formed, and new civilisations arise continuously.'

'While I appreciate the science lesson Father, could you please reach the point?'

Cold glared at his son. His insolence was a by-product of his power, but Frieza knew his Farther was more powerful than him. Frieza lowered his eyes, and dominance was restored.

'My point, is that there is plenty for each of us,' he said, 'I have gifted your brother his section, and I will give you yours.'

Frieza smiled; a mirror image of his Father's; cold, callus smile. Noting this, Cold put a stop to his thoughts.

'But,' he said, 'you will both report, and answer, to me.'

Frieza's smile faded, 'how can I be a ruler if I am ruled?'

'You are not ruled Frieza, but you are reckless, and that can create trouble that we could not thwart, so I will be making sure you are staying in line.'

'But Father, you're the most powerful being in the Universe, a title I will one day hold, there is no trouble we could not handle,' he said with calm arrogance.

Cold took a deep breath, his size made it seem as though the room would be left devoid of air. His face wore no smile, but a look of seriousness that Frieza had rarely seen.

'There are beings in this Universe that have a power beyond mine, a power that your own could never match.'

Frieza began to chuckle, he felt his Father's joke was crass, but a good joke none the less.

'Silence!' He roared.

Frieza's eyes widened, like a child in shock; his heart seemed to skip a beat, and was now trying ferociously to catch up; this was an unusual feeling for him.

'I'm going to tell you a story I've never told you before,' he sat forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, his hands cupped together before him, and his face filled with a severity Frieza had never seen.

'Our planet – Polar – was on the outreaches of the Galaxy, we were a race beyond any in the universe, with power so great that we had to explore space in order to distract ourselves from destroying each other in egotistical battles. We were lead by five elders, they were beings of extreme power; even now I do not know if I am stronger than their weakest member was.'

These words seemed unbelievable to Frieza, but his Father's voice was sincere, and he meant every word.

'I was their lead General, charged with scouting other planets; if the inhabitants were useful or showed promise, we would enslave them, and if the populous of a planet was useless or feeble or un-evolved, then we would simply cleanse the planet, and find another use for it. We were acquiring planets at an astonishing rate, and I was scouting in a region far from home. The planet I landed on was devoid of life according to our scanners, and it should have been a routine analysis that would suggest the planets use: mining, outpost, etc. I sent members of my crew out but, after a short while, lost contact.

'I went in search of them, and as I came to the top of a crater, I looked down upon my men; laid strewn, some forty warriors, soldiers of real power, some of them even greater your own,' he nodded to Frieza, 'dead. And in the centre, standing upright and still, was a being the like of which I had never seen.'

Cold looked at his son, to make sure he was listening. Satisfied, he continued.

'I was a mix of surprise, anger, and disbelief. After a moment, I collected my thoughts and stared at this creature; his skin was pale purple, and he wore strange clothes. His ears were large, and stood out from the top of his head. I looked him square in the eyes, and my ego got the better of me. I said:

"I thought this planet was empty, but it appears our scanners are either faulty, or your strange garments allow you to avoid detection"

'He remained silent, so I continued to talk.'

"You can tell the rest of your people to come out now, if you're hoping to surprise me like you did my men, well I'm afraid I'm a very different prospect"

'I ripped my cloak off, preparing to fight; it was an act I had not partaken in for some time, but felt somewhat excited at having to exert myself, if this creature and his ilk could be considered a challenge.

'The being smiled wryly, his yellow eyes seemed to light up, and then he spoke, in a calm tone.

"General Cold, you amuse me."

'I stopped. How did this creature know my name? I shook it off, and decided I would ask him soon enough: if he lived.

'I moved across the ground without warning, throwing a huge right hand. He dodged this simply by tilting his neck.

'I stepped back. I thought I must be rusty; a complete miss was a rarity. I waded in again, with a barrage of punches, but hit nothing but air. I jumped back, gritting my teeth in frustration. This creature, whoever he was, was agitating me; he had not even taken his hands from behind his back.

'I took a breath, realising my frustration was misleading me. I straightened up, clicking my back as I did. I towered over him, a formidable wall of Polarian power; one of the strongest beings in the universe, and I was about to show him exactly what he had chosen to provoke.

"I've been approaching this all wrong," I said with a smile, "If I cannot hit you, then perhaps I will simply have to obliterate you"

'I raised my arm before him, palm open, fingers spread, and shot a powerful beam of Ki toward him. The light was blinding, the explosion shook the planet. When the dust settled, I saw the bodies of my men had been dispatched, possibly disintegrated by the explosion, the crater had increased in size, stretching as far as the eye could see. Triumphantly I smiled. But there, floating in the middle of the crater; arms behind his back, face completely unfazed, and without a mark upon him, was this creature.

'I could not find the words; either my eyes were deceiving me, or I was fighting a ghost.

"Is it my turn now?" He asked.

'I stared open mouthed at this being, but before I could find a word of retort, he'd vanished'

'Does this story have a point, Father?' Frieza asked.

'If you heed any of my words Son, it is my wish that you heed these,' said Cold, before continuing on.

"Boo"

'I swung round; the voice had come from behind me.

"What the – "

'A smile grew across the creature's face. I burst into a rage; throwing punches at him, screaming in frustration.

'I didn't land a single hit, and in the fray, suddenly, as though switching on a light, a pain erupted in my stomach; my eyes felt as though they would burst from my skull, and the air, which had recently filled my lungs– vanished. The lights went out.

Frieza looked at his father in disbelief.

Cold, reading the look, said, 'I would not tell you a tale of my only defeat, were it not for your benefit.'

'B-but, Father,' Frieza stammered, still in shock.

Cold raised his hand, indicating that it was not over.

'When I came too, I was confused. This was new to me; picking myself up off the ground, beaten and without realisation.

"I was beginning to think you were dead."

'The voice startled me, I looked up, and sitting on a boulder was this creature. I felt a flash of anger, but it was quelled quickly by an emotion I had never felt before, but recognised it as the look I had seen a billion times; etched upon the faces of inhabitants whose planets I had taken. This was fear.

"You should be proud, I haven't had to put that much effort in to a fight for some time," he said.

"Don't patronise me, creature," I snarled, my pride vanquishing the new feeling that had arisen in me.

'The creature smiled, and jumped down from his rock. He stood mere feet from me, which un-nerved me.

"Let me introduce myself, so you may address me accordingly," he said, "I'm Lord Bills: The God of Destruction."

'I felt the words hit me, dazing me. Could it be? I thought. The rumours of Gods, with power beyond comprehension had always been refuted as myth. But the facts were there; the strewn corpses of my army, I, General Cold, one of the most powerful warriors in the Galaxy was rendered immobile by nothing more than a punch.

"My purpose is to bring order to the Universe," Bills continued, "when an imbalance is present, there must be a reasserting of order. I return said order via destruction."

'I bowed my head; all ideas of revenge had diminished. I was never a believer, but at that moment, I knew he was not lying; standing before me, was a God.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"It seems you Polarians are disrupting the balance of the Universe." Bills smiled, "and I am tasked with reinstating the status-quo."

"You can't mean?"

"You Polarians are a powerful breed, but you cannot remain in a balanced universe."

"No!" I yelled "you can't, my – "

"If you hurry, you may get to see the fireworks," Bills grinned, and then he was gone.

'I flew back to my ship, got it off the ground with what crew was left, and set course back to Polar. When I arrived outside of the planet's atmosphere, the sight that greeted me was the most beautifully bitter I had ever seen. I felt numb, standing over the control panel, gazing out of the window, I watched as the planet, our home, writhed in fire; shades of red and orange slithered across the surface like mating serpents. And then, like the dying of a light bulb, it grew bright, and was gone. I gazed at the empty space where it had been, where my life had been. I had never known grief, our race was too powerful to have experienced loss, but a deep and painful feeling seemed to strangle me from the inside.

"General, sir"

'A voice broke my concentration, I turned to look; one of my crew was standing there.

"What is it?"

"Your quarters, sir, there's...erm," he could not find the words.

I walked to my quarters, I knew of only one thing it could be.

The serene face of Lord Bills greeted me.

"Not many planets have shown so much beauty in their demise," he said.

I knew it was futile. In my mind I was tearing him limb-from-limb, but truly, I was defeated.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I brought you a gift," he said, and he stepped aside.

Two small Polarians stood, scared and confused.

"Father!" They yelled, and came running toward me.

'I swooped down and embraced you both. The burning feeling of dread had been extinguished by the cool waters of joy. After a moment had passed, I stood up; you two clinging to my legs.

"Thank you," I said

'Bills smiled, and replied, "I trust you'll learn from the mistakes of your people"

I nodded.

"I'm all for Intergalactic Capitalism, but consistent Genocide upsets the balance of the Universe, and you know what that means," he smiled, but it was not in jest.

'I looked out at the vacant space where Polar had once been, and when I looked back; he was gone.'

Frieza frowned, searching his memory for the image of this God.

'You were far too young,' said Cold, 'even your brother doesn't remember.'

'Why do you tell me this father?' he asked

Cold leaned forward in his throne, and said, 'the fact that you have to ask, is my biggest concern for you Frieza.'

'But father, he destroyed our planet, should we not seek vengeance?'

'No' said Cold firmly, 'I am forewarning you not to test the power of Lord Bills. You must use your power wisely. It is why we trade in planets, and do not simply destroy the people and take what we will; unless they establish a defence of course; if you go back to the ways of our people, then destruction will be inevitable.'

Frieza nodded, though deep inside he longed to come face-to-face with this God, and crush the very life out of him.

'You must conceal your true power, Frieza.'

He looked up at his father with confusion.

'You lose control when you tap into your full potential, which could cause us a lot of trouble.'

'But father, what good is power if you cannot use it?'

'Five-percent would be adequate enough to overcome anything in the galaxy; if you should need more your transformations will provide it as necessary.'

'I will not hide my true form.'

'Then you shall remain here under my watch,' said Cold sternly.

Their eyes met, and they seemed to trade blows; the defiance of a teenager versus the will of a King.

Eventually Frieza conceded, a smile formed on his face as he said, 'as you wish, Father.'

'Very well, ready your ship. You can depart once I am satisfied with your form.'

Frieza got out of his chair and headed for the door. Cold watched him leave and could not fight the feeling that he was unleashing an uncontrollable force. He knew then that one day, for better or worse, his son would change the universe.