Chapter 9: Political Turmoil
"You can't be serious right now."
Vegetto kept his arms crossed, having only just turned his gaze down towards the wide-eyed Supreme Kai of Time, her mouth hanging open after her speech. Kassava kept a strong glare, rubbing her arm a bit while Trunks frowned a bit at the Supreme Kai's outburst. Standing around the Scroll of Eternity in the Time Vault, Whis drastically contrasted the Time Patrollers with a small smirk of amusement.
"After all he's done? All the people's he's killed and oppressed...and now you want to give him his own playground to abuse to his heart's content?!"
Vegetto nodded his head once.
"That's right."
The Supreme Kai of Time paused in the abruptness, glancing down and letting out a small scoff.
"Uh...how about...no chance in Hell?"
Vegetto kept a stern stare.
"He has potential. Surely you can understand that, given everything that has happened in our timeline."
He shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Give it some time...he'll get bored of the tyranny life now that he has nothing left to challenge his rule. For the first time in his life, there is no one to control him. No one to make him feel inferior..."
Trunks glanced down slightly as Vegetto turned his gaze towards him.
"Just like your father, when he first transformed into a Super Saiyan. All his dreams and desires come true...only to realize there's more to life and power than he could've imagined."
Whis coughed, covering his mouth with a fist.
"But Vegeta was still inferior to the androids, if I'm not mistaken."
Vegetto raised an eyebrow.
"Since when were you an expert on our history?"
Whis let out a small chuckle.
"Did you really think I'd just stand around and wait for you to fix the timestream doing nothing? This little adventure has given me the opportunity to learn about the Saiyans to use in my training. Even if I don't care too much personally, reading through the Scroll certainly was a better alternative to standing around all day."
Vegetto lowered his brow, still keeping a stern stare.
"The difference between the two is in the level of pride. Vegeta was headstrong, but he was no where near the level of Frieza. That made him more receptive to humility when the time came, while it would only enrage and raise Frieza's pride."
He uncrossed his arms.
"That's why I gave him the timeline. He needs to have that pride smolder, by allowing him to have what he's always wanted. Only then can he possibly be susceptible to change."
Whis nodded his head once.
"An astute observation."
Kassava snarled slightly, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You forgot the part about the lives being lost to help along your little pet student."
Vegetto turned his gaze towards Kassava.
"A small sacrifice if you understand what we're doing here."
Trunks kept his frown as well.
"But why? Why is his life so valuable over everyone else's? Those people don't deserve to die just to reform him."
Vegetto's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And what of those planets that your father destroyed for no reason other than his amusement? How many people died for him to realize his flaws in life?"
Trunks glanced down slightly, remaining silent in response while Vegetto continued.
"Every life he took, every planet he destroyed made him a different person. He needed that freedom, to have all the power in the world and no rules to control him. It made him who he was, and to realize the change he needed to go through once he finally met his better."
Kassava scoffed.
"A better who is willing to let billions of people die for the reformation of one?"
Vegetto nodded.
"If that one is more powerful than those billion combined, yes."
Kassava let out an exasperated chuckle, her incredulous expression causing Vegetto's stare to intensify.
"You really are serious then? From what I heard about you guys and Trunks, I thought you were heroes. Protecting the weak and saving all existence when it was threatened most?"
Vegetto shook his head once.
"It's not our place to intervene in the affairs of the timestream. Only to ensure it continues to exist."
Kassava kept her expression, silently building her rage as Trunks raised an eyebrow to speak next.
"Then what do we do now?"
Vegetto crossed his arms.
"We wait for those two manipulators to reveal themselves again. Keep up our studies and training, then deal with them when they appear once more."
Kassava grunted in frustration.
"Really? That's all we're here to do?! Sit up here on this nest and wait for something to happen when there are still billions of lives suffering from tyranny?!"
Whis' smirk grew slightly, watching the Saiyan female angrily storm past the other warriors.
"This isn't what I signed up for!"
Vegetto's expression remained unchanged, watching her leave as Whis let out a mocking chuckle.
"Such fire and compassion. It's nearly intoxicating, isn't it Vegetto?"
The fusion shook his head once.
"No. This is serious, Whis."
Whis nodded in response.
"Indeed. This no doubt ties into feelings for her brother."
Vegetto sighed lightly, uncrossing his arms and ignoring Whis' revelation.
"Trunks...what do you think of all this?"
Trunks furrowed his brow a bit, before letting out a sigh of his own.
"Look, I don't like the idea of you giving up my timestream so easily for someone as cruel and evil as Frieza. I'll never like it...it makes me angry to even think about him having free reign over all the people I originally swore to protect..."
The Saiyan glanced up, his stare locking with Vegetto's.
"But if you really think he can change...then I'll follow your lead on this one. Even if it's wrong to let all those people die...we still need to place the need of the Time Patrol over everything else."
Vegetto nodded in response, turning at the sound of the Supreme Kai's voice.
"Your job as Time Patrollers may be the most important thing here, but you still have to realize the people suffering. You can't just abandon them too."
Vegetto kept a small frown.
"Let Goku and Vegeta handle those problems. It's their timestream."
The Supreme Kai placed her hands on her hips.
"I fear those two are distancing themselves from the hero life just as much as you are. You, of all people, should know where their true hearts' desire lies."
Vegetto kept his frown, uncrossing his arms while the Kai continued.
"And you know that with all that happens in the future, they won't be able to answer the pleas for help across the entire universe."
She nodded towards the open pathway.
"They didn't answer hers."
Whis kept a small smirk, stepping forward towards the Scroll of Eternity.
"On that note, I'll take my leave. Thank you both for your work, I'll get to work on returning the others from stasis."
Vegetto perked up, staring back at a full smile from Whis.
"You're in a very good position with this Saiyan, Vegetto. It'd be a real shame for you to mess it up."
The fusion rolled his eyes in response, watching on as the attendant slowly disappeared into a bright blue light, leaving the three behind in the Time Vault. The Supreme Kai nodded towards the archway.
"Go on now. You still have a mess to fix."
Meanwhile, on a distant world across the universe...
A frozen iceland of a world tucked away in the far reaches of space had finally warmed a bit. The ice sickles dangling from a large, ornate palace began to melt and plummet down towards the large walkway leading up to the massive front steel doors. A lone humanoid, yet alien lifeform nearly identical to Frieza in appearance dodged a couple landing at his side, clearly jittery in his movements as he slowly opened the front two doors. Slipping inside, the alien quickly navigated through the hallways to the large ornate throne room.
The man kneeled down immediately on his right leg, bowing his head.
"My king, it's finished. Lord Frieza has been destroyed."
The shadowed lifeform sitting on his throne remained still, his dark tone questioning.
"And what of the Saiyans? Were they stronger than we anticipated?"
The alien kept his head bowed.
"No, my king. The Saiyans were able to transform to a level we did not anticipate, but they were still no match for our ultimate evolution. Had Frieza mastered his form, he would've destroyed them both."
The shadowed figure nodded, slowly rising out of his seat.
"The Planetary Trade Organization is in shambles, and with those two Saiyans' confirmed strength, we can begin with the first step. Assemble the Knights and inform the military to await further instruction."
The alien figure glanced up, his body trembling slightly at the fully transformed figure now hovering above him. The golden shine glowed in the small light that streaked in from the nearby window, a golden and altered version of the fifth transformation in Frieza's race as his form.
"Is it war?"
The towering figure merely nodded his head once in response.