"Listen, I get that my colors are cooler than yours, but maybe I can put in a request for you to get a change too." Kakarot said to his commanding officer, Vegeta.
It was fun to poke the Prince's buttons, because he was certain he'd always be mad about it. It was the same as playing with fire, which was much more interesting than the alternative of sitting around and watching paint dry.
Talk to some soldiers, eat some food, have his brother try and explain some mumbo jumbo like radio waves or soldering to him again. Boring! Well, eating was fun, but what was more fun than combat? He'd always loved it in every form and when he couldn't get it by fighting people on planets, then trading barbs with Vegeta was the next best thing.
Kakarot knew that the prince was already fuming mad from seeing the footage on Frieza Planet 902. The fact that someone like himself had saved Nappa and guided Raditz and Broly, it was a bit too much for the prince to handle it seemed. The Clown was at command and things went well.
However, something was amiss. The smugness on Kakarot's face started to retreat as he saw Vegeta's fuming tirade was reaching the boiling point. He could see it in his face, the veins pulsating on his forehead, the froth forming on his lips. He was reaching a point he hadn't seen since they were on Thaw.
"Okay!" Vegeta grinded out as his voice grew hysterical, "maybe I will get a uniform change. In fact, I think I'll get one for how perfectly I complete this next mission, maybe then I can become one of Frieza's little pets too!"
Soldiers, pilots, and mechanics heads turned towards the two of them as they argued, but the moment they thought Vegeta was about to see them they whipped their attention away.
"The most perfect pet monkey you've ever seen! Leading the best little band of monkeys in the world, just so long as I can outpace the Monkey King!" Vegeta slammed his palm into Kakarot's chest, shoving him so hard that he fell to the floor.
Kakarot started to stand back up, but stopped moving when he heard a familiar voice in his scouter.
"Ah ah ah," Frieza said, a playful lilt in his voice, "let him finish, this is getting good."
Vegeta stepped forward and planted his boot on Kakarot's chest, pinning him to the ground as he pointed his palm at him, crackling with violent ki energy. Measuring how much power was in the prince's hand was pointless, Kakarot could tell the danger he was in by sight and sound alone. If Vegeta wanted to, he could kill him right here and now.
"You're going back to artillery for this mission," Vegeta said, "I don't give a shit what you want and I don't care what we've agreed to. I've given you an order."
"But Vege-" Kakarot was cut off as quickly as he started as Vegeta lifted his boot up and stomped his stomach, easily bypassing what his armor was built to absorb.
"Am I clear?!" Vegeta said, his ki continuing to increase until the space around them was enveloped by his lashing purple aura.
Kakarot thought that If he increased his ki right now, he'd not only be able to block or even deflect the attack, he could start fighting Vegeta. Sure, he'd be at a disadvantage, but it wouldn't be insurmountable. If he blew up the floor underneath him, he could escape from Vegeta's boot, setting both of their positions back to neutral. He could even use his tail to yank at his ankle and try to knock him off balance, giving him a bigger window of opportunity.
But he couldn't do that just yet. Not here, not with these people watching. Not outside of the Saiyan Way.
"You're clear." Kakarot said.
Vegeta closed his hand into a fist and started reducing his ki, but just as Kakarot relaxed, it happened. Vegeta shot out two fingers pointed at the ground next to Kakarot and shouted,
"Dirty Fireworks!"
A deafening explosion rang through the hangar as the firecracker of ki went off next to Kakarot's face.
Kakarot was too slow to block the blast. He held his hand over his cheek, feeling the sharp pain of a blister forming.
"'You're clear, Prince Vegeta,'" Vegeta corrected as he lifted his boot up, "a bruise on one cheek and a burn on the other. Looks like you're all ready for our mission."
Kakarot didn't pay any mind to the prince getting onto Ginyu's ship, and instead rapidly clicked away at his scouter as he sat up. It was common for them to not be given thorough briefings, but there had to be some useful information about this mission.
Planet Throhbaq; a hyper dense city planet. Would the moon be visible? Once they knocked out the planet's power grid and blew enough buildings away, it would be impossible to not look at it.A full moon would be out the day they landed there, but with so many of them going on this mission and Vegeta being this on edge, lagging the mission behind so they could miss the full moon was probably a bad idea. Besides, he'd probably just force him to look at the artificial moon the moment they landed.
One plan scrapped, there had to be something else. He clicked through to the next page of data about the planet, he wasn't about to waste any more valuable time and potential in his life doing artillery work.
The moon had a fast rotation there, a full cycle every ten days. By the fifth the moon would be new, the phase for reinvention, the phase that Nappa always told them was a sign of revolution throughout all saiyan legends.
Kakarot gripped his fist tight as he stood. There weren't many legends around anymore and he doubted anyone would make one about him, but he wasn't about to let a legendary fight just pass him by.
If not for moments like this, why was he even living?
When Vegeta got onboard the ship, Kakarot stalked after him, measuring each of his steps to shadow behind him. As he stepped onto the ship, he saw they were all there, Vegeta was about to head to his pod, Nappa and Raditz were eating in the lounge area before they entered their sleep, and Broly was opening his pod's hatch. The Ginyus were trying to greet him, but he didn't pay them a single bit of attention, they weren't relevant for his mission.
"Vegeta," Kakarot said, not bothering to address him correctly, "I challenge you to a Prekku on Throhbaq."
Raditz stopped eating with his sandwich halfway to his mouth, Nappa was looking at him with the fury that only an enraged parent could have, and Broly was already disregarding the entire conversation and closing his pod shut. But Vegeta? Kakarot had never seen the prince's mania and joy mix so seamlessly before.
The two steadily walked towards one another, but Nappa ran in between the two of them and pressed his hands out to both of their chests in an attempt to stop them. "I don't know what the hell happened out there, but you two need to calm down! Do you have any idea how risky it is to do a Prekku while in the middle of a mission?!"
"You dare to open your mouth to me after the embarrassment you made of yourself, Nappa? Are you questioning your prince?" Vegeta asked as he kept his attention trained on Kakarot.
"N…no, Prince Vegeta. Just … please," Nappa turned to Kakarot, hoping for some reinforcement, "It can wait. We can do it when we're not on a mission. It's against tradition!"
"It's for my saiyan pride," Kakarot said, his sight never leaving Vegeta's. He could feel the thrill of the fight already, the chance to finally go all out against the prince!
Even better, Vegeta had only mentioned Frieza and his shirking of his "place". The bastard really didn't see it. All these years together and he couldn't see what he had done. What he'd been doing every single day since Vegeta killed her. Smirking only aggravated the pain of the blister on his face, but the satisfaction that this moment gave him made it barely noticeable.
"Your victory, your terms," Kakarot said.
The prince put a hand on Nappa's wrist and with the concern on his face only growing more evident with each moment, the bodyguard stepped back, releasing his grip on both of them.
Vegeta didn't miss a beat. "My term is that I'll kill you. I've had enough of your games.. Since you refuse to accept your place and yourself as the low class warrior you are, the only place you belong is as ash on the battlefield."
To his own shock, Kakarot felt something inside of him crack.
He'd practiced this moment over and over in his head for years now, but Vegeta picked that as his term? Kakarot knew the blood had gotten bad between them over the years ever since their mission on Thaw, but he wanted him dead? Why did those words hurt him? Why did he ever look up to the prince? What would it mean for them if he actually killed Vegeta?
He knew he wouldn't lose, but these were questions he'd never asked himself before. Sure Vegeta would get mad at him, he did with everyone, but outright killing him?
Growing up with Frieza, Zarbon, and Dodoria was always hard. They were so demanding, so exacting and cruel, but it was all to make him stronger. But around his second birthday, they had decided that he needed to begin his training for the saiyan squadron.
"Oh, are you about to cry?" Vegeta snickered, "eighteen years old and still crying like a damn baby. Are you thinking of the last time you tried to fight me?"
Kakarot hadn't even noticed that his eyes were misting until Vegeta said it, and he couldn't figure out why it was happening. He looked at all of them; Broly already asleep in his pod, his brother's brow growing more wrinkled with each second as he ran through every scenario to stop the two of them, Nappa's grip on both them growing tighter as if he was afraid they'd slip through is fingers, and Vegeta only going even further.
"She was already dead, and you really thought you could stop me, didn't you?" Vegeta pushed Kakarot again, and grinned as he stepped back. "You got to learn how to do a few tricks and suddenly thought you were so powerful. You're weak. You're as weak as your brother, you're as weak as your father, and you're as weak as your ancestors. You have one role, working for me. Either you accept that and back down or you finish whatever idiotic challenge you were going to make to me."
"Kill him." Kakarot heard Frieza as clear as day through his scouter, "Kill him and make him suffer. Make him realize it's your time. It's what he would do to you."
"River, that was her name, wasn't it?" Vegeta said. The enraged look in the prince's eyes was boring into him, but Kakarot could sense something different, his voice seemed to grow resigned as he said, "You're going to end up just like her. A corpse on a planet that we'll all forget after a week with no one to even say its name. Is that what you want?!"
Kakarot caught Vegeta's hand by the wrist as he went to shove him again. His face was hard and his voice was cold, he could barely tell that the words came out of his own mouth, "My term is that I take over the saiyans. I've had enough of you. The only saiyan elite on this ship is me."
The moment of silence consumed the ship.
He wanted to call his family and friends worthless? Fine. Kakarot would treat him just like any enemy before him.
"No." The two were both surprised to see that Nappa was the first to speak. His voice was so much quieter than usual, a disbelief in his tone that struggled to fit him, "This is all wrong. The Saiyan Way is to do our mission first. We can't be killing each other in the middle of a mission like a bunch of starved wild animals!"
"I won't kill him," Kakarot said, "Vegeta, I think you should live to see what it's like for us to have an actual leader."
Just as Vegeta went to throw a punch at Kakarot, Nappa shoved himself between the two again, taking the full brunt of Vegeta's blow to his back.
Kakarot heard the armor crack as he punched into Nappa's ribs, a punch that was meant to cave his own skull in. Why did Nappa take the attack? He easily could've blocked it.
"Vegeta, Kakarot," Nappa said, "There are only five of us left… Please."
Kakarot thought it was strange that Nappa was trembling, he'd seen him shrug off equally powerful attacks before.
"I'm only doing what I have to," Kakarot said.
Vegeta took his fist back. "Likewise. Now get to your pod and don't get in our way. You're dismissed, Nappa."
Kakarot watched as Nappa paused for a moment, probably weighing all of his futile options, before relenting to go to his pod.
The ship made a lurch as it exited the hangar bay. No matter how loud and obnoxious they were, the Ginyu Force wasn't one to stop a brawl from emerging, especially if it would be a good show. However, it was probably best not to start a fight to the death in the hangar bay and they had a mission to get to.
In what Kakarot thought was a bid to make sure that the fight happened on planet, Ginyu cleared his throat into his hand, blinked his beady snake eyes, and said, "Sssssssorry to interrupt this wonderful moment, but the cake in the fridge, do you all want any before our mission begins?"
The saiyans could only look at the captain in disbelief before Raditz interjected, "Yes, we all would love cake I think. Why wouldn't we want a good meal before we go on a mission?"
Kakarot knew what his brother was doing. Trying to get them to bond through food, to try and forget what they were doing. To lighten the mood before they went out, maybe even make them reconsider their Prekku. Well it wasn't going to work, he had his goal, he'd waited years for this moment, he 一一 wait. Did that cake have ice cream on it?
Vegeta rolled his eyes and Kakarot knew they were sharing the same thought..
"Nappa," the prince groaned, "you can join us for food. After that we're all going into the pods immediately."
"Broly said he was really excited to make this last night, so we might as well enjoy it," Raditz said as he carried the cake to the living room area and both groups sat down together, "it's called Baked Crasakasa, takes a really long time to make, and is extremely sweet."
"Well sssssssssssay less," Ginyu said as his tongue slithered towards the cake. Disgusted with himself, he took a finger to his tongue and pushed it back into his mouth, "apologiesssssss, this body was easssssy at firssssst but it'ssssss giving me a ha…" He paused, pondering his next words carefully, "trouble, giving me trouble. Getting a new one on this mission."
Kakarot looked at the cake and noticed it was frozen as hard as concrete. His brother was already holding a heating knife so he held his hand out.
"Mind if I do the honors?" Kakarot asked. They were the lowest ranking on the ship, so one of the two of them had to do it. However, if he got to do it, it was another easy opportunity to show off.
Raditz gave him a withering look. Of course he would, he knew just what he was about to do. But just because his brother thought what he was about to do was stupid didn't make it less fun, it usually made it much more so.
"C'mon, I'll give you a good slice," Kakarot said to his brother.
With a sigh Raditz handed his brother the knife, and Kakarot immediately infused it with his own ki.
He went as fast as he could to cut the cake. Knowing that it was less than the blink of an eye and the cake was cut perfectly, Kakarot served everyone their slices with a pride that he'd probably astounded all of them.
"Can you go a little quicker next time?" Vegeta asked, "We do have places to be."
The Ginyus got a good laugh out of the joke, but the saiyans bit their tongues.
The meal was an oddly quiet affair, aside from the sounds of loud munching there was hardly a word said.
Did Vegeta really think he was going slow? He thought that all of his preparation for this day had gone unnoticed, but maybe Vegeta really did see it. He could've even been preparing too! Kakarot's mind wouldn't stop racing at the possibilities as Vegeta's words already began to wander to the back of his mind and strategies for their fight rushed to the front.
The moment he finished eating, Kakarot got up from the table, waved the group a goodbye, and got into his pod.
"You didn't say you were going to kill him," Frieza said to him as soon as he closed his pod door.
Kakarot keyed in how long he'd need to be in sleep stasis for until he woke up. "I don't need to, Vegeta wouldn't live with himself if I beat him. You didn't know that?"
Frieza's laugh was slow and wicked. "Oh my! What type of monster have I made? Sometimes I have my doubts, but I think you and I are truly cut from the same cloth."
"Cloth? What are you talking about? We're both from the same ship."
After a moment of silence on Frieza's end, he replied, "We both enjoy a good game."
"Oh," Kakarot said, "I guess fighting is kinda like a game."
"Sometimes your short-sightedness makes me jealous, Kakarot. A game is whatever brings you joy. You like making enemies and I like watching them writhe. Considering how often those two interests line up, I'd say we make a good pair. Good luck on the mission. Make sure to have as much fun with the prince as you can. I look forward to watching the replays."
"Oh I'm sure he'll give me plenty of fun,"
"Oh, and do remember to keep your scouter intact? It's much easier to see what happened when your scouter actually survives an encounter."
"Will do," Kakarot said, and never once considered doing anything different than he had been doing on oh so many missions before this. He turned on his pod's sleep accelerant, entered a deep slumber, and the pod's stasis function automatically activated.
"Brother, it's not that you're not strong enough to learn it. We just didn't get the right training. We're low class. It's okay! Please stop crying!"
"You're not weak. You're just weak now!"
Her house burns. It burns until it's dust. It burns until it'll be paved over with a military base.
The hatch on Kakarot's pod flew open as Raditz tugged it open.
"Brother, did you do the math wrong again?" Raditz said.
"O…Oh yeah, my mistake," Kakarot said as he wiped his brow. Why was he having a dream about that now?
Raditz quieted his voice as he said, "Are you alright? You're sweating. Vegeta told us about you doing artillery today. Everything is going to be okay. We're not children anymore."
"I know that," Kakarot said, failing to hide the annoyance in his voice, "let's just get this over with."
When he climbed out of his pod, he saw that the other three were already waiting on him as well. They must've had their stasis end before they landed, what a bunch of worry warts.
They were standing on a dark street. The pollution of both the street lights and smog made it difficult to see the sky, and skyscrapers of steel and glass went for as far as the eye could see.
"Alright artillery, line up. This is probably the last time we're going to see or hear from each other until the Prekku," Vegeta said.
"Why?" Kakarot said, but realized as he spoke. His scouter didn't work anymore, it was just a green tinted piece of glass on his face.
"Ghost planet," Vegeta said, "Couldn't sense any life on it and as soon as we landed the scouters started going haywire. Whoever we're dealing with is obviously technologically advanced, but we'll deal with that the same way we always do."
"If we don't find the jammers and destroy them first," Raditz said, "It should at least be very easy to find where you are. Your path will be a good reference point."
"Just try and keep up with me," Kakarot said, "I don't wanna make you guys look too slow."
He smiled at the group to calm his nerves. His brother returned the smile, and then put his head down as the rest of the squad did the same.
Realizing that he wouldn't be able to communicate with the squadron via their scouters until the jammers were destroyed, Kakarot checked his scouter for any last messages. Unsurprisingly, there was one from Frieza, telling him that the Ginyu Squadron would arrive on the planet after their Prekku.
"Hey, why is the Ginyu Squadron showing up so late?" Kakarot asked.
Nappa was the first to speak up, "The Ginyu Squad is showing up? My intel says they're going to wait on the ship until we come back."
"Oh." Shit, that wasn't what Kakarot was expecting, but he looked over the message again. It was only sent directly to him. Frieza was already treating him like the new captain before the fight had even begun.
"Kakarot," Vegeta said, "shut up and look at the damn moon."
One way or another, his squadron was going to see what he'd been working on all these years. Kakarot looked up as Vegeta formed the artificial moon and tossed it into the sky.
He felt the heat swell within him, his eyes strain as his organs expanded and his muscles ripped. WIth a blood curdling scream he transformed into an oozaru, his mind was consumed by his instinct, and the planet of Throhbaq was subjected to the wrath of saiyan nature.