For what would surely be a historical march in the years to come, Vegeta still had to admit that the trip to Planet Chilled had been rather boring so far.
Although the shuttle was spacious and packed with luxurious amenities fit for a man of King Cold's royal stature, one luxury that the ship's tremendous speed unfortunately precluded was the existence of an autopilot. Vegeta supposed it made sense: a man like King Cold could rely on the help for such things, just as Vegeta would once he took the dead king's throne. For now, however, rest wasn't an option: he was going to have to pilot the ship the entire time. Staying awake for two days straight wasn't anything new to Vegeta, but it did mean that the trip was rather monotonous, nothing but hours and hours of gorgeous open space zipping past his field of vision too quick for him to really take in its beauty. Whenever his mind began to wander from his task, he forced himself not to think about the memories that kept coming to him unbidden, even though they were memories that weren't even his to begin with.
He didn't want to think about how tempted he had been by the life that Future Vegeta had presented to him. He was a conqueror, a warrior, a king! He was not so weak as to allow himself to become the man he saw in those visions, a disgrace to his Saiyan heritage, friend to his worst enemies! The idea that his future self had found love and had children of his own with a human, let alone one as vain and disagreeable as Bulma Briefs, was absolutely ridiculous! Sure, under pain of death, Vegeta might admit to himself that the woman was attractive. And sure, he would need an heir in order to ensure that his empire endured, and the genetic compatibility between their species made her a better match than most by default. But even so, a woman like her wasn't fit to be anything to him, let alone the queen of his new empire! No, it would simply have to be-!
Vegeta paused. It couldn't be a Saiyan, could it? Not anymore. Not after what Frieza did.
Even with the recall order Frieza sent out, Vegeta knew there had to be at least a few stragglers: others like his squadron who couldn't or wouldn't return home for whatever reason. His brother Tarble had been sent on assignment and hadn't returned by the time Planet Vegeta was destroyed, so Vegeta at least assumed that he was still alive. He also knew that part of that recall order had included prohibiting any new training missions, but Kakarot being sent to Earth meant it wasn't impossible that one or two others slipped through the cracks on the day his planet died. Still, the odds of a Saiyan woman around his age having escaped and being alive after all this time were slim to none, and even if there was such a woman, there simply weren't enough Saiyans of either gender left to rebuild a viable population. Although Vegeta longed to form an empire that would be a spiritual successor to his father's kingdom, one built upon the ashes of his enemies' dominion, he knew in his heart that such a dream was not possible. It would be a "Saiyan Empire" in name only, a pale shadow of what he once had been promised before Frieza's paranoia ripped it all away from him in an instant. His dreams were, ultimately, foolhardy.
Unless...unless he came to believe in a far-fetched legend of his own.
Vegeta had known of the history of his people from the moment he was born. His father had spared no detail of the violence that had occurred on their former homeworld, Planet Sadala, nor was he reluctant to tell Vegeta of the hardships that followed as the victors of that destructive conflict searched for a new planet to rule the proper way and founded the kingdom he was due to inherit. He had been told that the Saiyans on the losing side were physically strong, but mentally weak, bleeding hearts who lacked the drive to conquer that all true Saiyans ought to possess. It was for this reason that, although their leader had displayed godlike power as the Legendary Super Saiyan, they were bested and seemingly destroyed. Vegeta had readily accepted his father's version of events as a child, but now, in the position he was in...he had to wonder whether a handful of those righteous Saiyans had escaped Planet Sadala's destruction just as his ancestors had. There was no evidence to support such a conclusion, but if he was right, if they had survived to this day, then-
"I could do it," he muttered breathlessly to himself. "I could rebuild the Saiyan race."
Vegeta knew he mustn't get too carried away with this line of thinking. He had every reason to believe that the Saiyans of Planet Vegeta were the only ones left. Frieza's supreme arrogance notwithstanding, another Saiyan planet would be rather hard to miss given how the Frieza Force had charted almost the entirety of the known universe. On the other hand, this remarkable feat did not mean that there were no gaps in the empire's knowledge: how little they knew about Earth and Namek was proof enough of that. Many planets like those two had been remotely observed or were colloquially known through interactions with other species that had made contact with their denizens, but still had yet to be visited by anyone in the Frieza Force. There were not many such candidates remaining, but Vegeta swore that he would order his new subordinates to look into the matter as soon as he had taken power, along with searching for his brother Tarble and any other stragglers from Planet Vegeta they could find.
Of course, even assuming that a second Saiyan planet existed, Vegeta knew that they would almost certainly want no part in his Saiyan empire. If they were anything like their ancestors, the descendants of those sentimental fools would view him as a villain who must be stopped by any means necessary. Vegeta pondered this for a moment before shaking his head. Saiyan or not, he would tolerate no defiance, and although the potential for these hypothetical Saiyans to match him in power was certainly there...Vegeta had an idea of how to take care of that before it could become a problem. The resources of his new empire would be vast indeed, and with the best scientific minds in the galaxy at his disposal, Vegeta was confident that they could find whatever it was that allowed for his glorious transformation...and remove it, once and for all.
A low-class outlier like Kakarot would never rise from the shadows and ruin his plans again. Not if Vegeta had anything to say about it.
Having thus distanced himself from reflecting on those insidious memories by focusing instead on his glorious future, Vegeta continued flying onwards, the computer helpfully informing him that he was mere hours away from arriving at Planet Chilled and setting his plans into motion.
Hours away from being crowned as king.
"The Ginyu Force must be hunted down at once! What are we standing around here for?!"
The indignant cry, uttered by a diminutive blue-skinned man with a rather oval-shaped head and wearing a matching blue scouter over his eye, was met with an eye roll by a far more formidable figure standing across from him at the Frieza Force's impromptu war council. She was a red-skinned woman with pure white hair tied back in a ponytail, a woman whose muscular build and calculating gaze denoted both her brains and her brawn in equal measure.
"And how do you suggest we accomplish this, Sorbet?" the woman asked with skepticism in her voice, causing the man to rear back as if struck. "Sure, we can track down the vessel using its onboard homing beacon, but at this point, Jeice, Recoome, and that B-class friend of theirs are all far more formidable than any of the warriors we have available to face them at the moment. We could have sent the Armored Squadron after them, but of course, their honor demanded they go on a wild Whittler chase across the universe in pursuit of Vegeta to avenge Lord Cooler." At this, another figure, a small man with yellow skin and a somewhat slug-like appearance spoke up to add on to Bonyu's observations with an air of scientific authority.
"Thus, we have been left with the unenviable task of trying to maintain the empire's current borders in the absence of anyone with the kind of strength we've historically required to do so," he pointed out, prompting Bonyu to nod in agreement as the head scientist continued. "At this point, the Ginyu Force should be considered a lost cause, and as long as the Armored Squadron are not around to bully me into submission, I must confess that I'd rather not leave the affairs of the galaxy's grandest empire to be handled by whatever shortsighted fools happen to possess the highest power level. Sheer strength alone will not be enough for us to retain our holdings in the wake of our disastrous losses." At this, Sorbet spoke up, having regained his composure after being put in his place twice in rapid succession.
"Well, I couldn't agree more, Kikono! I think that we can all agree that I am the one most qualified to be elevated to the position of leader!" The blue alien smirked as he expected the others to quickly fall in line, just as the long-necked Tagoma and the demonic Shisami did, only to become crestfallen as the others disagreed. Strenuously.
"Of course, just because sheer strength alone is not enough does not mean that it is not appreciated," Kikono added on, smirking as he watched Sorbet squirm. "For that reason, I would personally nominate Bonyu for leadership, as I believe that her power and tactical acumen will prove instrumental towards combating this recent wave of defections." At this, the woman smiled slightly.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, Doctor," she said, likewise enjoying the sight of Sorbet's face falling even further as several more figures made their opinions known.
"Honestly, sir, I wouldn't mind either way, but the little squirt makes a good point," the gorilla-like Garana remarked, to Kikono's chagrin.
"Yeah, I got way more confidence in her than in a little blue shrimp like you," one of the Frieza Force's latest hires, a formidable mercenary by the name of Chidoru, remarked off-handedly as Sorbet sputtered in an attempt to defend himself. So distracted was he that he failed to notice Berryblue arriving late to the war council, an unusual occurrence that seemed to be happening more and more often in this period of uncertainty for the Frieza Force.
"Apologies for my tardiness; private communique," Berryblue explained, still believing it to be wise not to discuss her continued communications with the presumably exiled Friga, much less the existence of her son Kuriza. Although having a living heir to the Cold family and a consort who could rule as regent until he came of age would solve many of the empire's problems, there were still certain risks that came with making such knowledge public in this uncertain time. What she had just overheard as she entered the room was proof enough that she still needed to be cautious: the Armored Squadron had been gone for perhaps a week, and the remaining senior officers were already discussing who best to take their place as the new leaders of the Frieza Force. She couldn't help but sigh inwardly at their impulsiveness. It wasn't like the Armored Squadron were dead-
"And apologies for my tardiness," a new voice interjected, one which caused the old aide's blood to run cold as she recognized just who that voice belonged to. Indeed, as the others turned around to see who dared to intrude upon their meeting, they too were met with the sight of none other than Prince Vegeta of the Saiyans, now sporting the same golden hair which satellite imagery had observed the masked killer of Lord Cooler to possess. Although he was noticeably tired as a result of his journey, the former prince was nonetheless able to stun them all into silence, albeit by taking advantage of being identical to the man who had actually earned their apprehension. Vegeta sneered at the mixture of reactions from the officers assembled, ranging from absolute terror on the parts of Sorbet and Kikono to cautious judgment on the parts of Bonyu and the other warriors. Deciding to make those who doubted his power reconsider their position, he added on a particularly sinister line for them to contemplate. "I was busy taking out the trash." As the group weighed the implications of just who and what he was referring to, Berryblue attempted to be as civil as possible.
"W-welcome to Planet Chilled, Prince Vegeta," she began, attempting to be cordial by referring to the prince by his proper title, only for Vegeta to interrupt her with a chuckle.
"Not quite," he replied, smirking as he watched the moment that he had been waiting for his entire life play out right before his eyes. "As of this moment...you will all bow before me as King." At his announcement, most of the soldiers assembled had the common sense to remain silent and refuse to object to what was happening before them. One of these soldiers was far less wise.
"Now hold on just a moment, just who in the hell do you think you are-?!" he asked before suddenly finding himself face-to-face with the Saiyan usurper and having his neck snapped with such speed that all of the others assembled could perceive the act only as the briefest flash of motion before the outraged soldier was left dead at Vegeta's feet. Satisfied that he had made his point, Vegeta turned back to Berryblue expectantly, and the elderly woman had the most unpleasant feeling of deja vu come over her as she knelt before her new king with only a second's hesitation.
"I...I bow before you, King Vegeta. Long live the new Saiyan Empire!" At this proclamation, the other senior officers assembled quickly got the memo and followed Berryblue's lead, kneeling before Vegeta and repeating her words.
"Long live the new Saiyan Empire!" they cried out almost simultaneously, with each of their declarations of servitude to his new regime sounding like music to his ears.
Vegeta could get used to this.
"Alright, that's enough; we can arrange my coronation later. What's the situation?" the newly-crowned king asked, expecting an answer to be delivered quickly. True to his expectations, Bonyu spoke up, having recovered from the shock of Vegeta's display of power quicker than most.
"Well, um, my king, in the aftermath of King Cold and Lord Cooler's deaths, twenty planets have defected from the empire and are thus considered to be in active rebellion. Preliminary intelligence from loyal agents throughout the empire suggests that at least a dozen more may follow suit in the coming weeks, depending on our response. It was decided that King Cold's flagship, left under the command of the Ginyu Force, would be sent to bring these rebelling planets under heel. However, all contact with the ship was lost after a distress signal placed the ship on a different heading, leaving our soldiers almost certainly dead and the ship's experimental gravity chamber in the hands of three rogue mercenaries who have, if recent communiques are to be believed, recently defected to the Galactic Patrol." Vegeta nodded, satisfied with Bonyu's summary of events and curious about a number of things.
"A gravity chamber, you say?"
"Yes, my lord, constructed based on...intelligence we gathered regarding a similar device on the planet Earth," Bonyu remarked, unsure how to explain exactly how they had gotten that information to Vegeta. "It was designed to simulate gravitational pressures of up to three hundred times standard planetary gravity." At this, Vegeta chuckled, already seeing an opportunity.
"I see, very good! Your report on my new empire's status is noted and recognized, miss...?" Vegeta began, waiting for Bonyu to remind him of her name.
"Bonyu, my lord. Former member of the Ginyu Force. I believe we met at an intergalactic banquet held here years ago, to celebrate the Frieza Force acquiring five hundred planets." Vegeta smirked, having placed where he had seen her before and growing bold with his new position.
"Ah, yes, now I remember. You caught my eye back in the day, you know," he remarked, eliciting a chuckle from the imposing warrior as the rest looked on rather confused.
"Is that so? Well...perhaps you will prove to be worthy of my attention," Bonyu replied, testing to see just how much she could get away with. Vegeta laughed at the woman's audacity.
"Ohoho, excellent! I can certainly appreciate a challenge," he said, holding Bonyu's gaze for a moment before moving to more important matters. "But before we go any further with that, tell me: what did you think of Captain Ginyu's posing and showboating when you served under him?" At this, Bonyu smirked, well aware that there was no love lost between Vegeta and the Ginyu Force.
"I could not stand it, my lord," Bonyu answered, having an idea of just why Vegeta asked.
"Splendid!" Vegeta exclaimed before turning to Chidoru, Garona, Sishami, and Tagoma. "You four! As of this moment, you have all been reassigned from whatever your current assignments are and placed under a new elite squadron under Bonyu's command! If I see any of you doing those ridiculous poses that Captain Ginyu and his men were known for on the field of battle, I'll kill you myself." At this, the four soldiers balked before standing at attention with apprehension in their eyes.
"Sir, yes sir!" they all cried out in unison as they saluted their new king, causing him to grin before he glanced around at the handful of other people assembled.
"And you there!" he said, gesturing towards Sorbet. "Of the twenty currently rebelling planets...which one is the most important, would you say?" Left even more panicked at the fact that his two most trusted servants had been stripped from him with a single order, Sorbet was far too slow to respond for Vegeta's liking, only spitting out the answer when the Saiyan king glared at him.
"Um, ah, Frieza Planet 79 would be the most important one, I'd say!" Sorbet hastily replied, causing Vegeta to nod and think to himself for a moment.
"Hm, going to have to come up with a different naming scheme for my new planets. Keeping their numbers is easier for the purposes of cross-referencing with old imperial data, but 'Vegeta Planet So-and-So' seems a touch derivative of the prior management, wouldn't you say?" Vegeta asked the war council and the assembled soldiers, who all quickly signaled their agreement, while Bonyu seemed to have an idea of how to fix that minor problem.
"Perhaps 'Saiyan Planets' would be a more appropriate descriptor, my lord," Bonyu suggested. "To better tie this new empire to the history and accomplishments of your people...and to remind its subjects of who their new master is, along with what he is capable of should they continue to elect to step out of line." Vegeta grinned at Bonyu's idea, just as she anticipated.
"Yes, that will do quite nicely, my dear. Now then, Bonyu Force! Your first assignment will be to put down the rebellion on Saiyan Planet 79," Vegeta remarked with a smirk, loving the ring to the new name already. "See to it that the planet is wiped clean of any deserters. You are authorized to make use of my private shuttle and will depart tomorrow, once I have made certain arrangements with my new aides." Vegeta's smirk grew wider as Berryblue did her best to mask her displeasure, while Kikono trembled in fear. Bonyu smirked in turn as she registered her new orders.
"It will be done, my lord," she remarked in a similar tone before exiting the room with her newly-assembled Bonyu Force subordinates in tow. Sorbet, meanwhile, was left rather confused.
"King Vegeta, if I may, what of the other planets? Can we truly be certain that reconquering one will bring the rest in line?" Sorbet asked nervously, only to be silenced by Vegeta's chuckling.
"Perhaps it won't, but it will at least send a message to those planets foolish enough to consider following in their footsteps," Vegeta reasoned. "And as for the other worlds already out of the fold...leave them. If they don't realize their error after Saiyan Planet 79 burns, a few years of ineffectual rule under the pitiful Galactic King or whatever pathetic planetary governors see themselves as the next Frieza will send them running to us with tears in their eyes, begging for our forgiveness. In any case, I simply cannot afford to devote our resources towards putting down more bothersome revolts...not for what I have planned." At this cryptic comment, Sorbet was left even more confused, and dared to ask one more question at the risk of trying his new king's patience.
"And, um, how do I fit into these plans of yours, my lord?" he asked hopefully, trying to think of some way by which he could earn greater status for himself under the new regime. Vegeta chuckled further as he beheld the blue-skinned man practically groveling at his feet, desperate for recognition. Having the boot on the other foot certainly had its perks.
"You...can see to it that I have a new gravity chamber by tomorrow morning," he answered snidely, leaving the smaller man to wallow in disappointment and fear while Vegeta turned to the only officers remaining in the room, with Berryblue electing to speak for both herself and Kikono.
"And what of us, King Vegeta?" she asked, causing Vegeta to pause before responding.
"Trust me: I have a far more crucial assignment in store for you two."
"You want us to do what?!"
This shocked exclamation from Berryblue did nothing to help Vegeta's growing dislike of her. Although she had been the quickest to accept his rule and the most glowing in her praise of his capabilities, Vegeta sensed that she remained loyal to the old regime underneath all her brownnosing, and she was clearly far craftier than fools like Sorbet. He had to be careful around her.
"It can't really be called the 'Saiyan Empire' with only one Saiyan in it, now can it?" Vegeta responded coyly as Berryblue continued, with Kikono unwilling to speak up for the moment.
"But my lord, between Planet Vegeta's destruction and the loss of your subordinates, there could only be a scattered few Saiyans left!" Berryblue argued, doing her best to conceal the fear in her voice from Vegeta's detection and largely succeeding. "Certainly not enough to establish any kind of proper governing force, much less a viable breeding population!"
Vegeta smirked. "Indeed. I had once hoped to supplement my empire's numbers by using the humans of Earth, who are almost 100% genetically compatible with my people, but alas...I now see that that plan was rather shortsighted." Berryblue was unable to disguise her horror this time; a planet that could produce near-perfect Saiyan hybrids was a terrifying prospect, and Vegeta relished in watching her try and fail to hide her fear. "Considering that it was a low-class hybrid child who felled Raditz, pathetic though the man may have been, I thought it best to abandon that plan. Having an army of children with royal blood in their veins would lead to complications down the road that I would prefer to avoid if possible. As such...that is what you and Dr. Kikono are for," he explained, at which point the new Saiyan Empire's top scientist decided to speak up, albeit hesitantly.
"M-my lord, with all due respect, my expertise is primarily in the field of weapons research," he explained, to which Vegeta regarded him impassively. "If I am understanding you correctly, sir, you-you wish for me to analyze your physiology to determine the biological markers of this 'Super Saiyan' transformation you've achieved, but if I may be so bold as to offer a suggestion, perhaps you would be better off consulting someone else-?"
"You designed the medical machines, did you not?" Vegeta interrupted, to which Kikono stammered out a response that he hoped was inoffensive to his new lord.
"I-I refined the initial design put forth by my colleagues, yes, but that's hardly the same-!"
"You're a smart man, doctor, I'm sure you can figure it out," Vegeta said dismissively, waving him off with a hand. "The simple fact is that, once we have found a way to rebuild the Saiyan population, it is imperative that you find out what facets of our biology could allow for any of my people to achieve this glorious transformation of mine...and find a way to remove them from the rabble without exception." The room fell deathly silent at this statement, allowing Vegeta to elaborate. "Only those of my own royal blood shall possess this power. I will allow no one else the opportunity to overthrow me, especially no malcontents among my own people. I will not let what happened to Planet Sadala happen again...not as long as I am King." Although neither of them were aware of what exactly he was referencing, Vegeta made it clear that there would be no further questions. "No more excuses, doctor. Get it done." At this, Kikono hastily offered him a salute.
"Of course, my lord!" he said before leaving the room, leaving him and Berryblue alone.
"Well, I'm certain I can track down any stragglers who survived the destruction of Planet Vegeta based on old imperial records, but my concerns still remain valid, my lord," Berryblue argued. "How do you propose to augment the Saiyan population?" At this, Vegeta chuckled.
"By way of an answer, allow me to tell you a story," Vegeta replied, to which Berryblue struggled not to roll her eyes as Vegeta narrated the legends he had been taught as a child. "As an aide of Frieza's, I trust you are naturally familiar with the Legendary Super Saiyan. However, what is less well known is that his ascension came about as the result of a great internal conflict on our original homeworld, Planet Sadala. After a great battle, he was nonetheless killed and the planet destroyed, leaving my ancestors adrift in the stars. Those ruthless Saiyan warriors eventually claimed Planet Plant from the Tuffles and renamed it as Planet Vegeta, beginning the proud noble regime that lives on in me. However...there is the possibility, however remote or unsubstantiated, that some of that mighty fool's followers also escaped Planet Sadala's destruction...and have survived to this day as well, having found a world of their own." At this, Berryblue scoffed in disbelief.
"Even assuming that this was the case, how could they have possibly avoided our detection for so long? I could accept the empire choosing to ignore a couple of unimportant stragglers from Planet Vegeta, but the possibility of another Saiyan planet could not have been ignored so easily!" Vegeta chuckled in response to Berryblue's objection, causing her to bristle somewhat.
"A valid argument, but considering that Frieza never even bothered to hunt down the rest of my people after Planet Vegeta's destruction, I find it far more likely that he was either unaware of the possibility or simply dismissed it as being impossible, if only to save himself the effort of proving the idea wrong," Vegeta countered. "In any event, I am not as foolish as he was, and so your orders are to conduct a survey of uncharted space and track down every last Saiyan in the universe. I expect results by the time the Bonyu Force returns from Saiyan Planet 79; I will allow no delays." Berryblue paused to grasp the full extent of her new assignment before voicing the question that had been at the back of her mind since Kikono left.
"And if I have found nothing, King Vegeta?" Berryblue asked, to which Vegeta glared at her.
"Let me put it to you this way, Berryblue. Your usefulness to me is predicated on whether or not you are prepared to utilize your noted cleverness and connections for me...or against me. If you fail in the task that I have given you, or if you choose to use your considerable talents to try and orchestrate my downfall, I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?" Vegeta threatened, taking advantage of their sizable height difference. Berryblue looked at him with determination hidden behind her outwardly placating eyes, already plotting just such a scheme in her head even as she held up her obedient facade and acquiesced for the time being.
"Perfectly...my lord."
Having finally been given a chance to rest, Vegeta had to admit that there was one thing he could thank King Cold for: the privacy of his royal suite.
"Well~," Bonyu remarked playfully to his right, lying comfortably underneath the covers of the king's appropriately-sized bed. "I think it's safe to say that my expectations have been most thoroughly met...my King~." Vegeta sighed happily at that, although he was nonetheless quick to clarify something to his new consort.
"Much as I still love the sound of those words, particularly in that delightful tone, I think it has been well established that you need not refer to me by any sort of title," Vegeta said, earning him an exclamation of surprise and appreciation from the red-skinned warrior next to him.
"Well, that's certainly a relief," she replied, stretching her arms slightly to work out some residual soreness. "You must forgive me, Vegeta, but from what I'd heard of you during our time in the Frieza Force, a part of me was worried you'd be frustratingly...traditional about what you were looking for in a partner. Those of royal blood tend to be the type, after all." Vegeta chuckled. He knew from personal experience that she was hardly wrong about that.
"Oh, believe me, I know. My mother was more of a diplomat and a party planner than any sort of hardened warrior. My father took her as his queen solely because of her beauty and her noble lineage. Unlike him, I can appreciate a woman of strong body and will, and I knew as soon as I laid eyes on you all those years ago that you were as cunning and strong as you were beautiful." At this, Bonyu let out a genuine laugh. She knew at this point that she had been correct in jumping on the opportunity Vegeta represented, once it had been presented in more advantageous circumstances.
"My, my, you have been quite unexpectedly charming, my dear," she said in that same playful tone as before. "Did you possess such qualities back then as well, or should I thank your newfound power for this change in your demeanor?" Vegeta laughed as well, and he was about to offer some other witty response to her question when he actually stopped to think about it for a moment.
He hadn't been this charming all those years ago. He knew that for a fact.
He had been with women on a few occasions before Bonyu had caught his eye, but they had been little more than fellow soldiers of equal standing with whom he had coincidentally shared an assignment over the past ten years. The arrangements with them had been rather clinical and detached, much like how one might conduct a business transaction, even if there were no credits involved. They were nothing more than relationships of convenience for both parties, picked up on a whim and abandoned without a thought once circumstances resulted in their physical separation. He never kept in touch with any of these women, let alone remembered much about them beyond names, faces, and...certain other qualities. Besides, it was a rare woman in the Frieza Force who would be willing to engage in such activities with a Saiyan, let alone consider forming an actual relationship with them. He'd long dismissed the kind of equal partnership that he had found himself in now as an impossibility. No woman would ever want a prince without a kingdom, a man without a world. He would simply have to make himself more than a homeless brigand in order for such a future to be possible, he had reasoned back then. And now, lying here in the bed of the man whose family had taken everything from him, Vegeta knew that he had done just that and more.
Bonyu was legitimately interested in him, even if that interest was at least partially motivated by some desire of hers to rise above her station as a mere mercenary. And Vegeta, as he had so brazenly admitted mere hours before, was legitimately interested in her. Her beauty was a factor, of course, but her strength and wit were what really drew him in. He had never liked socializing or even talking with people about anything other than his ambitions and his enemies' inevitable demise at his hands. And yet, in spite of this, talking with Bonyu about utter banality and swapping amusing stories from their time in the Frieza Force had felt...pleasant. Natural. He had initially planned to lay with her as soon as his work establishing his new regime was finished, and yet he nonetheless found himself spending almost two hours wining and dining her beforehand, with no particularly pressing desire to move things along. In the end, it was Bonyu who finally brought up the subject and guided him to bed, something that had certainly made him ask a few questions about himself in the quiet moments since. He wondered: what had happened to him to cause this sudden change in his demeanor? What had made him act this way when, before he came here, he wasn't remotely like-
A memory from someone else's life flashed before his eyes, a memory of that Bulma woman laughing at some ridiculous joke that he had made...and Vegeta's blood went cold.
Was that it? Was that the source of his new behavior? Was everything he had done in his relationship with Bonyu, everything he wanted to do in his relationship with Bonyu, nothing more than some subconscious desire to build for himself a similar life to the one that his counterpart had led in that alternate future he had come from?
He tried to refute it at first. Bonyu and this 'Bulma' woman couldn't be more different in both appearance and bearing. One was a hardened warrior with no line she wouldn't cross in the pursuit of her goals; the other was a weak inventor whose parents had spoiled her rotten enough that she continued to remain utterly obnoxious even in adulthood. It was no contest which of the two Vegeta preferred. And yet, as he thought about it more, he came to realize that they did in fact have some similarities, similarities as evident as they were disconcerting. They might look different from each other and act differently from each other, but they were both intelligent, and they were both beautiful...and they were both strong-willed. The only thing that remained to be seen about Bonyu with regards to these similarities was whether she too would succeed in making him want to marry her, just as Bulma had succeeded in making his future self take such a step.
Judging from what he was already contemplating so soon in this partnership, if only to help facilitate his hold over the empire as quickly as he could, the answer to that question was "yes."
"Vegeta? Are you alright?" Bonyu asked, startling Vegeta out of his introspection.
"Hm? Ah, yes, I am, uh, quite well," Vegeta replied, seeking to reassure her for reasons he didn't want to admit to himself. "I was simply wondering if you wished to, ah, go again, as it were." As he had hoped for, Bonyu chuckled and seemed to have dismissed his long period of silence as nothing to be concerned about. She turned onto her side so that she could face him directly, placing a hand on his exposed chest as she did so.
"Well, I'm certainly willing if you are, but before we start testing our limits any further, I do have some questions about this...arrangement," Bonyu began, making Vegeta nervous. This was exactly the sort of conversation that his newfound concerns left him completely unprepared for. Nevertheless, he did his best to play it off so that she wouldn't grow suspicious.
"Ah, yes, naturally!" he said quickly. "By all means, my dear, ah, ask away." Fortunately for him, she did nothing more than look at him more closely for a second before proceeding.
"Well, forgive me for making another rude assumption, but I had wondered whether or not you would be open to...publicly having a mate who was from another species," she admitted, chuckling to herself as she continued. "You made your intentions fairly clear in the meeting hall, but I suspected you were merely riding the high of your newfound position and would change your mind about such things once the hour of your ascension had passed. As such, I would plainly ask you: am I to be your concubine, sharing you with a woman taken from what remains of your own kind...or your queen, ruling openly alongside you with all of the benefits that such a title entails?" At this pointed question, Vegeta gulped nervously, causing Bonyu to laugh under the assumption that he was worried he had offended her somehow. "I would have you know I am willing to entertain either option, although I would ask that our relationship be kept public regardless. I take no offense to you selecting a Saiyan woman to be the mother of your children, but I do take offense to the prospect of being seen as no more than an enterprising harlot whom you have your way with under the cover of darkness. I will not be viewed as a woman who achieved her station solely through her beauty and her...prowess, without any need for the strength and intelligence that has been paramount to my lifetime of success. I trust that you can understand that."
With her somewhat bemused smile and the half-lidded look in her eyes, Vegeta was left absolutely speechless. On paper, there was every possible incentive for him to make Bonyu his queen immediately. Although hardly the best outcome, he could already think of no one better suited to steward his empire at the moment, assuming the worst happened to him before he could produce a worthy heir. There would be no purists who would object to him taking on a non-Saiyan queen, seeing as there were currently no other Saiyans in his empire that would be upset about such a thing. If anything, taking on Bonyu as queen would be a political advantage for Vegeta, given her pre-existing status within the old regime and the fact that it would demonstrate his willingness to rule over the other species of the empire without prejudice. Vegeta wasn't about to repeat the mistakes that the Cold family had made in treating his people as inferior and giving them every possible reason to grow strong enough to seek their downfall. Vegeta would never be a kind ruler, certainly, but he would not be needlessly cruel, at least not towards loyal subjects.
The longer that he looked into the eyes of his new lover, the more Vegeta derided himself over how foolish he had been for worrying. His future self could rot in his grave or disappear back to his own time for all that Vegeta cared. Taking on a highly capable woman as his partner and equal did not mean he would become anything like that sanctimonious fool, nor would exercising a calculated degree of restraint in his rule be the first step on a road to righteousness. He was his own person with his own thoughts and the power to shape his own destiny, no matter how much certain memories of domestic bliss lingered in his head.
He would not be some simpleton who played with other people's children or bent over backwards to the whims of his capricious wife. He would devote the rest of his rule towards expanding his new empire until it stretched across the entirety of the universe. He would transform his people from a near-mythical race on the brink of extinction to the dominant species of the galaxy with settlements on every world. And when he finally died of old age, left in the company of those few who deserved the honor of being with him in his final moments, he would pass on his great work to the worthy heir his efforts produced. With luck, Bonyu would survive to see that momentous occasion, to know that she had been crucial in shaping both the birth and the endurance of an empire greater than any before seen. Her smile would be the last pleasant thing he witnessed before his spirit was pulled into the fire below...and it would be enough.
"Of course, my dear, but worry not," Vegeta said smoothly. "I can think of no woman I would rather have ruling the universe at my side." With that, Bonyu's smile grew into a full grin, and she happily reciprocated as Vegeta pulled her in for a surprisingly tender kiss. This single kiss quickly escalated into more, as the rest of the empire remained thankfully unaware of the pair's activities behind closed doors and soundproof walls.
Activities which, in turn, left them unaware of trouble brewing not that far away.
"Oh, come now, I just know there must be something I can work with in here!"
As Berryblue muttered to herself within the relative silence of her private quarters, she found herself stewing in indignation. Cooler's usurping of the throne had been bad enough, but even for his unforgivable treachery and the threat he would have posed to her beloved Friga, he was at least a member of the royal family she served. She had been willing to tolerate his rule on that basis, if only because she alone knew that his father planned to get his retribution later on. And yet, to think that the arrogant monkey prince had actually become powerful enough to kill them both! It made her blood boil like nothing else. As if that wasn't already horrible to contemplate, as if to add even further insult to injury, now she was tasked with finding more of his kind, tasked with helping him rebuild his wretched species and undoing everything that her dear Frieza had accomplished! Well, he may have been cunning enough to recognize that she meant to betray him, but she doubted he was cunning enough to anticipate exactly how that betrayal would come, especially since her plan revolved around her more or less following his orders to the letter. After all, he had ordered her to use every means at her disposal to track down other Saiyans.
He never specified that they had to be friendly.
"Ah, here we are!" she exclaimed upon finding documentation pointing towards a rather curious story, one which seemed to have been quietly buried within the old imperial records from Planet Vegeta. It described an extermination mission much like any other, one which entailed a Saiyan child being sent to the highly inhospitable and remote world of Vampa. Such a blatant suicide mission was not entirely out of character for them in Berryblue's estimation, and she ordinarily would've brushed it aside as nothing more than that were it not for one curious detail that caught her eye: the Saiyan child did not have a defined power level marked on his biographical file. Such an oddity was unique among records of this type, which Berryblue knew well by now after she had cross-referenced hundreds of them on two separate occasions to make sure that there weren't too many leftover Saiyan brats for her masters to worry about. She was admittedly unsure how she had missed this one, but if she had to guess, she figured that the Saiyans themselves had done the absolute bare minimum while filing this record in order to make it as hard to find as possible. For what reason they would do this, Berryblue was still left uncertain.
That is, until she looked into the boy's father.
Paragus seemed to be an upstanding soldier of King Vegeta III's army, at least at first inspection, but Berryblue quickly got the impression that, Saiyan or not, this was not the sort of man who would agree to have his own son sent on a suicide mission or participate in covering said mission up. This impression was swiftly confirmed when she found that Paragus had been declared a traitor to the king and exiled from Planet Vegeta not long after his son had been sent away. His crime? Stealing a Saiyan ship, no doubt intent upon joining his son on Vampa along with some unimportant Saiyan grunt. With this additional information, Berryblue could at least surmise that the king himself had some rationale for treating the father so harshly and covering up the son's very existence to the best of his ability, but she still wasn't positive as to why. Her best guess was just that, a guess, based on an absence of evidence more than anything else. She had no way of knowing whether she was right or wrong, or rather...no safe way of knowing. Berryblue glanced around for a moment before making her move.
Nobody said mounting a coup was safe, after all.
From her recent experience in setting up covert interstellar communications, Berryblue knew a few tricks for getting around the monitoring systems that would ordinarily log every single communication to and from Planet Chilled. She knew she was going to need every single one of those tricks for what she had planned, assuming she could even find something to reach on a planet such as Vampa. Still, the report had mentioned a Saiyan ship, and where there was a Saiyan ship, there was likely to be an interstellar transmitter which Planet Chilled's communications array could reach, assuming it was still intact after so many years on such a hostile world. After a search which made each minute feel like hours, Berryblue was at last greeted with the notification that just such a transmitter had been detected, and could be contacted at her leisure.
Berryblue took a breath. She knew she wouldn't have long to talk to this man before she had to cut off communications; any longer than perhaps five minutes would tip someone off. She knew it was highly likely that this man would not trust her, and may not even be in a position to offer much assistance even if he did. Still, if she was right regarding just what this Saiyan child had done to engender the wrath of his king simply for existing, then she was more than willing to take that risk. She initiated contact and waited five seconds, then ten, then twenty before a grizzled old man appeared on her screen, clearly having never expected to receive a message of any kind ever again.
"...You," he said once he got over his shock, staring daggers at Berryblue. It would seem that he knew her by reputation. "What do you want from me, witch?" he spat, but Berryblue would not be deterred by his petty insults, not if she had any hope of bringing the empire back to how it was. She stifled whatever retort longed to leave her lips and put on her best appeasing smile.
"Hello, Paragus," Berryblue began cordially. "How would you like to kill Prince Vegeta?"
Welp. Things have certainly gotten interesting with King Vegeta in charge, for a number of reasons.
Gonna keep the author's notes on this one somewhat brief since I'm writing this all a fair bit later than I usually do. I imagine some of the liberties I've taken here using Super and DBZ: Kakarot lore might be a touch controversial, but rest assured, we'll expand on them in due time. Really, this chapter's got a lot going on here: Vegeta making plans to rebuild his empire, a whole new cast of mostly Super characters showing up early, plus Vegeta taking power and worrying about how much Future Vegeta's memories of cute Future Vegebul domesticity may have gotten to him. And, of course, all of the aforementioned new characters now adjusting to this sudden change in their stations as best they can, with some admittedly having a better time of it than others. ;)
With all that said, let's do reviews, of which there aren't too much this time around. Hopefully all the aforementioned stuff will kickstart some conversations.
Force Smuggler writes: "Wonderful interactions," to which I reply, "Thank you!" The character interactions have been the consistent highlight of the writing process for me, and I'm glad that most readers seem to view them as a welcome change of pace.
And Shahryar says:
"This story is incredible and I love every update but I honestly hope Bulma is more like a mother figure reacquainting 17 with the world. Like... similar to her dynamic with Vegeta but a clearly more maternal energy there because idk I've always pictured that making more sense with them. Maybe it's 17's young appearance, or the fact that I just hate romance, or something else, but yeah. That's my take. Do what you like with it, but I'm rooting for a Present Vegeta redemption with him getting Bulma in the end."
Welp, we'll see how things shake out with Present Vegeta, but I can see where you're coming from with 17: even with him and 18 being in their 20s in this fic, it's still a different dynamic than with any version of Vegeta. Still not entirely sure what I'll end up doing with Bulma and 17, but I've got time to sort that out, at least.
"My only real gripe with the story at the moment is how much of a backseat Goku's taken these days. I mean, partly because Goku's always the most interesting character to me and has been since OG, but mostly because I'd like to see him learn new things and grow beyond the confines of the original series like the rest of the cast has. I love how you write him in interactions though, that's legit nice. Hope that blue guy who's Tien's great uncle (idk man it's been a minute) actually ends up mattering in a way that helps Tien's powers grow. So that's my complaints/hopes out of the way, with that I say, you've been doing incredible and this story is amazing."
Yeah, I can see that criticism too. I'll admit having him mostly stay out of the action is a bit contrived, but I do think it makes sense for him to be prioritizing spending time with his family right now after several instances of being separated from them for long periods of time. He's kind of in an awkward spot where his power can't really be challenged by anyone else just yet, so just chucking him at the upcoming problems makes them go away too fast to make for an interesting story, while leaving him out means he doesn't have much else to do aside from teaching what's basically a superpowered step class. At least on the bright side, his absence means that we can finally get to some much-needed improvements for the rest of the cast in terms of power and plot relevance.
In any case, I hope that the rest of the arc meets and perhaps exceeds your expectations going forward. Thanks so much for your thoughtful review!
Only other thing to cover is power levels, so here goes:
King Vegeta: 150 million as a Super Saiyan; hasn't really gotten beaten up too badly just yet.
Bonyu: 42,000, same as most of the Ginyu Force was when they first appeared, seeing as she didn't have the same training opportunities that her former colleagues did.
The Bonyu Force: Between 20-30,000, as while they aren't Ginyu level, they were still elite soldiers and mercenaries of the Frieza Force who had to earn their status.
Berryblue: 500: you gotta be pretty tough to be the nanny for the Cold Family, that's for sure.
Kikono: 75: "Damn it, my king, I'm an engineer, not a planet-buster!" -Something he would never have the guts to say, but which I thought was funny anyway. ;)
Sorbet: 250; not a complete pushover, but he knows he's not cut out for fighting, that's what he had his minions for!
Broly: [REDACTED]
Paragus: 5,000; he's getting older, but he's got some fight left in him yet, especially since he's had to deal with Broly since he was a very, very fussy baby.
Anywho, with all that said and done, thank you all for reading, stay safe, have yourselves a fantastic night, and take care. See you next month!