Bit by Bit Kai

by GrimGenesis

Y'know life sucks when right before your holiday break from work, you get hit by a truck. That's rough, buddy, but not as rough as being reborn as some monkey alien straight out of some anime or something like this poor sucker. Now he's stuck as a Saiyan named Orion and has to survive in this world where only strength matters. Too bad he's the weakest Saiyan.

11. Ep 11 What Lies at the End of That Road

Orion grunted as he swung his mallet down, slamming it down onto the metal plate and making a loud, satisfying clang that rang out in the small lab. He repeated the action many times, raising and slamming the mallet down as he shaped the metal into what he wanted.

Orion was exhausted. They had been working for nearly a day straight now, but it was worth it. They were so close to something workable. Orion couldn't stop now. He wouldn't stop.

With each strike, Orion thought about everything that had happened to him. From the moment he entered this world, he'd been thrown into trials by fire without rest: isolation, terror, weakness, abuse, and being forced to submit to the man who indirectly caused all of it. Each memory was just a log that fueled the pier of vengeance inside him.

It was a flame that he and those monsters nurtured, allowing it to grow and fester into something more. It was the source of his drive, the thing that pushed him to keep living—to live long enough to punish those who dared hurt him, those who dared cast him aside for something as meaningless as a number.

What even were power levels? A joke. That's what. They had no meaning other than to let those with power underestimate those they believed had none. But he'd show them. He show them just how wrong they were. He would show them that he indeed had the power. The power to destroy them just as they tried to destroy him.

He'd break his chains, and he would be free.

And as he delivered a final strike to the metal, Orion panted as he examined the metal plate he held against the anvil. He lifted it up carefully, making sure to put on gloves before he touched the still-hot metal.

A smile crept its way onto his lips. It was a crooked smile, yet one that seemed to shine with a brilliant, dark light.

Orion turned to look at the other's progress, nodding when he saw they were on track too. Turles put his muscles to good use by working on the armor's frame while Paragus finished up the programming side of things. While he wasn't a programmer himself, he could at least follow the orders Orion wrote down for him. As he typed away the final lines of code, his son, Broly, finished up with some of the wiring with a gentler hand than even Orion's.

Yeah. This was good.

Orion picked up his original visor-scouter and put it on. He clicked the button on the side, and the heads-up display popped up in front of his eyes. He immediately looked at the clock on it. He had less than an hour before the fight.

Looks like this will have to do.

"Turles, Broly, Paragus," Orion called out, his voice making all of them pause as they turned to him. "Finish up. We're suiting up in a minute."

None of them argued as they immediately finished their jobs. They all know what was on the line here. Oddly enough, that seemed to unite them all under a common enemy. It was hilarious to Orion, or at least it would be if things were so dire.

The process of getting him suited up was long but necessary. Orion wrapped his hands in tight bandages, making sure to wrap his knuckles especially well. After he put on the white gloves that were a part of his typical uniform, Paragus tossed a padded leather vest over to Orion for him to put on as extra padding, all while Turles and Broly moved the parts of the armor over to be put on.

Orion wrapped a leather brace around his neck before moving over to have the armor put on him. He stood still with his arms raised as Turles helped push the metal plates into the right positions. First, the back, and then the front, and then they screwed them together. Broly and Turles then began to help Orion put on the armored parts for his arms, hands, legs, and feet.

"Can you still move?" Turles asked once they were done placing the armor on Orion.

"Yeah," Orion replied as he moved his hands, gripping them open and closed as he did. "Not sure about my body, though. Paragus, how's the terminal?"

"Almost done." The colonel said as he typed the last few lines of code before starting the upload process. "There. It should be finished right before your fight."

"Good. Can't go into a death match if the stupid thing doesn't work right." Orion let out a weak laugh as he stood there, waiting to be able to move. "It's definitely not gonna be fun, standing here unable to move until the right coding is in the armor."

"Not only that, but if you still can't move when the suit is all ready for battle, that'll be pretty terrible for us!" Turles laughed.

"Please don't jinx us…" Orion grunted.

"Are you sure about this, Orion?" Paragus asked. "This might not work, and even if it does, we don't know who you'll be fighting. Wouldn't it be smarter to get a ship and escape while we can?"

"Now why would I do that?" Orion asked, rolling his eyes. "This is actually everything that I wanted."

"What?"

"Don't you see? This is my chance to show those fools just how wrong they are about me. I can humiliate my opponent and get my revenge! I can finally destroy them!" Orion shouted. "Isn't that what you want? Don't you still want to destroy the king for what he did to you?"

"I believe it would be better for us to focus on our own survival before any of that," Paragus grumbled.

"Bah! You've gotten soft!" Orion spat out. "And here I thought you understood me…"

"I do, and that's why I'm worried, son," Paragus responded.

"I'm not your son, and I didn't ask you to give me your pity," Orion growled.

Paragus only sighed, turning around and focusing on the terminal upload, which was at about sixty percent.

It was silent as they waited for the upload to be finished, and as Orion lost himself in his vengeful thoughts, he felt a small tap on his hand and looked down to see Broly.

"Don't die." Was all the small Saiyan boy said.

Orion blinked a few times in surprise before laughing and nodding.

"Of course. I wouldn't die so easily," Orion promised.

---

"What is this shit? Ancient Rome?" Orion questioned when he looked at his surroundings.

He had made many assumptions in this second life of his, and this death match he was to be in was no different. Orion had many expectations for what it would be like, and he had many ideas about it stemming from what he knew about Saiyans.

Never did he ever think he'd be fighting in a freaking colosseum.

As he stood at his end of the battlefield, Orion could only stare around in confusion and amusement. He really should have expected this. Why would these Saiyans, who only cared about fighting, not glorify things like this? Why would they not turn capital punishment into entertainment for themselves?

The Saiyans clearly agreed with him, as the stands were packed. There was not a single empty spot anywhere. Of course, most of them were taunting him and jeering at him. As the weakling underdog in this upcoming fight, it was to be expected. The people came here for a battle. A battle in which a strong Saiyan mercilessly beat up a powerless weakling.

It was going to be great to ruin their fun.

Orion couldn't push back the cruel, eager smile on his face as he did a few stretches. The Saiyans were none the wiser. He was wearing his scientist's robes again, so his whole body was covered, hiding his secret weapon. The only thing visible were the metal boots he was wearing, but from up in the stands, no one would see them.

Only three people knew what he was planning, and he could see them in the stands. They weren't sitting down like the others. No, Turles, Paragus, and Broly were taken here with Orion when the battle arrived. It made sense, considering they were to die should Orion lose. That was why they were being held hostage by the Saiyan royal guard, each of them chained up and cuffed to prevent them from fleeing or fighting back.

As Orion stared at them from within the arena, he wondered who else he knew was in the stands right now. Were those terrible scientists watching with glee? Was his brother here, ready to see him die? Were Bardock and Gine watching? What about that god, Beerus? Did he even care about something like this? Orion definitely couldn't imagine Frieza being there just to watch a nobody like him spar.

Yet, Orion couldn't help but wonder. This was going to be the most important moment of his life, so it only made sense to think about who would be there to witness it when it happened.

Orion waited patiently, and soon, the sounds of the mindless crowd died down as the King stood up from his seat, which was placed higher than anyone else's. In essence, he was lounging around in a balcony seat that was above everyone else's. How egotistical…

"We shall now begin the trial of Orion, eldest son of Bardock," King Vegeta declared, his deep, threatening voice allowing no one to argue with him. "Orion, do you still wish to fight, or do you surrender yourself unto your death?"

"Don't screw with me… What kind of question is that?" Orion snarled. "I wouldn't come here just to die. In fact, I came here to win! If I was so weak that I'd resign myself to death, I would have died years ago!"

"Good answer!" The King shouted at his answer. "Then you will fight for your right to live as a Saiyan. Prepare yourself. Your opponent will show you mercy."

Orion frowned at that. That much was obvious, but why did it seem like the King meant something else by that?

His answer came in the form of a mocking laugh that he suddenly heard. Orion spun around to the source, and he immediately paled at the sight of his opponent floating down to the arena.

"You should consider yourself lucky." Orion's foe told him with a smirk. "After all, you will be the first to experience the power of the strongest Saiyan to ever live. Pick a god and pray, but I'll warn you now. I won't be listening."

"You've gotta be shitting me," Orion muttered as his body tensed with worry.

Of all the people he could have been set up against, the King picked his son to fight Orion.

"This is bad…" Orion grumbled as his mind got to work.

Could he do this? How strong was the prince? Could he beat someone who people claim is the strongest Saiyan to ever be born? How much had the prince trained since then? How much stronger is the prince now? Can Orion really stack up?

He shook his head. He couldn't start doubting himself now.

"Okay…" Orion let out a tense breath as he took his visor scouter out and put it on. The heads-up display turned on, and Orion focused himself as he stared at Prince Vegeta. "Yeah…no worries."

A twisted smile formed on Orion's face as he stared back at his opponent. He had already decided that it didn't matter who his foe was. Orion would crush them and earn his freedom.

So the two Saiyan boys waited, readying their stances as the tension between them grew. The audience was silent, and after a few more seconds—

"Begin!" The King shouted, signaling the start of the fight.

"Die!" Prince Vegeta immediately shouted afterward as energy charged in his hands.

In one fluid motion, the prince shot his hand forward, sending out a large wave of energy towards Orion. Orion quickly raised his arms over his head as he gritted his teeth.

Then, it impacted.

BOOM!

The beam hit, creating a massive explosion where Orion stood. The shockwave made by the attack blew strong winds across the entire stadium. The king wasn't fazed, though, as he continued to stare down at the dust cloud covering what he assumed were the remains of Orion.

"It is done." The king sighed in disappointment.

"Hahahaha!" The prince laughed victoriously. "Did you really think you stood a chance against the prince of the Saiyans? Fool! You are nothing to me!"

The prince continued laughing, loving every moment of his glorious, dominant victory against that weakling.

However—

BAM!

"AH!"

The prince shouted in alarm as a beam shot through the dust cloud and knocked him back. Gasps were heard from the stands as Prince Vegeta turned back with an expression of shock.

"What? Did you really think such a simple attack would kill me?" Orion's voice was heard as the dust finally settled.

There he stood, unfazed. At all. The only thing that appeared to be damaged was his robe, but the tears and burns in the clothes revealed something underneath. Something metallic.

"Wh-What…?" The prince muttered, causing Orion to laugh.

"I guess it's time for me to show off. Hope you're ready."

Orion grabbed the tattered robes he wore and swiftly tore them off, unveiling his secret weapon.

It was armor, but it only vaguely resembled the armor the Saiyans wore. Metal covered his feet, legs, and arms as tubes connected those parts to his back. His torso was covered in metal plating with a purple glass center right where his heart would be, contrasting with the white metal that covered Orion.

The armor wasn't complete. Not in the slightest. There were clearly areas that weren't covered, like the inner arms and joints. Hell, Orion's face was only covered by the visor he wore, leaving it completely vulnerable. But the armor was useable, and it was armed to the teeth. Blasters covered the metal gauntlets Orion wore, and there were slots in the armor that covered what looked like handmade explosives.

Orion might not have watched many movies in his old life, but he did read a lot of comics.

"Eat your heart out, Tony Stark." Orion smiled wide as he showed off the armor.

"How do you like this? It's much better than that rubber alloy crap you're wearing." Orion said. "If I had more time, I could have done so much more, but this is fine for now. This is all I need to kick your ass."

"Y-You dare…! You think wearing some metal makes you a match for me?!" The prince screamed angrily.

"No. That's why this isn't just a metal suit. This metal is the same stuff that the infiltration pods are made of. You could glass an entire city and still wouldn't put a scratch on it. Why wouldn't I want that kind of protection in my armor?" Orion smirked as he explained his armor. "That's not even the best part. I can do so much more now that I have this."

"Wh-What?"

"Oh? Are you curious?" Orion asked as he got into a stance. "Fine then. Let me show you what this can do. You all want me? You got me."

Orion felt his veins bulge and boil as his muscles tensed. He grunted and growled as the armor did its job. Slowly but eventually, the tubes that were hooked up to his back started to draw something out of him. A glowing white and purple substance. Slowly it was pulled through the tubes, and once it finally reached the rest of the armor, a white and purple aura burst out of Orion as he began screaming, the small rocks and patches of dirt around him now starting to float upward as he continued.

"WHAT!?" The prince screamed as he watched Orion draw more power out of himself.

The Saiyans in the audience were much the same, unable to believe what was happening. Those who knew Orion were even more shocked than that, as they had never seen the boy ever be able to draw out his power before now. His power level was zero, after all. He wasn't supposed to have any power.

But the ones most shocked were those who wore scouters during the match. Every scouter in the area locked on to Orion and began calculating battle power—a battle power that was above zero and soaring fast.

The king was one of those Saiyans who wore a scouter, and he stood up in pure disbelief as he read the continuously growing reading.

"One thousand…!" He muttered before gasping. "No! Two thousand…! W-Wait! It's over three…!"

All the while, Orion didn't pay anyone any attention. All he focused on was gathering all the power inside him that was growing under everyone's noses. As he felt the last bit of that power gather inside him and his heads-up display showing his armor at full power, he let out a victorious shout as he stopped, causing all the rubble to fall back to the ground unceremoniously as he stared confidently at the prince, who was stunned into silence.

The rest of the Saiyans began murmuring among themselves as they took in the display of power created by the weakest among them. At least, the one who used to be the weakest among them, and as the king stared dumbfoundedly at Orion, one of his advisors who stood next to him nervously gulped before speaking.

"S-Sire…W-What is his power level?"

The king growled as he yanked the scouter off his head and crushed it in his palm angrily.

"It's over three thousand!"

"T-Three thousand!? That's higher than many mid-class warriors!" The visor screamed as he looked back at Orion. "How could a boy who had a power level of zero suddenly spike up to over three thousand!?"

"I believe…" The king began with a tense expression. "We all greatly misunderstood just who Orion was."

Back in the arena, Orion began to laugh as the feeling of his power flowed through him.

"Man, is this how you guys feel normally? I feel like I could blow up a planet!" Orion smiled as he flexed his arms. "I've never felt this good before! It's like I just took an injection of pure power and health. I've never felt so alive!"

"H-How in the world did you do that? You were nothing before today. Don't tell me you somehow trained enough to grow so strong in less than a day?" The prince gasped.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but no. This has very little to do with training." Orion said before shrugging. "I guess I can share what happened with you. While it's true that I did train, I didn't do anything special that no one else did. In fact, that training didn't even seem to help as my power level was always zero at the end of the day."

"However, after studying Broly's power and understanding why he always went into an uncontrollable rage, I was finally able to piece together my own situation." Orion smiled maniacly as he opened his arms in a wide gesture.

"This whole time, the solution laid within my body! If Broly became uncontrollable because his body couldn't handle the constant flow of power being injected into him, then my body must be the same! My body can't handle even a tiny speck of my power! That's why my power level has always been zero! My body could never output anything on its own! That's why my first ki blast created such a backlash to my body. It couldn't handle it!"

Yes, that's right. That was what was happening this whole time. His body was weak. Perhaps not physically, though that was part of it. No, it was weak in the part that mattered. It was weak in handling its own ki.

Once again, it was best explained with the faucet metaphor. Broly was a faucet that couldn't turn off, eventually overflowing the sink, or in this case, his body, with power until he eventually snapped.

Orion was a broken faucet. His faucet, or body, couldn't handle anything, thus producing no power to be seen. But that didn't mean it didn't exist. He could still use blasters, which had to be drawing energy to use from somewhere. So, if his body could use any of the power inside him, he would just have to find some other way to use it. He would have to find some other way to output his energy. He had to get a new 'body', if you will.

This armor was perfect for that. It would draw out his ki for him to use, allowing him to finally tap into the power that had been growing for eight years now.

All of the near-death experiences, all of the beatings, all of the abuse and punishment, all of the training and sparring, all of the struggles Orion endured for so long…

Finally, he could show the results of everything he survived.

"This is who I am. This is my real strength. This is the true power of 'Orion'." Orion declared.

The prince stared at him for a moment, but then, something strange happened.

Prince Vegeta began to laugh.

It started as a small chuckle but quickly grew into an uproarious laugh that was heard throughout the colosseum.

"Impressive! I see why my Father was so interested in you now!" The prince proclaimed as he looked at Orion with amusement. You're definitely better than most of the trash here today. I'd even say you're better than that spineless younger brother of yours. You're something else entirely."

The prince then smirked as his confidence came back a hundredfold.

"Unfortunately for you, hard work and perseverance, no matter how much you have of it, won't get you anywhere. You're still below me. My power level at birth was five thousand, and I've only gotten stronger since then. Now I'm nearly at six thousand. That's over half your own level. It doesn't matter if you can use your power now. It's still not enough to beat an elite Saiyan like me."

"Is that what you think?" Orion laughed. "I'll let you know that there's a world out there where even the weakest people can beat an elite with enough hard work."

"Ha! Too bad this isn't that world," The prince said snarkily. "Let me show you the power no amount of hard work will reach."

With that, the prince took off toward Orion, gliding across the ground as he pulled his fist back for a strike. Orion smirked as he raised his arms to block.

When they collided, a loud ringing sound rang out as Vegeta pushed against Orion, who was managing to hold the prince back. They stared down at each other, ready to put their foe back into their place.

---

Prince of All Saiyans

Vegeta

---

Orion pushed the prince off before aiming his blasters at the prince. The guns on his wrists all immediately began to glow with power before firing a barrage of energy shots.

The prince smiled wickedly as he dodged the blasts easily. With how easily he weaved between them, it was as if they were moving in slow motion to him. He managed to get close and socked Orion in the jaw, the only visible part of Orion's body that seemed vulnerable to attack.

Orion let out a yelp as he staggered backward, but he caught his footing quickly before returning a blow himself, landing a powerful right hook on the prince that drew blood. The prince gasped as he held his bleeding cheek. That actually hurt. Orion was weaker than him, but hitting him while wearing that metal armor seemed to increase the weight and force Orion's blows would deliver.

Vegeta's anger boiled to the surface as he rapidly fired energy blasts at Orion. For his part, the Silver Saiyan remained calm as he raised his arms to block the blasts. Upon hitting him, the blasts exploded, and what Orion realized was that even if the armor protected him from the blasts themselves, he didn't take their explosive force into account.

It felt like he was hit with a barrage of punches as each explosion hit him with the force of a truck. Orion gritted his teeth as he kept his guard up, his arms getting shakier and shakier with each blow they endured. He couldn't let this continue. So, with a powerful shout, Orion swiped his hands away, deflecting the last two blasts away from him before shooting his blasters behind him.

The force of his blasts launched Orion forward like a cannonball. Vegeta only had time to gasp before Orion's metal fist collided with the prince's gut. As the prince bent over from the blow, losing any air in his lungs as he did, Orion swiftly grabbed the prince's head and slammed it down onto his metal knee.

The prince recoiled back, but Orion grabbed Vegeta's tail to pull him back. As Vegeta was pulled back toward Orion, Orion lifted his free hand and charged all of the blasters on that arm before punching Vegeta in the face right before unleashing the energy in the guns. Vegeta flew off a fair distance and landed with a heavy thud.

Despite this, the prince still managed to stand up, albeit a little shakily. While he was injured, Vegeta didn't seem to be on his last legs. In fact, he seemed more pissed than anything else.

"Y-You…! You dare injure me?! Prince Vegeta!?" He screamed. "You think you can hurt me?! I'll show you what real pain feels like!"

The prince then disappeared from sight, causing Orion to gasp.

"Where did he—?" Orion didn't finish as his visor beeped at him to turn right. His eyes widened as he tried to turn around, but all he was greeted with was a foot straight to his face as he was sent flying. Before he could go much further, Vegeta grabbed Orion's foot and began swinging him around.

Orion screamed in alarm and pain as he was suddenly slammed against the ground before being lifted back up and slammed back down on the other side of his body. Vegeta, meanwhile, laughed as he mercilessly punished the weaker Saiyan for his insolence.

Orion gritted his teeth as he tried to work his brain through the immense pain. He had to figure out a way to free himself from the prince's hold. An idea suddenly struck him, and as he was thrown around like a ragdoll, Orion managed to grab one of the explosives he had made and carried on him for this battle. He charged one of his blasters and used it as a lighter to light the wick of one of the bombs before tossing it at Vegeta's feet right before he was slammed into the ground again.

Vegeta saw the bomb, but he didn't have time to process the sight before it exploded, sending both young Saiyans away from the force. Orion was sent right to the arena walls and slammed into them. He heard something crack upon hitting them, but he couldn't tell if it was the wall, his armor, or his back.

As the Silver Saiyan coughed up some saliva and blood, he managed to move his head enough to look at his opponent.

"Oi…! Come on…!" Orion grunted when he saw the prince staggering to his feet. "What the hell do they feed you…?!"

That explosion did far more damage to the prince than Orion's other attacks. Vegeta's face was slightly burnt, and some of his hair had been singed off. His armor was full of cracks, and one of those stupid paldions on his shoulders had broken off. He was bleeding a lot, and he was visibly shaking as he forced himself to stand, which was more than what Orion was doing, which was lying on the ground, unable to move.

Vegeta's face was pained, unlike the confident expression he had worn before. In truth, he was starting to feel the consequences of Orion's strikes and attacks. The prince had never had a difficult fight before. He had trained since birth, and he was told throughout his life that he was the strongest Saiyan to ever be born. He broke all the records when he was born, and he was only getting stronger.

Of course, the prince couldn't fathom that what he had in raw power he lacked in experience. He had never been in a real fight before now. Every other battle was just training against drones and soldiers that tended to be far weaker than him. He rarely had the chance to really fight an equal or greater foe. The prince also failed to realize that while he was born with great power, it paled in comparison to the warriors who had fought for years and were at a level far greater than where the prince was at the moment.

After all, the prince was only four years old. He still had plenty of time before he reached the peak of his power, his prime.

Yet Prince Vegeta would not accept this at that moment.

"Y-You… How dare you stand up to me…! How dare you injure me… Me! The strongest Saiyan…!" The prince yelled. "It is my birthright to be the strongest in the universe! I can't be beaten or hurt by some low-class trash like you! I…I'll…!"

In that instance, something in the young prince snapped as his bloodshot eyes darted to Orion's limp form.

"I'LL TURN YOU TO ASH, YOU PATHETIC, WORTHLESS WEAKLING!" The prince yelled as purple energy surrounded him like electricity.

The prince then shot upward into the sky, his energy cracking and screeching as the prince put both his hands beside his head. Orion's eyes widened, as did all the other Saiyans'.

"Stop it, you damn fool! You'll kill us all!" The king shouted to his son, but to no avail.

"Why should that stop me!? If this kills you, then you were simply too weak to survive! It's the Saiyan way to fight to win, no matter what!" The prince screamed back as he continued to charge his attack.

"D-Damn it…!" Orion muttered as he pulled himself together and managed to get back to his shaky feet, albeit slowly and painfully. "Stupid kid's really gonna blow up the entire colosseum! Hell, this might take out the whole city with how freakishly strong he is."

This wasn't good. Orion thought back to when he had that fight with Raditz all those years ago. At the time, he was mesmerized by that ki attack Raditz used. There was something otherworldly about it that made Orion know that it was so much more than anything Orion could do himself.

This was different. It was so much greater than what Raditz did. This was like watching the start of a natural calamity begin with your own eyes. Having to stare down such a thing was enough to make Orion shake in his iron boots.

But he wasn't going to give up yet.

"I still have a trick left…" Orion muttered. "But…I have no idea if this will work."

He had never used this armor before. It hadn't been finished before today, so while he had ideas of how to use his power, he never had the chance to test it out. Orion could make as many theories as he wanted, but it wouldn't be enough to prove he could do it unless he tested it.

"Still…what choice do I have left?" Orion asked as he looked down at his palms, where small energy nodes were. He tightened his hands into fists as he hardened his resolve. "So…please work…!"

With that, Orion pooled all of the power he could into his palm, the energy node starting to glow at Orion focused. Then, a small orb began to form above the node in his palm. A small white ball of energy. Quickly, something began to happen as more energy was gathered. The orb began to slowly spin. Without any thought on Orion's part, the orb began to spin and spin, gaining spirals of purple-colored energy as it grew and spun faster.

Orion nearly screamed in pain as this was happening. Whatever was happening, it was negating the whole point of the armor. While the armor was still letting him utilize his ki, it was also supposed to prevent backlash, but even though the energy was being directed through armor and out of it through the node he made, he was still feeling immense pain as it gathered. Was it because the energy was spinning? It did that before, too, when Orion fought Bardock. Why did it do that? Was it special in some way? Was it causing this new pain in his arm?

It didn't matter, as Orion didn't have the answers to any of those questions, and he wouldn't find them in this battle. All he could do was fight. So, he gritted his teeth and kept going, pushing through the pain as his spinning orb grew with energy.

The prince must have caught sight of what Orion was doing as he let out a crazed laugh quickly afterward.

"You still think you can defy me? Fine! Go ahead and try. No matter what you do or what kind of plans you make, I'll still destroy you! I'll burn you to ash and grind you into dust!" Vegeta screamed before launching his attack. "GALICK GUN!"

The prince pushed his hands forward, and from them, a giant beam of sicking purple energy burst forth like a dam had been broken. The torrent of energy was frightening, like witnessing a bolt of lightning headed right toward you. It was just as fast, too, as Orion felt the heat of the beam getting closer by the second.

In that instance, Orion's tenacity…his determination to survive…still shined through.

"I refuse to die to the likes of you!" Orion shouted back as he stared the beam straight on. "You think I'm weak?! I'll show you just how strong I am!"

Orion then threw the spiraling orb out of his palm as his eyes became bloodshot.

"SHIELD OF SATURN!" He screamed with all his might.

Immediately, the orb burst open. Suddenly, Vegeta's attack came to an abrupt stop.

"What!?" Vegeta screamed in disbelief.

There, in front of Orion, was a shield. Not a typical, normal shield. A star-shaped shield as large and wide as the castle gates stood in front of Orion and assured annihilation.

Orion coughed up blood when the beam hit his shield. This was bad. He had theorized it was possible for someone to mold ki into shapes and give them form, so he thought it would be a useful move to create a shield in order to protect himself from strong attacks. Ki already acts like a slight barrier in a fight, but concentrating that into a single point to form a shield would be incredibly useful, especially with how weak Orion was.

However, Orion failed to account for how difficult it would be to mold and shape something like ki. It was as though he were trying to bend metal with just his thoughts, and each attempt strained his weak body further and further. It felt as though Orion's arm was on fire. No. It was worse than that. It was as though his arm had been dunked in lava. It was taking everything Orion had physically and mentally just to keep the shield up.

And even that wasn't enough, as a large crack began to form in the starry shield. Panic shot through Orion's bloodshot eyes. Even this wasn't enough! He really undrestimated the prince, it would seem, and now it would be the death of him.

"No…! I…refuse…to…DIE!" Orion roared as he raised his free hand and began charging another shield.

Another orb formed in the palm of his left hand, and it began spinning just like before. Orion let out a deathly cry of pain and agony once more. He felt something wet begin to trail down his face, only to realize that he must be crying from how much pain he was feeling. It was the worst sensation Orion had ever felt physically, and that was saying something.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to focus on the excruciating pain he was in as his first shield finally broke. As the ki shield shattered like glass, Orion felt something else snap in that split second. Orion screamed out blood that shot up his throat, but he did not let that prevent him from sending out his second shield.

A much smaller starry shield formed in front of him the moment the first shield broke, once again blocking the deadly beam. Orion was now profusely bleeding out his mouth, and he couldn't feel any sensation in his body other than pain. More than that, when he stole a glance at his right arm, he saw that it seemed to have exploded from the inside. Muscle and bone were now visible, if not sticking out of his skin and armor, and blood ran out of every open wound the arm now had as it limply hung off his shoulder.

A backlash. It would seem he didn't take into account the full extent of what this technique would require of Orion or what kind of backlash would come from it. He had never tested the move before, so it made sense. He would have to modify the move and his equipment if he wanted to minimize the damage next time.

If there ever was a next time.

Orion kept the shield up for what felt like an eternity, despite it being just a minute or two. Finally, after Orion started to lose any feeling in his left arm and cracks began to form in his second shield, the galick gun began to die out before fading away entirely. Orion gasped and panted as he let his own shield fade, falling to his knees as he tried to stop his vision from spinning.

He wiped the tears from his face, but when he pulled his hand away, Orion realized that he hadn't been crying from the pain. His eyes had been bleeding.

Orion stared at the blood-stained hand for a moment before he took in the information from his heads-up display.

5% power.

He was lucky to still have any power after that, so he wouldn't complain. Instead, Orion started to look up to the sky where his opponent was.

The prince was exhausted, panting heavily as he swayed in the win. His body trembled as his hands slowly lowered, and his eyes remained unfocused and shaky as he stared at Orion in pure disbelief.

"H-How are you still alive?! How did you get strong enough to survive that!?" Prince Vegeta screamed.

Orion stared at the prince as he took in the frustrated question. Then, he answered as simply as possible:

"I just did some situps, some pushups, made some armor, and drank plenty of juice."

"You dare mock me!"

"Yeah. I dare. And now I'm gonna win."

Once Orion made his declaration, his body created a small gust of wind as his armor charged up for a moment. Then, Orion began to float off the ground. The prince staggered back in the air as his jaw became agape. How the hell was that weakling starting to hover and fly in a heavy suit of armor like that!?

The secret was that Orion had gotten his hands on the special Frieza Force blasters that allowed its users to fly. He also put Graviton ore into the suit, the same stuff used to allow infiltration pods to fly despite their size and weight.

Orion had worked on this for four years, so obviously, he was going to make it as strong as possible and give it as much utility as possible.

"So…I can't feel my arms. I'm exhausted and out of breath, and I'm nearly out of energy, meaning my suit is about to run out of power, too." Orion began to say loud enough for all to hear him. "My armor is still incomplete and is only just battle-ready enough for this, and even then, I think it might fall apart from another strong blow. Not to mention how I'm pretty sure I'm bleeding everywhere."

"Even so, I'm still going to kick your ass!"

Orion's white and purple aura flared once again as he suddenly rushed at Vegeta with as much speed as the prince did when the fight began. The weary prince couldn't even hope to dodge or block before Orion was right in front of him, digging his knee into Vegeta's gut. The prince spat out some bile as he hunched over the older Saiyan's knee, unable to even look at the look of pure disdain Orion had on him. The prince nearly vomited anything left in his stomach.

Orion then slowly moved away, letting Vegeta grab his stomach as he groaned and gasped in pain, but it wasn't for any merciful reason. Orion just needed some space as he lifted his leg up and slammed it back down into the prince's skull with an axe kick. The prince flew down to the ground so fast the other Saiyans in the colosseum could hear the wind whistling as Vegeta's body cut through it, ending only once the prince's body hit the ground with explosive force.

Orion aimed his left arm at the small crater Vegeta lay in as the blasters on that arm began to charge up.

"What did you tell me before? Oh right. Pick a god and pray."

Orion then unleashed the barrage of blasts his blasters were holding. Dozens of shots flew down and collided with Vegeta's body, explosions ringing out with each shot that landed.

After a full minute of letting loose all his remaining energy onto the little prince, Orion finally stopped and hovered back down to the ground. The crowd was dead silent—they had been since Orion survived the galick gun. They just stared as Orion slowly walked over to what was now Prince Vegeta's unconscious form.

"You were definitely strong. Stronger than most people here, I'm sure. But you lacked in experience. You didn't know how to utilize that power you had. You could have easily beaten me if you used your head. Instead, you tried to brute force your way to victory and threw a tantrum when things weren't going your way. If you hadn't wasted all your energy with that beam attack and kept going as you were before, you would have definitely outlasted me and broken through my defenses."

Orion had won this fight, but it was only his victory in part due to Vegeta's weakness. The prince was born with the highest power level of any Saiyan born before him, and he was told he was destined to eventually become the strongest Saiyan to ever exist—the strongest in the universe. But it was for that exact reason that he lost this fight. It was the one thing he lacked, and that was the only thing Orion possessed.

And now, finally, Orion could finish things. He could finally get his revenge.

"I hate you. I hate every single one of you Saiyans." Orion growled as he stomped his foot into Vegeta's gut, grinding it in further as his seething anger flowed off him in waves. "You all think that power is the end all be all. You all think that if something doesn't have power, it's worthless! You all thought that I was worthless and berated me every chance you had! Nothing I did was ever good enough! Nothing I endured would ever gain any respect from you stupid monkeys, all because I managed to survive with my head and not my fists!"

"So I'll take it from you. I'll take the symbol of that life away from all of you! You think this prince is the strongest among you? That he will grow into something that can defeat even Frieza? Then I'll destroy it. I won against the prince. Me! The weakest Saiyan! What does that tell you all about what you all are?! What does it tell you about me!? If you still don't get it, then I'll take whatever hope this boy brings you all and plunge you all into eternal despair!"

It was as though the breath of all the Saiyans had been stolen at that moment. Even the king was frozen in shock and fear at what Orion was implying, and the feeling only got stronger when Orion aimed his blasters at the prince's face. The guns slowly began to charge, the muzzles glowing with white-hot energy fueled by years of hatred.

Worse, the pure, manic expression on Orion's face left little doubt that he would do exactly what he claimed he would.

For Orion himself, he had never felt so fulfilled before. The pure joy rising in his mind was greater than any he had experienced. So, as his crazed smile grew to grinch-like proportions, Orion prepared himself to finally end the prince. Finally, the one destined to become the 'strongest' Saiyan would die by his hands.

…Wait.

Die?

That one thought splashed onto Orion like a bucket of ice-cold water, washing away the frantic fury and need for revenge. Orion mentally took a step back and looked at what he had done. What he was doing.

He had beaten a child no more than four years old to near death…and now he was going to kill him.

Orion was seconds away from murdering a four-year-old child, all to make a point.

A tight knot began to form in Orion's gut as his breathing sped up.

Why…? Why was this his plan? Why did he only now realize that he was going to kill a child!? Sure, he didn't know he was going to fight the prince, but that didn't stop Orion from fighting with the intent to kill. the intent to kill this child.

Bile began to rise up into his mouth as he stared at the battered, broken body of a child he was standing over. His hands began to tremble the more the reality of what he had done sunk in.

That's when Beerus's words echoed in Orion's head once more.

You're very Saiyan-like.

He was, wasn't he? He could deny it all he wanted, but the fact still remains. Despite his hatred of Saiyans, Orion acted just like one all this time. He had thoughtlessly focused on one singular task, and he was willing to destroy anyone in his way as long as he got what he wanted.

Orion had become a Saiyan.

He suddenly felt sick. No, more than that, Orion felt uncomfortable in his own skin. He had turned into the very thing he despised! What was this!? Was the Saiyan's corrupt mindset contagious!? Had he unknowingly been poisoned by those horrible monkeys during the years he spent on Vegeta?

Cruelty breeds cruelty. Thus, the Saiyans gave birth to someone who hated them with as much cruelty as they showed him.

Orion only had one thought running through his mind now.

He had to get off this damn planet.

It didn't matter how he did it. All that mattered was that this planet was poisoning his mind. These people were corrupting him, turning him into a monster just like them. He had to get off and escape for his own peace of mind.

So, his mind got to work, and an idea quickly came to him. His blasters slowly dissipated the energy they were charging as Orion turned to face the king once more.

"So, how about it, your highness? Would you be willing to make a deal in exchange for your son's life?" Orion proposed.

"A deal? You would try to threaten me?" The king growled.

"No, not threaten. Demand." Orion spat out. "You can't afford to have your son die here, can you? I won your stupid deathmatch, so my associates and I will be spared and allowed to live, or are you going to make yourself a liar because I beat your kid? Would you really be that shallow? If you are, then I have no qualms about taking the prince to hell with me. What say you to that?"

The king nashed his teeth in anger but relented as he sighed. Orion let out a small sigh, too, thanking whatever god ruled this world that the king was buying his bluff.

"What do you want, Orion."

"A few things. First, you let me and my associates go without anyone trying to kill us or harm us from now on. We're free, innocent men." Orion began.

"Fine. You may have that. What else?"

"Second, you'll let us use the healing tanks, and again, you won't try to kill me while I'm recovering."

"Granted. Is there more? I am starting to lose my patience."

"There's just one more thing I want, and then I'll let your kid go," Orion said. "Lastly, I want you to prepare a large ship for me, enough to hold me and my associates. You will give us all the supplies we will need, and then, you will let us leave."

"Pardon?" The king questioned with a shocked expression.

"I said you will let us leave." Orion firmly repeated with a deathly glare. "You will let us go peacefully, and you will let me take all my equipment with me. You will not get a single scrap from me."

"Hold on! I can't allow that! This armor of yours could prove to be incredibly valuable to us Saiyans! I can't just—"

Orion aimed his arm at the prince and once again charged his blasters, making the king stop mid-sentence.

"This is NOT up for debate! You are not in a position to try to bargain with me! If you refuse my demands, I will kill your son, free Broly, then tear that limiter off him to let him loose on all of planet Vegeta! You saw what I did to your son. I can defeat any one of you, and when Broly loses control, he'll easily destroy the planet!"

"You wouldn't…"

"Are you willing to take that fucking bet!?" Orion bellowed.

The two stared at each other, refusing to back down as they expressed their displeasure with the other through their venomous glares. However, it seemed Orion's bluffs were enough to sway the king from doing anything both of them would regret.

"Fine…" The king gave a guttural growl. "Do as you like. You have my word that neither you nor the others with you will be harmed at any point unless any of you give me new reasons to. Is that acceptable?"

"Swear it. Swear it here so everyone here can be a witness." Orion told him.

"I swear it on my name, Vegeta the Third, and I swear it on my father's name and his father's name. Happy?" The king rolled his eyes.

Orion stared at the king for a moment before finally relaxing. His blasters deactivated as he moved away from the prince.

"Yeah. I am. Come pick up your son, and free my associates. We'll leave for the healing tanks as soon as you do."

The king made a motion with his hand. Orion turned to see the guards keeping Paragus, Broly, and Turles captive relented and freed them from their bondings. Orion let out a sigh of relief as he gave the king a thankful nod, only to get a glare back from the king that seemingly said, 'Get out of my sight before I change my mind and kill you all'.

That was a sentiment Orion wasn't going to test any further, so he happily used his armor to hover over to where the others were, ignoring any of the shocked stares or mutterings that he heard from the crowd he flew over.

When he landed, he took one dirty look at the guards and gestured for them to leave. They did so with only a few grumbles, leaving Orion alone with the three Saiyans, who were now staring at him with different levels of disbelief. Broly had an impressed look on his face as if he was proud Orion was able to fight so well, considering he hadn't done nearly as well in spars Broly had seen.

Turles was much the same, but his eyes seemed to sparkle like stars as he looked at Orion like a kind of messiah. It made sense if you thought about it. They both were low-class warriors born with battle powers that caused others to look down on them. Turles had spent his whole life up to that point working hard to prove that he was worth more than that initial reading on his abilities, and he did so through physical training. Orion had done that now but in the opposite way. He didn't prove his power through physical means but through his wit, cunning, and strategy. Orion was strong, strong in a way Turles wanted to be.

Then there was Paragus, who looked at Orion thoughtfully, almost like he was trying to piece something together. It almost seemed to Orion that Paragus was surprised by something Orion had done and was trying to figure out why he had done so. It wasn't in an angry way. There was something in Paragus's expression that Orion couldn't quite place.

"What?" He decided to ask the colonel, only to get an amused chuckle and weary smile out of the old man.

"You did good, son," Paragus replied.

Orion's eyes widened at the affectionate term before his shocked expression switched to one of annoyance and disgust.

"Don't call me 'son'," Orion growled angrily as he shot a dirty glare at Paragus. "Let's just hurry up and leave."

With that, Orion casually led them out of the colosseum, leaving all the Saiyans who were watching them speechless. Orion seemed to leave without being visually affected by the numerous wounds on his body. To them, the weakest among them had suddenly become one of the most dangerous Saiyans on the planet.

Of course, that was just the appearance Orion wanted them to see. The moment he and the others were away from any prying eyes, Orion finally let his body tremble again under the immense pressure he was still under.

"T-Turles…" Orion grunted out in a soft, weak voice, startling the young Saiyan.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Get back to your home and make sure no one comes to steal anything before I get back," Orion ordered him as he started to pant a little.

"Huh? Why? Didn't the king say you wouldn't take any of your stuff?"

"Do you really think King Vegeta will keep his word? Sure, I made him swear to my demands in front of an audience, but I trust him as far as I can throw him when I'm not wearing this armor," Orion stated. "So I need you to go back and act as insurance. I can't afford to lose any of that stuff, and the last thing I want is to hand the Saiyans the plans and materials to recreate my weapons. Can I trust you to do that?"

"O-Of course!" Turles nodded fervently before he flew off quickly. Orion let out a breath of relief before he slowly turned to Paragus and Broly.

"Now then…I need you two to take me to the nearest healing station and get me in a tank. Protect me until I'm healed."

"Take you–? Wait…What do you—"

"Sorry. I'm…trusting you guys." Orion muttered before he finally gave in to the pain and exhaustion of his body. His eyes closed as he fell over, hitting the ground with a thud. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

---

When Orion finally woke up once again, it was after a nightmare picturing him maniacally brutalizing and maiming Prince Vegeta's body for shits and giggles. The image of him laughing like a madman while his whole body was bathed in a child's blood was more painful than any fight could be for him.

The panic he felt shocked him out of unconsciousness in a painful way, almost like a sudden heart attack. He would have woken up screaming his head off if it weren't for the fact that he was in a healing tank, floating around with an oxygen mask on to prevent him from screaming.

Once he senses return to him, Orion takes stock of his situation. He was in a healing tank, and he looked down to see his naked form, now free of any wounds or markings aside from the old scars he had acquired during all those years of abuse. Actually, he did have a few new ones on his right arm from when he used the Shield of Saturn.

Orion had been healed, thank god. Tension left his body as that fact clicked in his mind, and it was then that he noticed the liquid had started to drain.

When it was all drained, Orion was left standing on his feet, and a knock came from outside. Orion looked up and saw Paragus staring back at him before he opened up the tank.

"You're healed now. How are you feeling?" The colonel asked.

"Better," Orion answered as he stepped out of the tank. "How long was I in there?"

"You were in there for over a day," Paragus answered, causing Orion to gasp and stagger backward in surprise. "It would seem you took quite the beating from the prince, although the worst of the damage was something self-inflicted."

When the colonel said that, he gestured to Orion's right arm, making Orion look at it. It had been healed, but like the rest of his body, it had a few light scars, both new and old. But what was worse now was that whenever he moved it or bent the arm, he heard a strange clicking sound.

"That can't be good," Orion noted with a frown. "I thought I was done healing."

"Yes, but the damage to your arm was greater than anticipated. While it is healed enough for you to use it without issue, I would still advise you to take caution with it and let that arm rest a bit longer outside the tank."

"So there's still a bit of lasting damage then?"

"Only slightly. Although… Should you keep foolishly harming your body in such a way, it would not be unreasonable to believe you would lose any feeling and use in that arm." Paragus warned.

"That would suck." Orion shrugged, not caring too much about a possibility when he had no intention of repeating that mistake in the first place.

"You should take the warning more seriously."

"I am. I'm just not too worried about it. It's not like I'm planning on ruining my arm. I already have a few possible fixes to the issue that caused that damage." Orion replied.

"No plan survives first contact…" Paragus sighed.

"Whatever…" Orion rolled his eyes as he grabbed the fresh black jumpsuit that had been set aside for him and began to dress himself. "Has anything happened while I was in there?"

"No. Turles has been guarding your research materials since you collapsed yesterday, but according to Turles, no one has come to take your things anyway."

"Good. I guess the King really bought that threat of mine. It's a good thing I've always been good at bluffing. I could win any poker game while blindfolded." Orion smiled to himself, though Paragus ignored him.

"Another thing. The king seemed to have called in a Frieza Force supply ship for us, though I don't think he told them what it was for."

"Ah. That's smart of the king but also quite dumb." Orion hummed as he put the pieces together quickly. "He didn't want to or couldn't just supply us with everything we needed for our departure, so he called the FF to do it for him. Smart because he saves himself the trouble, the supplies, and a ship. Dumb because I highly doubt the FF will take one of their supply ships suddenly disappearing too kindly."

"Perhaps that is his plan. It would be more convenient for him to have the Frieza Force hunt us down for treachery," Paragus said.

"Yeah, and then Frieza would have his hands on my research if he and his gang of thugs don't blow up our ship outright. The king's just angry that I beat his kid and wants to hinder us in any way he can." Orion shook his head as he finished putting on his jumpsuit. "Where's my armor?"

"Here. Broly's watching it." Paragus answered.

"That's Good. You two can help me put it on, and then we'll be leaving," Orion told him.

"You're equipping it now? So soon after your battle?" Paragus questioned. "Don't tell me you plan on battling again so soon after recovering. I warned you not to injure yourself again!"

"I'm not putting this on because I wanna fight! I'm not a mindless brute like you Saiyans!" Orion screamed in response. "I just…I…"

Orion eventually sighed as he averted his gaze.

"I don't feel safe when I don't have it on anymore," Orion answered. "I made that suit to protect myself, so without it…"

Paragus quickly understood and gave a nod of sympathy, which Orion couldn't help but grit his teeth at. He didn't want others to pity him, but he wasn't going to argue against Paragus's assistance.

Orion let the colonel lead him to the room Broly and the armor were in. Paragus woke his son up from his afternoon nap, and the two helped Orion suit up. Once that was done, the three began to discuss their next plan of action.

What they came up with was simple enough. Paragus and Broly would go to Turles's place and help him pack up whatever they needed, including Orion's research materials.

Orion would join them, too, but he had something else he wanted to do before they left the planet. Something he felt he had to do.

So Paragus and Broly flew off, and Orion headed in the opposite direction. He glided at a leisurely pace, for once taking in the vast beauty of the planet instead of hating it insistently. What had he missed while he was swallowed by his own hatred, he couldn't help but wonder. Despite all the terrible things that happened to him, he could at least acknowledge the planet's beauty. If the people living on it were kinder, it might be just as good as Earth.

Orion let out a sigh. How foolish he was. When did he fully lose himself? Was it when he was first shipped off the planet? Was it when he returned? When he was beaten to near death for the first time? Or was Broly's situation the tipping point? Orion couldn't remember. All he knew was that he acted childish during this time. He might be a child physically, but mentally he was an adult. He should have known better.

So, while he might have finally gotten what he wanted—freedom—Orion still had to do one thing, or there would be a bad taste in his mouth.

"I really did treat them poorly…" Orion muttered before he landed in front of what had once been his home.

He stared at the small, humble house with a conflicted look. He remembered the last time he was here, and he cringed at the memory.

"God, I was such an idiot…" Orion ran a hand down his face.

He let his anger take control. His vast hatred toward Saiyans and his own powerlessness led to him hurting two of the only people who didn't treat him like trash. Bardock and Gine… Without even realizing it—no. Without a single care, Orion hurt them. In their own eyes, their first child hated them with all his heart.

Orion couldn't place the blame solely on his own anger and hatred. In truth, that was the result of years of resentment and longing. Orion had never had parents before, not even in his original life. So if he was honest, when he was born into this second life, a part of his was excited at the idea of a new life. He was happy to actually have parents this time around.

And then all that horrible nonsense happened. Thinking back, Orion could see how unreasonable it was to blame Bardock and Gine for his situation. He could still remember the pained faces they made when he was taken to be an infiltration unit, so it wasn't as though they liked any of this either. Still, those terrible circumstances mixed horribly with his longing for loving parents and turned into a venomous hate.

He somehow managed to hate them, and that hatred blinded him to the obvious. It blinded him to the obvious truth that Gine always took the time to prepare him good food and make sure he was alright, even when he started to deem her a 'distraction'. It blinded him to the obvious truth that Bardock, despite Orion's weakness, took the time to train him so Orion could get stronger and protect himself.

They weren't normal parents by the earthling definition Orion had always wanted. But when he compared them to the other Saiyans, he knew those two were far better to him than he had any right to treat them.

And for what? A suit of armor he used to nearly kill a child?

What he told Paragus was true. Orion didn't feel safe without his armor at the moment. Even so, he wouldn't say he felt comfortable wearing it after what he almost did. This armor, while his only method of protecting himself and attacking, was a symbol of what his hatred almost turned him into: a vengeful killing machine.

The moment he got back to a peaceful planet like Earth, he planned to never use it again. He'd leave Planet Vegeta and all the fighting and death behind, and he'd return to living a peaceful life. But before he left, Orion wanted to try to make amends. He wasn't a Saiyan, and he would never allow himself to turn into one, so unlike them, Orion wanted to make sure he fixed his mistakes before heading to the next part of his life.

Now that he was standing in front of the house again, Orion felt even more nervous than when he was standing across from Prince Vegeta in the arena. He quickly shook his head before steeling himself.

"What am I so afraid of? It's not like they're gonna kill me." Orion mumbled. "...I wonder if they saw the fight yesterday. I wonder what they felt during it."

Shaking his head, Orion knocked on the door, but he didn't get any response. He knocked once more, but still no one came. Now confused, Orion decided 'screw it' and opened the door.

Entering the home, Orion quickly realized that no one was inside. Were they out doing something? He did recall Gine worked at the butcher, preparing food for the warriors, and Bardock might be out for a mission or something. Raditz wasn't here either, but Orion was completely fine with that. The little brat was still a prick in Orion's eyes, considering that he had started this whole situation.

Still, if neither Gine nor Bardock were here, Orion should probably leave. He'd rather not wait for possibly hours for one of them to get back just so he could apologize before Orion left the planet. But just as Orion turned back around to leave, he caught sight of the incubation tank he and Raditz had been in after birth, and he froze.

Someone was in the tank.

Orion slowly walked over to the tank and stared at the growing Saiyan baby floating inside. He couldn't suppress his chuckle at what he saw.

"They made a little Bardock," Orion noted as he stared at the child. "He has the exact hairstyle."

Unlike with Raditz, where Orion couldn't help but feel jealous over his younger brother's situation compared to his, with this child, Orion didn't feel jealous. Perhaps it was because he had been living with a jealous hatred for the past four years, but when looking at his new youngest brother, Orion couldn't help but feel relief.

"Maybe you'll be a proper child for them." Orion hummed as he rested a hand on the tank with a fond smile.

After taking a brief moment to consider the fact that he had a new brother, something that Orion still didn't know how to view himself, he sighed and figured it was time to leave. Of course, like clockwork, that was when he heard voices coming closer to the house until the door opened.

Suddenly, Orion found himself staring at the surprised and perplexed faces of Gine and Bardock, who stopped talking the moment they noticed him.

"...I wasn't ready for this." Orion quickly realized after the three of them stared at each other in silence for a full minute. Once he spoke those words, it was as though the spell freezing them in place vanished as Gine finally managed to speak up.

"Orion…?" She breathed out in disbelief.

"Y-Yeah?" Orion stammered a little as he averted his gaze. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to force out what he had to say. "I-I…I'm sor—"

Orion couldn't finish his apology, as Gine had crossed the distance between them and wrapped him up in a painfully tight hug so fast that Orion almost got whiplash.

"Orion! You're all right! You're alive!" Gine cried out as she crushed her son in her bone-breaking hug.

"-Ack! G-Gine! Y-You're…breaking…me…!" Orion rasped out as he felt his rips begin to tear open his lungs due to the hug's pressure.

Gine gasped as her crying eyes shot open, and she immediately dropped the young boy, allowing him to breathe in the air again as he held his chest tightly.

Gine had told him she was taken off typical Saiyan missions because she was weak. That was a lie. Even with his metal armor on, Orion felt as though she was going to crush him into a tin can.

He was still catching his breath, so he didn't notice when Gine apologized to him for hurting him. However, he did catch the next thing she said, which she nearly screamed out right next to his ear.

"Why did you go and pick a fight with the king's son!?" Gine screamed, nearly making Orion stumble back from how loud she was.

"What? What do you mean 'pick a fight'?! They're the ones who picked a fight with me! I was only defending myself!" Orion shouted back once what Gine said registered in his head. "They were gonna kill me and my fri—associates if I didn't fight and win!"

"That may be true, but do you know how much you scared me when I learned you were to fight a death match? Do you know how terrified I was when I saw you were fighting Prince Vegeta?! And do you know how mortified I was when I saw your appearance after you survived that energy attack from the prince?! You looked like you were dead!"

Guess that answered the question of whether these two watched the fight or not.

"Yeah, but I didn't die," Orion grumbled. "I know I'm weak, but you really didn't need to worry so much about me."

"This has nothing to do with your weakness or strength," Gine said as she crouched down to look Orion in the eyes. "You could have been the strongest being in the universe, and I would still have been worried about you. Still, I'm so glad you won and survived!"

Gine wrapped him in another hug, this one more gentle and, dare Orion say, motherly than the one before. Orion almost completely melted within the warm, comforting embrace. He never let himself feel like this when he was living in that loathful state, but now that he was mostly out of that hate-filled mindset, he realized just how much he missed a mother's warmth. He had missed this familial connection dearly.

It was then that Orion felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Bardock looking at him. The man didn't smile, though Orion couldn't recall any time the man smiled other than right after he was born. Still, the man must have felt something, given what he said next.

"You did good, son." He said with a certain fondness in his tone.

Orion's eyes bulged at that, but he eventually settled into a small smile that he hid from view

"T-Thanks, I guess." He muttered, not quite sure what else to say at that.

Orion knew he couldn't stay like this forever. Eventually, he would have to leave both this home and the planet. He knew that, and yet he didn't see the harm in staying like this for just a moment longer.

It was warm. So warm…and so comforting.

"Come with me."

Orion didn't even mean to say it. It just came out once he was allowed to relax more than he had in the eight years of his second life. His parents showed obvious signs of confusion once he said that, and Orion nearly bit his tongue in embarrassment. How could he say that? Why did he say that?

"Come with you? What do you mean?" Bardock asked as Gine let Orion go, much to his dismay.

Orion bit his lips but decided that since he already said it, he might as well go all in on it.

"I…I'm leaving soon. The planet, I mean." He told them.

"You're…leaving? So what your demands of the king, that ship and those supplies…You're really going through with it?" Gine repeated.

"Yeah." Orion nodded. "I plan on leaving this planet, and I'm taking my associates, Colonel Paragus, his son Broly, and another Saiyan named Turles. I only came here to apologize for how I acted and how I treated you before, but…I would like you to come with me too."

"Orion…"

"I-I know I'm asking for a lot, and I'm not even sure if the ship the king called for us will be enough for all of us, but I'm sure I can figure something out to make it work," Orion told them. "Hell, I don't like him and would rather he stay here with the rest of the filth, but if you want, we could bring that brat Raditz with us. The same goes for that new kid you guys had. I…I would be fine with it."

"Kakarot." Bardock suddenly said.

"H-Huh?"

"His name is Kakarot. Your youngest brother." Bardock clarified.

"Kakarot…" Orion repeated.

"Yes. And regarding your request," Bardock began before he stole a look with Gine, who gave a sad nod.

"We can't go with you, Orion." Gine finished for her…husband. Mate? Whichever one worked regarding Saiyan relationships.

"Why not!?" Orion shouted. "If you say here, you'll always be under the king, and even worse, you'll always be under Frieza's control! Who knows when Frieza will decide to just kill the Saiyans, so it'd be safer to leave with me! We'll be free, and we'll finally be able to live peacefully! Isn't that enough?"

"...So you think something like that'll happen, too," Bardock muttered under his breath, though neither Orion nor Gine heard him.

"Orion, we can't go with you. We need to stay here with Kakarot, at least until he's ready to leave the incubation tank. Even then, this is our home. Planet Vegeta is all that we've known for all our lives. I'm not sure if we really could just leave everything we've known so suddenly." Gine explained.

"B-But—!"

"Orion, you should still go if you want to. This place…it's never been your home, has it?" Gine told him. "Just because we can't go with you right now shouldn't stop you from finding somewhere you feel like you belong."

"B-But I need to make everything back up to you!" Orion shouted. "I…I really wanted to try to make this work. That maybe, if we left here together, we could be…"

"Orion," Gine said as she placed a hand on Orion's cheek. "We'll always be your parents, and you'll always be our son."

"She's right," Bardock spoke up. "Even if you leave, we'll still be here. After all, while you guys have permission to leave, your mother, brothers, and I don't. But if something happens, we'll be sure to leave and find you. You can count on that."

Orion stared at Bardock as the child's eyes started to become wet with built-up tears before Orion gave a slow nod.

"Fine. If you guys want to stay so badly, there's nothing I can do about it." He sighed. "Just…Just tell me you guys won't do anything stupid if something bad does happen."

"Of course." Bardock nodded.

"O…Okay," Orion said. "I…I guess I should go then. The ship will be here any moment now, and I…don't want to keep the others waiting."

"Stay safe out there. Find something to live for. Find something that makes you happy." Gine told Orion.

"Stay strong, son. Always be prepared for whatever might happen." Bardock added his own two cents. "That armor you designed might have helped you become strong, but never forget where your real strength lies. Never forget what you're fighting for."

"What I'm fighting for?" Orion repeated in a confused tone. "All I've ever done was for revenge! A revenge that was turning me into the exact thing I hated so much! What was I really fighting for all this time if not for that?"

"If that's what you think, then find another reason to fight," Bardock told him. "There will be battles you have to fight in the future. The world isn't the kind of place where you can run away from all trouble. So find a reason to fight for that you believe in, and that'll give you strength to keep going."

"...What is your reason for fighting then?"

"To become stronger. To survive." Bardock responded. "And…I suppose to meet the expectations placed on me. Those are the most prominent that come to mind. Your reasons don't have to be the same as mine, and I doubt your reasons will be the same once you do find them. Still, hold on to them tightly once you find them. They'll help push you through whatever trials happen."

"Yeah…Okay." Orion nodded slowly as he digested the hardened warrior's advice. "Thank you. Both of you. And…I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to treat you both so cruelly. Even if my anger and hatred were warranted, it wasn't warranted by either of you, some of the only people who treated me nicely."

"Hey." Gine began as she held his hand dearly. "As long as you're safe and alive, you'll always be our son."

Orion held back a gasp before he slowly smiled.

"Yeah. I guess…I am your son."

For the first time in this new life, Orion felt a weight be lifted off of him.

For the first time, he felt as though he really had a family.

---

"What do you mean you're not coming with us!?" Orion yelled in pure disbelief.

After reconciling with Gine and Bardock, whom Orion still had trouble mentally discerning them as 'mother' and 'father', Orion flew over to the docks where the rest of his gang was waiting. Paragus and Broly were already boarding the ship that had landed for them, taking in all the things they were bringing with them, but Orion was still outside when a certain person brought something to his attention.

"Why the hell would you want to stay here!?" Orion yelled at his senior low-class Saiyan, Turles. "Even if we leave, you'll still be associated with us! The Saiyans will treat you like scum! Why the hell would you want to say here and deal with that? It'd be better to get out of dodge like the rest of us!"

"Yeah, I know," Turles replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Leaving with you guys would be the smart thing to do."

"YEAH! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE SO DUMB FOR NOT WANTING TO LEAVE!" Orion screamed, veins bulging out of his forehead at the sheer anger he felt toward Turles.

"Hey! I have a reason for wanting to stay!" Turles defended himself. "I'm staying because I want to get stronger."

"Wh-What?" Orion stammered, taken off guard by the statement. "The hell are you talking about? You can get stronger anywhere. It doesn't have to be here with these people."

"You're right, but…I've learned that I still have a long way to go before I get as strong as I want to be," Turles said as he turned and stared at the horizon with a far-off look. "I think I finally get what you've been telling me all this time whenever we sparred together. There are other ways to be strong besides strength."

"That's why…I want to stay here. I want to get stronger through different means, and I want to see how far everyone here can push me towards that goal." Turles clarified. "Yeah, they'll probably hate me after today, but that's just something I can use to get stronger. Perhaps they'll attack me outright, or maybe they'll send me on harder, more dangerous missions. Either way, it'll be a learning experience for me, and I don't want to run away when I can use that to get stronger like you."

"Strong like me? I'd hardly call myself that." Orion sighed as he looked down at himself with a shameful look. "I'm nothing more than a fool that wanted power to wield over those I thought to be my lessers. If I was really strong, I wouldn't have let my twisted desires control me. I don't even really know what I want anymore."

"I don't really get what you mean, but that's not right at all. You are strong! You beat the prince by yourself! Everyone said you were powerless, yet you made something and used it to show how strong you are! You're the coolest Saiyan around! I've never met anyone like you! That's why I wanna be just like you! I'll be strong like you. I'll find or make something that'll help me be really strong too! Then, once I'm on your level, we can see which of us is stronger."

"Is that all you think about? Battling?" Orion asked before letting out a weak laugh. "You know what? Sure. Consider this a homework assignment from me."

Orion then held out a fist toward Turles and smiled at his first real friend in this new life.

"Get strong like me. Not just in brute strength. Get smarter, and don't be afraid to use whatever you have to your advantage. Get strong and survive. Then, the next time we meet, we can spar for old time's sake and see who's stronger."

"Yeah! That's a promise! No backing out now!" Turles cheered as he bumped his own fist against Orion's. "Alright, that's enough of that. I don't want to delay your flight. Any idea where you're gonna go once you leave?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I managed to convince a few of my old workmates who didn't hate my guts to provide me with a map, but it's not a complete map. It only shows certain planets that the Saiyans are aware of, and it only covers part of the galaxy. We'll have to get a fill it out once we get to other planets." Orion noted as he took out a small disk he had been given. A 'holo-map', apparently. He sighed as he shook his head.

"It didn't really give me any ideas of where to go, but…I do have a place in mind. I just need to find it." Orion told Turles.

"That's good. It wouldn't do to fly through space for years with no idea of what you're looking for," Turles laughed.

"Shut up! I wouldn't do that! Paragus would never let me even if I did!" Orion shot back. "Well, I'll see you around, Turles."

"Yep. See ya later, Orion."

With that final goodbye, Orion made his way onto the sizable cruiser. This ship was definitely large enough, even if it was fully stocked with supplies they would need during this long trip.

Yeah, definitely a long trip, considering Orion had no idea how long it would take to find out where Earth was. The Saiyan, or rather Frieza Force, drones are scattered throughout the galaxy to search for planets of note. Anything that could potentially be worth something is recorded and sent to the database. However, Earth wasn't in the database. Either it wasn't worthwhile and wasn't recorded, or the drones hadn't reached whichever part of the galaxy Earth was in this strange world.

Hell, Earth might be entirely in a different galaxy. Or perhaps it didn't exist in this world. Orion didn't know. Still, he had hope that one day, he would return to his original planet. His true home.

Of course, he'd have to find it first.

Orion sighed as he made his way around the ship, his visor on as he scanned every inch of the vessel. Once he was done, he made his way to the cockpit. The moment he opened the door, he saw Paragus and Broly, the former of which was explaining their situation to the poor Frieza Force employee who had been sent here under false pretenses.

And by explaining their situation, Orion meant that Paragus was literally threatening him.

"I've already told you! You don't have any say in this matter! If you try anything, I will not hesitate to silence you myself!" Paragus told the little orange alien as he aimed his blaster right in the poor alien's face.

"H-Hey now! No need for any rash actions! I'm just doing my job! You're the ones trying to take over my ship! I was only supposed to deliver some new equipment and supplies and head back to my station. I-If I don't arrive on time, they'll try to find out what happened!"

"Yeah, they would try," Orion cut in as he walked towards them. Thankfully, I scanned the ship and removed all the bugs and trackers that were on it. Should we take over this ship and fly away, no one would be able to know where we were."

"Wh-What!?" The employee screamed though Orion ignored him.

"Paragus, you have the scouter I modified for you, right?"

"Yeah, I still have it. I also broke this one's scouter." Paragus nodded as he looked at the orange alien. "Are you sure it's no longer connected to the other scouters?"

"Absolutely. Both your scouter and my visor are now off the grid. No one will be able to listen in on our conversations. We'll still be able to speak to each other, but only when we synch up our scouters."

"Good. The last thing we want is for the King or Lord Frieza to know where we went off to."

"Don't call them that. Vegeta isn't our king anymore, and we won't be working for Frieza after today—not that I ever really worked for the guy," Orion said.

"True enough, I suppose." Paragus hummed as he walked over to his son, who was sitting quietly, watching his father and Orion with a curious expression.

Orion turned to the alien pilot, who flinched at his sudden gaze.

"So what's your name?" Orion asked.

"L-Lemo."

"Ok, Lemo. From this point onward, you are no longer an employee of the Frieze Force." Orion told him as he patted the alien on the shoulder. "You consider this a permanent or temporary leave. Once the three of us find a planet that we like or another ship for us to use, you can go back to the Frieza Force or head off to wherever you want, as long as you don't rat us out. We won't hurt you. All we ask is for your cooperation until we find a new home for ourselves."

"S-Still…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I only asked for a ship and supplies from King Vegeta. He should have provided us with everything himself, but he instead tricked you guys into giving us what we needed. So if you want to blame anyone, blame him." Orion told Lemo.

"Grr…." The little orange alien growled angrily for a minute before his anger faded into a defeated sigh. "Fine. Might as well. Not like I really liked working in the force," Lemo grumbled. "Don't like how I'm being used as a tool, though."

"Don't be like that. Let's get along." Orion tried to smile, though his attempt died at Lemo's next words.

"Yeah, right. As if a Saiyan would want to be nice to someone else."

Orion felt anger bubble in him at being called a Saiyan, but he quickly killed the feeling, leaving only a muddied feeling of conflict in his heart. Orion couldn't blame Lemo for thinking that. Orion had thought the same until recently. Orion was, physically, a Saiyan. He couldn't blame others for thinking he fit into the stereotype of his race.

Wasn't that a kick in the teeth? Having to accept that he did fall into that stereotype, or at least he had.

"We'll see," Orion said in a softer tone. "Just…get us off the planet. I'll be your copilot."

Orion sat down at the seat next to Lemo, who continued to grumble as he started up the ship. It didn't take long for the ship to rise above the ground before flying off the planet. As they flew away, Orion took one last look at what had been his home for the past few years.

Then, after swallowing a lump that was stuck in his throat, Orion turned back around to face forward. He was free—free from the chains of Planet Vegeta and the Saiyans. He could do and go anywhere now.

Orion couldn't help but smile fondly at this new turning point of his life.

Yeah… This second life of Orion's starts right now! He won't let anything else stand in his way again.

For the first time in a long time, Orion felt a spark of hope toward this second life of his.

Origin Sage End

Next Time on Bit by Bit Kai: Grand Tour Saga

---

A/N: I'm finally done with this saga! Thank God. I can finally get on with the story, and I'll be able to properly use other characters like Broly since I haven't really had anything for him to do yet. So I'll probably do an interlude or two (most likely about Orion and Bardock, respectively), and then we'll get back to the main story. Not sure when I'll get to that, though. I plan on finishing the next chapter of Draw of the Cards, which I'm nearly done with, and then I want to get back to EaST. That's the plan, but I might change my mind. We'll see.

Also, in regards to the next saga, if any of you have potential planets or plot ideas I can use for this saga, that'd be great. I have a few ideas, but not enough for a whole lot of chapters. I'd like this saga to be longer than five chapters since this is going to essentially be Orion's Pilaf Saga, and I want to have fun with it. So if you have any ideas for planets and plots, whether original or from another series that would be cool to reference in this story, let me know and I'll consider it. Till next time.