Warnings: This story gets very, very dark and there are overtones of abuse (physical, mental, emotional and even hints of sexual.) If this offends you, please stop reading now.

Slave

xXx

Vegeta turned away from the viewport straightening his small slumped shoulders. Vegetasei had finally disappeared from his sight. The little boy somehow knew he would never set foot on the planet of his birth again. He looked up at Nappa with tears in his eyes.

"I know we had to go with that violet bully, but I wish – I wish that I had been able to say goodbye to my father," the small prince said with a catch in his voice.

"My prince, your behavior is unacceptable!" Nappa said sharply. He remembered King Vegeta's instructions to teach the boy to be unemotional even though it broke Nappa's heart. "Warriors do not cry ever, and especially not while in enemy territory. They do not allow their enemies to see weakness and by allowing them to see a weakness that enemy can then exploit it. Do you understand?"

The boy nodded slowly, digesting this bit of information. He then raised his hand and angrily brushed away the tears that formed in his eyes.

"Good. Now prepare yourself, we must present ourselves to Freiza and find out what that monstrosity wants to do with us. I have left Radditz outside of this room to guard you; I will learn where our quarters are to be. When you are ready have Radditz summon me." With that Nappa turned the prince and strode from the room with a confidence he didn't feel.

Vegeta watched his guardian leave and then turned back to the viewport.

"A warrior shows no emotions. Emotions are weak. They give your enemies the advantage. A warrior never gives his enemy the advantage," he murmured to himself, repeating it over an over until it became a litany. He stared out of the viewport trying to draw energy from his home.

He knew he had to be strong. He was the Prince of All Saiyajins. But all he wanted to do was cry, he was a 4 year-old-boy but he had no time to be a child. Too much was at stake.

He stood at the viewport for several minutes his eyes unfocused and his lips moving faintly as he repeated his litany, before he drew himself together.

"I will not let Freiza beat me. I will not let him destroy me. I will survive and I will destroy him," vowed Vegeta as he walked out of the room.

He was wrong. He was very, very wrong.

xXx

Freiza smirked at his new pet. Breaking him was going to be a challenge and Freiza loved a challenge. He hadn't had one in years and was looking forward to it with anticipation.

"What do you want Freiza?" the monkey challenged imperiously, standing with his feet braced and his arm crossed.

The Ice-jin smiled coldly at the prince and crossed toward him. Freiza's hand whipped out and backhanded the boy sending him flying across the room, "This is what you get for your disrespect. You will call me 'Lord' and you will kneel when you enter my presence, my pet."

"Never."

The boy stood slowly wiping blood away from his mouth and smearing it across his cheek in the process. The Saiyajin child's eyes were glaring daggers and his teeth were bared, while his breathing was deep and measured like he was trying to control his rage.

The Ice-jin took this all in and reveled in it. The little monkey had spirit. He would put up a fight. It was going to be so much fun breaking him. He turned to the boy's companions who looked outraged at the indignity suffered by their prince, "You will leave us now. The prince and I have much to discuss." Freiza was looking forward to getting to know the prince before breaking him and wanted to start immediately.

"I will not, Lord Freiza," stated Nappa.

"Yes. You will, or you will leave permanently. Do I make myself clear?" snarled Freiza enraged at the tall Saiyajin's words. How dare this overgrown monkey challenge him!

The prince saw this and knew that his guardian's life was in his hands. He knew that Nappa would never leave the prince unless ordered by Vegeta or his father. So the boy drew a breath and saved Nappa's life.

"Go Nappa," Vegeta ordered weakly from the wall.

"But Your Highness-"

"Just go!" the prince yelled his eyes wild. He knew that if Nappa didn't leave soon that he would be destroyed by Freiza. He also knew that when Nappa left that he was going to be completely at Freiza's mercy.

Freiza smirked. The little monkey knows what is going to happen to him and doesn't want his companions to see. Interesting. Freiza filed this information away for later.

Nappa nodded hesitantly in acquiescence and followed Radditz out of the room.

Freiza watched their departure with a smile on his lips. He then turned back to the defiant little boy.

"Well, my pet, we were discussing your position on my ship," he started conversationally while walking back to his throne, "To put it bluntly, you are my slave." The boy's eyes narrowed in anger but he wisely held his tongue. Freiza noted the reaction and continued, "You will do what I tell you to, when I tell you to. Do you understand, my pet?"

The boy pushed himself off of the wall and stood defiantly in front of Freiza, eyes blazing with barely controlled fury.

"I am not your pet!" Vegeta ground out slowly accenting each word, " I am the Prince of all Saiyajins and you will treat me with the respect I deserve due to my station! I will not follow your petty little whims! I AM NOT YOUR SLAVE!" Vegeta's voice rose to a shriek on the last statement. He stood there breathing heavily. His dark eyes were snapping and his fists were shaking at his sides.

Freiza laughed.

Freiza laughed at the audacity of the little monkey. And he laughed in delight. The boy was going be so entertaining.

He rose from his throne and began circling the boy like a shark circles his prey.

"You are my pet," he completed one circuit. "You are undeserving of respect," he completed another circuit. "You are the Prince of Nothing!" another circuit and then he stood in front of the little boy and backhanded him although the prince remained standing.

"You have no rights!" another slap. "You are little more than garbage!" Freiza delivered a brutal kick to the boy's stomach and Vegeta fell to his knees. "You are nothing more than a miserable monkey!" another kick.

"You and your entire race are mine to do with as I please! If you fail to submit to my wishes, your planet will suffer as will your companions," Freiza hissed at the beaten and bloodied boy at his feet. He then got an oddly tender look on his face, and picked the child up and set him on his feet. "You know, my pet, I can be very generous to those who please me. Very generous," Freiza purred. He leaned forward to lick the blood from the child's face.

The boy flashed to life. He pushed Freiza violently away from him and shot a ki-blast at the purple monster.

Freiza blocked the blast laughing and flew at the child kneeing the boy's stomach and throwing him against the wall. The boy collided violently with the metal and knocked his head against the wall sending him into unconsciousness.

Freiza sauntered over to inspect his pet monkey and was disgusted to see that he was senseless. The boy would be no more fun until he was healed. Freiza stalked over to the intercom and summoned one his soldiers.

"Take this boy to Medical and put him in a regeneration tank. I wouldn't want the little prince to suffer any more than he has to," Freiza said in a phony voice. Nappa, who was waiting outside of Freiza's throne room saw his grandson's battered body and heard Freiza's words to the soldier and scowled.

The soldiers unceremoniously picked up Vegeta's body and marched out of the room, where they were confronted by Nappa.

"You will give me my prince. I will carry him to Medical."

The soldiers shrugged and dropped the boy on the floor with a thud.

The warrior bent over and gently picked up his injured charge.

The boy's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Nappa seriously.

"I will kill him," he whispered and he slipped back into unconsciousness.

"I believe you will, little one," the big man replied.

Cradling the boy in his arms, Nappa followed the soldiers to Medical.

xXx

Several hours later, Vegeta emerged from the tank. His body was healed but his psyche was scarred. While he was floating in the healing liquid his mind had been racing. Freiza's brutality and threats frightened the child. The ease with which Freiza had beaten him had shaken him.

Weren't Saiyajins supposed to be the most powerful race in existence? Weren't they supposed to be unbeatable? That was what Vegeta had believed. But now he wasn't so sure. How was it that Freiza was able to fell him so easily? The little boy didn't know. But he knew one thing. He had lost his self-confidence to that bastard. And even if it meant his death, he was going to get it back!

Nappa was waiting for him when he stepped out of the tank.

"I see you have recovered, my prince."

"Yes. Take me to my quarters, Nappa. I wish to sleep a bit before I resume my training," the prince ordered haughtily, trying to mask his uncertainty and his fear.

"As you say, highness," and the two started down the hall towards their quarters. Vegeta noted the layout of the ship and filed it away.

When they reached the quarters, Vegeta's façade faltered.

"Nappa?"

"Yes, my prince?"

"Aren't Saiyajins supposed to be the most powerful race in existence?"

Nappa sighed, "They are and they aren't. As a race, we are extremely powerful. You have heard the phrase 'that which does not kill you makes you stronger' well that is doubly true with Saiyajins. An individual Saiyajin becomes stronger with each fight. And if a Saiyajin survives a near death experience, that Saiyajin's strength will increase greatly."

"But we're not strong enough to beat Freiza, are we?"

"No. Only the Legendary has the strength to do that."

"The Legendary? You haven't told me about the Legendary. Where can we find him so he can help me destroy Freiza?"

Nappa picked up the boy and placed him under the covers and smoothed the boy's flame-like hair down. Nappa then sat himself on the edge of the bed and looked at the dark serious eyes of his grandson and started story:

"I am not sure that I remember the entire story correctly but I will do my best. It is the epic tale of the Greatest of all of Us, the Legendary Super Saiyajin.

'Hearken unto a tale from the age of heroes. Listen well, for this is the story of mightiest of warriors of long ago. The Legendary Super Saiyajin, Vegeta.

Now, as all men know, this was an age of chaos. Warlords punished the people mercilessly driving them from their homes. The gods were enraged. They railed and ranted until one of their number, The God of Honorable Warriors, Hrokka, suggested a champion. A champion to unite the people and lead them against their oppressors and into glory.

He chose Vegeta, a battle scarred warrior whose prowess was only second to his honor. The Gods nodded at this choice and gave Vegeta several gifts.

Strength to defeat his enemies.

Courage to see his people through the dark times.

Honor to serve his people and not his own desires.

And finally as a sign of the duty bestowed on him from the gods, the imbued Vegeta's hair and eyes with two sacred colors. Gold for the pureness that the warrior must possess and green for the growth that the warrior has endured.

The Gods approached Vegeta and told him of his quest and the gifts they had given them.

Vegeta awed by the honor eagerly accepted the task lain before him. He would free the Saiyajin people from their oppressors and lead them into the glory that they deserved as the chosen race of the Gods.

He quickly formed an army instructing them to train until they received a sign from the Gods. They waited getting stronger by the day. But their actions were not going unnoticed by the Warlords.

The Warlords formed a plan of their own. On the night of the full moon, they would attack with their weapons of technology.

The night of the ambush arrived. But the Gods had given their chosen people one additional gift, their chosen had the ability to increase their strength a hundred-fold.

En masse, the Saiyajins stormed the strongholds of their enemies led by their fearless leader, Vegeta. He had not changed form instead his glory shone forth like the blazing sun.

They conquered their enemies completely that night.

When the sun rose the next morning, the Saiyajins approached Vegeta and entreated him to be their king. Vegeta declined. He was weary of leadership and desired nothing more than to join his slain comrades in the Hall of the Warriors. The noble warrior bid farewell to his people and began his journey to the Hall of the Warriors.

In his honor, the people renamed the planet after him and placed one of his surviving lieutenents on the throne.

The seers looked to the future and prophesied "The Legendary shall return when the Planets need is greatest. He shall avenge wrongs and slay its adversaries. The road the Legendary will travel will lead him to glory but it is fraught with peril and anguish. Hear and take heed, for when the Legendary is reborn it shall spell a new chapter in the history of Vegeta."'

Nappa stopped his narrative and looked at his grandson. The boy's eyes were shining.

"Has the Legendary been reborn, Nappa?" asked the boy excitedly.

"Yes. At least we believe he has," Nappa took a breath and continued, "We believe that you are the Legendary reborn."

Vegeta gasped.

"That is why, your highness, you must train as hard as you can and never allow yourself to fail. You must be the savior of Vegetasei. Now, however, you need your sleep. But you must remember that you can never say a word of this to anyone. If Freiza were to find out, he would kill you and your destiny would not be fulfilled."

The boy nodded solemnly and drifted off to sleep all the while repeating to himself, "I am the Legendary reborn. I will not let Freiza beat me. I will survive and I will destroy him."

xXx

Several years passed. Nappa and Radditz trained Vegeta trying to prepare him for his destiny. While at the same time Freiza and his henchmen tried their hardest to break the Prince's spirit. But they failed. The prince after hearing Nappa's story had something to believe in.

He was the Legendary reborn. He could save his planet from Freiza. All he had to do was survive and train and he would achieve his destiny.

xXx

But this all changed one day when the Prince was seven.

The little monkey walked into Freiza's presence and sunk to one knee. The Ice-jin snarled at this small defiance. Technically the boy was kneeling, but it was on his terms and it wasn't submissive.

"You summoned me, Lord?" Vegeta ground out.

"Yes my little pet, I did. I have some very bad news," Freiza purred as he walked over to the boy.

"What, you ran out of your favorite nail coating and the nearest space station only has taupe?" taunted Vegeta. He hated it when Freiza acted mock-concerned and couldn't control his tongue.

"Freiza's eyes flashed and his hand shot out to strike the prince but the boy caught it in mid-air and held it.

"Don't..." Vegeta began but was cut off by a brutal kick to his midsection that caused him to loosen his grip.

"You will never do that again!" Freiza shrieked.

The boy coughed from the floor and suppressed a smirk. It was the first of Vegeta's victories against Freiza, and for many years it was his last. The Ice-jin filed the boy's defiance away to deal with later. Right now he wanted to crush the boy's spirit and the news he was going to tell him would be a good start.

"I summoned you here because Vegetasei has been destroyed," Freiza gloated.

Vegeta turned stricken eyes up towards Freiza.

"No..." he breathed.

"I'm so sorry, my dear prince," Freiza sneered the last word in triumph. "I am afraid that the planet was destroyed by a comet. Quite devastating, really. It appears that no one survived."

"What about those off-planet? They still live, right." Vegeta asked forgetting momentarily who is was addressing.

"I'm afraid not. It seems that your father called them all back for some reason. I suppose we will never know now," Freiza drawled. "It looks like you really are the Prince of Nothing, my little monkey."

Vegeta was silent. His heart had broken and his dreams were shattered. How could he be the savior of a dead race? How could he be the prophesied Legendary? As he mulled this over, he realized that Freiza had no hold over him now.

"What do you say, my little prince?"

"I say 'goodbye,' you effeminate freak. You have no hold on me anymore."

"Oh but that is not true. I do have a hold on you. You are mine, little monkey, until I say otherwise."

"I don't think so."

"Really. I think that I have a job for you. You can restore honor to your precious dead race, by continuing to aid me. I think that it is time that you have a Saiyajin rite of passage so to speak. I think that it is past time for you to purge a planet."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because my dear monkey if you do it will allow you to get stronger. Don't you want to get stronger so that you can beat me."

Vegeta stayed silent.

"That is the hold I have on you. Revenge. You will serve me and become stronger in hopes that you can destroy me one day," Freiza gloated.

Vegeta pondered the Ice-jin's words. He was right. Vegeta did want revenge for all of the times that Freiza had beat him. He wanted revenge for the insults. He wanted revenge for the mind tricks. But most of all, he wanted revenge for the loss of his innocence and the shattering of his dreams.

"I will do as you ask."

"Good," Freiza purred.

"I will destroy you," the prince said in a dead voice.

Freiza smiled. He had broken the boy and in his place he had created a killer.

xXx

That is the end of this chapter.

This chapter was very hard for me to write on several level. One I was a victim of abuse and some of these scenes are revivals of past memories. I empathize with Vegeta. He and I are very similar in some ways. He hides his fears and pain behind a mask of bravado and pride and I do the same.

I have to give proper credit. I got the idea for the story of the Legendary after reading one of David Edding's books. It is very Beowulf – like.

Written in 2001, revised in 2007. Posting for completionist sake. Also super annoyed at this site stripping out my scene breaks.