Raditz and Nappa were both standing next to each other, gazing down at the teenager laying in front of them. Vegeta was passed out on his cot, and he looked worse for wear. His face was pale, and the skin on his back was badly ripped open from his session with Zarbon, with parts of his back blistering from a fire whip. Even though Nappa and Raditz used their spare uniforms to absorb the bleeding like they always did, their efforts were in vain. The prince would only heal if he did nothing but rest, or if he got into a tank. Neither option was possible at the moment.
Raditz finally looked towards Nappa. "Well, I did it last time. It's your turn now."
Nappa snorted. "Are you nuts? I don't think so. You do it."
"And have Vegeta kill me?" Raditz scoffed. "No way, bald man. I did it last time, and I'm not doing it again."
"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Do it, or I'll kill you myself, third class!" Nappa growled threateningly.
He and Raditz stared each other down for a few seconds, before Raditz looked back down at Vegeta, scowling as he did. Oh, how he hated being the weakest one in the group. Grumbling under his breath, he bent over and reached down to shake the teenager's shoulder.
"Vegeta," he called out in a loud voice. The prince didn't stir, and so Raditz shook his shoulder with more force. "Hey, you have to get up, unless you want to be late again."
Vegeta exhaled deeply, and then moved just enough to turn his head away from them. Raditz and Nappa exchanged a look. On one hand, they both sympathized with their prince. Vegeta was at a critical age for Saiyan males, and he needed far more nourishment and rest than he was getting. But on the other hand, if they let him be late, then not only would Vegeta get punished again, but they both would suffer too at the hands of the irate prince.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Nappa pressed, staring at his fellow Saiyan expectantly. Raditz inwardly groaned as he looked back down at Vegeta. He grit his teeth, and prayed to whoever might've been listening that Vegeta didn't kill him for this.
Before he could lose his nerve, Raditz reached down and seized Vegeta's limp tail, rapidly wrapped it a few times around his fist, and then yanked it hard.
Vegeta's eyes immediately flew open as he shot up to his feet. With no hesitation, the prince spun around and slammed his fist as hard as he could into Raditz' stomach before he even processed what had happened. Raditz doubled over and dropped to his knees, coughing and gasping for air as he clutched his stomach. It only took a couple of seconds for Vegeta to put two and two together while he wrapped his tail snugly around his waist. Raditz tried in vain to defend himself, but he couldn't stop Vegeta from delivering a vicious kick to his face with the heel of his good foot, shattering both his nose and scouter on impact.
"Try that again, and I guarantee that it'll be the last thing you ever fucking do," Vegeta venomously snarled.
"I told the weakling not to wake you that way," Nappa snorted. Laid out on the floor now and struggling to breathe, Raditz shot him a glare of pure hatred. Nappa just chuckled and then turned his attention back to the youngest Saiyan in the room. "Dodoria came by not too long ago. Said Frieza wants you as soon as you could get dressed and get over there."
Vegeta frowned as he turned away from Raditz who was slowly pulling himself up. The prince reached behind him and gingerly touched one of the deep, ripped cuts in his back. He pulled his hand back and saw fresh blood staining his fingers. He was no stranger to these kinds of injuries, but usually, he was allowed to recover in a tank afterwards. After his punishment though, Zarbon had informed him that it would take some time to disinfect the regeneration tanks, and that Frieza had yet to decide if he just wanted to toss them out and order new ones to be built. Looking down at his broken foot, which was swollen worse than the night before, Vegeta knew he had his work cut out for him if he couldn't heal soon.
"What time is it?" he demanded, limping over to his gear to get ready.
"060X. Enough time for you to meet with Frieza and get to training on time," Nappa answered, going over to Raditz. With one hand, he easily raised the other Saiyan back up to his feet.
Vegeta got dressed quickly, even though with every movement, it felt like his back was being set on fire. It was especially bad when he covered his skin with the spandex of his uniform top. Ignoring the pain as much as he could, he turned back around to his comrades, making a disconnect motion with his hand. Nappa obediently turned off his scouter while Raditz reset his broken nose.
"While I go meet with Frieza, I want you both to get a full scouting report on galaxy #23 in the north sector," Vegeta ordered while he tugged on his gloves. "Just tell the technician that it's for a purging assignment. The fool won't question it. He'll give you everything, but I only want to know about Planet Trika."
"…Jhainer's home planet?" Nappa questioned, frowning in confusion. "You thinking of purging it, Vegeta?"
"No, nothing like that. Jhainer and I have an alliance now, and so I want to know more about his background. We'll start by investigating his planet," Vegeta explained while he leaned up against the wall to put his boot on over his wounded foot. After a few failed attempts to do it gently, the prince finally just yanked the boot on, forcing his foot to accommodate itself. He grit his teeth hard as a wave of pain rushed up his entire leg. Unable to stand it, he burned through the instep of his boot with his ki to give his foot some breathing room.
"We'll go take care of that then, won't we?" Nappa said, eyeing the third Saiyan in the room. Raditz just grunted his agreement, brushing the blood off his face. It wasn't like he had much of a choice.
"Good." Vegeta slipped on his scouter, and then limped towards the door. "Did Dodoria say what Frieza wanted me for?"
"Nope. Didn't seem to be in a real rush though. He probably wouldn't mind if you were late to training again," Nappa bitterly remarked as he and Raditz followed the prince out of their quarters.
"Hn," Vegeta grunted his agreement, looking over his shoulder. "Go and get that done. I want that information as soon as possible."
Nappa nodded, and then he walked off to the right with Raditz trailing him, while Vegeta headed off to the left. The prince was doing his usual walking motion, though he was subtly levitating a few centimeters whenever he put his broken foot forward. To anyone not paying close attention, his walk passed as normal, which was the only thing that mattered at the moment. Here in the open, it was important not to show any weakness.
Still, the young Saiyan couldn't help the cold sweat breaking out over his entire body as he headed to Frieza's office. His back and his foot were hurting badly, and he still felt a bit out of sorts from his first training session with Dodoria. All he wanted to do was lie down and sleep. Unfortunately, his day was only getting started.
Meanwhile, in one of the gathering rooms attached to Frieza's office, the tyrant was casually seated at the head of a long, holographic table while overseeing a political meeting. Both sides of the table were filled with different aliens, all of them looking grim and uncomfortable. There was a glass of alien drink neatly in place before each alien, but no one except Frieza had touched his glass.
Finally, a hunched over white furred beast of an alien with one enormous blood red eye taking up most of his face dared break the silence. His voice was rough with apprehension. "You said you could give us control of our planet back…but you have yet to say what you want in exchange."
Frieza chuckled, and casually leaned forward in his levitating seat.
"Well, since you've asked so politely, dear Truben, I'll tell you. It's simple: I want your allegiance. You see, your planet Pilaz has things of great value to me. The best technology on this side of the galaxy. Some impressive, talented young fighters. A prime location for restocking, being at the corner of several different galaxies. I assume that with your allegiance, I will receive the rest of these wonderful resources whenever I request them. In exchange, I will have my men annihilate the enemies that have taken over and enslaved your planet, and I guarantee to always provide protection in case of a similar event in the future."
"And if we say no?" a smaller alien sitting across from Truben challenged. This alien was smaller than Frieza, but he was undoubtedly much older. Like Truben, he only had one large red eye on his face, but there were sharp black spikes on top of his head, standing out on his white fur.
Everyone looked at him in shock over his daring question, with Truben offering a withering glare before turning back to the tyrant. "Apologies for Felsin, Lord Frieza. He's an old man-"
"Oh, there is no need for apologies," Frieza casually dismissed with a wave of his hand, before reaching up to his scouter. "Felsin's concerns are legitimate, and I'm sure that he's not the only one with such thoughts. Such concerns deserve a response…" His transmission was picked up over the scouter. "Zarbon?"
Zarbon's voice immediately came through. "Yes, Lord Frieza?"
"Has the boy arrived yet?"
"Yes. He is waiting for you."
"Wonderful. Send him in."
"Right away."
Five seconds later, Vegeta slowly entered the gathering room. Aside from his badly ripped lower lip which hadn't healed, and the sweat shining on his face and neck, the prince didn't look to be in any physical discomfort. He levitated just enough to appear to be walking, and came to a stop a safe distance away.
"My lord, you summoned me," Vegeta grumbled, bowing his head in feigned respect and missing the shocked looks on the faces of the aliens around the table.
"Walk closer, right over here. I want our guests to see you." Frieza observed the Saiyan's movements, and then gave a few tsk's. "I said walk, not levitate, stupid monkey."
Vegeta clenched his jaw shut as he finally walked, unable to hide his bad, painful limp. He came up next to Frieza's right side, and finally turned to face the other aliens in the room. The young prince frowned when he saw the way they were staring back at him. There was recognition, fear, and…remorse? Pity? His lip twitched as his eyes darkened with hatred.
"Gentlemen," Frieza brightly said, reaching around Vegeta to grasp the teenager's shoulder, like a father about to present his favorite son. "Allow me to introduce you to one of my youngest, and one of my finest. This boy's name is Vegeta, and I have raised him like he was my own son. He is the last surviving prince of the powerful Saiyan race, and is currently a preliminary ranked man in my Galactic Army. If he is successful in the coming lunar cycles, he will be a fully ranked man."
Glances were exchanged at the table, before all eyes went over to the prince being presented. Vegeta felt uncomfortable with all the attention, not sure what he was even doing there. His best guess was that he was going to be ordered to slaughter everyone in the room. If that was the case, he'd rather just get on with it.
"Tell them what happened to your planet, Vegeta," Frieza ordered, earning a wary look from the teenaged prince. The tyrant just smiled at him in encouragement. "Go on, boy. Share your story. It's quite riveting."
Vegeta felt more uncomfortable than ever as he looked forward. Some of the looks on the faces of the men staring back at him conveyed that they already knew the truth. His eyes settled on the far wall as he mumbled, "My home planet was destroyed by a meteor, almost ten full solar cycles ago by the Cold calendar. Only three of us survived."
"How tragic! A meteor destroying the entire planet of one of the most powerful warrior races the universe has ever seen! Have any of you ever heard of such a thing?" Frieza questioned in feigned bewilderment. He squeezed Vegeta's shoulder with so much strength, the armor started to deform as pain flashed over the young prince's face. The tyrant barely noticed while he made eye contact with everyone seated in front of him, the threat clear in his eyes. "Heaven only knows what planet a meteor might strike next…"
"Alright," the older alien named Felsin quietly relented. Frieza's grip on Vegeta relaxed, and the prince was relieved. And suspicious. He scowled as he looked at the tyrant out of the corner of his eye while Felsin continued, "We accept your deal and pledge our allegiance."
"Outstanding. We have a deal then," Frieza responded with a grin. Vegeta tried to leave, but Frieza's grip tightened on his shoulder again. "Please meet with Zarbon on your way out. He will handle the logistics. Thank you all for coming, and I look forward to a profitable relationship for many solar cycles to come."
The young Saiyan waited until most of the aliens had left, before he finally spoke again. "If that's all, Lord Frieza, may I leave? I'd rather not be late again to training."
"Goodness, always in a rush. Can't I even have a moment to check in with you to see how my favorite monkey prince is doing?" Frieza kindly asked, releasing his grip on the prince to reach for his drink. His levitating seat turned slightly so he was facing the teenager with him. "Now then. Dodoria tells me that Manzin is already ahead in the competitions, earning the first point. I had a feeling you would fail in this, Vegeta, since that's all you know how to do. But I'm surprised to see that you're failing so early in the process."
Vegeta bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood, lest he say something he would regret. With a look that could have killed, he evenly replied, "We have barely gotten started. I haven't failed until another is given rank."
"Perhaps, but Manzin is stronger than you, am I correct?"
The prince growled. "He's barely-"
"Yes or no," Frieza cut in. Vegeta fell into a bitter silence, his face reddening with growing anger and resentment. The tyrant chuckled and took another sip of his drink. "Yes, that's what I thought. You see, my pet, strength means everything. Without my strength, you wouldn't obey me. Without your strength, your men wouldn't obey you. Do you agree?"
"My men obey me because I am their prince-"
"Oh, come now, Vegeta. I know that you're still a boy, but don't be so naïve. They obey you because of your superior strength, and because you would kill them if they didn't. Don't mistake self-preservation for loyalty." Vegeta looked away, frowning in thought. Try as he could to hide it, it was obvious the thought had crossed his mind before. Frieza smiled and continued, "Now, Manzin is older than you, has more experience than you, and is stronger than you. By allowing him to draw the first point, you have placed yourself at a disadvantage."
"It's nothing I cannot overcome," Vegeta asserted with full confidence.
"We shall see about that, Vegeta. Now, since both of your monkey parents are very dead, there is no one else in your life to give you quality advice and guidance for what lies ahead…except for me. I don't usually do this, but because you're like a son to me, I will gladly give that advice to you," Frieza informed him, pausing to receive a sign of gratitude.
The prince lowered his head, even as the fur on his tail bristled with his rising rage. "I would appreciate that very much, Lord Frieza," he finally got out through clenched teeth.
Satisfied, Frieza continued. "Only the strongest get through the training and competitions in the rank qualifying squad, and I don't mean who is strongest physically. I'll have you know, boy, that the winner is not always the man with the highest power level. But it's always the man who is the smartest, who seizes opportunity and creates his own where none exists. It's the man who is willing to chain another underwater and let him drown just to gain the first point."
Vegeta's head snapped up in surprise. "You know about that?"
Frieza smirked. "Silly monkey, I know everything that goes on here. Especially with this current rank qualifying squad being so young overall, I am quite intrigued in how this will unfold."
"It was a dirty move on Manzin's part yesterday," Vegeta snarled. "He almost fucking killed me!"
"Temper, temper," Frieza laughed. "This is what I'm talking about, boy. Open your eyes and look at the big picture. Manzin's maneuver was brilliant, and that's the type of man who will rise up quickly in the ranks. The question now is, what are you going to do about it, hmm? Don't answer that right now. Think about it."
The young prince nodded, and grumbled out, "Yes, Lord Frieza."
"Now go tend to your business," Frieza ordered. "I'll be looking forward to hearing about your progress. Dismissed."
Vegeta bowed in respect, and then turned around, limping out of there with a disgusted look on his face. He would have preferred beatings over the times when Frieza just wanted to have little "chats" with him. But, as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Frieza was right. He was definitely going to need to use his smarts if he wanted to earn his rank. The tyrant was many things, but unintelligent was not one of them. Slowly, his anger began to die down, and he started thinking of how best to approach today's training. Reaching up to his scouter, Vegeta checked the time, and then smirked when he realized how much time he still had left until training.
A short time later, the prince was banging on a metallic door down a long corridor. A few seconds later, the door slid open, with a tired looking Jhainer appearing before him. The young Trikan had clearly been asleep, wearing only his uniform pants and his scouter, and looking half-awake.
"What is it, Saiyan?" Jhainer asked while he checked the time on his scouter. He looked less than pleased at the result that beeped back. "Training doesn't start for a bit yet."
"I know," Vegeta gruffly replied, stalking on inside even though he was never invited in. He surveyed the room, which was just like his, except one third the size. His dark eyes settled on some remnants of Trikan blood on Jhainer's cot and on the floor. "How's that gash Manzin gave you?"
Jhainer's blue tail whipped behind him a bit in suspicion. This was the first time the Saiyan had sought him out like this, and though they were technically in an alliance now, Vegeta wasn't the only one who had a hard time trusting others. The Trikan's white eye drifted down to Vegeta's white boots. "I don't know. How's the broken foot?"
"Hn," Vegeta grunted. "I'm fine."
"As am I."
The prince slowly turned back around to face him. "I'm sure Manzin is feeling better than fine though."
"Yes, I'm sure he is," Jhainer agreed, looking at the other teenager with curiosity as to where this was going.
"He's already the strongest one out of all of us, and with him being 100 percent? Well, I don't think that's very fair, especially since he's the reason my foot is broken and you have that injury to your side. Do you think that's fair, Jhainer?"
A slow smirk spread over the older boy's face as realization dawned on him. "No. It's not fair at all, actually."
"I think we should do something about it," Vegeta proposed, smirking back.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Trikan, I thought you'd never ask…"
Despite what Vegeta thought, Manzin wasn't quite at 100 percent. His older brother Ajox had kept him awake a good portion of the night, giving him strategy after strategy after strategy for approaching the next few days. Instead of going to sleep after his brother was done, Manzin had then gone and paid a visit to Aradeen. Some violence ensued over her interaction with the youngest Saiyan, and there were deep scratches with dried blood on Manzin's face and neck from her attempts to defend herself while he beat her down. But he had gotten his message across to her loud and clear, and was certain that she would never look in Vegeta's direction again. Now he was trying to catch up on much-needed sleep in his private quarters before reporting for the day's training.
Jhainer suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Manzin's room, clutching his teleportation device tightly in his right hand. The Trikan scanned over the room that Manzin shared with Ajox, but only Manzin was there, laid out on his cot and snoring loudly.
That didn't last long though.
Manzin was jarred awake by a well-delivered, violent kick from Jhainer right to his temple. The older boy toppled right off his cot, landing hard on the floor. He sat up in a daze, not sure what was going on until his eyes settled on Jhainer. The young Trikan flashed him a cocky look, and then took off running out of the room. Manzin growled and leapt up to his feet in a flash, tearing off after him. In his haste, he completely missed the young Saiyan leaning up against the wall next to the entrance to his room.
Right as the metallic door was about to slide shut after Manzin, Vegeta wedged his good foot in to keep the door open. For protection purposes, no one except for Frieza himself, Dodoria, and Zarbon could enter another man's private quarters. Everything was hand scanner access only, lest everyone kill each other off in their sleep. That was the main reason for bringing Jhainer into this, otherwise Vegeta would've taken care of everything on his own.
The prince walked into Manzin's room now, and he instantly headed to the corner, where Manzin's silver armor set with the attached black cape was residing. He lifted it up, tossing it up and down a couple of times. Not too far away was the device Manzin had retrieved the day before. It would be mandatory to bring it along to training today. A smirk spread over the young prince's face as he snatched up the handle to Manzin's invisibility cloak, and then he limped back out, taking everything with him.
Vegeta finally entered his own quarters, where Nappa and Raditz were now waiting for him. Both Saiyans stood up when he came in, and then looked at him in confusion when they saw what he was carrying. They all made sure the communications on their scouters were all turned off, and then Vegeta dropped everything on the floor.
"Destroy it," the prince roughly ordered. Raditz and Nappa didn't hesitate, both of them raising a glowing palm towards the floor. They both fired at the same time, and by the time the smoke cleared, the device handle was disintegrated, and so was the black cape. But the armor remained, even though it looked charred now. Vegeta snorted mockingly. "Weaklings."
"That's a pretty tough armor set," Nappa commented, looking back towards his prince. "Whose is it, anyways?"
"Don't worry about it. Just get rid of it before training's done for the day. And don't leave this room until you're done."
Nappa grinned, nodding in understanding while Raditz raised a black, square electronic handheld device, waving it a little bit. "Got that intel you requested on Trika. Everything you could ask for-"
"I'll look at it later tonight. Put that shit away, right now," Vegeta hissed. Raditz looked at him in confusion, but before he could respond, Jhainer suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to Vegeta.
"Lost him," Jhainer softly announced, his white gaze lowering to the silver armor set on the floor. He never noticed Raditz turning around to put the black electronic device on the other side of his own cot, safely out of sight.
"How the hell did you do that?" Vegeta asked, raising an eyebrow. "Manzin's faster than you on his worst day and your best day."
"This teleportation thing has come in handy, Saiyan. Ready to go?"
The prince scoffed, going over to pick up his own weapon handle for his ki enhancer. "Can you even teleport two people with that toy you have?"
"Only one way to find out," Jhainer reasoned with a challenging smirk. "Unless you're too afraid to try, of course."
Vegeta glared at him, and then limped over to stand right in front of him. "Manzin won't be able to touch us if we're within eyesight of Dodoria. So let's just get on with it, before we're late," he ordered. Jhainer just chuckled, and then reached out to put one blue, scaly hand on Vegeta's shoulder. Then they were gone.
"You think this is smart?" Raditz asked when he was alone with Nappa again. "Ajox is a rank 3 man. He's got a lot of connections if this goes badly for Manzin."
"Vegeta knows what he's doing. He always has a plan," Nappa reasoned aloud, squatting down to pick up the silver set of armor. He inspected it carefully while adding, "Given that Vegeta and Jhainer are working together, it'd be best if you memorized all that information on that device, then destroyed it."
"Do you know how long that damn report on Trika is?" Raditz sneered. "I'm not memorizing all that shit."
"If Jhainer gets wind of this, it means bad things for all of us. So you better shut your mouth and get to work."
Raditz grumbled some curses in his native tongue, but then sat down to do as he was ordered.
Meanwhile, Jhainer and Vegeta both teleported into a downstairs information room, which was where Dodoria was already waiting for them. The prince in particular looked relieved that they weren't at the cold south end of the planet this time. Cui was already there, arms crossed over his silver armor while he inspected a huge digital display, one of many that was available in the large, cool room. Dodoria was sitting down several feet away from him, also watching the digital screens while he snacked on a large piece of red alien fruit. The red juices were running down his chin and staining his armor, much to Vegeta's disgust.
"What about Cui? We didn't handle him," Jhainer whispered to the prince next to him. Vegeta shook his head.
"Not a threat like Manzin," he whispered back. "Not worth the risk."
Jhainer nodded right as Manzin burst in through the large doors leading into the room. There wasn't even enough time for everyone to glance in his direction, before Manzin flew in and tackled Vegeta hard to the floor. The Saiyan winced in pain as he felt his broken ankle tweak badly on impact, and it felt like a burst of flames erupted on his back, but he did nothing to fight back as Manzin quickly mounted him and pinned him down.
"I know that it was you behind that, you worthless piece of shit Saiyan!" Manzin snarled with incredible hatred, pulling one hand back and curling it into a fist. Jhainer quickly moved in and grabbed him around his midsection, violently throwing him off Vegeta before he could bring his fist down. Manzin immediately scrambled back up to his feet, when he was struck hard enough in the face to shatter bones. He fell backwards, stunned with blood running down his face while he stared up at Dodoria.
"Now I don't know what's got you so pissed off, boy, but I'll tell you what's got me pissed off," Dodoria growled down at Manzin. He took a juicy bite of his fruit from one hand, raising the other hand up and showing three fingers. "Three things. One, you're the last to arrive, which means you're late. Two, you just broke one of the main rules of the rank qualifying squad: you do not attack each other outside of trainings and competitions. Not only did you break it, but you had the balls to do it right in front of me-"
Manzin desperately cut in, "But, Jhainer snuck into my-"
He was cut off when Dodoria fired a powerful orange ki blast right into his face, making him cry out in pain as he writhed on the floor, in agony from the burns. Behind Dodoria, Cui was cringing while he watched. Vegeta was standing again, putting all his weight on one leg. He and Jhainer looked more than pleased, each of them wearing satisfied smirks. Both teenagers exchanged a brief, mischievous look, and their smirks only grew.
"But you know what pisses me off the most?" Dodoria continued, unaware of Vegeta and Jhainer's reactions behind him. "You're here, showing up to MY training, without the proper armor. Members of the squad wear the silver armor set with the black cape so others know not to touch them. Where the hell is your damn armor, boy?"
Manzin looked down, squinting at the armor he was wearing. It was his usual black set, the only thing he could get his hands on. He knew for a fact that Vegeta or Jhainer had stolen his squad armor, but he had no proof.
"Well? WHERE IS YOUR ARMOR?" Dodoria screamed down at him, making Manzin flinch. Behind him, Jhainer and Vegeta were both on the verge of laughter and trying to keep it contained.
"I don't know, sir. I…I think it was stolen," Manzin quietly admitted, his eyes purple with fear. "And I think Vegeta might be respon-"
"No, YOU are responsible for your own goddamned gear! Now that's three mistakes, so that's three times the normal thrashing with Zarbon. And because a new set of armor has to be customized just for you, since you lost your damn set, we'll make it four times with Zarbon. And to make sure it doesn't happen again, I'll make a request that he use electricity and not fire. Now get the fuck out of my sight, boy. Don't come back here until you're dressed in the proper uniform."
Manzin visibly paled at the thought of getting four times the usual with the electric whip. If Vegeta had given a damn about him, he might have felt bad. He had only gotten two times the usual with the fire whip the night before, and it was still painful to stand. Four times with the far worse electric whip would've tested the Saiyan's pain threshold to the limit. And he was actually used to getting those thrashings. Manzin, however, was not used to such severe punishment, mostly because he was shielded by his older brother Ajox at every opportunity. Vegeta guessed Manzin would be a bloody and unconscious mess before the first round was even done. The thought alone practically made his day.
Manzin stood up and made eye contact with Jhainer, and then with Vegeta. Both of them gave him a look of smug satisfaction. Manzin glared at them, his eyes black with deadly hatred. He then turned around and headed out to go see Zarbon, his head down and his shoulders tense over what awaited him.
When Dodoria turned back around to face them after Manzin had left, Vegeta and Jhainer both looked gruff and indifferent again. The lieutenant scowled and went over to get right into the Saiyan's face.
"You have anything to do with that?" he demanded.
Vegeta scoffed. "No. I have no idea what that fool was rambling about."
"Uh huh," Dodoria mumbled disbelievingly, eyeing the Saiyan prince down. "You better watch it, monkey boy. I got my eye on you."
"I'm flattered, Dodoria, but I'm only attracted to females," Vegeta responded with a smirk.
Dodoria growled and seized the prince by the jaw, his grip so painfully tight that Vegeta felt like his jaw was about to fracture. "Watch that smart mouth, Saiyan, or I'll have you get twice what Manzin gets. If I find out that you had anything to do with his misplaced armor, I'll report this entire incident to Frieza. Got it?" he demanded, tightening his grip just a bit more. Vegeta nodded as much as he could, and then Dodoria shoved his face away as he let him go.
"Alright then, kids, let's begin," Dodoria announced. He walked away from them towards a large set of black digital screens. "One skill we want each of you to develop over the course of your training is leadership. It's a trait that's not born overnight, so we should begin now." He pressed his finger to one of the screens, and a flurry of galaxies and stars flew past, until the screen zoomed in on one set of planets. There were blinking red and blue lights scattered over the different planets, and Vegeta immediately remembered the display that Zarbon had been analyzing.
"This is a depiction of Galaxy #66 in the west sector. Every few solar cycles, they have a galaxy wide youth fighting tournament geared towards kids, all of them younger than you. These blue lights you see blinking here are all young fighters with power levels at 1,500 or higher. We expect that each kid with a blue light will participate in the interplanetary tournament. Your next task is to attend this tournament, scout the fighters, and bring back one of them as a new recruit for Frieza's ranks. Per Zarbon's orders, you are to purge that fighter's home planet in the process. In due time, we will have our own little tournament where all of your fighters will battle to the death. The fighter that remains standing at the end will gain full entry to the Galactic Army, and whoever recruited him will gain a point."
"Is this the recruiting Lord Frieza mentioned?" Jhainer questioned.
"Yes. This information is straight from Zarbon. Everyone is starting to recruit, but your recruits are the only ones who will battle to the death. It's to see which of you will step up and be the best leader, training your recruit properly and readying him for life or death battle. Good practice for you," Dodoria chuckled, taking a bite into his fruit.
"When the hell are we supposed to find the time to train a kid?" Vegeta demanded.
"Up to you. You don't have to train 'em if you don't want to. But then they'll likely be killed, and someone else will win a point. Your choice. Also, your choice if you want to bring along your two monkey companions with you. Now you all have three days. One day to travel, one day to recruit and purge, and another day to travel back. Best get moving, children. Dismissed."
Jhainer and Vegeta both turned to each other and started whispering about this new task when Cui shimmied up to them. The two teenagers turned and gave him two equally intimidating glares, but Cui was unfazed as he chuckled.
"Hey guys, nice move with Manzin," he said with a grin. "Real nice. Real smart. Bet that was you that thought of it, huh, Ve-"
"What do you want, Cui?" Jhainer cut in, his good eye narrowing in suspicion.
"Well, it seems to me like you both got yourselves a little teamwork thing going, and I think I would be an excellent addition-"
"No," Vegeta roughly interrupted.
"Three on one? We could take out Manzin completely," Cui reasoned. Jhainer and Vegeta exchanged a look, and then both boys turned around and started walking away, with the Saiyan prince awkwardly limping. Cui urgently started trailing them. "Come on, guys. Just think about it."
"Alright," Vegeta agreed, tilting his head a little bit. "Hmm…well, would you look at that? I thought about it and the answer is still no."
"Then maybe I'll side with Manzin and even our odds," Cui threatened. The two teenagers in front of him paused and looked back at him.
"You do that," Jhainer softly said, exposing his razor sharp teeth in warning. "It's the only way you have any chance of winning this anyways."
"I only know one thing. If I don't get my rank, neither will you two," Cui swore, making eye contact with both of them. He then roughly brushed past them, activating his scouter to see where Manzin was. If he was in the middle of getting the thrashing of his life, it would be even better. Cui could approach him afterwards with the idea for an alliance of their own, when Manzin was at his weakest and most vulnerable.
"Not a threat, huh?" Jhainer asked when Cui was out of sight.
"Fuck Cui," Vegeta snarled.
"Unfortunately, I'm only attracted to females too," Jhainer drawled, earning an amused look from the prince next to him. The young Trikan just shook his head at him. "Your smart mouth will be the death of you, Saiyan."
"Maybe, maybe not. So do you even need a space pod anymore with that teleportation toy of yours?"
"Yes. I tried last night to teleport back to my home planet. I couldn't do it," Jhainer admitted. "Either the device is only limited to the planet I'm on, or I haven't figured it out yet."
"Hn," Vegeta grunted, all shreds of amusement disappearing from his face at the thought of Jhainer trying to go back to his home planet. The Trikan clearly still cared about his home planet, which he hadn't stepped foot on since he had been given up to Frieza. The information Raditz had gathered might prove even more deadly than Vegeta anticipated. For some reason though, he was no longer truly interested to hear what Raditz had to say about Trika.
"Well, I'll see you at the tournament," Jhainer added, frowning at the brooding look on the other boy's face. He was answered with a mindless nod, and so he took that as his cue to leave. Vegeta watched him walk away, and then reached up for his scouter.
"What's going on, Vegeta?" Nappa's voice came through a few seconds later.
"Got a recruiting and purging assignment," the prince bluntly informed him. "I'm going to check in on something, and then we'll go, so you and Raditz be ready at the dock."
"Got it."
"How goes the project I left you with?"
"It's been taken care of."
The prince grunted in approval. "Don't be late at the dock."
"We won't."
Vegeta turned off the communications in his scouter, and then slowly headed outside for some fresh air. There was a certain someone he wanted to see before he left…
The prince dropped down in front of the Ozo tavern a few moments later, peeking in through the dirty glass. He didn't see anyone, so he levitated inside, scouring for signs of Aradeen. The place seemed deserted though. Vegeta scowled and activated his scouter, dropping the threshold down as far as it would go. The scouter beeped when it picked up a power level of 20, coming from the back. She must have been cleaning back there, he reasoned as he headed in that direction. The prince went through the back supply room, not letting his feet hit the floor, until he reached the small living quarters at the very back. Vegeta glanced in. It was pitch black in there, but his scouter said she was there. He reached up and turned the scouter off.
"Slave," he roughly growled, hearing some motion in response to his voice. "What the hell are you doing slumbering at this time? Get up and get out here."
"Please, leave me alone, Vegeta."
Vegeta blinked a few times at the way her voice sounded. That wasn't the sensual voice he liked. Something was wrong. He reached around blindly for a light, and then his hand hit a sensor that triggered a dim light in the room. Aradeen was laying down on the floor, wrapped up in some old blankets. She turned away from him, but not before he saw how badly bruised her face was. The prince approached until he was hovering over her.
"Manzin," he said, no doubt in his voice.
"Yes."
"Did he rape you?"
"No."
"Hn," Vegeta grunted, his eyes sweeping over her. He was more irritated by the fact that her beauty was now diminished over the fact that she had been ruthlessly battered by Manzin. Beatings were a fact of life after all, and everyone had to suffer through them, men, women, and children alike. "Must've really pissed him off, female," he snorted.
"It seems that way," she weakly responded, staring at the wall. She had wanted to get some rest before the usual stream of rowdy soldiers started trickling in that night. Nothing seemed to be going according to plan lately though.
Aradeen flinched when Vegeta's fingers settled around her jaw, before he forced them to make eye contact. Even with the dark bruises littering her otherwise flawless skin, the prince still found that she was attractive. Her eyes drew him the most, with that unusual reptilian shade of blue. He ran his thumb under her lower lip, and for the first time, she noticed that he didn't look too great either. His lower lip was horribly ripped open, and the prince was soaked in sweat, as though every motion was an enormous exertion.
"A female as pathetically weak as you taking such a beating…you must be in pain," Vegeta mumbled, his hand slowly moving down to lower her blankets, exposing more and more of her bruised skin. "I could kill Manzin and ensure such a thing never happens again. But I will expect something from you in return for my troubles…what do you say? Will you compensate me as a proper slave should?"
Aradeen tried not to show her terror as the Saiyan leaned down to her throat to inhale her scent, while his hand freely explored her body. She didn't know right now who she was afraid of most: Manzin, with his overwhelming possession and his tendencies to lash out in violence, or Vegeta, with his unnerving interest and the inevitability of where that interest would lead them. Would he kill her right now, if she pushed him away?
"Okay," she relented, making Vegeta look back up at her. Not knowing what else to say in order to avoid dying or being raped right here and right now, she desperately settled on, "Okay, if you take care of Manzin, then I'll…I'll take care of you, but not right now. I wouldn't be able to—to handle you. I need to heal first."
A look of sheer triumph came over Vegeta's face over her acceptance of the inevitable, as his male ego grew to enormous proportions. He chuckled and nodded his agreement.
"Outstanding. We have a deal then," he muttered, unconsciously quoting Frieza verbatim from earlier. Before she could say anything else, the prince crushed his lips down over hers, forcing her mouth open in a bruising and painful kiss that was only pleasurable to him. He ignored the hands on his shoulders trying desperately to push him away, and he soon tasted her blood in his mouth as his brutal move ripped open her bruised and sensitive flesh around her lips from Manzin's blows. He pulled back and smirked at the tears in her eyes as she rubbed her bruised and throbbing face.
"I'm going to leave for a short while to handle business. Manzin will be dead when I return. Would you like me to bring you back his severed head as a gift?" Vegeta casually asked.
Aradeen blinked up at him, wondering if the Saiyan was insane. He surely didn't look like he was joking. She shook her head quickly. "Thank you, but…um…you can keep it."
"I think I might," he replied as he got back up to his feet. "I'll see you in a few days, slave. And do something about those hideous bruises. They lessen your appeal," he gruffly ordered on his way out. Aradeen sighed in relief that he was gone, at least for the moment. She turned away from the doorway, covering herself in her blankets and wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.
Vegeta was in good spirits as he levitated out of the tavern a few moments later. He reached up to turn his scouter back on, so he could inform Nappa and Raditz that he was on his way. As soon as he did though, his scouter beeped in warning as it detected four power levels close by, all over 15,000.
The prince never had a chance to react before they ambushed him. A group of Frieza's men, each of them pummeling him and striking him hard, moving so fast that he only saw flashes of their armor. His scouter was ripped off him and destroyed, getting rid of the evidence of the beating that was against the rules. Vegeta desperately tried to blast off into the air to try to get some distance, but he was quickly grabbed by the ankle and thrown back to the ground as the beating mercilessly continued. They were all stronger than him, and he could do little to defend himself. One of them specifically targeted his broken foot, slamming their boot down right on his ankle. Vegeta screamed in pain, but that stopped when he was violently forced on his stomach, his own black cape wrapping tightly around his throat. A strong weight settled down on his back, and he felt someone pull back on his cape as he was strangled.
"It was your idea to set my brother up, wasn't it, you son of a bitch," a furious voice snarled from behind him. Manzin's brother, Ajox. Had to be. Vegeta desperately used his ki to slice through the cape, gasping when the pressure on his throat was relieved. His relief was short-lived as Ajox seized him by the hair and slammed him face-first into the rock ground, damn near rendering Vegeta unconscious with the impact. The prince coughed weakly, blood running into his eyes as Ajox kept his face pressed roughly against the ground.
"Your filthy race was responsible for the purging of my home planet, Saiyan. Unlike my brother, I don't hold that against you, since you had nothing to do with it. But hear this, Vegeta. If you ever set Manzin up like that again, I will rip all of your organs out of your body."
The weight off his back was removed, and then one of Ajox's comrades delivered a hard kick to the prince's ribs, forcing him to cough up blood. Vegeta squinted his eyes open, trying to get a good look at who else was with Ajox for retaliation purposes, but his sight was blurred and he couldn't make them out. A moment later, and they all blasted off into the air, heading back to base. The prince weakly glared in their direction, before resting his head back down and closing his eyes as he tried regaining his bearings. But there was only one thing going through his mind.
There was going to be hell to pay for this.