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Breaking the Prince (Part 2)	By : Doog Category: Dragon Ball Z > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2235 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters. I will not make a profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 10
- 11
A/N: We have reached the final chapter. It's the ending we all know...with a twist. Thank you for reading! I had a great time sharing. =)
Chapter Eleven
Vegeta paused his assault to summon a new wave of ki. The effort was like taking a painfully deep breath; he drew his energy into a tight orb around himself then allowed it to explode outward in every direction.
Since his revival by the now-dead Namekujin, he had tried to mobilize his new wealth of Super Saiyajin energy. The result had been a lack of finesse in controlling his ki, which he suspected was the reason Freeza had still been able to elude him. Vegeta was using a greater portion of his focus to make his attacks, which meant he had less to devote to keeping Freeza in sight. As fast as Vegeta had become, there were still gaps in his opponent’s movements. Vegeta had chased him across the sky with an endless barrage of ki explosions without making a single connection. Then, to his infuriation, Freeza had abruptly disappeared.
The moment Vegeta caught sight of Freeza again, he quickly reined in his ki to fire blasts directly at his target. The small white form of his enemy blinked in and out of Vegeta’s vision, appearing at random in the sky about a kilometer away. First Vegeta aimed by following Freeza’s movement, then by calculating a sort of trajectory based on where he appeared. Both techniques failed. No matter where he aimed his next shot, Freeza seemed to flicker into existence just to the side of it. Though Vegeta was descending to the ground, Freeza was rapidly closing the distance between them. Vegeta tried to slow Freeza down by shortening the gaps between his attacks. Freeza changed tactics and rushed forward, the explosions of ki at his back reducing him to a growing shadow. Vegeta’s feet found solid ground as he intensified his onslaught.
For a thrilling moment, Vegeta thought his power and speed had finally aligned, that he was firing directly into Freeza. When Freeza appeared directly in front of him less than a meter away, Vegeta recoiled, his attack cut short. He caught himself staring at Freeza’s calm smile with unmasked shock. Vegeta forced his face into a sneer.
How? How is he still faster than me? Since Vegeta had become a Super Saiyajin, Freeza had become an attainable opponent. The feeling of meeting him head-on in the open landscape of Namekusei had been the greatest exhilaration Vegeta had experienced in his adult life. Years of his pretended obedience were nothing compared to seconds of real freedom. His confidence was fleeting, however. Only minutes before, he had been able to detect Freeza’s movements. Now it seemed that Freeza was deciding when he wanted to be seen. Is it possible that he’s not serious yet? Vegeta considered the worst possibility.
As if to respond, the tip of Freeza’s tail waved teasingly in front of Vegeta’s face, daring him to make his next move. Though Freeza appeared very differently in his fourth form, Vegeta recognized the glee in his bright pupils. He’s fucking with me, Vegeta thought with a jolt of rage. His body tightened and he closed his eyes, unable to focus past his anger. Instead of immediately acting on his frustration, he turned his wrath inward, allowing it to feed on itself and grow. I’m going to fucking kill you. No matter what it takes, I am going to kill you!
Vegeta’s eyes snapped open and locked on Freeza’s, his ki licking the air around him in flames of energy. He snarled as he shot into the air, leaving Freeza behind. When Freeza remained on the ground in what Vegeta interpreted to be surprise, he turned toward the sky and increased his speed. He used his fury to try to push aside his doubts, to allow the murderous nature of the Super Saiyajin to take him over. The more he gave himself over to instinct, however, the more the sinking in his abdomen continued to grow.
“I-I am...” he said to himself as he flew higher. Vegeta found that he could not hold his desperate anger back anymore, and turned to stop. He looked down on the speck that was now Freeza, who was still standing passively.
“I am a...” Vegeta released the remaining reserves of his energy. Light fanned out around him as he prepared for what he suddenly realized may be his final effort. “...Super Saiyajin!” He raised his hands, pointing his palms and fingertips into the center of Freeza’s tremendous ki. Vegeta pulled his energy from the root of his being, funneling it through his outstretched arms. “Burn in hell, Freeza!” He screamed, pushing more and more of his ki into the beam erupting from his hands. The force of the attack and the determination with which he summoned his strength made him feel as though his ki were pulling his body inward on itself. Burn, you fucking bastard. He knew that he could not move that much ki that quickly for much longer without tearing his body apart, but continued to push himself to his limit. Finally, he felt the last of his ki drain from him, ripped from the marrow of his bones. The sky around him was blindingly bright, lit by the blast now flying toward the ground. Though the light obscured his view of Freeza, he knew that his aim had been perfect.
Vegeta leaned forward eagerly, watching as the purple mass of energy closed the gap to his target. He waited to see if Freeza would try to dodge it, ready to redirect his attack if needed. Excitement choked him when he unexpectedly heard a high-pitched scream from Freeza just as the blast neared the ground. Better than Vegeta had dared to hope, Freeza had egotistically decided to take the attack head-on. Vegeta expected the ki to explode outward, grinding and burning the remains of his enemy into the crust of the planet.
When the blast appeared to grow again, he first thought that this was exactly what was happening. Abruptly he recognized that the energy was actually heading back toward him. “What?!” Vegeta was unable to grasp what had happened until the ki was closing in and he was forced to straighten to avoid it. The heat of it warmed his face as it narrowly missed him, shooting instead into space. He pushed it back, Vegeta thought, turning and lifting his head to watch as the blast shrank into the distance. His jaw dropped but he could only take in shallow, shuddering breaths.
Without warning, the ki dispersed in space, creating a brilliant explosion that sent a deluge of irregular shockwaves through Namekusei’s atmosphere. Vegeta turned back toward the planet’s surface to avoid the bright blaze, but when he tried to raise his arm to shield his face, he could not move.
Frozen in mid-air, Vegeta felt a tight grip invade his chest, fixing his diaphragm and lungs in place. An invisible hand pressed into his heart, forcing the muscle to slow and still. His entire frame was pinned from every direction, held perfectly still for a surreal second, before the unknown force let up but did not let go. Vegeta drew a panicked breath and his heart resumed its work, but he was still suspended without the use of his own ki. The thought that the unexpected force had startled him out of maintaining his flight immediately made him attempt to use his ki once more.
If it weren’t for the invisible power holding him in place, Vegeta would have plummeted to the ground. Every muscle in his body flexed as fire twisted through him. It was the pain, that pain, that he had known so many times before, that he would never forget until the day he died. Though he had not yet had time to understand what was happening, the training that had been forced upon him a decade ago quickly resurfaced to save him. He stifled his energy and the torture stopped.
As the explosion overhead began to clear, Vegeta allowed his body to hang limply in Freeza’s distant hold, his shoulders slumped as he stared toward the ground. Within one moment, he felt everything inside of him melt away: his will to fight, his anger, his hope...and his pride. All that was left behind was an inescapable clarity.
He never took it out. The K.R.I. device. It was there all the time...The light from above him had dissipated enough that he could see Freeza dropping back to the ground, presumably from the place where he had met Vegeta’s blast. But how...it must have been inactive somehow...and now it’s... Vegeta felt Freeza’s telekinesis begin to gently lower him.
“It is just about time, I suppose,” Freeza spoke. “I can not have him getting too carried away.” He seemed to be speaking to himself, but then addressed Vegeta directly. “I had much more entertaining plans for you, but your capacity to fail has now affected even my intentions. You wished to send me to hell? You have failed, Prince.” Freeza tilted his head up to meet Vegeta’s stunned gaze. “And now you will experience a pain even greater than hell.”
I’m not a Super Saiyajin, Vegeta realized hopelessly. His greatest effort over the course of his entire adulthood had not been enough. Nearly dying twice, once of his own choice, had not even brought him close to Freeza’s level. Vegeta felt sweat roll down the sides of his face and collect at his chin. He relaxed his aching hands, which he had unwittingly clenched into fists. What good were fists to him now? He couldn’t fight, not like this.
“This time, you will let me lead off,” Freeza smiled with his eyes. “Mildly.” He widened his stance as if to leap up, but instead stood his ground, regarding Vegeta’s quietly shaking body.
Let me lead off. Is that what Freeza had been doing...simply allowing him to go first? Freeza had been biding his time, and why not? His plans of attaining immortality had been thwarted, so why not take him time transforming and drawing out the fight? But why didn’t he activate the device long before now? What was he waiting for? That too, was clear to Vegeta now. He was waiting for me to fail. He wanted me to know that even without the K.R.I. device I didn’t stand a chance. Vegeta shuddered, his eyes unable to look away from the cold slits holding him in place.
I’m not a Super Saiyajin, he thought again. The emptiness inside him began to grow, filling the space left behind by everything else. He stifled a gasp when the thought struck him that even if he had become a Super Saiyajin, the K.R.I. device would have still prevented him from fighting. There was nothing he could have done, no path he could have taken in the past ten years, that would not have ended in failure.
The hollowness inside him began to overflow, spilling out of him. Hot tears fell from his eyes, rolling freely down his cheeks. Each drop that slid away was instantly replaced with another, until there was a steady stream under each eye. He didn’t sob the way he had the first time he had been thoroughly defeated. He had hated himself for his past display of weakness, and had decided to never behave so pathetically again. Now his spirit, the part of him from which real grief would have come, had been utterly crushed. These tears were merely an involuntary reaction, a bodily response that he could not connect to emotion nor control.
“Here goes. Are you ready?” Freeza teased. A soft sphere of ki encased Freeza before he began to slowly rise off of the ground. Vegeta watched through tear-blurred eyes as he continued to rise at a steady, even leisurely pace. For an absurd second, Vegeta remembered that there were spectators: his enemies from Chikyuusei.
They will die soon. After Freeza is done with me...An acute fear pierced him. What is he going to do with me? As if in response, Freeza halted his ascent to accumulate ki. Vegeta could do nothing to shield himself from whatever was coming, and he barely had time to brace himself when Freeza shot toward him. The last thing Vegeta saw was the top of Freeza’s head before he felt it hit his chin with a deafening crack. His body was knocked backward, his neck hyperextended. His teeth continued to rattle even as he opened his mouth to cry out. More alarming than the anguish of the blow was that he had no control of his ki to slow or stop himself. He had never been so helpless so far from the ground. Freeza was no longer holding him in place; he was falling.
Vegeta’s eyes were clenched shut in pain, so he did not see the next blow coming. Something snapped down his face and chest, knocking him in a new direction. Blood filled his nose and mouth, making it difficult to breathe as he careened through the air. The two hits had been unexpectedly devastating. He was shocked when he landed head-first in cool water, but he was too weak to do anything but sink. He allowed his breath to leave his lungs, lost in the cloud of bubbles created by his impact. Soon the bubbles were gone, and he was drifting on his own, waiting for his back to hit the bottom. His lightheadedness from the attacks and the lack of air began to hinder his ability to think, but he knew that Freeza would be coming for him soon.
Just as he contemplated filling his lungs with water, he made contact with the bottom of the lake. This was just as it had been with Zarbon, except Vegeta knew that was no point in fighting to the surface. He didn’t have the strength to swim out anyway. His entire head was throbbing, probably hemorrhaging somewhere, from the two head shots.
The water around him began to move, compelled by a powerful tide, pushing down with enough force to roll him onto his stomach. The movement churned up the muddiness below him. Then everything was lifted away. Air filled the vacuum left in the water’s wake, bringing with it an undampened loudness. Vegeta wondered wildly if he had fallen to the bottom of the lake and come out the other end, perhaps sucked into an underwater cave or waterfall, but he knew he had not moved.
Vegeta’s head was turned to the left, his arms limp at his sides. He coughed up a little water and something thick, probably blood, but remained still. When Vegeta heard the light impact of feet and then several footsteps behind him, he put together what had happened. He moved the lake, he thought wryly.
There had been a time when it was important to him to stand and face Freeza, but he now knew it made no difference. Whether he died standing on his feet or lying face-down in the mud, Freeza had won.
A hand grabbed the hair at the top of his head and pulled him backward, eliciting a groan as he was forced to his knees and then held unsteadily on his feet. The sheer presence of Freeza’s battle power pressed into his back, triggering a flight response. His nerves buzzed as the K.R.I. device redirected his panic-induced ki inward.
“Vegeta, I can not have you giving up after so little. You will have to go through more than this...” Freeza’s voice drilled through the ringing in his ears and the unending hiss of the reverse waterfall surrounding them. Vegeta already knew that it would take a lot more to kill him; he’d almost died enough times to know that.
Mist from the dislocated water was thick in the air and Vegeta could taste it with each labored breath. He heard a strange crunching sound behind him, and wondered with detachment what had distracted Freeza from the tedious task of killing him. “...For a terror greater than hell’s,” Freeza whispered.
Vegeta scarcely had time to process the words before Freeza’s small fist connected with the center of his back. He screamed in agony as his torso was bowed outward by the blow. The pain, a sharpness that radiated from the point of impact, was both instant and persistent. Vegeta could feel muscles in his back spasm in response but he couldn’t breathe.
“Well? Have you started to regret how foolish you have been?” Freeza continued. The words were familiar, burned into his memory with adrenaline many years before. Vegeta was limp, his body shuddering silently as he tried to take a breath. “You lower-life-form, nothing-in-your-mind-but-fighting Saiyajin.” Freeza didn’t raise his voice, but it took on an edge of disgust. Vegeta cried out as Freeza punched him in the same spot again. This time he let go of Vegeta’s hair, allowing the momentum of the blow to push Vegeta forward. The pain paralyzed Vegeta so that he could not put his hands out to catch himself.
Vegeta landed face-first into the gravel and mud, grunting in pain. He tried to lift his head, to do anything, but he could only moan. The middle of his back felt like a smoldering crater while his legs were needled with odd pinpricks of sensation. This is how I die. He had thought it so many times before, but was sure now more than ever. He could see now how ridiculous his aspirations had been. Through the whole ordeal and his many transformations, Freeza had never felt threatened enough by Vegeta’s power to activate the K.R.I. device. In fact, the tyrant only seemed to do so out of impatience or boredom. How had he ever believed he could defeat Freeza?
Freeza had barely made a sound as he had moved closer, but Vegeta could feel him standing close by. His voice was clear over the rushing water, as though he had bent forward to speak. “I thought you at least were different, and I pampered you, but you are just like the others who performed their foolishness, are you not?” Freeza’s voice remained steady and cold. Vegeta was not surprised when Freeza filled the pause in his one-sided conversation with a kick to his side. The kick rolled him several times across the bottom of the lake, leaving him face-up. The twisting had inflamed his injured back, but he had only choked out a small cry before resuming his shallow breathing.
Father...Vegeta knew Freeza was talking about King Vegeta. You’re just like your father, he remembered many of his people saying to him when he was a child. He’d almost forgotten. They had said he was strong like his father, that he would rule like him. Now he would die like him, killed by the same monster.
“Hmmph. If you had not turned against me, we would have gotten by without having to go through this.” Freeza paused. Then, very quietly, he said, “We could have had so much more fun together.” Vegeta felt a chill and waited for the next attack, anticipating the rhythm of Freeza’s work. Freeza kicked him upward, Vegeta’s spine instantly curving around the small foot. It left him just long enough to kick him again in the same vulnerable spot, this time with enough force to push him into the sky.
The speed and disorientation with which Vegeta moved was like falling upward. The Namekusei sun overhead reminded him of the bright lights Freeza had so often employed during his torture: an endless barrage of light and a sense of timelessness stretched into insanity.
He could sense Freeza just above him just before he felt something connect hard with his chest, just below the hole the Chikyuujin had made in his armor. Vegeta howled, his eyes open again but unable to focus through the fog of pain as his body curled inward. Freeza struck again, driving deeper into the same spot. Then he struck again, and again. Vegeta could no longer discern the connections as distinct until Freeza finished with one final, destructive blow that twisted into Vegeta’s internal organs. Something, perhaps Freeza’s tail, batted him in a new direction. He was moving fast again, flying through the air until an impact shattered his senses.
The shock of the collision interrupted the physical sensation of pain long enough that Vegeta could feel his ki draining out of him. He was bleeding energy, weakening as his body broke down.
Corporeal awareness returned to seize his attention. It spurned an urgent desire to be dead or at least unconscious, anything to escape the agony, but the pain itself trapped him to his body. His head was throbbing at the pace of his heartbeat, which was beating quickly but irregularly. The place where Freeza had attacked his chest was seized with a stabbing pain that made it difficult to take even the slightest of breaths, and Vegeta was convinced that a significant number of ribs had been fractured. Everything below his rib cage was painful, but in a distant way. His legs were almost completely numb, save for unexpected jolts of discomfort.
Something was happening nearby and Vegeta thought he heard his name, but it was quiet compared to the pounding in his head. He could no longer focus his thoughts enough to detect individual kis or their proximities to him. The uneasy feeling of not knowing if he were about to be attacked again compelled him to open his eyes, but his brain was too addled to accomplish even that simple task.
Something cool and smooth slipped between Vegeta’s neck and the ground. Unaccustomed to receiving a gentle touch that was genuinely friendly, Vegeta immediately assumed it was Freeza. His suspicions were confirmed when the the appendage wrapped around his neck, applying enough pressure to hold him securely without entirely cutting off his air. Vegeta had thought it was a hand but recognized Freeza’s long tail when it began to lift him slowly off the ground. Gravity was cruel to his body as he was moved into a vertical position. Though he could not feel them, he knew his feet left the ground when the weight of his legs pulled on his mangled back, creating new paroxysms of pain.
For a while Vegeta hung in place. His inability to use what remained of his ki left him entirely helpless. He felt naked. His body was exposed to whatever abuse Freeza desired to inflict. Vegeta had also bared his thoughts and intentions, including his absurd belief that he could win, to Freeza’s scrutiny. Freeza must have known that he would want revenge, but Vegeta had allowed his enemy to see how much he was still affected by what had happened long ago. It was unthinkably humiliating to be so confident that vengeance was within reach and then fail so openly.
The punch landed without warning, connecting with Vegeta’s lower back. Before Vegeta had time to fully process the damage, another followed. As Freeza continued to strike the same spot, Vegeta blindly tried to lift his arms, to reach out to grab something, to get away. He could hear himself screaming with each blow and tasted blood in his mouth, but he could not silence his involuntary cries. His eyes opened briefly but he could make no sense of the green sky overhead. In the pained darkness behind his clenched eyes he had forgotten it was still day.
Vegeta felt blood burst from his mouth, unsure if it came from his lungs, stomach, or both. Freeza paused only for a moment before landing a deeper punch and holding his fist in place. Vegeta gasped at the rapidly increased force. He saw the bright sky, then nothing.
When he reclaimed consciousness, Vegeta heard himself grunting as Freeza continued his assault. Vegeta assumed he had not been out for long, for he was still being held around his neck by Freeza’s tail. Freeza must have sensed the slight change in his victim, for he pulled Vegeta closer and lower until the toes of the Saiyajin’s boots were brushing soil.
“Your new friends do not want to save you,” Freeza informed him quietly. “They must not realize you cannot fight for yourself.” Another punch, this one light enough to qualify as good-natured compared to its predecessors, hit Vegeta in his kidney. Vegeta did not know what Freeza was talking about until he once again remembered the Chikyuujin.
“They must think you are a coward,” Freeza whispered with a little laugh. He slammed his fist into Vegeta’s other kidney and twisted. “Should I explain it to them? Should I tell them about our game?” Freeza didn’t wait for a response, instead dealing alternating blows into either side of Vegeta’s back.
Just kill me, Vegeta silently pleaded, but it was becoming apparent that Freeza was letting up. The first attacks had been astonishingly brutal, wiping Vegeta’s strength with an effortlessness that indicated just how much Freeza had been holding back. While previous blows had been methodical, these were bordering on playful. They were still incredibly painful, but were causing relatively little injury.
Freeza paused the beating and lowered his voice even more. “Why will you not talk to me, Vegeta? Is it because you are afraid you will make more promises you can not keep?”
So you will serve me in any way I require, without insolence?
Y-yes...
You will bow before me? Crawl before me?
Yes...
Vegeta shuddered at the memory. Freeza continued striking him. Vegeta could feel each punch piercing through his armor, skewering him with hot bolts of pain.
A reprieve came when Freeza coiled and twisted his tail until Vegeta was facing him. Vegeta kept his eyes closed, fighting to maintain airflow through the crushing grip on his trachea. He could feel Freeza’s eyes, but tried to ignore them. He flinched when he felt something cold on his face, thinking it was the tip of Freeza’s tail. When the tail around his neck tightened, Vegeta knew it was in fact Freeza’s hand resting near his mouth. No sooner had his lips parted to suck in a desperate breath did Vegeta feel Freeza’s fingers dart over the edge of his teeth and onto his tongue. Repulsed, Vegeta reflexively tried to clench his jaw shut, but Freeza suddenly had a grip on his face, squeezing either side of his mouth between his thumb and remaining fingers. In his panic, Vegeta squirmed feebly, his arms unable to rise high enough to grip Freeza’s outstretched arm or tail. He would have continued to fight the intrusion but the tail was completely cutting off his air now and he was beginning to lose focus. The pressure in his head became too much, and he opened his eyes in desperation, his vision already tunneling into whiteness. On the brink of passing out, he relaxed his aching jaw in Freeza’s grip. The tail unexpectedly loosened enough for Vegeta to take a heaving breath, and he was so absorbed in his need for air that he did not struggle as Freeza leisurely swept his fingertips over his tongue. The small digits slowly glided out, retracting from Vegeta’s lips. Freeza kept a grip on Vegeta’s chin, his smile clear in his voice when he spoke. “You are so much more fun when you are docile.”
The phrase surprised Vegeta so much that his eyes flew open, though he still had trouble focusing them. Freeza looked with amused interest at the shock displayed on Vegeta’s face. Do you get it? Do you get the joke? Freeza’s mischievous expression seemed to ask. In that moment, Vegeta did not know the meaning of the words, only that he had known them before. Vegeta felt the blood drain from his face. The edges of his mind were grasping at something, something on the periphery of his thoughts. Many of his memories had been buried or discarded as too painful to acknowledge, but this was different. For a few seconds Vegeta felt he was on the verge of understanding something greater than himself, but about himself, and about what had happened to him, but then the moment passed.
The beating resumed with increased tempo. Freeza amped up his attacks, dealing serious damage once again. Vegeta’s body was rocked back by the harder hits, but he could feel Freeza efficiently adjust his tail to keep him close enough to continue the beating. More blood spurted out of Vegeta’s mouth, landing on Freeza’s face. Vegeta thought briefly of the time he had managed to spit into Freeza’s face, and how furious the tyrant had been. Instead of showing disgust or anger, however, Freeza paused to lick the splatters of blood from either side of his smile. The greater your agony, the closer we become. Vegeta heard the phrase in his head but did not understand how or why he thought it.
As Freeza pummeled Vegeta’s torso and face, Vegeta caught sight of the Chikyuujin. They were standing just behind Freeza, their wide eyes locked on the violent scene before them, gasping whenever Freeza dealt an especially vicious punch. Vegeta wondered if they had been that close the entire time, and if so, how much they had heard and seen. The idea of having an audience for his demise wounded him until he remembered that they would die next. It wasn’t like Freeza to leave witnesses, after all.
Freeza continued torturing his prey until he caught Vegeta looking at the Chikyuujin. He followed Vegeta’s wearied gaze over his shoulder, humming happily to himself when the Chikyuujin tensed at the unwanted attention. Freeza turned, taking Vegeta with him, simultaneously adjusting his tail so that he was now behind Vegeta, both of them facing the onlookers.
Vegeta grunted, unable to avoid the pitying expressions of his mock-allies. Freeza surprised everyone by suddenly speaking loudly, making an announcement. “Look carefully, vermin. This is the fate of the great Prince of the Saiyajin. This monkey scum was entertaining to me, so I was kind enough to give his life meaning...but he was insane to think that he could defeat Freeza-sama, the greatest in the universe.”
Vegeta closed his eyes. No more.
“Leave him alone!” One of the Chikyuujin, the young half-Saiyajin, shouted angrily. Vegeta could feel the tail holding him shake slightly as Freeza laughed at this.
“Soon,” Freeza promised. “He was fun to play with, but I do not play with broken toys...is that not right, Vegeta?” At being directly addressed, Vegeta felt a shiver run from the base of his broken back to his scalp. Freeza was speaking as if in code, and the words sparked the same confounding feeling that he’d had before. Vegeta knew he was missing something that he shouldn’t have. “I invite you to wait until it is your turn to die by imagining your own fates,” Freeza finished. With that, he started a new barrage of punches into Vegeta’s back.
Each wave of pain flirted with pushing Vegeta into darkness. His body was being ripped apart, yet it clung to survival with a stubbornness that astounded him. Finally, the darkness came.
****
The pressure was relentless. A grinding weight was twisting into his chest, keeping him from breathing. He thought he could feel the jagged edges of his broken ribs shifting against each other, puncturing into his lungs. The imminence of death made him forget what had led him to this place. He could not remember himself, and some dread within him warned him not to try. His name, his life, made no difference now. Death did not concern itself with mortal identity.
“How dull. You have utterly lost the will to fight back,” a voice spoke wearily. It was Freeza. Vegeta remembered everything with a stab of misery. “It is a little soon, but maybe I should finish you off.” Regardless of his intentions, Freeza had little choice in the matter; left to his own devices, Vegeta was now damaged enough to die on his own. Of course, he knew Freeza would not allow it.
A hand grabbed the shoulder strap at the front of Vegeta’s battle armor, pulling his torso up just enough that his head rolled back. Vegeta grimaced as the slight movement relit the assorted fires burning through his body. With his quickly ebbing strength, Vegeta tilted his head forward to ease the discomfort of his injured neck. He did not know that his eyes had been open until they unexpectedly found Freeza’s face. Freeza’s other hand was already poised, but his face was expressionless. He glanced away for only a second before returning his eyes to Vegeta. Freeza was taking his time, drawing out the moment.
Vegeta could feel his eyes tearing again. He remembered the blindfold being ripped away and the ache of shame as Freeza had stared down at him. He closed his eyes.
Vegeta heard a scream, followed by a distant, booming sound.
Then...
****
Vegeta’s death was painless, but the pain of his beating lingered. He realized he was actually still alive when his lungs began to burn for air. He struggled to take a shaky breath.
Kakarrot. The traitor’s name jumped into his mind. Vegeta had forgotten about the other Saiyajin, having been so wrapped up in his own defeat. He had vague memories of sounds, but was not sure if he had heard voices or was simply confused. What he had thought was death had probably been a short blackout.
Vegeta opened his eyes. To his shock, Kakarrot was standing near him, staring ahead. His ki, Vegeta thought to himself. Kakarrot had pushed into his conscious because Vegeta had felt his ki.
“K-Kakarrot...it’s you,” Vegeta spoke aloud, surprising himself.
“K-Kakarrot? But that name is Saiyajin!” Freeza echoed Vegeta’s shock. He sounded very close.
Now that some time had passed without Vegeta taking another hit, he was able to sense Kakarrot’s ki pressing directly against Freeza’s. The youth’s power had grown enormously. Not only had it increased, but it had a different quality to it. It’s...deeper, Vegeta thought, amazed. He could also feel that there was more energy hiding somewhere, in a sort of untapped reserve.
“I will not let a single one of you Saiyajin live,” Freeza interrupted his thoughts. “Do you not see? You would do well just to tremble before me.”
“Maybe so,” Kakarrot replied cooly. Vegeta stared at him, noting the stark change in his demeanor.
He’s not the same Kakarrot as before. He’s at last climbed over the wall of his limitations.... The realization jolted Vegeta’s entire body. Which means...is it possible?
Vegeta was too shocked by the consideration that Kakarrot may have become a Super Saiyajin to hear or see what happened next. Freeza and Kakarrot were suddenly in motion. He could hear shouts and maybe the crack of a connection. The scuffle was over quickly, and Kakarrot’s feet settled onto the ground beside Vegeta. Unable to keep his eyes open any longer, Vegeta listened intently, trying to ignore his body’s steep decline.
“What was that? Did Goku just do something?” one of the Chiyuujin asked loudly.
So they can’t see it either, Vegeta thought. If Kakarrot is as fast as Freeza, then maybe he is a Super Saiyajin. Freeza’s ki radiated hatred.
“Oh, no! Get out of the way, Goku!” There was more shouting from the Chikyuujin. Vegeta yearned to know what was happening, but could not muster the strength to watch.
“You are an impudent one!” Freeza shouted. There was an explosion nearby. After a short pause, a continuous round of explosions rocked the landscape around them, shaking the ground. Vegeta could feel the heat of ki blasts pass close by. Freeza was apparently leading off with a very aggressive assault.
When the attack ended, Vegeta knew that Kakarrot was intact because his ki remained calm and unchanged beside him. Unable to detect kis, Freeza was slower to recognize that his attack had been ineffective. Vegeta knew exactly when the moment arrived because Freeza emitted a small gasp, making the corner of Vegeta’s mouth curve into a private smile.
“It can not be! He deflected every one of them, and with just one hand!” Freeza said to himself, his disbelief evident in his hushed voice.
Vegeta burst into weak laughter at this. “Freeza, you’d better fight like you mean it.” He continued to laugh though it caused his shattered ribcage to rise and fall painfully. “He’s the very thing you fear most...” Vegeta could feel death closing in. He could scarcely feel anything from the waist down. His arms were riddled with broken bones, but he found he was able to lean to the left and bend his right arm enough to get an elbow beneath him. Propping himself up on both his elbows, he was able to lift his head just enough to stare over his chest plate through one squinted eye. “...A Super Saiyajin,” he finished breathlessly.
Freeza’s eyes widened at the phrase. “That’s right!” Vegeta continued, encouraged by the effect his threat was having. He was almost sitting up now. “The strongest warrior in the universe, a Super Saiyajin.” He chuckled again, opening his other eye to enjoy the image of Freeza’s confusion. “Freeza, you’re finished now...serves you right!” He laughed harder, not caring about the discomfort anymore.
Vegeta heard the ki burn through his chest before he felt it. The wound was so acute, so searing, that it outweighed the sum of his residual pains. The ground slammed into his back. He tried to suck in air, but his trachea spasmed instead. He coughed and fresh blood spilled out and onto the soil.
Everyone was yelling. He could hear his name, over and over, but could not follow their words at first. Kakarrot’s voice, perhaps because he was closest, penetrated Vegeta’s haze.
“There was no reason to finish him off on purpose!” Kakarrot shouted at Freeza.
Vegeta gasped at this. He hasn’t changed...he’s still soft. Vegeta could no longer focus on much of what was happening around him. His attention narrowed to the only other remaining Saiyajin. He had to know. Kakarrot had to know. “K-Kakarrot...”
“Vegeta!” Kakarrot sounded shocked that Vegeta was still alive.
Suddenly frightened that he would die before he could make Kakarrot understand, Vegeta dug his fingertips into the soil. “Are you...still reciting that soft shit? Are you not a Super Saiyajin?” he rasped. Blood filled his windpipe as quickly as he could cough it up, but he was able to get the words out. He remembered meeting Kakarrot for the first time on Chikyuusei. Kakarrot’s behavior was more Chikyuujin than Saiyajin, and it disgusted him to no end that he had been bested by such a fool. Vegeta had poured all of his anger and bloodlust into becoming a Super Saiyajin, but Kakarrot was still stronger. Furthermore, Kakarrot appeared to accomplish this without the use of his Saiyajin instinct. If only...
“You foolish scum! Get cold-hearted!” Vegeta hissed. “If you had only discarded your leniency, you would surely already be...a Super Saiyajin.”
“I just don’t see how I could act as cold-hearted as you do. And as for this Super Saiyajin business, I don’t know what you mean,” Kakarrot replied dismissively. Vegeta winced.
“A Super...Saiyajin is...” Vegeta felt compelled to explain, but immediately found the concept too complex to convey in the little time he had. How could he summarize the history of their people and the power they had once enjoyed? Not only was the legend a part of their people, but it was a part of Vegeta’s own family’s story. Would Kakarrot understand why King Vegeta had instilled such lofty dreams into his son? It’s in my blood, Vegeta wanted to say. It was my destiny. His thoughts were jumbling together, weaving memories and imagined horrors together. He could see his father slaughtering enemies in battle and destroying whole planets. He could see Freeza killing his father—Freeza destroying Vegetasei.
Vegeta realized he could never make Kakarrot understand what is was to be a Saiyajin, let alone a Super Saiyajin. His only hope was to get him to understand what Freeza was and what he had done.
“L-listen well, Kakarrot.” He paused to cough up more blood. He was so weak now that he could barely keep his eyes on Kakarrot. “Your...our planet of birth, Vegetasei...was not destroyed...in a collision with a giant meteor...”
“Don’t say anymore! You’re just hastening your death!” Kakarrot interrupted.
Rage built in Vegeta’s chest at being urged to silence, pushing his next words out. “It was Freeza!” He was shouting now, but it was only a whisper. “This, after we Saiyajin...served as his hands and feet....working exactly as he ordered....” Vegeta could feel wetness on his face, but it was not blood as he initially thought. His vision blurred as more tears erupted from his squinted eyes. He saw thousands of Saiyajin obliterated in an instant. “Everyone besides us was killed...your father...and my father, the king, as well...” A scar Vegeta had never known existed unexpectedly burst open. The sense of loss he had never allowed himself to acknowledge, even as a child, was unfathomable. Freeza had tried to hurt him with it before, and Vegeta had done everything he could to not care. There was no choice now, though he still had no hope of processing the feeling. It was simply greater than him.
“Freeza...was afraid that as the Saiyajin gathered strength...a Super Saiyajin would be born among us...” In speaking these words, Vegeta thought again of his destiny. He had once believed becoming a Super Saiyajin was something that would come naturally to him, that he had the innate ability. After unbearable setbacks, he had resorted to struggling to make it a reality. He had the blood and the talent, but Freeza had been the true master of his destiny. With Freeza manipulating and sabotaging him every step of the way, he hadn’t stood a chance. Kakarrot, on the other hand, was not incapacitated by Freeza’s cruel technology.
“I-I beg you...Freeza...defeat Freeza!” Vegeta insisted. He could barely make out Kakarrot’s orange clothing. A fleeting idea that he could somehow make an exchange crossed his mind. My pride...my life...my defeat...for Freeza’s death.
“Please...by your Saiyajin hand...” Kakarrot was slipping away from him. Vegeta recognized that he now wanted Freeza’s death for more than his personal vengeance. He wanted it for his people, their people. The thought of his dead race filled him with the loneliness he had tried so hard to outrun. He reached out for Kakarrot, his hand shaking as his vision dissolved.
You’re the only one I have left. Don’t leave me, he silently begged.
You’re the only one left.
- 10
- 11
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Breaking the Prince (Part 2)