Since the day he could walk, Vegeta the fourth was little more than a puppet to the strings of fate. King Vegeta forced the young prince to put his body through torturous training that no child should ever have to endure.

  He was taught to trust in only himself and his own rapidly increasing power. The king raised his son to believe that all life in the universe was beneath him, and that he was truly special.

  He learned quickly the pledge of the saiyans; 'might makes right'.

  It was a lesson he had learned perhaps a little too well. Even before his teen years Vegeta had grown more powerful and ruthless than his father, the King. When his father had seemingly perished at the hands of Frieza during a failed coup, the young princes had decided that it didn't bother him in the least.

  The fact that his father was dead only meant that at last the seat of the throne was empty, and his for the taking.. But of course, why should things have changed in his life just because the king was gone? Vegeta the fourth's destiny was still not his own to write.

  Just as his father had fallen, another master stepped up to tighten his collar and lead him by the leash. And it was none other than Frieza himself this time. After he destroyed their planet, Vegeta assumed that perhaps with a majority of his army gone, Frieza's business with the saiyans would conclude.. How wrong he had been.

  At first, Frieza had tried to feed the young prince some B.S. about how a meteor had unexpectedly hit the planet and detonated it's core on contact.. Vegeta was no fool.

  He saw through the blatant lie. But what he hadnt expected was what followed next. Frieza personally took Vegeta in under the guise of 'protecting a fellow prince' and 'honoring the last of the once great Saiyan racraceThe prince had become little more than a glorified pet.

  In the end, the loss of his planet and people didn't matter overmuch. Sure he was agitated he would never ascend the throne and become king, but individually his people's lives met nothing at all to him. All that mattered was that he was a true saiyan and the strongest of them all. The prince of all saiyans. He chose to forgoe the thrown as something of a homsge to his dead people and his father.

  and without a second thought, Vegeta closed on that particular chapter of his life As long as he had his pride.. As long as he rose up to concur the stars and everything they contained. He would have purpose.

  Initially Vegeta played along, with Frieza's twisted game. Even if purely for the sake of gaining more power. He had heard stories from his father about the godly strength of their emperor. Naturally he would jump at the chance to be around such a being.

  There was no denying the short term benefits were... beyond his expectations. But as is often the case in life, this seemingly beneficial arrangement he now found himself engaged in, quickly took a turn for the worst.

  Saiyans were harsh, ruthless beings who wouldn't bat an eye at destroying entire civilizations if they felt so inclined. They desired only to fight the strong, to push themselves beyond their limits and they didn't care who they hurt along the way. By and large the saiyans as a whole were evil..

  But Frieza was in a whole different league of dastardly and villainous. As it turned out the only reason he really wanted Vegeta around was, as anyone might have guessed, to abuse and humiliate the man. Frieza took great pleasure torturing the man that to him, represented entirety of the 'filthy monkeys' his father had employed through the many years of forced enthrallment.

  Any time Frieza's mood would begin to sour in even the slightest, he would act out in any manner of deadly and cruel ways. Especially when tumors began circulating that Frieza had only destroyed the saiyans because he feared the existence of the legendary super saiyan.

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  Many were lucky enough to receive a quick death. But never Vegeta. Never his favorite toy. The saiyan prince could not be so fortunate.

  It wasn't just Frieza who enjoyed holding power over the prince's head either.. As a saiyan he may have ranked at the top of the food chain. But within the Frieza force, where thousands of races co-existed, there were many who could and would go out of their way to make the prince's life a barely-livable hell.

  To Vegeta.. Frieza took something far worse than his life and the life of his people. He had taken his pride. The only thing that kept him going was the ambition of one day getting revenge against the tyrant. Vegeta knew Frieza feared the quickly growing strength of his people.

  Early on in his service to the mad emperor the prince may not have been the strongest.. but due to his saiyan biology, he began to rise through the ranks. He vowed he would find the secret to becoming the saiyan of legend. He was the prince after all.. It was his destiny. He was the strongest.

  Many years later, it had taken nothing sort of a miracle for Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz to slip away from the acrosian emperor. And now the evil tyrant was allegedly scouring the cosmos in search of the fleeing saiyans so that he may eliminate them once and for all. In Vegeta's mind this only further solidified his inclination that he was the fabled super saiyan that Frieza so feared. Why else would Frieza be so desperate to hunt the handful of them that remained?

  Soon.. The forlorn prince would regain his stolen pride.

  Commandeered Frieza force spaceship: mess hall

  "So you see…" Nappa's voice gruff slowly drawled through the air as he finished explaining the origin story of the saiyan prince. "...While we all may have our own reasons for doing this.. None of our resolve could ever measure up to prince Vegeta's." Nappa stated matter of factly, a stern look in his narrowed eyes.

  The large man sighed. "He'll do anything for the sake of power. As you know, saiyans get stronger in situations that are detrimental to our health. So Vegeta goes above and beyond to keep himself teetering on the brink. He has for over a decade now. He even goes so far as to starve himself, and slave away in the training chamber for days on end…" He paused to gather his thoughts.

  "More than any of us, he must defeat Frieza. Try to understand… He's not a bad man. He's just.. lost." The aged saiyan finished, slumping down slightly. Even though saiyans remained in their physical primes for decades longer than most species, the man truly looked his age at that moment.

  The Z-warriors were unmoving statues, soaking in everything they'd heard. They each wore somber expressions. An awkward silence filled the air for several moments. Then Kakarot stood, swiftly scooping up two trays of food. He marched off towards where he could feel the prince's fluctuating Ki.

  "Kakarot..?"

  "Goku!?"

  "Brother..?"

  The saiyan continued walking without even so much as a hint that he'd heard his allies' concerns. That was until his wife called out, "Hunny!?.."

  When he turned back to look at her the intensity of his fierce gaze caused her mind to go blank. She swallowed, rethinking her choice of words. It had been years since she'd seen that look, and she better than anyone knew that the man's mind would not be changed.

  "Just be careful ok?" She pleaded.

  He nodded and turned swiftly around, exiting the room with an inhuman grace and speed.

  Vegeta's training chamber.

  *RUMBLE*

  *BOOM*

  *CRASH*

  "Gahh!" Vegeta gasped, as he crashed to the chamber ground, smoking and coughing up phlegm. "God.. *huff* *huff* Damn it.." He growled in between shuddering breaths. He winced as he punched the ground and forced himself to his feet. His left shoulder sagged for a second and he huffed a few more times before drawing his arms close to his sides and beginning to power up. "Haaaa..!"

  *Beep!*

  *Beep!*

  *Beep!*

  "What!?.." The prince cursed. 'Who in the hell dares to interrupt me!? I swear if it's that idiot Nappa..!' He warned internally.

  "Come in!" He yelled angrily.

  The doors unlocked and slid open with a hiss. There stood Kakarot with two full trays of food and a serious expression on his face.

  Vegeta frowned heavily, not sure what the man could possibly want. Kakarot wasn't as weak as the rest of them but he was still a third class saiyan, born to a peasant family. Not to mention the man seemed incompetent at best.. He was beneath the prince in every conceivable way.

  "What do you want, clown?" The Prince huffed, wiping sweat and blood away from his brow.

  Kakarot looked the man up and down. Honestly the other saiyan looked like shit. His armor was singed and cracked, with numerous cuts and bruises littering his body. The prince was pale and thin..

  The man didn't even fully fill out his own saiyan armor, despite his obvious muscle mass. How had Kakarot not noticed how malnourished and unwell his fellow saiyan was?

  "You're gonna wanna hear what I have to say, prince. I can help you beat Frieza." The taller man said simply.

  The older saiyan's eyes narrowed before he schooled his features. "Oh really? You expect me to believe that?"

  He looked down at the food in Kakarot's hand. "Let me guess? I need to eat my vegetables, do lots of push ups and sit ups and drink plenty of juice. Is that it?" Vegeta mocked. "Beat it, I'm not hungry, and you're wasting my time." The man dismissed with a wave of his hand. He turned around to cross his arms, signaling the conversation was over.

  Kakarot didn't buy it in the least. He noticed how the prince's gaze lingered ever so slightly on the steaming food, as well as the not so subtle rumble of his stomach audibly contradicting the prince's projected state of wellness. "You want power, Vegeta? Is that all you'll listen to?" Kakarot asked rhetorically.

  Annoyance and agitation had crept into his voice, and his gaze was intense. The prince turned back around to look at the Saiyan raised on Earth, curiosity getting the better of him. He was somewhat surprised by the man's sudden attitude and stern features.

  "Because I can give you power."

  End of chapter 18.