Saiyan Son Lost by
Dragoness Eclectic
What
does an old warrior hold onto when he's lost everything? And what happens when
Nappa loses even that?
PG - English - Drama - Chapters: 1 - Words: 6582 - Reviews: 12
- Updated: 6-2-01 - Published:
Let
it be noted that part of this story overlaps with events you probably saw on TV
(or read in the manga)... but tells it from a slightly different point-of-view.
Some of the people in Nappa's past have been previously mentioned: Diive in
Chapter 12 of "Mythic Descent" and Rashi and Diive both in
Hyper-Angel's story "Closer to the Heart".
"Acknowledged."
It
was a short message, barely more than a few words interspersed with noise on
the hyperwave channel--a terribly short message to signal the doom of a world.
The
Marshal of Vegetasai pulled his reluctant hand away from the scouter's transmit
button. With an odd detachment, Nappa noted that his hand was shaking. How strange.
He shook it, and tapped the scouter again; where in all this chaos was the
prince?
The
massive Saiyan tapped twice more on the scouter, opening a channel to Vegeta.
"Prince Vegeta, do you read me?" he asked, his voice carefully
impassive.
"What
is it?" answered the prince, sounding bored.
"We've
just received a message from Lord Frieza."
The
Marshal of Vegetasai was a Saiyan, and not just any Saiyan--he was an elite
warrior and a noble. Centuries of tradition dictated that an elite showed no
passions except anger at his enemies and pleasure in their destruction. Even
then, extremes were disdained; extremes suggested lack of control, and lack of
control was a weakness. But within... Nappa felt nothing at first, not even
anger; just numbness, as if all the words were meaningless sounds that had
nothing to do with him.
"Vegetasai
has been destroyed by a rogue asteroid." Nappa paused, listening the young
prince.
They
were all dead, all but the merest handful of Saiyans. The last of his sons and
daughters were dead because of a cosmic accident. The king to whom Nappa had
sworn his oaths on bended knee was dead. Centuries of tradition and history had
been blasted to crumbled rock and dust. Vegetasai was gone.
In
later years, Nappa questioned the truth of the accident: how could a rogue
asteroid that was large enough to destroy his world remain undetected before it
just happened to collide with Vegetasai--less than a day after the King
resolved to defy Frieza over Prince Vegeta? But that was many bitter years
later; now, he only knew that his entire people had died a shameful death,
caught unawares by a mindless force of nature like some peasant in the field.
It was no way for a warrior race to end!
"And?"
Prince Vegeta answered with a tone of "Why are you bothering me with
this?"
Nappa
continued, "Including us, there are very few survivors."
For
the first time, he found consolation in Rashi's death, for his wife had died in
battle years ago, the way a warrior should. He hadn't been numb, then--he'd
felt her die, felt the blast that had torn her nearly in half, felt her spirit
slip away from him. He'd felt rage and despair and emptiness, then--and hidden
it away, keeping always the stern, impassive face of the Marshal of Vegetasai.
Col,
his third son, had died in battle just a few short months ago. He, too, had
been fortunate. There was no such consolation in the memory of his first son,
Diive, so many years ago--better that he had died with his brothers and sisters
under the asteroid than to die a traitor's death. To condemn one's own son to
death for treason was a bitter thing. Bitterer still had been his favorite
son's curses when Nappa killed the alien woman and child that had led Diive to
his dishonorable fate.
Wretched
vermin! He'd remembered them every time he ordered a Saiyan purging crew to a
new world. Sometimes Nappa regretted the efficiency of his own people; the
vermin always died much too quickly. They should nave suffered more.
Nappa
took cold satisfaction in Latta's death; that she-viper died a peasant's death
with the planet, and may Hell take her for the part she played in Diive's
treason! She'd betrayed her favorite brother for one reason alone: he was
Nappa's favorite as well, and there was nothing she hated more than her father.
But the others... Chishan didn't deserve that death, nor did Apio, nor Kimchee,
nor Zukini, and Trigo may have been a young fool, but he deserved at least a
warrior's end. Not this!
General
Nappa--no, he was not a general, for there were no warriors left to command,
and he was not Marshal, for there was no king and no kingdom any more. What,
then, was left? He would ask himself that many times during the coming years.
For
now, his duty was to the last of the royal line of Vegetasai, and whatever the
young prince should command. Though the world had ended amid ashes and despair,
honor remained, and honor was a stern commander. He would not falter; Nappa was
an elite warrior of the nobility, as his father before him and his fathers
before him; there was no other possibility.
"And?"
The young prince answered with cold indifference.
"Uh,
nothing in particular. That is all." The older warrior's blood chilled; in
Vegeta's voice he heard not the stoicism of tradition, but true
indifference--the young prince cared for no one and nothing beyond his own
quest for power. If he had become king...
No.
Vegeta was his prince, and Nappa's duty was to the prince, no matter what.
Vegetasai was gone, but there would be survivors, those who had been purging
planets or in space at the time--they would rebuild, and Vegeta would be the
king of a new dynasty on a new world someday. For now, it was Nappa's duty to
make sure the prince survived to become king.
* * * *
It
was late, almost midnight by the ship's clock, but still Prince Vegeta stood
watching the stars through the ship's main observation bubble. Nappa waited
patiently beside the door for the Prince to grant him his attention. At last,
the haughty young Saiyan tore his gaze away from the observation bubble long
enough to acknowledge the giant Saiyan with a glance.
"What
is it, Nappa?" he said in bored tone of voice.
The
former general bowed to his prince. "They've found a survivor, Your
Highness. He's just been picked up, and I've given orders for him to report as
soon as he's presentable."
The
boy prince frowned sulkily. "How strong is he?"
"He's
supposedly a Royal Guardsman--that means he's at least first-class." Nappa
remained impassive, but his frustration grew. Over the weeks since the
destruction of Vegetasai, reports of "few survivors" had become
"no survivors"; until today, it had appeared that the two of them
were the only Saiyans left in the universe--and all young Vegeta cared about
was how strong the survivor was! Damn it, didn't the prince give a damn about
the survival of his own race, and his duty to what was left of his people??
The
door chimed.
"Let
him in," Vegeta said, sounding even more bored than ever.
The
door slid back, and in stepped a tall, young--barely out of adolescence--Saiyan
warrior. A wild crest of hair rose from a sharp widow's peak and cascaded down
his back under its own massive weight; it brushed the floor as he knelt on one
knee before his prince.
Nappa
started inwardly; this warrior's hair was so different from that auburn
crest, and his face was delicate and pretty where Diive's face had been strong
and sharply cut, but this young warrior had the same tall, rangy, muscular
build, long tail and unscarred good looks that his son had had. Nappa's
memories of his oldest son nearly betrayed him; fortunately the former marshal
was looking at the newcomer and away from Vegeta. Only the newcomer noticed the
surprise that flashed across Nappa's face.
"Guardsman
Radditz reporting as ordered, Your Highness."
* * * *
A
month later, Radditz was in the tank for the fifth time. "Your Highness,
why don't you spar with me for a while; Radditz is no challenge for you,"
Nappa said, trying to keep any semblance of pleading out of his voice. Vegeta
had savagely beaten the adolescent Saiyan again, careless of Radditz's relative
weakness compared to himself.
Vegeta
sniffed. "Quit whining, Nappa! Of course he's no challenge--he's weak,
with a power level less than 1000. I will make him stronger or he will
die--he's useless if he stays weak."
"Vegeta!
There are only three of us left--even a weak Saiyan is worth something! He's
not all that weak for a Saiyan warrior; he's just not an elite."
"Anyone
who cannot survive is worthless," said the young prince coldly. "The
Saiyans of Vegetasai were not strong enough to survive--even my father was not
strong enough!" At the shocked look on Nappa's face, the boy prince
frowned. "Get your head out of the sand, Nappa--only power matters! Take
care of the weakling as you see fit, and make him strong." Prince Vegeta
pointedly turned his back on the massive Saiyan.
"Thank
you, Your Highness." Nappa bowed and hurried off, heading for sickbay and
the regeneration tanks. He was worried about Radditz; the young warrior had
gone from relief at being rescued and finding other Saiyans to a dark, bitter
moodiness. He spoke only when directly addressed, now, and he fought like he'd
forgotten how--or like he didn't care.
Such
negligence had almost cost Radditz his life at Vegeta's hands; the first time
they sparred, the young prince mistook carelessness for contempt and decided to
pay back Radditz for his insolence, slowly and painfully. Every bone in the
warrior's arms and legs had been broken by the time Nappa intervened. Nappa
still didn't know what had driven him to stop Vegeta; he'd had no intention of
risking his life against the power he feared most in the universe for the sake
of one half-dead common warrior. That was the first time Vegeta put Radditz in
the tank, and Nappa had ended up in the tank next to him.
A few
minutes later Nappa bellowed at a slimy purple alien medical technician,
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HE'S NOT HERE?"
The
alien cringed, terrified by the angry, bellowing Saiyan. "Radditz-san was
released from the tank less than an hour ago, Nappa-san. Perhaps he has
returned to his quarters?"
"Bah!"
Nappa snapped disgustedly, and backhanded the alien across the room as he
stormed out.
Out
in the corridor, he stopped and activated his scouter. Nappa's head turned
slowly as he scanned the ship, looking for Radditz's power level. There! Power
level 992--the boy had gone up a bit from Vegeta's beating... but what was he
doing on the lowest deck of the ship?
Nappa
hurried down the corridor toward the nearest lift, trying to figure out what
was significant about the second cargo deck. It was small, cramped, badly lit,
one lift shaft, one airlock, out of the way--a good place to avoid the rest of
the crew, Nappa supposed...
* * * *
The
airlock's inner hatch was open. He found Radditz leaning against the airlock
bulkhead, staring out the porthole in the outer hatch. Tense fingers gripped
the opening lever and released it; the stout metal bar was twisted and dented
from Radditz's grip. The lock controls had been torn open and wires hung loose.
"What
the hell do you think you're doing, you stupid punk?" Nappa snarled.
Radditz
turned his head slowly to look at him; Nappa grew angry at the emptiness in his
eyes. This was no way for a Saiyan warrior to be!
"What
do you think, General Nappa?"
Nappa
almost flinched at the mention of his old title; then he nodded at the wrecked
controls. "Something too stupid to be Saiyan. Trying to override the
interlocks? They'll only seal off the deck when the pressure drops." He
growled, fighting the impulse to grab Radditz and slam him against the bulkhead
repeatedly.
Radditz
sighed tiredly. "I haven't tampered with the interlocks; I cut the alarm
to the bridge."
"You
stupid fool!" Nappa growled, a low, vicious sound.
Radditz
looked up at that, startled. Nappa grabbed him by the front of his armor and
slammed him hard against the bulkhead. The young Saiyan's eyes rolled up as his
head bounced off the hard metal surface and his teeth crashed together, nearly
biting off the tip of his tongue. Blood trickled down one corner of his mouth.
"You
are a Saiyan warrior!" Nappa snarled. "A warrior of the proudest,
deadliest race in the universe! Where is your pride, boy? A Saiyan never
surrenders, never gives up, never gives in!" His backhand blow caught
Radditz across the jaw and bounced him off the outer lock.
Radditz
coughed and spit out blood. "What race, Nappa? Look around; the proudest
race in the universe is DEAD! Vegetasai is GONE, and the Saiyans are nothing
but dust!" He crouched in a fighting stance. "What good is pride
now?"
"While
the three of us live, the Saiyan race lives, boy!" Nappa growled,
crouching in fighting stance himself. "This is no death for a Saiyan; if
you're in such a hurry to die, die with the death screams of your enemies ringing
in your ears, and the taste of your life's blood in your mouth! That is the way
a Saiyan dies, Radditz--not alone, and NEVER without a fight!"
A
dangerous light entered Radditz's eyes. "You are right, Nappa--not without
a fight!" he agreed. He wiped the blood from his face, then lashed out
with a sudden kick to Nappa's midsection.
The
giant warrior blocked Radditz's strike with casual ease, and returned the
strike. Radditz crashed through the airlock's side bulkhead with a screech of
rending metal; water poured out, flooding the cargo deck.
"Idiot.
That set off the bridge alarms," the long-haired Saiyan hissed as
he pulled himself painfully out of the breached interhull water tank.
Nappa's
fist caught him just under the ribs, and Radditz doubled up, retching. He
looked up to see the power gathering in Nappa's hand.
"Too
bad for you--I'll kill you myself rather than let Freiza's lackeys see what a
fool you've made of yourself," Nappa snarled in Radditz's face. "Are
you going to let those scum laugh at a Saiyan dying a coward's death? ARE
YOU?"
Radditz
laughed bitterly. "They already laugh at us, Nappa--the deadly Saiyans,
wiped out by an asteroid! They snicker whenever they see Prince Vegeta, the Crown
Prince and Heir, kneel before Master Frieza; and they laugh like damned
demons to see the former Marshal of Vegetasai bow to Zarbon and Doddoria!"
Radditz drew in a painful breath. "We only have enemies left, Nappa,
enemies too powerful to fight. Even if we had the power to kill them all,
everything worthwhile is still gone."
Nappa
doused the gathering energy, and instead thrust his sneering face into
Radditz's. "What was worthwhile for you, boy, beyond brawling, eating and
wenching? You're a low-born, common soldier; you never had lands and clan and
position to lose, boy. You stupid fool, you're whining about losing what
you never had." He punched Radditz in the face; blood gushed from the
younger Saiyan's nose. "Well, there's plenty of fighting still, and you
aren't starving, and there's more important things than whether or not you get
laid." He backhanded Radditz again. "You say you were in the Guard, boy--you
miss the part about duty and honor? Death's easy, boy; honor's harder, and duty
is the hardest of all."
"What
honor? No one knows or cares." Radditz's voice was low and bitter.
"Who is our duty to? The prince? He serves Frieza, and will never be king
of our dead world. And I will die by my own hand before I give honor and duty
to Frieza!"
Nappa
stepped back and folded his arms, glaring at Radditz. "Honor isn't given
to you by others--it's inside, boy. It's what you know about yourself,
about what you know you are supposed to be, even when no one is looking. How
the hell did you manage to finish training without knowing that?" he
growled. "Now you tell me what you know about the 'honor' of what you're
doing now."
Radditz
muttered something Nappa couldn't hear, and the giant scowled. "I didn't
hear you."
"I
said, it's dishonorable--dishonorable and cowardly." Radditz snarled at
Nappa, "That's what you wanted to hear, isn't it? I'm a dishonorable
coward as well as weak!" Again, he laughed bitterly. "The proud
Saiyan race would be better off without me. Just ask Prince Vegeta; I'm sure
he'd agree with me."
Nappa
kicked Radditz's legs out from under him and then slammed a knee into the
younger warrior's back. Radditz groaned as his ribs cracked under the impact.
Nappa knelt on his back and grabbed a handful of hair, yanking Radditz's head
up and back. His lip curled up in disgust. "You will speak of the Prince
with respect, boy. You don't know your duty, either, so I'll tell you again:
your duty is to Prince Vegeta. He is your ruler, and the oaths you swore to the
king belong to him, now. He says whether you live or die, not you,
because your life belongs to him. He is Vegetasai! Do you understand,
boy?"
Radditz
hacked and spit blood across the deck. "I hear what you are saying."
"But
do you understand, boy?" Nappa yanked his head back again, and
ground his knee into Radditz's back, catching the young warrior's tail between
his kneecap and Radditz's spine. What would it take to get through to this
thick-headed young fool?
Radditz
shrieked and thrashed helplessly as Nappa crushed his tail again. Finally Nappa
shifted his weight, and Radditz collapsed, panting hard.
"I..
understand," he gasped. Nappa released his hair, and Radditz's head
dropped to the deck with a thud. He lay unmoving for several minutes. Nappa
lifted himself off the battered youth and stood, looking down at him. "Why
you keep calling me 'boy'?" Radditz finally asked as he got his hands
under his body and pushed himself up to his knees. "I'm adult, and I was
sworn into the Guard!"
Nappa
snorted. "When you act your age, boy, I'll call you 'warrior'.
Until then, you have the name you've earned--boy." Taut muscles
relaxed the merest trifle; a crisis point had passed, and the older, more
experienced warrior knew it as he watched Radditz struggle to his feet.
Radditz's
sharp ears picked up the whir of the lift at the far end of the cargo hold at
the same time Nappa's did.
"Company
coming." A ki blast destroyed the airlock controls and a chunk of the
bulkhead besides. "Now, what were we arguing about to cause all this
damage?" Radditz smirked, a expression made grisly by the blood covering
his face.
Nappa
lunged, and caught Radditz in the ribs with his elbow, sending him crashing
into the nearest pile of cargo. "I was chewing you out for being so weak
and sloppy with the prince; I've seen infants spar better than that!"
Nappa snarled. "One more thing, boy--who were those scum who dared to mock
the Prince? Was it Doddoria or Zarbon?"
"They
don't lower themselves to talk to me," Radditz panted, staggering
to his feet again. "It was the soldiers."
"Stronger
than you?" He feinted at Radditz's midriff, then clipped Radditz on the
jaw again.
"No."
Radditz stayed down this time, rubbing his jaw as a trio of brightly hued
aliens rushed up, yelling indignantly.
Nappa
smirked. "You know what to do, then--warrior."
"Hey!
You can't fight down here, that's what the training rooms are for, who's going
to fix all this damage? What the--"
Radditz
pulled himself to his feet and glared at the smaller aliens. A ball of energy
formed in his hand, and Radditz flung it at the alien who'd spoken. BOOM! The
unfortunate alien slumped against the wall in a smoldering heap.
"Anyone
else got a complaint?" Radditz smirked that dangerous Saiyan smirk.
"Ah,
no, we'll just clean up when you're done, okay?" The loudest of the
remaining aliens backed quickly away.
Nappa
smirked as the aliens backed away from Radditz. Yeah, the boy's remembered he's
a Saiyan warrior. He'll do. He's not Diive, he'll never be Diive, but he could
have been one of my other sons: Chisan, Col, Apio or Trigo--well, not Trigo,
even Radditz has more sense than Trigo had...
* * * *
Twenty-four
years later Radditz knelt before his prince--and dropped a bombshell. "I
found out where my little brother was sent; there's a chance Kakarott
survived."
"What??"
Prince Vegeta looked sharply at Radditz. "How? All the offworld Saiyans
were accounted for, and no one who was on-planet survived."
Radditz
still knelt before Vegeta. "Kakarott was sent off in his capsule shortly
before the catastrophe--there were no offworld records, except by accident. No
one saw anything important in those records until I came across them."
Radditz shrugged.
Nappa
scowled; he understood the boy's hope, but it just wasn't realistic. "In
twenty-four years he never signaled for pick-up? He's dead."
Vegeta
frowned at Radditz. "How old was your little brother?"
Radditz's
fingers flexed. "Less than a year old," he rasped.
"As
I thought--a weakling. Too feeble for even the common soldiery, so he was sent
off to a weak planet. Feh." Vegeta sneered. "Nappa is probably right;
and even if he's wrong, Kakarott would be too weak to be of use."
"Vegeta,
he's still a Saiyan," Nappa growled. After twenty-four years, hope of
reviving the Saiyan race had long since died--yet Vegeta's contempt goaded
Nappa into contrariness. If even one more Saiyan was alive, that was one more
warrior, and where one had survived, perhaps more--perhaps even a woman might
have survived, somewhere! It wouldn't hurt to check; couldn't Vegeta see how
important this was?
Nappa
noticed the stricken look that flashed across Radditz's face. This is personal
for the boy, he thought. Nappa still thought of Radditz as his boy, though the
long-haired Saiyan was a good fifteen years into his fighting prime as a
warrior--and he would have long since taken a mate and sired children in the
normal course of things. He'd grown into a strong and capable warrior, though
Nappa wished he'd learn to hide his feelings a little better. Radditz always
had such an open face; Nappa sometimes felt embarassed for the boy, always
revealing his emotions to anyone who watched him.
He
was embarrassed now; Vegeta had also seen the unhappiness on Radditz's face.
Vegeta
smiled cruelly. "You can go... but only if you come back with
Kakarott."
"But...
what if he's dead, or--" Radditz protested.
"--Make
sure he's not," Vegeta said with that same cruel smile, "or you'll be
a deserter." With a wave of his hand, the former Crown Prince dismissed
Radditz from his presence.
As
the door closed behind Radditz, Nappa had an odd feeling of foreboding, like he
was about to lose another son.
* * * *
Nearly
a year later, Nappa sat beside a campfire feasting on the half-cooked carcass
of some insectoid creature, listening to the drama unfolding on the scouter's
hyperwave channel. He stopped eating, and all but held his breath as the last
frantic shouts echoed in his ears--then the sickening howl of a high-energy ki
blast. The mighty Saiyan's appetite suddenly vanished as he watched the
telemetry readings plummet like a stone, and heard those last, agonized words.
Finally---
"Radditz...
is dead," Nappa informed his Prince, his face impassive. My boy is dead,
he thought. They're all dead. I've lived too long; a man should not outlive all
his children.
Vegeta
spat out a chunk of shell, and bit off another hunk of the chitinous creature.
"He deserved it... killed by power levels barely over a thousand."
A
sense of failure weighed on Nappa. All these years... I taught him nothing. Vegeta
chose a different path, Frieza's path. Only Radditz listened to me all these
years, and...
Nappa's
great fingers flexed, but he managed to keep his voice neutral. "We can
leave this planet for later," he hinted. No matter how weak you thought he
was, Prince Vegeta, Radditz was a Saiyan. He must not lie unavenged! Did I at
least teach you Saiyan honor?
"Hmmm..."
Vegeta said thoughtfully, chewing the gristly foothand of the insect thing.
"These 'dragonballs' sound intriguing... make any wish come true."
The
prince stood abruptly, his decision made. "Let's go."
Nappa
was careful to keep the relief off his face. "To bring Radditz back to
life?"
Vegeta,
Prince of the Saiyans, looked scornfully at Nappa. "Get real. That would
be a waste of a wish; we're better off without him. Instead, how about
immortality for ourselves? No death, no aging, only an eternity of
combat!" Vegeta smiled evilly.
Nappa
always excelled at hiding his true feelings; an eternity of hopelessness and
grief, of broken pride, of empty honor and meaningless duty? Nevertheless, his
response was truthful:
"Ah..!
Now that's a wish!!"
* * * *
Just
before the pod's hibernation systems kicked in, Vegeta remarked on the power of
Radditz's attackers. "The child's power was impossibly high for a Saiyan
child."
Nappa
growled into the communicator. "Radditz's scouter was
malfunctioning!" The very idea of a hybrid Saiyan-alien child revolted
him. Such things weren't possible!--Yet, if they were...
"I
don't think so, not with the amount of damage Radditz suffered from that one
strike," mused Vegeta. "It seems that mixing Saiyan and Earthling
blood begets a powerful hybrid."
Nappa
folded his arms and swallowed the bitter words that he wanted to scream at
Vegeta. His duty was more important than his hatred; Prince Vegeta had noted
the obvious, and was finally seeing his duty. When the giant Saiyan spoke, his
words were calm and reasoned.
"A
Super-Saiyan, eh? So if we spawn a flock of them ourselves, we could build
another Saiyan Empire!"
Vegeta's
answer was cold and crushing. "Don't be stupid! Do you want a lot of
ingrate brats running around with powers greater than ours? We must
exterminate all life on Earth!"
Nappa's
hate burned hot in agreement: destroy the world that killed his boy, and murder
the race that had seduced Kakarott the way that other race had seduced and
destroyed his son Diive! Another part of Nappa, the part that had held to duty
and honor for so many years, in the face of losing everything, turned cold and
empty; Vegeta hungered only for his own power, and cared nothing for the Saiyan
race, for his people.
"Oh.
Right." Nappa answered.
I
tried to teach him the traditions of a dead race, and the duties of an prince
without a kingdom; Frieza taught him power and fear. Vegetasai is forgotten
dust, while Vegeta kneels before the Horned One's throne every day. How could I
compete with Frieza? Despair and darkness closed in on him as the pod's
hibernation system finally activated.
* * * *
One
year later, Nappa smirked evilly as the green alien greeted them.
"Let's
make this clear: what exactly do you want here?" asked Piccolo.
"Ah,
that voice... it was you who killed Radditz, wasn't it?" observed
Vegeta in that deceptively gentle voice of his, the voice of a cat toying with
its mouse.
"Voice?"
answered the green creatures, surprised. There was something familiar about the
color and shape--Nappa had seen his kind before.
"Didn't
Radditz tell you?" Vegeta asked in mock surprise. "This," he indicated
his scouter with a finger, "also serves as a transmitter."
"He's
a Namek," Nappa observed.
"Looks
like it. Not so strange that Radditz was beaten, then," allowed Vegeta.
A
queer sense of relief ran through Nappa--Radditz had not fallen to a dishonorably
weak enemy. A Namek warrior was a worthy opponent; there was no longer any
shame in Radditz's defeat. His boy had died well, fighting a stronger
warrior--and he would be avenged.
Nappa
amused himself with thoughts of revenge while Vegeta tried to find out if the
Namek made the dragonballs, and the other Earthling babbled uselessly. Which
one would he kill first? The kid, or the Namek, or the babbler?"
"...You
know about the dragonballs?" The small babbling one gaped.
"Why
else would we bother with this dump?" Nappa sneered. Earth really was a
valuable planet, but the giant warrior was not going to let the vermin get
inflated ideas about themselves. "Hand them over!"
A
belated thought occurred to him. They probably thought Vegeta was hesitating
because the prince feared the Namek! That was unthinkable.
"Bring
on all the Nameks you can find!" Nappa challenged. "They're just
slugs to us!"
"...alas
for me, however, I did not make the dragonballs. My speciality.. is
combat!" Piccolo hissed at Vegeta, crouching in a fighting stance.
"As you will see. Now, who is a slug?"
Vegeta
looked bored. "If you won't tell us where the dragonballs are, we'll just
have to beat it out of you."
Nappa
watched his scouter's power indicator with contempt. What did these vermin
think they were challenging? "981.. 1220.. 1083.. FOOLS! Do ya really
think you can beat us with power levels like those?"
Vegeta
pursed his lips. "Nappa, take off your scouter."
"What?"
the giant said, rattled. He was even more startled as Vegeta removed his own
scouter and dropped it.
"These
scum vary their power numbers to suit the battle. Those numbers are
meaningless."
"Yeah..
that's right." Obediently, Nappa removed the scouter. So that's what
happened, Radditz--you got careless, depending on your scouter. Nappa smirked
evilly. These dogs are cocky, now--they killed a Saiyan, and they think they're
tough. Let's rattle their cages a bit.
"That
weakling Radditz probably got himself killed because he depended on the
scouter's numbers--and got caught off guard." Nappa sneered.
Oh,
that got them! It was worth it, the insult to his boy; the vermin weren't so
cocky now. They didn't run, but Nappa was satisfied for the present. They'd
learn to respect Saiyan strength yet.
If
only Vegeta hadn't smirked with such satisfied contempt when Nappa called
Radditz a weakling...
* * * *
The
cultivars were dead. One--just one!--of the arrogant Earthlings was dead,
though his death shook up the vermin. Oh yes, they were finally beginning to
understand Saiyan might.
"Let
me do it," Nappa requested his prince. "I'll kill all five of them at
once."
Vegeta
smiled with amusement. "As you will."
At
last! The giant Saiyan braced himself, and raised his power. As the earth
shook, dismay filled his enemies, and a fierce delight filled the huge warrior.
Nappa would show Radditz's killers the true power of a Saiyan elite--and they
would pay for his boy's life!
Two
more of the vermin died fighting Nappa--strangely, the weakest one did the most
damage. Nappa's armor was blown apart and his back singed by the
self-destructive blast of the white child-thing--but he survived, and the tiny
horror was blown to oblivion. The three-eyed alien had been shaken, and had
attacked wildly, uncaring of itself, spending its very life to kill Nappa.
It
had failed. Nappa smirked triumphantly--until the Namek grabbed his tail. A
vicious, vulgar tactic--and one that Nappa was ready for, having woven a
ki-shield around the vulnerable appendage as a matter of course. Did these
fools really think a veteran like Nappa would make the same stupid mistake
Radditz had? He slammed his elbow into the Namek's skull, crumpling the rubbery
dome and slamming the creature into the ground.
"Bah!
Not even the toughest guy on this planet can survive one punch," Nappa
growled as Piccolo collapsed to the ground. "Well, if he's gonna take a
nap, I guess I have to play with his little friends." Nappa laughed
cruelly, stalking past Piccolo toward Kakarott's terrified son.
"You're
Kakarott's son, you've got Saiyan blood in you, too. Give me a real fight,
brat." Nappa growled as Gohan cowered. This pathetic creature nearly
killed Radditz by himself? Bah! Radditz's scouter must have been broken. He
would enjoy killing the brat--slowly. The brat's terror delighted him; the
creature was frozen in absolute panic. Nappa wanted much more than that; he
wanted to feel the child's bones break in his hands, and he wanted to hear the
brat scream himself hoarse in pain and fear before Nappa finally burned him to
ash.
"Heh.
What a father you've got," Nappa sneered, "leaving his little boy to
die."
The
brutal kick sent Gohan arcing high into the air, only to be met by Nappa's
follow-up strike, which sent him hurtling through the air to slam into a nearby
rock formation. The child slid limply to the ground.
"Hey,
don't die yet! I want to play!" Nappa mocked. This has only just begun,
brat. Don't you dare cheat me of my revenge by dying this easily!
Gohan
twitched, and slowly pulled himself to his feet, coughing blood and dust. He
swayed on his feet, gasping for breath--and something was different. The
wide-eyed, frozen panic was gone; in its place, anger gathered.
In
spite of himself, Nappa grinned. The boy was a Saiyan, after all! "There
you go--fight like a Saiyan!" Nappa lunged forward with a sudden burst of
speed, closing for the kill. "AND DIE LIKE ONE!"
"YOU
BASTARD!" With unexpected speed, the small bald Earthling slammed into
Nappa, kicking him in the jaw with all his strength. His follow-through sent
Nappa careening across the battlefield...
The
fight continued, though Kulilin's ki-enzan nearly finished it--only Vegeta's
warning shout saved Nappa from beheading. Piccolo's blast finally cracked
Nappa's defenses, enough to hurt and enrage the huge warrior--then everything
stopped.
"Wh-what?
A tremendous power approaching from afar!" Piccolo exclaimed.
Battered
Gohan looked up. "I feel it, too. It's huge, but it's familiar!"
Piccolo
smirked, baring sharp fangs. "At last--it's him! SON GOKU IS COMING!"
He snarled. "I should have known that fool would make us wait!"
"Daddy!
Daddy's coming! Hurry, Daddy!" Gohan shouted.
Nappa
paused, too. Had his enemies all gone mad? "Kakarott? Where?"
"Interesting.
They seem to have the power to detect ki," Vegeta commented as he picked
up his scouter. "Let's see..." There was a beep as Vegeta turned it
on.
Vegeta's
eyes widened; for the first time in Nappa's memory, the Saiyan prince was
speechless.
"Vegeta!
Are they telling the truth? I hope they are. Heh." At last, he would get
his hand on the traitor who'd betrayed his own kind, preferring alien weaklings
to his own brother!
"I
don't know if it's really Kakarott," Vegeta said slowly, "but whoever
it is will be here in four minutes--with a power level of five thousand!"
Nappa's
jaw dropped. "Five thousand? That's impossible! It has to be a mistake!
Your scouter is broken!"
"It
may be," Vegeta mused. "These fools seem to be able to vary their
power level, so... five thousand could be just for starters."
Nappa
suddenly felt light-headed. It was impossible! Before the prince's birth, Nappa
had been the second strongest Saiyan on the Vegetasai--only the king had been
stronger--and he was the strongest Saiyan ever born outside of the royal
family! There was no way some low-class soldier's brat could even come close to
Nappa's power--no way at all!
"Heheh.
I do believe your partner's actually worried," said the insidious Namek.
Vegeta
clenched his fist. "NAPPA! Kill those two NOW! Their help could actually
make Kakarott a challenge--but their corpses will shake him up!"
"But--the
dragonballs? How will we--?" Nappa was bewildered; the dragonballs had
been Vegeta's goal from the beginning!
"Never
mind that! We don't need them!" Vegeta snapped. "I never believed the
legend of the Namek Power Spheres, but if Kakarott has returned from the dead,
then it's true. There must be more dragonballs on the slug's home planet--a
little rampage on Namek would be a lovely way to wind down after the
destruction of Earth, don't you think?"
"I
still say your scouter's broken; Kakarott can't be five thousand--but's it's a
good enough excuse to start the killing!" snarled Nappa. Finally, he could
send that damned Namek to hell and avenge his boy!
"Piccolo--you've
got to run!" Gohan shouted. "I'll hold 'em somehow until Daddy comes!
If you die, then Earth's Kami-Sama will die, and the dragonballs!"
"Feh.
Don't be ridiculous, boy. You can't hold them alone," said Piccolo, an odd
smile on his face.
An
old memory suddenly flashed across Nappa's mind, a memory of a younger Radditz
standing over his wounded body and screaming at him to get to his pod, that
he'd hold off the bastards long enough for Nappa to get away! He'd said much
the same thing to Radditz those twenty years ago: Don't be a fool, boy! You've
a tenth of my strength on your best day, and you think you'll hold off
something that knocked me down?
"So,"
Nappa smirked evilly, "the little lad's going to hold me, eh?"
He charged. "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"
The
brat hit him. The blow slammed Nappa's jaw around with neck-wrenching force,
and sent him crashing into a nearby mesa. This was the power that nearly
killed Radditz--no, much stronger. This blow would have killed Radditz
instantly. The brat was strong, far stronger than any Saiyan child had ever
been--except for one. That one was Prince Vegeta.
NO!!
No filthy half-breed alien could equal the power of the greatest Prince of the
Saiyans! And no worthless half-breed whelp was going to kill his boy and draw
his blood without paying in full. Power crackled around Nappa's hand as he drew
it back, readying for the attack.
"DIE!!"
The bolt of white energy flashed from Nappa's hand toward the half-alien whelp.
Nappa could see the terror of death in the vile little brat's eyes, just like he'd
seen it in the eyes of those others, the lavender-hued bitch and her whelp,
who'd seduced and doomed his son Diive...
SHKOOOOM!
Nappa's eyes widened; at the last instant, the Namek leaped into the path of
his attack, blocking the deadly blast from harming the brat. Nappa grinned as
the scorched Namek staggered and fell, cooked alive by the deadly blast.
"Piccolo?"
Gohan staggered to his feet, pleading. "Why--why did you save me?"
"Run...
G-go... han. H.. hurry." Piccolo gasped.
"P-please!
Don't die, Piccolo! Daddy will come soon!" Gohan begged, crouching next to
the dying Namek warrior.
"Idiots--making
me kill them in the wrong order," Nappa snarled. "Oh well, it all
ends up the same." The giant Saiyan watched the brat crying over
the fading warrior with disgust. The half-breed was completely
corrupted--crying like a weakling over this alien scum! Radditz had been a fool
to risk himself over the brat; there was nothing Saiyan about it.
Piccolo
breathed his last, and Nappa smirked in satisfaction. Radditz's killer was
dead; his boy would have company in hell.
Then
the child screamed. "YAAAA! NOOOO!" Vegeta's scouter beeped in
warning as Gohan's power skyrocketed and the boy howled in pure Saiyan rage--
--"Power
twenty-eight hundred!" the Saiyan prince exclaimed.
Nappa
grinned, his eye alight with the fire of battle. "Twenty-eight hundred,
eh?" Maybe Radditz wasn't such a fool after all. The brat's got the power
of an elite Saiyan--but not elite enough.
With
a shout, Nappa caught Gohan's powerful blast--a blast that would have vaporized
Radditz and all six of the cultivars--and bounced it away. It exploded, making
yet another huge crater in the battlefield.
"Heh.
That actually stung a bit," Nappa said, still grinning. "Not bad, for
a shrimp." The boy was shaking, barely able to stand. What the--?
"His
power dropped all the way down," Vegeta observed, answering Nappa's
unvoiced question. "It seems he used it all up just now."
"I'm
sorry, Piccolo," Gohan whimpered, collapsing to his knees. "I.. I couldn't
beat 'em for you. I c-can't even run away anymore."
Nappa
laughed cruelly as he advanced on the helpless child. "I can't wait to see
Kakarott's face when he finds his son crushed to a pulp!" This is for my
sons, brat--and you'll die far easier than Diive did.
The
blow never landed.
* * * *
It
was shameful enough that that low-class traitor brother of Radditz's fought him
to a standstill... but then Vegeta called him off, in public, in front of
non-Saiyans! No! Not after two decades of swallowing his pride, of bending his
knee to that monster Frieza, of enduring the mockery of Frieza's
syncophants--he would not yield to these weaklings! He would show them
the price for mocking a Saiyan warrior, and his sons would be avenged!
"Curse
you... curse you to hell, boy," Nappa growled, a vicious, hate-filled
sound, "for making me surrender your execution to Vegeta." He flashed
a brief, cruel grin. "Heh. You'll be damned sorry it ever happened.
There's a reason he's named after Vegetasai itself. I'll leave you to him
because he ordered me to--but I won't be satisfied with leaving things as they
are."
No
matter what else happeed, the brat would die. Nappa did not see Radditz's
nephew; he saw a soft-hearted, weak half-breed, the child of the soft-hearted
traitor Kakarott and some weak Earth woman--just like the soft-hearted, weak
alien woman and her cursed child who had corrupted his son Diive, making him
soft-hearted and turning him against his own kind... Because of her,
Nappa had put his favorite son to death as a traitor; because of her, his
beloved Rashi died offworld, far from his arms; because of this brat,
his adopted son Radditz died uselessly on this weak, soft world. Damn them all,
damn them all to Hell!
Nappa
charged for the brat and the bald midget, readying his deadliest ki blast--
"KAIO-KEN!"
--Kakarott
broke his back.
Humiliated
and defeated, his broken body flung at Prince Vegeta's feet, Nappa could only
beg for help, like the lowliest, most dishonorable weakling of a last-class
soldier. His Saiyan pride and honor were both gone; the only thing left was his
duty to his Prince... if only Vegeta could get him to his capsule, on life
support, back to Base 79, a tank would fix everything, he would not fail
in his duty!
He
reached eagerly for the proffered hand, willfully ignoring the cold contempt
and rage in Vegeta's eyes--
--and
realized, too late, as Vegeta flung him high into the air that he had
truly and completely failed in his duty--for the prince cared nothing for
Saiyan honor.
An
instant later, there was nothing left at all.
* * * *
"Nappa?
If you could have any wish granted, what would you wish for?"
"Radditz?
RADDITZ!! Where have you been? They said you were alive, but I didn't believe
it. I knew you were gone like Bardock and Sullion and Kale..."
"Bardock
is gone?!? Yes, he would be... Nappa--I am alive."
"You're
alive? What are you doing here?"
"I'm
not exactly here, and you're not exactly there. I needed to talk to you; I need
to know about the wish. Just don't ask for all Vegetasai back--I already tried
that. It didn't work."
"You're
alive... and you have the Dragonballs? You could make any wish! Why waste your
wish on me?"
"It's
not a waste."
"You're
alive, Radditz! Use the wish to give yourself a real future!"
"Heh.
I don't need to; I already have a future, a good one. Tell me your wish; I
can't stay here that long."
A
long silence. "I think my wish has already been granted."
A
sharp Saiyan smile. "Don't tell me that was your only wish, Nappa. I know
you better than that."
Another
silence. "Let me talk to him. I don't know where he is, or how, or if
he'll even listen to me, just let me talk to my son again. Let me talk to
Diive."
THE END.