The Prince Ascendant

Chapter One: Divergence

It all happened so fast. Kakarot's son had failed to finish Cell off...Kakarot was a fool to trust a child to destroy the greatest threat to Earth since Frieza. The boy didn't have the combat experience required to finish the job. As Cell prepared to destroy himself and, by extension, the Earth and all its inhabitants in a desperate bid to not lose to Gohan, Kakarot had used his instant transmission to take Cell away from Earth, giving his life to save the planet and everyone on it. But, he'd failed. The wind blew from behind the Prince of All Saiyans, and he felt the horrible power again, the power of Cell, vastly increased after his attempted suicide.

That's when his world had turned upside down. Cell used Frieza's death beam attack to kill Trunks. His son. His son dead, and he couldn't even save him. The future of the Saiyan race, his own flesh and blood, lie dead with a gaping hole in his chest and he, Vegeta, had been has helpless as a newborn to stop him. Disbelief gave way to anger, and anger gave way to rage.

Vegeta bared his teeth, a growl forming in his throat. "Damn it..." he uttered, fury and outrage burning in his soul like the raging inferno of the sun. "The Prince of All Saiyans, too weak to protect his own son..."

He could feel it, the hurt welling up in him, the aching in his chest was too much to bear, and he let out a howl of unbridled, blood-soaked rage. The ground beneath him shook violently and it felt like the world beneath him was tearing itself apart like his heart had been. He felt a wellspring of power surge from deep within, and he knew he had changed. Like Gohan. The power, it was unbelievable, it was like a dam had burst open in his soul, flooding his body with raw ki. Burning rage turned to cold, furious hate as he looked at Cell, who had Kakarot's son at his feet, the boy barely conscious and bleeding from numerous wounds.

Cell had to die. He had the power now, he could do it. He, Vegeta, would be the one to butcher this monster who'd dared kill his son. Cell looked his way, too dumbfounded to deliver the killing blow to Kakarot's son. Vegeta's felt his face take on a look of unholy glee, the bastard knows nothing of the man he'd just provoked. In his hate, Vegeta knew he ought not to waste time; this monster preyed on arrogance and stupidity, and he'd be damned if he'd let it take advantage of him.

"Die," was the only word to come from his mouth as he sped toward Cell, his hate driving his fist through the beast's chest before it'd even had the chance to react. He ripped it out as the monster coughed up its purple blood, a look of utter horror and shock etched on its face. Vegeta wasted no time, he kicked the arrogant thing into the sky, and prepared the killing blow. He felt his ki surge as he channeled his finishing strike, his Final Flash. Everything seemed to slow, he saw Cell attempting to right himself in the air as his attack flared in his hands. Cell was preparing a counter blow, but it was too late, far too late.

"FINAL! FLASH!" were the last words the beast heard as Vegeta, the Prince of All Saiyans reborn, unleashed his attack. The wave of ki belted toward Cell with unerring accuracy and unchallenged speed. He felt his attack connect a moment later, and a feeling of savage joy crept into his heart as he felt his attack disintegrate the monster's body, it had died in agony. Cell's energy signature faded, and he knew it was over. He, Vegeta, had done what Kakarot had not. He'd won. He'd bested Cell. He'd even outclassed his prodigy of a son. His elation gave way to exhaustion, his form sapping the last remaining shreds of stamina he had left. He sank to his knees as he reverted, smiling.

"So, Kakarot," he whispered to himself as Kakarot's friends gathered around his son to make sure the boy was okay. "This is what it feels like to be a hero. Hmph...it feels pretty good." As darkness claimed him, his thoughts turned to his son of the present, he was safe, and his future counterpart had been avenged.

The next few weeks had been...hectic, to say the least. Using the dragon balls, they'd undone the damage Cell had done to the Earth and brought back those he'd killed. Kakarot, however, had decided to remain in the afterlife. Though the decision initially perplexed him, somewhere inside, Vegeta understood. He also understood that there were likely to be many powerful warriors in the afterworld and, knowing Kakarot, he'd be spending his days training with them to become even stronger. He could not allow a gap in power between them now, not after he'd achieved something Kakarot had not. He vowed that the Prince of All Saiyans would never again play second fiddle to a lower-class clown, no matter how talented a warrior he was. He'd train harder, push himself further, and become an even better warrior than he was now, that was the way of the Saiyan.

He'd bid farewell to his son from the future after Kakarot's funeral. During their last private moment together, he'd even told him that he was proud of him for what he'd accomplished. His son smiled at that, and thanked him with tears in his eyes. After all he'd managed, Trunks deserved a little praise. But now, it was just him and his Trunks, who was too young to train, and would be for many years yet. Knowing that training with a partner would be far more productive, and enjoyable, than training alone, he'd extended a training invitation to the only person on the planet who could be considered his equal, Kakarot's son. He knew his overbearing mother wanted him to be a scholar, but the boy had Saiyan blood in him, and just because Cell was dead didn't mean that there would never be another threat to Earth again. He knew better. Chi Chi had been mollified by that, and allowed Gohan to train with Vegeta on the weekend, if he so desired.

Things were looking up for the Prince of All Saiyans. He intended to keep it that way. It was going to be an interesting few years...

Author's Notes:

So, a new story! I had this idea pop into my head a while ago, and it just wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote on it some. Vegeta deserves an important victory, especially after all the crap he got in canon, the poor man never caught a break. Now, let's see what he does with it, hmm?

Work is beginning on the second chapter, Bojack Destroyed. Its...maybe a third done, at the time of this writing. A special shout-out to my first reviewer, CMCMC, for their kind words. To answer you, I do plan on making these chapters long than this one. This one was written between classes, so I was a little pressed for time. The others should be significantly more meaty.