A/N: Vegeta defeats the Z-Fighters when he first arrives on Earth, but Bulma offers herself as a hostage to the Prince if he spares her friends. He agrees, as long as he can get a wish from the dragon balls, but will the ruthless Saiyan make good on his oath? Is Bulma forever shackled to a bloodthirsty monster? And what adventured await them on Namek?

Special thanks to my great friend lovelykotori from DeviantArt for illustrating the amazing cover photo! Much love! :D

Chapter 1: Earth's last heroes fall

The heated battle raged on between the powerful pair of Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta.

As the two monumental beams collided, both fighters were stunned at the sheer strength, behind the other's blasts. Goku couldn't hold Vegeta off much longer, not unless he took it up another notch. But such a move entailed an enormous degree of risk. The Kaio-Ken times three was literally eating his body from the inside, so he couldn't even imagine the lethality, of a higher level! He had no choice though! The whole world was at risk!

"KAIO-KEN TIMES FOOOOOUUUUUUUR!" Roared Goku, as he fell back from the intensity of his own blast and barely managed to hold it in place.

Vegeta's Galick Gun was being overpowered by the mountainous force of the Kaio-Ken times four Kamehameha and eventually the blue beam broke through his best attack and began propelling him higher and higher, until he was completely blown out of sight. After a while, Vegeta was finally able to slip away, as the blast continued its trek into the empty void of space. Kakarot had surpassed his signature move. It made him boil with rage. How could he, an elite with royal blood, be bested like that?! It didn't matter! He had to keep pushing on! There's no way Kakarot could sustain this effort much longer. Although he'd never learned how to use power multiplying techniques himself, he knew of their adverse effects, since he'd faced one or two opponents that employed said techniques. After that last move, Kakarot had likely exhausted all his reserves. If not, he could always go Oozaru and obliterate him, but he'd only pull out his trump card if he had no other option.

With that in mind, he decided to return to the ground, landing gracefully on an arch, as he folded his arms and glared disdainfully at his younger adversary.

Goku was fatigued. The Kaio-Ken times four had sapped away most of his remaining energy. One friendly slap on Goku's shoulder from Yajirobe was enough to make him cry out in pain. The samurai had come to congratulate him out of nowhere, but ran away the moment Goku had told him that Vegeta was still in the game. His only hope now was the spirit bomb, but he needed a distraction, any distraction to get Vegeta off his trail.

"Did you really think that blast was enough to finish me off, Kakarot?!" The Prince snarled. "Fool! I am the Saiyan Prince! Now you will die for your insolence and when I'm done with you, this entire planet will be a memory and nothing more!"

Goku bared his teeth at his foe, as he shot up into the sky. Vegeta followed along. Little did the Prince know that he was being lured into a trap. The sun was positioned right behind Goku and the older Saiyan was unaware of its significance.

"If that's the way you want to play it, fine." Goku said dangerously, frowning at his older rival. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Vegeta smiled maliciously, sensing the frantic tone laden in his voice. The other fighter was desperate and on his last footing. He could tell. Suddenly, Goku brought his fingers in front of his eyes.

"SOLAR FLARE!" He shouted, shutting his eyes tight.

Vegeta flinched as a powerful wave of light blinded him.

"AAAAARRRGGGHHH!" He shouted. "BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Goku used the distraction to situate himself on a nearby pillar, hoping it would give him the time he needed to gather energy for the spirit bomb. He raised his hands towards the sky.

"I call upon the sun, the rivers, the trees, the wind and all living things in nature: please offer me your energy." He pleaded calmly, closing his eyes.

About half a minute later, Vegeta had recovered, red-hot ire coursing through his veins. He looked around and saw the young Saiyan with his arms lifted in an awkward manner and then noticed a giant sphere of Ki hovering above him. So that was his plan all along? But how did he gather that much energy and in so little time, no less? It didn't matter. Vegeta knew he couldn't take an attack like that head-on. If it wouldn't kill him, it would most certainly put him out of commission. That much was certain.

Goku smirked at the older Saiyan before moving his hands back, ready to fire. Vegeta may have been evil, cold and heartless, not to mention the underlying reason for the demise of his friends, but he'd pushed him far beyond his limits. As a warrior, he respected his immense level of strength, skill, tenacity and relentlessness, but enough was enough. It was time to put an end to this ordeal, once and for all.

As Goku was preparing to launch his attack, however, Vegeta shot a swift Ki blast, aimed well below his rival, targeting the pillar where he stood.

Before Earth's hero could fire, he slipped and fell on his back. A good portion of the gathered energy was lost, following the lapse in concentration. This was horrible! He never expected such an attack!

Just as Vegeta pounced at his foe, Goku used the Kaio-Ken to move out of dodge. He still had a lot of the spirit energy, inside him and just needed the right occasion to catch the Prince off guard. It was his only chance at victory. Vegeta quickly reappeared behind his rival and fired a double-axe handle on top of his head, causing Goku to nosedive into the rocks. Goku shot to his feet and fired a Kaio-Ken powered Kamehameha at his rival as fast as he could, but Vegeta easily deflected it. There was nothing more the Saiyan youth could possibly do. His body couldn't handle even the double Kaio-Ken, let alone the higher levels needed to defeat Vegeta. The Prince suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Well it was fun while it lasted, Kakarot." He smirked, before throwing a straight right to his jaw. Goku flew backwards and skidded along the dirt.

Before he was able to get up, Vegeta landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground firmly with his superior strength. Straddling his waist, he began pounding him to a bloody pulp. Goku tried using the Kaio-Ken once again, but it wasn't nearly enough to force Vegeta off of him. Vegeta grabbed one arm and knife-handed him through the elbow joint, snapping the limb in two.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Goku howled in agony. The pain was horrible, but the cracking sound, made it far worse. Vegeta then lifted his other arm and did likewise, causing him to cry out, yet again.

"Did you take me for a fool Kakarot?!" Vegeta laughed maniacally, as he began pressing his shoulders to the ground. "With your arms immobilized, you won't be able to pull another dirty trick like that. You're as good as finished."

Vegeta then got up, aimed his right index finger at his enemy and fired two Ki beams, one on each thigh, rendering Goku stock-still. As the Ki seared through the younger Saiyan's flesh, he hollered in agony. The Prince then aimed a palm towards him, as he gathered up Ki to end the battle and with it, the pitiful life of his fallen adversary.

As he was about to finish off his rival, Gohan and Krillin appeared, completely horrified at what the scene in front of them. Goku lost. He lay on the floor, battered and broken. Earth's last hope was defeated! A strong feeling of despair, crept over the two fighters.

"It's a shame Kakarot." Vegeta sighed, a hint of regret in his voice. "You're one of the strongest warriors I have ever met. With your skill and power, you could have easily defeated any Saiyan other than myself, even my father, the King. You should have joined me when you had the chance. I didn't want to end things this way, but you've left me no choice."

"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU JERK!" Shouted the half-Saiyan.

"Gohan!" Krillin berated the young boy, knowing that if Goku, was unable to defeat Vegeta, then the two of them stood absolutely no chance. After all, Goku paralyzed Nappa in just two moves and the whole lot of them were totally helpless against the giant brute.

"Well, well." Vegeta said smugly, dissipating his Ki and lowering his hand, as he faced the duo. "It appears the cleanup crew has arrived. I'm not quite done yet boys, so you'll have to wait."

Gohan charged at Vegeta, without volition. The Saiyan Prince merely laughed as the demi-Saiyan boy approached him. Gohan vanished when he was a few feet from Vegeta and attempted to attack him from behind with a flying kick. Vegeta whirled around, caught the demi-Saiyan's foot and flung him away, before firing a Ki blast towards him. Just under the wire, Krillin quickly hurled a Kamehameha wave, redirecting Vegeta's blast, from Gohan.

Vegeta frowned at the bald warrior, who looked at him in a mix of disgust and horror. Yajirobe, meanwhile, was hiding behind an arch, but keeping a close eye on the battlefield. Unfortunately for him, Vegeta noticed his presence and the rotund warrior quickly moved back behind the arch and out of sight, clasping his shoulders, as he quivered in fear. Why did he have to be foolish enough to show himself? Now he was done for! Vegeta snickered and aimed a blast towards the arch. He fired and Yajirobe flew off as a result, waving his arms frantically, while airborne.

"Where are these cockroaches coming from?" Vegeta soliloquized.

"Yajirobe?" Krillin frowned at the sight of the fat, flying Samurai. "YAJIROBE!"

Krillin dashed towards his overweight comrade, but before he could make it Vegeta materialized in front of him. Darn it, he was so fast!

"Out of my way, you fiend!" Krillin demanded, gritting his teeth.

"Do you really think a worm like you is in any position to give me orders?" Vegeta smirked.

Krillin groaned fearfully. He then heard Goku's voice telepathically, imploring him to keep Vegeta occupied, but to avoid engaging him physically, at all costs. He assured him that he had a plan, up his sleeve. He knew that Krillin would barely last two seconds against the Prince, if even that. Krillin was gaping like a goldfish, when he heard Goku's voice in his head. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the bald warrior.

"If you're done day-dreaming, it's time to attend to more important matters!" He stated in a firm tone, clearly insulted at Krillin's lack of attention to the imminent danger, before him.

Krillin knew what he had to do. Fighting wasn't all about strength, speed or power. It was also about strategy, thus he readily placed his trust in Goku.

"What do you want from us?!" Krillin hissed.

"Nothing much." Vegeta replied, smirking evilly and pretending to examine his gloves, as though the bald man wasn't even worth acknowledging. "Just your pitiful lives."

"Well," Krillin replied, looking pleadingly at the Saiyan. "Isn't there anything we can do that would make you change your mind?"

Vegeta peered at him, before snickering.

"W-W-What's so funny?" Asked an apprehensive Krillin, not liking the look on Vegeta's face, but trying his best to buy time, as per Goku's request, though it didn't look like he could last much longer.

XXXX

Earlier on, Gohan made his way over to his immobile father, deeply hurt and infuriated, as he saw the bloody mess Vegeta made, of his face.

"Don't be angry Gohan." Goku implored. "And don't do anything stupid, okay? You have to remain calm, if we're to win this."

Gohan's expression softened and he nodded his head in assent. Meanwhile Goku shut his eyes and sent Krillin his telepathic message, thereafter returning his gaze towards Gohan.

"Good. Now listen carefully, son." The Saiyan youth said. "We may still be in the game, but we only have one shot at this. Grab my hand."

The demi-Saiyan boy looked at his father, in confusion.

"Just do it Gohan." Goku frowned. "Please. It's our only hope."

Gohan gripped his father's right hand and after a moment, he felt an immense wave of Ki transfer to him. His eyes widened at the monumental power, within his grasp. Gohan looked at his hand incredulously.

"Now what dad?" He asked.

"What else?" Goku smirked. "Blast Vegeta. Show that evil bastard that no one messes with our planet."

Gohan smirked and nodded. Being under Piccolo's wing for all those months had gotten him well acquainted with foul words that would make his mother do a lot worse than throw, one of her trademark hissy fits. He concentrated and materialized the energy his father had given him, into a large ball of Ki, which he then fired at a distracted Vegeta.

XXXX

"And what use would I have with a do-gooder like you?" Vegeta scorned, clearly amused at the other man's desperate and pathetic attempt to save his useless hide.

Krillin smirked in triumph, as he saw Gohan's incoming attack, just in the nick of time. Vegeta noticed where Krillin's gaze was set and turned around in time, to see the blast heading his way, just a few meters off. He couldn't dodge, at this range. Dammit! He'd been such an idiot! The bald bastard had served as a diversion! But who could possibly have gathered up energy, for a blast so powerful?!

Krillin meanwhile, moved sideways, out of dodge, so as to avoid being hit by Vegeta, as the force of the blast took its full swing and launched the evil Prince into the sky.

Yajirobe recovered and found another arch to hide behind. The moment he saw Gohan blast Vegeta, his face lit up in merriment and he ran towards the rest of the crew.

Krillin, too, joined up with his friends.

"YAY! WE DID IT! WE DID IT!" Cheered the elated, samurai.

"You didn't do anything, you idiot!" Krillin castigated, as he grabbed the stout man by the collars of his hunting Gi. "Four of us died out there, did you know that?! While you were doing what exactly?! We could've used your help! I hope you're proud of yourself, you coward!"

"Hey!" Yajirobe yelled back. "Gimme a break! I was just about to join in on the action and surprise him- err- yeah…"

Goku couldn't help but laugh, at Yajirobe's claim and coughed up a glob of bloody phlegm, as a result.

"Dad, Are you alright?" Asked Gohan, his expression laced with concern.

"I'll be okay son." He assured. "That guy was incredibly powerful, more so than I was prepared for. Even a Kaio-Ken times four Kamehameha couldn't finish him off."

"Are you serious Goku?!" Exclaimed Krillin, goggling at his best friend, as he let go of Yajirobe.

Goku nodded weakly.

"I'm so glad you guys came." He sighed wearily. "I was right to give you both that senzu bean. We were lucky this time. I just can't believe how powerful he was. I must admit, I was scared to death out there."

"But dad, you're never scared."

"I know son." Goku replied. "But this time it was different. No matter what I tried, it wasn't enough. If I'd managed to hit him with that spirit bomb, the first time, I'd have won the fight, but when I lost my chance, he reduced me to this, just to prevent it from happening again. The spirit bomb I transferred to you was only about half as powerful as the original. I lost a lot of energy, while he was beating me up."

"That was only half?!" Asked Krillin, completely agape.

"Dad. Is that really true?!" Gohan asked, even more surprised, since he'd felt the true extent of the Ki, for himself.

Just then, Vegeta's seemingly lifeless body fell to the ground, marred with cuts and burns.

Krillin sighed in relief, before looking at him in pure revulsion.

"As evil as you were." He frowned. "I suppose the least we could do is build a grave for you."

"You mean a grave for yourselves?!" Vegeta exclaimed, grinning evilly at Krillin, as his eyes suddenly snapped open. The Prince sat up and staggered back to his feet.

"No!" Goku gasped, overcome with complete dread. Yajirobe instantly fled the scene, while Gohan got in a defensive stance, snarling angrily at the Prince.

"Well." Vegeta dusted himself off. "I must give you bastards credit. You did quite a number on me, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. Now you will all pay dearly."

Vegeta launched himself towards Krillin, who was frozen stiff in fear, disbelief and horror. He punched him right in the face and as he flew forward he reappeared beside him and did a double axe-handle on his stomach that sent him diving, straight to the ground. How dare that little, cueball bastard? He conned him all along! Him, the Saiyan Prince, fooled by a lowly piece of Earthling trash! It was utterly infuriating!

Vegeta continued battering Krillin, purposefully drawing out his pain.

XXXX

"Gohan. You have to defeat him." Goku pleaded. "He's badly wounded. You can do it. I know you can."

"I-I-I don't know d-dad." Gohan whimpered fearfully.

"You're my son!" Goku proudly exclaimed. "I believe in you. Piccolo believed in you. That's why he died for you! So did I and I'd do it all over again, if I had to!"

Beset with anguish and overwhelming resolve, Gohan made up his mind. His father was right. He wouldn't be a coward! Never again! He would make his father proud! He would make Piccolo proud!

The boy warrior headed towards the hotspot, watching as Krillin was being picked apart, piece by piece. Images of Piccolo dying and his father's marred face flickered through his mind. Suddenly, power he didn't know he had coursed through every fibre of his being, as he flared his Ki.

Vegeta was holding Krillin up by the collar, as he saw Gohan moving towards him.

"LEAVE HIM… ALOOOONNNNE!" Gohan yelled and charged directly towards Vegeta, catching the Prince off-guard with mind-boggling speed, landing a drop kick to the midsection that sent him flying. Krillin promptly fell to the ground. As the force of the attack was carrying Vegeta away, Gohan followed through with a hard punch to the jaw, increasing the momentum of his enemy's flight. He then powered up his Ki, even further.

"MASENKOOOO!" He shouted. "HAAAAA!"

Vegeta gathered his wits, before the blast hit and was able to block it off with his palms. Where did that brat get all that power?! Did that 'spirit bomb' attack of there's really wound him that badly? It took him a moment to redirect the Masenko, but in that moment the boy was behind him. The demi-Saiyan fired another Ki blast flush against the Prince's back, causing him to fly forward and skid along the dirt.

Gohan powered up again.

"MASENKOOO!" He roared.

As fast as he could, Vegeta got up and appeared behind the boy almost instantaneously, before the latter had a chance to fire his attack. He landed a brutally hard punch on the back of the head, causing the half-Saiyan to suffer a concussion. He couldn't take any more chances with these people. If he continued toying with them, they may come up with yet another crafty scheme, to get rid of him.

As Vegeta was about to finish the boy off, Yajirobe lunged at him from out of the blue, sword held high above. His hunting and survival skills had taken Vegeta by surprise, as the sword cut him from behind, slicing through the evil Saiyan's armor and inflicting a deep wound on his back. The Prince fell to the ground. The fat samurai immediately began boasting and bragging about defeating the most menacing threat the Earth had ever witnessed, being the best there ever was and all the rest of it.

Vegeta got up, grimacing and moving balefully towards the attacker, while the terrified Yajirobe waved his hands in surrender and offered to join forces with Vegeta, telling him how much he admired him and what not. Vegeta landed a hard spinning back kick right on the samurai's left jaw, sending him flying and crashing into a large slab nearby. As he lay topsy-turvy, Vegeta began pummelling the tar out of his face, purposely holding back, just so he could make him suffer.

"Yajirobe." Krillin looked on despairingly. He had hated the way Yajirobe forsook his own friends, but attacking Vegeta from behind like that to help Gohan, without thinking about his cowardly self as usual, had largely redeemed the overweight warrior in his eyes- and it hurt to see him, in such pain.

'Gohan, get up.' Goku mentally willed his son. 'Please. You're our last hope.'

Goku repeatedly beseeched his son to battle on. By some miracle or other, the demi-Saiyan child made it to his feet and trudged towards Vegeta.

"Leave him- alone-" Gohan grimaced, between heavy breaths. "You- jerk…"

Vegeta stood up and whirled around.

"No more sneak attacks, no more scheming!" Gohan proclaimed. "I plan to fight you to the death. Head-on!"

"Brave of you, boy." The sinister Prince snickered. "But your father tried the same thing. He was much, much stronger than you are and look where his defiance got him."

"Enough talk!" Gohan spat, readying his stance, "Let's do this!"

Vegeta chuckled.

"You truly have the blood of a Saiyan." He smirked, before looking gravely at the child. "Your father refused to join ranks with me. He betrayed the crown Prince of his own race. What about you? You may be young, but you clearly have the potential to be a great warrior someday. As your Prince, I'm offering you a chance to live, if you kneel before me now and swear me your undying fealty."

"YOU'RE NOT MY PRINCE!" Gohan bellowed. "YOU HURT MY FATHER! YOU KILLED PICCOLO! I'LL NEVER BOW TO ANYONE, LEAST OF ALL, YOU!"

"Suit yourself." Vegeta scoffed nonchalantly, before zooming in front of Gohan and hoisting him up by the neck, as he squeezed the breath out of him. He punched the child in the head and ribs several times, wounding and dazing him badly, before tossing him like a rag doll towards his motionless father. Gohan could hardly do anything, after suffering those sustained blows. It was by sheer willpower that he was even able to stand. Vegeta limped over to the father/son duo. "Since you're both traitors, I suppose it's only fitting that you die together."

A/N: Interesting end to the fight, huh? Or has it truly ended? What happens from here? Is Vegeta going to kill the few remaining Z Fighters? With all of them out of commission, who is left to stop the evil Prince's path of destruction? Tell me your thoughts and review!