The Deception
By Elbereth in April, Copyright 2002
I don't own that glorious icon of perfection that is Dragonball Z, but those characters you've never heard of before? Those are mine.
If you review, I'll give my life to helping others.
___________ ___________ ________________
Premise: A/U. Vegeta-sei has joined Frieza's Empire. In return for acknowledging Frieza as Overlord, and working the Planet Trade, Frieza agreed to leave Vegeta-sei alone. Everything went along fine until King Vegeta had a son.
Immediately after his birth, Frieza demanded that the Prince be turned over to him as a hostage. The King refused. Frieza threatened to blow up the planet. This caused a civil war. The King was killed but the Queen escaped with the Prince. The King's cousin took over the throne and threw himself at Frieza's feet, declaring eternal loyalty and servitude. Because the Saiyans were so good at Planet Purging, and because he found the new King's groveling so amusing, Frieza spared the planet. But he put a price on the Prince's head.
Meanwhile, the Queen went underground. She destroyed all the records regarding Saiyans, the government, and the Planet Trade so that Frieza would not be able to use them to find Saiyans still loyal to the Prince (and just to make him mad). And she raised the Prince in secret, determined to have him win back his throne and overthrow Frieza when he was old enough. And the underground Royal Loyalist faction grew.
Unfortunately when he was 10 years old, Vegeta was out in the city conducting some business for his mother when Frieza showed up. Frieza kept 30 Saiyans with him on his base at all times, their top elite fighters, as hostages. He used them on his hardest missions. When he turned his scouter on Vegeta, he realized his incredible potential and kidnapped him.
So Vegeta is made a hostage of Frieza after all. However, nobody knows he is the prince. His identity has been kept secret all this time (the fact that he is named for the king doesn't matter because hundreds of Saiyans were). Unfortunately, Frieza knows he carries the Super Saiyan gene, because his scientists can test for it. This doesn't prove he's Royalty, either, but does make Frieza watch him suspiciously.
So 7 years pass, until one day Frieza sends a purging mission to the planet called Earth...
________________ ___________ _________________
Vegeta was sitting in the common mess hall, eating lunch. The Saiyans always sat together, not wanting to contaminate themselves with other races. Despite this, Vegeta was given a lot of space at the table. He was a loner--an arrogant, acerbic, powerful loner--and as such, highly respected and feared.
A boy named Lenar was talking to his neighbor on the right, a 25 year old man named Vanyar. "They sent Nappa out today."
"Purge for sale or destroy?"
"Purge. Someplace called Earth."
Vegeta sat as if ignoring them, but he was listening closely. Earth. Before his mother had destroyed all the Royal records she had memorized them, and later forced him to do so. Earth was supposed to have already been purged, 9 years ago. Very interesting.
He hung out by the landing dock after lunch, waiting to hear the news. When Nappa landed, Vegeta motioned him over with a jerk of his chin. "How was the raid?"
Nappa was clearly excited. "I found a Saiyan, Vegeta!"
Vegeta stared at him. His mouth had almost fallen open in shock (but he had quickly controlled himself). "Explain."
"I discovered a high power reading on the planet and went to investigate before I wiped everyone out--and it was a Saiyan! He claimed to have no memory of his heritage or how he ended up on Earth--he thought he was a native. He tried to fight me to protect the planet, would you believe it?"
Vegeta scowled. "Did you kill him?"
"Nah--just knocked him out and took him prisoner. The doctors have him now. I have to go report to Frieza." Nappa saluted him without wondering why he had done so.
"Go ahead." Nappa left. Vegeta stood a moment, lost in thought, then made his way to the medical ward. He found the proper room and hid in a supply closet inside. Although he felt his need to resort to hiding and eavesdropping was somewhat shameful, he needed to learn more about this and knew he couldn't ask anyone directly. Sometimes you took whatever options were open to you.
Moments later, Frieza entered the room. Vegeta watched through the crack in the door. "Wake him up," Frieza ordered the doctor.
Slowly, Goku opened his eyes and looked around the room, blinking in confusion. He tried to jump up when he saw Frieza, but was too exhausted and wounded to do so. He fell back down against the bed.
"Your name?" Frieza demanded.
"I--I don't remember!" A look of panic attached itself to his face. "Who are you? Where am I?"
Frieza leaned over the bed and grabbed Goku's throat. "You're lying!"
"P-pardon me, sir, the doctor stammered, afraid to interrupt, "but he doesn't seem to be. He received a concussion in his fight against Nappa and seems to be suffering from amnesia."
Frieza growled. "But what was he doing on Earth? Nappa said he didn't tell him anything."
'So,' Vegeta thought, 'lost his memory twice. Perhaps his brains are permanently scrambled.'
"There's something else, sir." The doctor looked around, then pulled Frieza away from the bed, directly in front of Vegeta's closet.
The doctor whispered, softly enough that Goku couldn't hear in his befuddled state, "He has the Super Saiyan gene, Lord Frieza."
Vegeta heard clearly. All the blood drained from his face. This couldn't be. He remembered very well who this Saiyan was--Kakkarot, third class warrior, son of Bardock. How could he have inherited the gene?
Frieza, too, seemed dumbfounded. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir. We triple-checked it."
"Hmmm. Well then. I guess I'll just have to keep him alive after all. He may prove useful."
Vegeta remained in hiding after everyone had left and watched Goku fall back to sleep under the influence of the heavy sedation he'd been given.
'Prove useful.' Another Super Saiyan. With no memory. And no loyalties.
'What if he decides to join with Frieza?
'What if he is ambitious and jealous and decides to kill his other Super Saiyan rival--me? Or--what if he joins Frieza and tries to kill me?
'I can't let Frieza gain this man's devoted service. He could be a formidable warrior. Even if he's not elite and doesn't have a tail.
'If only I could somehow win this Kakkarot's loyalties for myself. If we could both turn Super Saiyan, we could destroy Frieza for sure. And I could ensure my own superiority over him.
'He has no memory.'
Vegeta smirked, forming a plan.
_____________ _______________ _____________
Goku was standing, bewildered and afraid, next to Frieza at the front of the audience chamber. The 30 Saiyans in the audience had all eyes on him.
"So," Frieza said, "here he is. Our poor, lost, unidentified Saiyan. Now. Can anyone here tell me who he is?"
Frieza listened to the whispered speculation. Was he the prince? What was Frieza's game? He didn't look familiar to them.
Then Frieza watched one of the monkeys push his way to the front of the crowd. That arrogant, insubordinate Vegeta.
Vegeta knew exactly how he needed to play this. "I know him," he said softly, but with none of the usual bravado and defiance. He looked almost--concerned. Nervous.
More whispers. Vegeta knew him? "His name is Kakkarot." And then he said the last thing anyone expected him to say. "He's my brother."
Frieza motioned for Vegeta to stand in front of him. He looked hard into Vegeta's eyes. He seemed to be telling the truth. Unbelievable!
'That's right,' Vegeta thought. 'See how worried about him I am. How I don't like revealing my secret. That's right.'
"Your brother," Frieza repeated.
Vegeta swallowed hard. "Yes. He's 4 years younger."
"Why have you never mentioned a brother before?"
'OK. Time to respond more in character.' He scowled, signs of fear vanishing. "What was I going to say? By the way, Lord Frieza, I have a brother. Would you like to find him and enslave him, too?"
Frieza instantly backhanded him across the face and he fell, sliding to a stop several feet away.
"I will not permit such insolence, monkey. And you are never to keep secrets from me again."
Vegeta looked up at him from the ground. "Yes, Lord Frieza." He didn't push his luck by mocking his title this time.
Frieza seemed satisfied, as he then turned to Goku. "And you! Remember that as well. If you are anything like your brother, you will have to learn your place." He reached out and took Goku's face in his hand and studied him. Then he squeezed his hand together until he felt the jaw bone pop, and Goku cried out in pain.
Frieza smiled. "I'll let your brother explain your new life to you. And get a better hair cut!" He turned to the silent crowd. "You're all dismissed."
They turned and left, as did Frieza and his grinning lizard men, by a different door. Vegeta got up and went to Goku.
"Kakkarot. Little brother. Hold still." He popped Kakkarot's jaw back in place, to Goku's shock.
"Ow! Tell me what you're going to do next time! Hey. Oh, that feels better."
Vegeta smirked a bit, then got serious. "Do you remember me?" he asked.
Goku's face clouded up. White and tense, he shook his head, and then looked at his feet.
Inside, Vegeta exalted. 'Of course not, you baka! You've never seen me before in your life!' He couldn't believe he had actually pulled it off. Frieza--everyone believed him. He had this man now--surely he'd be loyal to the one he thought was his brother. With Bardock and Radditz dead, there was no one to say differently.
"Well," he said airily, "no matter. What's important is that we are brothers. And we must stick together. At least now I know where you've been all this time. I never really believed you were dead, no matter what anybody said."
Goku was trying to absorb all his words and make some kind of sense out of everything. "What's my name again?" he asked, desperate for guidance.
"Kakkarot. And you are now, along with the rest of us, one of the Saiyan Planet Traders. Frieza--controls us."
"I sensed that."
Vegeta lowered his voice. "But just for now. Someday I'll be strong enough to defeat him! Then we'll have our revenge for everything we've suffered!"
Looking at those black, burning eyes, Kakkarot had a feeling that Frieza must have a lot to answer for. If what he'd seen was any indication, he was not going to like his new home.
At least he had a brother to look out for him.
By Elbereth in April, Copyright 2002
I don't own that glorious icon of perfection that is Dragonball Z, but those characters you've never heard of before? Those are mine.
If you review, I'll give my life to helping others.
___________ ___________ ________________
Premise: A/U. Vegeta-sei has joined Frieza's Empire. In return for acknowledging Frieza as Overlord, and working the Planet Trade, Frieza agreed to leave Vegeta-sei alone. Everything went along fine until King Vegeta had a son.
Immediately after his birth, Frieza demanded that the Prince be turned over to him as a hostage. The King refused. Frieza threatened to blow up the planet. This caused a civil war. The King was killed but the Queen escaped with the Prince. The King's cousin took over the throne and threw himself at Frieza's feet, declaring eternal loyalty and servitude. Because the Saiyans were so good at Planet Purging, and because he found the new King's groveling so amusing, Frieza spared the planet. But he put a price on the Prince's head.
Meanwhile, the Queen went underground. She destroyed all the records regarding Saiyans, the government, and the Planet Trade so that Frieza would not be able to use them to find Saiyans still loyal to the Prince (and just to make him mad). And she raised the Prince in secret, determined to have him win back his throne and overthrow Frieza when he was old enough. And the underground Royal Loyalist faction grew.
Unfortunately when he was 10 years old, Vegeta was out in the city conducting some business for his mother when Frieza showed up. Frieza kept 30 Saiyans with him on his base at all times, their top elite fighters, as hostages. He used them on his hardest missions. When he turned his scouter on Vegeta, he realized his incredible potential and kidnapped him.
So Vegeta is made a hostage of Frieza after all. However, nobody knows he is the prince. His identity has been kept secret all this time (the fact that he is named for the king doesn't matter because hundreds of Saiyans were). Unfortunately, Frieza knows he carries the Super Saiyan gene, because his scientists can test for it. This doesn't prove he's Royalty, either, but does make Frieza watch him suspiciously.
So 7 years pass, until one day Frieza sends a purging mission to the planet called Earth...
________________ ___________ _________________
Vegeta was sitting in the common mess hall, eating lunch. The Saiyans always sat together, not wanting to contaminate themselves with other races. Despite this, Vegeta was given a lot of space at the table. He was a loner--an arrogant, acerbic, powerful loner--and as such, highly respected and feared.
A boy named Lenar was talking to his neighbor on the right, a 25 year old man named Vanyar. "They sent Nappa out today."
"Purge for sale or destroy?"
"Purge. Someplace called Earth."
Vegeta sat as if ignoring them, but he was listening closely. Earth. Before his mother had destroyed all the Royal records she had memorized them, and later forced him to do so. Earth was supposed to have already been purged, 9 years ago. Very interesting.
He hung out by the landing dock after lunch, waiting to hear the news. When Nappa landed, Vegeta motioned him over with a jerk of his chin. "How was the raid?"
Nappa was clearly excited. "I found a Saiyan, Vegeta!"
Vegeta stared at him. His mouth had almost fallen open in shock (but he had quickly controlled himself). "Explain."
"I discovered a high power reading on the planet and went to investigate before I wiped everyone out--and it was a Saiyan! He claimed to have no memory of his heritage or how he ended up on Earth--he thought he was a native. He tried to fight me to protect the planet, would you believe it?"
Vegeta scowled. "Did you kill him?"
"Nah--just knocked him out and took him prisoner. The doctors have him now. I have to go report to Frieza." Nappa saluted him without wondering why he had done so.
"Go ahead." Nappa left. Vegeta stood a moment, lost in thought, then made his way to the medical ward. He found the proper room and hid in a supply closet inside. Although he felt his need to resort to hiding and eavesdropping was somewhat shameful, he needed to learn more about this and knew he couldn't ask anyone directly. Sometimes you took whatever options were open to you.
Moments later, Frieza entered the room. Vegeta watched through the crack in the door. "Wake him up," Frieza ordered the doctor.
Slowly, Goku opened his eyes and looked around the room, blinking in confusion. He tried to jump up when he saw Frieza, but was too exhausted and wounded to do so. He fell back down against the bed.
"Your name?" Frieza demanded.
"I--I don't remember!" A look of panic attached itself to his face. "Who are you? Where am I?"
Frieza leaned over the bed and grabbed Goku's throat. "You're lying!"
"P-pardon me, sir, the doctor stammered, afraid to interrupt, "but he doesn't seem to be. He received a concussion in his fight against Nappa and seems to be suffering from amnesia."
Frieza growled. "But what was he doing on Earth? Nappa said he didn't tell him anything."
'So,' Vegeta thought, 'lost his memory twice. Perhaps his brains are permanently scrambled.'
"There's something else, sir." The doctor looked around, then pulled Frieza away from the bed, directly in front of Vegeta's closet.
The doctor whispered, softly enough that Goku couldn't hear in his befuddled state, "He has the Super Saiyan gene, Lord Frieza."
Vegeta heard clearly. All the blood drained from his face. This couldn't be. He remembered very well who this Saiyan was--Kakkarot, third class warrior, son of Bardock. How could he have inherited the gene?
Frieza, too, seemed dumbfounded. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir. We triple-checked it."
"Hmmm. Well then. I guess I'll just have to keep him alive after all. He may prove useful."
Vegeta remained in hiding after everyone had left and watched Goku fall back to sleep under the influence of the heavy sedation he'd been given.
'Prove useful.' Another Super Saiyan. With no memory. And no loyalties.
'What if he decides to join with Frieza?
'What if he is ambitious and jealous and decides to kill his other Super Saiyan rival--me? Or--what if he joins Frieza and tries to kill me?
'I can't let Frieza gain this man's devoted service. He could be a formidable warrior. Even if he's not elite and doesn't have a tail.
'If only I could somehow win this Kakkarot's loyalties for myself. If we could both turn Super Saiyan, we could destroy Frieza for sure. And I could ensure my own superiority over him.
'He has no memory.'
Vegeta smirked, forming a plan.
_____________ _______________ _____________
Goku was standing, bewildered and afraid, next to Frieza at the front of the audience chamber. The 30 Saiyans in the audience had all eyes on him.
"So," Frieza said, "here he is. Our poor, lost, unidentified Saiyan. Now. Can anyone here tell me who he is?"
Frieza listened to the whispered speculation. Was he the prince? What was Frieza's game? He didn't look familiar to them.
Then Frieza watched one of the monkeys push his way to the front of the crowd. That arrogant, insubordinate Vegeta.
Vegeta knew exactly how he needed to play this. "I know him," he said softly, but with none of the usual bravado and defiance. He looked almost--concerned. Nervous.
More whispers. Vegeta knew him? "His name is Kakkarot." And then he said the last thing anyone expected him to say. "He's my brother."
Frieza motioned for Vegeta to stand in front of him. He looked hard into Vegeta's eyes. He seemed to be telling the truth. Unbelievable!
'That's right,' Vegeta thought. 'See how worried about him I am. How I don't like revealing my secret. That's right.'
"Your brother," Frieza repeated.
Vegeta swallowed hard. "Yes. He's 4 years younger."
"Why have you never mentioned a brother before?"
'OK. Time to respond more in character.' He scowled, signs of fear vanishing. "What was I going to say? By the way, Lord Frieza, I have a brother. Would you like to find him and enslave him, too?"
Frieza instantly backhanded him across the face and he fell, sliding to a stop several feet away.
"I will not permit such insolence, monkey. And you are never to keep secrets from me again."
Vegeta looked up at him from the ground. "Yes, Lord Frieza." He didn't push his luck by mocking his title this time.
Frieza seemed satisfied, as he then turned to Goku. "And you! Remember that as well. If you are anything like your brother, you will have to learn your place." He reached out and took Goku's face in his hand and studied him. Then he squeezed his hand together until he felt the jaw bone pop, and Goku cried out in pain.
Frieza smiled. "I'll let your brother explain your new life to you. And get a better hair cut!" He turned to the silent crowd. "You're all dismissed."
They turned and left, as did Frieza and his grinning lizard men, by a different door. Vegeta got up and went to Goku.
"Kakkarot. Little brother. Hold still." He popped Kakkarot's jaw back in place, to Goku's shock.
"Ow! Tell me what you're going to do next time! Hey. Oh, that feels better."
Vegeta smirked a bit, then got serious. "Do you remember me?" he asked.
Goku's face clouded up. White and tense, he shook his head, and then looked at his feet.
Inside, Vegeta exalted. 'Of course not, you baka! You've never seen me before in your life!' He couldn't believe he had actually pulled it off. Frieza--everyone believed him. He had this man now--surely he'd be loyal to the one he thought was his brother. With Bardock and Radditz dead, there was no one to say differently.
"Well," he said airily, "no matter. What's important is that we are brothers. And we must stick together. At least now I know where you've been all this time. I never really believed you were dead, no matter what anybody said."
Goku was trying to absorb all his words and make some kind of sense out of everything. "What's my name again?" he asked, desperate for guidance.
"Kakkarot. And you are now, along with the rest of us, one of the Saiyan Planet Traders. Frieza--controls us."
"I sensed that."
Vegeta lowered his voice. "But just for now. Someday I'll be strong enough to defeat him! Then we'll have our revenge for everything we've suffered!"
Looking at those black, burning eyes, Kakkarot had a feeling that Frieza must have a lot to answer for. If what he'd seen was any indication, he was not going to like his new home.
At least he had a brother to look out for him.