Strength

"Who are you?" Vegeta asked.

"Answer my question first. Then and only then will you get the same level of respect from me." I glared at him and said my words without any hesitation. I was upset. The brutality that had been displayed. Goku barely had a pulse. All the other Z-fighter's were dead. The story had changed. I needed to analyze and act accordingly.

For a moment, everyone on the battlefield started me down intensely. Nerves were at an all-time high.

Surprisingly, Vegeta stayed calm and answered my previous question. Well, as calm as he could. I could still sense his arrogance in the tone of his voice.

"My name is Vegeta. I am the prince of the planet of the same name. I have come here with a goal to rebuild our once-great empire. In order to do that, I had to collect all lost members of our race. I recently discovered that 1, and now 3 members of our race have been residing on this planet… As Prince… no. As the new King of our empire, it is my responsibility to bring these 3 into my army."

I looked at him with slight resentment. If I weren't the guardian and the dragon balls were still bonded with the soul of Kami, everyone on this planet would have met with Yema today.

'Thinking of which…'

[Ice.]

Waiting a few seconds, he responded.

[Yes dad?]

[I want you to use the dragon balls.]

[Why? Is everything in order down there?]

[Yeah…Well, not really. A few important people died.]

[Important people died? But we were only gone for three days…] He was confused. As was I when I had realized the situation.

[I know.] I said while rolling my eyes.

[Okay… Before I summoned the dragon, you still never told me the activation code.]

"Hey… I answered your question. Now you answer mine. Or did you bump your head like Kakarot as well?" Asked Vegeta.

[Ah… right. The new password to the Dragon Balls is password 415.]

[...]

[Did you hear me?]

[Oh… no. I heard you… It's just… I would have never guessed that.]

He sounded genuinely confused. His innocence almost made me chuckle, and I would have if the situation wasn't so dire.

[I know. Kinda the point.] I replied.

"Ah…My apology. I had other things on my mind."

I said with crossed arms and my tail swaying back and forth.

"As for your question. Here's the answer. I am a Sayian. From the exact same planet as you."

They had expected it due to my signature tail and hair but a few traits like the color of my eyes and tail threw them off slightly.

"I am also the protector of this planet." Snapping my fingers, I materialized two thrones and a table for Vegeta and me to talk.

"Come… let's have a conversation."

I said in a beckoning motion.

My gesture raised eyebrows. Where did the furniture just appear from? Why was I acting civil when I had just completely evaporated their comrade.

These two could only wonder. Both Nappa and Vegeta started to walk in my direction until I halted them.

"Wait… Not you. Only him." I said pointing to Nappa.

"Excuse me?" Nappa looked offended.

"You're excused… To stay over there and safeguard that child beside you. I'm talking to your King, not you." I sternly stated.

"Nappa. It's alright. The range of the conversation should be within your hearing distance anyway. Just be attentive." Vegeta said while taking a seat directly across from me.

[Dad.]

"One second. Someone is using a communication ability with me."

I said while Vegeta nodded his head. He had nothing else to do, and in all honesty, he was rarely approached in this manner.

[Yes?]

[I have all of them in front of me. What is it that you wanted me to wish for?] Asked Ice.

[For the first wish, I want you to restore West City to its original form 24 hours prior. The second, bring back all the people that Raditz killed. Third, bring the Z fighters to the lookout.]

[What if they decided they want to leave?]

Ice asked.

[Then make them stay.] I needed to not only introduce myself to them but wanted to get to know all of them as the new Guardian.

[Alright]

A few moments later, The skies became pitch-black. Nappa and Vegeta began to get unnerved.

"What is this?" Vegeta asked.

"Don't worry about it. Let's begin our conversation, shall we?" I then folded my hand on one another.

Still looking unsure, he began conversing.

"Strange atmosphere aside, like I said. I came here to recruit."

"For your empire… I'm aware."

"Yes… but are you aware of the reason?"

He asked.

"Most likely because our race is dying. But that isn't the only reason. The spark that brought you to this lowly planet was most likely the fact that you were desperate… That leads me to a question. When are people the most desperate… No. I misspoke. When is an empire the most desperate? When it is preparing for war."

"*clap clap clap* Very perspective."

"I have to be for this line of work. A planet doesn't protect itself." I shrugged.

"Do you know the reason for this war? Are you aware of what started it?"

"Yes."

"You say that… but do you truly know." He said with a serious tone and a look to match.

"Yes."

"Then enlighten me."

"You came here with the intention of Goku… or as you call him, Kakarot to join you on your suicide mission to fight Frieza. The destroyer of our homeworld. Now that you have been made aware… You want me, him, and Gohan altogether. "

"You say that so nonchalantly… and yet you remain calm." He said while flaring his Ki at me.

"Which either means that you are either unaware of the severity of the situation, or you're a coward who has retreated on this planet for safety. In either case, I am severely disappointed." He tried to intimidate me by shooting his malicious Ki… But I only gave him a kind smile.

"Neither is the case… but before we continue on, let me clear something up to you right now. You seem to be terribly mistaken about two things. I don't give two fucks about your disappointment. And you are not my King. You are a random nobody who has invaded my planet."

"..."

"..."

We intensely stared at one another without saying a word.

"He. Hahaha!" He laughed hysterically, going so far as to slap his knee.

"I now see for a fact that you are indeed a Saiyan."

"Indeed." I nodded with a blank expression.

"But it's now time that I make myself clear on something…"

"Please do."

"You see that hairy thing that's connected to your back?"

"I've seen it. Yes." I nodded.

"That tail is a representation that you are under my protection. Yours, and any like it?"

"Oh? I've never been someone's property before." I said with a sarcastic tone of joy.

"Nor will I ever be." I squinted at Vegeta.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yes. It is. Nor is that half-dead person yours, nor is his child. Oh, and by the way, Neither of them are going with you either. They have made themselves home here… and are now under MY protection." I said to Vegeta without missing a beat.

Throughout our conversation, his demeanor had been rather elegant… but it seemed as if I had been poking at his triggers. I could tell by the veins popping out of his head that he was slowly starting to boil.

"Oh… Now, this is truly gold… I thought you were funny before." This time, there was no laugh on his end… But there were smiles on mine.

"I know. I'm hilarious." With my words, He flared his Ki more intensely. I could see with my new ability that his strength was around 120k.

"Calm yourself. That attitude of yours isn't befitting of a king. Is it this easy to get under your skin?" I asked. With that, he slowly started to calm, lowering his strength to around 90k.

"*tsk*" He crossed his arms.

"This isn't me, angry… you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

"Sure… Moving on from that matter, there are things that both sides would like to know. How about we act civilized for the time being and fight our Saiyan nature?"

"Both sides?" He questioned with a raised brow.

"If that wasn't the case, then this conversation would have escalated to a physical one instead."

"Is that right?" He asked.

"We are a warrior race after all. Actions are our way of speaking… Most of the time, anyway."

"True… First off, you know my name. It's quite rude that we have arrived at this point of conversation

and I still don't know yours." He stated.

"My name is Djin. I was a child when the planet exploded. Barely able to walk. Through miracles, I managed to arrive on this lovely planet." As I finished speaking, The skies started to clear up. Ice had finished his wishes and the bodies of the dead had disappeared without Vegeta or Nappa noticing.

"So that would make us a part of the same generation."

I nodded my head to his assumption.

"Then, I would like to know why you choose to reside on this planet."

"Well… for a few reasons. Let's name them off. Part of me, like you, wants to repopulate. I already have a child, but who's to say that I won't have more. Humans and Saiyans are compatible." Vegeta then looked over to Gohan, then back at me and nodded.

"That's understandable. It's the mammalian instinct after all."

"Another reason, this planet is free of influence from outside forces. Here, there is no Frieza. Here, there is no galactic politics. It's simple. Peaceful. I want to protect that peace."

"..."

"..."

"Is that it?"

He asked. He sounded impatient, but for a brief moment, I could tell that he pondered on my ambitions.

"Yes… That concludes my list. Being on this planet gives me peace and purpose. That is all that is needed."

"For you… All that is needed for you. Don't enforce your abstract thinking upon me."

"With that attitude, you seem to know all the answers to life. Please tell me what is needed for you to be satisfied with living day-to-day? I'm eager to know."

I asked.

"Revenge. Revenge is all that fuels me. Anything other than that is a distraction."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I have been enslaved… I have been beaten… I have been forced to kill… I have been robbed… I have been disrespected… I have been…"

He stopped himself. I could see that as he talked more and more about his experiences, he got tenser and tenser.

"I was born a prince… I was meant to have a life of luxury… But all of that was snatched from me. My planet… My friends… My family. Things that formed the basis of who I am.

Everything I ever knew. Everything that I ever love. All of it can be blamed on one man. That man… is none other than Frieza. The self-proclaimed ruler of the universe."

I took a moment to take what he said into consideration and held it with me.

"Noted…"

"That's all? Noted?"

"Yes… Noted. Meaning I understand your reasoning."

"Is that all you have to say? He took from you too. Yet, unlike me, you sit on this planet doing nothing. Fantasizing about one day having a happy family. Do you realize who he is? He'll eventually take everything from you too."

"Yes. Your point?"

"My point is that I find it pathetic! Your ignorance is sickening." He had raised his voice for the first time since arriving.

"And I find your sob story pathetic. The fact that you deflect all of your shortcomings on Frieza is sickening."

"My… What?"

"Your S O B S T O R Y. Did you want me to empathize with you?" I slowly annunciated.

"You talk about how he made you do this and that. How he took everything from you, but who was it that decided to kill trillions of people to resell planets?"

I had paid close attention to his escapades in past years. I had seen how he operated. He was quick and efficient at what he did, and in the grand scheme of things, there was limitless life in the universe… But that didn't change the fact that he ended so many because Frieza told him to. He killed women, children, and the elderly without a second thought. How dare he put himself on a moral high ground while he had done so much?

"You could have just dismantled a planet's government so that they could undergo new leadership… Frieza's. It wouldn't have been ideal for them, but at least they would have been relocated and given a chance. But you killed them…" He started to breathe heavily. He was fuming.

"Okay-okay. You could argue that Frieza told you to and that you were scared that what happened to your people would happen to you… I'll give you that. But you speak as if you're a victim in the situation and put your own problems over everyone else's. You speak as if you would have been a great King and pretend like all of this could have been avoided if you had just got what you wanted… What's funny is, I bet there's still an internal voice of child Vegeta within you that thinks that if it weren't for Frieza, everything would have been different. You would have been at peace instead of constantly warring, but the Saiyans were shitty before Frieza collared you. You were gonna be a piece of shit just like your father. Goku and I were slaves to you in an alternate reality. You are the pot calling the kettle black." Vegeta stood up and threw his seat to the far-off distance. He was 3 hues more red and tired of hearing my blunt words.

He started to slowly and menacingly walk towards me, infuriated.

'Somebody is confident in their strength.' I thought.

I remained in my seat, calm, and continued to speak.

"All those people… and you don't even know a single name or remember a single face… What's funny is, even with you doing all of those things, I don't even care. What I do care about is that you decided to stand by and allow a maniac to come to this planet with the intention of using it as a flesh and bone playground."

Finally making his way towards me, he winded his arm back as far as he could and raised his Ki to its maximum, 127k.

With all his might, his fist swung so fast that it was smoldering hot like the time I crash-landed on Ice.

"*BOOOOOOOM*" From just the pressure of his punch, he destroyed not only my table but the mountain range behind me. The destruction went on for miles and miles. His attack was truly catastrophic… but it felt like a tickle to me.

Nappa's jaw fell to the floor while his eyeballs jolted out of his skull.

Gohan watched in awe as the attack was the largest display of power that he had seen in his life.

Anger had been washed away from Vegeta's face as it had now been replaced with disbelief. Why? Because not only was I still standing, but I had no change in facial expression. I had coated my chair in Ki, so it was still standing. I was still calm and shockingly to everyone's disbelief, I was still talking.

"You are weak…. sad… pathetic… and entitled. Your planet is gone. You are no King. Not the king of me or any other Saiyan. Not the King of this planet or any other land. You are the King of nothing." I slowly stood up with Vegeta's fist still in my cheek and towered over his short physique.

As I finally stood upright, I looked Vegeta dead in his eyes. Instinctively, he started to shake in fear without him realizing it.

"When you get this through that tiny pride-filled skull of yours, that's when-" I was interrupted with a loud shout.

"Vegeta! I'll help you-" Nappa was flying full speed in my direction with a fist aimed straight at my head. Without even looking, before he made contact, I caught his hand halting all of his momentum as if I was a brick wall.

"*Boom*" With a huge shock wave, a dust storm was created… and as it cleared, I looked up at Nappa with my piercing yellow eyes which caused him to sweat profusely.

"with… the… fight." Nappa finished his roaring statement that had been converted to a quiet one. He had only now had a general idea of how powerful I was. You could see the cogs clicking in his mind in search of how to get out of this sticky situation.

"You were saying something?" I asked Nappa while his eyes were rapidly shifting for an escape while simultaneously trying to pull away from my hold.

"Yeah… I-I-I was just saying that I was going to-" Before he could finish, I yanked his arm out of the socket, dislocating it and launching him into the sky like a missile.

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTT!"

"..." I stared Vegeta undeviatingly in the eyes as Nappa flew away like a member of Team Rocket, blasting off again.

Vegeta then snapped back into his senses. He backflipped, getting into a fighting stance.

"So, I see. You're somehow capable of hiding your power level. That punch that you just received… it would have beheaded anyone under the level of 60 thousand."

"Yep… That little tool you have on your face is useless. You don't even need it to sense the level of someone's power. That's how those dead people were able to find your location so easily… Also, You will never be able to detect how strong I was with that thing. It's an ability that I obtained from the people of this planet." I stated.

"Hmph. Then there's no need for it anymore." He then grabbed his scouter and crushed it like it was a piece of foil.

"Are you ready to get brought down a peg?" I asked while readying myself for combat.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He spat arrogantly.

"Before we continue…" I saw that Gohan had been staring at us the entire time. His father on the other hand was currently unconscious in a crater. Teleporting, I arrived at Goku's side to the surprise of both Vegeta and Gohan. He looked terrible. I was surprised that oxygen was able to make it to his lungs without him drawing in his blood.

"D-Dad… What are you doing?" He asked while looking down at me.

"I'm healing him, little man. He'll be better than new when I'm done."

"B-but don't you have to worry about those guys?"

He said with concern. He saw a glimpse of how strong I was, but he was still unsure of the outcome. After all, Goku was the strongest person he knew. If the Saiyans were capable of beating him into this state, who could stop them?

"AhhhhhhHHHHH!"

"*Boom*" Nappa had landed face-first on the ground in the far distance which caused me to smile slightly.

"Those guys? Nah. I'll beat em up real good. They will pay their dues today." I said while pointing over my shoulder.

"They deserve it for letting your dad get like this."

Gohan looked at me with worry, but could only put his faith in me. He had no one else. Everyone he had acquainted with today died… but… Where were their bodies? Gohan began to look around in confusion from his left to his right. He had been trying his best to avoid looking at them, but where did the corpses go, he wondered.

"Hey, Gohan."

"Hmm? Wait, How do you-"

I then put my finger to my lips telling the boy to hush and gave him a wink.

He had no idea what this gesture meant… but in his mind, he had already concluded. Maybe the reason he couldn't see the bodies of anyone was that they were somehow alive.

At this point, I wasn't sure if Goku had educated Gohan on the dragon balls, but from what I could tell, Gohan understood.

He then decided to slide down the crater, feet first to get a closer look at what I was doing to his father. I of course allowed him.

Gohan sat beside Goku, holding his hand close to his chest. His father was being saved. He had no words to express how appreciative he was. But he would attempt as best he could.

"Thank you, Mr. Thank you very much."

I smiled, putting my free hand on his head just like I had done in the past to Ice.

Goku's nose began to reform from its skeletal-like state. His blood cells were absorbed back into his body and revived. His bones began to snap back together like puzzle pieces. 3 minutes later, as if he had taken a Senzu, he was healed in perfect health but remained unconscious.

What was interesting was that not only did my healing return his body to its original state, but his natural state as well. His long-lost tail had sprouted out of his backside like a bean stock that had been planted in the ground from myth. It not only took me by surprise but Gohan as well.

Vegeta stood up high watching everything with his own eyes. He was confused, enamored, and insulted. Wasn't I supposed to be in a life or death battle with him? He didn't even notice Goku's new tail.

"Gohan… I'm gonna go beat up the bad guys. I'm gonna take you and your dad to a safe place, Okay?"

"No…"

He rebelled, which caused me to raise my eyebrow.

"What do you mean, no? I wasn't asking."

"I don't want to leave." He gave me an earnest look that frankly sent a shiver down my spine.

"But-" Before I could continue, I was interrupted.

"Are you a liar, mister?"

"No. I try to tell the truth. But what-"

"You told me that you could beat them earlier. Was that the truth or not?"

What was he on about?

"I did say that. And I was telling the truth when I said it."

"Then I wanna watch. I wanna watch you beat them up with my own two eyes. What they did to my dad wasn't right. I want to watch those bullies get what they deserve." His words shocked me… my jaw couldn't help but sit in awe. He was 100% serious.

What type of monster did they activate in this little boy?

"You have to understand that a battlefield isn't a safe place for the weak. You could get hurt or the other guy could take you while I'm not paying attention."

"If that's the case, just use your teleporting ability to bring me and dad to a higher vantage point so that we won't get caught in the cross-fire."

"..."

"Please… I need to see this happen." Gohan implored.

"Okay… hold on to your dad." I then looked around to find the perfect spot for the boy to spectate.

I then teleported.

"Watch from here."

Gohan gave me a nod with the same level of seriousness.

I then teleported back to where Vegeta and the injured Nappa stood.

"So… Am I fighting both of you?" I asked.

"Yes, you-" Nappa sounded rage-filled but was cut off.

"No. You will be fighting me head-on." Vegeta stated.

"Yeah… That's exactly what I was gonna say." Nappa mumbled while clearing his throat. He then held his dislocated arm in place.

"You'll be fighting just me. And I would suggest using those weapons on your back. You'll need them while I'm beating you like a proper Saiyan."

"No need. I only use these for threats." At my words, a vein of frustration popped out of Vegeta's head.

"You'll regret that display of hubris when begging for your life, mutant."

"Adorable, little prince." I mocked.

"*Tsk* Once I defeat you, prepare to be my subordinate for the rest of your life." Vegeta spat.

"Cute… Your father Frieza would be proud." I smiled… the opposite expression as my opponent.

"Before we start, if either of you goes over there and bothers that child, I'll kill you in a heartbeat… This is a promise." For less than a sliver of a second, I maxed out my Ki causing the entire earth to rumble, causing Nappa's scouter to shatter falling to the ground.

"Try." Vegeta then launched at me at full throttle with his hand aimed at my head, attempting to grip my head.

Leaning back, I avoided it as if I was playing a game of limbo.

Vegeta had seen this coming and at the last second, faked me out with a knee to the jaw that sent me flying. Fling about a mile away, I recovered, only to see that Vegeta sent a flurry of wild blue Ki blast, which I avoided by creating a red Ki dome that protected me in 360 degrees. All 87 of his blasts had been nullified by my shield and had caused a large cloud of smoke that blinded me. But then, From above Vegeta came down from the sky with a powerful flying Axe kick that I avoided with a backflip, making sure to clip him on the chin with my right foot.

My kick sent him flying in the sky, stunning him by way of pain.

As he was about to recover, I grabbed him by the ankle, slamming him into the ground.

The impact was so strong that he bounced into the air. As he did I jumped into the sky with my knee plummeting in his chest, stealing all of his air from his lungs. Before I could recover, he had grabbed onto my arms, kicking me with both feet in my sternum. But he didn't end his attack there. After kicking me, he headbutted directly on the bridge of my nose, causing my head to recoil. But as it did, it came back with twice the speed he wasn't ready for.

I slammed my head into Vegeta's nose breaking it upon impact which caused him to get stunned once more as blood ejected out like a ketchup bottle.

"Aghh! You son of a!" Before he could regain composure, I had already cocked back my fist, hitting him with a powerful uppercut that sent him up once more.

As he ascended, I jumped up into the air, topping his speed. Then, reaching an adequate enough height, I tucked myself into a ball and rotated rapidly. Once I reached a speed where no one could see the detail of my clothes, I outstretched my leg on a final rotation kicking Vegeta directly in the mouth, shattering all of his front teeth causing him to crash down to earth once more.

Before he even reached the ground, I was already underneath him.

With another mighty leap, I jumped up into the air with my knee directly aimed at Vegeta's back.

"*Crack crack crack*" I could feel his vertebrae snapping and fracturing over my leg and I could see the expression of pure shock on his face. But before he could gain any air, while on my knee, I slammed my elbow down on his ribcage like a Saiyan hole puncher.

"*Crack crack crack crack crack*"

More and more of his bones broke.

Before he could even make a sound, I grabbed him by his tail with one hand and swung him like a whip. With his gathered momentum, I threw him directly at Nappa who looked like he was moving in slow motion.

Before he could realize what was happening, His eyes slowly grew wide as Vegeta was moving at him faster than he could blink.

Vegeta Crashed into Nappa with the force of an exploding planet sending them both flying.

They crashed through land structure after land structure. If an outsider were to be viewing the battle, they would have seen two people tangled together like a pretzel.

I then looked back and saw an amazed Gohan. He was witnessing the unachievable. His world view of power had been shattered. I gave him a thumbs-up and flew away.

.

.

.

.

"Vegeta...Vegeta!" Nappa shouted in an attempt to wake up his surrogate son.

"*cough cough cough*" Blood splattered on Nappa's armor.

"Po-wer *cough* Po-wer ball."

The power ball. The key to unlocking the great ape transformation. The form that would allow both of them to gain multipliers of 10 times their current power.

"Alright, I-" Nappa was interrupted.

"Wouldn't do that…"

I slowly walked up to the two.

"What???" Nappa yelled.

"I said that wouldn't do that…unless you wanted both of your tails tore from your spinal cords,"

Nappa had shock on his face while Vegeta, who could barely move had one of dread.

"What… What should we do, Vegeta? Your power level is over 100 thousand, and he was able to bring you to such a state. We don't have any other options."

"D-Do…*cough* It." Vegeta struggled. To which, Nappa obeyed.

This was their last hope. Transforming into an Ozaru would have been the only chance they had against me. It would have healed his broken body and provided him with much-needed power.

I could only shake my head at their level of desperation. Nappa charged energy into his hand readying his skill.

"I told you not to." I then teleported directly in front of Nappa grabbing onto his massive undamaged arm.

Squeezing down, I shattered the bones in his wrist.

"Fuck. AHHHHHH!"

Witnessing this, I saw a look of defeat in Vegeta's eyes. The hope of winning was rapidly dwindling.

"You just don't know when to listen," I said while raising my leg above Vegeta's.

"Wai-AGHHAAAAA!" Vegeta screamed in agony as I shattered his right femur as blood shot out of his mouth.

"Your turn, Nappa."

"Wait Why?!! AHHAHHGHAGGAA!" I then broke both of his legs, then his shoulders.

"You sadistic prick!" Nappa screamed while sweating bullets.

"Listen carefully. If you attempt to shoot a beam from your mouth or anywhere else, I'm breaking your neck next." Nappa bit his lip in anger. I could see that he was so frustrated, he caused himself to bleed.

"Do you understand?" I asked with a delightful smile.

"..."

"I'll take your silence as a yes then." I then grabbed Nappa by the ankle once more, tossing him into the sky.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK YOUUUUUUUUU DJIIIIIIIINNNNN!" He said darting off.

"Vegeta…"

"*cough cough* Damn it…" I could hear very clearly. His lungs had been pierced. He was currently choking on his own blood.

"Here… Let me heal you so that you can at least talk." I then used my magic to heal his lungs and ribs.

"Why… Why heal me? Are you as sadistic as that swine you killed earlier? I thought you were above that judging from that moral high ground that you displayed." He voiced.

"Well… I'm not. But right now, my intention isn't to hurt you…"

"Go on then… Spew whatever bullshit ideology you have in mind." He hatefully spat.

"Preach to me about how terrible I am and how my entire way of thinking was flawed… I can already sense it coming." he spat with venom… And yet he had underlying tones of sadness in his vocal pattern. His ego had been successfully broken and was now ready to listen.

"I want the Saiyan race to prevail."

"..." He frowned in speculation and confusion.

"For that to be a possibility, Frieza needs to die."