On Earth
"Hah… hah!"
Goku blew rapidly on both palms, clearly still feeling the burn from Vegeta's Galick Gun.
Vegeta's already savage face twisted further. "Kakarot… you're mocking me!"
"Mocking you? No, I'm not. It really was hot," Goku said honestly, blinking in confusion.
"You…" Vegeta's entire body trembled with rage.
He slowly descended from the sky. Then, with a glance over his shoulder, his eyes flared twin beams lanced upward, shattering the artificial moon with a sharp pop.
The orb vanished like a bursting bubble, and Vegeta's body began to shrink back to normal.
"Huh? Not fighting anymore?" Goku tilted his head in surprise.
"I may be proud, but I'm not stupid. The gap between our power levels is too big. Fighting now would be suicide. I've lost. Do what you will… but this prince will never kneel. If you want to kill me, then kill me," Vegeta said, his face shadowed with defeat.
Gohan hadn't expected that reaction.
This Vegeta was completely different from the one in the original timeline.
Then it hit him of course. The situation had already changed drastically. Goku's power now far outstripped what it had been in the canon events.
"I won't kill you. As for what happens next… forget it. Gohan, you decide. I'm no good at this kind of thing," Goku said, stepping back from the battlefield to join his son.
"Kakarot, I'm the prince of all Saiyans. Even in death, I'll die with dignity. And you let your son decide my fate? You dare insult me?!" Vegeta roared.
"Oh? So you think I'm unworthy, huh?" In an instant, Gohan used Instant Transmission to appear right in front of him.
BOOM!
Golden light erupted Super Saiyan.
The sheer force of his aura froze Vegeta in place. His eyes widened as a storm of emotions crossed his face excitement, shock, jealousy, awe.
"This… this is the Super Saiyan? Impossible! I'm the genius warrior of the Saiyan race it should've been me!"
"Do you still think I'm unqualified?" Gohan took slow, deliberate steps forward, his Super Saiyan pressure making Vegeta's legs tremble involuntarily.
Then Vegeta did something unexpected he laughed. Loud, wild, unrestrained.
"Haha! Yes! Good! Frieza your death is coming!" Tears welled in his eyes not from jealousy, but from long-suppressed rage and hope finally breaking free.
"Looks like you've been holding this in for a long time," Gohan said, surprised again.
"Twenty years. Do you know what those years were like for me? I went to war when I was three. When Planet Vegeta was destroyed, they told us it was an asteroid. Do they take me for a fool? An asteroid? If it was small, the Saiyans could've crushed it easily. If it was huge, our technology would have detected it. No… only Frieza. That coward feared the legend of the Super Saiyan. He destroyed our world himself!
"For twenty years, I've lived like a dog, my hatred festering. But my power was nothing compared to his. I could never touch him. And now, finally, I see hope.
"Kakarot, kill me. Let me die with dignity. But I beg you have your son kill Frieza. Avenge the Saiyan race. Your father, Bardock, died at Frieza's hands too. For his sake, if nothing else kill him!"
The murder of his father. The destruction of his home. Two decades of humiliation all of it poured out at once.
"Raditz… is it true? Did Frieza really kill our father?" Goku's eyes grew distant. Memories from early childhood flickered in his mind someone who looked just like him, cradling him, placing him into a space pod bound for Earth. A faint image of his mother's face.
"Our father was a low-class warrior, yes but his power rivaled the elites. Before Planet Vegeta's destruction, he contacted me, sending you to a planet called Earth. I, Vegeta, and Nappa were on a mission at the time, so we survived.
"I didn't understand why he sent you away back then, but now I think he knew Frieza was going to wipe out our people," Raditz said, his own voice heavy with grief and longing.
He remembered his mother Gine so unlike the typical Saiyan. Gentle. Kind. His parents had been deeply in love, unlike most Saiyan couples. As a child, he hadn't understood why their family was different.
But after living on Mount Paozu for months, he understood. He now knew how precious an ordinary, peaceful life could be.
"Vegeta… whatever Gohan decides, I'll support it. But Frieza… leave him to me," Goku said firmly.
"Haha! Good… then I can die without regrets. Do it, Kakarot's son Gohan, right? I'll remember your name. The revival of the Saiyan race begins with you!" Vegeta's eyes were filled with death's resolve yet behind it was hope.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa… all this drama has anyone asked how I feel? Dad, do you think I'm just going to kill him? I'm still a kid!" Gohan said indignantly.
"Uh…?" Goku blinked.
"Sure, you destroyed a city, but it's nothing we can't fix. There are only a few Saiyans left. I may have been born on Earth, but I'm still half-Saiyan. I'm not going to kill you," Gohan said with a shrug.
"Not kill me? Don't think I'll bow to you like Raditz. I'm done being Frieza's dog," Vegeta said coldly.
"Doesn't matter. You can leave. But I'll remember what you said about Frieza," Gohan replied casually.
"Hmph. Don't think I'll thank you for sparing me. Nappa come!" Vegeta barked.
"Prince Vegeta! I…" Nappa hesitated, torn.
"You planning to betray me too?" Vegeta's eyes sharpened with killing intent.
"No! Not betrayal. I just… want to stay. Train with Raditz. When it's time to kill Frieza, I want to fight too!" Nappa said quickly.
The blade in Vegeta's heart eased.
"Vegeta, don't you want to know why we're so much stronger than you?" Gohan asked with a faint smile.
"Hmph. You control your ki perfectly, I admit I've neglected that. But I'm not a fool. I'll catch up. Nappa, stay if you want. There aren't many Saiyans left. But I won't fight alongside you," Vegeta said, turning toward his space pod.
With a roar of thrusters, the pod shot skyward.
"Prince Vegeta!" Nappa called after him, reluctant.
"No wonder he's the Saiyan prince he saw the real issue after just a short fight," Goku said, impressed.
"Dad, don't underestimate him," Gohan said, his own respect for Vegeta quietly rising.
"All right, it's settled. Everyone, head home! Nappa, you're with Raditz," Gohan said.
"Gohan, you go on ahead. I'll gather the Dragon Balls and bring this city back," Goku said, taking off into the sky.
Whoosh!
Gohan suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his way.
"Dad the Dragon Radar!"
"Ah… right. Forgot. My bad!"
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