"Are you alright, Bardock?"
"I'm fine," I answered simply, sitting on a large, meaty chunk of what could've been both flesh or a rock, and kept my gaze held forward, "I'm just... thinking about what to do from here. Could you give me a few minutes to focus on that, Gine?"
"Of course. I'll go check on Raditz," Gine nodded at my side, reaching down and placing her hand on my shoulder as she gave it a short squeeze, "He'll survive."
"That's good," I shot back simply, not saying more as she turned and walked away, heading towards where Raditz was lying on the floor a couple of dozen feet away, his torso wrapped in makeshift bandages made from clothes. She seemed to think the conflicted expression on my face over the past few hours was because of him, but in reality, I wasn't Bardock, and I didn't really care all that much about Raditz's health. As long as he survived, he'd be a good ally to have, and I'd be satisfied.
Instead, I was more concerned about a bunch of different things - ranging from the woman silently sitting in front of the hole-ridden corpse of my previous body to what the hell I was going to do now. I had awoken a few hours ago to find out that Bardock, who was now me, had been knocked out for roughly half a day from the battle. I wasn't the only one, as Raditz had been taken out as his torso was bloodied from Dodoria's horns and was still unconscious when I woke, and both Gine and Fasha had told me that they were damn-near unconscious from being choked out by the pink alien. The only one of our group who was still in at least decent shape was Vegeta, who, at the moment, looked surprisingly human.
I glanced over at him, where he was standing near the corpse of Nappa, shifting his body weight awkwardly as he stared at the floor. He'd been like this since I'd awoken, as it seemed that, for as arrogant of a brat as he was, he had at least cared somewhat about me. I learned that was also true for Fasha, who had been sitting next to Nappa's corpse for a while, staring down at it blankly. I was a bit touched that the two Saiyans cared so much, as even if they weren't sobbing or anything, this was far more emotion than most Saiyans would show for one another. Beyond that, despite the majority of Bardock's crew dying - a crew that Fasha had been a part of for years - she seemed the most upset over 'my death' than any of the others.
But, more than touched, I was conflicted. I had spent a lot of time thinking through plans during my time in this world, but for once, I hadn't planned for this at all. This had simply been the only way - there was no way to defeat Dodoria with this small group, so I had to take a page out of Goku's handbook. The only one with a strong enough technique to truly kill the pink man was Vegeta, but Dodoria could simply dodge the Galick Gun, so I needed to hold him in place. I needed to sacrifice myself to guarantee the victory.
But I wasn't so noble or heroic to truly give up my life for such a cause, and there were no Dragon Balls to wish me back as Goku had been. Instead, Bardock had to die in my place. And, as I glanced down, forming a fist with my now smaller hands, it was the first time that I had downgraded in terms of power through body-swapping.
Bardock had at least gained a bit of power through a Zenkai Boost after almost dying to Dodoria, but Zenkai Boosts were, unfortunately, very random. They could range from a boost as small as a 10% increase in power level to one as large as multiplying your power level multiple times over, and in this instance, I had gotten somewhere in the middle. Bardock had been hovering around 1000 prior to the fight, and I hadn't checked with a scouter to be exact, but I could feel my power level had roughly halved from when I was Nappa - meaning I was probably somewhere between 1500 and 2000.
However, I probably had more potential for growth now than before, so I wasn't very upset about that. While Nappa was a Saiyan Elite, Bardock was the father of Goku - the man who would one day reach the level of the gods. If there were any genetics that supported growth and becoming powerful, it was the genetics inside this body.
But, while I had gained potential, I had lost two more things besides my current power level in the process - that being authority and my relationship with Fasha. The latter of which was upsetting, as I had truly come to enjoy the woman - and not just because her ass was thick as hell - and I felt a bit awkward watching her mourn over 'my death' when I was right here. But, while it was upsetting, it was something I could bear with.
Instead, the most annoying loss was my authority with Vegeta. He was the strongest member of our group, as well as clearly the highest ranking as the Prince, even if that title wouldn't matter much anymore. This whole mission was clearly a sham to ensure that all of us died, even if I didn't know why Frieza had specifically targeted us. I assumed it had more to do with Bardock than anything I had done, as the only similarity between this and what happened in canon was Bardock's squad, which me and Vegeta were with now, being attacked by Dodoria separately before Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta. Frieza could've just destroyed Planet Vegeta without warning to take out Vegeta, but instead, the only constant seemed to be that, for a reason I wasn't sure of, he wanted to ensure Bardock died away from the rest of the Saiyans.
Frieza's motives aside, as Nappa I could at least get Vegeta to listen to and respect me, and I could easily lead the group in whatever direction I wanted. Now, in the body of a lower-class Saiyan and someone who was weaker than Vegeta, it would be much harder to control him, even if Gine and Fasha would definitely listen to my orders over his. I wasn't sure about Raditz, but he didn't matter right now anyway - Vegeta was someone with a ton of potential to the point that he was the only Saiyan who could keep up with Goku in the long run. When Dodoria never returned, Frieza would know that we had killed him, and wouldn't let us run free. With the Galactic Tyrant of the universe hunting for us, I needed Vegeta by my side - right now, it would give me the best chance of survival, and his power would help guarantee my future. Which was why, for the first time in this world, I was considering revealing my secret.
"But, to him?" I muttered, narrowing my eyes down at my hands.
My body-changing ability was my biggest strength, and if that strength was revealed, then it would become much less useful. It didn't only let me catch stronger foes off guard, but also survive in situations like this without ruining all my relationships. I had taken Bardock's body to survive, but if either Gine or Fasha knew that I had sent their husband/captain to his death to take his body as my own, I doubted it would go over well. If they knew I had done such a shady thing, then they wouldn't trust me, and leading them would be difficult.
In the same vein, I was sure the prideful Vegeta would view such a villainous move as a disgrace, but beyond that, I didn't know if I could trust him. He had been willing to learn from and train with me because of my strength as Nappa, but if I revealed that it was me inside Bardock's body, then I couldn't be certain if he'd use it against me in the future. Hell, I couldn't be sure if he wouldn't just try to kill me on the spot to ensure I didn't take his body in the future.
But this was a conflict I could deal with later. For now, I needed to focus on the most pressing issue - which was getting the hell off this planet. Once Frieza realized Dodoria wasn't coming back, this was the first place he would check.
"Alright, that's enough," I called out as I pushed myself to my feet, turning to face both Fasha and Vegeta as my gaze passed over the corpse of Nappa as I did, "We can mourn later. Right now, we need to leave."
"Who the hell do you think you're talking to, low-class?" Vegeta snapped back, his head whipping around as he glared at me, his face still splotched with blood despite numerous hours passing since the fight, "Don't try to order around your Prince!"
"I understand that you're upset, Prince," I said as I walked towards him, my strides slow as I kept my gaze locked with his, "But if we stay here, we'll die."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed at my words, but he didn't retort immediately. Instead, he just glared back at me, his jaw clenched tightly.
"You heard what Dodoria said just as clearly as I did," I continued, "Frieza has betrayed us. He's going to wipe us out."
"Then I'll kill that bastard myself if he tries!" Vegeta shot back, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
"You can act confident all you want, but you and I both know that even our entire race combined can't stand up to Frieza," I shot back, my voice firm as I stared down at the Prince, "There's a reason we work as his lapdogs. Once Dodoria doesn't return with our corpses, Frieza will come here, and we'll all die just as Nappa did."
"Don't speak about his death so casually like that, Bardock." Fasha snapped at me this time, her voice cracking slightly as she stood up, her fists clenched at her sides as she glared at me.
I was a bit touched that she cared so much, but I didn't let it show on my face.
"Nappa would call us morons for sitting here and mourning over him when Frieza could be coming here already," I said, my gaze shifting from Fasha back to Vegeta, saying words that I knew were true because I was Nappa, "He'd tell us to get our asses in gear and to survive so we can get our revenge later."
Fasha stiffened at my words, her glare softening slightly as she looked away from me, seemingly considering my words. Finally, she let out a sigh as her shoulders slumped, "You're right."
"Of course I am," I said, my gaze sweeping over the remaining Saiyans. "We need to leave, and we need to leave immediately."
"I agree with Bardock," Vegeta said, surprising me with his sudden change in tone, "Nappa... that fool... he wouldn't want us to die here, crying over him."
I blinked, surprised by Vegeta's abrupt bout of maturity. Did I really have this much of an effect on him already? Was he finally thinking rational-
"HE'D WANT US TO GO KICK FRIEZA'S ASS, DAMN IT!" Vegeta roared, his face contorting into a snarl as he stomped his foot on the ground, "THAT'S WHAT HE'D WANT! AND THAT'S WHAT WE'LL DO! I'LL BE THE ONE TO TEAR THAT BASTARD LIMB FROM LIMB FOR DARING TO GO AGAINST THE PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS!"
Of course. I should've known better.
"We will," I said, my expression not changing as I turned away from the Prince, "But not now. Right now, we need to survive."
"Bardock!" Gine called out, walking up behind me as she approached, "Raditz... he's still injured. If he doesn't rest, the injury will get worse."
I glanced over at her, my eyes scanning her worried expression. Then, I turned to look at Raditz, who was lying on the ground a short distance away. His chest was rising and falling slowly, his breathing shallow. I could see the makeshift bandages that were wrapped around his torso being stained with blood. He was alive, but he was in bad shape. I didn't need to be a doctor to know that.
"Without a healing pod, he'll have to heal naturally," Gine continued, her voice filled with concern as she placed a hand on my arm, "And that will take a long time. Sitting awkwardly in one of these pods for a long journey might just reaggravate the wound, so when we leave, we should go somewhere nearby."
Seriously? Vegeta had been on the brink of death after fighting Goku for the first time, and he'd crawled off just fine in his pod. But, I couldn't say that, as Gine seemed genuinely concerned for the well-being of her son, and I couldn't be an asshole and tell 'my' own son to suck it up.
And, in the end, she was probably right. The Saiyan pods were small and cramped, and they were not designed for comfort. For someone with Raditz's injuries, a long journey in one of them would be torture, and it could very well make his injuries worse. Vegeta had probably been in a shit-ton of pain as he got away from Earth, and the only reason he hadn't been permanently crippled might've been because he was heading for a healing pod. We wouldn't have access to one of those for who-knows how long, so I would have to adhere to her wishes. But, at the moment, I only had one planet in mind where we could hide away from Frieza's eyes, and it wasn't anywhere near this one.
"...How long do you think it'll take for him to heal?" I asked, my voice low and even.
Gine shook her head, her brow furrowed in thought, "I'm no healer, Bardock... But I'd guess at least a few days, maybe even a week, before he can handle a long journey. If we had a healing pod, then maybe he'd be fine in a day, but... well, we don't."
"Then, we'll find a nearby planet and lay low for a while," I said, nodding my head as I came to a decision, "After Raditz is healed, we can move on."
But, before I could continue, a loud, angry shout cut through the air.
"Absolutely not! We're not going to some far-off planet to hide like a bunch of cowards!" Vegeta shouted, stomping a step towards me as he clenched his hand into a fist, "We're going back to Planet Vegeta! We need to warn my father about what Frieza is planning!"
"Vegeta, be reasonable," I said, turning to face the young Prince, my expression firm, "Your father can't do anything to Frieza - you know that as well as I do. We've all seen how he bows to that tyrant, and how he acts like a peasant whenever Frieza is near. There's a reason for that, and a reason why we can't stand up to him. Frieza is too powerful."
"SHUT UP! DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY FATHER THAT WAY!" Vegeta screamed, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white as a faint aura of Ki flared up around him, the ground beneath his feet cracking as a result, "I am the Prince of all Saiyans! And as your Prince, I command you to prepare my pod for takeoff! We're going back to Planet Vegeta, and we're going to warn my father! Together, we'll kill Frieza!"
I didn't know if Vegeta was naive, arrogant, or so blinded by his pride and his love for his father that he couldn't see the truth. In reality, it was probably a mixture of the three. He couldn't see that Frieza was too powerful, and that fighting him was a suicide mission. He couldn't see that the best way to get revenge was to survive, grow stronger, and then strike when the time was right.
I stared at him, my jaw clenched tightly, and I knew I couldn't use words to convince him. He was the Prince of all Saiyans, and he would not abandon his people. He would not abandon his father, and he would rather die fighting than live as a coward. If I were Nappa still, then maybe I could've spoken reason to him and convinced him, but now? When his emotions were already high from 'my' death, and he wouldn't listen to what a low-class had to say?
"Fasha, assist me," I said, my voice low and steady as I glanced over at her..
"Assist you? Bardock, what are you-" Fasha began, her expression confused as she looked at me, but before she could finish, I had already moved.
I lunged forward, moving mid-sentence to catch Vegeta off-guard as he was focused on Fasha. My fist flew towards Vegeta's face, a blur of motion that was aimed at the side of his jaw. Vegeta's eyes went wide with surprise, but his reflexes were sharp. He ducked under my punch, the wind from my knuckles rustling his hair, and he glared up at me.
"What the HELL do you think you're doing, you low-class scum?!" He roared, his fist darting forward as he lunged at me.
"I'm saving your life, you brat," I grunted, sidestepping his punch with a speed that surprised even myself. I had thought that, being weaker than my previous body, I would also be much slower, but I was wrong. While my raw power and speed had decreased, my smaller frame meant I had less mass and surface area to move out of the way, so dodging wasn't much more difficult.
My leg swept out in a low arc, aimed at Vegeta's ankles, but he was too quick. He leaped over my leg, his body soaring a foot into the air as he slammed his fist downward towards my head. I crossed my arms above me, grunting as I blocked the punch. The force of the blow sent me skidding backward, my boots digging into the fleshy ground, but I held my ground.
"TRAITOR!" Vegeta screamed, his eyes burning with rage as he glared down at me, "I'll make sure my father personally executes you for this! I'll make him tear you apart limb by limb!"
"I thought I taught you better than this. You should learn not to get distracted in a fight," I retorted, my gaze flicking over Vegeta's shoulder as Fasha's fist slammed into the back of the Prince's head.
Vegeta stumbled forward, his eyes wide with surprise as he glanced over his shoulder to glare at Fasha.
"YOU TOO?!" He roared, his face contorting in rage, "You're all traitors! I'll kill you all!"
"I just told you not to get distracted, stupid brat."
While he was focused on Fasha, I used the opening to my advantage. I lunged forward, driving my knee deep into the young Prince's gut. He gasped, the air ripped from his lungs in a pained whoosh. Before he could recover, I brought the edge of my hand down in a sharp chop against the back of his neck. A loud smack rang out through the empty, corpse-filled planet, and Vegeta's eyes rolled back in his head. He slumped forward, unconscious, and fell across my leg.
I grunted, hefting the small Saiyan's body over my shoulder. I was glad that he hadn't had a chance to rest since the fight with Dodoria, and that he'd been injured a bit during it, because I didn't think the three of us would be able to take him down if he was at full strength - not with me being unused to this new body, at least.
"Was that smart?" Gine asked, wringing her hands as she looked at the unconscious Prince, "He's going to be furious when he wakes up."
"Furious is better than dead," I grunted, adjusting Vegeta's weight on my shoulder, "He'll get over it."
"Will he?" Fasha murmured, her gaze fixed on the unconscious form of her prince, "We're keeping him from helping his father… I'm not sure he's the type to get over that. Maybe it would have been better to just let him go and die with his father and the rest of our race, than to force him to live like this."
If I hadn't known just how much of a monster Vegeta could become in the future, I might've agreed. Right now, the brat was definitely a lot more trouble than he was worth. But, for his future potential, I definitely needed him on my side.
I glanced over at Fasha with a hard stare, deciding I needed to dispel whatever notion she had.
"I'm surprised to hear that from you, of all people. You were getting pretty close with Nappa, weren't you? Would you really have been willing to let the kid he cared so much about go off to his death?"
Fasha stiffened at my words, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. Then, she sighed, her shoulders slumping as she looked away towards the corpse of my previous body.
"You're right," she grumbled, her voice barely above a whisper, "Fuck you, Bardock."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, turning away from her and towards the line of space pods that had brought us to this fleshy hellscape, "Let's get going. We'll find a nearby habitable planet, and stay there for now. If we travel for a day and get out of the immediate radius of planets that Frieza will check, then we can lay low while Raditz recovers. After that, we go somewhere even further - somewhere more permanent."
The first part would be a bit on-the-fly, but I had the perfect place in mind for a permanent planet out of Frieza's eyes.
As we trudged toward the pods, leaving behind the corpses of Nappa, Dodoria, and our fallen comrades, a grim determination settled over me. I was in a weaker body, on the run from the most powerful tyrant in the universe, with a half-dead team and a knocked-out prince to look after. This wasn't the glorious life I hoped for in this world, but for now, it was all I had.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ugh..."
"Finally awake, Prince?" I hummed, glancing down at Vegeta, who was blinking rapidly as he slowly sat up, "I thought you'd wake up on the trip here, but I guess the fight really tired you out, huh?"
"What... where..."
Vegeta's head snapped up, his eyes wide as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. He scrambled to his feet, his head whipping around to take in our surroundings. I casually joined him, glancing around as I took in our surroundings, which was a desolate, icy wasteland. An intense wind whipped around us, carrying flakes of ice and snow with it. The ground was covered in a thick layer of snow, with jagged ice formations jutting out like fingers. In the distance, snow-covered mountains rose up, their peaks lost in the overcast sky. This was a planet whose name I didn't know, but it had water, beasts for food, and everything we'd need to survive for now, all while looking so unpleasant that I doubted Frieza would think we came here.
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU TAKEN ME, LOW-CLASS?!" He shouted, stumbling slightly as he rose to his feet because of the ice under him.
"Relax," I said calmly, turning to look at him, "We only traveled for close to a day."
"Relax?!" He scoffed, glaring at me as his Ki spiked around him, melting the snow around his feet in a small circle, "You knocked me out and dragged me to this iceball! Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?! I'll make you regret what you did to me! I'll tear you apart limb by limb!"
In response, I simply looked at him, my gaze steady and unwavering, "Your father entrusted you to me, Vegeta. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive. That involves not letting you run to your death in a useless attempt to save him."
Vegeta stared at me, his anger momentarily replaced by confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? My father doesn't even know you exist, you low-class worm!"
"I'm not talking about Bardock," I said, my voice even and serious, "I'm Nappa."
Vegeta stared at me blankly for a long moment, then he proceeded to look at me like an idiot, his eye twitching in annoyance, "Nappa? You must have hit your head harder than I thought during the fight. Or maybe you just have a death wish? Either way, I'm happy to grant it!"
"I'm not crazy," I said, my expression unchanged, "I'm really Nappa. I have the ability to swap bodies, and that's how I survived. I told you to fire the Galick Gun so I could sacrifice myself and take Dodoria out with me because I knew I would survive by taking Bardock's body."
Vegeta's expression faltered, and he stared at me, a flicker of something other than anger in his eyes for the first time. He looked me up and down, then shook his head, "You're insane! You have to be, because that's the only explanation. You went insane from getting your ass beat, didn't you?"
"Insane? Not at all," I said simply, shaking my head at him, "If you don't believe me, then I'll tell you something Bardock wouldn't know, but Nappa did. When I first told you that you'd be training with a low-class squad, you tried to attack me. I kicked your ass so hard that you threatened to tell your father-"
"S-Shut up!" Vegeta flushed slightly, glaring at me, "That means nothing! Nappa could've just told you that!"
"Right, because we both know how much Nappa loves to gossip about the times he beat your ass," I shot back, raising an eyebrow at him, "You can ask me anything that only Nappa would know, and I'll answer it. Here, how about this? When we moved onto the next phase of your training, you wanted to kill the last Saibamen by blasting it to pieces. I stopped you and told you to do it with your bare hands, with my reason being that you shouldn't become reliant on techniques to finish the job, or else you would become predictable. Then, you ripped its head off."
I spoke quickly, continuing before Vegeta could actually ask me a question, which was a bit manipulative. I couldn't answer any questions about anything that happened before I took over Nappa's body, but I needed Vegeta to feel confident - to feel like he was in control - to believe me. Instead of truly letting him ask me questions, I would just tell him what I knew to ensure I wasn't caught up on anything that happened before I took over.
Vegeta's face went blank, his jaw tightening as he glared at me a second later. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. These were things that Bardock shouldn't have known, and yet, I did.
"A while ago," I continued, my voice low, "A mid-class Saiyan named Broclu made a crack about your height without realizing you were the Prince. You made me kick his ass right there, right? And, I had to convince you not to kill him afterward."
Vegeta didn't respond. He just stared at me, his expression unreadable. The wind whipped around us, howling through the jagged ice formations that surrounded us, which only made my heart beat a bit faster at this rather dramatic situation. For a long moment, the only sound was the wind and the crunch of snow under Vegeta's feet as he shifted his weight.
"You're... you're not lying," He finally said, his voice a low growl, as he stared at me in disbelief, "There's no way you would know about all that! How? How is this possible?"
"I told you - I can swap bodies," I said, my expression serious, "We couldn't kill Dodoria, so I sacrificed myself. Then, just as the attack was about to hit me, I swapped bodies with Bardock."
Vegeta stared at me, his mind clearly struggling to process what I was telling him. He looked me up and down, as if seeing me for the first time. He saw not Bardock, but me, Nappa, trapped inside this smaller, weaker body.
"...Nappa did fire off an attack towards Bardock as he was dying," Vegeta finally muttered, clearly having seen my Change-beam when I used it to take Bardock's body, "I didn't know what he was doing, but if what you said is true..."
"That was my technique to switch bodies. The Change-beam," I confirmed.
Right now, I was taking a risk - a massive, giant, huge risk. I was revealing my secret to Vegeta, and hoping that he'd keep it a secret for me. Hoping that I'd done enough during my time as Nappa for the Prince to at least give somewhat of a shit about me, which was hoping for a lot. This was the same man who'd killed Nappa ruthlessly after knowing him for decades, after all.
But it was a risk I had to take. I couldn't control Vegeta as Bardock - I was too weak, and I didn't have even an ounce of respect from him. I had already thrown my eggs in the Vegeta-basket, and I couldn't back down now, so I had to keep him around and train him to become stronger. But if I did so as Bardock, I knew his resentment would never fade. And, right now, there was one major problem - I couldn't handle him power-wise. Now that he had been resting for nearly an entire day, and his power level I could sense was a bit higher from surviving the previous battle, he could just kill me here and now.
Instead, I needed to reveal the truth to him. While there was another looming concern of whether Vegeta would trust me in the future, or try to kill me to protect his own body, that was a future issue. Right now, it would buy me time - time to become strong enough to surpass Vegeta, and ensure that, no matter how afraid of my ability he was, he couldn't try to kill me. This was a risk designed to buy me time, and right now, time was what I needed the most.
But it was still a risk, and I didn't know how Vegeta would respond. Would he think I was a coward for stealing Bardock's body and sending him to his death? I knew I couldn't tell Fasha or Gine about my ability for that very reason, but Vegeta was more of a wild card. Would his pride and arrogance surpass his respect for me as his trainer and mentor? Would he simply try and kill me right now anyway-
"Good job, then."
I blinked, my eyes widening slightly as Vegeta's shoulders relaxed, and he slowly sat on the ground next to me.
"Eh? I thought you'd be pissed," I told him bluntly, raising an eyebrow at him, "I mean, it was kind of a bitch move to take this body at the last second, y'know? Especially one of our comrades."
"It was you and Bardock who always told me not to let my pride get in the way, wasn't it? Who told me that survival matters above all else?" Vegeta shot back, giving me a slightly relieved grin, "That low-class bastard didn't play fair when he was kicking my ass over and over again, so I'm sure he wouldn't hold this against you. I'm just glad you're alive, Nappa."
I stared at Vegeta blankly for a moment, and then, slowly, a grin spread across my lips. I had expected a lot of things from the arrogant young Prince, but this wasn't one of them. It seemed I was too focused on thinking of Vegeta as the man he would one day become in canon, and not about the man he was becoming here. Even if he was still a prideful, arrogant Prince, this Vegeta was clearly not the same one as I was picturing. The lessons that both myself and Bardock had been beating into him weren't lost in the slightest.
"But, I take it you don't want me to tell the other two?" Vegeta asked, raising an eyebrow at me, "I don't think they'd be as forgiving..."
"No, don't tell them," I nodded, internally relieved that Vegeta seemed content to keep my secret, "They actually cared about Bardock, y'know? If they know I essentially killed him to save myself, they won't forgive that."
"...Then, what do we do now?" Vegeta asked after a pause, and I blinked, surprised by his question.
"You're not going to demand that we go warn King Vegeta again?" I asked, raising an eyebrow back at him.
Vegeta simply shook his head, a smirk on his face as he glanced over at me, "The situation has changed, hasn't it?"
He paused for a second, glancing out at the icy landscape around it.
"I wasn't content with traveling around with a bunch of low-class morons and leaving my race to die. But..." He paused, then turned his gaze back to me, his smirk widening.
"You're fine with that now, because you know I'm Nappa?" I asked him, still a bit surprised.
Vegeta shook his head, "Not exactly, I'd still much rather go warn my father. But... I've discovered recently that you always seem to be right, Nappa. You told me the training with Bardock and his crew would make me stronger, and it did. You led us to victory over that pink bastard, who was stronger than we had any right to be fighting, right? I don't know when you stopped being such a moron, but you tend to always be right now."
Damn, he really thought that highly of me? I didn't know if I should be worried about such high expectations, or happy that Vegeta seemed to respect me even more than I thought he did.
"So," He shrugged, glancing away from me for a moment, "If you say we can't handle Frieza, then I'll believe you. Besides... My father is far stronger than I am. If he can't handle Frieza, then he's not fit to be King, and I'll have to take over for him."
Damn, that was harsh, huh? But, Saiyans will be Saiyans. He had clearly matured, but the arrogant prince was still there, just under the surface.
"Exactly. And the day you take Frieza's head will be a good one, but we need to make sure that you live to see that day first," I nodded, getting up and stretching my limbs as I got used to my new body, "Get used to calling me Bardock in front of the others."
"Of course, I'm not an idiot," He huffed, "Now, you have a plan, don't you?"
"Of course I have one," I grinned, looking back down at him, "We'll stay here, on this iceball, for a few more days. I want you to recover your strength fully, and I want Raditz to heal up enough to travel. Once he's ready, we're leaving."
"To where?" Vegeta asked, raising an eyebrow, "Another planet like this one? Some forgotten rock where we can hide like a bunch of worthless cowards? At that point, we might as well just go back to Planet Vegeta and die anyway!"
I shook my head, my lips slowly curling into a smile, "Not quite. I have a place in mind - a planet that will make all of us stronger than we could ever imagine. A place that will give us the strength to take on Frieza."
Vegeta's eyes went wide, and he looked at me a bit eagerly, "A planet like that? Which one?"
My smile became larger, looking a bit insane, as I spoke.
"It's a little planet called..."
In my mind, there were only two real options - one of which was Earth. It was certainly the most appealing in terms of the average lifestyle, as we'd be able to live on a mostly peaceful planet with good food. We wouldn't have to worry about fighting for our lives.
But, it would be hard to grow stronger there, as the gravity was weak, the inhabitants were even weaker, and there wasn't anyone who could give us a challenge besides ourselves.
Instead, there was another planet we could go to. A planet that was harsh and would push us to our limits. And, it was a planet with a body that I could consider taking in the future. The choice, to me, was simple. We would go to-
"Vampa."
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be posted in 1-2 weeks!
Or, this story is updated twice as often on Patreon.com/Koyon ! Up to chapter 13 is posted there right now!