AN:Okay, admit it; you were touched when Vegeta cried on Namek. For just a few moments, the high and mighty Prince of all Saiyans was mortal, and he knew it. Spilling his heart out to the one he had vowed to surpass in a final act of surprising vulnerability. And then he died, struck down. When he was inadvertently revived by Shenron, he was a complete dick once again.

But what if he hadn't died? A seemingly simple change, it nonetheless begs a whole multitude of questions about what else would be changed as consequence. So, let us follow the story of a Vegeta beaten into the dirt, spirit broken and willing to pass on the mantle of the saiyan race's final hope to his nemesis, and who survives Frieza's final Death Beam. Or, rather, avoids it...

1

The power of the Super Saiyan was that of combat at its purest. It held no other purpose than for the wielder of the golden light to become stronger and stronger and stronger still. This was the ultimate fate of any saiyan who managed to ascend: become the strongest. Period.

Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, had not been destined to know this great power that day, for he was broken and beaten on the barren landscape of planet Namek. Breathing sharply, the pressence of of the being responsible for his lifelong suffering loomed over him; Frieza, tyrannical overlord of most of the known galaxy and destroyer of entire races and worlds.

In stark contrast to the Prince, the Earth-raised saiyan by the name of Goku was standing tall, unwavering in the face of such an overbearingly evil threat. Looking at him now, Vegeta could practically see the fabled strength of the Super Saiyan radiating about the third-class. It no longer mattered that this man born lower than he had risen up and claimed the legend. No, no the only thing of importance was the complete destruction of Frieza - slaughterer of their entire species.

"Frieza...you fool, you don't get it, do you? Kakarot's not an ordinary saiyan." He barely had the strength, but he lifted himself up unto his elbows to stare the Frost Demon in the eye. "He is a Super Saiyan." It almost felt worth it, to have endured all of that just to see the Emperor completely taken aback. "That's right," he chuckled around a mouth stained with blood, "you heard me. If there is a god, he must be good for letting me live long enough to see this day." He laughed then – a laugh born from exhaustion and pain, but feeling so incredibly relived in that moment that he didn't much care.

But Frieza's shock didn't last for longer than a moment, and it immediately turned into extreme annoyance. He had heard this talk from the dethroned prince far too much in the past hour, and it was high time that he silence such impudence for good.

With deliberate precision, Frieza threw his arm out and fired a Death Beam from his fingers, intended for Vegeta's heart. There would be no resistance, and the rebellious monkey would finally be put down.

Just as the youngest of the Cold Dynasty fired his attack, fate was rewritten by an invisible hand. In another time, Vegeta was skewered by the thin beam and died there in the dirt, opening his defenses to Goku in a final request to finish what he could not. In this life, however, all of that changed with seemingly the smallest of occurrences: Vegeta's strength gave out and his elbows buckled.

Falling backward, the Prince was spared from the wrath of the ki beam, only suffering a glancing burn that ran up the left side of his face in a straight line that tapered to a sharp point on his cheekbone. Crying out, he couldn't do anything about his latest injury, but it was little more to what he had already suffered. Opening his eyes again, he almost believed that he was hullcinating from the pain: Kakarot, circular symbol on his back proudly displayed for all to see, was now standing between him and Frieza, acting as a living barrier.

Vegeta just...didn't know what to think. Kakarot and he had been mortal enemies just a day before, when an alliance wasn't necessary for their mutual survival. Even now, Vegeta was just dead-weight to him, and any energy spent towards keeping him alive was energy he could have leveled against Frieza. But, Kakarot was like that; desiring the safety of others even as he fought against impossible odds to satisfy his lust for battle. While the Prince couldn't fathom what could ever warrant such goodwill, he just had to accept that the third-cate warrior was too stubborn to ever be swayed from his choices.

"Krillin, take Vegeta away from here!" Goku commanded without taking his eyes off of the ivory skinned monster. The bald dwarf ran up and carefully draped Vegeta's arm around his shoulders, needing to readjust somewhat to accommodate the wide pauldrons on his armor. In his confused and weary state, the Prince didn't object to being handled as such, merely looking at Goku's back in what could only be described as incredulity.

"And just what makes you think that I would let anyone leave here alive?" Frieza spoke up, his low hissing voice sending a chill up the spines of nearly everyone present. Raising his finger once again, Frieza attempted to fire another Death Beam after Krillin and his charge, but the Earth raised Saiyan materialized in its path and batted it away with backhanded chop.

"Your fight is with me now!" Goku declared, assuming his favored fighting stance before leaping forward at incredible speeds, fist colliding with the tyrant's raised forearm. Their combat had commenced, and it wouldn't stop until one of them was dead.

"Why did Goku have to shoot his way out of the tank?" Krillin complained out loud, annoyed more than anything. Despite the impressive hole blasted into its front, the alien technology was still miraculously functional, and he was able to get Vegeta situated inside and then follow his mumbled instructions to start the rejuvenation process. The breathing mask automatically situated itself to his face, even though the greenish-blue liquid slopped out of the breach in the device before quite reaching head height. It held him up, so his face was suspended above the surface, but it was probably better than leaving him to pass out and drown in what should have healed him.

"Even though I don't trust you, or even like you Vegeta, I hope that you get better soon. What Frieza did to you was just monstrous and I wouldn't wish it on anybody." His head jerked to the side, sensing the huge power levels of his closest friend and the very monster he had just been speaking of. Looking back, he saw that Vegeta's eyes were closed and assumed that he had finally lost consciousness. Double-checking that everything was working as it should, or as best as he guessed it should, Krillin departed as fast as he could, unwilling to leave his friends out there by themselves.

But Vegeta was still awake, and had heard everything the short man had said. Once again, a recent enemy turned tenuous ally had helped save him, even though he could easily have finished the Prince off in his weakened state. He had certainly earned the right after both Earth and the hell that Namek had proven to be.

How was it that these earthlings could have any measure of compassion in the middle a warzone? It went against everything Vegeta had been taught and came to accept as life, and only further confused him on the whole matter of Kakarot and those closest to him.

Yet again he had been surpassed by the same saiyan, and yet again shown mercy when he would have massacred them if the roles had been reversed. Was there truly something to being kind-hearted? If Kakarot was just a weak third class saiyan with an overabundance of naivete and forgiveness, then why was it that he was the one facing Frieza right now and holding his own, if his fledgling energy sensing skills were to be trusted. It just wasn't the saiyan way. Then again, the saiyan way had eventually killed off all who upheld their bloodthirsty ways, leaving him the very last, and that had been a close thing.

Perhaps…the walls he had built around himself to better survive in a life of constant genocide and war were now what would drag him down, keep him from ever obtaining that next level he had literally dreamed about for years. Perhaps the ice-hearted and ruthless path was one that led only to oblivion. He didn't have any answers, and he doubted he would be given any, so it was a matter for another time.

If a miracle was to occur and they actually survived, he might need to devote some time into contemplating where emotions could lead a saiyan, and if it was a place his power could flourish like Kakarot's had.

Forced to remain in the tank with his thoughts, Vegeta followed the fight with his senses as best he could, trying to decipher exactly what was occurring from the vague details. He felt Kakarot's power jump to new heights multiple times, but each time Frieza revealed more of his own power to match his opponent. It was a losing battle on the saiyan's part; Frieza was still holding back his power, of that Vegeta was certain, while Kakarot was breaking his limits again and again throughout the fight just to survive.

But then, he had felt it; a purely massive source of energy hanging above the planet itself. It was mind boggling in scope, overflowing with highly potent power just waiting to be unleashed upon the unlucky bastard it was aimed at. It didn't take long for the Prince to recognize it - after all, he had nearly been slain by just such an anomaly a few weeks prior: Kakarot had summoned another Spirit Bomb and was going to use it against Frieza.

Vegeta couldn't help the hiss of air that escaped from his mask as he tried to laugh. He knew that Frieza would be overcome by such an attack, just as he almost was, especially as he could feel that it was still growing in power by the second, already many orders of magnitude stronger than the one used on Earth.

But it wasn't doing anything. Vegeta could feel Kakarot stationary in one spot, most likely charging the Spirit Ball, but Frieza was right in front of him and his undoubted confusion on the matter would only last another minute more at the most.

Now Vegeta found himself tensing in anticipation. If Kakarot didn't finish with the attack and soon, then he would be as good as dead and their last chance of beating Frieza would die with him. There was a surge of energy from the tyrant, but Kakarot remained alive and apparently still gathering energy. Vegeta had rarely felt so helpless before, knowing that Kakarot just needed a small window to finish his technique but unable to act due to his injuries.

Fortunately for them all, the namekian's power level abruptly flared – briefly - and seemed to sucker-punch Frieza, for the despot's signature shot away from their group and came to rest half a mile away. The namekian's power plummeted after that, but it was just the opportunity Vegeta dared to hope Kakarot needed. Several seconds later, Frieza came roaring back, his outrage actually being translated through his aura, and laid waste on the namekian, thrashing him without reprieve and making his humiliation of him in his third form seem like shoolyard bullying in comparison.

Just as it seemed Piccolo's time was up, Krillin and Gohan intervened, combining what must have been the very last of their fighting energy to distract Frieza from delivering the killing blow. While a noble sentiment, it really only succeeded in provoking the frost demon into rising into the air to create a Death Ball to kill them all at once.

And then, as Frieza readied the powerful attack to kill, Kakarot finally unleashed the Spirit Bomb.

Just from the sensations he was getting, Vegeta could only imagine that it must have been a dazzling sight: Frieza being so thoroughly overshadowed by the Bomb as to be but a pinprick against its enormity. And then the detonation whited out his senses, blinding him to what had transpired.

Slowly, gradually, he could pick out the individual life energies of Krillin and Gohan, and then Piccolo followed swiftly by Kakarot's. So, they had all managed to survive the blast. A strange feeling welled up inside the saiyan's chest. It wasn't anything so sickeningly saccharine as happiness or gratitude, but something he had rarely tasted before: closure. A very long chapter in his life had finally come to a close, and with it, the vengeance he had sworn on behalf of his slain people was fulfilled. It was odd, being able to finally relax after years of swallowing his pride and fearing lethal reprimands, and he wasn't sure he could actually make the transition from servant to victor as smoothly as he had always envisioned. Some things are better left forgotten, and others can never leave you no matter how much you should try to escape them.

Tearing his mind away from such a dreary line of thought, he cast his mind out to try and detect any other life sources left on the planet. As the flare from the Spirit Bomb continued to dissipate, his senses were able to pick up more and more, until an anomaly caught his attention. It seemed to still be partially obscured by the flare, but it was wavering dangerously, like a bomb about to explode, and almost seemed like-

'No,' Vegeta thought in a rising panic, 'no he couldn't possibly have lived through that!' But the memory of doing precisely that spurred him into action. He wasn't fully healed, but enough that he didn't care about a few more minutes. Discarding delicacy, he ripped the breathing mask from his face, suction pads unable to contend with his might, and launched himself through the convenient hole in the pod and ceiling, pushing himself as hard as he could from the start and immediately outstripping any previous effort with ease.

He was immensely stronger than he had been before, incomparable to all but Kakarot and Frieza, but he didn't have the luxury of time to admire his new level. Even as he sped towards the battlefield for all he was worth, he distinctly felt Piccolo's energy drop to near nothing, a sure sign of tragedy. Just as he came into sight of the series of islands the fighters were located on, Krillin's body rose into the air unnaturally before violently exploding, the monk's cry for help still ringing through the air.

Landing in a crouch next to the half saiyan and the downed namkeian, Vegeta had no choice but to confirm that Frieza had indeed survived the Spirit Bomb and was enacting his revenge. The Frost Demon looked worse for wear, with one eye forced shut, dozens of scorch marks all across his body and half of his tail was once more missing. But otherwise he was still standing, and very, very angry by the looks of it.

"Ah, Vegeta, I was so hoping that you would come back for another helping of your punishment. And I see that I've left my mark, how fitting." He was referring to the scorched wound that had formed where the Death Beam had scored the Prince, unhealed by the tank. Vegeta would carry it for the rest of his life, but seeing as that seemed to be a matter of minutes he wasn't too concerned with aesthetics right then.

"How a lizard like you could have survived that attack is a mystery, but I intend to make sure that you stay in the ground this time!" Vegeta challenged back, stalling for time to think up any kind of strategy.

That was when the sky darkened and lightning began to coalesce.

They had all neglected to observe Goku after the death of his childhood friend. Trembling from barely contained rage, he was growling incoherently, eyes unfocused and head bowed. Finally a distinguishable word came through the rant.

"Frieza!"

A lightning bolt struck the ground not ten feet away, but the normally peaceful saiyan didn't seem to notice it, lost in his well of anger.

"I won't…let you…get away with this!" His words came in choppy bursts, but the message was clear.

'Gods, his power is rising higher than ever before, and it isn't stopping!' Vegeta marveled, watching with wide eyes as Kakarot jerked his head back, a flash of gold coming and going in the blink of an eye. But then he did it again, and again, each time the flash becoming more pronounced, revealed to be the normally pitch black hair turning a startling blonde mere fractions of a moment at a time. But Vegeta could tell that the build-up was reaching a fever pitch and, sure enough, with a roar that shook the heavens and all that sat atop them, Goku released a burst of terrific energy and became something more.

Standing tall, the golden light of his aura cast a glow about him that only succeeded in making him appear even fiercer. Golden hair stood up on end, now similar to Vegeta's own style, and his coal black eyes had changed to electrified teal. He was glaring at Frieza with such righteous anger that Vegeta was glad not to be his opponent this time. And there was no mistaking it anymore; beyond any misconception or denial, Kakarot had truly become...a Super Saiyan.

"Wha- what is this?!" Frieza blanched, an impressive feat considering his usual complexion. "I thought saiyans only turned into monkeys!"

"Gohan, Vegeta," Goku addressed them over his shoulder, his words clipped and concise, "take Piccolo, find Bulma, and escape on the ship I came to Namek in. I'll take care of Frieza." Gohan immediately took a step forward, a stricken look on his young face.

"But Dad-"

"I am your father, now do as I say!" Goku snarled with uncharacteristic ferocity. Vegeta saw that the other saiyan was only just containing the tumultuous emotions that were running rampart through him, and safety for his son in the coming fight was far from assured. Fortunately, after a moment of shock and indecision, Gohan's face became serious, nodding in consent as he draped Piccolo's arm over his shoulder, exactly like Krillin had for Vegeta just a short while ago. Taking to the air, he flew off relatively slowly to prevent any further harm to his mentor.

Of course, Frieza was not going to let them leave alive, but he had learned not to just shout his intentions from the last time he had attempted to shoot wounded prey. With a flash, he had fired off a charged Death Beam at the retreating child. Goku moved with incredible speed and appeared before the tyrant, grabbing his wrist in a deadlock. The ki beam, however, made it past the Super Saiyan and was unopposed from killing two more of the Z-Fighters…or at least it would have been had the Prince not been there.

Utilizing his increased speed, Vegeta sprang into the air and kicked the head of the attack away, succeeding though his entire leg pulsed with pain from the energy coursing thorough the deceptively small beam. The look on Frieza's face was absolutely priceless, having his hand constricted while having to watch his attempted murder fail utterly.

"We're leaving Kakarot, but I expect you to win so that we can have our rematch. I still owe you one," the Prince chuckled darkly. Goku half glanced over at him and nodded mutely, unable to provide much else in way of communication.

Vegeta would tolerate being ordered around, just this once. Kakarot had a bit of persuasive authority at the moment. Taking to the air with a blast, he quickly overtook Gohan.

"Boy, do you know where your father's ship is?" Gohan answered in the affirmative. "Good. Get the namekian there and I'll retrieve that human woman and we'll take off." Not waiting for any further confirmation, he rocketed off into the green horizon, searching with his senses for the earthling. It took a good deal of time, but he eventually found her on top of a spire of rock.

"Woman!" That was the extent of any warning before he scooped her up without even landing, making a right angle turn to track where he could sense Gohan's energy. Bulma was completely flustered, unable to comprehend the ridiculously fast movements until a few seconds later. When it finally dawned on her who had picked her up, she began to scream, a trend for her since starting this voyage.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" She pounded her fists against his chest, a completely ineffectual action that only served to annoy the saiyan. Knowing full well that injuring her wouldn't serve to lengthen his life span should Kakarot find out, Vegeta restrained himself from knocking her unconscious or scaring her into silence. Putting on a fresh burst of speed, Bulma was forced to momentarily cease her screaming as the wind was now coming at her in gale force.

"Listen to me Earth woman," Vegeta started, his voice somehow exempt from the winds effect, "I will not harm you so long as you don't give me a reason. Kakarot is fighting Frieza and this planet might not survive the battle. Me, you, Kakarot's brat and the namekian are going to escape on his ship. So keep your whining to yourself or you won't even make it that far."

Sufficiently cowed by the harsh news, Bulma clammed up, trembling noticeably. Grunting apathetically, Vegeta continued onward, sensing Gohan's power come to a halt and assumed that that was the location of the ship. Off in the distance, enormous flashes of various colored lights erupted and died in seconds, marking the struggle between the legend and the nightmare.

All at once, a horrifying flash enveloped everything and Vegeta feared that the end had come - Frieza had decided to cut his losses and destroy the entire planet to eliminate all resistance. But after several long seconds of blinding white light, the saiyan prince realized that he was still very much alive and the planet wasn't gone quite yet. The sky had taken on a fearful crimson color, harshly different from the previous green. The planet held, but judging by the tremors that now crumpled the land like sandcastles, their time was very limited. Resuming his flight, Vegeta quickly came into view of the spherical ship.

Landing at the foot of the ramp of Capsule 2, Vegeta deposited (read: dropped) Bulma and marched inside where the boy had laid the namekian carefully on the floor.

"Kakarot managed to get from the Earth to here in just several days in this?" Vegeta gawked, astounded by the size of the ship. Saiyan pods and the Capital ships used by Frieza and his ilk would have taken a little under a year to make the same journey. Just who could possibly have out machined the brightest in the Planet Trade Organization so casually?

"Yup, ain't she a beauty?" Bulma piped up as she walked past, having regained her nerve upon seeing the familiar workmanship. "My dad made this from reverse-engineering Goku's pod from when he was a baby and the spaceship Kami came to Earth in. Faster than anything than even the namekians could come up with, this baby will have us back home in less than a week."

"An Earthman created this?" Vegeta quizzed, not quite believing it. Perhaps humans made up for in brains what they lacked in brawn.

Further speculation was cut off as a video screen descended from the ceiling, showing only static for a few seconds before the visage of Dr. Briefs himself appeared.

"Aha, got it working again! Bulma, is that you? Thank heavens you're alright. We were just-" whatever he was about to say was cut off as Chi-Chi forced him off-screen, worried eyes immediately seeking out her son.

"Oh Gohan!" She cried, relief obvious. Vegeta watched the teary exchange between mother and son with some awkwardness. His own mother had died in battle when he was still very young and Tarble had only just been sent off planet. She had never shown him what this nagging woman was showing her son. Between them had been the connection of once being two inside one, but like any normal saiyan mother, she had not grown attached. None of them did in case that child was killed for any reason, the mental damages unfit for a warrior race.

Shutting himself away from further such thoughts, Vegeta turned away from the scene and stood at the open doorway, tracking the climatic battle that was happening. Alarmingly, Frieza's power had increased to the point of being equal to Kakarot's, the true upper limits of his power it seemed. Looking back, it had been absolutely laughable to think that he had urged the arcosian to transform so that he could beat him at his maximum. Vegeta was facing many hard truths that day, none the least of which being that it had been a third class to attain the mantle of Super Saiyan and not he, but with all the stops pulled out, he could tell that he would never have posed a challenge at any point during their fight. He had been toyed with.

That infuriated him to no end. His pride was not something to be trifled with by anyone, least of all the tyrant that had enslaved him for near thirty long and excruciating years. Pain was fleeting, but humiliation lasted for as long as it was remembered, and Vegeta had a very good memory. For that, the Prince had vowed everyday of his life since he was ten that the despot's end would be at his hands and that every single instance of demeaning-

His train of thought petered off uncharacteristically, his plans for revenge disappearing into the back of his mind. Why couldn't he focus on his hatred of Frieza, his driving motivation?

Understanding dawned on him as he realized that Kakarot's energy had disappeared from his senses. Had the Icejin actually managed to defeat the other saiyan? Turning to look back at the small group of survivors, he saw that Gohan was also in shock, looking off in a daze toward where the fight had been occurring. Breathing heavily, Vegeta thought quickly, outright refusing to believe that the saiyan from Earth and the culmination of their race had been bested.

"Boy! Take the ship and get off of the planet. I will go to where Frieza is and provide whatever assistance I can for your father. Go now, while there's still a Namek to leave." Gohan stepped forward, youthful face exhibiting anguish at his father's possible demise.

"But I need to find my dad!"

Vegeta was sorely tempted to swat the child away to forcibly make him understand, but experience stayed his hand. He had been where the half-saiyan now stood, desperate to see his father though he already knew it was too late.

"Your father will be fine. Frieza is no match for him at this level and I suspect he is only inconvenienced right now. You need to escape with your life because if neither your father nor I survive, then you will truly be the last of the saiyan line. You may be a half-breed, but I saw first hand the fighting spirit that runs through your veins. You must live, if only for your heritage's sake."

Not waiting for a response, the prince spun about and took off as fast as he possibly could, gratified to note that the boy didn't pursue him. Whatever happened here this day, Vegeta was adamant that the saiyan race would not be wiped out entirely, even if it had to live on through diluted generations. Saiyan tradition would have forbidden any cross breeding, but Vegeta was beginning to care less and less about tradition.

It wasn't hard to find him. After all, Frieza had absolutely no experience in masking his power level. Floating in the air above a sprawling fissure that was filled with boiling lava, the pale skinned emperor was grotesquely bulked out, apparently to compensate for his fullest power.

"Hm? Vegeta? I see that you didn't scamper off and hide like I thought you would have! It will make killing you so much simpler," Frieza purred in self-satisfaction.

"Enough of your drivel! Where is Kakarot?" Vegeta snarled in response, wasting no time in the almost customary banter. He wouldn't stand a chance against the tyrant by himself and he needed to find the other saiyan quickly.

"Oh? You mean that Super Saiyan named Goku? Hmph! What a pathetic legend; he didn't even last five minutes against my true might."

Cold dread seeped down Vegeta's spine. If what Frieza was saying was true, then all hope was lost.

"Liar! There is no way you could have beaten him!" He challenged, shaking his fist in fury at his former master. Frieza merely chuckled and relaxed, showing that he saw the prince as nothing to stay guarded around.

"Oh but it's true. Not even a great Super Saiyan could survive a dip into a bath of pure lava!" He pointed down at the fissure while bursting into cruel laughter, mocking the very memory of his opponent.

But Vegeta was no longer listening. He could only stare in absolute horror at the flowing lava, knowing Frieza to be correct. No one he had ever met or heard of could withstand the incredible heat of molten rock.

And like that, Vegeta knew regret. The one man he had ever considered to be of any real importance as an enemy was slain, piteously and without a shred of respect. The greatest of their dwindled race had left this plane, leaving behind grieving family, friends and a prince who hated the very idea of respecting anyone. The most…honorable man he would probably ever meet was dead, and their fated rematch would never come.

In that moment, Vegeta no longer cared about beating Frieza. He didn't care about attaining the legendary Super Saiyan status. He didn't even care about escaping from this planet alive. His heart had been a frozen block for decades, but now he felt several painful emotions thaw, warm and completely re-energize his passions.

Desolation filled his icy heart.

Followed by shock.

Then clarity.

And then, at last, the Prince of all Saiyans felt unholy FURY.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" A scream of indescribable magnitude escaped his throat, rending the air with its unfiltered rawness Blinded by the emotion that was burning his heart with a holy tenacity, Vegeta loosed every restraint he had, allowing his very being to blossom right there in the dark namekian sky.

"Wha- what is happening?!" Frieza shouted into the air, unwilling to admit that he already knew.

"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Vegeta's body jerked involuntarily, newfound power rocking inside of him, aligning to its new host. The process was completed as he bent forward before throwing his arms and legs out as far as they would go with another unearthly scream, his hair igniting with a golden light and eyes lightening to blue-green.

Left panting from his exertion, Vegeta looked at his torn and bloodied gloves, taking the full scope of the power he now wielded. Though he could not see for himself, this...newness to his power was entirely unlike anything he could ever have dreamed of, and it confirmed what he already knew, in his basest of instincts:

He had become a Super Saiyan.

"No! No, not you too!" Frieza quaked, holding his hands up defensively. Teal eyes locked onto him, rage burning beneath the surface like a volcano ready to erupt.

"You killed the only man I would ever consider my equal, and you did it without a thought. But now you have awakened your retribution Frieza." Straightening up, he clenched his fists. "I am Vegeta, and I... am Legendary!"

Golden light burst to life around him, a new sun on Namek. In utter terror, Frieza tried to turn and flee, but found the prince already in his path with a swinging left hook. Rocked by the blow and distracted, Frieza attempted a retaliatory roundhouse kick, but his leg sailed through a dissolving image of the saiyan, the real one reappearing to ram his fist into the despotic overlord's stomach.

Retching up blood and bile, Frieza was stunned for a moment due to the shock and found himself an easy target for the point blank ki blast that sent him hurtling head over heels toward the ground. Before he could land, Vegeta once again materialized in his path, grabbing his mutilated tail and swinging him around once by it. Releasing his hold, the prince sent the fellow royalty back into the air, tumbling about helplessly. Cupping his hands by his side, Vegeta gathered a charge of energy in a flash and fired the fully primed Gallick Gun after the tyrant.

However, Frieza managed to recover in time to deflect the blast with a backhanded strike, singing the flesh there. Spitting with rage, Frieza returned fire with a beam of his own; black with crackling red forks of energy marking its pure maliciousness. Instead of dodging or deflecting it, Vegeta caught it head on, pushed down through a dozen feet of rock by the force of the attack but quickly bringing it to a halt and then heaving it upwards into the sky, letting it vanish harmlessly into the sky above them.

"Die, monkey! DIE!" The frost demon began to hurl Death Balls with reckless abandon, forcing the ascended saiyan to dart away at great speed or else face the world-ending power in each orb. He was hard pressed to find an opening for him to retaliate through, but just when Frieza believed he had his enemy on the ropes, an iron grip took a hold of his hand, stopping the next attack cold and grinding the bones within. Looking back in surprise and no small amount of terror, Frieza found himself staring right into the displeased face of a very much alive Goku.

"H- how? I killed you!"

"Try harder next time," Goku shot back, not releasing his hold on the alien. With a 'whish', Vegeta appeared a few feet away, amazement on his aristocratic features.

"Kakarot, you're alive!" He immediately stamped down the initial surge of relief, not wanting his nemesis to see it.

Glancing over at the other saiyan, Goku raised an eyebrow and quirked a corner of his mouth in surprise.

"Look at you Vegeta. I've only been a Super Saiyan for a few minutes and you've already caught up with me. Somehow, I'm not surprised." Vegeta grinned back at him, cocky as before.

"You'd think I would let a clown have all of the glory? Fat chance."

It was then that Frieza managed to wrench his arm away, eyes wide in panic as he looked between the two Super Saiyans. Just one had been a match for him, what chance did he possibly have against two? Impossibly, his own ego and denial prevented him from accepting defeat, insisting to himself that he was still the mightiest in the galaxy. None could ever surpass him, let alone a feces-flinging, pelt-wearing, simple-minded monkey!

"Never mind the pleasantries; you will both die right here and now! FACE THE FULL WRATH OF THE INVINCIBLE FRIEZA!"

A Supernova attack bloomed from a raised fingertip, inflating until it was of equal size to the spirit bomb that had been used against him a little while ago. Cackling with manic glee, he threw it as hard as he could at the two saiyans while zooming higher into the air to get some distance between himself and the carnage that was about to be wrecked upon them.

A wave of his hand brought about the planet-shattering explosion, completely enveloping the two golden warriors. Now positively guffawing in his insane merriment, Frieza relished the ultimate destruction of the two greatest pains in his-

The fireball died away, far faster than it should have, revealing a new crater in the surface of the already unstable planet. The two saiyans however, were exactly where they had been, a golden bubble of light surrounding them. Dropping the synchronized shield, the two of them faced the once more terrified overlord shoulder to shoulder. While it was true that neither could claim to be an actual ally of the other, they were united in this instance, in the fight against the one that had made them an endangered species.

"You are going to regret that one Frieza," Vegeta remarked coldly.

"Now, you will face justice for all the innocents that you have ever killed!" Goku declared.

Frieza could only growl like an animal, delusions making him ready himself for the coming fight, still believing himself superior.

The heavens shook.

King Kai was observing the whole event with rapt attention, his three current pupils clamoring for an update. He had relayed his intentions for the last wish of the namekian Dragon Balls to Elder Guru, but Goku had intervened, demanding that the wish be changed so that only Frieza, himself and Vegeta would remain on the dying planet. After much protesting, the Kai had finally relented and Dende was given his task.

Now, all the others were back on Earth and waiting for any sign of who had won the fight. On the rapidly dying Namek, Frieza was giving his all to battle two super saiyans simultaneously, actually holding his own incredibly well and not making it an easy fight by any means. But his fate was unavoidable and he was at long last defeated, losing his legs to the attack he'd been trying to use against Goku just as a blast from Vegeta robbed him of an arm.

Watching with shoulders clenched up with tension, King Kai witnessed as the two saiyans turned against each other, Vegeta wanting to slaughter the galactic tyrant and Goku doing everything in his power to spare Frieza from the execution. With the same frenzied might they had been using cooperatively just a minute before, they tore into each other, the saiyan prince now determined to kill his nemesis as well as his former tormentor.

King Kai couldn't get a proper read on their respective powers, and had no way at all of knowing who was actually stronger of the two. He thought it might be Goku, but he had been fighting against Frieza for so long that his stamina would be seriously flagging and might not be able to hold out for very long if he didn't win soon. Vegeta was furious, but he was still level-headed and wasn't making mistakes like he had on Earth, not even overestimating his new form; he knew that this was the moment for him to achieve everything he had ever wanted and surpass Goku at the same time, and he wasn't going to throw it away.

However, both of them had forgotten that Friza wasn't quite out of commission just yet, and had recovered enough strength for him to levitate what was left of his body above the ground. In any other circumstance he would no doubt have let the two warring powers smash each other to pieces and kill the survivor, but his pride was in pulverized shards and his thirst for vengeance was greater even than Vegeta's in that moment. Seeing his chance when the saiyans slammed together and grappled furiously, the frost demon threw out his remaining hand and fired an unrestrained blast, intending to take them both out at once, screaming his rage as he did so. A fatal error.

Just like that, Goku and Vegeta had a similar goal once again and they turned together to retaliate with beams of significantly more concentrated energy that tore through Frieza's and hit the despot with obliterating force, Frieza's last cry of pain and fury ending abruptly as the combined attacks punctured the ground and a massive spout of lava rushed through the breach and into the dark sky. It was a harsh reminder for the saiyans that they had mere moments before the planet would explode, making any victory moot.

But Frieza had already won. King Kai lost sight of the two racing toward Frieza's ship as the massive buildup of destructive force in the core of the planet became blinding, but he had already seen that the PTO command ship was in not state to make it off world. He tried desperately to reestablish a line of communication with Goku, to see if there was anything he could do, but he was stopped when the catastrophic explosion ripped through the stillness of space, light and noise traveling in all directions as Planet Namek was reduced to nothing.

Stunned, King Kai needed a minute to muster his composure before relaying to his students that, after everything they had gone through, Goku and Vegeta had been killed, victims of a hopeless situation. The three looked as pained as he was by this, mutely staring at the ground or into the sky as they absorbed the information. For them, Goku had now died twice before they had even seen him again, and that must have been an awful feeling to carry.

Yamcha was the first to speak, saying that those back on Earth needed to know and volunteered to be the bearer of the bad news. Through North Kai's telepathy, he relayed what he knew and was met with the expected shock and grief, though precious little of it was on the saiyan prince's behalf. Even having died fighting beside Goku, almost all of them still saw Vegeta as a terrible person who had dug his own grave with his cruelty and callousness. Only Bulma and Gohan mourned in any measure for him, having seen his changing nature in the last minutes of Namek.

Eventually, it was pointed out that the freshly restored and rebound namekian Dragon Balls could be used to revive Goku, alongside Krillin and the three with King Kai. The namekian refugees were given a home at Capsule Corp in the meantime, Bulma warmly welcoming and making promises that they would really enjoy themselves on Earth for as long as they were there, Piccolo stating that he would be tagging along to learn more about his long lost people. Gohan, Chi Chi and Ox King went with them too, though Chi Chi insisted that they'd be heading back to Mount Paozou in a day or so, wanting Gohan to get some peace and quiet at home.

King Kai closed off his telepathy after that, instructing his three pupils to go and train to clear their minds, needing some time to himself for that exact reason. He was rattled by all the universe shaking events that happened on Namek, and the death of his star student upset him greatly, but he knew that most of the damage could be undone and that the people of the galaxy could rest easier now that the tyrant had been killed, even if his organization remained.

He forced himself not to dwell, moving his mind away from where Namek had been, deciding that the only way to go was forward from here.

If he had actually been looking at where Namek previously existed he might have noticed that there was still a single, wretched soul still clinging to life in the scattered debris of the planet...and that two small, spherical crafts were flying safely away, containing the two that would shape the Universe around them.

This story was far from over.

[DBZ-DBZ-DBZ-DBZ-DBZ-DBZ]

AN: As of April 2019, this chapter has undergone extensive revision and is now much more up to my current level of standards. I would also like to state now that this story is much less of an AU and far more of an AT – alternate telling. I don't change up most events drastically, just mostly alternating who does what and adding some aspects that weren't in the original, whether for a good reason or a bad one.

Slightly bummed that I couldn't come up with a more distinct story, but I am far and away more happy with this story than anything. It has become something I'm always thinking about and actually look forward to writing when I get around to it, and I am pleased as punch that I get to share it with you guys (even the crazy ones, yes) because my prime intent was to make a story that I myself would want to read, and what's more fun than having something in common to talk about with people in a community?

Also, and I am saying this now when I should probably have said it from the beginning, I have a deep love for filler and movie arcs, and will use as much of them as I can. That includes one-off details that might take place in a couple disjointed episodes, such as Gohan going to help Goku only to believe that he was dead after being thrown into lava. That's right – I didn't come up with that little tidbit, I just appropriated it, though I certainly would claim credit if only for the amusing hate it garners.

That's enough of me talking about myself.