Final Fate

The birthday present

Vegeta sat on his throne, one leg overthe other and he had his head resting boredly on his hand. He waslistening to how many emissaries? assuring him of theircongratulations and the indispensable loyalty of his people. He nolonger knew, nor did he care. The only fact was, the King of theSaiyans had his twenty-fourth birthday today.

With adisinterested look on his face, he waved the emissary through andlooked at the next one. His house and court marshal read out the nextname, race and what gifts this one would come with. Stifling a yawn,Vegeta looked out the colourful, high window to his right.

Hownice it would have been to be out there now, training or even leadinga mission. Anything would have been better for the king at thismoment than this rigid court ceremonial and this damn tight silvergala armour that really couldn't be used for anything other thanwearing it on the throne.

His black eyes wandered to theannounced envoy and he hadn't even listened to what he would givehim. Probably something made of gold and precious stones, because theway this Minotaure was dressed, it seemed to be the only thing thisrace possessed. The king was all the more surprised when the envoyaddressed him.

"Your Majesty," he spoke low andsubmissively. "Some time ago, my people made a foray into thenorthern galaxy to expand their territory. We found a beautifulplanet in a remote solar system that we wish to make a gift to you."A brief murmur went through the ranks of the warrior nobility presentand the emissary continued:

"But not only the planet, butalso the race that called this celestial body its own shall be yours.They will make excellent slaves because they are equal in stature andappearance. Except for the mark of each Saiyan and the strength, thisrace resembles yours, Majesty. They call themselves humans. We tookthe liberty of bringing a few right along."

Vegeta noddedas a sign that he understood. At least it was a gift that couldreally be used and he would certainly have a look at these humansagain sometime, but not now. His gaze wandered out the windowagain.

"There's one more thing, Your Majesty." Witha raised eyebrow and a look that made it clear that for him thematter was actually settled, he turned his head back. "Thenspeak up and don't bug me!" he ordered coldly.

Theemissary wrung his hands and bowed submissively. "Among thehumans there also lived some ... non-human specimens. We found, amongothers, on this planet, a surviving Namekian who, along with ahandful of lesser warriors, put up fierce resistance."

"ANamekian?" Vegeta lifted his head from his hand. Slowly,something like interest did return to the king's features. "Soit is." "But didn't you just say that this race was notparticularly strong? Now you say they have resisted." Vegeta'seyes narrowed and his bodyguard, which stood near his throne, tensed,ready to respond immediately to any hint from their king. "Well,neither is she. Her strength is close to zero." "Then whatare you wasting my time here?!" the young king thundered, andthe Minotaure dropped to his knees. "Forgive me ... but ... butweak as this race is .... some of them had probably trainedthemselves in the art of fighting and were ... superior."

Vegetasnorted snidely. "What you mean by superior. Is that all you'vegot at last?" The emissary shook his horned head. "N...well,no, Your Majesty. There was one among them who stood out...theirleader." You could tell Vegeta was losing patience and gave awave to his bodyguard, or Freiceadan as they were traditionallycalled. "Please...M...Majesty, we have brought him...he...heshall be yours and please...he is...is...see for yourself." Theemissary waved his hands in his submissive posture and anotherminotaur who had been standing at the entrance to the throne roomhastily disappeared. A short time later, the two large entrance gatesopened.

At first, only some vague sounds were heard, but thentwo Saiyan warriors entered the hall backwards, leading anotherfigure into the hall by two golden chains. Vegeta raised his head andlooked forward to this further gift. Someone who resisted, even inthe face of superior force, was always worth a second look. As thesoldiers approached, he recognised in the chained figure awell-trained young fighter with black hair, dressed to the nines.

Afiligree tiara of gold ran through his hair, which was adorned on hisforehead with a ruby that fell between his eyebrows. The rims of hisears were adorned with a broad, gold-chased metal hoop winding aroundthe rim, and around his neck, also made of gold, like everything elsethat was not made of cloth, was a broad collar to which the chainsthat held the guard were attached. Underneath was an almostinconspicuous thin hoop with a blue and black stone set intoit.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed. This stone, if it was what hesuspected it was, would at least roll a horned head today, whether itwas his birthday or not. He had forbidden these stones, on pain ofdeath, to any of the peoples he subjugated or which joined hisempire, for with them any force, however great, could be held incheck. Equipped with a small technological device that was coded withthe DNA of the wearer, it was possible to prevent the wearer fromtaking the jewel off himself. An absolute nightmare for every Saiyan.Only they, his people, were allowed to make chains or other objectsfrom this stone to subdue their slaves or even disobedientSaiyajins.

The racket it made to drag the guy in front of histhrone made Vegeta look up from that consideration and he measuredthe rest of the figure. His torso was clad in a sleeveless waistcoatof white fabric that stopped just below the chest, two delicatechains stretched across tanned, taut skin holding the garmenttogether. Wide golden hoops gleamed on the upper arms, while the armswere tied behind the back. A tight white belt stretched around thehips and the trousers were made of several layers of white, slightlysheer fabric that billowed wide around the legs and ended in twogolden hoops around the ankles.

Vegeta frowned at this excessof glitter and let his eyes glide back up to the figure, which by nowwas standing not far from the gallery on which his throne waslocated. Strange ... had he been so absorbed in the contemplation ofthis person that he had not noticed how the soldiers led him closer?Obviously he had ... he had to be more attentive. Something like thiswas not allowed to happen to him!

And even as he thought this,his eyes met the face of the slave and his black gaze. No trace offear, no trace of submissiveness. Just a stubborn and defiant lookback. He liked that and the brief hint of a smile flitted across hisotherwise very serious face. He turned to the emissary, who hadstepped a little to one side.

"So this is a human?""No, your Majesty. If I may humbly request it ... see foryourself." The Minotaur took a few steps back and made way forthe King of the Saiyans, who rose with a sigh. He was already curiouswhy so much fuss was made about a simple slave.

The peoplepresent in the hall bowed as the king rose ... except for the objectof Vegeta's attention, and it took a blow to the back of his knee tomake the slave kneel. Vegeta, however, he did not take his eyes offfor a second. That spoke well for him and the king revised hisassessment. This boy was not a fighter, he was a full-bloodedwarrior.

With serene steps and flowing red cloak, Vegetadescended the gallery and passed the emissary and the soldiers. Theprisoner's head followed him and now he also saw that the warrior'sforearms were each encased in a wide golden cuff, holding his handscaptive with a single-link chain. And then suddenly everything elsebecame unimportant and Vegeta remained with his eyes wide open, stiffas a board where he stood.

A brown tail moved nervously underthe bound hands and between the lower legs kneeling on the floor. "ASaiyan?!" Vegeta snapped and turned to the emissary. "That'sa Saiyajin!" The emissary nodded. "We found him on Earth.He didn't know he was a Saiyajin, believed he was one of theinhabitants of this planet, a human."

Vegeta craned hishead, glanced briefly at the bound man, and turned back to theminotaur. "That's why the chain around his neck." Theemissary began to sweat. "Yes ... yes sire." He bowedseveral times. "We knew no other way to help ourselves. Becauseof his strength, we had to resort to this stone, or we would neverhave been able to defeat him." Vegeta snorted and his gazewandered back and forth from the necklace, the boy's face and theemissary. In his mind it was working.

A Saiyan ... a Saiyanwho knew nothing of his origins? That had to mean he was a weaklingwho had been sent to another planet as a child. Which in turn meantit had happened during his father's time. So why the hell had theSaiyajin never shown up in the files as 'not returned'? After all,when he had taken his father's place, he had made sure that all thebaby warriors had been brought back. Why had this one beenoverlooked!!!

Taking a deep breath, aware of the stares of thewarrior nobility, Vegeta tightened his stature. "Very well. Whatis his name?" The Minotaur, who had seemingly been holding hisbreath the entire time and had begun to tremble more and more at theKing's increasingly scowl, breathed a sigh of relief. "We don'tknow that, your majesty." The corner of Vegeta's mouth twitchedand he turned to his gift, which had not taken its eyes off him allthis time. "What is your name?"

Son Goku's browsdrew together darkly and he didn't lower his gaze for a moment. Hedidn't know who this guy was, nor where he was here. Yet, no matterhow imperiously this broken meter could act ... he would certainlynot bend! Let him talk to his butt if that gave him pleasure. "What'syour name?" Fuck you!

Vegeta waited a few moments, butthe defiant, stubborn look made it clear very quickly that he couldnot expect an answer to his question. He easily withstood thepetulant flashing eyes and after a further scrutiny of the facebefore him, he revised the boy's age downwards by a few more years.At the beginning he had assumed that the warrior was his age, but nowhe estimated that he was about four to six years younger. So he wasalmost still a child.

With a broad grin on his lips, he turnedaway from him and gave his bodyguard an imperious gesture to take himaway. Then he turned to the envoy. "I accept the gifts and willoverlook the fact that you have set out on an expedition to thenorthern galaxy without my permission."

The Minotaurswallowed, paled, immediately looked to the ground and bowed. "Howgenerous of Your Majesty." "But should that happen again, Iwill do to your people what you did to his supposed people, forcethem into slavery. Are we clear on that?" The emissary turned ashade paler, fell to his knees and his horns touched the ground atVegeta's feet. "Yes, your majesty." "Perfectly."

Vegetaclimbed onto his throne, let the cloak flutter and sat down againwith a dignified posture. His black eyes rested on the minotaur, whorose shivering and stepped back with bows without turning his back onhim. "Ah ... one more thing.", Vegeta's voice cut thesilence and the emissary paused in place. "I understand the needthat forced you to use the stone to get the Saiyajin under yourcontrol. Yet, in doing so, you have violated one of my laws."The king's eyes went to his bodyguard. "Cut off his head andsend this one back to his commanders with a warning."