As we entered the castle and ascended the stairs to the throne room, I could feel that something was going on with Paragus. The Saiyan Colonel looked tense.
Well, even more so than he usually does.
"Something on your mind, Colonel Paragus?" I asked, not wanting to beat around the damn bush. "You seem bothered by something."
He glanced back at me with his usual cold expression and nodded his head before saying, "Broly is waiting for us in the throne room, along with a few other Saiyan warriors. King Vegeta ordered me to bring my son to him before sending me to the port to collect you."
I can't tell if that was a good thing or not...
King Vegeta's motives so far have left me more perplexed than I would like to admit.
Up until this moment, I never really questioned the King's motives. After all, he seemed to be more interested in nurturing my growth rather than stifling it, even after the birth of his son two years ago.
That was until he sent me out three months ago.
At first I thought he was sending me to my death when he ordered me to conquer a planet that multiple Saiyan Infiltration Teams had died on. But then ordering my father to teach me the Power Ball made no sense if his goal was my death.
Then there was the current situation I find myself in, where I'm about to walk into the throne room where are a number of Saiyan warriors waiting for us, along with Broly.
At this point, I'm expecting either a celebration upon our arrival or a Jujutsu Kaisen style jumping.
---
Upon entering the throne room, I'm immediately greeted with the sight of a very nervous looking Broly standing in the middle of the hall, surrounded by six Saiyan warriors that were standing off to the side. Their power levels weren't that high, the strongest one clocking in at around six or seven thousand.
Oddly enough, that one looked familiar to me for some strange reason...
Upon seeing us enter, Broly looked towards his father with a relieved expression and waited for us walk next to him before he hid behind his father's leg.
"Zyleth, I see you've returned home with no issues." King Vegeta said suddenly, his eyes looking towards me with his usual stern gaze. "I've heard from Bardock that you have gained control over the Great Ape."
"Yes, King Vegeta." I replied as I kneeled down.
As much as I hated doing all this mindless posturing, I needed to give off the impression that I'm still loyal to the King to a fault. It was strange though. Before, I didn't really mind. But after growing stronger than him, I find myself growing more and more irritated by the fact that I'm bowing to him.
"Good, good. I've always liked that ambitious nature of yours, Zyleth. So much so that I'll overlook the fact that you deliberately chose to prolong your mission on planet N-937." He said, his lips turning upward into a small, infuriating smirk.
"Thank you, King Vegeta. I'm not worthy of your generosity." I replied, rolling my eyes since none of them could see me.
"Make no mistake, it will not happen again." He said, his tone leaving no room for debate. "Now, with that said, what are those things you have in your hands?"
Hearing that, I hold up the alien blasters I had been carrying up in clear view for the King.
"Alien weaponry, My Liege. These are weapons that I had taken off the bodies of an alien intercept team on planet N-937. I thought that since they had taken out multiple Infiltration Teams, the scientists here would like to study them." I answered quickly and efficiently.
The King waved his hand and a couple of the lower powered Saiyans walked over to collect the two blasters from me. I stood up and handed them over, the two giving me a slight nod of acknowledgment.
"Excellent work. You didn't just think of advancing your own power, but the power of our military. You are more than meeting my high expectations of you, Zyleth." The King stated.
"Thank you for your words of praise, My Liege." I bowed my head.
"Now, onto more pressing matters. I believe that I had given you my word on a certain... issue." King Vegeta says as he looks towards Broly, who was peaking out behind his father's leg.
Before I could speak up, Paragus decided to butt in and inject himself into the conversation like an absolute fool.
"Yes, Your Majesty! You gave your word that my son will-"
"Silence." The King said, narrowing his eyes at Paragus.
The moment that word came out of the King's mouth, Paragus flinched and immediately such his mouth. The tension in the room grew so thick that no one dared to utter a damn syllable or else be subject to the King's short temper.
"One more interruption, Colonel Paragus, and you will not live to see the outcome of this decision." The King said, sending an intense glare towards Paragus.
Paragus quickly dropped to the ground on one knee, his head joining a millisecond after.
"Apologies, my Liege..." He muttered.
King Vegeta scoffed before his eyes looked back towards me and asking, "Are you certain that you'll be able to control this boy?"
That's the ten million Zeni question now, isn't it? Would I be able to reign Broly in if he ever got out of control?
A bunch of images flew through my mind as I thought about how loaded of a question that was. Broly vs Vegeta... Broly vs Frieza...
Broly vs Goku...
I don't think I've ever seen someone knock another person out and then wake them back up in the same combo, but I sure as hell didn't want it happening to me...
I can probably keep him under control... for now...
His power level managed to overload a Scouter, but I'm ninety percent sure that the Scouter he overloaded was one of the First Generation Scouters. Those could only read up to about thirty thousand before blowing up.
The problem was that I couldn't be certain that it was a First Generation. Because if I was wrong and it was one from the Second Generation, I would be severely fucked. Those things manage to read power levels up to a hundred thousand and higher.
And if Broly were to go Wrathful with the a power level that destroyed a Second Generation Scouter, then my previous statement of being severely fucked would be an goddamn understatement. The only way I would survive that confrontation would be to use Kai Kai to get me as far away from him as possible.
Shit, I did not think this through all the way when I initially wanted to save him and take him under my wing.
"I'm one hundred percent certain, King Vegeta." I lied directly to his face.
The King stared at me for a few seconds with that narrowed gaze before nodding his head.
"Then I'll leave the boy in your care for the time being." He says.
I let out a small breath of relief, but it was immediately cut short when the King started to talk again.
"But seeing as you're so confident, I'm sure you'll have no problem having another child under your care." He said with a scheming smile.
"Your Majesty?" I asked, tilting my head slightly with a face that had nothing but confusion written all over it.
The King stood up and motioned for us to follow him.
Why do I feel a headache coming on?
---
After about a minute, we arrived at the Royal Training Ground where there was a small child training by the striking the air. A very... familiar looking child.
"Vegeta!" The King called out, to which the child stopped and immediately turned towards us.
Vegeta?
Oh...
Oh no...
The boy ran over to us, taking his place beside his father. King Vegeta knelt down and placed a hand on his son's shoulder.
"This is my son, though I'm sure you could tell." He said, looking at him with pride before looking towards me. "I'll be assigning him to you as well."
"Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but I must object!" That oddly familiar Saiyan from the throne room suddenly shouted out.
I don't know who you are, but thank you! Seems like someone here besides me has a goddamn brain in that skull of theirs!
"You shouldn't leave the Prince in the hands of a weak child!" He added.
Okay, I take that back. Someone apparently wants to head off to the Otherworld earlier than they were supposed to.
"It seems you have objections about my decision, Nappa." King Vegeta looked at the bulky Saiyan with unpleased eyes.
Nappa? No wonder that guy looked so familiar. I couldn't really recognize him due to the fact that he still had hair. Looking at him more closely, he definitely made the right choice going bald.
Or did he not have a choice in the matter? Do Saiyans go bald?
Whatever. Don't know, don't care.
"Your Majesty, leave Prince Vegeta in my care. I swear that I will make him into a fine warrior." Nappa requested as he knelt on the ground.
Yes! Please! Take that little bundle of arrogance and pride far away from me! Broly would be a handful all on his own, I don't need another Saiyan child to take care of. What do I look like, a daycare?!
"And you think that you'll be a better teacher than Zyleth?" The King asked.
"I know it! The Prince will only grow weaker under his tutelage!" Nappa declared, not realizing how close he's coming to an early death.
My brow twitches with a fair bit of annoyance, but I stop myself from shooting myself in the foot and just let this situation play out. With any luck, this entire situation will end with Nappa taking over as teacher for the future Prince of No One, and I'll be free to pick daisies with the future God Dragger.
The King looked at Nappa and then turned his gaze towards me. He seems to think to himself for a few seconds before his lips turn to upwards into a smirk. A large, headache inducing smirk.
"I suppose you two will just have to settle this the old fashioned way."
[Word Count: 1,746.]