Chapter Text
“Our whole world was obliterated!”
“Impossible!”
The news of the destruction of Planet Vegeta due to a meteor strike had just reached a small group of Saiyan warriors on a nameless planet. There were three older soldiers and then three younger ones who were with them. The older ones were shocked beyond belief at the news. However, two of the younger soldiers seemed completely unfazed.
The oldest of the younger Saiyans, Raditz, with long, spiky black hair, commented, “Well, I guess we’re pretty lucky, aren’t we? I guess it’s a good thing we decided to ignore Frieza’s orders to go home.”
Vegeta, the other soldier to which Raditz spoke sitting next to him, whose spiky black hair pointed upward instead of down like Raditz, grunted in frustration after taking a bite of a purple fruit. “Now I’ll never get to be King Vegeta,” he complained. Vegeta was the Prince of the Saiyan race, hence why he was named the same as their planet, as it was supposed to be his to rule one day.
“Vegeta, you have a brother, don’t you?” one of the older soldiers, Nappa, asked him.
Casually, Vegeta answered, “Oh yeah…I wonder if he got blown up, too? Huh, not that it matters.” Then he chomped down on the fruit once again.
One of the other soldiers turned to Raditz. “And you had a brother, as well?”
Just as Vegeta had, Raditz replied without a care in the world, “Hmm…yeah, but he was just gonna be a lower-class warrior. He was still at home sleeping in a nursing capsule. The disgrace.” Then he brought a hand to his chin. “Wait…I think Mom said she sent Kakarot off the planet in a pod, though.” Then he shrugged and placed both his hands behind his head. “Oh well, I couldn’t care any less.”
“How can you both care so little about what’s just happened?”
All eyes turned to the youngest of the three young Saiyans: a girl named Dalia, who looked both sad and angry at the same time.
“Our home was just destroyed; our families are gone!” she exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. “Why don’t you care more about this?”
“What good is crying about it gonna do now?” Raditz stated, almost sounding bored. “It’s not gonna bring the planet back.”
“But where does that leave us?” she questioned
“Our goal is the same: we keep conquering planets for Lord Frieza,” said Vegeta.
Dalia scoffed in disbelief. “Really, Vegeta? You just lost your kingdom and your only concern is doing Frieza’s bidding? You should be ashamed.”
“You watch how you speak to our Prince, you tail-less brat!” Nappa threatened her, baring his teeth.
All of them glared at Dalia and she clenched her teeth. Once again, she felt as though they were all against her…which wasn’t anything new for her.
For some reason, Dalia always felt different from the other Saiyan warriors. For starters, she didn’t have the distinctive tail that all Saiyans possessed, as Nappa had just felt the need to point out yet again. That in and off itself set her apart quite a bit. Her shorter, shaggy hair that fell almost to her shoulders was a dark midnight blue color as opposed to the normal black hair the rest of the Saiyans had. Then, while the others had dark eyes, she had purple eyes. Most of all, however, the other Saiyans were violent fighters who conquered planets and needlessly slaughtered innocents without hesitation, starting from a young age.
That was something Dalia just couldn’t stomach…and the other Saiyans she trained with looked down on her for it.
Especially Prince Vegeta.
With sharp eyes and a tone equally so, the young Prince chided her, “You think I should be ashamed? You are the one who should be ashamed. You call yourself a Saiyan and yet you cry at everything we do. I don’t know how you’re even here with us elite warriors. You’re so weak, it’s pathetic.”
Dalia’s teeth ground together angrily, her hands curling into fists. “Caring is not a weakness!”
“We’re Saiyans, Dalia. We’re not trained to care,” Raditz said, his voice mocking her on the last word. Then he straightened up, his young face hardening. “We’re trained to dominate. It’s what we do.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s right,” argued Dalia.
“What do you know about what’s ‘right’?” questioned Nappa. “You’re the youngest one here.”
She glared at him. “Oh, don’t give me that, Nappa. I’m only a few months younger than Vegeta.”
“Like that changes anything,” Vegeta taunted her, standing up. “You’re still more of a child than the rest of us. Maybe you should’ve been left in a nursing capsule, same as Raditz’s brother.” As he and the other Saiyans laughed at his remark, he threw the scraps of the purple fruit he’d been eating at her, light purple juice and flecks of its remaining flesh splattering across her face.
Despite the fact she didn’t like fighting, Dalia was not without her deeply-rooted Saiyan rage, which was now quickly bubbling up inside her like an awakening volcano. With an angry shout, she flew towards Vegeta and tackled him to the ground, catching him off guard and knocking him flat on his back. “You’re an awful Prince!” she cried out as she threw a punch into his face.
He let out a growl and fired a blast of energy from his hand straight into her chest, sending her flying. She landed with a hard thud a few feet away.
“You’re gonna pay for that, little girl!” one of the older Saiyans called out.
Then all of them except Vegeta proceeded to fly over and kick her while she was down. Every hard thud, every kick that landed elicited a cry of pain from her. Vegeta simply watched for a moment, his eye involuntarily twitching at every other pained yell he heard from Dalia. That stupid girl….
“That’s enough.”
Even though he was young, his voice was strong with authority towards his fellow Saiyans. The others ceased their beatings and took a step back from Dalia, who was weeping in pain with her arms protecting her head. Her eyes, watery with tears, lifted and met Vegeta’s condescending gaze looking down on her.
“For a Prince…you sure don’t…seem to care very much about all of your subjects,” she grunted out.
He just scoffed. “You think I’d give a damn about a low class weakling like yourself? Only real warriors with high power levels are worthy of my time.”
“Well, she does have a high power level,” one of the older Saiyans clarified.
Vegeta scoffed again. “I don’t care. She’s only here because Frieza gave her to us to babysit.” He once again cast his gaze down to Dalia on the ground. “You might be assigned to train with us elite fighters, Dalia, but mark my words: you’ll never be one of us.”
Without another word, the young Prince simply turned around, folded his arms across his chest--a pretty typical stance for him--and just stared up at the sky. Raditz, Nappa and the other Saiyans dispersed nearby, leaving Dalia alone to pick herself up. She ran her gloved hand across her face and it came away with a red blotch on it. They’d made her nose bleed and her body hurt, but it didn’t feel like anything was broken, luckily. She continued glaring at Vegeta, even though he was no longer looking at her, and her eyes filled with tears again.
In the blink of an eye, she had just lost everything. Her home was now gone. Her parents were gone. She had nothing left. All she had now was this group of Saiyan brutes who were going to make sure her life was hell from now on simply because she thought a little differently than them. Their King, King Vegeta, was gone, too, and that most likely left Frieza to rule over any Saiyans that remained. She knew there was no way he’d let Prince Vegeta assume the throne. Ever since Frieza had come to their planet, Dalia hadn’t had a good feeling about him. Something didn’t seem right about him that she couldn’t shake, but she was just a child. Even if she had told someone, they’d tell her she’s just imagining things and brush her off.
Her eyes found Vegeta’s again as he peered back over his shoulder at her, his gaze cold for a child’s. She couldn’t believe how unaffected he was by the news that his entire kingdom had been destroyed. He didn’t care about the people themselves; he only cared that he’d lost the chance to rule them one day, which was appalling to her. Even if nothing had happened to Planet Vegeta, the Prince had already made it quite clear what kind of King he would’ve been just a minute prior.
“You think I’d give a damn about a low class weakling like yourself? Only real warriors with high power levels are worthy of my time.”
He would’ve only shown respect to those with what he deemed were high enough power levels and were strong enough warriors. Anyone else he regarded as weak would be treated like the dirt he walked on. He wouldn’t have been a good King, anyway. That was maybe the one miniscule silver lining Dalia could see in the destruction of their planet: it made it so Vegeta could never be King…and maybe the Saiyan race was better off for it. No one that selfish and proud deserved to rule.
With his eyes on her, Vegeta taunted her, “You’d better pick yourself up and start rethinking your life. Your pathetic compassion is going to get you killed one day.” Then he turned away.
Dalia’s hands clenched together as she inwardly cursed him. She then caught that Raditz, Nappa and the other Saiyans were all giving her the same dirty looks as Vegeta had. She simply sneered back at them as she stood up, brushing the dust off of her armor.
Everything was going to be different now with Planet Vegeta gone…but there was one thing she wasn’t going to let change and that was her beliefs. To help her survive life with the Prince and whatever Saiyans were left, she’d keep them to herself for now, but she wouldn’t toss them aside just because Vegeta told her to. If anything, she’d stick to them even more just to spite him.
One day, she’d prove him wrong.
On another meaningless planet, a city was already burning underneath a crimson sky. Smoke curled into the air from shattered buildings as energy blasts lit certain spots in the streets like distant lightning strikes. As the Saiyan warriors swept through the last pockets of resistance, screams echoed on the wind.
Dalia hated planets like this. Not because the people fought back…but because they always seemed to lose. It pained her to see people simply fighting for their home be massacred without real cause.
The now sixteen year-old Saiyan girl had landed atop a fractured building and was surveying the battlefield, her hands in tight fists at her sides as she watched civilians fleeing through the debris-filled streets. This had been the cycle for the past eleven years of her life: conquer planets and destroy civilizations, all in the name of Lord Frieza. Since the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Frieza had appointed himself Emperor and had made everyone in his Frieza Force go out to take over more of the galaxy for him. This included the very few remaining Saiyans who survived. Dalia hated every mission she got sent on, every battle she had to witness and be a part of. Her feelings about the gratuitous subjugation of innocent planets still hadn’t changed in all her years in the Frieza Force, but she didn’t have a choice in her situation. It was either live in silence or die. She trained alongside the other Saiyans and learned how to fight, but she still tried her best to not kill when she could. She’d disarm or render someone unconscious when she could, but she wouldn’t kill anyone. Not without good reason.
“Quite the sight, isn’t it?”
Dalia glanced over her shoulder and found Vegeta descending onto the rooftop behind her. At the age of sixteen himself, he was already a feared warrior throughout Frieza’s empire. His armor was scuffed up from battle and a small trickle of blood fell from the corner of his mouth, almost highlighting the bloodlust he now carried.
As he came up beside her and folded his arms across his chest, she sighed and responded flatly, “A burning city would not be my first choice of a good view.”
“Hmph. Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he grumbled. He gazed down at the city and a smirk crossed his lips. “This planet put up a better fight than the last one.”
She didn’t look at him nor show any hint of the disgust she felt. “Whatever you say, Vegeta.”
He rolled his eyes. “Still moping over every battle, are you?”
“I just want to get this over with,” she stated in reply.
“What, do you have something better to do?”
“Even if I did, it’s none of your business."
The Prince scoffed at her, but said nothing.
The two of them stood in silence for a brief moment, the wind weaving through their hair. Eleven years hadn’t done much to improve their affiliation since they were children. Vegeta was loyal to Frieza and did his bidding almost to a fault, constantly trying to prove himself, even after already doing so. He enjoyed the sensation of fights and destruction, much like the other Saiyans. Even though Dalia kept her opposition to such things to herself these days, he seemed to see through her silence and knew she still held onto those ideals, which caused him to still give her grief and scold her a lot of the time. Thanks to Vegeta’s treatment of her, the others followed suit and she had become even more of an outcast among her remaining people. It was beyond difficult to deal with some days, but she refused to let them break her. While she hated every second Vegeta chided her or every time the other Saiyans decided to use their fists against her, she knew she’d keep getting stronger so she could prove to them she wasn’t weak.
Though, in the midst of all the mistreatment, there were still small moments here and there where Dalia couldn’t help but feel a smidgen of admiration for Vegeta. He was callous and full of pride, yes, but he did show great potential in battle. He was cunning, fierce and resourceful. In the past few years, he had started to create his own energy attacks, which even some of the adults had yet to do. He was also becoming more of a leader among the Saiyans as well as the Frieza Force and was often recognized as such, even at a young age. If only he would learn more empathy and compassion, Dalia thought he’d potentially be someone she could get along with and even respect…but that was not bound to change anytime soon. Most days, she couldn’t stand him, but she’d learned to tolerate him for her own sanity.
“Don’t you ever think we’re meant for more than this, Vegeta?” she asked him without looking at him, her voice low and quiet over the sounds of distant cries.
“We’re Saiyans, Dalia. This is exactly what we’re meant to do,” he bluntly responded, his own eyes still on the city.
“But don’t you want something else out of life, more than just fighting?”
He just grinned. “Why would I? The thrill of battle is enough to satisfy me.”
Then it was her turn to roll her eyes. “You’re very single-minded for a Prince.”
Before Vegeta could make a retort, there was a sudden explosion that erupted several streets away, a plume of smoke rising into the air.
Vegeta’s grin widened. “Looks like there’s more fun to be had.” He glanced over his shoulder at Dalia. “Follow me…and try to not fall behind.”
She scoffed. “With your giant ego weighing you down, I’ll keep up easily.”
Not amused at her comment, Vegeta just let out a grunt and then launched himself from the rooftop, flying in the direction of the explosion with Dalia in tow.
As they reached the group of “insurgents”, as the Prince labeled them, he tore through them like he was a living weapon. Every blast he fired sent soldiers and even nearby civilians flying. Every blow he struck shattered armor and bone alike. He truly was a force to be reckoned with, against which most people didn’t stand a chance.
Dalia hung back and, when Vegeta wasn’t looking, ushered some civilians away. If any soldiers came at her, she just disarmed them, rendered them unconscious or fired non-lethal energy blasts to keep them away. She’d gotten better at doing so over the years; she was getting stronger every day…but this wasn’t right. Every fiber of her being was begging her to stop and to not fight these people, but what choice did she have? If she didn’t, Vegeta and the others would make her life more of a living hell or kill her for insubordination. Or worse: Frieza could do the same, if he so desired.
She had just knocked out the last of the soldiers close to her when she caught movement a few feet away out of the corner of her eye. Her head turned and she gasped.
A lone soldier with a rifle raised…aimed straight at Vegeta.
Her eyes darted to the Prince. He was still too busy fighting more soldiers, his attention facing away from where she was. His back was completely exposed, he wouldn’t see the gunman in time to evade the shot.
She could sense the man was just about to pull the trigger.
“No!”
Everything became a blur in one split second. She reacted before she even realized it and found herself in close proximity to the now wide-eyed and gasping soldier…her fist driven straight through his chest.
Vegeta had heard her cry just as he finished off the last soldier and he whipped around to see what happened. He was left in disbelief as he saw Dalia’s fist protruding through a man’s back, covered in his blood. Her eyes were huge with shock as she pulled her arm free, letting the man collapse to the ground. The man had a rifle that had been pointed in his direction before it clattered on the pavement.
Did Dalia just save his life?
She stood frozen, her terrified eyes locked on the now dead body before her. Slowly, she raised her hand and gaped in horror at the man’s blood dripping from her fingers, her white glove now stained red. Her ragged breathing caught in her throat and she fought the urge to vomit.
She…she had killed him.
“Well, well…it’s about time you grew a spine.”
Vegeta walked over to her, his arms once again across his chest, but a pleased smirk on his face. He glanced down at the body. “More than I can say for him, seeing as he no longer has one.”
Dalia abhorred that comment, but she was unable to reply, the ability to speak failing her in the moment. Her blood-soaked hand slowly fell back to her side and she closed her eyes, battling the tears that were forming. She would not let Vegeta see her tears.
Then she heard him tell her, “Looks like our work here is done,” and then fly away.
Once she was sure he was gone, her eyes gradually opened again, looking down at the lifeless form on the ground. Something was poking out of the front pocket of his jacket and she knelt down to see what it was. When she pulled it out, she realized it was a photograph of the man…standing next to a woman and holding a small child.
She choked on a sob and dropped the photo. Then she ripped the bloody glove on her hand and threw it far away from her before flying away as fast as she could, following Vegeta. What had she done?
The fighting was soon over and any remaining defenders surrendered. The city and the planet now belonged to Frieza. As the Saiyans celebrated their victory, Dalia refrained from it. Not with the weight of that man’s death on her shoulders. Once they’d returned to camp, she replaced the glove she had thrown away, but the memory of his blood on her hand didn’t go away.
She sat on a rocky cliff overlooking the burning horizon, staring at the hand that had killed that man. What had possessed her to react that way without thinking? Why hadn’t she just blasted him out of the way or disarmed him like she’d done other soldiers that she fought?
That was it. He hadn’t been aiming for her. He’d been aiming for Vegeta.
That had been the only difference. It hadn’t been her own life in danger, it had been the Prince’s. Someone else had been threatened and she wasn’t about to see someone else die, even if it was someone she couldn’t stand.
This cold feeling of death on her conscience…how could Vegeta and the others relish in it the way they did? It made Dalia want to scream, cry, punch something, vomit and run away all at once. It was the worst feeling.
Suddenly, she felt as though she was being watched before hearing the dreaded Prince’s voice behind her, “You’ve been sulking for hours.”
Of course, it was him. “What do you want?” she droned, not even looking back at him.
He stepped up beside her, once again watching the horizon and not looking at her. “You could have let him kill me,” he said.
She quietly gulped. He knew what she had done. “I know.”
“So why didn’t you?”
She didn’t know how to answer that question, especially since she wasn’t entirely sure why herself. So she just answered, “I’m sure you would’ve done the same for a fellow Saiyan.”
They both glanced at each other silently…until Vegeta let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“That just proves how little you know about me,” he said back.
“What?” she asked, puzzled.
“If a warrior is foolish enough to let themselves get killed, then that’s their failure,” he spat.
She stood up and faced him. “So if roles were reversed; if I had been the one about to be shot…?”
He cocked his head and smirked. “Then you should be watching your back and see the attack coming. It’s not up to me to do it for you.”
Her fingers curled into her palms, almost threatening to break her skin. How could he be so apathetic and indifferent?
Though, he went on, “You eliminated a threat, Dalia; you fulfilled your objective.” It was less comforting and more trying to get her to just move on.
Looking away, she said back, full of shame, “I killed a man who was just protecting his home.”
“He was weak,” he said.
“He had a family, Vegeta!” she exclaimed.
He scoffed. “And?” While she gaped at him in disbelief, he went on, “We had families, too, Dalia, and they’re gone. That’s just how life is. It’s kill or be killed in this universe, so you need to grow up and stop crying over taking a life. You’re stronger than this.”
That last statement caught Dalia off guard. Did Vegeta just admit she was strong?
The Prince seemed to catch that, too, and his cheeks turned pink before averting his gaze. After a few seconds, he heaved a sigh. “For what it’s worth….” He turned his attention to her again. “...you fought like a real Saiyan today.”
The statement was clearly intended as praise; perhaps the highest praise the Prince of all Saiyans could offer, in his own way. To Dalia, however, it didn’t feel that way.
Vegeta turned and began walking away. “Try not to brood all night,” he called over his shoulder.
“I learned from the best…,” Dalia replied, more to herself than to him.
Then he was gone.
She stayed on that cliff long until after darkness blanketed the horizon, alone with the memory of the man she’d killed and the uncomfortable realization that what she considered to be one of the worst things she had ever done, Vegeta saw as one of her proudest moments.
"Kill them."
As the Saiyans all stood before a group of civilians huddled together on the ground, the order Vegeta gave to Dalia made all eyes converge on her, waiting eagerly for her to comply.
The order that gave Dalia pause.
At the young adult age of eighteen, she had progressed even more in her abilities, which had seemingly caught the consideration of the Prince, especially since she had killed that civilian man to save his life. He had paid her more attention in the last couple years during training and missions, which had made it harder for Dalia to get away with not killing anyone. She’d been able to get away with it a lot of the time, but just barely sometimes. Or she’d just let Vegeta and the other Saiyans deal with everything before she could. However, this time, he was putting her in a much more precarious position.
Did she dare disobey the Prince and refuse or did she go against everything she believed in and take the lives of these people just to satisfy him?
Her hand lifted up, her palm facing the innocents as she contemplated charging up an energy blast. However, she hesitated as the pleading stares of the people looked up at her, including a couple young children. Her heart wrenched inside her.
Impatiently behind her, Nappa prodded her, “Get to it already, we don't have all day.”
“What's the holdup?” Raditz also questioned.
Sweat was forming on her brow and her heart rate sped up. If she obeyed Vegeta’s order, then she’d still be considered a real Saiyan; part of the elite warriors. Maybe she wouldn’t be so much of an outcast anymore if she did it…but the longer she looked at the fearful people in front of her, the harder it became for her to deal the blow. Could she even do it?
No…this wasn’t right.
Beside her, Vegeta was losing patience with her. What was going on with her? “Why are you hesitating? Do it,” he commanded.
Her hand started shaking, her breathing grew heavy and her heart was pounding so loud, it was a drumbeat in her head. One blast was all it would take…but was belonging worth the cost of what she believed in? Perhaps even her very soul?
Vegeta then bellowed loudly, “I gave you an order, Dalia! Now finish them!”
“I can’t!”
Dalia’s voice cracked on the last word as her emotions were on the verge of spilling out like a broken dam. Her hand lowered back down to her side and her eyes closed, a small feeling of shame taking hold. "I can't do it."
Nappa and Raditz exchanged unamused yet also bewildered glances at Dalia’s refusal.
The civilians seemed relieved for a brief moment, but still trembled in fear.
Dalia opened her eyes and met Vegeta’s furious gaze. He growled in frustration before his head turned and his hand shot out in front of him. She heard and felt his energy firing up and, to her horror, he blasted a destructive wave of energy at the civilians. Their screams were abruptly cut off as the energy exploded and consumed every single one of them. Dalia turned away and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, tears already bleeding through. Vegeta had reacted so fast, she hadn’t been able to stop him. By refusing to kill those people, she had only ensured their deaths.
Now more losses were on her head.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Vegeta then demanded. “You dared to defy my orders?”
Inside, she was boiling with anger, but doing her best to stay calm. Then Dalia replied, “I'm sorry, but I can't follow orders that I know are wrong.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “That you know are wrong? Are you questioning my authority?”
She faced him fully, her eye contact with him unwavering. “I have repeatedly recognized your authority, Vegeta, but that doesn't automatically make you right.”
The Prince narrowed his eyes at her yet said nothing, waiting for her to explain herself.
For a second, she was almost transported back to the day of Planet Vegeta’s destruction: one of the first times she had outright objected to the Saiyan way of life. She got a sense of deja vu, but this time, she wasn’t going to let Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz walk all over her. This time, she would stand her ground. She had spent years being silent about her thoughts and ideals just to try and survive with these brutes, but no more. Even if this made things harder for her from now on, she wasn’t going to compromise herself for them. They weren’t worth it.
Not even Vegeta.
“Why must we always be killing innocent people?” she questioned. “They have lives, just like us. Surely, we can all be better than this!”
Vegeta folded his arms and scoffed mockingly. “Still you believe those simple-minded ideals...and here I thought you'd finally grown up and accepted who you really are.”
“This is who I really am,” she snapped back, trying to hide that his comment stung. “I won't mindlessly kill everyone in my path like an animal...like all of you.”
Raditz took a step forward. “What the hell did you say?”
Dalia whipped around to look at him and Nappa. “At least animals kill to survive. You all kill because someone stronger than you told you to.” Then she faced Vegeta once more. “Especially you, Prince Vegeta,” she said, saying his title in an almost sarcastic tone. “Your relentless cruelty and disregard for innocent life just to prove yourself to an Emperor who couldn't give a damn...you're the most evil of them all. I thought there was more to you than this.”
His hard scowl remained unchanged, but she caught his fingers tightening on his arm. “Spare me your preaching. Compassion is a luxury for the weak.”
She glared at him, her rage building up bit by bit. “Then I'd rather be weak than a heartless monster.”
“Tch. I had high hopes for you, Dalia. You disappoint me.”
“That makes two of us.”
He stared at her in silence, but she swore she saw something flicker in his eyes at her words. It wasn’t just disappointment…it was hurt. He was trying not to show it, but it seemed that what she said genuinely struck a chord in him. Though, it quickly vanished behind his anger.
“You're lucky I don't kill you right now myself,” he threatened her.
“I'd like to see you try,” she said back. Behind her, she heard Raditz and Nappa lightly gasp in astonishment.
That didn’t sit well with Vegeta. “Is that a challenge?”
She grinned daringly. “Yes.”
More stunned gasps sounded from Nappa and Raditz.
Vegeta stared at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. Then he smirked in return. “Fine,” he said, that single word full of contempt as he dropped his hands to his sides. “If you’re so eager to throw your life away, then be my guest.”
Dalia clenched her fists and the ground beneath her cracked as her energy flared. This fight had been a long time coming. With a shout, she launched herself forward. She crossed the distance between them in an instant and threw a punch at Vegeta’s face. He raised an arm to block her attack, but he had only barely been able to do so. His eyes widened slightly at her speed and the power behind her punch.
She didn’t stop there. Years of frustration poured into every strike, punch and kick she threw at him. He blocked and dodged most of them, but not all. Then she sent an energy burst that exploded against his shoulder and forced him back a few feet. For the briefest moment, he appeared genuinely surprised at her fierceness and battle prowess. She seemed to have improved in her training.
Raditz let out a low whistle and remarked to Nappa, “Looks like she’s finally got some fight in her.”
Dalia backflipped away from the Prince, heaving a heavy breath as she landed. “Is this all the mighty Prince of all Saiyans can do?” she shouted, taunting him. “Fight me for real!”
Vegeta got up from his knee to his feet and brushed some dirt from his shoulder. “You asked for this.”
He moved so quickly, he almost seemed to vanish for a split second. Then the next thing Dalia knew, a crushing blow slammed into her side and Vegeta drove his knee into her. Pain exploded through her body as she was sent hurtling across the battlefield, rolling in the dirt and crashing into a rocky wall. Coughing from the impact, she forced herself back to her feet, but he was already standing in front of her. His fist made contact with her stomach, forcing the air from her lungs. Then he punched her over and over again, each hit swifter than the last. The gap between their power levels and skills became painfully obvious to everyone. She tried to fight back, but nothing she did mattered. He was just simply faster and stronger than her.
Finally, she managed to jump back a couple feet from him and, with a scream, she fired one last desperate energy blast. Casually, he swatted it away like it was nothing and it disappeared into the sky.
His hand shot forward and he grabbed her by the wrist. With a battle yell, he spun and slammed her straight into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. The impact knocked any remaining strength she had left from her body. She attempted to rise, but found she had nothing left.
She had lost.
Vegeta suddenly was crouching over her, one hand pressed against her shoulder, pinning her to the ground, and the other was raised by his head and slowly charging up with violet energy. His eyes were almost radiating with fury.
Behind them, Nappa and Raditz watched with baited breath as they waited for their Prince’s final judgment.
Dalia stared up at the growing blast forming in Vegeta’s hand. This was it. He was going to kill her, she just knew it. Despite everything, a small part of her was surprised. Not that he intended to kill her…only that the thought hurt as much as it did.
Then she met his fiery gaze, waiting for him to end everything. The last small act of defiance she could show him was to meet death with confidence, not turn away in fear. She wanted him to look her in the eyes when he killed her.
For a brief moment, there was a flash of something in his expression that she couldn’t discern. A slight hesitation. Then it vanished as quickly as it came.
“Pathetic,” he said and his energy sphere disappeared.
Dalia blinked, stunned.
Vegeta stood up and turned away. “If I wanted you dead, you already would be,” he then stated.
She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Then why don’t you do it?” she demanded.
His back stayed toward her. “Because you’re not worth the energy.”
Those words struck her almost as hard as his fists.
“You may be naive and delusional…” He then glanced at her over his shoulder. “...but you’re still useful.”
She clenched her teeth. So that’s all it was. She was just an asset to him and nothing else.
Turning to fully face her again, Vegeta’s expression hardened. “You think compassion makes you different. You think mercy makes you better than the rest of us.” His eyes narrowed and his voice darkened. “All it does is make you weak.”
Dalia’s fists tightened, but she kept her eyes on him. “It’s like I said, Vegeta: I’d rather be weak than a heartless monster.”
His voice now cold as ice, he declared, “The universe doesn’t reward kindness, Dalia. It only rewards power. That’s why we Saiyans continue to survive. If you won’t understand that…then maybe you deserve to get yourself killed.”
Her throat tightened, nearly choking her.
“Just don’t expect me to care when you do.”
Tears welled up in her eyes both of hurt and anger. How could he say such things? When he turned to walk away, she declared, “So much for the Prince of all Saiyans. That’s only relevant until one of them thinks differently than you.”
Nappa was suddenly above her and about to bring his foot down on her. “Why, you little--!”
“Stand down, Nappa,” Vegeta ordered him, having stopped in place. “Don’t waste your strength on her. Let’s go.” He once again looked back over his shoulder at Dalia. “Either come to the ship with us or find your own way back. I don’t care what you do.”
Then he flew off, Nappa right behind him. Raditz cast Dalia a quick look, nothing too discernable in his expression, before flying off after the other two.
As he flew away, Vegeta found he was strangely at odds with himself. At first, he thought he should’ve followed through on his threat and killed Dalia for her defiance. A real Prince made good on his threats, especially in front of his subjects. Yet there was a small inkling inside him that was glad he didn’t. While Dalia was insufferable and infuriating, she was a capable warrior that they still could use, as long as she was alive. He still was convinced that one day, her ideals would get her into trouble or killed.
It truly was a disappointment to him that she still was like that. Just when he’d believed he’d found a real peer in Dalia and that she’d make a great Saiyan warrior one day. She believed he was a monster for honoring the Saiyan ways. He’d heard that before from many people and it never bothered him…but for some reason, it had when Dalia said it.
Back down on the ground, Dalia got to her feet gradually. Everything hurt: her body, her pride, her heart. All the things Vegeta had called her echoed in her mind.
Naive. Delusional. Weak.
No…he was wrong. He had to be. Dalia knew that strength and cruelty were not the same, just as how power and compassion were not opposites. One day, she was going to prove that to him. One day, she would be strong enough that nobody would dismiss her beliefs as a weakness or force her to become something she wasn’t. One day, she would be strong enough to stand above every person who had mocked or chided her for caring.
One day…she would surpass even Vegeta, no matter what it took.
With those vows in mind, she took to the air to follow the others.
Neither Dalia or Vegeta realized that this moment was where their paths had truly begun to diverge. One pursuing power above all else and the other determined to prove that power alone was not enough to survive.