Chapter2: The Legend Awakens

Piccolo stood on a cliff side a few hundred feet from the battle, watching. To his left was the young Saiyan Gohan, his blue and white armor glistening in the Namekian sunlight.

"Mr. Piccolo," he began to ask. "Do you...know what just happened to Vegeta? His power level, it just shot through the roof!"

"Honestly I'm not sure, Gohan," the Namekian grunted. "You're certainly right about his energy though, it's amazing! Whatever this Super Saiyan thing was, I think he may have actually done it."

Frieza floated, his gaze transfixed on Vegeta. The frost demon snarled in frustration. "What have you done to yourself this time?" he yelled. "What new game is this, Vegeta?"

Ignoring the question, Vegeta vanished, re-appearing instantly above the demon. With a mighty stroke from his elbow the prince sent Frieza crashing violently into the rocks below. A wicked smirk had been growing on the prince's face, the basest of his Saiyan instincts bubbling madly to the surface.

'You're already dead, Frieza,' the Super Saiyan laughed inwardly.

"It's unreal. I don't understand what could have caused this much change," Piccolo wondered aloud. "Even after Vegeta made himself so much stronger, having Dende heal him, he was still hopelessly outclassed. Not even his strongest attack was able to put a tiny dent in Frieza's final form. But now," he gulped audibly. "It's as if the roles have been completely reversed. That last attack was the single most impressive display of power I've ever seen!" Gohan and Krillin were both too stunned to respond, the latter's teeth chattering from his overwhelmed state.

Frieza, covered in rubble, furiously filled his aura with purple energy. As the blast engulfed the rock and debris around him, vaporizing it and clearing the dust, he glared angrily up at Vegeta. Somehow, that last attack had actually managed to catch him by surprise.

'But, how? I am NOT slower than a monkey!' he roared internally.

"Oh, Frieza, are you really so fragile as to be damaged by an attack like that?" Vegeta jeered. "You should consider yourself lucky. The privilege of being the first person destroyed by my new Super Saiyan might belongs to you and you alone...My Lord!"

"WHAT?" cried Frieza, fists angrily tightened, eyes shaking with rage. "You're no Super Saiyan! YOU LIEEEEE!"

"Oh but truly, I AM!" Vegeta grinned with satisfied confidence, inviting the entire planet to bask in his Super Saiyan glory. "I have ascended, the last of Saiyan royalty rising to claim his throne—his birthright! Why don't we have a little fight to celebrate?" the prince proudly boasted. "It'll be the perfect time to showcase my new strength. That is...if you're feeling up to it."

'He gets in one lucky blow and all of a sudden he thinks he has already won the game. Stupid, arrogant monkey.'

Frieza, ever composed and well-mannered, responded casually to the prince's boasts. "Hahahaha, oh Vegeta. I suppose I'll play your little game and indulge you one final time. But now, unfortunately for you, you'll have to back up your delusional pathetic taunts...Super Saiyan."

Vegeta uncrossed his arms from his chest as he stared at Frieza across the landscape. This, he was going to enjoy.

"Are you ready now?" he excitedly questioned. "...to witness a power not seen for thousands of years?"

Instantly, Frieza vanished and charged from behind Vegeta with a spinning kick. 'Predictable,' the prince thought. Just as the Arcosian's armored leg was mere inches from the back of his head, Vegeta turned, easily catching the kick with his left hand.

"Please," he chuckled, before delivering a powerful fist to Frieza's gut.

"Aacchhhhhh" Frieza coughed in pain, bowled over from the shock. He had never before experienced anything akin to pain, much less agony of this magnitude. Finding the resolve to strike back, Frieza straightened his form, his left hand still clutching at his abdomen. The despicable Saiyan had disappeared—his detestable smirk nowhere in sight. The frost demon frantically and vainly scanned in every direction.

"So, is this your best, Frieza?" With his new-found power, which he had only begun to tap into, the prince far exceeded the tyrant in mere strength and speed.

"Grrrrrrr, you will pay for your insolence!" The Emperor could barely contain his hatred, his frustration. "DIE!" Frieza launched a death beam at Vegeta from point blank range. After passing cleanly through his body, the image of Vegeta turned to static and faded.

"What? That's impossible! No one could dodge at this range!" The ice titan's teeth were clenched fiercely, his arm and finger still extended from firing the attack. Worse—he had lost sight of his opponent once again.

A few meters behind him hovered the smug Saiyan Prince. "Hahahaha...oh, Frieza, you're MUCH too slow," he laughed. "Here, I know you're confused, so let me make it easier on you. My back's turned. How's that?"

Frieza screamed with wrath, quickly charging and firing a continuous flurry of death beams. Each one was aimed flawlessly but still failed to meet their mark—the elusive Super Saiyan danced about through the flurry like he were having the time of his life. Eventually there was too much dust kicked up by the destruction to see anything. Frieza silently scanned through the haze and rubble—looking, hoping, to see the damaged body of his foe.

"Where are you hiding, monkey? You can't run forever!" The debris soon cleared, revealing a devastated landscape. Every island large enough to stand on had been either crushed to rubble or completely obliterated. No sign of Vegeta remained. Deceived by misplaced confidence in his superiority, the tyrant began laughing.

"Well, I guess you're not that super of a Saiyan after all, hahah—?" A deep scowling voice interrupted him from above.

"What's that, Frieza!?" Vegeta yelled as he teleported directly in front of the frost demon's face. Frieza's instincts kicked in late, nearly an entire second after the Super Saiyan had appeared, as he jumped backwards to a defensive stance. His reaction time was so much slower that it seemed as if Vegeta could have yawned while waiting on him to respond. The prince smiled with an immense satisfaction at this and then crossed his arms, his golden aura rippling through the air around him.

"It...can't...be," stuttered Frieza as he fell backwards. "This is...impossible! Why can't I hit you? Just tell me!" The frost demon began backing away slowly, his light purple aura completely overshadowed by the crackling golden waves surrounding the Super Saiyan.

"Oh, Frieza, I already did...you were just experiencing so much fear that your pathetic brain was overwhelmed. Denial is a perfectly natural reaction...for weak minded fools such as yourself."

Vegeta couldn't help but grin with exhilaration. Frieza's frantic questions were all too perfect. For so long, the prince had waited and dreamed, for this day...his day. Now, he intended to savor every moment of Frieza's demise. The tyrant deserved much worse humiliation than death, and he was all to anxious to oblige.

"Hahahaha, all done? No more witty retorts? Too bad."

"I...am NOT scared of you!" Frieza tried to embolden himself by reclaiming his usual calm confidence, but despite these efforts he was coming across just as desperate as he felt inside.

The golden energy around Vegeta crackled intensely, its distinct hum a constant reminder of his newfound status. "I think you just don't know when to quit, Frieza. You're finished."

The Emperor tightened his fists and stomped the ground, his aura crackling angrily around him. The rock face he stood on tumbled into the blue seas of Namek, forgotten—just like the days of him mocking the Super Saiyan legend as a ridiculous hoax. "You're the one who's through! Not me, do you hear me—YOU!"

"Oh, Frieza, haha, you should see the look on your face right now." Vegeta landed on a nearby cliff top, watching the waves crash below him from the dangerous swells of ki. "I'm afraid you're outclassed in every way! Haha."

The insults flowed effortlessly from Vegeta. After all, he had imagined what to say in this scenario for years. It was the day he had dreamed of since being a small boy aboard Frieza's ship. The day when he would be free, when he could finally claim the title of Strongest in the Universe as his own.

"We'll just see about that...Super Saiyan!" Frieza charged blindly at the prince, unleashing a relentless flurry of punches and kicks. The barrage was unrelenting but at every swipe and swing Frieza was unable to lay so much as a finger on Vegeta. As he dodged and weaved between the attacks, Vegeta's distinct laughter caused those listening on to tremble in both fear and excitement.

"Die you stupid monkey! You filthy ape!" the tyrant shrieked.

Frieza was getting more and more desperate. Individually, his attacks were all powerful enough to shatter moons, but not one of them found their target. Even as he increased his speed, edging more and more into his real strength, he still couldn't touch the prince. "Vegeta, you coward! You can't dodge me forever!" he cried.

THUUUUM, came the fist of the Saiyan as it collided with Frieza's face, launching him across the horizon and out of sight. Casually, Vegeta vanished, zapping himself toward the crater recently formed by the pummeled body of Frieza, seared in pain.

'At last,' he thought. 'The power is all mine, Frieza.'