Somewhere in the distant reaches of space, beneath a turquoise sky where the sun shone through plumes of smoke, a planet inhabited by humanoid reptiles was burning. Lifeless bodies littered the ground, and the metallic smell of blood mingled with that of charred skin.
Among the rubble, five Saiyans rested, their armor stained from battle. The three adults stood at a distance, while the two children—Vegeta and Raditz—remained close together.
Tarsen, a sturdy warrior with short, spiky hair and blue pants, gritted his teeth as he checked his green scouter. His deep voice broke the silence. "I just received a message from Frieza's army… apparently Planet Vegeta was hit by a meteorite. They say it was completely destroyed."
Nappa stopped, spinning around in disbelief. "What?! That's impossible."
Kanzar, of medium build and black hair falling sideways like a textbook cut, frowned. "Does that mean all the Saiyans were wiped out? Why didn't anyone know something like this was coming?"
Tarsen and Kanzar exchanged a look, and together with Nappa they rushed to inform the prince.
From a distance, Raditz listened to everything. His hands trembled slightly, not because of the news of his world's destruction, but because something else was happening inside him. Like a flash of lightning, another consciousness burst into his mind, devouring memories, thoughts, and feelings. A strange presence settled within him, demanding control.
The boy raised a hand to his forehead as beads of sweat ran down his face. In a matter of seconds, Raditz was no longer just Raditz; another presence had taken control of his body, merging with his essence.
Thanks to the Saiyan's memories, the new consciousness understood that they had survived only at the whim of Vegeta, who had preferred to stay to finish that mission instead of returning to Planet Vegeta.
"Guess we got lucky…" his uttered, his voice sounding strange to himself. "If we had listened to Frieza and returned, we would be dead."
Vegeta paused for a moment in the fruit he was devouring, his expression annoyed. "Damn… now I'll never be King Vegeta."
Little Raditz opened his eyes in dismay, but remained silent.
At that moment, Nappa, Tarsen and Kanzar returned to them.
"Vegeta," Nappa asked, "you had a brother, right?"
The prince responded with complete indifference, without taking his eyes off his fruit. "That's right… I wonder what became of him."
Kanzar turned his gaze to Raditz. "And you, Raditz? Didn't you have one too?"
The boy nodded slowly. "Kakarot… my mother managed to tell me that he was sent away from Planet Vegeta before everything happened."
After a moment of silence, Vegeta stood up and cast a calculating glance toward the ruins.
"It's time to continue the mission. There are still several cities left. I'll take care of the one with the greatest concentration of power. Nappa, come with me. You three do whatever you want, I'm not interested. We'll meet back at the pods tomorrow, once the eradication is complete."
With that, Vegeta looked up. A cold smile spread across his lips as he surveyed the sky. He then took off, with Nappa following close behind.
….
….
….
I walked away from Kanzar and Tarsen with an excuse that I wanted to take a shit.
I sat on a charred rock, staring up at the turquoise sky. One I didn't recognize, one that didn't belong to me. An indifferent sky, like everything else in this damned universe.
What the hell am I doing here?
I was reborn in another world, in another body, in another life that I didn't ask for... I had my own life, I had a home, a family, I studied and worked... and most importantly, I had freedom.
It wasn't a perfect life, but it was mine. Now, I'm trapped in a body that isn't mine, a child's body, with memories that aren't mine, and surrounded by people who could kill me with minimal effort. I live under the command of a five-year-old who only cares about himself, and all this while working for a monster who destroyed my planet... and who wouldn't hesitate to make me disappear with a smile.
Freezer…
That name burns in my thoughts like acid. That bastard destroyed the Saiyan race like someone cleaning a room. And it wasn't even because we rebelled... It was because we were afraid of the potential we had.
Damn, all these memories and feelings in this body are affecting me more than I'd like.
About that… I'm Raditz.
Goku's "useless brother." The guy who died in the first arc of the series.
Is it a joke of fate? A punishment?
All I know is that now, I'm here and I have to deal with it.
I look at my hands and they tremble as memories of the things these hands have done come to mind.
This body has already killed, its muscles, its reflexes, its instincts… everything was made for war and murder.
But no, I never killed anyone, I still feel strange having the memory of how I shot an enemy from the chest without thinking.
It's like watching a movie in virtual reality, but without being able to look away.
Damn, I don't know how I'm going to deal with the things that are coming, I literally have to continue the genocide on this planet, however... I can't afford to stop.
Fortunately, in this great universe, I am not as weak as one might think.
Here, Frieza's soldiers, the rank and file, barely have 500 to 1,000 units of power. Those who exceed that are already considered elite. Do you know what that means? My current self, with 750 units, is already among the best in the army. And I'm only seven years old.
And yet I am nothing among the great monsters.
Vegeta has 10,000 units at five years old, definitely the greatest prodigy in the history of our race, of course, if we don't count the legendary super saiyan, Broly.
Nappa has 3,000. Kanzar and Tarsen have over 2,400.
We are an elite team, even among the Saiyans… well, there are no more Saiyans.
I feel like it will be difficult for me to get stronger. Our team trains… when they can. But that "when" is rare. We're constantly traveling from planet to planet, sometimes for months, trapped in sleep capsules. The time to improve is almost nonexistent.
Only a genius like Vegeta breaks his own ceiling effortlessly, the rest of us stagnate.
But I'm not going to die, I won't be a disposable pawn anymore.
If this is my new life, then I'll make it a point to make it worthwhile. I'll adapt, I'll train, I'll pretend... until the time comes.
Until I have the power to decide, to be free.
Because if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that this universe devours and enslaves the weak...
…and I refuse to remain one.
I returned to Kanzar and Tarsen a few minutes later, shaking my hands as if I had really just gone to the bathroom, they said nothing, barely looked at me.
That suited me.
Tarsen was checking his scouter with a serious expression, and Kanzar had his arms crossed as he watched the smoke on the horizon.
"The next city is"15 kilometers away," said Tarsen"The highest power levels are between 500 and 1000. Nothing that will cause us any problems."
In theory.
I have to be careful, when we arrived on this planet Vegeta killed someone who was 4000 and Nappa another who was 3000.
Those were probably the strongest on the planet, but I still don't trust them. There could be another one hiding, waiting.
I couldn't trust any enemy, I didn't want to die on the first day of reincarnation.
"Shall we attack the city center?" Kanzar asked Tarsen.
"I'll go east," I replied immediately.
"Are you sure?" Tarsen said, raising an eyebrow. "Even though you have a lot of talent, you are still young, and if you run into an opponent who surpasses you in power, you could die."
"Yes, we are the last Saiyans in the universe, we shouldn't die so easily," said Kanzar.
"I'm not an idiot," I replied firmly, as that's the way Saiyans talk. "If anything's weird, I'll call you on the transmitter."
Tarsen held my gaze for a second longer… then nodded.
"Good, Don't die."
Kanzar let out a slight laugh through his nose.
"If you die, there will be no funeral."
"Thank you for your concern," I said softly, turning around and turning on my scouter.
As we flew toward the city, I kept my eyes glued to the energy points the scouter was detecting. There were about 10 power levels to consider, most of them just above 400.
The streets to the east were deserted at first, the houses were low, made of white stone, with square windows.
I turned on the scouter.
[Power levels detected: 42… 38… 55… 63…]
They were civilians, hiding in their homes, untrained people incapable of fighting.
I swallowed.
"Damn…"
I channel my Ki into a single point in my right hand, a purple sphere of Ki, condense it until it burns in my palm, draw my arm back, and then throw it out in a lightning bolt.
It's a brutal blast that cuts through anything in its path, and I reckon I can at least give these creatures a quick death.
The first screams came after my charged attack destroyed several blocks and only craters remained. From among the surrounding houses several scaly figures emerged, screeching in high-pitched voices, holding tiny babies by the hand that could barely run, some even carrying eggs with them.
They looked at me with terror.
Some adults tried to cover the children, running toward me like meat shields. It was no use. I knew what I had to do. I knew what Vegeta… and Frieza… expected of me.
If I refused, if I hesitated, if I didn't fulfill the mission, there was only one destiny for me, death.
I gathered ki in my hand, closed my eyes for a moment, and fired.
I didn't want to see up close how he erased a life.
The lightning struck two of the adults in a second. Their bodies fell to the ground, smoking, and the babies screamed. One ran to hug its parent, the other remained still, paralyzed by terror.
I approached, each step weighing on me as if I were dragging invisible chains. I raised my hand again, and the baby hugging its father looked up, its large, wet, trembling eyes.
My breath caught in my throat. Everything inside me screamed not to do it… but I did.
The flash lit up the street.
I kept moving forward, launching attacks here and there. Some fled, others tried to fight back with useless tools, sticks, stones, improvised knives. They all died the same way. Each death drilled into my head like an echo impossible to ignore.
[Power level detected: 402]
I stopped dead in my tracks.
From the ruins appeared a larger lizard, wearing crude armor and holding a spear. Its eyes were bloodshot, and when it saw me, it screamed incomprehensible words.
The scouter vibrated and the automatic translation sounded in my ear.
"Fucking murderer! You killed my wife! You killed my daughter!"
I froze.
The translator's voice was emotionless, but the words hit me like a punch. What am I doing? I've become a murderer. My mother, my father, my siblings, they would surely be ashamed of me.
What would you say if you saw me now, massacring another thinking and emotional species, families.
I couldn't know… and I didn't want to know.
The warrior charged at me with uncontrolled fury. His power was weak compared to mine. His spear thrummed with energy, but to me his movements were slow and clumsy, and I easily dodged them.
I looked at his face, yes, it wasn't a human face, but even without it being a human face, I could see his tears falling and his eyes looking at me with fury, I had taken his family away from him.
Even though he had a monstrous appearance… the only monster here is me.
"I don't want this"…" I murmured.
But I had to move.
I blocked the blow, deflected the spear with an elbow, and counterattacked with a kick to the stomach. The lizardman spat blood, but didn't stop. He attacked relentlessly, seemingly unaffected by the pain, each blow accompanied by a roar that the scouter translated as curses and cries of vengeance.
The truth is that he was a dead man, driven only by hatred and emotional pain.
I admired him for a second, a real man indeed, someone you could tell a story about.
And I was the monster in his story.
When he tried to spear me again, I charged up a palm attack and launched it straight at his chest.
A large hollow now adorned his chest.
He fell to his knees, still holding the spear, and then onto his face, motionless.
[Power Level: 0]
I lay still, panting. The smell of burning flesh and blood filled my nostrils.
I looked down at my hands.
I had to accept what I had become, because I couldn't escape this fate easily for now.