Chapter 2: The Namekian’s Judgment

  Vegeta hovered midair, arms crossed over his chest, his gre unwavering. The old Namekian floated just opposite him, his robes billowing slightly in the night breeze. Though his expression remained composed, Vegeta could see the weight of age and sorrow in his features.

  The silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken tension.

  Vegeta was the first to break it.

  “You’d better start talking, Namek,” he sneered. “I don’t have the patience for cryptic old men who think they can boss me around.”

  The Namekian exhaled through his nose, clearly already exasperated. “I expected no less from you, Vegeta. Always arrogant. Always brash.”

  Vegeta smirked. “And yet here you are, old man Daring to face the might of the mighty Vegeta. Go on then, expin yourself.”

  The elder Namekian’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not rise to the bait. Instead, he straightened his posture and said, “My name is Mori.”

  Vegeta scoffed. “Never heard of you.”

  “You wouldn’t have. You were too busy sughtering my people to care about their names.”

  That wiped the smirk off Vegeta’s face—if only for a moment. His lips curled in irritation. “Tch. If you’re expecting an apology, you’re wasting your time.”

  Mori closed his eyes briefly, as if reigning in his emotions. “I expected as much,” he muttered. His voice remained calm, but there was an undeniable weight to it. When he spoke again, his tone was sharper, more cutting.

  “You destroyed my home, Vegeta. My people. My children.”

  Vegeta’s eye twitched, but he remained silent.

  “My eldest son,” Mori continued, his voice ced with quiet fury, “was Guru. The eldest of the Namekian people in that world, the pilr of my people. You killed him.”

  Vegeta snorted. “He was a bloated old slug who was going to die anyway.”

  Faster than Vegeta could react, Mori’s hand shot forward. A sudden, crushing pressure wrapped around Vegeta’s body, locking him in pce midair.

  For a moment, the Saiyan Prince couldn’t move. His arms, his legs—frozen, locked by an unseen force.

  Mori’s eyes burned with something ancient, something dangerous. “Do not mistake my patience for weakness, Vegeta.”

  Vegeta clenched his jaw. His pride screamed at him to break free, to sh out, but he couldn’t. Not yet.

  After a tense moment, Mori released him. The pressure vanished, and Vegeta let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  He rolled his shoulders, scowling. “Hmph. So you can fight. Too bad you weren’t this strong when Frieza was wiping out your people."

  Mori’s expression darkened. “Enough.”

  Vegeta smirked, but Mori didn’t give him a chance to continue.

  “You are here for a reason, Vegeta,” Mori said. “You have been brought into this universe for a purpose.”

  Vegeta raised a brow. “Brought here? You’re saying you did this?”

  “Yes,” Mori said simply.

  Vegeta barked out a ugh. “You expect me to believe an old Namekian somehow yanked me out of Namek just before it exploded?” He crossed his arms. “Impossible.”

  Mori’s gaze didn’t waver. “And yet here you stand.”

  That shut Vegeta up.

  He frowned, gncing around. He had been so preoccupied with the weaklings he had sensed earlier that he hadn’t truly questioned how he had gotten here. He hadn’t been wished back by the Dragon Balls—he knew what that felt like.

  So how had he survived?

  “Fine,” he said at st. “Let’s say I believe you. Why? What do you want from me?”

  Mori’s face was solemn. “You must atone.”

  Vegeta stiffened, then ughed. “Atone? For what? The Namekians? Please.” He waved a hand dismissively. “I did what any Saiyan would have done. If it wasn’t me, Frieza’s men would have wiped you out anyway. I was just efficient about it.”

  Mori exhaled, the irritation in his features growing. “This is why you are here,” he said, his voice edged with something between patience and exhaustion. “You think you have no sins to bear. That your actions have no weight.”

  Vegeta sneered. “And what, you’re going to teach me the error of my ways?” He scoffed. “Spare me the lecture.”

  Mori shook his head. “No. This universe will teach you.”

  Vegeta frowned. “This universe?”

  “Yes.”

  Mori took a step forward, floating slightly higher. His presence seemed to loom, despite his retively small frame.

  “You have been brought here because this world is on the brink of destruction,” Mori said. “A darkness is growing—one more terrible than Frieza, more devastating than anything you have faced before.”

  Vegeta’s scowl deepened. “More terrible than Frieza? Tch. Doubtful.”

  Mori’s gaze was unyielding. “You will learn soon enough.”

  A silence stretched between them.

  Vegeta narrowed his eyes. “Let me get this straight. You ripped me from Namek, dumped me in this world, and now you want me to save it?”

  “Yes.”

  Vegeta let out an incredulous ugh. “Why the hell would I do that?”

  “Because if you do not,” Mori said simply, “you will die here.”

  Vegeta’s amusement faded.

  Mori continued, “The forces at py in this universe will not allow you to simply exist. If you do nothing, you will be destroyed.”

  Vegeta’s arms tensed at his sides. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like feeling like someone else’s pawn, like some cosmic game was being pyed with him as an unwilling piece.

  But he also didn’t like feeling trapped.

  His mind raced. If Mori was telling the truth, if something out there was worse than Frieza, then Vegeta needed to know. He needed to understand this world, its threats, its rules.

  He wasn’t about to let himself be outpyed.

  Vegeta smirked, though there was a sharpness in his eyes now. “Fine. Let’s say I entertain this nonsense for a moment. Where do I start?”

  Mori watched him carefully. “You start by listening.”

  Vegeta huffed. “Tch. We’ll see.”

  Mori turned, beginning to descend toward the ground. “Come. There is much to discuss."

  Vegeta hesitated for only a second before following.

  Whatever this world was, whatever this threat was, he would face it on his terms.

  He was Prince Vegeta, the st true heir of the Saiyan race.

  And no force in any universe would decide his fate for him.

  Vegeta’s scowl deepened, his patience wearing thin. “Enough with the riddles, Namek.” His arms crossed over his chest, fists clenching in frustration. “What are these so-called forces you’re so afraid of?”

  Mori remained impassive, his gaze calm yet unyielding. “If you accomplish what you were brought here for,” he said, “then you will never have to know them.”

  Vegeta’s brow twitched. “And if I decide hell with them and just kill you where you!?”

  Mori’s expression darkened. “Then there is no going back to your universe. No Frieza for you to defeat. No empire for you to challenge or live under. No Kakarot for you to surpass.” He paused a moment to let the words sink in. Killing me will not come so easily to you Vegeta. I am not the same as the youngsters you met on Namek. I have seen things that would make you weep like an infant.”

  Vegeta’s jaw clenched at the words.

  “You will be nothing,” Mori continued. “A disgrace to your race. A warrior lost to time and space, forever forgotten.”

  Vegeta’s ki fred involuntarily. “Watch your words, old man!” he snapped, his aura crackling with heat. “I am still the mighty Prince Vegeta! You’d do well to remember that!”

  Mori didn’t flinch. He merely tilted his head, his tone sharpening with quiet finality.

  “Prince Vegeta of what?”

  Vegeta stiffened.

  “You are prince of nothing,” Mori said. “Your race does not exist in this universe. They never did.”

  Vegeta’s breath hitched for a fraction of a second, but he quickly masked it with a scoff. “Tch. You expect me to believe that?”

  “It is the truth,” Mori replied. “You are alone here. The st of your kind… if you could even call yourself that.”

  Vegeta bared his teeth. “I don’t need a race to be strong. I will carve my own path, just as I always have.”

  Mori’s expression was unreadable. “Perhaps,” he murmured. “But strength alone does not make a king. Nor a prince.”

  Vegeta’s fists clenched harder, his nails digging into his palms.

  “You should have been sent to Earth,” Mori continued, “just like the others. The Dragon Balls would have spared you. Given you a new life among the earthlings. But that was too good for you..”

  Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

  Mori turned away slightly, his gaze drifting toward the sky. “With the Super Saiyan battling Frieza on Earth, who would have been there to stop you from wreaking havoc? From killing my people again? From finishing what you started?”

  Vegeta’s breath hitched again, but this time he did not mask it.

  For once, he had no retort.

  Mori turned back, his voice calm yet firm.

  “You did not deserve peace,” he said simply. “And so I brought you here.”

  A silence stretched between them.

  Vegeta’s body trembled, but whether it was from fury or something else, even he wasn’t sure.

  His pride screamed at him to sh out. To prove his worth, to deny every word this Namekian spoke.

  But something deep inside him—something he had buried long ago—knew that he could not.

  Because he wasn’t sure if it was a lie.

  And that enraged him more than anything.

  [A/N: So this is an idea I have had for a while now. I just wasn’t sure which version of Vegeta to use and with which universe. Ultimately it came down to three choices for the universes. The Invincible Universe, the Marvel Universe or the DC universe. I had to look at a few factors when considering which to peak. My most obvious being the females. I man worthwhile challengers. Yes definitely characters that could challenge someone like Vegeta. Not the waifu candidates. Just guys he could smash, I mean fight. Basically any version of Vegeta introduced in the series is too much for IU but basically no worthwhile females, I mean foes for him to fight. Some of you may say the Viltrumites but don’t be ridiculous. The first Vegeta in the canon shown could solo the enire IU with his arms tied behind his back. All the damn chicks aren’t waifu material either except maybe for Atom Eve. Anyway so that pretty much made up my mind about IU, damn ft chested hoes!!. I mean not strong enough characters. It was a lot closer to choose between DC and Marvel however.]