#ssgvegeta

“Amazing, Vegeta-san! Your ki control has improved greatly!”

Whis clapped his hands as he openly praised Vegeta after their sparring match had ended. The Prince of all Saiyans descended on the field surrounded by light bluish-green grass, breathing heavily.

For the first time since he began training under the guidance of God of Destruction, Beerus’ mentor, Whis, Vegeta found that his ki control ability had greatly improved. He could even tell how it's even better than how it used to be. He had learned proper ki control after his battle with Goku when he first landed on Earth about 15 years ago and had long since neglected that after his first Super Saiyan transformation.

About three months ago when Whis visited the Earth in search of delicious food, which Vegeta's wife, Bulma, gladly offered, the guide angel gave a gentle advice to the prince:

“Thanks to your training, your strength has increased, but with that attitude, you won't be able to surpass Beerus-sama. If you managed to control your ki properly, then perhaps you could surpass anyone, Son Goku.”

The idea struck Vegeta and he demanded Whis to teach him how to do exactly that, he even threw his pride away and knelt before Whis just to beg him to take him as a student. Whis agreed if Vegeta would also agree to become a God of Destruction.

Vegeta didn't give an answer, but he managed to persuade Whis with the promise of introducing him to the most delicious food on Earth.

Instant Ramen.

Since then, Vegeta has been training under Whis’ tutelage. But unlike his usual style of harsh and relentless training under heavy gravity until his body drops to exhaustion, Whis told him to allow his body to relax outside of their sparring sessions. He was made to do some house chores to properly learn to keep his aura within to prevent it from leaking his ki and his power under control.

And after three painstaking months, Vegeta managed to do so. He was able to properly unleash his power without the violent surge of his aura, and is able to properly control the amount of ki input with every attack. This allowed him to preserve his energy and use it more efficiently.

Aside from that, with this improved ki control, he was able to unlock his latent power that had been asleep within him.

However, despite all of this, Vegeta still wasn't a Super Saiyan God.

“So, Vegeta-san,” Whis asked the Prince as he slowly descended to the ground in front of him. “With this newfound power, how do you think it could help you surpass Son Goku? Perhaps, are you planning to become a Super Saiyan God as well?”

Vegeta looked up to the taller angel. “Yes.”

“Oh, so are you going to do the Super Saiyan God ritual too? Remember that you need five pure-hearted Saiyans to share their power with you. Are you sure about that considering how high that pride of yours is?”

“No, I'm not going to do it the same way as Kakarot did. I don't need anyone for that,” Vegeta said. “I believe I understood enough after observing his fight with Beerus-sama. At that moment, I just knew I could do it on my own.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“But there is a problem that's stopping me from reaching it,” Vegeta admitted. “Tell me, Whis. Why was I considered pure of heart enough for Kakarot’s ritual to succeed?”

Whis blinked his eyes once. “It appears that there's a seed of doubt within you. What made you think you are impure?”

“I'm not a good person,” Vegeta blurted out. “I did a lot of… atrocities before I settled down on Earth. I was the Legendary Destroyer of Worlds for years. I've killed people, destroyed countless worlds under Freeza’s command. And truth be told, I didn't need his orders to do it. I did it on my own because I used to enjoy it. I laughed as I took the lives of innocents, for their blood to satisfy my own thirst for the thrill of battle.”

He looked down on his gloved hands and imagined stained with blood, not his own but of the lives he had taken for the joy of it.

“And you think you're impure because of this?”

Vegeta nodded once.

“Tell me something. Do you still think you are evil at this point?”

Vegeta hesitated at first before answering a low, “No,” then he paused as he looked away. “At least, not as I used to be. Back then, I believed myself to be pure evil, but those who are pure evil don't have the capacity to change or grow a conscience or even learn to care for someone else. I may have changed myself for the sake of Bulma and Trunks, but it doesn't automatically make me a good person or someone with a pure heart. The darkness still lurks within me, perhaps, waiting to be unleashed when my family is threatened.

“Perhaps, I am somewhere in between good and evil.”

“Hmm…” Whis murmured. “I guess I see where your doubt creeps in. I’d like to know, why did you do all those atrocities in the first place? You did say it's to satisfy your innate bloodlust, but I believe that's not the only reason.”

Vegeta looked up into the clear pinkish sky as memories of his bloody conquests flashed back on his mind.

“I did it for the sake of my pride. To elevate my ego. To prove my superiority to the Universe. To be recognized as the strongest warrior in the Universe, and to rule over everyone and everything as I believed I was meant to. It was because of this foolish ambition and belief that I was born for such greatness that I sought to become stronger.

Vegeta closed his eyes for a moment.

“Now, I still continue to seek greater strength but with a different purpose.”

Thoughts of his wife, Bulma, yelling at him, his son, Trunks, having a peaceful life different from what he grew up into. And then, Kakarot, his rival and… Perhaps he could call him his closest friend by now. And then the Earth he initially planned to conquer and destroy, now the home that welcomed a destroyer like himself, changing him into a better man and a better warrior.

He recalled the time he had sacrificed himself against Majin Buu, when he threw away his pride to fuse with Kakarot after learning he lost his family during Buu’s rampage, and then his explosive rage when Beerus slapped Bulma a few months ago.

“I fight for others instead of my own selfish desires. To protect my family and my home…”

So that he wouldn't lose them again the way he once lost everything before.

Whis’ smile stretched, “So there's your answer.”

Vegeta snapped his head to the angel’s direction. “What?”

“After everything that has happened, there's something that has never changed within you, Vegeta. It appears that your purity of heart doesn't rely on whether you are good or evil. It is the purity of your purpose, the intention and the will to grow stronger that made your heart so pure it allowed for Son Goku’s ritual to succeed. Do you understand what I mean?

“Your unchanging desire to seek greater strength is what made you a pure-heart. Being good or evil isn't your definition of a pure-heart, so as long as you keep on searching to become stronger, your heart and your pride is pure by Saiyan Standards.”

Vegeta's jaw dropped at that realization. It is true. Even as a child, he always had this insatiable thirst for power. He had sought strength in ways others would have thought were crazy or suicidal. His reasons for it may have changed but the burning desire remained essentially the same.

A small smile stretched across the prince's lips, “I see.”

It was assuring for him to confirm this and his doubt about himself has been resolved.

“By the way, Vegeta-san,” Whis called.

“What is it?”

“I just remember I heard this rumor about you when Beerus-sama and I visited Planet Vegeta,” Whis stated. “Your people believed that you were their only hope, their future savior and the chosen one to fulfill the Legendary Super Saiyan myth.”

Vegeta groaned, looking like he was ashamed of the rumors his people spread about him, “Uhh… You heard about those rumors too?”

“Your people were whispering about that and it piqued Beerus-sama's interest. That's why the God of Destruction showed up that day to King Vegeta, to give your people the chance to redeem themselves. He was supposed to destroy the Saiyans that day but you, even as a tiny child, interfered. You were unusually fierce back then, and too powerful for a mere Saiyan child. You tried to save your father from the God of Destruction without caring who you are dealing with, and that's when it became quite entertaining. Beerus-sama spared the Saiyans because of you. Because of what we heard about you.”

Vegeta turned his back away.

“What’s the matter?” Whis asked in concern.

“What they believed about me was wrong,” Vegeta admitted. “I wasn't able to become the savior they expected me to become. It was Kakarot who fulfilled that expectation, not me.”

His fingers curled into a shaking, tight fist.

“I never believed those whispers. I thought it was nothing but a ridiculous belief in a fairy tale by fools who are too weak to face their own inadequacies. I hated the expectations they placed upon me as a child and I sought to change that mindset once I became the king. But then, I lost the opportunity when Freeza destroyed Planet Vegeta. That's why my only regret was that I never became the king.

“As for my people, I believed they deserved it for being too weak, especially my father who had placed the hope of an entire race on a tiny brat for the sake of his ambitions. I swore to myself that I will never be like him.

“I never became the savior they had hoped for me to become. Instead, I became a destroyer shouldering a dead race’s legacy and pride alone. I still ended up the same pathetic fool like them. I fought and died and got discarded by Freeza the same way my father and my people did.

“And then, Kakarot came and at that time, I thought he had stolen what I believe was my birthright. All those expectations my people had given me, he took it all away from me. He was the one who avenged the Saiyans in my place, he even became the Legendary Super Saiyan. He was also able to defeat Freeza while I, the expected savior and future king, was discarded like the others before me.”

“I hated Kakarot for it. He had stolen my pride and my honor as the Prince of all Saiyans and I sought to reclaim what was mine by seeking more power. Then one day, I realized that perhaps, Kakarot was indeed better than I am. I acknowledged that during our fight with Majin Buu but even now, that fact still aggravates me. My acceptance of Kakarot being better may have made me come to terms with my toxic hatred and envy towards him, but it doesn't erase the fact that my pride won't accept being second to him. And that's what made things more interesting.”

“Hmm… I see,” Whis acknowledged. “Well, to tell you the truth, your people were wrong about you, Vegeta-san. You were still able to become a Super Saiyan. Although, it's a tad too late for you to fulfill their expectations from you. But then, it wasn't your fault. While Son Goku had all the means and the freedom to grow as a fighter, Freeza knew what you were supposed to become. That's why he took you away from your people, not to save you, not because he favored you, but to manipulate your improvement as a warrior and control your destiny. Perhaps, you already suspected as much but Freeza did all he could do to hinder your growth and prevent you from fulfilling the prophecy. If not for Freeza’s fear and paranoia, you could have achieved far greater power than you have and perhaps, fulfilled what was expected of you.

“Whether Son Goku came into the picture or not, you were still the only hope and the savior your people believed in. You have to remember that the Super Saiyan God is the savior your people had created to save them. So you see, you have the power within you all this time. You just need to accept it and remember who and what you are to your people, Prince Vegeta.”

"So you're saying..." Vegeta's voice came out low, edged with the familiar growl of disbelief mixed with dawning acceptance, "that all this time, the 'savior' my people pinned their hopes on me wasn't some mere fate waiting to be fulfilled by strength alone. It was already inside me. And Freeza took all that, including my rightful path to power?"

Whis tilted his head, staff resting lightly against the ground, his ever-calm smile unchanging.

"Precisely, Vegeta-san. Freeza feared the legend more so than he let on. He saw the fire in you even as an infant, the same fire that made Beerus-sama pause that day. So he kept you close, fed your pride with scraps of power, but never enough to let the true flame ignite in its brightest form. He shaped you into a weapon he could control... until you broke free."

Vegeta's gaze dropped to the ground again, memories flashing: the cold halls of Freeza's ships, the endless missions, the laughter that masked the hollow ache of never being enough. Then Earth. Bulma's sharp tongue cutting through his arrogance. Trunks' tiny hand gripping his finger. And Kakarot, always one step ahead, yet never truly looking down on him.

He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Tch. So the prophecy wasn't wrong. It just got delayed and twisted by that insufferable bastard. And in the end, Kakarot ended up carrying the torch I was supposed to hold. Damn it…"

"Not quite," Whis replied gently. "Son Goku was the one who fulfilled avenging your race and becoming the Super Saiyan first. But prophecies in the grand scheme are rarely singular. Your path may have diverged yet it circles back to this moment towards your path to godhood. You are no longer the destroyer of worlds but as one who would save and protect them. The Super Saiyan God your people dreamed of wasn't merely the strongest warrior. It was the one whose pride burned the purest, not for conquest but for something far greater."

Vegeta finally met Whis' eyes again, crimson meeting violet. The doubt that had gnawed at him earlier had quieted, replaced by a fierce, steady resolve.

"Then I'll take it back," he declared, his voice firm and determined. "Not through borrowed power from others. Not through some sentimental ritual but my own will and control."

Whis' smile widened ever so slightly, approving.

"Excellent. Then shall we begin the next phase? Your body has learned restraint. Now it must learn to invite the divine ki willingly, without force or rage. Let it flow as naturally as breath. Only then will the crimson flame of the Super Saiyan God ignite in your heart, on your own terms."

Vegeta cracked his neck, a smirk tugging at his lips, his old princely arrogance resurfacing but tempered now by something deeper. He fell into his signature battle stance as he declared, "Bring it on. I've waited long enough to claim what's mine."

As the two prepared to resume their sparring, the pinkish sky above Beerus' planet seemed to brighten just a fraction, as though the universe itself acknowledged the shift in one proud Saiyan's heart.

The Prince of all Saiyans was no longer chasing a stolen birthright. He was forging his own path now, keeping the pride and hope of his people in his heart and mind.

Not too long after, the godly fire within him had finally ignited. The moment he finally felt it, he already knew it's the power he'd been seeking. Raising his head and closing his eyes, he allowed for the power to burst free. The ki felt like it belonged to a different dimension in comparison to the rage-filled, violent pressure of the Super Saiyan form. This… This Super Saiyan God is calm and clear, like the gentleness and stillness of water in a spring. It feels foreign for Vegeta.

Crimson flames burst from the soles of his feet and twisted upwards, spinning around his body until it had completely engulfed him and his demeanor had changed.

As the flames exploded around him, Vegeta stood, dyed in red light. Tongues of fire licked around his aura.

Vegeta looked down at his hands, marveling at the power of a god now flowing through him.