Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Worse Punishment ❯ Chapter 2: A New Life ( Chapter 2 )

A Worse Punishment

By: Nova Starlight

Chapter 2: A New Life

As Vegeta sat reflecting, he suddenly felt like he was being watched. He assumed it was one of the many ogres in Hell and ignored it. The feeling continued and grew more and more persistent, breaking his focus. He was about to turn and look behind his back, when two figures appeared in front of him a few feet away.

One of them was a small ugly woman with pink hair. She wore a black dress and a pointy black hat. The other was a short boy with blue skin and white hair in a mohawk. He could tell that neither of them were dead because they did not have halos. They stared each other down for a few minutes, waiting for someone to speak. "Hello, Prince Vegeta," said the boy. "Baba here has informed me of your progress in the punishment room."

"What do you want?" Vegeta asked. "I don't have time for games."

Vegeta could see that the boy looked a little miffed by his response. He turned to look at the old woman, Baba as he had called her, and seemed to communicate something to her. Vegeta could not hear a word being spoken but knew that something was going on because of their changing facial expressions. "I had come to make you a proposition," he said sternly. "But, if you have no interest in hearing me out I am not going to waste my time with this nonsense."

"What kind of proposition?" asked Vegeta. He was definitely curious about what these two would be doing in Hell talking to him.

The Supreme Kai could see that he now had Vegeta's full attention. "Because of your progress in the punishment room, Baba has suggested that you be allowed the chance to live again on Earth," he said while gauging Vegeta's reaction. Then he continued, "With a few precautions of course."

Vegeta was stunned. He could hardly believe that he might get another chance at life on Earth. Then his skepticism set in and he asked, "How can you make such an offer?"

"I am the Supreme Kai," he replied. "I can do just about anything I want. Are you interested?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Vegeta remarked snidely. "What about the cyborgs? Are you sending me back to kill them?"

The Supreme Kai looked at him with wide eyes and then he began to laugh. "Ever the egotistical one," he commented. "You were not enough for the cyborgs twenty years ago so suffice it to say, you would not do any better now. However, just for your information the cyborgs have been destroyed."

Now Vegeta was really curious. Who on Earth would have that kind of power? After Kakkarot died from the heart virus and his friends died at the first battle that only left his and Kakkarot's sons. "Who destroyed them?" he asked. It looked like Baba started to answer him but the Supreme Kai cut her off.

"That's not important," he replied. "Now do you want to hear more about the offer or not?"

"Yes, I do," he replied. "What kind of precautions were you talking about earlier?"

The Supreme Kai looked at him and said, "I would think that would be slightly obvious. We would not want to send you back to Earth with your saiyan strength. What you would do is take over the body of someone who is about to die. That person's soul would proceed to the otherworld and your soul would go into their body. You will also retain all earthly knowledge needed to exist in that body. Are you still interested?" Vegeta nodded and he smiled. "Good, Baba here had picked three candidates for you to choose from." Then the old woman handed him three sheets of paper to look over.

Candidate #1:

Name: Gabriel Manheim

Age: 28

Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Green

Occupation: Pro Football Player

Location: West City

Marital Status: Divorced

Children: None

Candidate #2:

Name: Thomas Wilkinson

Age: 42

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Occupation: High School Math Teacher

Location: East Island

Marital Status: Married

Children: 2

Candidate #3:

Name: Vincent Redding

Age: 35

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Black

Occupation: Capsule Corp. Scientist

Location: South City

Marital Status: Single

Children: None

Vegeta looked up at them both after reading the last one. He had not been thrilled with the prospects of the first two candidates but when he saw the third one he became suspicious. He saw that they simply looked as if they were waiting for an answer and could not see any ulterior motives. "No contest," he commented. "Number three."

The Supreme Kai nodded his head and said, "All right, Baba will come by tomorrow and transport you to Earth." Then they both disappeared and Vegeta was left to wonder if it had all been some kind of dream.

The next day as Baba transported him to Earth and into his new body, he was both glad that the whole encounter had not been a dream and even more suspicious about the choice he had made. It was obvious to anyone with half a brain that he would choose, Vincent Redding. If he was disbelieving at first, the feeling was increased when he realized that his apartment was actually located on the Capsule Corp. grounds, just a few feet from the main house where Bulma and Trunks lived. He worked in the research and development department, which if he remembered correctly was the one that Bulma supervised. He was starting to think that he must have earned some good bonus points while he was in Hell to get this kind of chance.

"Do you have any questions?" asked Baba.

"Yes, actually I do," Vegeta replied. "I want to know if there any friends or relatives that this guy has that I need to convince."

"Well, according to what I have discovered, Vincent Redding is an only child, parents are deceased, and has no friends. He is also a newly hired employee at Capsule Corp. and has only worked there for about three weeks." After she said that she could see that some of his unease was gone. However, she knew it would return in a matter of moments. "You will have the rest of the day to get adjusted to the new apartment and get ready for work tomorrow," Baba continued with tone of her voice seeming to change.

"So I start work tomorrow huh?" he asked. She simply nodded in response and he sat down on the couch to survey his surroundings. The apartment was relatively neat and clean, but he knew it did not matter. As soon as he could get up the nerve he intended to go over to the main house and tell Bulma and Trunks what had happened.

Almost as if she had sensed his thoughts, she said, "I need to tell you another precaution the Supreme Kai decided to impose. I will warn you, you are not going to be too happy about it."

"What is it?" Vegeta asked.

"You are not to tell anyone who you really are," she replied. She could see the surprise and shock that came across his face instantly so she continued, "I never said I told you all of the precautions."

"You Filthy Bitch!" he exclaimed. "How could you not tell me that?"

"I'm sorry," Baba admonished, "But to be perfectly honest, this was the only way that the Supreme Kai would allow you to come to Earth. If you tell anyone, your new life will be revoked and your soul will return to Hell." She had dreaded telling him this but she knew that it was something she had to do. Just a minute ago his face had been excited and happy, but now it was filled with a sadness that she could see he was trying to hide. It was then that she gently reassured him, "Believe me, I wanted to tell you but I was instructed against it. Unfortunately for you, you will have to accept that from now on you are Vincent Redding and Prince Vegeta is no more. In this world he has been dead for twenty years."

Vegeta said nothing to any of her comments. He remained silent for what seemed like a long time but was probably only about five minutes. Finally, he commanded, "Leave me in peace." She nodded sadly and disappeared. Vegeta then looked around what was to be his new home with a heart that sank into the pit of his stomach. "What good would this new life be without my family?" he whispered. Then he went into his bedroom and flopped down onto the mattress. "Wait," he told himself. "Since when have I ever given up on anything?" He would still get his family back, he was just going to have to come up with a new plan to do it." He closed his eyes and cleared his mind intent on finding some resolution.

The next morning, he awoke feeling slightly groggy and confused. It actually took him a minute to realize that he was not in Hell and to remember all the events of the day before. He showered and prepared to get ready for his first day of work as Vincent. He looked at his new body in a full-length mirror with a feeling of disgust. As he took in his less than well-muscled physique and his now limp hair, he realized that he was definitely going to be making some changes. He used gel to spike up his hair and resolved to start going to the gym immediately. When he opened the closet he let out a gasp at the hideos clothes the man had owned. After a few minutes of searching he finally found a reasonably nice looking navy blue shirt and pair of black pants. He observed his appearance again and though it was barely presentable he hoped it would do for now.

When he walked into the research lab it was to see that the only available station was the one next to Bulma. He looked at her in awe, it had been twenty years since the last time that he had seen her but she had only aged a little. She was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a pink sweatshirt underneath her lab coat. If she had turned to look at him she would have probably thought he was crazy due to how he was staring but he could not help himself. As he sat down next to her, he heard her mutter under her breath, "These experiments are so easy, we should just let high school chem. Students do them for us." He laughed lightly at her comment and her eyes looked up into his. "Ve-Vincet Redding," He introduced himself, while extending his hand to shake hers.

"Bulma Briefs," she answered. "So judging by your laugh, I would say you disagree with my comment?"

He smiled and from somewhere inside himself the response came, "Based on the intelligence level and devotion to science of this generation's high school students, I think the handling of major chemicals should be left to professionals."

She laughed and replied, "That's right. How could I forget that all teenagers care about is getting laid and partying?" He was amazed at how easy it was to talk with her. It was like being someone else had removed all his inhibitions. They continued to talk and flirt for the rest of the morning until lunchtime came. It was then that she asked him if he would join her.

They continued making general conversation as they ate until Bulma said, "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course," he replied.

"Well, you see you have been working at the station next to mine for the past two weeks, why did you finally start talking to me today?"

He tensed up and wondered how the hell he was going to sidestep this one. Then he got and idea and smiled at her brightly. "You would probably never guess it but I am actually really shy around beautiful women."

She smiled back at him and whispered. "Are you being an excellent charmer or a brown noser? Because flattery will get you everything."

He smiled and said, "I'm counting on it." It was at seeing her blush that he was sure he was doing a good job. The rest of the lunch break went well and they each parted company afterwards. She apparently went to work on her own experiments after lunch, while he had to return to the lab. As he worked on the projects alone, he could only think of tomorrow and having the chance to see her again.

To Be Continued. . .