Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Anaugust Gold ❯ 07 ( Chapter 7 )

Vegeta smirked to himself as he kicked down the next door to find just what he'd been looking for. In his wake was an entire hallway of burst-through, unhinged, and otherwise destroyed doors, but in the end the thing had been in Vejata's own personal living space, behind one of the secured doors. He chuckled. Secured. Not against a Super Saiyajin, it wasn't.

 

The sight of the pod brought him back to days of mowing down entire populations between long stretches of travel, punctuated by the inevitable required visit to Freeza, where the tyrant laid out for him plain and simple all the things he was doing wrong. He'd done his best to make the best of the time he spent slaughtering the weaklings to make up for Freeza's polite viciousness toward him, but there was always the travel to slow him down—always the pod, too slow no matter how new the model.

 

The thing itself was badly damaged; perhaps a few Saiyajin had found it before Vejata got to it, and had been fighting over it. The Saiyajin must have taken these pods to this planet in the first class; it was unlikely they could have made a covert escape in anything bigger. Was this the only one left? If so, he would need to make some repairs—cursed inwardly that Bulma had come this far only to be taken away from him, when she could likely perform this task within hours. Well, he would have to manage; he'd had enough experience with the pods, certainly, but in his youth frequently insisted that Nappa fix the things for him when something went wrong.

 

The prince ducked inside the pod, searching beneath its meager padding for the manual. He was glad to find it was there—happier yet that he could still read its script, the same familiar text as had flashed across the scouter he once wore. As he compared the diagrams on the manual to the pod itself, he groaned at how much work was yet to be done. Wouldn't Vejata have wanted this to be functional, ready to go? But, no, of course—she could teleport if she needed to, perhaps even to somewhere else with the technology she needed. Or perhaps this was a recent find, and she'd not yet had time. Shrugging and pressing the manual open to the page describing the function of the first thing he noted was broken—the controls—he sighed, closing his eyes and hoping to channel Bulma's talent.

 

Bulma...

 

 

...

 

 

She breathed heavily as she turned onto her side, pressing her eyes closed. After she'd left Vejata's sight, just as she'd been told to, Bulma had made her way to her bedroom—her and Vegeta's bedroom. Death had never crept so close to her, it seemed—not even the time she had actually died. No, that wasn't entirely true—when Vegeta had appeared in the middle of the stadium and destroyed entire sections of the audience, just a couple of years before—that was the only other time she'd felt this fear. His blast had been feet away from taking her with it, and she hadn't imagined that she would ever again be threatened in such a way. Was Vejata merely saving her for later—in case something went wrong between here and Earth? Did she have some more sinister plan in mind? Bulma been unable to sleep as these ideas crept up against her; but then, it had only been an hour at most since her life had been threatened.

 

Just as she was drifting into a fitful sleep, visions of how Goku might have died and of Vegeta's abandoned soul behind her lids, she heard faint noises outside her door and willed herself not to turn around to investigate them.

 

"Bulma," came a soft voice from the doorframe. The woman bit her lip, holding as still as she could, hoping she could feign sleep. "Bulma. I think you're awake. Look at me," the voice commanded, still quiet. At this the woman tilted her head slightly, glancing over her shoulder. Vejata stood boldly in the doorframe, her stance wide and her arms crossed.

"What is it?" Bulma finally spoke, surprised to hear the quiver in her voice and the strange way it hitched, as if she'd just been crying. "Come back here to kill me?"

 

She heard a growl erupt from Vejata's throat, and there was no answer. Bulma shivered and turned away again; if she could see the answer, she did not want to know it. Finally, Vejata hissed, "Do not mock me."

 

"I..." Bulma blinked the wetness from her eyes. "I wasn't."

 

"Just because I couldn't..." Vejata started, but paused as she heard some sniffle or hiccup from Bulma. "Compose yourself, woman," she spoke again, more sharply this time, and felt her fingernails digging through the layers of her gloves and pressing into her palms as her fists clenched tightly. "You will not die today."

 

Bulma turned to face her this time, eyes swimming in some mixture of confusion and relief. "You...won't kill me? Today? V-Vejata, there are no days in space...s-so by 'today'...what do you..."

 

Vejata turned away, swearing just loudly enough that Bulma could hear her as she made her way to the opposite side of the hallway and entered the room. The sound stopped abruptly at the sound of a shutting door and clicking lock, and the woman closed her eyes again. The images were still there, but became less gruesome as her body took control of her mind and lifted it into sleep. As her last finger was pried away from consciousness, she hoped desperately that when she awoke, she could find a way out of this—to bring Goku back, to get Vegeta off the planet, and to do it, somehow, without Vejata knowing.

 

 

...

 

 

Goku nodded to himself with resolve. He'd done enough thinking, he decided—and had been in Heaven for far too long. Had no one found him yet? Didn't anyone know he was dead? Well, it's time to tell 'em.

 

In moments, he was at Kaio's side, grinning already at the way the man leapt into the air with surprise. "Goku!" he shouted, exasperated. "Don't do that to me! I thought you might be here to blow me up again!" Kaio brought a cloth to his sunglasses, rubbing them nervously. "Say, what are you doing dead again so soon?"

 

For several long moments Goku wondered if he had really been ready to emerge from his meditation yet, after all, but finally he gave a noncommittal shrug. "It's kind of a complicated story..."

 

"Speaking of complicated stories," Kaio started, "I've got a new joke for you..."

 

"No time!" Goku nearly wailed, throwing his hands in front of his chest defensively. "No one knows that I'm dead—I need to tell 'em! I was hoping you could help me..."

 

"Always using me," Kaio sighed. "All right, go ahead. It's not like I ever do anything else around here. Who do you want to talk to?"

 

Goku frowned, realizing he hadn't thought about this yet. He took in a deep breath and decided that it was time to attack the problem head-on. "Vegeta."

 

Kaio seemed to focus for a few moments before turning back to Goku. "Do you know where he is? I can't find him on Earth."

 

"Hm? Oh," Goku scratched his head thoughtfully. "Gee, I don't know. I figured that was where he'd be." He perked up and grinned, "Hey, maybe he figured out I'd be on New Vegeta!"

 

Kaio snorted. "Wherever that is...all right..." and he sank into deep thought again. "Yes, that'd be him." Goku eagerly placed his hand against Kaio's back, caught up in the excitement of having found the prince. His demeanor immediately grew more serious as he remembered what it was he meant to discuss with the man. "Go ahead," Kaio told him.

 

"Vegeta?"

 

...

 

 

The prince's ears perked up, and for a moment he was searching for the voice. With a screwdriver between his teeth, he mustered a, "Wherrdryr whr?"

 

"I'm talking to you through Kaio," the voice drifted back, and the prince rolled his eyes. Of course; he should have known. After all, he'd been present himself last time the man had spoken through the blue god. "And speak up! I can barely hear you."

 

Vegeta spat the screwdriver out and leaned back to recline against the wall. "Kakarotto, we need to have some words," he spoke, not sure where to look. At the extended silence on the other man's side, Vegeta's brows knit. "Kakarot?"

 

"Y-yeah, you're right, Vegeta," the voice echoed back after a moment. "And I...I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I did. To you. I mean. I should've thought—about—I mean, it was silly, I—well, obviously you—"

 

"Forget about that for now," the prince responded gruffly. "What happened while you were here?"

 

After another extensive silence, Goku asked, "Is there...is there anybody there with you? Where's Vejata?"

 

"Gone," Vegeta snarled. "She took my ship, and with Bulma in it. I'm stranded here until I can fix this pod."

 

"D-did she seem...er..." Goku's fretful sigh resonated within the fairly small room. "That is, the way she looked, was she sort of...

 

Vegeta chuckled darkly. "She wasn't pregnant, Kakarrot." He crossed his arms and rapped his fingers against his biceps. "But tell me—what happened?"

 

"Y-you knew? That she...I mean, you think that was what she wanted?"

 

"She wanted an heir," Vegeta growled. "To take her place. This is what I know. Kakarrot, what did she do to you?"

 

At the length of the silence that stretched after his question, Vegeta was beginning to wonder if somehow Kaio's connection had cut out. He was about to open his mouth to speak when Goku's response came. "I-I don't think you'll l-like me anymore Vegeta," he seemed to mutter. "Or her."

 

"I never really did," he started, and then amended, "like her, I mean. For god's sake, Kakarrot, she killed you!" Vegeta growled. "Why am I never able to prevent your death?" He seemed to muse on this for a while, fury bubbling within him, as Goku remained silent once more. "She seemed damn cocky about it, too, the bitch," he hissed to himself. "Kakarrot, I cannot imagine what you would have done that could possibly make me—"

 

"I slept with her," Goku blurted, and Vegeta could hear a muffled squeak that must have been Kaio's attempt to stifle his shock.

 

"Wh-why?" the prince blinked, the cogs that spun within his mind screeching to a halt. He'd suspected it, yes, but to hear it from Goku—like this—was another thing entirely.

 

"She...she tricked me. She acted like...I mean...she really looked like...that is...I kind of went along with it, but Vegeta..." he paused, and Vegeta could almost see him rocking back and forth on his heels. "I slept with her 'cause...she...was just like you."

 

"That's...preposterous," Vegeta muttered. "For one thing, I've got..." he stopped as he seemed to realize that he was drifting from the topic. "Kakarrot—you're saying—she tricked you into thinking she was me—and so—"

 

"Y-yeah," Goku answered quietly. "Kind of. I mean, I could have stopped, and figured it out, I think. I...I'm sorry, Vegeta."

 

The prince's fists clenched. "Never mind that, moron! She did that—she—all but raped you, Kakarrot."

 

"I...I guess," the man decided. "I mean I...it wasn't like I really..."

 

"Shut up! She's on a ship now—alone with Bulma," the prince's fists shook.

 

"She wanted a kid, you said," Goku suggested quietly. "So...Bulma can't do that...so...I don't think..."

 

Vegeta gathered himself, still growling under his breath. For once, the other Saiyajin was thinking more clearly than he was. He wondered vaguely if the atmosphere here was prone to invoking insanity in any who breathed its air for too long.

 

"Hey, Vegeta, I...I just want you to know that...I won't...I won't bother you about it," Goku spoke, hoping that the prince's silence had meant he'd accepted his point about Bulma. "I mean, don't worry—I—I won't do anything to you. I won't touch you funny or anything. Just like I never did before."

 

"Good," Vegeta hissed, unable to completely restrain his bitterness, and he was sure he heard a small gasp from Goku. "There are more pressing matters now—you are dead, and I am stranded until I can fix this thing."

 

"I could contact Bulma and—"

 

"Remember that anything she hears, Vejata will hear too," Vegeta warned. "You'd best not suggest a plot, or that traitor will surely spoil it the moment she hears it."

 

"I guess you might be right," Goku sighed. "Man. We really are stuck, huh?"

 

"Mm," Vegeta nodded, picking the screwdriver back up and thumbing through the manual until he reached the next relevant page. "I, in more than one way." When he found the next diagram, he laid a heavy steel piece across the manual to keep it on that page.

 

"What're you doing?" the voice echoed curiously. "I heard a noise."

 

"Fixing the pod," he grumbled. "Damn thing's even more of a wreck than I thought before."

 

"Yeah?" Goku chuckled. "Like the one that got me to Yardrat after I left Namek, I'll bet. Man, when I crashed down there it pretty much blew up in my face!"

 

"I suppose you were lucky, in that regard," Vegeta muttered. "Picking up that technique of yours while you were there."

 

"Yeah," Goku mused. "And I guess I came back just at the right time, huh? Well, more like Trunks did. I guess...he came back just to the right time!" he laughed at his own joke.

 

Vegeta nodded absently, scanning the area for the piece the ship was missing. He hadn't given much thought to his son from the future—not these days, when his son in the present required so much attention. His head snapped up. "Kakarrot!"

 

"Aw, come on Vegeta, you know it was kind of funny..."

 

"Trunks!"

 

"Yeah...I know, it was a little lame, but..."

 

"No, fool!" he smirked; he would have smacked the other Saiyajin upside the head had he been beside him. "My son—talk to my son. Tell him to watch out for his mother to arrive back on Earth—and, meanwhile, to gather the dragon balls!"