Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Black and White ❯ 11 ( Chapter 11 )

"Trunks," Vegeta spoke quietly as he and his son stepped out of the area of activity.

 

"Yeah?" His voice was neutral, quiet. The last time he had spoken with his father was—well, was a while ago, but somehow things had changed. His mother looked on from farther away, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, wondering vaguely if Piccolo could zap a proper fighting outfit onto his body with his mysterious powers. After all, if they were going to fight Cell, he wouldn't do it in a tee-shirt and jeans—but then, if he fused with Goten, it wouldn't be a problem; Gotenks had his own clothing, much more suited for fighting.

 

Vegeta seemed to see where his thoughts were going. "Trunks, I—I don't—don't want you to fight Cell."

 

"Dad," he shuffled his feet, "I'm gonna fuse with Goten. We'll be fine, I swear! Gotenks is stronger than you!" He stared his father down defiantly even as Vegeta appeared affronted at the words, and the prince's features eventually settled back into relative neutrality.

 

"So he is."

 

"And what's the big deal, anyway? I know better than you that it sucked when I died, but maybe this guy isn't the same. None of you guys..." he paused to let the air fill in the blank, "y'know, when you fought 'im first, right?"

 

"It was quick," Vegeta spoke ominously. "But—"

 

"What? I thought—I didn't figure you died—"

 

"I didn't." He took in a deep breath. "You did."

 

"But I thought I was a baby, why would I even—"

 

"Not you."

 

"Dad," he shuffled again, "I really gotta talk with Goten about something. You're not making any sense, so...if you've got something to say..."

 

"I'm not a monster," he blurted, and stuffed his arms over his chest.

 

"Dad—"

 

"Cell killed you, and I—Trunks—you—"

 

"Dad." He moved closer to his father; Vegeta was visibly shaken, or at least as shaken as the boy had seen the proud man. It reminded him a little of Buu—of before his father knocked him out, and died. He'd heard how, and in the years since had come to realize the meaning of it. As he heard stories from his mother, of how Vegeta was before, and how he was when he was just a baby—they didn't even seem like the same person. When he had ruthlessly attacked Vejata—he had turned back into that man. But now, Trunks was sure, he was back; he had to be. "It's not a big deal, whatever it is..."

 

Vegeta closed his eyes and breathed deeply, gathering himself. "Trunks, you saved the world before you were born."

 

"Me?"

 

"Not you—but—" he rubbed his temples, "shit, I can't believe your mother never told you about this."

 

"This isn't another of those 'when a boy gets older' speeches, is it?" he raised an eyebrow dubiously. "'Cause, Dad, I know. Or," he waited as his father shook his head, "well, whatever, just spit it out. Come on!"

 

"In another...in another universe, much bleaker than this one, your mother built a time machine, and you came back in time to save us—Kakarrot was going to die—"

 

"But I thought he did—"

 

"Listen to me, boy. Trunks-from-the-future was there when we fought Cell. Cell killed him—you—him—I—" he stepped in front of the boy so that no one could see his face, and his eyes were downcast. "It was...just...don't...and I had only known him for—but—you've grown with me, boy, and—I don't want to know what I'd do—" he was forced to look Trunks in the eyes as the boy stepped into his field of view. "It could be...awful," he finished quietly. Vegeta glanced behind him quickly, toward the others, but the only one who seemed to be paying attention to him was Bulma. Gohan, Piccolo, and Dende were still engaged in conversation, and Goku was critiquing Cole's form as she moved through the fusion poses with Goten. Vejata and the woman who had arrived the most recently were the farthest away—Vegeta watched for a moment as they conversed quietly, animated in a way that he had only glimpsed of Vejata perhaps once before, as she had interacted with Bulma. Maybe they were more alike than he wanted to think—but maybe some beasts could be tamed. When he turned back to Trunks, the boy was gazing in the same direction he had.

 

"Weird, huh?" the boy asked.

 

"What?"

 

"Guess sometimes there's that one person that makes somebody not so bad."

 

"I guess."

 

Trunks smirked a little. "Dad, Goten and I will try to be extra careful—okay?"

 

"You know," Vegeta crossed his arms, "in the other future, Kakarrot died before he could have a second brat."

 

"Yeah?" Trunks mirrored his stance. "Guess I have myself to thank for Goten, then!" He thought for a moment. "Can you tell me more about the other me?"

 

"Later."

 

"Okay. Dad?"

"Yes?"

 

"Thanks." His eyes lit up. "Y'know, maybe there's hope for you."

 

Vegeta smirked.

 

 

...

 

 

"Hey."

 

Vejata froze, glancing upward as Piccolo towered over her in her sitting position. "What do you want?" she finally managed.

 

Piccolo turned to Shallot. "So—Cell spit you up."

 

"Yeah," Shallot crossed her arms. "Almost as bad 's being swallowed. What about it?"

 

He didn't seem to hear her question, turning to Vejata and motioning to Gohan that he should join them. "If he knew Vejata was stronger, why didn't he absorb her too?"

 

"He said his power was enough to get out with just Shallot," Vejata volunteered, standing so that she would feel less dwarfed by Gohan and the Namekian.

 

"It didn't take much for him to cough—" Gohan glanced toward the Saiyajin.

 

"Shallot."

 

"—to cough Shallot up." He fumbled with the cuffs of his sleeves. "That is, I mean, sure, I was powered up, but it was only a blow or two...or...I think," he flushed, "I don't remember exactly."

 

"Interesting," Piccolo mused. "It took a lot more than that before Seventeen and Eighteen were spit back up."

 

"Maybe because they were supposed to be integral parts of him," Gohan offered.

 

"He was clearly designed to be able to continue to drawing power from others by incorporating them into himself—if his tail could still take them in."

 

"Rushed design?" He shrugged.

 

"Instability," Vejata added. "An upper limit."

 

Piccolo nodded. "Perhaps—too many beings, or too much power in him, and he can't hold it in anymore. It would only make sense that they would be spit up in reverse order, and that it would take much less effort to draw someone out were he close to this limit."

 

"Makes sense enough," Gohan nodded. "Fight on too full a stomach and you're bound to lose your lunch. Except my dad," he laughed. As Piccolo merely shrugged and smiled a bit, Gohan realized that he probably had never experienced such a thing. "Or...drink...too much water...and you're bound to lose your...uh..." he added weakly, and Vejata chortled.

 

"We have our strategy, then," Piccolo immediately commanded their attention as he straightened, crossing his arms. "We don't know who he absorbed—or in what order—but every part of him must be weaker than him."

 

"So..."

 

"We knock pieces out of him. We can take any of them, with enough effort—and Cell will weaken in the process. With any luck, we can whittle him down to nearly the level he was at when he left us."

 

"And by we..." Gohan started.

 

"You needn't join us," Piccolo smirked. "I think we can handle this."

 

 

...

 

 

"I dunno," Goku shifted his weight. "I mean, that's not real fair..."

 

"Oh, shut up," Vegeta growled. "It's our best strategy. Just because you want to fight him at full strength doesn't mean all of us want to lose our..." he trailed off, and Bulma and Piccolo nodded.

 

"Yeah," Cole piped up. "Not all of us wanna die!" Trunks and Goten glanced at each other.

 

"We got dragon balls for that," Goku tried to reassure Cole. "It'll be okay."

 

"Kakarrot," Vegeta spoke warningly. "You know that he's stronger than you."

 

"Well...well, yeah."

 

"So how you were planning on beating him?"

"I...I dunno...I...could prolly...think up a good way...sorta...it kinda happens, y'know, while you're fighting," he paused, and under Vegeta's glare he continued, "like, you get this real good idea for what to do that second, an'...it works! That's what fighting is! That's how it always happens, y'know, like with Freeza, and..."

 

"The last time we fought him," Piccolo reminded him, "we did so with little to no strategy, at your insistence."

 

"And it worked out okay!""

 

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the man, and Gohan lowered his gaze. Goten bit his lip.

 

"Arright, well...I guess...I guess it'll probably happen anyway, that he'll spit people out," Goku scratched his head. "Right?"

 

"Probably," Piccolo nodded. "But we need to make sure of it."

 

"Kakarrot," Vegeta insisted. Goku had a point—it would probably happen anyway—but at Goku's blatant disregard for—well—he had to insist that the man agree. Maybe Saiyajin pride had its place—and there was some value in fighting on one's own, against the strongest opponent. But he drew the line at Cell—this was different. And the prince knew from the way that Piccolo, Gohan, and Goten kept their eyes trained on the man that they felt it was different as well.

 

"So we're...not gonna fight him one-on-one?"

 

"No."

 

The Saiyajin stared into Vegeta's eyes—firm, but pleading beneath that. Trunks stood beside his father, crossing his arms and projecting the same conviction. "A-arright."

 

Shallot glanced toward Vejata, who had remained silent throughout. She postured herself such that Goku did not have to look into her eyes at any time, the Saiyajin noticed, and Goku didn't seem to be upset by this. She remembered that the queen had said something about some strong Saiyajin, and this one seemed to be the ringleader—right, right, this was Kakarrot; the prince had said the name. And she had done...something...to him...

 

"Obviously Goku, Vegeta, and I will be fighting," Piccolo continued. "And Trunks and Goten will fuse. If the time runs out, and one of them is injured, Cole can take his place." She nodded resolutely, smirking. "If we all attack at once, we should maximize our chances of knocking other beings out of him."

"I'll attack as well, of course," Vejata added, as if challenging him, and Shallot nodded from beside her.

"Please," Vegeta rolled his eyes. "You'll do no good. Especially the new one."

Piccolo glanced over the two of them. Vejata took a subtle step in front of Shallot, as if Vegeta's verbal attack might be echoed by a physical one. "They'll fight. The more of us there are, the more of us can distract Cell. Besides, someone needs to fight the beings he spits up." He paused, watching Goku and Vegeta carefully as he added, "That aside, should the need arise she would not be an unsuitable fusion partner." Vejata blinked, shocked that he would suggest it—she had thought about it, herself, but knew better than to try to bring it up to them. Besides—the last person she wanted to fuse with was Vegeta.

 

Goku shifted uneasily. "I dunno..." Thinking quickly, he added, "Anyway, you're stronger, right, Piccolo? And you know the dance, too."

 

"Should the need arise," he repeated.

 

"It won't," he asserted.

 

"Well then, let's guarantee it. Check Karin's for some senzu and let's get some rest."