Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Controlling Lies, Painful Truths ❯ Truth ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: Controlling Lies, Painful Truths
Author: Eloy Brightdreamer
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, H/C
Summary: AU Frieza Saga. Vegeta has another reason to want immortality... and he's running out of time. Can Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma save him before he succumbs?
Disclaimer: If I owned DBZ, I'd be a lot richer. Please don't sue me... you wouldn't get much anyway!

Setting: Frieza has not yet summoned the Ginyu Force in this version. Vegeta has gone after Krillin and Gohan, realizing that they have the last dragonball.

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Chapter 1: Truth

Vegeta touched down lightly in front of the small house on the tall, spire-like mountain. He shifted his grip on the dragonball he carried under one arm, and surveyed the scene. They're here, I can sense them, he thought. As if on cue, the two earthlings exited the structure, followed by an adult Namekian.

"What do you want, Vegeta?" the bald one asked.

"Simple," he answered. "I want the last dragonball, and I want it now."

"No way!" Kakarott's son yelled. "Why should we give it to you?"

"Well, for one, because I'll kill you if you don't," Vegeta replied with a smirk.

"Just try it!" shouted the bald earthling, slipping into a fighting stance. "We're ready for ya."

Vegeta ignored him and continued, "And also because I may be your only chance of getting off this miserable planet alive."

"Don't listen to him, Krillin!" Gohan exclaimed.

Krillin lowered his arms. "Explain, Vegeta."

"We can't hope to hide the dragonballs from Frieza forever. He will find them eventually, and after he gets his wish, he's going to destroy this whole planet just for fun. Your only chance is to wish me immortal so that I can defeat him."

"But... but... then we won't be able to wish our friends back to life!" Gohan cried.

"Who cares?" Vegeta snarled. "Even if you do, they'll be killed again anyway by Frieza. You don't understand how powerful he is!" He clenched his free hand into a fist. "None of you stand a chance!"

"You can both have your wishes," the big Namekian spoke up for the first time. All three turned toward him. "There are three wishes, you know."

"Really?" Krillin exclaimed. "That's awesome!" He turned back to Vegeta. "All right, we'll let you have your wish on one condition. Never come to earth or bother any of its people again."

"Fine, whatever."

"Swear it!"

"I give my word as the prince of all Saiyans," Vegeta said solemnly. But I'll have to make an exception for Kakarott, he added silently. I still owe him one... and besides, he's not really an earthling anyway.

Krillin nodded. "Good enough. Let's go!" The three took off into the sky, leaving silvery trails behind them.

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A short while later, they arrived at the island where Bulma was hiding. "Finally!" she shrieked, running toward Krillin and Gohan. "Where have you all been?" Then she noticed Vegeta standing behind them. "Eeek! What's he doing here?"

"No time to explain," Krillin replied, grabbing the dragonball. "We'll be back later!"

"Well, of all the nerve..." Bulma grumbled, watching the three warriors disappear into the distance.

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As the two earthlings followed Vegeta through the sky, Krillin motioned for Gohan to drop back a little, then flew close beside the young demi-Saiyan.

"What is it, Krillin?" Gohan asked quietly.

"I think something's wrong with Vegeta," Krillin answered in a low voice. "Have you noticed? He looks pale to me, his ki keeps fluctuating, and he's flying a lot slower than I know he can. We saw him move faster than this on earth. We could easily outdistance him at this pace."

Before Gohan could reply, Vegeta glared back at them. "I can hear you, you know," he said. "And I'm just fine, thanks for asking. I'm just flying slower because I didn't think you weaklings could keep up." With that, he sped ahead, leaving the other two to catch up. But within a few minutes, he had slowed again. Krillin gave Gohan a knowing look, and received a nod in return.

Soon enough, they reached the valley in which Vegeta had hidden the other five dragonballs. As soon as they landed, Vegeta set his dragonball down and slumped against a nearby rock wall. "Summon the dragon, hurry," he commanded, breathing hard.

"Okay..." Krillin said, noticing that the Saiyan's hands were trembling. He shrugged and held his hands out over the seven golden orbs. "Eternal Dragon, come forth and grant our wishes! I summon you!"

There was dead silence for several heartbeats. Finally, Gohan spoke up. "It didn't work!"

"What?!" Vegeta roared. "What do you mean it didn't work?"

Gohan pointed up at the sky. "No dragon," he said, stating the obvious.

Vegeta lurched forward and grabbed the front of Krillin's tunic. "What did you do? You must have done something wrong, said the wrong thing..." Abruptly, he let go, sitting down on the ground and holding his head in his hands. "This can't be..." he said quietly.

"Maybe there's something we need to say, a--a password or something," Gohan proposed.

"Yeah, a password!" Krillin's face brightened at the idea. "That's gotta be it! We've just got to go ask Guru what it is!"

"Fine, let's go then," Vegeta grumbled. He started to stand up, but instead collapsed back down to the ground with a groan, falling hard on his right side. Krillin and Gohan quickly knelt beside him.

"Now, you can't tell us that you're 'just fine,' Vegeta," Krillin said, sliding his arm behind the Saiyan's back and helping him a sitting position. "I want the truth." Vegeta leaned back heavily against the supporting arm, his face contorted in an expression of pain. Krillin could feel the Saiyan's body shaking, even through the thick armor.

After a long pause, Vegeta opened his eyes and spoke. "Fine. The truth." He pulled away from Krillin, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "I am... ill. About five years ago, I found out that I was infected with a fatal disease. Don't worry, it's not contagious," he added quickly as the other two instinctively shied away from him. "But it is incurable. Frieza has a medicine that at least puts it into remission. I have to have it every couple of weeks. Frieza only gives me enough to last each assignment. As a bonus for him, this keeps me in his service." He looked Krillin in the eye. "Now can you see why I wanted that wish so badly? Without it, I would be forever a slave to this sickness... and Frieza." A short, humorless laugh escaped him. "But now that I've defied him, it'll be a race to see what kills me first... this illness or him."

Gohan looked concerned. "How long do you have?

Vegeta shrugged. "The pain has started already. I'd say a few hours... maybe a day. This has only happened once before, when a mission I was on lasted a few days longer than it should have. Radditz and Nappa were barely able to get me back to the base. I've never been so sick... it was only for about half a day, but I thought I was going to die. The doctors said that if I had gone a couple more hours without the antidote, I would have." He clutched at his head and moaned.

Krillin put his hand tentatively on the Saiyan's shoulder. "Okay, Vegeta, we'll help you. But we can't leave you here like this. We'll take you back to our camp and leave you with Bulma while we go get the password from Guru." Vegeta looked ready to protest, but Krillin cut him off. "No arguments! We're not going to leave you here alone while you're sick, and I don't want Gohan or I to run into Frieza or any of his henchmen on our own. Now come on!" He slung one of Vegeta's arms over his shoulder. Gohan did the same on the other side, and together they lifted the Saiyan to his feet. Krillin grabbed one of the dragonballs off the ground as well, not wanting to leave all seven together. "Ready?" the bald human asked, glancing over at Gohan.

"Ready!" They took off into the air as one, carrying Vegeta between them.

To Be Continued...

A/N: I know a lot of you are waiting anxiously for the end of "Perchance To Dream," but I've kinda been working on this one as well. Hitting a little writer's block at the moment. :) The only reason I didn't post this one earlier is I couldn't think of a good title... and I'm still not happy with this one! Feel free to post suggestions.

I have one more chapter already completed for this story, and another well on the way. But I'd like to see what you all think so far. Feed the review monster... it's hungry! :)