Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Controlling Lies, Painful Truths ❯ Visions ( Chapter 3 )

A-E-W: Pickles?

Veggie's Mate: I tried to do a little more with characterization this time! It's hard for me... since these characters are already developed in the anime, I tend to work harder on keeping them non-OOC than adding more! It's one reason I write fanfic... I can do plots with no problem, but coming up with original characters is a problem!

elbereth in april: Well, I hope this chapter gives you what you wanted! :)

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Last time, Bulma tried her best to help the terribly sick Vegeta, while Krillin and Gohan went to see the Great Elder. However, Krillin changed his mind about letting Vegeta have his wish, and they decided to go to Frieza's ship in order to find the antidote for Vegeta...

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Chapter 3: Visions

Suppressing their ki, Gohan and Krillin landed quietly on a hill overlooking Frieza's circular ship. They crawled to the edge of the cliff and looked down. A group of half a dozen scared-looking soldiers were standing at attention, lined up before a diminutive pink alien.

"That's gotta be Frieza," Krillin whispered, pointing to the horned creature.

Gohan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I can feel his power. What's he doing?"

The two crept closer, straining their ears to hear what the tyrant was saying.

"...special mission for me," the little ruler said. "You all are to go and find Vegeta and bring him back here, so that I may find out what he's done with the dragonballs!"

At that, the henchmen turned blue in the face as one, and a few started trembling. One, a blue reptilian creature, was brave enough to speak. "L-Lord Frieza, even all six of us are no match for Vegeta! He'd kill us all just by looking at us."

Frieza glared at him. "Oh-ho, so you're questioning my orders now? We'll just see about that." He raised his arm and pointed at the unlucky underling. A pink ball of energy gathered at his fingertip. "Do I have to make an example of you?"

"No! Please, I'll do as you say..." the creature was cut off as a pink beam pierced his heart. He fell to the ground with a loud thump. The remaining five minions stood even straighter and saluted their master.

Frieza smiled coldly. "He was wrong to doubt me. I don't always send my men on suicide missions. You all should have no trouble at all bringing Vegeta in. Right now he's probably too weak to fight off a Namekian frog, let alone five of my best fighters." He caught the fearfully questioning look that passed between the others and sighed. "Do I have to explain everything to you? Fine. Listen closely." His voice dropped, and the two earthlings had to creep even closer to hear.

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Vegeta still couldn't sleep. The incredible pain had subsided somewhat, at least for the moment, but he knew it would return. As he rolled onto his back, the sky spun crazily above him. He shut his eyes quickly, but was unable to suppress a low moan. The woman sitting beside him made a sound of concern, and he felt her hand come to rest on his forehead. He reached up and brushed it aside impatiently, then turned away from her again, facing the other side of the bed.

As he did so, he was startled to see another person standing a few feet away with their back to him. He blinked his eyes and sat up cautiously on one elbow, trying to get a better look. It was a tall, slender, female... Saiyan? There could be no mistaking the spiky jet-black hair that cascaded down past her knees, contrasting with the skintight blue body suit she wore. A dark brown tail was coiled tightly around her waist. But... but... there were no more Saiyans alive! Who was this? "Hey," he called out, weakly at first, then stronger. "You! Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The Saiyan woman turned toward him, and Vegeta drew a sharp breath. Her deep black eyes seemed to stare right through him, and her delicate, lovely features spoke of high breeding. Frowning, he studied her face more closely. He felt that he'd seen her before, somewhere. She gazed into his eyes for a long moment. Dimly, he heard the blue-haired human behind him, asking what he was doing, but he ignored her, focusing all his attention on the deadly beauty before him.

"Don't you recognize me, Vegeta?" she finally said softly, speaking the High Saiyan tongue. Vegeta gasped. It had been so long since he'd heard anyone speak to him the language of the royal house of his home world! Who was this woman? She spoke again, moving to kneel by his bed. "My name is Celarie."

Recognition finally clicked in Vegeta's mind, and he fell back onto the pillow. He had seen her face before, but only in photographs and news holograms that he'd studied, as a child. He reached out his hand toward her, and whispered a name he'd never before said, to a woman he'd never known:

"Mother..."

Celarie took his hand. "My little prince. What's happened to you?" She reached up and stroked his cheek. "Everything's going to be all right."

For a moment, Vegeta closed his eyes and relaxed under her soothing touch. Realization hit him abruptly, though, and he stiffened and pulled away from her. "This can't be. You're dead! Get away from me!"

"I knew my fate from the moment I was chosen to bear a royal heir," she said, looking slightly sad. "But I was determined to give the king a strong son, even though it meant that I would die."

Suddenly, her face twisted into a nasty sneer, and her voice turned cold. "It looks as though I failed, though. Look at you! You couldn't defeat Frieza, and now you're dying a coward's death. You're not even losing your life in battle!"

Vegeta clenched his teeth. "I will defeat Frieza! I'll become even stronger! I will be the most powerful..."

"Oh, shut up." Celarie stood up and turned away. She walked a few steps away, her tail lashing angrily behind her. Glancing back one last time, she bared her teeth and growled softly. "Weakling," she spat.

The Saiyan prince felt as though he'd been punched in the gut. He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "It's not true," he whispered. "It's not true!" he said again, louder, opening his eyes. But the apparition of his mother was gone.

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Krillin and Gohan flew quickly, skimming the tops of the few sparse trees. Not a word passed between the two--the need to travel fast and undetected was paramount. They came to a screeching halt as one of Frieza's henchmen suddenly appeared before them. He stood a good meter over the two earthlings, and his orange, striped fur rippled in the slight breeze as he flashed a feral grin.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" the tiger-like creature sneered. "Looks like you two got lost from your class field trip."

"Aw, man!" Krillin groaned. "We don't have time for this!"

The huge soldier growled and flexed his arm, revealing a set of wicked-looking claws. "Oh, I think you do. I'm supposed to be looking for Vegeta, but I might as well warm up on you two." Before he had even finished his sentence, he lunged at Gohan, who easily flipped out of the way. The tiger-beast stopped, apparently taken aback by the quick dodge. "On the other hand, maybe you're working with him." He nodded, seeing the shocked look on Gohan's face. "I'm right, aren't I? Well, you'll just have to tell me where he is, then, won't you?" He struck out again, quickly. Gohan blocked the punch aimed at his face, then kicked out in retaliation.

Krillin sighed. "We definitely don't have time for this," he repeated under his breath before jumping into the fight.

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Bulma sat with her chin resting on her hands, observing the Saiyan prince. His body was wracked by violent tremors, and he gasped or moaned often in pain. A particularly bad convulsion shook him and he cried out sharply, then curled into a ball, still trembling. Bulma automatically reached out her hand to comfort him, but stopped short, knowing that he would just push her away again.

She sighed. Why did she feel so compelled to help this man... no, alien? She knew she should hate him, fear him, anything but care for and comfort him! After all, he had killed many people on earth, including her Yamcha. She would probably be doing the universe a favor if she cute his throat now, while he was here, weak and helpless before her. But she wouldn't--couldn't do something like that! Despite all the reasons she had for despising this... person, she found herself wanting desperately to ease his pain.

It was a strange sensation, not being able to understand her own feelings. She shrugged mentally. Maybe this had something to do with that maternal instinct thing she'd always heard about. Well, she might as well go with it, even though she couldn't comprehend why.

Her resolve strengthened, Bulma reached out again, intent on comforting the ill prince, whether he wanted it or not. As soon as her hand touched his shoulder, Vegeta's eyes snapped open, and he instantly pushed her away, just as Bulma had expected. He glared at her for a moment, then his gaze slid past her, looking over her left shoulder. Immediately, his face lost what little color it had left, and he gasped sharply, scrambling backward on the bed. Bulma whipped her head around, poised to flee from what whatever was behind her that had scared the Saiyan so badly...

But there was nothing there. Bulma sighed yet again. He must be hallucinating again, she thought. I wonder what--or who--he sees this time? She turned back to Vegeta, who was still staring wide-eyed at whatever it was he saw behind her. "Hey!" she shouted, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "There's nothing there! Hey!"

Seeming not to hear her, Vegeta stretched out his hands in front of him in a warding gesture. "N--no! You're not here... you can't be!" he stammered.

"Hey!" Bulma tried again, waving her hand in front of his face. "Snap out of it!"

Vegeta ignored her, sitting up on one elbow and staring past her at whoever it was he was seeing. He appeared to be listening to something for a moment, then covered his face with his hands. "No.... no..." he moaned, then looked up again. "It--it wasn't my fault! I did everything he ever asked me to... everything! He said he'd kill you if I didn't..." his voice trailed off, and he was silent for a long moment, shaking his head in denial.

Bulma gave up on trying to bring him out of his vision, and instead placed her hand gently on his arm. This time, he didn't recoil or push away, but he didn't seem to be aware of her presence either.

"Don't blame me!" Vegeta cried out suddenly. "Father! Please... no... no..." He dropped back down to the pillow and gripped his head tightly, moaning.

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It was almost too much for Vegeta to bear. First seeing his mother, then his father... both despising him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that these were only hallucinations, visions of his own fears, but it still hurt. Having his father blame him for his death and the death of all the Saiyans... it was too much... too much...

Without warning, the nausea returned with a vengeance. Quickly, Vegeta leaned over the side of the mattress, vomiting bile and water onto the ground. He heard the blue-haired girl beside him gasp and jump out of the way, then felt her hand on his back, gently moving in soothing circles. He didn't have the strength to push her away this time, and soon fell back, his head spinning. To ward off the vertigo, he squeezed his eyes shut for a minute.

When he opened them again, he noticed that his surroundings were fading rapidly to black. What the hell? This planet doesn't have night... He blinked a few times to assure himself that he wasn't losing consciousness. No, he was awake... but what was going on? Everything went dark, then a bright light shone above him. This was different from the green light of Namek. It looked almost... artificial. He turned his head to the right, and was surprised to see that he was lying on a tile floor, in what appeared to be a spaceship. Everything seemed slightly distorted and blurred, as if in a dream.

"Vegeta?" he heard a confused voice call from his left. Slowly, he turned his head and saw another familiar form take shape before him.

"Kakarott..."

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To Be Continued...

A/N: Well, I had a little more planned for this chapter, but it was getting a little long anyway, so I decided to go ahead and post it! Let me know what you think!