Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragonball Infinity ❯ Chapter Sixteen: Hear You Me ( Chapter 16 )

There's no one in town I know
You gave us some place to go.

The second Vegeta forcefully yanked her back against his chest, his hand going across her face to cover her mouth, "Sweet Kakarotto ... the sweetest Kakarotto."

The Vegeta that she had first seen then stepped before her, smirking at her - likened to that of a particularly pleased cat, "Shush, darling Kakarotto," - he reached into a pouch at his belt before he showed her the medallion that she had found - "you don't need to worry with us here."

After a bit of a pause, he pressed down hard on the center, pink stone, and a light flashed from it, making the pink stone glow before a beam shot from without before it seemed to solidify into an image. It wavered a bit, but she could see a flash of Vegeta's face in the static of the hologram, and she swallowed hard as he began to talk softly in Japanese.

I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.

"I ... am not used to this speech, so forgive me if it ... is not correct." He paused for a long while before he smiled - just smiled, "Wherever you are ... whoever you may be ... I know you will not ... I know that you cannot forgive me for these trespasses, so I will ask for ... I hope you understand. I don't ... want forgiveness. I just hope you understand it."

"But ... I don't understand," she said.

The taller figure frowned at the other when she did not roll the die, "What's wrong? Got to piss? Roll it."

"I'll pass this turn."

He scowled at her, "What do you mean? We're playing a game here, you have to roll."

Smiling mysteriously, her voice chimed, "Is that an actual rule of our game?"

"... Hm, I suppose not," smirking, he picked the black die with the black dots up, and shook it in his hands before tossing it onto the black board.

Leaning over the board, she looked down at it, and smiled, "'Fight or flight' again? You always get that."

"You get it often enough," he muttered before he scooped it up again to roll it, frowning anew at it, "I got it again ..."

Her smile grew, "You won this round then."

Hesitating, his hand went over the die before he took his hand back, "It's your turn now."

What would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?

"I think I'll pass again."

The figure glanced at the black board, and frowned harder, "That's dangerous for your player, you know."

"Perhaps."

He grunted, "Perhaps ..."

Gokuu took his hand while he laid beside her, and nuzzled into it, frowning in worry at nothing over his head. She was rubbing the area over where her heart was, and took deep, slow breaths. His eyes were glittering in the dark from the starlight outside their portholes, and she squeezed tighter.

"Kakarotto, what is it?"

She blinked over at him a few times, as if not comprehending his being there before she grinned, and snuggled closer, "Tell me a story."

Grunting, he pushed her head down a bit teasingly, "Only if you su-"

"Vegeta!" Crawling on top of him, and ignoring his sudden, devilish grin, Gokuu pinched his cheek, "I want a story."

"Ugh ... fine. What kind of story?" He asked as he stroked her sides gently, and then pet her tail. When his hands were slapped away from her tail, he averted them to her thighs and hips with a snort for her actions.

"... Has there ever been a story about a man and a woman playing a game?"

His hands stilled, and Vegeta cocked his head to the side before he said slowly, "Yes ... There is one. They weren't a man and a woman though." When she waited patiently for him to continue, he groaned, "They were a god and a goddess of Vegeta-sei."

"What's it about?"

He grunted, grimaced, and then sighed, "... It's about the first and only goddess of Saiyajin Mythology.

"A very, very, very long time ago, the God of War made our planet. He gouged out his own eyeball, and, brushing at his naked body vigorously, he created the sands from his skin flakes." She made a disgusted face, and he laughed softly, shrugging, "I know, but bare with me here ... The waters were made from his tears, but being a war god, he could not cry easily. He only manages two teardrops - one from each eye. The tear from his empty eye socket created the lush lake at the northern part of the planet, and his remaining tear made one for the southern end. Because of such little water, the Saiyajin - created by the strong black hairs of his arms - were constantly fighting each other.

"The God of War was pleased with our race's violent tempers, but was disappointed that they did not wage full-scale wars over his rare tears. He went down to the planet, and found a young Saiyajin. He gave her the grace of speech, but found that she was unable to properly use the words he had taught her, so the god gave her the grace of complex thought. Thus taught, she was told to go on a journey over the planet to bestow these same graces upon the Saiyajin. However, she was a crafty woman, and before he could leave, she pleaded with him, saying that no one would listen to her because she was so frail.

"And so, winding together the strong hairs of his arms again, he gave her a tail, the third grace," grinning, Vegeta flicked the end of his own tail against her cheek, making her smile. "He told her to set out again, but again, she was wicked and crafty, pleading again. She said that when she teaches them of the art of warfare, they'll all kill each other, and the world will be empty again. To prevent this, he took his third ball, and-" he stopped in shock as Gokuu lifted up the blankets to check his genitals. "I only have two! Damn it, it's just a story, Kakarotto!"

Giggling, she laid over Vegeta again, and kissed him, "Sorry, continue."

Huffing, he eyed her again before he did so, "He took his third ball - which is the fourth grace - and cut it off, emptying it of its contents before placing it inside of her. He told her that the empty testicle will always want to be filled with seed again, so that is why women will go to men to for their seed." He stopped again when her brow became down turned.

"I thought that was called something else - not a testicle."

Clearing his throat, he looked away, "Yes, well, back then people made up all sorts of stories to explain such things since they didn't have the technology to know otherwise."

"Oh," she began, "that makes more sense."

"Anyway, after that, he was about to leave again, but she lamented again. The nights of Vegeta-sei were cold - below freezing every night, and many children might die from the cold instead of war - so the god taught her how to make fire. After he taught her the fifth grace, she then turned to the god just before he left once more, and she asked him how she would give the others these same wonderful graces since she didn't have the power of the god. So the God of War kissed her, breathing half of his abilities into her.

"She had one last trick up her sleeve, however, and she asked him how she would be able to do his bidding in one lifetime. The god was tired after doing all of these things for her, but he cut open his chest to give her half of his heart to make her immortal."

I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.

At Gokuu's smile, he paused for a moment, realizing just what that must have meant to her with the sentimental teachings she had grown up knowing. To Saiyajin, it would have not meant the same thing, and he thought about telling her just that, but he cast aside the notion. Let her think what she likes.

"... She did as he had asked, and soon the entire planet was engulfed in wars, greatly pleasing the God of War. The new goddess came to his seat on the moon where he and the other gods resided. They knew she was a trickster, however, and shunned her. Regardless, she went to the God of War, and asked him for one more grace. Down below, she had been among the Saiyajin, watching the towns and scattered villages flourish into great cities and empires. Being so close to them, she began to desire a child like the other women.

"She asked the god for the honor to carry his since - as a goddess - she could not do so with any mortals. The god refused her though, saying she had taken too much from him. Several hundred years later, she returned to the seat of the gods, and asked to play a game with him. They've been playing ever since."

"This is a sad story," she murmured.

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Well, it's a good thing it's over. Kakarotto, if you were the God of War, then you would have covered Vegeta-sei in an ocean."

"But, wait, Vegeta, what kind of story was that?

He grunted, "I don't know - that's what Nappa and my father taught me."

"So ... what kind of game was it?"

"How should I know what kind of games that immortals play? They're probably playing with people's lives."

"Which means ... since they're Saiyajin Gods, they're playing with our lives," Gokuu said, and then pouted to herself, "That's not very fun to think about."

He grimaced, "I wouldn't be surprised if this is the work of that damned goddess then. She must have plotted the demise of the Saiyajin ever since he refused her the bastard child."

Blinking in thought, she laid her head on his chest, and, listening to his beating heart, watched him mutter obscenely for a while before he slipped into sleep. She was awake longer, however, and continued to gaze ahead at nothing, her hand still over her own heart.

"It's been two days now. Why the hell isn't she awake!?"

Paragus scowled ahead at nothing, "Sire - for the last time - I do not know."

"Don't get uppity with me, you worthless pile of shit," Vegeta snarled into the other's face, drawing closer to him. "My woman has been unconscious two fucking days, and you need to stop telling me that. You need to give me answers!"

He watched his eye twitch - in what, Vegeta did not know, but it made him dislike the man even more, "I'm ... sorry, my King."

"Damn fucking straight, you're sorry. A sorry excuse for a Saiyajin!"

Paragus only bowed to him them, seemingly taking the insult.

Yet Vegeta could not quiet his mind. The girl had been just fine. Those few days ago, she had been as lively as ever - livelier with her showing how much she missed him.

He hadn't thought much of it when she didn't awake after the fiasco's much needed rest - 'snuggle-time' as Kakarotto had called it - but had there been something he should have noticed about her? Had there been something beforehand that Vegeta could have done to make sure that she had awakened too?

However, he knew there had been nothing of real notice about her. Kakarotto just looked as she always had after such marathons. Her slightly plump cheeks flushed with the exertion of their prior activities, and her lovely lips barely parted as her chest rose and fell with her breath lighting against her pillow. She had even been smiling sweetly at nothing.

Currently, smiling was the last thing that anyone could say Kakarotto was doing. He just didn't want to look at her - her features haunted and disturbed. She didn't look like herself when her lips were pulled back into a gaping mouth, her brow creased and wrinkled, and her chest heaving erratically. Something was just very, very wrong, and Vegeta felt helpless to do anything for her in her condition. What did he know of medicine and doctoring?

Nothing.

He was a warrior, and useless in that field unless called for dealing with battle wounds - just something impromptu that would hold until medical help was available. Yet there was no call for sloppy setting of bones or ripping up an enemy's clothes to stop up the bleeding. This was different.

His Kakarotto was sick.

"Find out now," Vegeta said with his fangs clenched tightly as he sneered at the other man.

"My lord," he bowed again - Do something! Don't bow to me, you ingrate! - and then hurried out of the room.

Being a particularly strange boy, he did not jump up in an instant when he felt someone near to the Legendary. He did raise an eyebrow when there was a second power level with the Legendary. When he finally jumped up, it was not due to the fact that a third had joined him, but that he had realized how similar their energy signatures were.

So similar that they reflected the others' signatures exactly except for the ranges in their strength. Almost as though the Legendary was there three times.

What's happening? His eyes narrowed when he felt several other groups of energy signatures approach, and the groups seemed to possess the same trait as the group of Legendaries in it.

Without hesitation, he set out to find these energy signals, not sure where they would lead him.

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me, my friends.

Gokuu sat up after a moment of laying there in the med bay, her head swimming with the odd piece of information. Suddenly she surged to her feet, not minding the strange draft inside of the ship as her bare feet padded over cold metal. When she reached the room where the skeleton had been laid to rest before they gave him a proper Saiyajin funeral, she went straight to him, placing her palm gently to his skull, and outlined the curse mark on his forehead.

Smiling sadly before kissing the mark as well, she then took the medallion, "I know you say you don't want it, but do I forgive you ... I don't think I was happy before, but now I am. Maybe ... what you wanted me to see - to understand was that you sacrificed everything for my happiness. Thank you."

Gazing a bit longer at him, Gokuu clutched the medallion tightly to her chest before she pressed the smooth pink stone, and a hologram appeared.

She stared at it, not quite comprehending the image there. To her, it seemed to be of two bulbous forms, moving and pulsing gently against each other - each form cocooned in their own bubble, yet both were tightly pressed together despite this. As she watched the strange image, a voice crackled from out of the medallion, speaking in strange disconnected warbles that was further distorted since the audio would often break, muting itself before coming on again. Through all the jumbled words, she could only make out one that she understood, and it was often joined with another.

"Ept Vegeta ... as ...... re- ... Vegeta ... svel mrege ...... Ept Vegeta ... -avlo ...... kreg ... Ept Vegeta."

Eyes widened suddenly when one of the blobs turned, and she saw a small face attached to it. She traced over the face in the hologram, not touching it though for she didn't wish to disturb the image. A smile came over her lips, and she pushed the button again to see it switch to some other video. The infants in this image were larger, and she could actually see their little fingers and toes wiggling.

Giggling in delight, she pushed the button again, and then gasped softly, seeing a reflection of herself in the next hologram. She was decked out in a blue gown that had been made to form over her obviously pregnant girth. The woman that looked like Gokuu, smiled, and waved at whoever was recording the hologram, "Krea ko?"

Gokuu heard a man chuckle, and the image of the hologram shook a bit as if the one recording had been the man who laughed. It had sounded just like Vegeta's voice, "Aa, Kakarotto, kora."

On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

The hologram woman's eyes widened, "Ept! Ro ... ro ..."

"Yuana po? Hasne'ko 'karo?'"

She flushed, and then her face changed as if she was angry instead, but the blush was too deep to be ire, "Ept Vegeta ......" The woman's face broke out into a frown then, "... Kakaro."

"Kakarotto," she jumped, and then turned off the hologram before she looked up to see Turles standing in the doorway, "What are you doing in here? What was that sound?"

"Nothing," for all of the fun she and Turles had been having before her awful dream, Gokuu abruptly couldn't stand being near the man - he was almost foreboding as he stepped inside of the room. She hid the medallion behind her back, and she saw Turles flinch.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, speechless, before he burst out, "Why are you naked?"

"Because I just woke up," she said. "I didn't feel like finding my clothes ..." Her eyes narrowed, "And for some reason, I woke up in the sick bay."

"You've been asleep for almost three days, Kakarotto. The king nearly joined you from worrying so much. We finally got him to rest yesterday, and he's been out like a lamp since."

Gokuu considered him before stating, "You forced him, didn't you?"

The male twitched again before he smirked, "You're not as stupid as I remember, and much more forthcoming about your enemies."

"What did you do to me and Vegeta?"

"Ept Vegeta is just taking a nap right now under the influence of some narcotics. He won't be up for a few hours yet. We did nothing to you," he grinned, and edged closer, "though it was a blessing when Ept Vegeta tore into my room, shouting about his poor Kakarotto who was unable to respond."

"You were lying this whole time. You tricked him!"

He grinned, and shrugged, "Only a little bit. Now come along, sweet niece, or we'll have to resort to using force like we did with Ept Vegeta."

So what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?

Going still in shock, she murmured, "'The fourth leaving behind the duty of kinship.'"

Turles only walked faster, and she leapt back, "Don't make me call in Brolli. He's lost all control. I'll bet he's number eight so he could keep on tracking you down. He hates you for some reason. We almost had to get rid of him before it was time because he kept trying to murder the baby."

It was Gokuu's turn to flinch, and she touched her lower abdomen, abruptly able to feel the tender energy inside, "...! You will not harm my child!"

"We will do what we want with the brat unless you do as I say. Get over here, Kakarotto. Ept Vegeta is waiting for you."

She followed him back down to the room she had shared with Vegeta for those few short days, and there she changed back into her gi even though Turles scowled at her. Vegeta was strapped and chained to the bed, his muscles straining weakly against the restraints. His eyes were open a fraction, yet she could see that his eyes were not focusing on anything, opting to roll back into his head or flail about erratically. Turles hadn't said anything against it, so she ran to his side, kneeling on the bed to press her palm to his labored chest.

Leaning over him, she could see that his eyes - seeing right through her - had constricted pupils. His cheeks and neck, reddened, were hot when she touched there tenderly, and felt at his pulse, which fluttered strong for her. Her own pulse began to quicken, and she clutched at her chest where her heart would be as she felt it ache, Why does my chest hurt? Is it because of Vegeta ...?

After checking him over, she choked out, "Is he going to be okay?"

"The drugs are wearing off quickly," the male Saiyajin said. "He should be up in about an hour."

"What did you do to him?"

"A simple narcotic. It sends the user into a dream world while he's still awake. He's probably aware of you in this state, but he's still dreaming. It's a rather nice drug actually." He turned to the door suddenly, and snorted, "It sure took you two a while. Where've you been?"

Gokuu looked up to see Paragus and Brolli come through the doorway. Eyeing the younger male, she saw no hatred toward herself or even Vegeta - just those dead black eyes like always. Had it been another lie concocted by Turles? With a frown, she briefly touched her stomach. She knew that even in her state, she could take down Paragus and Turles with relatively no worries. However, if what she suspected were true, she would need help with Brolli.

She had to stall for time until Vegeta woke up because she would not risk Brolli attacking her when she had no back up.

She finally picked up the die, and smiled at her black roll, "Oh, I got 'Abstract.'"

Looking over at the board, he then scowled, "I knew you were going to get that one sooner or later." After a moment, he picked the die up as well, the other figure taking up the new black die that had melded out of the board, "You always have more pieces to play with than me."

"You play with many pieces at once all the time. Do shut up."

With a bark of laughter, he rolled. "... Oh, I got 'Fight.'"

She smiled, "For once."

"For once," he grumbled. "Your turn."

Cocking her head to the side, she looked over the die before she shook her head, "I'll take the next turn."

He shrugged - now used to the odd way she was playing - and rolled, hissing in anger as all of his dice came up, "... I got 'Infinity' on all of them."

The figure frowned as well after she rolled, "I knew I should have waited another turn."

He laughed, "'Infinity!' The game is over!"

I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.

"No," she mused, closing her eyes, "I do not believe so. It is only just beginning."

His forehead creasing, he tried to push aside the sleepy feeling about himself, but then groaned in pain. His head felt as if it was splitting in half, and his stomach was not faring any better. With a gargled moan, he turned over only to feel something around his wrist. Tugging fiercely at it, he dislodged whatever it was easily, allowing him to lean over and pant hard. For some reason, he felt eased breathing in such a manner, letting his stomach know it could expel whatever was bothering his system instead of choke him to death with him on his back.

He then lifted his eyes to look around, scowling at the brackets around his right wrist, and ankles before yanking them off as well.

Hissing at the pain in his head when he stood, Vegeta pushed aside the sensations in his effort to get air into his lungs. He felt better after a moment of this, and dared to trek toward the door before he leaned against the doorframe. Rubbing his temple, he attempted to find a sense of himself in all of his nausea.

It took a bit longer than he thought, but out of the blue, a vision of Kakarotto came to him, and he lurched down the hall, planning to find her.

His mind awakened fully while he walked down the halls, everything about the ship new and strange to him. He stopped at one door, and looked inside to see a skeleton laying on a table. Stepping in, he took the old-fashioned scouter that he was used to from the pack, remembering that he had left it in the front pouch before he had died. Placing it on his wrist, he turned it on, and expelled a sigh of relief that there was just enough battery life to show him her general location.

Vegeta didn't even glance at his corpse as he left the room.

From what he could figure from his Mirror Image's memories, Kakarotto had gone into a deep sleep, unable to awaken from anything. His body had been awake the entire time she had been down, however, and after that, his Mirror Image's memory was a little blank. He didn't worry too much about her. After all, Turles had said that he would watch over her if he went to sleep, and-

Turles! That imbecile drugged this body! What the hell has he done with Kakarotto!? Snarling, he ripped aside the door to the med bay to check for her, and then, in his haste to exit again, he left a gaping hole in the hallway as he stormed toward the man's energy signature.

"Turles! You fucking bastard!"

As he stopped in front of the civilian exit of the ship however, he frowned when his scouter showed Turles and the others outside of the ship. Had they landed while he had been sleeping?

Growling in annoyance at his hesitation, Vegeta swung the door open only to jerk back in astonishment.

The Saiyajin were back on the planetoid that had been composed of the crumbling rocks, but Vegeta could tell that it was about to go under a rather abrupt transformation for the heat of the planet was starting to skyrocket. The moving rocks and debris that had been pulled in were beginning to encounter more noxious gases, and it was heating up.

The world where he had died had finally begun to really form, and soon the rocks would heat up, and melt into magma. The race that Kakarotto had hired to create it really had been geniuses.

Yet, what really caught his attention was the four other Saiyajin floating just a foot or so above the ground. Grabbing a breathing mask to put on, and closing the air-lock, he flew out to be face-to-face with the others, his eyebrows twitching in rage before he lifted up a glittering fist.

"Release her."

Turles only smirked, and clutched the back of her sleeping head to twist her neck almost unnaturally, "Any closer, Lord Vegeta, and I rip her head off."

May angels lead you in.
Hear you me, my friends.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Vegeta's fist glowed even brighter, a shimmering golden hue, "This is unnecessary, Merchant. Put down my lover."

"Ah, so you're you again now, but the answer is still no, naturally," he said. "As the surviving male member of her family, I hold control over her life since she was never granted permission to give herself away. Back then, you had the power to change that, but the rules have changed since you last died. Put down your fist."

With some effort, he forced away the energy, and lowered his head, and hand, "So they have ..."

"Ah good. How convenient that in this lifetime, that power was taken away from our leaders. She was never your lover, but my poor, beloved, knocked-up slut of a niece. If you have any love for our race anymore in that thick skull of yours, then you will back down - tradition has reigned over you, your family, and that of your Original Images and Mirror Image for over five thousand generations. It's everything you are now."

Something in the back of his mind twitched, and he pushed away his Mirror Image trying to break out again, ignoring the plea, Let me out! Don't listen to him!

His head began to throb, but even that was shoved aside. He knew that he had to think fast or Kakarotto would be a blackened smear across the planetoid's surface. It would not do to listen to a man who was only in his thirty-fourth year of life. After all, being in existence for over three thousand years had its perks.

"What have you done to her?"

"It was rather odd actually," Paragus said, his face twisting into a sneer, "she just suddenly pitched over, and we couldn't revive her. She must still be exhausted from all the excitement, and changes. That's good news for us though."

He grimaced, "And why is that?"

"We want something, of course. In exchange for her life, we want you to undo the curse. Bring them all - our planet - back! And then disappear." Turles told him, "Take the bitch after that if you like, but never return to Vegeta-sei."

"... This is rather cheap of you." The Lord growled, "On one hand, I have the role of being the Saiyajin's exterminator, but on the other ..."

"But on the other, you have a bitch that you want kept alive despite your duty. She's making out to be such a splendid bartering chip, don't you think?" Turles said to him. "Her and the baby."

His Mirror Image abruptly reared again, screaming out through the body's voice despite Vegeta's attempt to keep him down, "Get the fucking hell out of my head! If you won't do anything, then I will!"

Turles laughed as Vegeta fell to his knees, "What's wrong? Can't control that Mirror Image of yours?"

The prince grated out through his fangs, "Shut the hell up, and give Kakarotto back." It was like dangling at a rope's end trying to control the being in his head. Or perhaps more like grasping at the strings at the end of the rope. Already, he could feel the other man scratching madly at the back of his scalp, trying to dig back inside by causing him pain. You're going to have to do better than that, old man. You only got into my head because I was drugged, but now I'm in my right mind, and you can't do anything against me.

"You know that you can't do that." The space pirate rebounded from the sudden shift of personalities easily, "For your time, tradition dictates that you can't take her without the permission of the eldest male from her family."

"It's a good thing that I don't give a fuck about tradition anymore then, isn't it?"

The other male blanched before he grabbed her belly; obviously, about to rip out what was growing inside of the sleeping woman.

Kakarotto jerked awake, and she thrashed, giving out a cry of pain. Turles, dropping her in shock, didn't even see the prince dash towards him before he broke his neck with a swift slash to the right with his hand. Kneeling, he picked her up, checking her stomach for what must have been a gory hole, yet there was nothing, and Kakarotto only moaned in agony all the more loudly.

"Ka ... Kakarotto! What's wrong?" He switched his hands to grasp at her shoulders, giving a little shake to catch her attention, "Tell me what's wrong!"

"My ..." she managed, "my ... heart ... Vegeta, my heart ...!"

On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.

His own heart clenched up in pain, "What? Kakarotto, what's wrong? What happened?" She didn't answer for she had fallen back into unconsciousness.

"The Merchant is dead now," Vegeta's head jolted upward to snarl at Paragus, "what great fortune that I now know my part, but to know that I must die next ...! Ept Vegeta!" He clung tighter to her, bringing her to his chest in protection, but he knew that he could not safeguard her from whatever was occurring to her inside. "I will make the rest of your short life as miserable as I can! It shall be my parting gift to you for all of the horrible things you have done to me in the past! The humiliations, and agonies that you and your family have afflicted! May my son kill me as swiftly as he has done in the past, and may your death be horrendous!"

He did not see the symbology of Paragus taking off his golden wristband and breaking it, but he did see and feel Brolli's power crash out after he did it. The resulting bang was so great that Paragus - who had been right beside him - was thrust aside, and Vegeta heard his neck snap in the whiplash.

"This ... is not what I had before ..." Brolli seemed to sigh, "but it will be enough ..." His eyes, penetrating through Vegeta, began to glow green, "My rage will be enough!"

The Saiyajin's power thrummed before he seemed to burst apart in rays of golden light. What was left behind was a monster of a man, every single muscle quivering with power. Insane glee spread into his eyes, causing the much smaller man to choke back a curse, for the crazed insanity that he saw in them was never a good sign in a Saiyajin.

Vegeta didn't waste time - he brought Kakarotto up into his arms, and dashed toward the ship with her. He would kill without a second thought as he had done so many times before with Paragus.

Shutting up the civilian door, he then took off his and her mask, and opened the air-lock before he went through with her and shut the door again. The being that had taken control only moments before raged again, You must relinquish control! This is not allowed!

Did this happen to you? Were you not in control!? I bet that monster out there slaughtered you!

The being reached into his head, and seemed to be trying to twist out his eyeballs in order to gain control, No, I killed him, but at a heavy price. He may have been stopped, but ... I left Kakarotto behind ...

I don't like your methods, he cut off the connection, and ran down the halls before he just thought it a waste. Hearing Brolli rip apart the metal walls, Vegeta ascended to his Super Saiyajin form before he crashed up into the ceiling, breaking through quickly so that he could reach the control room faster. Vegeta hoped that the other Saiyajin would not catch on to what he was attempting.

The beautiful thing about the randomly pieced together ship was that it could break pieces of itself away, using massive built-in air-locks to keep the occupants safe while casting aside the rest. He just had to-

May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.

"Kguh!" Vegeta lurched forward before he collapsed to his knees, the hit jarring him enough that the female Saiyajin fell into a heap in front of him. Tweaking erratically, he felt his eyes slide down to stare at the pipe sticking out of his gut.

Laughter from behind himself caused Vegeta to burn in anger. The pain had not yet hit him, so he quickly twisted around, and, taking up a shard of metal, he aimed for Brolli's eyes. It was caught effortlessly in Brolli's opposite hand, but before the other Super Saiyajin could blink, Vegeta punched him in the face after tossing shards of metal at his face.

The much smaller pieces merely punctured his skin, yet the most damaging blow of it was that several shards pierced through his eyelids to the delicate eye tissue below. Brolli released Vegeta's wrist to clutch to his face, and he howled in torment. The prince fell to his side, and, taking the time to breathe, he hacked out blood that had welled up from inside of himself, gripping the broken pipe in his abdomen.

After that, the pain started to spread through him, but he managed to drag himself to Kakarotto, and picked her up, pressing her close. Behind him, one of Brolli's arms swung about in search of the two, yet his other hand was held over his damaged eyes while puss oozed out through his fingers. He had been effectively blinded.

Knowing that extracting the pipe would only open up his wounds and make him lose blood faster, Vegeta didn't touch it.

With greater effort than he had first thought, Vegeta got to his feet with the woman in his arms before bursting up through the ceilings again, pushing back the torrent of agony his actions brought to him. A good couple of floors up, he dropped out of his Super Saiyajin form involuntarily, and slumped to his knees, coughing up more blood, which ended up on Kakarotto's shirt. Making himself take in deep breaths, he nuzzled into her bosom before he looked up at her wearily, still able to hear the screams below, "Two more floors to go ... do you think I can do it ... Kakarotto?"

She didn't answer, but he stumbled up onto his feet again before his energy flared bravely, and he shot up the last few floors.

At last, when he got to the control room, his knees buckled right in front of the command center. He tried to suck in several breaths that only turned into red-colored pants. Wiping away the blood on his lips with a sleeve, he reached up to press in commands, but his hands were too jerky, so he had to push one button at a time with a quaking finger. Every now and then, he would vomit up blood, and soon there was a small pool collecting from his mouth and the two wounds.

Vegeta checked the time it would take for the ship to reach Earth, and then took a reading of the amount of breathable air left inside. As both readings sank in, he remembered what the being that had taken over his mind had said.

Solidifying his resolve, and pressing in the last button to initiate his orders, he looked down at the sleeping Saiyajin in his lap. Her hair - which had always seemed to shine a blue-gray color - was drenched in his blood, and a few specks from his coughs had splattered over her cheek. One vermillion drop had landed on her full bottom lip.

He hesitated, groaning, and Vegeta toppled to the floor beside her. Smearing the blood around them as he curled up to her, he clasped at the metal pipe.

Keeping his eyes concentrated on Kakarotto, he began to pull it out.

Together, they would not make it back to Earth in time before they suffocated. With the floors below them ruined, and the hallway beyond the control room still exposed to outer space, he would not be able to put either himself or Kakarotto into a regen-tank. They would be trapped in the control room until the ship reached Earth, but there would be just enough emergency rations to last a pregnant Saiyajin through the weeks if she was careful.

She stirred, and then he hissed, bringing her face to his chest so that he could cover up her eyes. Kakarotto was still for a few moments before she struggled, groaning in pain, "No ... let me ... go ..."

"Kakarotto, no ..." gritting his fangs, he gave a final tug, and freed the pipe. Swallowing a cough of blood, he whispered hoarsely into her hair, his throat dry, "I don't want ... don't want you to see ..."

"Vegeta ...? See what ...?" After a moment, she froze, and then started to pant, "No ... no, Vegeta ... Vegeta, I can smell blood ...!" Her hands fisted into his wet, sticky shirt, and then she began to sob. The strange action from her brought tears to his own eyes, and he dropped the pipe to hug her closer even as more hot blood seeped from his puncture wound.

"There's food in the cabinets below the controls," he said after taking a deep inhalation. "Don't play with the controls ... and you'll be on Earth in four days."

"Vegeta," she started, and soon it became a mantra, repeating it over and over as if that would save him. Dislodging her hands, she instead clutched at his back, and his breath hitched painfully, "Vegeta, I'm pregnant ... please ..."

Clenching his eyes shut tight, he shook her shoulders weakly, "Then. Do. Not. Die."

By chance, her hand slipped down - her plan seeming to be rubbing his back to soothe him - but her hand came in contact with the entry wound on his back. It caused him no more pain than he was already feeling since he felt rather numb to it currently, but she stilled completely before she pulled her hand away. "We ... can't wish you back if you die ... please, find a regen-tank," she changed tactics, but he shook his head.

"I had to hurry ... had to get away from Brolli ... he did ... that ... Broke apart the ship ..." he took another deep breath as his air seemed to be slipping away from him, "Air-locked ... the room ... no more ... regen-tanks."

She nodded after a while, and lifted her head despite his hoarse protests. Kakarotto gazed up at him for a while, her hands reaching up to fist into his hair. Striving to keep himself awake for his last few moments, he blinked away the darkness to look at his light. For a moment, he just stared at her in confusion before lifting up a hand to wipe away the tears steadily streaming down her cheeks, but the image of her was still off.

"... Smile," and she did.

He had been staring at her for several minutes before she realized he wasn't breathing anymore. Swallowing nothing, she closed his eyes before she rested her head onto his chest, almost crying again as she knew that she would no longer hear his heart thumping beside her ear.

Gokuu finally allowed herself to cringe as her heart twisted sharply again. She had kept herself away from the pain in her chest so that Vegeta would not have seen her unhappy in his last moments.

Yet, with Vegeta gone, she felt it anew, and with wrenching fervor. As his death seemed to worsen it, she wondered briefly if she would even make it to Earth in her state of mind and body. She whispered to him, pressing her whole body to his as she used to do in slumber, and she tried to remember those days - the mornings where they would awaken like that. He would close the curtains with a wave of his hand to make her giggle for he always left the door wide open.

Managing a tight smile, Gokuu found his cooling hand, and held it.

"The Yardratjin ... were right ... I truly am alone ... but I ... wasn't with you ... I wasn't ..."

And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big
God wouldn't let it live.

When the ship crashed into Capsule Corp.'s back lawn, Bulma worked her way inside with unbridled excitement after she was told that no energy signals were inside.

"This is going to make the coolest project ever. Think about it, Yamucha," she said as she was carefully picking apart the last of the complex bolts that held the metal plating in place. "When Son-chan and Vegeta get back, I'll get Vegeta to help me and Daddy figure out how it all works. There could be all sorts of secrets that would help us ...... ugh ...!" She frowned at the bolt before she finally tugged it off entirely, "There!" Bulma grinned victoriously up at Yamucha.

"I still don't know why you didn't just let me break in."

"What? And let a muscle-brained lug like you ruin the mechanics of these air-locks? No way, buddy!" She gestured to the plating, "Now kindly remove that metal plating - and don't damage it! There might be some components in it that-" her eyes widened as Yamucha lifted it away, and she turned her head away, waving at the air, "Phew! What a stench! What is that !?"

Yamucha laid the plating down before he waved his own hand, squinting into the dark, pungent ship, "Smells like ... rotting flesh. Let me check it out, okay?"

"Hell no! I want to see my first alien life form!" She pushed him aside, and took a few steps in, "And I'm not talking about Son-chan an- Son-chan! Vegeta!"

Paling, the ex-bandit rushed in, and then caught Bulma as she fainted, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the sight of the two Saiyajin clutching at each other. The two both had a content, peaceful expression even in death.

...... This is not the end! -cackles-