Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Feeding Genius ❯ Vegeta's Stand ( Chapter 16 )

Feeding Genius

Chapter Sixteen

Vegeta's Stand

Disclaimer - Don't own it!

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Mayhem. That is all I can sense. Colours blur past my vision, muddling into an insane rainbow of dread. At this speed the only thing I can focus on is pinpoint direction, landed to me by my extrasensory abilities. Bulma is in my arms. She clings to me, her small white fingers digging into my flesh as I fly. She has asked no questions. Perhaps she knows that I cannot answer them… at least not with any resounding accuracy.

Any other thought that isn't required for movement is now useless to me any way. All I can do is centre on those three powers. They are illuminated so clearly against the murky backdrop of my mind. Trunks' power I am the more familiar with and therefore his glows the brightest, even though it is the weakest of the three. Next there is the gracefully grounded power of his guardian… Maek Suh. There is a sense of calm and rightness about her energy. It is just as I would expect from someone as disciplined as she is. She is calm, cool, and collected. So unlike the fiery and confused pull of my son's energy.

The third… the third… I cannot shake it. The energy, no matter how hard I try, is indecipherable to me. There is no easy way to describe it. I suppose the best word for it is congealed. It is thick, clinging to my mind like syrup would the back of a spoon. It is heavy, heaving with a desire that I can't place. Of course it doesn't take a genius (or her mate) to work out to whom this power must belong.

Faylorn.

There is not another creature on this station that could possibly exude so much. I saw it in his stance at the commanders ball, could see it in his eyes. If only I had pushed my senses further and explored deeper. Would I have become attuned to him? Would I have been able to anticipate his movements? Then there's that damned noise. It's the expulsion of energy. A vast amount of this black and clouded energy is being exerted against my son. I can feel it, cutting up my stomach, making me more impatient, more pissed off by the second. Blood will flow, and it will flow deep and thick to the chorus of my victory and to the dishonour and disembowelled ruin of the warrior that dares to fuck with my family.

Another thunderclap blasts my eardrums, and this time even Bulma can hear it. For the first time since I dragged her from the room, she flinches and tries to recoil from my hold. I don't blame her reaction, the noise is even eerie and foreboding enough to freeze the flow of my blood. I hold onto her more securely, my hand pushing her closer to my chest. "I will make him pay." I snarl, and she clings closer.

Not far to go now. I can almost smell the faint hint of ki charge in the air as I round the corner. I am flying close to the walls on my side, making extra sure that nothing will damage the woman in my arms. Unfortunately I am not quite prepared for the sight that greets me and I have to haul on and rein in my power to come to a stop without colliding into my old master as she comes speeding towards me. Whether she is flying backwards or has been flung in that direction is questionable, but she still manages to let large balls of energy fly from her outstretched hands as I avoid her by mere millimetres, and she smashes through the reinforced metal wall.

I have to think quickly. There is a large room to the left of me, but a wall of debris blocks the entrance. I stand, quickly heaving a large piece of fallen metal out of the way. "Stay here." I order, placing Bulma inside. "If you're in danger, scream. That voice of yours carries for miles." I watch her eyebrows dip in that enticing way, but I haven't got the time to listen to her bitch. "Bye-bye." I wave, as the insults start to flow and simply moving out of the way, I let the sheet of metal fall back to its original position. She'll be spitting mad when I let her out, I just have to pray that I get to listen to her cursing my ass to hell, rather than having it firmly planted there by Faylorn.

I carefully walk back, keeping a firm lock on Faylorn's power as I retreat to check on Maek Suh. Her power is weak, faltering and tripping over itself. I chance a single look, but I cannot do more. Her power is not the only one fading and flesh and blood is ten times more important. She has a nasty wound, just below the rib cage. I cannot see whether it goes all the way through. Her eyes pierce mine. I can see the frustration and anger behind them. They scowl at me, and at once the spell is broken. Nodding in respect I fly towards my son.

This part of the space station is indistinguishable. So much of its infrastructure is melted, collapsed and crushed together that this deck is little more than a wasteland. There is not just the inanimate as well. This was originally the crèche. Nursery assistants and children alike have not been fortunate enough to escape the heat of battle. The smell of scorched flesh and death fills the room, and all at once I am glad that I left Bulma behind. No creature should ever have to witness this.

I on the other hand am used to it. Even now as I trip over the ripped up remains of a small child, I feel nothing but the excited thrill of adrenaline. I can feel my power swell through my body, the tingling anticipation for battle, hot in my blood. It's so quiet. All I can hear is the thump of my heart, beating angrily against my ribs. I close my eyes. He's around here somewhere, but his power… it's so different to anything I have fought before that I can't trace it with any accuracy. All I know is that he's close, and that Trunks is somehow encompassed within his shroud.

"FAYLORN!"

The shout echoes against the cavernous arena of flesh and metal. Beyond I can hear my voice carry along the long corridors, networking and re-amplifying itself.

"Stop being such a coward and show yourself!"

I wait, but am disappointed. There is no reply. Still his exact location eludes me and I can feel my veins pulse in irritation. I strain my hearing a little harder. I can make out something. Deep, heavy set breathing. It's coming faster and thicker, but from where?

"TRUNKS!"

The silence I get in return is almost stupefying. Why doesn't my son answer? The breathing is louder now, manifesting into discernible sound. That Bastard! He's chuckling, taking sick amusement from my panic, and my sons fear.

"Papa… papa!"

The plea is faint, but I have direction now. Good boy Trunks. He is concealed in the shadows towards the other end of the deck. I move closer, but I needn't have bothered. The mass of shadow I have been trying to peer through is at once dispelled, and I have to leap out the way of a large spread of ki. It eats up the floor under my feet and I have to execute a complex series of acrobatics to avoid getting hit. Shit! I've been successfully forced to the opposite end of the room, and I have nowhere left to go but through the solid metal walls.

Fine! If that's how he wants to play it I'll just have to use the situation to my advantage. Charging my ki I melt my own exit and doubling back on myself melt a new entry closer to him. I can see his upright and confident form pooling out of the shadows. It is as though they cling to him. He hasn't noticed me yet and I use this lapse to get closer. He glances carefully over the shoulder, but it is too late. I am already on him, sliding in to take out his ankles. He manages to jump clear, but I continue underneath him, using my arms to push me up, flipping over him, and landing a powerful kick to the back of his head on the way down.

All four of my limbs thunder into the ground as I land. I chance a look up to see what damage I have inflicted. What the…! He is still… standing? Fuck! This isn't good. The only suggestion that anything has happened to him is the sunken angle of his head. His long dark hair has fallen over his shoulders and is obscuring his features, but I know that he is not slumped from pain. My fears are confirmed as I can see his large broad shoulders, gently shaking. He is rocking backwards and forwards on his feet, and the chuckling has returned. Soon his head is dramatically flung back, cascading the long tresses dramatically, and he is laughing at full capacity.

"So this is the legendary Saiyan no Ouji!"

His voice flows over me like tar. He laughs again.

"I didn't think it would come to this Saiyan, but you're quick, I'll give you that. Unfortunate really, because it leaves me with no other choice."

He unfurls an arm from the crook of his large chest. He is holding something at arms length. His dark black gloves clutch a small still form, securely by the hair. I feel sick to the stomach. It's lilac.

"It's simple really. I'm going to ask you a question Saiyan and you have to tell me the answer. Do you understand?"

I nod mutely.

"All you have to do is tell me whether or not you want your son to live?"

Inside I can feel the life draining out of my body. My feet feel numb, my body, shutting down at the thought of what might come next. On the outside, however, I can't let anything slip. I have to stay above my emotions. I can't afford to fuck this up because I am too blinded by rage to think straight.

"The pathetic hybrid is nothing to me." I lie. "You are wasting your time if you think you can escape fighting me by hiding behind it."

"Oh no!" He iterates, dragging the sounds out for emphasis. "I don't wish to avoid conflict Vegeta. Quite the contrary, but you see you wouldn't be a challenge to me as you are now. I would kill you instantly."

I snort. "You seem to think very highly of yourself Faylorn, but I was only just getting warmed up. You haven't even begun to feel the true power of a Super Saiyan."

He shrugs, making Trunks' limp form, swing sickeningly backwards and forward. "You sound as though you mean it, but then you think I don't know what I'm up against. I really would be an idiot if I hadn't done my research, don't you think? I know exactly how powerful you are Vegeta, and let me be frank in telling you that at present you really do stand no chance. I am not unreasonable though. At the minute I have other plans. My orders are simple. Return with the boy. So long as that is carried out, he will live and I will get paid. Should you, however, try and stop me, then I will kill him. My orders allow me that liberty."

"Orders!' I spit. "So you're nothing more than an over-cocky, hyped-up, bounty hunter? Who gives you your orders?"

"That's irrelevant. You seem to be missing the point Saiyan. The point is; how badly do you want your son to survive this? He is seriously injured." He rummages in a pocket and pulls out a vial. "One sip of this and he'll live, but I have to be safely off the station before he gets it."

"Lies!" I rage, sickened by his audacity. "Feh! You expect me to trust you? Ridiculous!"

"I really don't want to have to kill your son Saiyan!" He continues, the hand that carries Trunks, now glowing with latent ki. "Stop pushing me to it."

"Very well. You want this over and done with quickly I presume."

He nods in agreement, "I am a very sort after and efficient product."

"Then I have a proposition for you. You said you would wish to fight me."

"That's correct. At a later date, when you are more powerful."

"Well then, lets strike a deal. If you really are just the middleman in all of this, then I need to know I can trust your honour. You boasted you are much more powerful than me. Give me five minutes. I wish to fight you for five minutes. If I am unable to beat you within that time then I will trust your word, you can go quickly on your way, and I will not interfere. Then at a later date we will meet again and settle this once and for all… of course it also means that if you're bluffing then you are in very, very hot water. Do you agree to this?"

I stand before him, defiant, and unwavering. I keep trying to tell myself that this is just another risk in the line of my empty and desolate life as a warrior. I have to blank out the attachment I have discovered for these flesh and blood creatures. Life is a gamble, happiness, peace is a chip to be won or lost at the roll of the dice. I have no other option. This is my last hand. I have nothing else to play.

He looks coldly across at me, but at once I can see the fire, light in his eyes. Good he has proper warrior conduct. His pride and honour might just be relied on. "You have good bargaining skills Saiyan." He chuckles. "I accept your challenge. The real question is though, will you survive for five minutes?"

I snort derisively. A better question than that I could not have asked myself. I have to take him seriously until it is proven otherwise else I will risk embarrassing defeat. If his bite is equal to his bark, then five minutes could well be my undoing. I snarl in disgust. I shouldn't question my own abilities, not at a time like this! He is nothing more than a bounty hunter, since when has such a low class simpleton become a greater breed than the Saiyan no Ouji! I will win this! I will! I have to!

As the mindset fits into it usual arrogant rut I let my power rise. The manifestation of this is a ring of fiery gold that spills against gravity, up from the ground, pouring rhythmically, but vertically over my body. The sharp haze, blurs my sight for a moment, but it doesn't matter. I glory in the feeling of power as it rushes through me, settling in a tingling of fingers and toes, added with the heady pleasure of Super Saiyan.

Faylorn's stature remains unchanged. Every muscle in his body is relaxed, denoting a genuine lack of concern. Those dark, piercing, and scarred eyes, however, tell a different story. He is watching me closely, scrutinizing every move. It's such a pity for him that I am a master at reading from those orbs. He isn't afraid, of that much I am certain, but he is wary. Maybe he is not quite as formidable as he would like me to think. Of course nothing of this sort can be decided by simply staring the other out.

With a guttural scream I push away from the floor, charging with an elbow as I skim effortlessly towards him. As I approach, he flings Trunks' limp body to the wayside and adopts a defensive stance. Our elbows meet in a backwash of power. Instinctively I duck to take out his legs, but he controls the movement in a neat one handed flip and instantly circles back to kick me firmly in the head.

I am sent hurtling across the deck, but just before I hit the opposite side I manage to turn my body so it is scraping along the jagged floor with my feet splayed, slowing my progress and pushing me back towards the battle. With an explosion of power I am back in the thick of it again. I'm using precise releases of energy, marked with precision accuracy to his body.

We continue in this manner for over two minutes, me trying to find a weakness in the wall of energy he has shrouded himself in. Every time I send a ki beam out it is stopped by the tremendous barrier and falls extinguished, blipping out of existence. If only I could use more powerful, and larger energy attacks, but the brittle state of the space station prevents either of us from such uncontrolled expulsion of power. The last either of us wants is to be sucked out into the vacuum of space.

I am not desperate yet though. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. The trouble is, with that energy shield up, how can I get close enough to implement them? "Fuck!" I snarl in a vicious whisper, "Kakarrot your instant teleportation would really come in handy right now! Idiot! How am I supposed to exploit your powers when you're in otherworld?"

Shit! I have to think. Think damn it! Wait… where's Trunks? He was thrown in that direction, but I don't see him any more! I quickly scan the floor, but can't see a thing. I don't get the time for more. A wall of invisible ki slams into me from behind. It pushes me along, burning into the fabric of my exposed body suit. Fuck! I'm completely exposed without my armour. Damn that woman! I knew my lust for her would be the death of me!

I'm having real problems controlling this. If it was a direct hit to the front it would be much easier, but overpowering it from the back is like trying to lick your own elbow… in other words, damned near impossible. I only have one option. I have to roll on the raw ki, pushing myself underneath it, hopefully making it lick around me. Of course if I get it wrong, then it's pretty much a one-way ticket to otherworld for me, and the only two creatures in the universe I actually give a rats ass about.

I take in a large breath and on the count of three I make my move. The ki shifts in momentum, burning into my flesh, just as I knew it would. I close my eyes and try desperately to block out the pain as I search for Trunks' faint ki signature. I was right. It's moving. He's moving. I don't know if I'm more glad that he's able to move of his own accord, or angry that he has to be awake and witness the horror around him. The ki circles dangerously above me. Good… I'm below it now. I have to keep flat on the floor.

Suddenly I get an idea. If I follow the power it will mask my own ki signature for a while, giving me the chance to find my son. Being apart from Faylorn's power now gives Trunks' ki the sharpness of direction it had been missing before. Straining my senses I can tell he is not as far away as I had thought. Shielding my eyes from the power I use its kinetic force to make a beeline for Trunk's ki. Unfortunately something stops my progress.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Fuck! I wasn't able to fool him and now I really am in the shit. Faylorn's hand is wrapped expertly around my neck, pulling me violently out of flight and up against a wall, which (thanks to a stray cable) is now effectively electrified.

"We still have a minute left."

I can't breathe. I'm gasping for oxygen, clawing at his strong hands in the hopes I'll be able to get a thin strain of it into my lungs. Its not working, and the burns on my back are being tortured afresh by the flow of electricity through my body!

"You can hold your breath for over a minute, can't you Saiyan." He sneers, moving closer to read the panic in my eyes. He laughs. "But of course you can. How are you going to learn your lesson this way?" His smile turns into a sneer.

What's he got planned for me? I have no way of escaping. I am completely at his mercy. This is worse than any punishment in HFIL. I am humiliated. His other hand clasps over my mouth and using both his powerful arms he drags me along the wall, pushing a little harder all the while so eventually I am being dragged through it instead of along. Every now and again I am relieved only to be smashed back in, ten times harder than before.

Eventually he stops, but it is only a short respite. Now his hands are glowing with power, strong and merciless. Still I can't breathe. I think my head is going to pop any moment. There is certainly no capacity left in my lungs to scream. The pain is unbearable, but is nicely cushioned by the brink of unconsciousness. I can feel my grip on life wavering. Perhaps it is only a premonition of death, but I can't think straight anymore. Then… just I think I am about to lose vision along with my hearing, his fingers relax.

All at once I fall to the floor, life straining back into my limbs as I gulp down the oxygen that was denied me. Somewhere through the haze I can hear a voice. "Your five minutes is up. I think I have proved my point. You have my promise that your son will live, but we will meet again Saiyan and then… then I will not hesitate to kill you."

I try desperately to get to my feet, but it is useless. I can't see straight. The lack of oxygen has sent my senses into a spin, and the moment I try to find my balance I flop straight back down again. Here I lay motionless. "Trunks." I whisper, "You are Saiyan, you are strong. I will find you… I… I…" I can't say anything more and just as though the life had been sucked out of me, everything goes black.

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A/N - Ok folks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's been so long since I did a fight sequence it was quite a buzz. This was the last chapter from Vegeta's POV for a while. Next chapter will be from either Trunks or Bulma's POV I'm not sure which yet… ho hum… decisions, decisions.