Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Hope Leaves ❯ Digital Ghost ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

THIS CHAPTER: Only Bra and Goten seem to realise the danger everyone might be in, and Goten decides to take matters into his own hands. How long until the imposter's secret is discovered, while the real Vegeta remains trapped in a memory he might not get through in one piece, unable to remember who he is?
WARNINGS: N/C, abuse

They lay side by side in the river bed, silent apart from their quiet breathing, their bare backs striped by moonlight and their hair glowing silver. A low fog had descended over the forest, its pale tendrils snaking around the trees trunks and obscuring everything in the distance but the tree tops, making the area around them feel like an island in a sea of misty clouds.
'Vegeta, it's freezing. I'm going to get sick I just know it. I've been feeling under the weather lately and I don't want to take any chances. It's going to be a big month at work. Don't you think it's time we got back?'
'Soon,' he whispered, turning to face her and raising a hand to trail his damp fingers slowly across her shivering throat and delicate collar bone, sending a chill throughout her entire body.
'It's amazing how fragile you humans are. Your bones are like twigs,' his fingers continued to caress her collar bone. 'It would be so easy to just... snap them.' As he spoke these words, his breath became visible on the air. It was growing colder & colder.
'Ha ha, very funny,' she said softly, though it wasn't really. At the moment, all she wanted to do was go home. In an attempt to warm herself up she moved in closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling into his chest, which as usual was emanating heat. He stiffened noticeably, and she furrowed her brow. He hadn't done that in a long time. In the beginning he'd been uneasy with intimacy, always sleeping with his back to her when he chose to fall asleep in her bed, but he'd gradually stopped pulling away when she snuggled up behind him and held him. He'd remain in her embrace for progressively longer periods of time, and as he'd gotten older and more relaxed, he no longer minded her cuddliness.
'What's wrong?' she murmured.
'Bulma...'
'What?'
'Huh?' Vegeta questioned. 'I didn't say anything.'
'You said my name-'
'You're hearing things woman.'
'But- never mind.'
They lay quietly for a little while. And then she heard it again.
'Cut it out Vegeta! You're starting to scare me,' she said, slapping his arm.
'I don't know what you're talking about.'
'You keep saying my name!'
'No, I don't. I told you that.'
'Oh and who's doing it then? The owls? Or maybe the mice? Jesus it's fucking freezing out here, can we please go home? Look, there's frost forming on the seedlings!'
'Why in such a hurry? It's just a little cold, it won't kill you.' Again he was stroking her collar bone, occasionally applying pressure as if to test its sturdiness, or lack there of. She swatted his hand away, thoroughly creeped out now, and repeated, as slowly and clearly as possible, 'Please. Can. We. Go. Home?'
This time he didn't even answer, instead flashing her a wolfish smile, bearing his canines.
'That's it!' she cried, getting up and stomping off towards the hazy image of a lake very close by. 'I'm calling a taxi!' His crazed laughter followed her as she wandered off, holding her torn gown together and being careful not to go too far lest she be unable to find her way back through the fog. As she neared the lake, she noticed it was emitting an odd light and was wandering if it might be the reflection of the full moon, when the sound of someone calling her drifted by on the wind again. She clapped a hand over her mouth, stopping herself from screaming, and scanned the area. I bet asshole is just playing games with me again,' she thought nervously. 'Just you wait Vegeta... you're going to be sleeping on the couch for a week...' her voice quavered.
'Bulma...' this time it was louder, the sound echoing from somewhere right behind her. Then a hand found her shoulder, gripping it firmly.
'Listen.'
Every creature in the forest would have heard her horrified screaming as Bulma ran through the forest faster than she'd ever run in all her life, not caring about holding onto the tattered nightgown.
'Quiet woman!' he growled, thinking he sensed something when he heard her shrieking, but then figuring it was just a wild animal or something. The prince once again began to laugh when he saw her.
'Don't you look a sight?'
'Shut up and stop laughing! Just take me home, I don't want to stay here another minute! There's someone out there, someone just grabbed me when I was near the lake!' Bulma's pleas were only met with more laughter.
'I knew it, it was you wasn't it? This isn't funny!'
'Yeah sure, whatever you say.'
At the end of her wits, Bulma sank to her knees and put her head in her hands, having just about given up on ever getting home tonight.
'I need a fucking cigarette. Please,' she moaned quietly.
After some time, her husband's laughter died down and she could sense him standing behind her, feel his hands running through her hair and eventually settling around her neck, again. He lowered his mouth to breath the crisp scent of her hair in the icy night air.
'Oh Bulma...' his voice was a husky whisper to her ear, 'you'll smoke yourself into the grave, you know...'
'...'
'Now then, don't get upset. We'll go home. I had some plans for tonight but...,' he continued gently, tracing the curve of her throat from one end too the other, 'the weather's not quite right. It can wait a little while.'
The morning after the river bed madness, Bulma sat on the couch in the living room, watching the sun shine through the dull gray rain clouds out the window. She was bruised and sore, with a head full of leaves and dirt, plus she could feel a fever coming on. It was difficult to know what to think of the things that had happened last night. On the bright side, the passion seemed to have returned to her marriage overnight. Their love life had been in a slump for some time now, mostly because of the reasons Vegeta had mentioned the night before which had made her so angry. However, they weren't the only reasons, there were other things. He'd been quieter the last year, more sullen, as though something was troubling him, and she knew it had to do with those dreams he kept on having. She'd gotten angrier and more frustrated with his refusal to talk about it with every passing day, but she now saw that this had been the wrong way to handle it, that she should have just been patient with him. Then perhaps he never would have gotten into the whole horrible mess of the past few weeks. She still wanted him to talk to her about it though, and she was going to make him realise just how important it was to open up, if only more gently this time.
But had she missed her chance? The downside of all this was that something was wrong with him, and he wasn't in the slightest bit aware of it. He'd practically been behaving like an animal, and the things he'd been saying last night... it had been frightening. But the worst of all was the way he'd been calling her name, then snuck up behind her, God, she'd been down right terrified! That was another thing that had been bothering her, that voice she'd been hearing. What if it hadn't been Vegeta? But that was stupid, who else would it have been?
A loud crash carried through to the kitchen from a distant room in the house, but it didn't worry her. Judging by the frequency of the thumping and bumping noises and the stomping that could be heard from various locations around the huge house, Bra was probably playing hide and seek with her father. The game was lasting much longer than it normally did, probably because he was trying to make up for lost time, or because, just like with everything else, he wasn't acting like himself. How the hell was she supposed to get him to see a doctor?
Oblivious to her mother's troubled thoughts, Bra hid in a linen cupboard in one of the laundries at the other end of capsule corps. Daddy would never find her in here. She giggled loudly enough to give away her position, as children always do when playing hide and seek, but she remained undiscovered. It didn't take her long to get bored.
'This is no fun,' she muttered to herself, pouting and opening the door, only to find the laundry dark. As this room was not quite at the edge of the house, there was no external light. The only light in such rooms had to come through windows from surrounding rooms or light bulbs, and someone had turned off the light. Bra trembled a little, she didn't like the dark very much. Lifting up her small arms she tried to feel around for something to make the light come on again, and the longer she failed to find it the more upset she got, whimpering as she flailed around wildly. When her hand met with something soft she was surprised, but before there was time to figure out what it was something crashed to the floor behind her, making a horrifically loud sound which hurt her sensitive ears. Bra squealed, terrified that some invisible monster was in the room and about to eat her alive. When something started cackling in the corner she burst into tears, and only once the light was switched on did Bra recognise that it was no monster, but her father.
'You're mean,' she sobbed, but held out her arms instinctively in hopes that he would pick her up, like he usually did when she cried. 'Why'd you do that?'
'Because that's how you play this game. Didn't you know?' he replied, still laughing and making no move to pick her up.
Bra sobbed harder, unable to understand why he was being like this. Why couldn't she jump into his arms and give him a hug like she used to, and why didn't he look worried when he could see she was crying? He didn't like it when she got hurt. Why was he being so mean? Frightened and sad, she ran from the room, only to find the hallways dark as well. However, she didn't stop running, feeling her way forward with her other senses and looking for her mother's energy at the other end of the house, just like her daddy had taught her. It made her even sadder thinking about that. All the way down the halls she could hear him laughing meanly at her, but it wasn't long before she came to an area that was lit, and then to the kitchen where she jumped into her mothers arms.
'Hey baby, what's wrong?'
'Mummy...' she whimpered, burying her face into Bulma's chest and continuing to cry. But no matter how much Bulma questioned her, she got no answer.

...THREE WEEKS LATER...

Myrrh sat next to Lennon, wires attached to both of their scalps, both overseeing the same process, both searching for the same thing, at least that was what Lennon kept telling him. Myrrh was beginning to wonder if he was lying, just as he had lied to the SS. This ridiculous vendetta of his was going to get them killed. Or, far more likely, it was going to get him killed, and Lennon, having many similarities to a worm, would wiggle his way out of the mess he'd made. Wiping the nervous sweat away from his brow, Myrrh groaned, wondering why he'd so foolishly agreed to take part in this. The realisation that even the enormous reward offered was not worth the extremely high risk, had come too late.
'Why won't you get rid of that thing Lennon? I keep thinking of what he's going to do to us, when he gets out of there...'
'Silence, I'm concentrating. There is no need for your concern, we aren't going to need much longer.'
'Not much longer? But you told us all it would take a week or two at most. It's been nearly two months! We could have been done here weeks ago if you really knew how to find what we're after. You told me you could figure out how old the memories were by how faded out the trace was or something like that, an from there we could easily find what we want. So why haven't you done it? What the fuck are we waiting for? Just be honest with me, it's my life you're risking too here ain't it?' Myrrh's voice was growing angrier and more harried as he continued.
'It's not as simple as that. I explained my work in a way that would be reasonably understandable to an uneducated man like yourself-'
'I knew it, I knew it was a lie! You don't know what you're doing in there, we could be sifting through his mind, through a life time of bullshit, for years! It's impossible, what you say you can do. There's no way it can be done. You scientists are all the same, too many numbers and symbols fillin up your heads to fit your sanity.'
'A week. A week is all I need and I will be done here. And so will he.'
'No. No way. I'm not dying for this. I am not here to die. That was not in the contract.'
'There was no contract you idiot. We are not working for a reputable organisation here. One week.'
'We don't have a week Lennon! In case you haven't noticed, somebody is watching us, and don't tell me I'm paranoid. I know there's someone nosing around.'
'That's nonsense. But if you're convinced there's someone watching us, why don't you go make yourself useful and find them? Go on, get going. If I could just work in peace I'd have had this done much sooner.'
'Fine then. If I never see you again because you've been burned alive by an angry monkey, it was nice workin with you.'
Lennon did not reward him with a reply, not that his associate hung around long to wait for one. Myrrh had been the perfect choice of a partner for this task because he wasn't very smart, and as such did not realise that the information they needed had already been located. Not that Lennon was really concerned with that seeing as he was looking for something much more valuable, something which would insure he had no need of the SS anymore. But even more important than any of this, Lennon was not done repaying Vegeta for the suffering he had caused throughout the course of his miserable existence, and with Myrrh now gone, he could really get started.
On the screen of his pocket sized computer, there was a complex image of the neural map developed as he'd stimulated various areas of Vegeta's brain. Lennon had created hundreds of these maps in past years as part of his research, ever since he'd been forced to leave his home planet after a team of soldiers working for the war lord Frieza had somehow infiltrated their barriers. Most of his people had been destroyed in a matter of days, though not all of them. As he recalled that time, he pinpointed one particularly strong memory trace on the screen, riddled with blood vessels supplying the energy needed to suppress its contents. With the push of a button a current of electricity was sent through the fine wires, sparking the unwanted memory to life. Lennon knew exactly which events would reoccur as he reactivated it, because he had been apart of them. These were memories of when Frieza's soldiers had invaded Leet, a young Vegeta among them. Things hadn't gone so well for them the first time they invaded, especially for the saiyan. Once he took the both of them down this path, Vegeta's body would be riddled with wounds, and his mind much closer to the end of its tether.
'This should be a fine, sunny stroll down memory lane,' he muttered to himself, smiling as the insides of the cave began to fade around him.
Vegeta stalked across the ashen remains of the city he'd just leveled. The houses were gone after his assault, but the land hadn't changed much. Still as barren and dry as before. Worst of all, he was still no closer to finding this fancy technology they were sent here to steal, and therefore, no closer to getting off this shit heap.
'Uhhg,' Zarbon, who was standing somewhere behind him, scoffed. 'How in hell do these people manage to to stay alive on such an ugly pile of dust? Its just disgraceful. I think we might be doing them a favor by ending their miserably impoverished lives, wouldn't you say boy? But then again, I suppose this wouldn't look so bad to you, considering that until their last few years saiyans used to run around in loin clothes.'
Vegeta's mouth was set in firm, angry line. He was making a point of ignoring the idiot, as much as he would have liked to point out that at least the saiyans hadn't been 'running around' in tiaras and leg warmers, with stupid braids.
'Faggot...' he mumbled.
'What was that? I didn't quite hear you.'
'I said that's it. I'm done here sir.'
'Uh uh, Vegeta. You've only been working for 14 hours so far. You haven't earned your break just yet. I want you to keep searching while I take a nap. Oh, and do try not to get lost.'
Having had about enough of Zarbon for one day, Vegeta was about to turn around and retort when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Between the onset of the pain and the onset of the paralysis there was no time for him to react. Their were voices all around him, coming from every side, unnaturally deep and overlapping one another, and yet he could see no one. Zarbon's voice was among the loud racket clouding his consciousness, or were all the voices Zarbon's? Through all the madness, Vegeta could of sworn he was being ordered to retreat, but that was impossible, how could he retreat when he couldn't feel his body from the neck down? How could things go so terribly wrong in such a short time? This had never happened to him before, not once had he lost a battle when completing an assignment! These people were complete and utter weaklings, how in hell had they done this to him?
As the sound of heavy footfalls filled his ears, almost deafening him, someone flipped him over onto his back and cradled his limp body in their arms.
'My my,' he heard, sounding as though the words were spoken through a mouth full of dirt, then echoed a hundred times over. 'What have we here?'
There were many people speaking now, but Vegeta could only make out some of what they were saying.
'I say we kill it. This thing don't deserve no better.'
'You know that is not permitted. We will show mercy.'
'But just look at what they've done! There's barely anyone left!'
'We will take him back with us, and then we will decide.'
At about this point everything began to get muted and dim, but as Vegeta lost consciousness he strangely felt no fear. There was only one thought to cross his mind.
...What fools, that they would show mercy...
'Look, I think he's out,' said one of the men gathered around the unconscious child, the same one who had suggested killing him.
'We can see that Myrrh.'
'I still say we kill 'im. I'm done going by the book. Look where it got us! If we just gave these monsters what they wanted then we wouldn't be in this mess. We could of traded all those machines for a new home planet, where we wouldn't need any of them to survive. And, everyone wouldn't be dead. Try to tell me I'm wrong about that. And you tell me, why should be keep doing what we've always done? Everyone's dead because of it, so now what? Just answer me that.'
Myrrh stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see that it was Lennon. He had that look in his eyes, like he had another one of his brilliant ideas.
'Everything will be well Myrrh. Do not despair,' he whispered. There was a foreboding smile playing on Lennon's lips. Myrrh turned his head back to address the other men.
'As you wish, sirs.'
Hours later, Lennon, his cousin Ezrah, and their security guard Myrrh, sat around the cot which they had put the savage child in. There was no need to restrain him because the poison was keeping him in a state of paralysis.
'Well then, what's this big idea you two are talking about? What are we going to do?'
'We're not going to commit suicide if Frieza's men return, for one thing,' Ezrah said matter of factly.
'Damn right,' Lennon added. 'They might be willing to sacrifice themselves to avoid their scientific knowledge falling into the wrong hands, but I'm certainly not. I'm no martyr.'
'Me neither,' Myrrh agreed. 'And to think we could have had a beautiful new planet to live on if we just gave Frieza what he wanted, a new planet that some other race would have bought if not us. It's not like it would be our fault that whoever was living on it first would have to die.'
'Yes, yes. But our people aren't progressive. Too blinded by ideals of justice and pacifism to comprehend logic and reason.'
The three of them sighed.
'Well, what do with this filthy monkey then? What's your plan? I say we let the poison finish him off. No one here knows what you shot at those soldiers with, they think its a sedative. They wouldn't know different.'
'No Myrrh, I've got a better idea.' Lennon continued. 'I estimate it will take Frieza's soldiers at least four to five weeks to return here from Frieza's base, no less. In that time Ezrah and myself will have completed our experiments on this creature, destroyed it, and the three of us will be long gone. You see this boy? He is what's known as a saiyan. A very rare animal indeed. They're quite stupid creatures, and ugly, as you can see. But their fighting capabilities are outstanding. Only a child, and already this one is a formidable warrior. Apparently, a saiyan's strength increases exponentially every time he is near fatally wounded. Can you imagine the kind of weapons these things would make if they could be controlled? The perfect thing to take revenge on Frieza. Certainly this one is of no use to us, but if we could create more of them, far more powerful versions that would obey our every command...'
'I see...' Myrrh breathed in awe. 'You could clone him... just like you lot have been trying to clone our people, to increase our numbers so we'd have a greater chance of surviving the storms when they came again.'
'That's right. But while we will try to do that, we will also try to extract as much of his seed as possible, in order to produce hybridised offspring. There will be less of the risks associated with cloning an unfamiliar species, and saiyan hybrids would be stronger than a pure blood. They would also have a more domesticated temperament if bred with a higher mammal, not feral and uncivilised as they normally are.'
'Yeah, I guess. But you two can have that job. I'm not going anywhere near-'
'Don't worry, I will take care of all that,' Ezrah assured with a smirk, ignoring the disgusted look on Myrrh's face. 'However, you do have a part to play in this, Myrrh. I've heard a lot of good things, but we need to test this saiyan ourselves to see what kind of injuries they can withstand and how fast they heal if we're going to make soldiers out of them. You know where we keep the weapons. Show no mercy, but remember to gradually increase the severity of the injuries, and don't let him die. Not until the end.'
'Oh I will gladly do all that for you. The little bastard's gunna get what he deserves, don't you worry. But uh, how are we supposed to hide all this from the others?'
'Just leave the thinking to us Myrrh,' Lennon sighed. 'You do what you do best.'
'Righto, whatever you say. I best be off then, I've got some plannin to do.'
'Me too. Well Ezrah, you know what to do.' At that, Lennon stood to follow Myrrh out of the room, leaving the saiyan with his Ezrah. He's always known about his cousin's strange perversions, but it never bothered him in the slightest. He had much more important matters to worry about than silly moral issues like that. And anyway, it served him well in this case. His cousin and the boy could have all the fun they wanted together.
Though his captors didn't seem to realise it, Vegeta was awake. He was still mostly paralysed, though it was possible to twitch slightly now, and his hearing had improved somewhat. He had very loosely pieced together that these freaks were going to do some kind of experiment on him, and that it would take Frieza's men a month to return, at which point he would probably be executed for his failure if these three didn't kill him first. The thought that they were fools for showing him mercy returned once more. His body would grow used to this poison they spoke of quickly, he was sure of it, and then they would see the error of their ways. But this certainly did nothing to reassure him of his fate at Frieza's hand once the green fairy boy and his troops returned to retrieve the machines and him. Could he pretend to be dead, perhaps? And get off the planet unnoticed somehow? No, that was impossible. There was no way out of this, no way known. A wave of nausea passed through him, and a painful tension clenched his gut like strong hands around an axe. The thought of dying in such a pathetic manner, in bondage for years and unable to avenge himself of it, or see even just one day of freedom... it felt as though those same invisible hands that gripped his stomach had his throat now too, forcing all the air from his struggling, constricted lungs.
There were spiders in the room with them, crawling up and down the walls behind the old man, who stood over him with a scrutinising stare. They were blue, green, violet, and red. He couldn't see their legs or bodies, only at the corner of his eyes could they be seen scurrying, darting away into the tiny cracks in the walls every time he tried to pinpoint them with his gaze. And the cracks were everywhere, above his head, behind him, everywhere. Filled with disgusting, crawling things. There had to be some way out of this place, there was no air-
'Shh little one...' the old man murmured. 'Don't cry. Just breath. Breath in. Slowly. Come now, your breathing too fast. What are you frightened of? You need not fear me. The others perhaps, but I am a friend in this place. You will not like it here much, but when I'm around, you'll be safe.' His eyes bore into Vegeta with such an intensity that it was as though they could see inside him. He hadn't been crying, had he? If only it were possible to move, to crawl away from those ruemy, red rimmed eyes. This paralysis was torture, a worse kind of helplessness than he'd ever felt before, as impossible as that seemed. Why did people always have to stare?
'I hope they didn't hurt your feelings. I don't think you ugly. Don't look away from me, I want to see your dark eyes. We don't get that much around here, dark eyes I mean. They're very interesting. Here, open them up, let me see,' Ezrah said, smoothing the soft skin beneath Vegeta's eyes and watching as his body twitched pathetically.
'Be still. There's no need for you to try to get away from me. Everything is going to be alright. You're only young, I don't blame you for what you did. You can make up for it anyhow.' Old, wrinkled hands slid over his bare chest and belly, and lower, pushing aside the white sheet which had been the only thing covering him. What luck, to have ended up here with this vile creature, both a stranger and familiar at the same time, because cursed as he was he seemed to attract these kind of people. Why was it that he was always so unlucky, and those who committed far worse crimes than he had nothing but good fortune? Surely karma was just an imaginary comfort to those who wanted revenge and didn't have the strength to take it.
'How pleasant... not a hair on you. Though I wonder if it's even possible for you to reproduce if that's the case. I suppose I'll find out,' the man muttered mostly to himself, slipping on a pair of latex gloves from the table beside them. The cold rubber traced the crevices of his pectoral and abdominal muscles in slow, disquieting motions.
'A little too chiseled for your age. Not eating enough it seems. Or fighting too much. No wonder you're so small.' One of the gloved hands was fondling him now, stroking purposefully. Vegeta stared up at the ceiling, cursing himself as he felt his face and body becoming flushed, just hoping it would be over with quickly. Might as well make use of those hands now, he thought. I'll be amputating them when I get out of this. And a few other things.
It wasn't over with quickly though. A few fingers were pushed between his lips, filling his mouth with the taste of latex. The stroking continued without so much as a pause and his eyelids shut tight, trying to hide any expression or reaction of any kind.
'Don't. Don't do that,' he heard, but he tried to ignore that voice and the pleasure welling up from within him, growing like a tumor. The fingers left his mouth, only to be felt again, wet and slippery at the base of his thighs, pressing into him and kneading sensitive parts of his insides, making the rest of his body jerk uncontrollably. However, when he tried to make voluntary movements, it was impossible. It was the same with trying to speak- sounds came from his mouth of their own accord, but he couldn't form words at will. If he could he would have been screaming profanities at this weak, insignificant creature that dared to touch him, instead of whimpering. For a moment the hand was removed, returning with a cold plastic object that was placed between his thighs, which felt like a dish of some sought. Then it started again.
'That's it. Isn't that nice,' the man breathed heavily in his ear, bringing their lips together and thankfully swallowing the embarrassing noises coming out of him. The taste and smell of that mouth was stale, disgusting, and filled with an unnatural amount of saliva, making the nausea a thousand times worse, but Vegeta didn't even have the strength to throw up. All thoughts became scrambled or lost as the pleasure swelled, sending shivers throughout his whole body, then finally abating with the familiar spasms. Still the stroking continued, very uncomfortable now that coming had made everything so sensitive. It was unbearable, that dry glove, catching on the over sensitive skin and chafing, and it went on and on for so long, hurting him. It felt like hours had passed. A few tears trickled down his cheeks.
'What's wrong little one? Why the tears? I'm sorry, but we can't stop until we've got something to show for it.'
What was he talking about? Maybe thats what that dish was for, the creep was trying to make that stuff come out of him. What the fuck was wrong with these people? Why would they want that? They had been saying something about this, now that he really thought about it. But what? If he could speak he'd tell the freak to just give up cause he couldn't make that stuff yet. Jeice was always teasing him about it, sometimes saying 'it's cause ya really a girl an your body just got mixed up. One day you'll grow tits an start bleedin down there.' Vegeta liked to think Jeice was making this up, but was too embarrassed to ask anyone about it, so instead he just checked the mirror each day to make sure his chest hadn't changed.
God, it ached. He tried desperately to say 'stop', but only a strangled groan came out. Ezrah sighed above him and finally stopped what he was doing.
'I guess we'll try again tomorrow, after I run a few tests. Better get some rest. The others need to do some tests in the morning, you'll need your strength. You might not like them so much, but I'll be back afterward to make you feel better.'
Fan-fucking-tastic, Vegeta thought. That's just what I need too look forward too. But he was too muddled, sore and sick to think about it anymore. Sleep over came him quickly.
It was one of those mild winter days, where the weak sunlight caressed your skin tentatively, gentle and warm, never burning like the angry rays of summer. Trunks and Goten were having lunch out on the lawn in the Capsule Corps gardens, being pestered by the vast array of unusual pets kept by Bulma's parents. A group of their friends would be arriving in a while for a gathering, and they figured they'd have a few drinks before the company arrived.
'Hey, you know I'll pay you back right?' Goten said, looking guiltily at his friend. 'I just don't have a lot of spare money at the moment. I got a few less shifts these last couple of weeks and I've had to give all the money to mum cause we've really been running short lately and-'
'Goten?' Trunks interrupted.
'What?'
'Don't worry about it. It's not like I need the money.'
'Yeah, but... you always buy the booze. And this is the second time this month. Do your parents mind, you having these parties here so often lately?'
'Normally they would, but mum's been real busy lately, and dad's just letting me do whatever I want for some reason, it's awesome.'
'But still.'
'Uhhg, just relax would you. We're too young to worry about money. Let's just have fun,' Trunks countered cheerfully, standing up to stretch his legs after downing another shot.
'Easy for you to say,' Goten sighed.
'Hey, what's up? You feeling alright? You've been kinda out of it lately, is anything wrong?'
'Nah, not exactly.'
'Not exactly? C'mon, you can tell me can't you. The missus isn't giving you trouble is she? I can't beat her up for you if you want.'
This made Goten smile. 'Valese is fine, stupid.'
'Is your mum beating you? Chasing you around the house with her flying broomstick? Washing your mouth out with soap? C'mon, there's got to be something-'
'You're a douche bag,' Goten chuckled. 'I've just been having trouble sleeping. Nothing serious.'
'That's all?'
'Kind of. I've been having... you're gunna think I'm dumb.'
'No, I won't. I promise.'
'OK. I've been having these really weird dreams. They keep waking me up-' Goten stopped when he noticed Trunks was trying to stifle giggles.
'It's OK Goten, it happens to all boys your age,' he laughed.
Goten growled. 'You idiot, I'm not talking about that! And you said you wouldn't laugh asshole!'
'I said I wouldn't think you're dumb. There's a difference genius-' he was cut off by a punch to his side. 'Ow! That was pretty hard you know.'
'Good. And I'm not telling you any more.' He crossed his arms, pouting grumpily.
'Grow up would you, I'm just fucking with you, you know,' Trunks tried to sound sincere, but Goten's ridiculously serious expression made it impossible to keep a straight face. The kid had the funniest temper ever, it was so much fun getting him riled up. Trunks just couldn't help himself. When they were younger it was easy to placate his younger friend by promising to give him toys, admittedly now it was a little more difficult.
'It's really not funny. They're horrible dreams. And when I wake up, my windows blow open and it's like I'm hearing things. It's... ' he trailed off, looking at Trunks who's face was now deadly serious.
'You're windows have been blowing open?'
'Yeah. Why?'
'You wouldn't have happened to notice your room getting really cold when the windows blow open, or just for no reason at all, would you?'
'Well yeah, open windows and winter will do that ya know.'
'No I mean, does it get really cold? And I mean really, really cold?'
'Now that you mention it, it kinda does. After I wake up from the dream. It comes on really suddenly too. I thought maybe the windows had been blowing open before I woke up and making the room freezing cold or something. What? What is it?'
'Fuck,' he whispered. 'Goten, don't freak out when I say this, but thats been happening at my house too, and it's usually in rooms where there are no windows open, and the heaters are always on here anyway. We can't figure it out, and its been happening ever since dad came home.'
'Hey... I think that's when it started happening to me too. Yeah. Wow.'
Trunks shivered. 'Something really weird is going on around here Goten. We've got to be on our guard.'
'Um...' he stammered, then fell silent.
'Um what? If there's anything else you need to say, then spit it out. It could be important.'
'It's just that, in the dreams, it's always the same. Everything is dark, and I hear someone calling my name, telling me to listen. Then I get up out of bed, and I walk outside to find the sky is all full of smoke. I go walking around the mountains, through the towns, through West city, and... all the people are gone. Everything is burnt and destroyed and it's completely silent, that's the scariest thing about it. It's so awful how silent it is, makes me feel like I'm going insane. I start screaming, trying to get someone to answer me, trying to find someone, anyone, and then finally someone comes. It's always the same, the same weird guy with really curly white hair who comes and talks to me. He kind of looks old but at the same time he doesn't. He just keeps telling me to listen, and to open my eyes. It's really fucking creepy. Then the worst part happens. The old guy tells me to open my eyes and see, so I open them, even though they were open already, I somehow open them again, and I can see the entire world, I don't know how but I can. And everything, and I mean everything, is gone. Except for this one mountain.'
'A mountain? What's so bad about that?'
'Well... on the top of the mountain, there's your dad.'
'Ha ha, that is scary-'
'It's not funny! He looks really calm and, I don't know, he sees me looking at him and gives me this look, like he's trying to tell me everything is going to be alright. It gives me this awful feeling in my stomach, like I'm gunna die or something. After that I wake up, but I can still hear the old guy calling me.'
'Jeez, that's so weird. It's like you're having some kind of vision of the future,' Trunks laughed. 'But seriously, somethings definitely up around here. We have to be on our guard and ready.'
'Don't say that. Don't say that it's the future. If you saw it you would never say that.'
'Alright alright, quit being so touchy.'
'You got to keep an eye on your dad Trunks. I think something's up with him.'
'Hey, leave him alone, would you? He's had a shitty couple of weeks and just isn't himself, that's all. None of this is his fault.'
'That's right, he's not himself. What if he's possessed or something?'
'Oh come on Goten! How stupid can you be?'
'It's not stupid! Are you trying to tell me that stranger things haven't happened? Our father's have come back from the dead multiple times, we've trained under a green alien to fuse into one being, we've been eaten by a pink monster, and you're telling me there's no way your father is possessed by a... ghost. Or something.'
'A ghost? Are you serious? What is this, Scooby fucking Doo? You're starting to sound like my sister.'
'Well fuck you then, if you don't believe me.'
Trunks rolled his eyes. 'People are getting here, I'm gunna go let them in, dumb ass,' he added under his breath.
Having waited till Trunks had disappeared into the house to greet their friends, Goten got up and went in after him. However, he went in the direction of one of the lounges towards the back of the house, the one where he knew Vegeta usually was during the late afternoon period after he'd finished his training regime for the day, only to find Bra sitting in the room with a few dolls, alone. She looked up at him and smiled, waving enthusiastically in his direction.
'Hey Bra, what are you up to today?'
'Nothin,' she said, looking back at her dolls. She seemed to be orchestrating some kind of tea party.
'OK, uh, you wouldn't be able to tell me where your dad is, would you?'
Her hands froze, but she didn't raise her little head to look at him. 'Daddy's not here.'
'Huh? Yeah he is, your brother's having people over. He's not allowed to have that many people round if your parents aren't here, an your mum isn't here, so-' Goten stopped, noticing her looking at him with the most intense expression he'd ever seen on the carefree little girl. 'What? What's wrong? Look, he's definitely here, I saw him earlier. Hey, I think that was him, walking through that doorway down there,' he said, noticing V silhouette pass by down the corridor.
There was a long pause.
'That's not daddy,' she said quietly. Goten knelt down beside her, lifting her chin in hopes of achieving some kind of eye contact.
'What do you mean? If that's not your dad, then who is it?'
She shrugged. 'Not daddy. He's too mean.'
'How? What did he do?' She wouldn't answer him. His eyes narrowed, watching the corridor warily.
'Hey, I want you to listen to me.'
'No. You don't believe me either. Go away!' she retorted angrily, turning her back on him and crossing her arms.
'That's not true Bra. I... believe you. But you gotta listen to me-'
'Really? You believe me?' she said in wonder, her eyes wide and sparkling with unshed tears.
'Yeah, really,' he tried to smile. 'I want you to be careful OK? Just watch him. And then call me and tell me if he does anything weird or anything bad happens. If you're scared, you can come to me, anytime,' he reassured, patting her head the way his brother always used to do, and extending his arms to offer a hug which was accepted happily. She seemed to have cheered up a great deal.
'And don't worry too much, alright, cause I'm going to get your dad back to normal. I promise.'
'How?' she asked hopefully.
'Well, I haven't thought of that yet. But I will, soon.'
'Gotta put our finkin caps on?'
'Yeah. Thinking caps,' he replied, smiling at her expression, but his smile dimmed immediately when he saw that Vegeta was standing there in the doorway down the corridor, watching them with blank, unknowing eyes, as though seeing them for the first time. In the back of his mind Goten remembered the sound of that voice, pleading with him. Open your eyes and see.
See? He wondered, completely at a loss. See what?
Vegeta awoke to the feeling of his arms being chained to a wall. His torso and legs appeared to have already been secured, and once a metal brace was locked around his neck just beneath the chin, lifting his impossibly heavy head, it was possible to see ahead of him. Securing the chains was just one of the men who had brought him here; fortunately that slimy old prick from the previous night was no where to be seen. Across the room stood another man, vaguely familiar although it was difficult for him to see because everything further away was hazy, swimming with spots, stripes, stars and other patterns, as though someone were drawing his surrounds. It made his eyes ache. The man across the room one was holding some kind of weapon, hopefully meant for him as death seemed to be the only way out of facing Frieza's wrath. Normally weapons would be unable to penetrate his skin because of the protective shield of his ki, without it he was defenseless.
The question was, why would they chain him to the wall like this? Clearly he was incapacitated and did not need to be restrained in order for them to execute him. The first inklings of fear began to creep into his mind. It was coming back now, how they'd said they were going to do some kind of experiment. He began to struggle but of course it was to no avail, as the strength had all but completely deserted his poison ravaged body. His breathing quickened as he searched the room, desperately looking for some unconventional means of escape, when an ear splitting sound echoed through the room. For a moment, everything went white. Vegeta couldn't think or breath, and his middle section had gone numb. There was a long period of silence and nothingness before sensation and reality returned, and the pain hit like a hammer. It felt like there was a hole in his stomach, and judging by that feeling of something warm and wet oozing down his belly, there probably was. Pathetic whimpering noises escaped his throat, blood trickling from trembling lips as they did. It was hard to tell what was more painful, this or those times he'd been stabbed.
'Very nice,' someone beside him said. 'And now we observe for a short while.' Something that sounded suspiciously like a pencil scribbling on paper could be heard.
'Hey, hey,' the man across the room waved his hand frantically. 'You wanna write down my observations?'
A loud sigh was the only response.
'Write down, 'It's a nice fuckin hole!' Ha ha ha!'
'Yes yes,' the one standing beside him muttered sarcastically. 'Duly noted.'


NEXT CHAPTER: Goten's efforts to help are met with resistance at every turn. The situation is looking bleak for both Vegeta and his family when something very unexpected happens. Will it put an end to his captivity, or will it just seal his fate?

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