Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Juggernaut ❯ Extreme Risk ( Chapter 4 )

Juggernaut

By The Dragon Of Eternity

Disclaimer: ……………… (*..*)

Extreme Risk

Vegeta took a step backwards, flicking the dark hair out of his eyes and ushering his

friend towards the door.

'Go,' he murmured frantically, 'Now!'

Chi-Chi glared back at him; solid determination set in the coal depths of her oval

eyes, 'No,' she whispered into his ear, 'I'm not bailing on you, if one of us gets into

deep Dren.' She paused finding her determination again, a steely glint surfacing in her

eyes; sighed and said.

'We all get into Dren.'

Vegeta smiled, typical of Chi-Chi now both of them were going to catch it hot.

His eyes flickered back to his mother, who was glaring at her youngest son with a

look of utter revulsion upon her face; a green fire was now dancing in her

almond eyes. Secretly he marvelled at her timeless beauty; she always looked

magnificent when she was furious.

The empress seemed untouched by time; no wrinkles tarnished her smooth skin giving

her the look of a china doll, impervious to the ailments of nature.

She still had full cherry coloured lips, and delicately blushed cheeks, long thick eye

lashes and large almond shaped brilliant green eyes.

But the colour green doesn't really describe the different elements dancing around her

retina; the smallest circle was a lime yellow nestled closely around her pupil, touched

by fronds of verdant green ignited into a rainbow blaze of flashing emerald and

dancing gold.

The effect was heart stopping; many had said that she was a witch, and that she had

bewitched the emperors with her unsaiya-jin like eyes, he remembered his father

would always joke about it when he was in a good mood.

Vegeta wondered wither or not his father had been disappointed that he himself had

not inherited his mother's eyes.

The empress had a short stature; something he supposed he had gained instead, but

again the word short doesn't really describe her, because her temperament made her

feel as though she was standing high above you, looking down on you making you

believe that you'd never stand as high as her.

His mother shook her head in disbelief, a cascading red chestnut waterfall that caught

the suns golden rays, causing it to glint unnaturally in the falling light; as though a

small fire had been lit in amongst her hairs.

'What did you say Vegeta?' Her tone was icy and malicious, riddled with barely

suppressed wrath and indignation.

Vegeta blinked trying to find a way out of the hole he was digging, he opened his

mouth, but no words came out; he felt as though he was drowning in the consuming

anger that was surrounding him.

'I-I…………..I'

Chi-Chi nudged him in the back with one pointed nail; digging into his skin, urging

his to say something…………

Anything.

Vegeta looked round the room frantically, hoping to spot something, say something,

know something that could stop this.

His eyes hung on the portrait on the wall; a large tapestry was woven behind in

imperial crimsons and auburns.

On top of the cloth was the portrait, a fancy gilded swirling frame highly polished

gold that sparkled every time it caught the light.

The canvas had been decorated in blood paint, a type of memorial dye for honouring

the dead, the vivid colours captivated his eyes, and it occurred to Vegeta that the

painting must have taken more that a year to construct as the entire composition was

enormous.

He swallowed; something that was becoming increasingly difficult to do.

The man depicted was tall; dressed in blue royal armour with the imperial crest on the

right hand side of his breast plate.

The different colours were making Vegeta feel sick, swirling agitatedly before his

eyes; but he couldn't stop staring at the portrait, his eyes began to water slightly, he

closed them promptly; slowly regaining control, the lump in his throat growing more

and more prominent.

The image was imprinted over his eyes like a phantom, he willed in to go away.

Smooth olive skin that retained a god like shimmer, a tall proud neck that he could

still remember from his earliest years, the sharply chiselled face with its high cheek

bones and pointed nose.

One thick dark eyebrow raised in quirky sarcasm; as though daring anyone and

everything to do something outrageous.

Ebony black eyes; oval in shape, dark as a panther and four times as wild, a mouth

encircled by full wine coloured lips.

Arms crossed; his entire stature was defiant, comically and boldly deifying the world

around him.

Just the way he always remembered him; Vegeta felt the hot sick swoop of pain and

loss fly through him, turning his stomach inside out; churning the contents of his

lunch, the way the pilot simulation hadn't.

He felt dizzy; the room span uncomfortably in front of his eyes, colours merging

together to create one big blur, he had to sit down.

He was going to be sick.

Vegeta tried to walk across the room; he felt hot and cold chills run through his

body as he staggered uneasily forwards, he felt someone grab his arm steadying him,

stopping him from falling onto the floor.

He leaned against them, trying to forget, trying not to feel…………

"It's alright."

Someone whispered soothingly in his ear, "I've got you, calm down."

Vegeta gulped down the air, the room now felt humid and clammy, his hair was

sticking in wet strands across his forehead.

He leant against them; waiting for the room to stop gyrating, the person pulled him

onto a sofa and began to stroke his face with small cold fingers.

"It'll be alright……."

Vegeta shook his head, no, no it'd never be alright again, never…………

"Yes it will," the person said, resting her mouth against his ear and putting two strong

arms about his waist, "You'll see. He'll come back to us."

"H-How can he come back to us when he's……….when……..he's……….h-h e's

d……..d-de………."

Vegeta choked out, the lump bobbing painfully around in his throat, tightening as he

tried to finish his sentence.

He tried to calm down; his thoughts that had only a little while a go been turning

around uncontrollably in his mind now felt like a tangled heap inside of his head.

"You don't know that." The person said, pushing his sweaty hair out of his itching

eyes, her tones were soothing and melodious, like rain falling onto the surface of

gently rippling water.

Vegeta opened his eyes again; the room had stopped revolving, although it seemed as

though the it was filled with fog, the colours had merged together, causing the entire

room to become a cascade of reds, greens, golds, and blues.

One of the blurs moved slightly; dark hair falling in front of its face, large oval eyes

staring at him with concern wringing its hands in an agitated manner.

"You don't know that." His mother whispered into his ear; "He can't be dead, I can't

believe it. I won't believe it!"

She finished defiantly, he felt her stiffen behind him, "There's now way, he-

…….your father was more than that…….I-I refuse to believe……"

Vegeta could feel the pain she was experiencing, none of them could believe it, and it

had happened so suddenly; why had it happened?

How had it happened?

And why………Why had it happen to him??

One of the people he relied on the most, loved the most, cared for the most.

He often lay awake at night, wishing he had died instead, and then everyone would be

so much happier, and so much more a peace.

The entire family had been turned inside out, everything blown out of all proportions,

he had never realised how crucial his fathers role had been in the family; the counter

balance of his mothers dominating nature, a puncture in his brother's ego, a shoulder to

lean against when things went wrong for his sister, and someone who understood him.

Someone who never compared him to someone else or told him who he ought to be,

someone who always said he would do great things, and he had believed him, but that

was all gone now, everything had gone so wrong.

Vegeta had never seen his mother cry before, never seen Lerak so distraught, and

never had Zaan been so quiet before.

And now a smile seemed so foreign to him; it was almost shocking to smirk, a painful

twinge of the facial muscles that seemed strange and unnatural on his face.

He had tried to forget, tried not to feel, he had spent his time in the holodeck trying to

escape, running one dangerous simulation after another, pushing his body and mind to

the limits.

Until he was so exhausted that he could hardly stand, and his dreams were dark and

mysterious full of dread and depression, and a falling sensation.

For months now ever since his father's strange disappearance he'd been having the

same dream over, and over.

Falling, falling, into a bottomless pit, it felt so real, the wind surging through his hair,

gushing over his body, cooling him down causing his eyes to water.

"He'll come back to us." His mother repeated in his ear, but Vegeta was unsure

whether or not she was still talking to him now, "He will,"

She stopped, and raised her head to the high ceiling staring at the painting that

ordained it, "By Grethor," she murmured; moving her head slowly from the right to

the left, "He has too."

Her long fingers moved across his forehead to the large cut above his right eyebrow,

Vegeta winced, the salt from the Empresses fingers, stung slightly on the raw flesh.

"What's this?"

Her tone suddenly sharp and suspicious again, "Does it hurt?" she asked fingering the

bruise underneath it, Vegeta bit his lip ignoring the spasms of pain that were now

running through him.

"It's nothing." He snapped, wriggling quickly away from her probing hands, "It

doesn't hurt."

The Empress narrowed her eyes; the fire was starting to rekindle in their green depths,

she was obviously unconvinced.

"Vegeta, how did you get that?" Her voice was calm, but dripping with anger; he

could almost feel her piercing glare burning a hole through his olive tinted skin.

Silence.

"Vegeta I asked you a question, now answer me!"

He considered telling her the truth; but almost at once relented, he'd gotten into

enough trouble as it is with out telling her the reason he'd almost suffered a

concussion.

"I-I…." Vegeta paused and searched for inspiration, he raised his arms to the ceiling

in a gesture of defeat.

"I really don't know." He said simply, inwardly groaning at his lack of imagination;

he could almost see the fire in her eyes setting his clothes alight.

The Empress snorted derisively, getting to her feet abruptly she strode over to her son,

she was about an inch smaller than him; but Vegeta felt as though she was towering

over him.

"You did on those flight simulations again didn't you! I told you you're not allowed

to do those, especially with the safeties off!"

Vegeta felt his cheeks flush red as he realised his mother had seen right through him,

"Why do you insist; on trying to commit suicide!? It's ludicrous, you run the most

dangerous programs you can find, and play them without the proper precautions,

and almost kill yourself in the progress; and for what?"

She raised one hand to his face in an abrupt and surprisingly comforting manner,

"Vegeta; you can't keep doing this to yourself, it's quite frankly a waist of time.

You are not going to be a pilot, so you can just get that idea out of your head.

You will not be part of the elite, I won't allow it." She stopped, her nostrils

flaring, eyes glittering, as she steadied her self to go on, she was going

to pummel this into him, once and for all; it was about time he found his place.

"You are going to govern the Empire; it is you birthright that you should do so."

Vegeta glared angrily at his mother, did she not realise that he didn't want the

responsibility of leading the realm; to sit on a throne and waist away his years in

lavish luxury while others died carrying out the his ridiculous whims all to

do the emperors bidding.

He wanted to be out there, somewhere were he was actually needed; hero's didn't

waist their time sitting around like Grypcinian mushrooms.

He shrugged her off him, and moved backwards and away from her; slowly shaking

his head and swallowing down the self loathing, that threatened to bubble forth from

the deepest regions of his soul.

His feet seemed impossibly heavy and sluggish on the thickly carpeted floors of the

room, his mouth felt dry and his heart was racing but he wouldn't do it; he'd never

amount to anything if he allowed himself to rot away like that.

He felt Chi-Chi's small cold hand close around his sticky one, he felt a little

comforted by that; he turned to face his mother, her flawless face crinkled in worry,

revealing signs of age he'd never noticed before.

"Vegeta you now how imperative it is that you abide by the laws, don't argue with

me, not now."

She stared at her son with a look of pitying on her face, "Please Vegeta don't do

something rash, just wait for a few months until we've got the 'situation' under

control.

A scientist with an expertise in the 'situation' is being deployed from Earth to help us

with the 'situation'."

Vegeta stood back and raised an eyebrow, a few months did she say? It wasn't going

to take more than a few months for this mess to clear up, a few years perhaps at the

least, but a few months?

Impossible.

"Then let Vegeta take care of the 'situation'."

Both Vegeta and the empress were taken back; it was the first time Chi-Chi had

spoken for at least half an hour.

"I beg you pardon child?" her tones were harsh and her green eyes flashed wildly.

Chi-Chi unperturbed carried on, "Prove to him that you trust him, your highness.

Allow Vegeta to take care of the mission, let him make the necessary decisions.

It would after all show wither or not he really does have what it takes to govern an

empire, he," she paused and looked at Vegeta apologetically with her coal dark eyes.

"He hasn't shown much consent for his heritage before, his behaviour has been

reckless and hazardous to the empires reputation in the past few months.

Surely it would be proving to himself and others who are dubious about the birthright

consent if he was able to handle the situation that he is in fact capable of handling

things under extreme pressure.

And the matter is of the most importance to the empire; it would be unsaiya-jin of

you to ignore such a profitable opportunity."

Her eyes sparkling; Chi-Chi glanced nervously at the Empress and back to

Vegeta, who was marvelling at how well Chi-Chi could construct a well balanced

argument over such a short period of time.

The Empress shook her chestnut hair and smiled at her niece, "You really are like

Chiana." She said smiling suddenly, the years instantly lifted from her face.

"The only person I ever knew who could put together a flawless argument in under a

minute."

She sighed and furrowed her brow, "Yes I think that you are right, the best cause of

action would be to let him go…………………….."

Chi-Chi grinned up at her cousin, who was now staring incredulously back down at

her, and mouthing "What the Frell are you going on about !!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Auburn hair falling into his eyes Vegeta turned to his mother, "You can't be serious,

it's a ludicrous idea I-"

He gestured around trying to come up with something, anything!

Vegeta's eyes rested on his father's portrait again and the quirky eyes of the portrait

stared into his own.

'Destined for greatness, you'll see. One day you'll shine above all others, and boy, I

hope I'm there to see it.'

Vegeta felt the lump resurface in his throat, and his chest felt oddly restricted.

"Alright," he muttered, staring down at his feet, "I'll do it."

"Good," he heard his mother say in brisk tones, but she seemed far away now.

"The scientist is called Bulma Briefs……"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hahahahahahahaahahahahah!

Cliff-hanger, again!

I'll finish Separate Beds only if I get lots of reviews for this!

In the sunny south of France, in the sun; thinking of you guys.

The Eternity Dragon & Murray