Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Project: Vegeta ❯ Clash of the Titian(ic ego)s ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: In my world there are Saiyans in chains and you can ride them like ponies... But this isn’t my world. And I don’t own DBZ. Or that quote.


Chapter 3
Clash of the Titian(ic ego)s


Bulma walked into the kitchen after leaving Vegeta to his self-inflicted torture, her thoughts a whirl of calico confusion. So many questions were plaguing her. Questions that revolved around the man she’d just walked away from. She just didn’t understand his arrogance, his anger, his...
“Hey, Bulma!” a voice called suddenly from the kitchen table. She started, wrenched from her thoughts and gasp in surprise. Seeing only Yamcha, smiling up at her from where he sat, she took a deep breath.
“Gosh, Yamcha!” she placed a hand on her chest trying to force her heart to slow. “You scared the life out of me!”
“Sorry about that. You seemed pretty preoccupied,” Yamcha said, a questioning lilt in his tone.
“Yeah, I... just have a lot on my mind. What’s up?” she slid across from him wondering why he’d crawled out of the woodwork today to seek her out. She hadn’t seen him at all since... since they’d spoken in the lab that day.
“Well, I just... I know you’ve been busy, and I know that we left things kind of off last time, but, I figured, now that you’re done with your thing for Vegeta that... maybe... we could talk?” Bulma braced herself thinking that maybe this was going to be the conversation that she’d been dreading for weeks.
“Well, sure, Yamcha. What did you wanna talk about?” she tried to keep her tone as casual as possible.
“It’s just that, ever since the whole...” He started, but was cut off by a rip roaring explosion from the back yard.
Bulma jumped to her feet her attention on high alert. “What the...” In seconds she was tearing out the back door and across the lawn. Her worst fears confirmed as she rounded a corner, coming upon the smoking wreckage of SG 2.0 “Vegeta!” She yelled, concern flushing her face.
“I knew this would happen. He’s been trying to do the impossible.” Yamcha exclaimed his eyes scanning the mess of metal and wire for signs of life.
“Where is he? Vegeta?” Seeing no one at all, she felt the edge of panic creeping in. She started clearing some of the smaller peices, pulling heavy blocks of debris out of her way. From beneath where she was searching a hand shot out of the rubble sending a scream ripping from her throat as Bulma tumbling back into Yamcha behind her “You Okay?” she asked impulsively as she watched Vegeta crawl out from under some larger pieces of Gravity Simulator.
He pulled himself to his feet, even though he was broken, bruised, and bleeding from several places. The Saiyan still managed to find enough energy for a disdainful tone. “Of course I am.”
Bulma, sighed in relief and then was flooded with anger. “How dare you, you dweeb!? You almost wrecked my house! What are you trying to prove?” In that moment she wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’d blow the thing up to spite her and ruin all her hard work.
Forcing himself to stand erect, Vegeta forced a laugh from his mangled chest. This, however, caused him excruciating pain, seeing as how he had at least three shattered ribs. His body failed him then and he fell, collapsing into a bloody pile.
“Wha..?” Bulma leapt forward. “Oh no! Vegeta, you’re hurt!” She couldn’t get over the shock of his damaged physique as she pulled him into a sitting position. She cradled his head gently in her arms.
“No, I don’t need help...” Vegeta gasped. His pride barely keeping him conscious. “ I’ve got training to do.” He cringed, pain overwhelming his every sense even as he despised his own weakness.
Bulma knew she was dealing with a sizable ego, but this... this was insanity. “You’ve got to stop training for a while! Look at you! You’re a complete wreck!” She waved a hand over his body as if seeing his injuries would bring him to his senses.
“But I feel fine... I’m a Saiyan...I can take a little pain. It means nothing to me, and I have to get stronger then Kakarrot.” In his suffering he seemed beyond reason.
“Okay sure, we all know you’re a tough guy, but you need to rest now.” Bulma softened her tone, her hand moving to wipe some blood from his brow.
Yamcha was startled to see compassion enter into Bulma’s expression. Watching her cling to Vegeta like that... it didn’t make sense. He shouldn’t matter so much to her. She seemed obsessed with helping Vegeta even though he’d done nothing but cause her problem after problem. She’d devoted so much of her time to him already and if that look on her face was any indicator... He struggled with the urge to yank her away.
“I take orders from no one!” Vegeta pulled away from Bulma, standing for half a second before he toppled forward, finally slipping into unconsciousness.
“Oh no! Vegeta!” She tried to lift him, but he was dead weight. “Yamcha, quick! Get some help, we have to get him medical help! Now!” she yelled at him desperately. Yamcha simply reacted, despite his emotions tying themselves in knots, he spun on his heal and took off into the house.
Using all her strength, she rolled Vegeta onto his back once again and tried to make him comfortable, checking on his most visible wounds. She applied pressure to some, but his blood flow seemed already to have slowed. She hoped that wasn’t a bad sign. Looking around at what was once GS 2.0 she seemed to see it for the first time.
“This shouldn’t have, couldn’t have happened,” she whispered. Her and her father had made sure this chamber was tougher and more durable then ever before, and yet, with in a matter of minutes Vegeta had completely blow it to hell. “What happened,” she wondered softly. Something must have gone terribly wrong.


They’d managed to haul Vegeta into the Medical Center and get him stabilized. Seeing the bandages and oxygen mask that adorned the Prince’s injured body was still deeply disturbing. He had always seemed so invincible. “Is he going to be all right, Daddy?” Bulma asked quietly.
“I hope so. The only thing he hasn’t bruised is his eyebrows. If he stays in bed for a week or two he should be all right. He’s dodged a bulled again. It’s a miracle he survived the horrible accident. Those Saiyans are practically indestructible.” Dr Briefs was ever hopeful and Bulma took some courage from that.
“Poor Vegeta...”Her mother sobbed. She held a soaking tissue to her face.
“Come on dear, lets let him rest.” Putting his arm around his wife he lead her from the room, his voice comforting her as they left.
Bulma stayed behind for a moment longer. “Oh, you lunkhead,” she tried to direct her distress into anger, but it didn’t seem to be working. She might as well leave him in peace. He deserved all the quiet they could give him. She turned to leave.
“Kakarrot...” Vegeta’s voice came out a raspy whisper of pain, causing Bulma to turn back and walk over to his side to hear him better. “I’ll be stronger... Kakarrot... I’ll beat you!”
Bulma stared, comprehension dawning on her face. “He’s having a bad dream....” she whispered to herself. It seemed that even in his condition, having suffered a terrible accident he was still focused on only one thing. Beating Kakarrot and becoming the strongest. She had a hard time comprehending such single-minded dedication. As much as she’d devote herself to one project or invention for a time, she always remembered her family and loved ones, and the things that really mattered. Didn’t she? She couldn’t understand what it must be like to live with only one thought, one purpose. And what an empty purpose it was, too.
It seemed to her that Vegeta must be the single most loneliest, miserable person in the entire Universe.
He definitely needed someone to show him that there was so much more to life. She’d been trying to show him kindness and get him to lighten up, but this was even worse then she’d ever feared. He seemed completely void of things like trust and love. A deep sadness filled her. No one should have to feel that way. No wonder he was so unpleasant all the time. Well, she would show him. When he got better she would show him everything life had to offer.
She turned to go. In the meantime she would figure out what had happened to cause the explosion.


He was running. Forever running. The scenery around him swirled and changed, and still he ran. He had to reach his goal, he had to get there before anyone else. He had to!
In the distance he could see the outline of someone. Picking up his speed he ran faster. Approaching the figure he discovered it was none other then his worst enemy. The man he despised above all others.
“Kakarrot! I’m stronger then you!” He launched and attack, throwing his leg out with all his strength in a mighty kick. He felt nothing as he passed through his nemesis’ image. Wheeling around in attack stance again he noticed that the boy that had defeated Frieza had joined them. “Ah! Its you! You’re not a Saiyan!” The figures were suddenly right in front of him, their faces locked in a vicious smirk. The air around them rippled and then seemed to burst into flames as they both went Super Saiyan.
Feeling their mocking eyes upon him, Vegeta powered up. Fueled by his rage, a ragged scream pushed its way from his chest. “I am the strongest!” Even as he said it he could feel the lie of it. The light around the two swelled and they started moving away. He tried to keep up, to catch them and punish them for their defiance, but the distance between them grew too quickly.
“They’re too fast! I”ll never be able to catch up with them. But I’m the one with royal blood in my veins.” His hopelessness overwhelmed him and he turned his anger on the one who’d obviously lied to him all those years. “ Father!”
From the darkness around him came an unexpected reply. “Vegeta... someday you will be the strongest Saiyan in the universe.”
He knew that voice...”Father? Ohhh” Around him the scene changed. Suddenly, he was six years old again, standing on the bridge of his Father’s massive war ship.
“Those ships are head to distant galaxies. From the day we are born we Saiyans are examined for our power and leadership, the weakest of our people are sent to planets far away where they face no threat from our enemies.”
Little Vegeta laughed, “Goodbye Pests!”
“Vegeta, you come from a strong bloodline and posses the potential power to join the super elite of all Saiyans. Never forget where you’re from and train very hard my son because if you have proven yourself worthy perhaps one day you will become a super saiyan.”
Recalling the conversation with his long dead father, and the pride that had swelled with in him, even at such a young age, Vegeta grinned. How could he have doubted the undeniable truth?
“I haven’t forgotten what you said father, I haven’t forgotten my destiny and now I know that I will be stronger then Kakarrot. I am a super saiyan!” From out of nowhere the pain overtook him, blocking out everything else.
Gasping, he regained consciousness, feeling the stiffness in his body and the throbbing pain that radiated from every part of him. He slowly recalled what had happened. There had been an accident. He’d nearly been killed in that new and improved Gravity Simulator when it had exploded all around him for no reason. Judging from the progression of his healing he could tell that he’d been unconscious for at least one day, if not two. A soft sound to his left drew his attention.
“What is she doing here?” he wondered. The blue-haired woman had apparently fallen asleep while looking over some papers. But why had she been doing it in here? Didn’t she have a lab for that sort of thing? The idea that she’d felt compelled to stay by him, that she’d even been concerned enough to need to stay close to him caused some forgotten part of himself, deep, deep inside his chest to stir.
Laying his head back he pondered this new development. Then, beneath the pain, he slowly became aware of a new strength inside him. His power had increased. Thanks to his resilient Saiyan genetics, his brush with death would only leave him stronger then ever. He flexed a fist, testing the damage to his arm. It seemed he had already recovered significantly.
Rising quietly from the bed he made his way out of the Med Center and back towards his old Gravity Simulator. He was anxious to see just how much he had improved.


Out in the yard, Yamcha noticed the lights were on in the old Gravity Simulator. “There’s no way Vegeta’s back on his feet already!” he said to Puar as they walked over to check it out. Sure enough the snobby Saiyan was working on some one-handed push-ups.
“Initiate Gravity simulation 400 times planets normal gravity. Warning simulation exceeds human biological tolerance levels.” The computer spoke in it’s calculated voice. Despite it’s warning, Vegeta seemed to push harder, bandages and injuries aside. Yamcha watched in amazement, a new found respect for Vegeta clenching in his gut.
“Puar, it’s time for us to get back to work.” His days of slacking off and working half-assed were over. If Vegeta could push himself to the max like that then he would too.
“Yeah!” Puar shouted, glad to see Yamcha pulling himself together again. The last little while he’d been doing a lot of moping about, but that seemed behind them now.


Bulma had been dreaming uneasily for quite a while before she noticed that something was wrong. It was too quiet. Her subconscious noticed the lack of heavy breathing, other then her own, and quickly brought her to the surface. She opened her eyes and sat up, a crust of drool sticking unpleasantly to the side of her cheek. She turned her head and let her eyes fall upon the now empty medical bed.
“Vegeta?” she asked groggily, not sure why he would have left his bed. Coming more and more awake she pondered the question, going over every conceivable possibility. There was no way he was well enough to be up and walking around. She pushed her chair out from the desk she’d had moved into temporarily and began her search. After finding no sign of him in the kitchen or the bathroom she let herself come to the conclusion that it was probably a worst case scenario. She looked out the window and discovered that, sure enough, the lights for the old GS were indeed on. Running to her lab she turned on the video connection to inside the sphere and saw Vegeta on her screen, his body turning slow circles in the air. A quick check of the Simulation read out revealed he was now at 400 G’s.
“Stop it, Vegeta! You are in no condition to be doing this right now! I know you don’t want to believe you are made are made of flesh and blood!” She yelled, trying to hide her anxiety and concern with anger.
“Stop pestering me, woman. Leave me alone!” he growled at her threateningly. The small break in his concentration causing him to slip and fall to the floor.
“You know I”m right, so why don’t you just keep quiet and do as I say?!” He had to be totally insane to be doing this to himself. She waited for a response but he stayed quiet. “Nothing so say? Well that’s good. Now go back to bed and get some rest.”
Vegeta raised his eyes to the screen. Sweat was breaking out on his brow. “Not yet, I do have something to say.” It appeared he had to struggle to even form the words
“Huh? Is something wrong?” She pushed away her concern and reached for her almost constant irritation with his stubborn pride. “Or maybe your finally going to apologize to me? If that’s the case then lets hear it!”
“Leave me alone!” he yelled at her.
“Wha...?” Bulma frowned. How could he be so mean? She was just trying to help.
“Do you want to die in three years?” He spit at her, gathering his strength to stand once again.
Bulma was a bit thrown by his sudden question. “O-of course I’d rather live. After all, I’m still a sexy, young, beautiful lady, you know.”
“In that case, shut up!” With that he turned his back on her, signifying the end of the conversation.
Bulma reluctantly terminated the connection and stood, shocked and unmoving. “Wow. What an idiot. Maybe I should just let him kill himself.” She didn’t know what to do. The harder she pushed the more he pushed her away. Maybe she’d be best to just do as he said and leave him alone.
Walking back to the med center she gathered her things and instructed the in-house bots to clean up. Flipping through her findings so far she tried to focus on working out the problem instead of thinking about Vegeta’s pig-head, crazy...
Her eyes fell on the print-out of 2.0's recorded activity log. It wasn’t overly long, seeing as how Vegeta had only been in it a few minutes before the explosion. The activity log kept track of all the computers settings, as well as monitoring Vegeta’s biological status and energy out-put. Before she’d fallen asleep she’d been checking each systems readout for malfunctions, but so far everything had been working properly. If she understood what had happened just before the accident maybe she could discover the cause.
She flipped to the end of the report, right before the black out caused by the data transmitters going up in flame. Right before everything had gone to hell it looked like Vegeta had used a focused burst of biometric energy measuring at 7.8 kilojoules. In and of itself that amount of energy was next to nothing compared to what GS 2.0 had been designed to handle. But that must have been what set off the destructive incident.
She continued searching through the data for several more minutes before throwing up her hands in surrender. This was going to take hours. It wasn’t like Vegeta was going to care why the accident had happened. Chances are he’d just blame her no matter what she found out. If it was her fault she’d want to keep that little fact to herself. She didn’t think that mechanical error was likely. Still, she would find out before attempting to replicate any more Gravity Simulators. They had a while before Vegeta outgrew the old one anyway.

A few days later, Bulma had just about given up on the problem all together. Her eyes were tired from staring at one list of numbers after another, and her brain was throbbing from lack of sleep. She’d decided to take a break to get some food, and found her mother in the kitchen preparing the evening meal. She helped her mother finished and called her dad in to join them.
“Vegeta’s still training? Oh my.... That man works so hard.” Bunni still seemed obsessed with their royal guest. And Bulma’s irritation got the better of her.
“Mother! Can we just forget about him? I mean, he hasn’t come out of that capsule in days...” not that she was keeping track...
“Well, I must say that I’m becoming quite impressed by that boys unshakable determination. Why just the other day he was training in 400 times Earths gravity. Isn’t that amazing?” Yes, it was amazing, among other things. Like insane. Bulma was sure that Vegeta’s injuries must still be healing, but he’d not given them another second to rest.
“He’s nothing but a thick headed ape!” she slumped in her chair. Kami, she was tired. Well, tonight she was going to get a good nights sleep. Then maybe tomorrow things wouldn’t look so bad.
Outside Vegeta kicked the Simulator up to 410, and then, with an impatient growl continued it on to 450 G’s. He’d long since pushed the pain and exhaustion into the back of his mind. For days now he’d continued on in a mindless fighting stupor. One drill after another, he pushed forward, determined to succeed.
Now, with the increased g’s he could feel it catching up to him. With a final handful of maneuvers he felt his muscles give out.
“No! I can do more!” he cried, clenching a tired fist. He used the last ounces of his strength to stand, and then, using sheer will power alone, he finished his exercise. Proud of his accomplishment he moved to the center panel and shut the machine off. He nearly gasped with relief as the downwards force normalized, releasing the pull on his drained body. He didn’t feel the normal floating sensation he got after returning to normal gravity, though. It seemed his body was past it’s breaking point.
‘Good,’ he thought. ‘If I can continue to take it one step farther then my limit every day then I shall soon know limitless strength. And it will only be a matter of time before I ascend.’
It seemed he was finally starting to make some real progress. And for that he deserved a shower and a full nights sleep. In the morning he was sure he would be able to feel an increase in his ki and begin pushing it higher still. His stomach growled just then, reminding himself that he had one other thing to take care of.
He made his way to the kitchen. His nose informed him the there was already a meal in progress, which was indeed fortunate. He hated having to hunt down on of the humans to fix his food just as much as he hated having to prepare his own. Upon entering he saw that the others were just finishing up. ‘Good, I won’t have to endure their company long,’ he thought snidely as he slid into a chair. He ignored the looks of shock he was getting from the others and began eating. It amazed him how much he was struggling to even just bring the food to his lips, but he hid it well. He would die before he’d show weakness to these sorry excuse for sentient beings. Besides, the more he ate, the stronger he began feeling. He realized just then how long it had been since he’d eaten a decent meal.
“Well, Vegeta, it is very nice of you to join us,” the blonde one grinned at him, sipping her tea.
“Yes, we should be so honored,” the younger woman replied but her tone was distinctly more sarcastic. “What’s the occasion?”
‘Facetious wench,’ Vegata thought. Out loud he said, “I have reached the maximum level of that out-of-date piece of crap. It is time for you to rebuild me a better model. One that won’t blow up the first time I use it, preferably.” The mocking tones were more then a match for Bulma’s.
Bulma frowned, a bit of her testiness gone. “We still haven’t figured out what caused that explosion.” Her frustration with that fact was plain on her face.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Vegeta stopped chewing and looked up at the blue-haired scientist. “It has to be a case of inferior manufacturing. As a member of a highly superior race of warriors there’s no way that the accident could have been cause by a miscalculation on my part. Besides, I was under the assumption that that machine was supposed to be able to withstand even higher levels of energy burst, which proved to hardly be the case.”
Dr. Briefs and his wife had discreetly moved out of the room. They recognized when the two stubborn hot-heads were starting to get into it and had no desire to be caught in the middle.
Bulma hadn’t noticed them go. She was too busy squeezing the crap out of her mug. She remembered what happened the last time she let herself get into it with Vegeta. That and her guilt that he was probably right were the only thing keeping her from jumping down his throat right now. “It happens when dealing with un-tried new technology sometimes,” she managed to drawl out, swallowing her pride.
“Well, just make sure you get it right next time.” Vegeta grumped and went back to his food. He was surprised to find himself experiencing some disappointment that he hadn’t gotten more of a rise out of her. Her responses were usually so much more entertaining.
“I still have a lot of data to go through,” she said through gritted teeth. Guilt and fear of saying something regrettable would only go so far. She was still Bulma Briefs, after all. “It would go a lot faster if a certain impatient Saiyan Prince would allow himself to submit to some necessary testing.”
“No.” Vegeta said simply. “The last time was a complete waste of my time. Doing more tests will only waste more. It’s a shame you just can’t be better, smarter, faster. That would really make this less of a hassle for me.”
“Why you.... how dare you?!” Bulma stood slamming her mug down on the table. “I would have thought a prince would have been raised to have better manners!”
“Only when dealing with people who aren’t so obviously beneath me it’s painful just having to interact with them.” His smirk deepened. Possibly his efforts wouldn’t be wasted after all.
“HA!” Bulma’s barking laugh made him look up at her. “I’m surprised you don’t think everyone is “so obviously beneath you”! I thought you saw yourself as far superior to everyone!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Woman. I am the most superior of beings in the universe, but not every race is as pathetic, as simpering and despicable as you and your race! You just don’t know any better because so far your primitive technology has only let you experience the tiniest slice of the know galaxies.” Vegeta had followed Bulma to her feet, not willing to let her tower over him for longer then necessary.
“Oh, trust me!” she laughed darkly in his face. “If the rest of the universe is as self-absorbed and rude as you then I’d rather just forget they even exist.” She wasn’t going to let him win this one.
“It figures you’d try and use ignorance to protect yourself from the truth. The fact of the matter is, you and your race are just fodder for the slaughter, waiting for some far superior being to come along and wipe you out with a flick of their wrist. In fact, if Kakarrot hadn’t damaged his brain as an infant that’s exactly what would have happened. I guess I’d have trouble accepting that fact too, if I were so stupid and delusional. You just don’t have the brains to admit when you’re defeated”
“Delusional?!” Bulma scoffed. “Look who’s talking?! I can safely say that you, Vegeta, are positively the most deluded person I’m ever had the mis-fortune to encounter. You can’t even see the good around you. You won’t accept the fact that Goku has gotten stronger then you because of that goodness inside him. It’s his hope in life and joy that make him who he is. More then genetics, more then his “Saiyan Heritage”. He’s a super Saiyan because he let himself be open to the possibilities of friendship and love and happiness. Something that I’m sure you can’t even comprehend!” Part of her was pleading with him to open his eyes and realize the truth as much as she was defending herself and her race. “Our existence may seem pathetic and despicable to you, but that’s just because you can’t even see what you’re missing out on.”
Vegeta stood stunned for a second. He was amazed by the pure burning passion of her words and her expression. He remembered the admiration he’d felt for her fearlessness when she’d show up so see Frieza face to face, knowing full well it would only lead to her destruction. He’d merely been bating her for the fun of it, but now he was caught unprepared for the intensity of her words. He subconsciously squashed his appreciation for her spirit and continued smirking at her. “As if I cared about any of that. I’m not “missing out” on anything I don’t want to miss out on. That’s the thing about having power and being truly great. There is no better feeling then destroying a worthy foe. No greater work then establishing yourself as a force to be feared and worshiped. No greater legacy then leaving a smoldering trail of vanquished enemies through the course of history. And that is something you will never comprehend.”
Bulma’s heart sank as she felt herself being pulled under by the Prince’s words. Not because he was right. But because he was so fiercely wrong. Her expression softened into a look Vegeta couldn’t put a name to.
“If you really think that is true, then I pity, Vegeta.” She felt the first prickling of tears in her eyes. “How sad that life holds nothing more for you then one battle after another. I can’t even...” her words choked in her throat. “I’m sorry for you,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut she turned and fled.
Vegeta stood stunned for second time. “Don’t you dare pity me!” he yelled after her. His exhaustion returned and he collapsed in his chair with a scowl. ‘What the hell just happened?’ he wondered. Quickly he finished his food and then retired to his room for the night, his thoughts staying with that expression. Every time he closed his eyes he could see tears building in a pair of ocean-blue eyes. Soon his mind ached with the sight of it and he held his head trying to squeeze the image from his mind. So much for a well-deserved nights rest. “Stupid Woman.” he muttered rolling over for the hundredth time. It would be hours before sleep would claim him.


And so it begins... *evil laughter* Did I keep them in character? Review and let me know!