Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Rebirth of Destruction ❯ Ghosts From the Past ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The beeping sounds of the control panel and the soft purr of the ship engines did nothing to lull Vegeta. Adrenaline still pumping through his veins, he restlessly pushed buttons on the panel, swiveling his chair back to the radar every few seconds as he tried to track the ship that held his wife and her kidnappers. He scowled at the mechanism when it winked out for several seconds before turning back on. It figured that the damn humans would foul up such a sophisticated piece of machinery. The beeping lights resumed again and he pressed a few keys to bring out a more detailed version of the radar.

He wasn’t too far behind from the other ship. Maybe around an hour, he estimated. It might have been a closer trail, but of course, the technologically impaired humans who had constructed the vessel had not done their job fully right: his craft was slower than the other one. Not only had they gotten a head start, but they also had the faster ship.

The second he had seen Dalia disappear with Bulma, Vegeta had stormed out of the house muttering curses in every language he knew. He knew immediately that they would be taken off-planet, so he headed straight for the backyard of the house, where Dr. Briefs was tinkering with the Capsule Corporation spaceship. An ever-oblivious Mrs. Briefs had encountered him on the way with a plate of cookies and a giddy smile. Vegeta had growled at her to get out of the way and had yelled for Dr. Briefs to either get off the ship or strap in for a ride. Startled, Dr. Briefs had blinked in surprise for several moments before snapping to attention and getting off the ship in record time. Whatever it was that Vegeta had planned, the look on his face indicated that he wanted no interference. Vegeta had wasted no time in powering up the ship and lifting off.

He couldn’t believe how foolish he had been, flying off to meet with Kakarot’s stupid friends and leaving his family alone. What had the morons been thinking, knowing that two of their greatest foes were out there and not doing anything about it? He had a level of respect of Piccolo and Kaio-shin, and as protector of Earth, he had expected Dende to do a better job. Instead Vegeta was now stuck on a wild goose chase.

If you want something done, thought Vegeta as he studied the radar readout, do it your fucking self.

Had Bulma’s hormones also taken over her brain? He swore that when he found her, he would give her the tongue-lashing of her life. Not only had she put herself in danger by letting a stranger into the house, but she had put their daughter in danger as well. The stupid woman had let an enemy into the house and probably supplied her with useful information, before going and getting herself kidnapped. If this had happened several years before, he would’ve gladly left her to her fate, but he found that for some unknown reason within him, he could not bring himself to do that now. Damn fool woman, he thought. She’s gotten under my skin. This was a main reason he hated getting himself attached to people: he knew his enemies would use it against him as they were doing now.

And he hated the feeling of desperation running through him now. He couldn’t help but wonder what it was that Freeza wanted with them.

Whatever it was, he was certain of one thing: he was going to use them to get to him. He knew first hand what Freeza was capable of and he shuddered as different scenarios flashed through his head unwittingly. No, he wasn’t going to let that happen. With gritted teeth, Vegeta keyed in the thrusters of the ship, urging it to go to its maximum speed, which actually wasn’t that much more than before.

“Stupid piece of junk,” Vegeta muttered angrily.

Through the radar, the dot representing the other ship was swiftly getting farther and farther away.

~oOo~

Dalia’s fingers flew over the control panel as she urged the spacecraft to fasten its pace. She had arrived with the woman, Bulma, and had been greeted by Coran and his handful of unexpected prisoners. Knowing they had no time to spare, she had left the hostages for Coran to deal with and had stormed into the cockpit for a fast take-off. With the corner of her eye, she checked the radar and the ever-blinking red dot that had been following them since little after their departure from Earth. At what seemed to be like at an agonizingly slow pace, they put more and more distance between it. Still, she didn’t know how long Vegeta would follow so she couldn’t go anywhere yet. Quickly deciding to lead him aimlessly around space, she changed the original coordinates from the navigation computer. The door that led into the cockpit opened behind her with a hiss and she sensed Coran’s ki enter.

“You brought the Dragonballs from down there right?” she asked him without taking her eyes of the computer board.

“Right here,” Coran replied setting a box containing all seven balls next to her. “I’ve got the two little ones in their own individual energy cubes and the woman in one of the cells.”

Dalia nodded. “You’ve got a strong spell holding the two demi-Saiyans, right?”

“Yes. It should hold them.”

Dalia sighed in relief. “Good,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to deal with two runaway super Saiyans.”

Coran opened his mouth and closed it again. “They can transform?” he asked finally.
Dalia took her eyes off the computer and fixed a hard glare on him, “Of course they can! The capture spell will withstand a transformation, right?” Before he could answer, she closed her eyes and stretched with her mind to feel for the young Saiyans’ ki. Both of them were ascending at incredible speed, undoubtedly a power up. She snapped her eyes open oblivious to whatever Coran was telling her.

“Goddamnit!” she cursed angrily and ran towards the door. “Take over the controls for a bit. The two kids are about to blast their way out of your little cells. I’ll let you know when to come down.”

She stormed out before Coran could reply and ran down to the storage room. The sight that greeted her wasn’t a pretty one. Both kids were screaming as their power skyrocketed enough for their bodies to change. She could see their hair stand up on end and flash a bright yellow. Dalia bit her lower lip and powered up just as Coran’s magical prison blasted out of existence and all the boxes that had been surrounding them flew in every possible direction. She raised her ki to shield herself from the projectiles and looked up to find the two Saiyans young flying towards her.

“Shit…” she cursed softly and sent a ki blast at them strong enough to throw them back the way they had come.

Goten and Trunks landed on their feet, startled slightly. They looked at their new foe and reformed themselves into battle stance. This now blue-skinned woman had brought Bulma with her, in what obviously looked to be against her will, and had ordered for them to be kept captive, an idea neither of them found appealing.

“Goten,” Trunks told his friend. “She feels about as strong as Krillin’s wife. If we attack her together we shouldn’t have any sort of problems.”

“Yes!” Goten replied and waited for his friend to give out the word.

“Now!” Trunks yelled and flew at her with Goten at his side. Just as they were about to reach her, she jumped out of the way and landed behind them. Trunks felt a hard kick on his back that sent him flying into the far wall and looked up to see Goten crash in the opposite direction.

“Damn…” he muttered standing up and glaring at his attacker. “That’s no way to treat us. Goten!”

“Yeah?” Goten answered standing up while rubbing the back of his head with the palm of his hand.

Trunks smirked, resembling his father strongly. “Obviously she has no idea who she’s dealing with. Fusion Dance!”

“Yeah!” Goten replied and flew towards Trunks.

Dalia narrowed her eyes and prepared herself for the attack that never came. Instead, the two boys landed a few feet from each other. The purple-haired one pointed both his hands to his right while the black-haired one mirrored him.

“Fu…”

What are they doing? Dalia thought as the two boys took three funny-looking steps towards each other while circling their hands over their heads to the direction opposite they had them originally. Now they were maybe a foot away from each other.

“…sion…”

Wait a minute… This suddenly looked familiar. Where had she seen it done before? Now both boys snapped their arms back the way they had come and brought up their knee to form and angle opposite to their arms.

“…ha!”

They leaned towards one another and touched their index fingers together with a bright flash of light.

Shit… She blinked in surprise to the sudden light then saw a new figure standing where the two boys had been. Dalia narrowed her eyes again as she felt the storm of a ki it was projecting.

Now she was in trouble.

Arms on his hips and a mane of wild golden hair over his head, Gotenks smirked at Dalia mischievously. He brought a hand up to his chin as he examined her.

“Oh ho! No problem,” a combination of Trunks’ and Goten’s voice said. “Gotenks will teach you how to play fair.” With that he flew in her direction so fast that Dalia barely had enough time to bring her guard back up before she felt a hard punch that sent her he flying backwards into the wall. Before she reached it, the new boy appeared behind her and bounced her in the opposite direction making her crash into a pile of boxes.

She cursed angrily as she pushed some of the crates off her and stood to look at Gotenks. The super fusion stood sideways looking at her, self-conscious smirk still plastered on his face.

“What’s the matter?” he asked mockingly. “Little girl doesn’t want to play anymore?”

Dalia pushed some hair off her face and glared at him. Coran…she thought. We have a serious problem.

What’s wrong? Coran’s voice came into her head.

The little bastards fused! They’re impossibly strong and I’m not going to risk transforming in here.

There was a silence before Coran replied. Fusions don’t last too long. I suggest you get out of there unless you want to get beat up. I’ll seal them in the cargo hold while they separate.

Fine… Dalia replied and readied herself to speed out of the room.

“Hey!” Gotenks called at her. “I’m getting tired of waiting for you to move. My turn again!”

He flew rapidly at her, but this time she was ready and jumped out of the way just in time.

“Aha!” Gotenks said. “You’re pretty fast, for a girl. Here I come again!”

Dalia dodged his attack again and flew to the opposite side of the room. Slightly annoyed at having missed her twice now, Gotenks flew after her. Dalia kept using her speed to her advantage and avoided his blows, flashing out of sight just before he reached her.

“So you don’t want to stand still?” Gotenks asked her landing across the room. “Fine! I’ll have to take you from all sides then!” Gotenks crossed his arms in front of him and powered up some more. “Super Ghost Kami Kaze Attack!!!”

Dalia looked in a twisted sense of surprise as the super fusion started blowing what looked at first to be a bubble gum balloon. It grew and then separated from him followed by another five just like the first. To her shock, each of the little balloons grew hands and a head to form a ghostly replica of the boy before her.

“Boo!” the first one to be born said smirking. “I’m a scary ghost!”

Dalia blinked a few times dumbfounded as the lot of ghostly figures began to laugh, twirl, and try hard to act scary.

“There’s no escape now. I win,” Gotenks told her. “OK, ghosts! Line up now!”

Dalia wasn’t sure how to react as the little ghost lined up as ordered by Gotenks, but arguing on whom went first and personal space. She watched on in awe. What the hell is this?

“No talking in line!” Gotenks told them. “Stop complaining and get ready.”

“Yes, sir!” they all replied. Some of them giggled while others simply grinned. This was really starting to creep her out. What kind of attack was this?

Dalia… It was Coran. I’m by the door. Get out and I’ll seal the entire area.

Dalia nodded and levitated herself from the ground preparing the fly out the moment the other tried anything.

“OK!” Gotenks said. “Surround her now!”

Before she could think, six little ghosts were flying in her direction. She flashed to her right narrowly missing one whom, with her out of the way, accidentally crashed into the one coming from her left. The explosion almost knocked her out of control as she suddenly realized what the ghosts did. Shit! The little bastards blow up on contact!

“Baka!” she heard Gotenks say. “Crash into her, not each other!”

Too late, she thought and sprinted towards the door. It opened before her and she heard a satisfying whoosh as it closed behind.

“Hey!” Gotenks cried in surprised. “I wasn’t finished with you! Come back! Don’t be a chicken!”

“Hurry up and seal him in. He’s a little bundle of trouble,” Dalia told Coran as she circled back and landed next to him. Coran nodded and shut his eyes while chanting the spell that would contain the super fusion. He stood back and waited to see if the spell worked.

“Hey!” they heard Gotenks call from the inside while pounding on the door. “Let me out now or I’ll really get nasty!!”

Dalia looked at Coran questioningly. “It’s OK,” he told her finally. “He can scream all he wants, he won’t get out no matter what mess he makes of the place.”

A loud explosion from within and the violent rocking of the spaceship confirmed Coran’s words.

Dalia blinked and struggled to maintain her balance.

“He won’t get out,” Coran told her again. Dalia nodded and motioned for him to follow her back into the cockpit. Mini earthquakes shook the ship every so often as Gotenks still struggled to blast his way out of cargo hold. A sudden beeping sound from the main computer as they entered the cockpit made them turn.

Dalia exhaled sharply as she read the read-outs in the screen. “Damn…” she said softly, “That little son of a bitch just BLASTED THE HYPER DRIVE!”


Coran blinked a few times. “You’re kidding, right?”

As if to confirm her words, the ship suddenly slowed down enough to be detected by the two of them. Dalia inhaled deeply and considered their options. “We’ll have to land somewhere to make repairs,” she said finally. “And when we do, I’m going to personally crush that little demon!”

“There’s a star system not far from here with a moon on one of the planets that has a breathable atmosphere,” he told her from another computer. “We’ll land there.”

“And Vegeta?”

“He’s about two hours behind,” Coran said. “It’ll take around twenty minutes to get there at present speed, and hopefully less than the remaining time to repair whatever damage the kids did the hyper drive. By then I think the fusion will also be over.”

Dalia released her breath slowly, “OK,” she said. “Let’s do that. We’ll have to be quick about it.” And hope the ship holds together…


~oOo~

The stars had long since become a blur through the view port of the medium-sized ship. Arms strewn across his stomach, the creature leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, hoping that he would finally get some rest. It seemed like every time he tried to relax, the entire scene flashed before his eyes. He saw the two figures emerging from the portal, their cold faces twisted into what they called a smile. He shivered in horror and snapped his eyes open.

Tonight was no exception.

Or maybe it was day. He had long ago lost track of time, seconds fading into minutes and minutes fading into hours, so that he no longer knew the difference. All he did know was that he was away from them. He had finally escaped the nightmarish existence that was their presence.

He still wasn’t sure how that had happened. His thoughts were muddled from the excitement of his departure. It was a miracle in itself that he had even managed to reach such a good ship and a miracle that he had calmed down long enough to work the controls and figure an escape route. After he had been sure he was far away from his captors, he had wracked his brain for a safe port before finally deciding on a destination.

Earth.

Their enemies were in Earth. The warriors from said planet had obviously wounded his captors to such an extent that they had opted for such lengths to gain revenge. They were the key now. Surely they would help him rid of the universe’s tyrants. They would help him fix his folly, the folly he had been forced to commit… but his folly, nonetheless. It was his fault that they had been brought back. It was him who had allowed them back into this world. Whether he had been a willing participant or not, it was he who was responsible.

He closed his eyes again and sighed in defeat. He allowed the images to flood back one by one, images of an irrevocable past, as well as those from the present and those from a possible future.

“I will not allow it,” he told himself softly.

The past was gone and there was nothing that he could do about that. What had been done was unchangeable, except through complex magic that he was not willing to try. No, it was time to do something for the future.

“I will not allow it,” he said, this time more forcefully.

The images flashed in his mind at a more rapid pace. He couldn’t seem to control them as they sped by, no longer being able to distinguish one from another. Just as he thought he would border the brink of an even greater madness, a beeping noise interrupted the process. His eyes snapped open and he looked wildly around. A blinking red light from the control panel caught his attention, causing him to lean toward it.

He was finally there. He looked out the view port as the ship slowed down and his destination came into sight. The blue and white sphere seemed small from where he was, but it was beautiful. His eyes lit up in wonder as he absorbed the scenery. He couldn’t wait to get down there.

He stood to stretch his cramped muscles and glanced down at his appearance. His bruised body was covered with the remains of his tattered, bloody clothes. A thin layer of sweat covered his skin, and even though he was used to it, he could still smell his own stench in the ship. The Earthlings would not be impressed, he knew, but now was not the time to worry about such things.

First and foremost on his list was to find his allies. Then—then he could finally destroy his enemies. He could finally fix what he had been forced to do.

~oOo~

On the outer rim of the Glai’keel-sei star system, three gas giants quarreled like thunder and lightning over which had the bigger claims of space. Since its orbits were so close together, many of their moons had been shredded by the incredible battle of gravitational forces creating an asteroid belt that circled around them. Still, many other moons survived adding their own spice to the chaotic mixture. Amongst this inferno of power, the Glai’keel-jin royalty had found their training ground. Centuries past, they had chosen the more out-of-the-way section of the region, but as the thirst for power of their rulers increased, ventures closer to the deadly orbits had been made. Needless to say, both Koola and Freeza had been trained by their father in the very core of the turmoil. The spaceship they were in would be left to stand near by while they finished the trek alone, for it would not withstand the immense pull.

They now stood watching from a distance feeling a sense of anticipation to once again exercise in the ancient training ground after such a long time. It was here where they had first truly felt what power meant, where their father kept pushing them beyond their limits, sometimes almost in a matter of life and death when his own power kept growing beyond what either of them thought possible.

Life and death.

Freeza’s lips curled slightly at the thought. This had been a lesson he had learned at a very young age. One that he figured his brother had too as had their father before them. Bittersweet thoughts strolled down memory’s lane.

Young.

Yes, he had been young. But every child had to grow up someday.

~oOo~


Koola sat in King Kold’s throne listening to the same rambling his father had to put up with day after day and thanking the gods that this was only for a few days. He had just finished with the latest load of paper work on the sale of recently acquired planets and had been planning on taking the rest of the day off when his duties as heir prince had kicked in to ruin his plans. Mind trailing from whatever it was his aids were telling him, he looked sideways to see what his little brother was up to.

Freeza was bored.

He’d spend the last hour running around him interrupting the meeting or sneaking up behind the glass throne to try and scare him. Koola smiled thinking of what his father had to put up with when he had been younger. Now little Freeza sat on the steps next to the throne mimicking his every move and gesture. To confirm this, he brought a leg up and smiled amused when he saw the little Glai’keel-jin do so as well.

He put his leg down.

Freeza did the same.

Glai’keel-jin children were rather different from adults. They still hadn’t developed the distinctive color on the gem that crowned their heads and parts of their bodies having mostly pale colored skin they had evolved with to camouflage in their white surrounding. Freeza was snow white from head to toe. His ember eyes were framed by a slight bony crest and two thin, pale blue lines that fell from just beneath them, to under his chin which, Koola figured, would someday develop into a distinguishing feature on the young prince.  Besides this, his other outstanding feature was the two little onyx stubs that would eventually grow into horn emerging form his skull and his dark, well-formed lips.

“...Sire? Are you listening?”

Snapped back to attention, Koola turned a hard glare of his father’s adviser. “My hearing is just fine, Tima. It will be a long time before it starts to fail me.”

The other took a step back and nodded. “Forgive me, my prince,” he said apologetically. “My mistake. Would you please come with me to see the…”

Blah...blah...blah...

Koola stood before his elder could finish and walked to the see the papers the other was referring too. Freeza watched his brother walk away and frowned now that his game had been abruptly cut short. Looking around, he saw that none of his caretakers were within sight and every one else in the room was busy seeing what the older prince was up too; besides that, a few royal guards. Thinking of something else to do, Freeza caught sight of the newly abandoned throne. He grinned. His father never let him seat in it since he was always using it and the few times he wasn’t Koola took his place. But now, it was alone and as far as he was concerned, he too was heir prince and had every right to enjoy the big, fancy chair.

He jumped in it, dwarfed by its size, and took the position he usually saw his father use: tail hanging though one side, cold glare at all his underlings. One of the guards surrounding the throne chuckled making Freeza turn to him with newfound interest.

Koola watched the figures scroll down the screen and considered the financial options they had regarding this particular planet. He was about to ask something when he heard a startled scream from behind him. Rapidly turning to see what all the fuss was about, he spotted the guards walking backwards away from the throne with a look of horror on their faces. He looked up to the throne to see Freeza grinning from ear to ear while holding up a finger with a golf ball-sized red ki ball floating above it.

“Freeza!” Koola exclaimed in a mixture of anger and surprise.

Freeza looked up, caught off guard by his brother and loosing control of the energy ball making it fly forwards. Numerous shouts emerged from the gathered crowed as the little sphere of destruction sizzled on. Koola clenched his jaw and moved to intercept it before it hit the far wall bouncing it to crash through the nearest glass window and explode loudly somewhere in the snow-capped mountains outside.

The room went deadly quiet as everyone looked back and forth between the two young ouji. A little, wide-eyed Freeza stood up from the throne knowing he had done something wrong and bounce to the bottom steps, hands sheepishly behind his back.

Koola’s stare was cold making Freeza shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. He knew he wasn’t to try any kind of ki experimenting indoors without supervision, but the thought had conveniently slipped.

“When… When’s Papa coming back?” he asked shyly trying to divert his brother’s anger to happier days when he’d be off the hook of running the planet.

“In a few days,” Koola replied icily.

Freeza looked down. “Sorry,” he muttered.

Koola turned his sharp glare from his brother to the aide that had been annoying him most. “Tami,” he stated. “The young prince is bored and in need of entertainment. Go play with him while I finish reviewing state affairs.”

Freeza’s eyes widened at being let off the hook while the adviser’s widened, but in terror.

“But sire,” he protested, “I was assigned to advise you, and besides, the chances of surviving playing with your brother are—”

“A lot higher than disobeying my direct order,” Koola finished for him coldly.

Tami swallowed hard and looked at the young Glai’keel-jin worriedly. “Perhaps your majesty would prefer to play with someone closer to thy age?”

“Sure,” Koola said. “I’m sure you’d love to baby-sit one or more of the noble’s children while they play. Freeza wouldn’t mind the least bit sharing with others his species and age.”

The aide went deadly pale. “On second thoughts, young Lord Freeza, I’d love to accompany you to the play room…” He ran after the young prince that was already half way there.

“Brother?”

Koola took a sip out of the red wine he was drinking and looked away from the sight on the window to look down at his brother. “Yes, Freeza?”

“What’s that you and Papa are always drinking?”

Koola looked down at Freeza curiously and wondered idly if he had asked his father similar questions. He swirled the deep red liquid in his goblet and handed it to Freeza for him to see.

“It’s wine,” he answered. “A drink that comes from a fruit after it has been fermented.”

Freeza took the cup and swirled its contents like his brother had done before bringing it to his lips and taking a long drink.  

“Watch it,” Koola told him. “Too much of it will give you a killer headache.”

Freeza narrowed his eyes suddenly and briskly removed the cup from his dark lips making a face of disgust. “It’s bitter!”

Koola couldn’t help but smile amused. “No one told you to take such a long sip, little brother.”

“But you do,” he countered. “How can you drink that? It’s awful.”

“You’ll learn to like it,” he replied taking the chalice back and resuming his drinking while putting his free hand behind is back. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Freeza doing the same.

“Brother?”

“Yes?”

“Why’d Papa leave in such a big hurry yesterday?”

“There was a problem with one of the sales.”

“Oh… So that’s why you’re stuck ruling the planet?”

“It’s my duty as heir prince, as it will someday be yours,” Koola replied.

“But aren’t you too young?” Freeza asked confused.

“My age matters not, only my preparation.”

“But I heard some guy say that it did not do the Empire well to have let an adolescent—”

“Who said that?!” Koola exclaimed making Freeza jump back startled.

“Some guy…” he replied. “One of the speakers at court…”

Koola’s eyes darkened as he smirked. “Adolescent? Someone needs a talking to…”

Freeza looked up at his older brother. He sure would have hated to have him look at him like that. He turned to look at his reflection on the clear window glass and traced his outline with a pale finger. There were many things about his father and brother he didn’t understand, but he figured that someday he would.

Things started going in disarray that night. Koola hadn’t joined him for dinner, which had been strange, but what was worse was that a lot of people had been going in and out of his room and that never happened. To top it all of, dinner hadn’t agreed with him and he felt a sharp pain in his stomach from time to time.

The following morning, he had woken up to chaos.

The entire palace was in frenzy, and once again, Koola wasn’t in the dinning hall. Wondering what was happening with his brother, he managed to escape his distracted nannies and entered Koola’s room.

His jaw dropped.

Koola looked a pale gray instead of his normal shade of purple. His eyes were shut, but his entire body trembled. A cloud of the royal doctors and nurses surrounded his bed, writing on pads, giving orders or checking things.

“…Brother?” Freeza walked past the doctors and up to his brother’s bedside. He placed a tiny white hand on his forehead and felt it cold as the planet they lived in. His eyes widened. “Brother!” he screamed finally gaining the attention of the doctors around him.

“Lord Freeza,” one of them who appeared to be in charge said. “Your brother is ill, and until we know what harms him, it is best you stay away.”

“No!” he screamed forming a death grip with his arms around the metal posts on the bed.

The alien doctor bit his lower lip. “Do not worry yourself, young prince. We have sent a message to your father. He should be arriving later today.”

“Papa…” Freeza muttered. “I shall wait for him here,” he said standing up straight and taking the regal stance he had seen his two elders do so often.

“For you safety…”

“I will not leave my brother!”

The chief doctor clenched his jaw but nodded. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
The hours crawled by like years during the time Freeza waited for his father to arrive or for his brother to get better. But if anything, Koola only got worse. Adding to his burdens, breakfast also seemed to have gone bad as the sharp pains in his stomach came more often and intense. Finally, just as the sun was setting, King Kold stormed into the room trailed by half a dozen nurses and aids.

“I said out! All of you!” he thundered turning to them. Cowering in fear, they all left without a word. The only ones still left in the room were himself, his father, and the head doctor. King Kold sighed in exasperation and walked to stand by his eldest son’s bed.

“Tell me Doctor Haidi,” he said, “What is wrong with my son?”

The good doctor walked up to his king slowly, “I’m afraid, my lord, that the prince has been poisoned.”

“What!” King Kold’s face twisted in anger.

“We ran some tests and discovered he had drunk it in. It’s a virus that isolates itself in the stomach and starts to eat the organs inside out.”

King Kold tightened his jaw. “Can’t you give him an antidote?”

“We tried, sire. But there is no antidote known,” Doctor Haidi replied. “This virus is DNA specific. It was designed for you, in your sudden absence; your son was the victim instead. We haven’t even found a proper sample for tests. I’m afraid we cannot do anything for him.”

Freeza peeked out from behind the metal post to look at his father. His expression was unreadable of anger and something else as well. His fists were closed tightly and he spied a small stream of oozing, dark red fluid streak through the sides of his palm.

“Papa…” Freeza said walking out from behind his post.

King Kold looked up to contemplate his younger son. A sudden explosion made him turn his eyes to the window. Outside, fire could be seen amongst the snow, as well as hundreds of men running towards the palace. Freeza saw his father’s face darken dangerously.

“A rebellion of planet workers…” he muttered. “None of our enemies know where we are.”

The doctor turned to him. “My lord?”

Without another word, King Kold turned and exited the room. Freeza walked towards the window to see the ongoing events outside. Buildings were blowing up in the main city at a distance.
“What’s going on?” he asked the good doctor who had come to stand by him.

“I… I’m not sure…”

Next he knew King Kold floated before the mob. At sight of him, the multi-cultural crowd began to disperse itself in different directions. His father’s ki began to grow, and soon, an energy wave flashed from him consuming every single one of the thousands gathered.

“Papa…” Freeza muttered. He was so strong.

Some minutes later, King Kold returned. “Damn it, Koola!” he exclaimed in frustration. “Fight it! Death is for the weak! Not this way!”

Freeza looked down of his brother’s death colored face. He suddenly felt something inside him burn madly. He placed a small ivory hand over his stomach trying hard to be strong before his father. But the pain worsened.

“Lord Freeza…?” Doctor Haidi’s voice sounded distant. He tried to focus his ruby eyes on him, but the pain didn’t let him.

“Sire!” the doctor called out running to Freeza and catching him as he collapsed. After that, everything was a river of nonsense and pain as he fell into darkness.

King Kold stood by his sons as the doctor ran the analysis on Freeza, a thousand thoughts running through his head at once.

“My King,” the doctor said finally. “Lord Freeza too is acting under the influence of poison.”

King Kold’s jaw tightened. This couldn’t be happening. “They’re heirs… MY heirs! Save them!”

“Sire…”

“If you value your life and that of your species, do as you are commanded!” King Kold snarled. “For the moment my sons breathe their last, so will you and every other member of your kind.”

Doctor Haidi looked around in desperation as King Kold turned from him to gaze out the window at the dark night beyond.

The Glai’keel-jin king sighed. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. Two sons, two heirs, both on the edge of death, hanging to life by a mere thread. The Glai’keel-jin were commonly known to have only one child. This was thought to be because of the hard conditions of the planet and their eternal battle against over population. Since offspring was rare, natives were few and born nobles to be served by other species imported. That he had two children had been nothing short of a miracle believed to be because he was a god. Why else would he be granted a surviving second child? Two heirs to ensure his legacy, and now the two on the brink of death… His sons…

He bit his tongue hard.

Poison.

It was like a flashback from his youth when his own father had died a similar way. Since then, he had vowed to crush the enemies of his species extending their already large empire by two hundred percent. When Koola had hatched, his intentions had been reaffirmed. A son to continue his work once he was gone. Then came Freeza, unexpected by all, and surviving, laughing at Death and Destiny who fought to claim him while he was in his egg and for a time afterwards. He lived and grew, strong and healthy. Nothing else could be expected of his child and a prince.

Two heirs that would grow into warrior ouji to fight for him after he was gone; but now, all was lost. The Glai’keel-jin only reproduced once…he had no chance whatsoever of having another child. The bastards that had planned this had succeeded. He had survived, but his bloodline had been cut short. After the hell he’d been through to ensure…

“Pa…pa…”

King Kold turned around rapidly to face his younger child. Freeza had opened his eyes and looked at him as if from far away. The fire in his red eyes looked to be flickering out of existence as the deathly yellow-green color had taken over his doll-like face.

“Freeza,” he said. “Do not speak…”

“Do not… worry,” the little prince said struggling and finally sitting up only to collapse on his own little hands for support. “I’ll… fight. I’ll be… your…warrior…”

King Kold’s eyes widened. The Glai’keel-jin were said to have a psychic connection with that closest to them at their hour of death. He had a similar experience with his own father, now Freeza was…

The little Glai’keel-jin’s eyes widened as his entire body convulsed violently.  

“Doctor!” King Kold roared running to his son’s side. The door slammed opened and half a dozen nurses ran into the room and in their nervousness prevented the chief doctor from reaching his patient’s side. King Kold snarled and blasted the lot out of the way for the doctor to reach him.

“He’s…” Doctor Haidi said reaching the bed and holding Freeza’s small torso up straight and keeping his head from falling back. Freeza opened his mouth and heaved in air. He then convulsed and vomited a dark red substance onto the floor. The process was repeated a few times until the youth collapsed in the doctor’s arms unconscious.

“Is he…” King Kold started, almost fearful of knowing.

“No,” the other replied setting the young prince back down on his bed. He then ran out of the room and returned holding a test tube and picking up some of the vomit in it.

“This,” he told his king. “This may be what will save both your sons.” He smiled before exiting the room again. “Looks like little Lord Freeza still refuses to let go.”

King Kold looked down at his youngest son curiously. Yes, he had laughed at the face of Death twice now. It looked like he refused to die.

The tests had run into the night, but eventually a way had been found to reverse the virus isolated in the poison. The two of them proved to be poisoned by wine and after a throughout search, the bottle had been found. King Kold ordered it to be analyzed for fingerprints and any sort of DNA. Later, that same virus mutated had been inserted in the water system of the home planet of the species found guilty as well as other mayor worlds. It was a selective blight, and would only affect those intended causing their extinction.

An antidote had been given to both princes. It would reverse the effects of the virus. Instead of destroying the insides, it would heal them. Having expulsed most of it, Freeza healed first. It took Koola many weeks to fully recuperate.

Now Freeza stood by his brother’s bed watching the color return to his face slowly. He pondered on the hard lesson learned. He had done nothing to deserve what he had gotten, but no exception had been made. It was a cold and cruel universe out there and he had to wise up to survive in it. Kill or be killed. Mercy is for the weak at heart; watch your own back, because no one else will. Take what you want before someone else does and do anything to achieve it. Have no feelings. Feelings meant weakness and this could be exploited by others later on. Defend your honor and pride. Any one that faulted it had to pay. And mostly, gain power. With it, everyone else would be at your feet.

~oOo~

Freeza walked away from the window and his brother’s side to seat himself in his thrown. Serving himself a goblet of wine, he twirled its dark content absentmindedly before sipping it. His species was dark-hearted by nature, warriors and fighters for a reason. The Glai’keel-jin…the Ice-jin, now he knew why. Not just for their frozen world, but for the coldness that was brewed inside their hearts.

~oOo~

The world increased size the closer he got to it, his narrow eyes taking in the sight in wonder. He had seen many different planets in his time and perhaps about a quarter of them were more beautiful than the one before him. To him, though, it seemed he had reached Heaven itself. He could now make out several of the landmasses that made up the continents of the sphere referred to Earth by its natives, surrounded by large bodies of water. It was a beautiful sight indeed.

Not even bothering to choke down the excitement, he sat forward on his chair by the ship’s controls and reached out with his mind. He concentrated hard, trying to use the least of his last reserves of energy. The fact that if he were to spend everything he had here, he’d never get to his goal alive and all his efforts would be for nothing was not too far back into his troubled mind. The people he had come to meet were incredibly powerful, he knew, and would have noticeable ki.

He frowned when he could distinguish no outstanding ki in a heap of billions.

That’s impossible, he thought as his heartbeat increased several pulsations. Is it possible I’ve reached the wrong planet?

He switched on the computer and revised the readouts. The information on the screen was exactly the one he had been searching for, its history perfect down to every last detail. He bit his bottom lip and glanced back at the planet. It had to be the one, he was certain of it.

Maybe they’ve left… was his next uncomfortable thought.

Rather than extending his power further and risk wasting any more precious life energy, he powered down as much as he could and began to set up for a landing. Hopefully, the fighters were there and would come to him when he got there.

Too much was riding on this. He could not afford to leave empty-handed.

He took a cleansing breath and glanced down at the landing controls. He had an idea of how to land, for he had piloted many ships before and there was a basic design and science behind any landing gear. It wasn’t too hard to ready the ship for its landing, as the ship was in excellent condition. That in itself was a tremendous relief; the ship had been stolen from a repair-landing pad and he hadn’t been sure if it was completely functioning.

A beeping sound interrupted his thoughts and he turned back to the navigational computer, which was inquiring for landing coordinates. The creature pursed his lips in thought, wondering which side of the planet his would-be allies could be found on or even if they were on the planet at all. In a split second decision, he keyed in selected coordinates on the eastern hemisphere of the planet, being careful not to choose coordinates for a body of water.

Sighing with exhaustion, he leaned back in his chair and waited until his piloting would be needed again.

~oOo~

“What do you mean, ‘we wait’?!” Krillin exclaimed. “You’re just gonna let those monsters roam free like that?”

“Of course not,” Kaio-shin said defensively. They were still gathered around the Lookout and they had done nothing more than talk in circles. It was not unexpected, Kaio-shin realized. It wasn’t every day that two of the most powerful beings came back from the dead to take over the universe. To say they were bordering on panic would be the understatement of the century. “I want them both back where they belong just as much as all of you do. But we don’t have all the facts. We don’t know how to open the portal, or even where they are.”

“But you’re the Supreme Kai,” Yamcha spoke up. “Shouldn’t you be able to tell where they are?”

Kaio-shin closed his eyes and sighed. The fact that he was a deity didn’t mean that he could solve every problem himself. If he could, the universe would have been a much safer place and monsters like the Ice-jin would have never been allowed to surface. “I do the best I can, but I cannot keep tabs on everyone all the time. The universe is infinitely large, after all…”

“But I can’t just sit back and wait like this,” Goku said clenching his fists at his inevitable helplessness. There was something in his blood calling to him, what he had learned was his Saiyan heritage demanding violence, and it couldn’t be curbed. He understood how Vegeta probably felt. “There must be something I can do to help…”

“There is,” Dende told him. “We can start by finding whoever took the Dragonballs. If they’re still on Earth…”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Gohan interrupted. “If they’re working for Freeza and Koola, they’re long gone by now.”

“We could try following their ki,” Tenshinhan suggested. “They couldn’t be too far away.”

“You’d be surprised,” Piccolo replied, “at how fast those ships tend to go.”

“Damnit,” cursed Goku with clenched teeth. “There has to be something we can do to stop them!”

Videl was standing next to Gohan uncomfortably. She still had no idea who these two creatures they were talking about were, but if they were making the strongest fighters in the universe nervous, it was definitely enough to make her nervous as well. She glanced at her new husband and placed a hand on his shoulder as she attempted to process the information. Yamcha’s voice drew her out of her reverie.

“Bulma!” Yamcha said. “She’s great with all this technology stuff. Maybe she can provide radar or something that we could use to track any ship they might have taken. I mean, no matter how fast the ship, they’re not gonna get to their destination in a matter of hours. Right?”

“Perhaps,” said Kaio-shin. “I suppose there is no harm in trying…”

“Great!” Yamcha cried. “C’mon, Puaru. We’re going to Capsule Corp.”

Before anyone could say anything, Yamcha grabbed Puaru and took off.

Everyone looked after them for a moment before turning back to Kaio-shin, who was still staring at the sky pensively. “…but I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high.”

~oOo~

The beeping sounds on the computers brought his attention back to the landing controls. Immediately, he snapped forward and grabbed the landing controls, keying in a few commands and checking to make sure everything was in order.

It wasn’t.

The truth about why the ship had been in the repair-landing pad hit him in the face like a splash of cold water. It seemed that the landing gear had somehow been damaged and was stuck inside its resting place. With a panicked cry, he tried the controls again, earning himself an immediate protest from the ship. He didn’t have time to further think about it, though, as the ship entered the atmosphere roughly. Having forgotten to buckle himself to the chair, he was tossed to the floor, where he had to hold on to a pole to keep from getting tossed any more. Once it was past the atmosphere, the ship began a fast descent into the ground below. He scrambled back unto the chair, this time strapping himself firmly to the chair. Swiftly, he took hold of the landing controls and braced himself for a rough landing as he tried desperately to release the landing gears.

It was too late, however, and he closed his eyes tightly as the ship crashed down, skipping over the ground several times before stopping completely. The creature’s eyes stayed tightly shut for several more seconds before finally opening and gazing around warily. He looked down at himself and found that besides his already bloody and bruised body, he was relatively unharmed. With a final exhale, he leaned back on his pilot’s chair and willed himself to stop trembling. Finally, he released the constraints of the chair and tried to stand, but found he was too shaky to do so.

Through the view port, he could see nothing but sand covering the windshield. Just his luck, he had landed in the middle of a desert.

Well, he though wearily, I suppose a desert is better than an ice world.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now he had to figure out a way to call the attention of the warriors he had come to seek help from. If he could only power up to his maximum…

He stopped his train of thought. Well, he could power up to his maximum, even though he would risk complete exhaustion. But he supposed that right now he was desperate enough to try just about anything. Hopefully, the warriors would sense his power and come to him, even if he was unconscious. With that last thought in mind, he found new energy and stood. Aware of the fact that he would blow up the ship if he were to power up inside of it, he walked out of the ship and landed on his knees outside in the sand. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists at his sides. A powerful scream echoed throughout the vast emptiness around him and a red-orange aura engulfed him thoroughly. It lasted for about half a minute, before he finally collapsed on the ground and was surrounded by total blackness.

~oOo~

Vegeta clenched his fists as he glared at the radar. For some unknown reason, the other ship had slowed down to a stop and had landed on a nearby planet. He could barely control his anxiety now, he was two hours behind and he was sure Bulma’s captors weren’t going to sit around and have tea while waiting for him to catch up to them. Once again, he cursed at the technologically impaired and their extremely slow spacecraft. He considered the radar again. Why in the world would they land? Was Freeza on that planet? Could they have run out of fuel? Nonsense, Dalia wasn’t that stupid; he could at least give her that much credit. The paranoia inside his head increased with every second as he considered the possibility of a trap.

Regardless of anything, landing and rescuing his loved ones was something he had to do. There was nothing worse than allowing the bastard that had held him captive for so many years a victory over him through his one weakness. He urged the ship onwards and crossed his hands over chest. Though he hated his choices, all he could do now was wait. It would be at least another half-hour before he got to the planet. With any luck, Dalia would still be there by that time and he could retake what was his.

He would show no mercy.

~oOo~

Dalia stood back to admire her handy work thoughtfully. The main system appeared to be back on line, but of course, maybe that part of the read out had been damaged too so the only sure way to check if the hyper drive worked was testing it. She looked across the room to see that Coran was still not finished his section.

“What’s left?” she asked pacing towards him.

“Well,” he replied peeking out of the hole he was in, “I’m still calibrating the Jump program. Double checking mostly, I wouldn’t want us to accidentally appear inside a star instead of Glai’keel-sei.”

Dalia nodded. She was about to say something else when a beeping sound from inside the cockpit distracted her from it. She instantly recognized it as the radar indicating the rapid approach of another ship. She narrowed her eyes knowing exactly who it was. How had he gotten there already?

“Coran,” she called. “We’ve got company. I’ll go buy you some time while you finish programming that.”

“Vegeta’s here already?” he said furrowing his brow. “Alright. Be careful and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

“I don’t think I’ll be needing it,” she answered pacing rapidly out of the cargo hold and passing two, exhausted demi-Saiyans inside their individual energy cubicles the process. Thank goodness those two had worn themselves out. She walked over to the exit ramp and lowered it.

Here goes nothing…

There was a soft whir as the ramp lowered and landed with a thump. She walked out just in time to see the other ship landing in an upheaval of dust. Reading herself for the inevitable fight she powered up just as Vegeta, looking beyond anger, stormed out of his ship.

“You bitch! How dare you prance into my home and steal what’s mine! Did you expect me to sit back and do nothing?”

Dalia smiled slightly. “Of course I expected you to react somehow. Do you care so much for the Earthlings, little prince?”

“That’s none of your fucking business!” he spat out angrily.

She grinned. “Interesting,” she said calmly. “I never expected you to care so much about just another whore.”

Vegeta let out a savage growl and lunged himself at her. He was met by empty space were the other had stood, and had just enough time to sense a presence behind him before the hard kick on his spine came. He took to the air and whirled around just in time to block a punch targeted at the base of his neck. He held the power of her attack for a few seconds before kneeing her in the stomach and causing her to retreat a few steps. Not waiting for her to recover, he resumed his attack targeting her head this time. She brought up an arm and impeded it, then brought her knee up to shove it in his gut, but he jumped backwards just in time to avoid it. All senses in tune, Dalia looked felt around for Vegeta’s presence knowing he was moving rapidly around her and her eyes could deceive her. She let out a surprised gasp as she felt an arm wrap around her neck holding her in a death grip and bring her roughly back into an iron body. She brought her hands to his arm and tried hard to break his hold on her. A forceful punch in her back made her vision swim momentarily.

Damn…she thought while sinking her nails into his skin. I’ve got to get out of this before he punches a hole in my back!

Quickly deciding on what to do, she began to stab him back and forth with her elbow in his kidney. Vegeta eventually loosed his grip just enough for her to whirl forwards using the power of her inertia to send him flying before her. Breathing freely once again, she followed him while forming a ki blast in her open palm. Vegeta had anticipated this and fired his own ki ball at her that she narrowly missed. Distracted by the energy attack, she failed to notice Vegeta lunge at her again and had barely enough time to block his powerful punch before it hit. This was followed by a series of rapid blocks and attacks from both parties invisible to anyone who lacked extremely trained eyes and senses.

A few minutes later, Dalia quickly realized Vegeta was getting the upper hand as his attacks became harder and harder to block. Instantly disappearing from before him, she took his surprise to bring down both her fists in the back of his neck sending him crashing to the red earth below them. Making use of the few precious seconds in which he picked himself up from the ground, she brought out one of her trump cards. Screaming with exhilaration she powered up causing her aura to burn around her in flashing blues, greens, and violets. The braid that had been holding back her hair undid itself under the strain of power and she felt the inevitable transformation her body was taking. A flash of silver before her mutating eyes proved her hair had already changed as it swirled wildly around her. She looked down on Vegeta with cold, stoic eyes. Now she was ready to pick it up.

Already having picked himself off the ground, Vegeta narrowed his eyes in bewilderment. He had known Dalia for years and never would he have imagined that she too had other transformations. Her formerly innocent mint green eyes had slanted upwards and changed to a darker shade of green. Round cheeks were now gone, replaced with a more refined silhouette and the color of her skin had faded considerably to a lighter tint of blue. She floated directly above him in all her glory, silver hair flowing gracefully around her in the wind of her ki.

Vegeta couldn’t help but smirk. With a humorless chuckle, he said, “So… you’re not completely useless after all.”
Not even bothering to dignify him with an answer, the new Dalia charged down at him, knocking him effortlessly back into the ground. Vegeta didn’t stop to recover, choosing instead to bounce off the ground using his legs as impulse and slam them into her in the process. The impact didn’t do much more than simply knock Dalia back a few paces. Vegeta charged at her again, arm poised to direct a punch to her face, but she held up her arm to block it. In the same breath, she grabbed him by the wrist and threw him behind her. The ground shook slightly under the force of Vegeta’s weight. She made a move to kick him while he was down, but he was quicker than that. He flew up behind her, and kneed her in the back. Her back arched slightly in protest, but she didn’t allow that to stop her. Whirling around rapidly, Dalia placed an uppercut punch on Vegeta’s jaw, forcing his head back and making a trickle of blood appear on the side of his mouth.

Using the distraction, she shoved her fist into his stomach, making him double over. She pulled her fist back, allowing him to retreat and try to reclaim his lost breath. He made a move to inhale, but instead coughed blood. She took advantage of the moment again, charging at him leg-first and sending him flying upwards. With her quick speed, she got to him before he could go too far and regain control, elbowing his back. This time, he flew down, crashing with a giant explosion that made a crater in the ground.

He stayed at the bottom of the crater for several priceless seconds, trying hard to regain his breath. Knowing that he didn’t have much time left, he kicked his legs up and landed on both feet. Above him, Dalia was once again flying down to prepare her next attack.

He wasn’t going to allow her the chance.

In a quick flash of energy, he powered up to Super Saiyan 2. Dalia stopped her flight for a millisecond, eyeing him warily for a few moments, before continuing. She had already known he contained the strength, but she had been trying to prevent him a chance to summon it. Now, the real fight began.

Vegeta flew up, meeting her halfway there with a punch that she blocked and returned. Vegeta brought up an arm to meet it and raised a knee to her stomach. Dalia stopped it once again, initiating a series of parries and attacks between the two.

Vegeta scowled in frustration. This was getting them nowhere and for all he knew, the woman had already killed his family. This brought about a renewed sense of vigor as he formed a small ki ball in his hand. With amazing speed, he disappeared from her line of sight. As Dalia turned her gaze to look for him, Vegeta appeared behind her and released the ki blast in the small of her back. She cried out in a mixture of surprise and pain as she shot forward and hit the ground unceremoniously face first, forming a crater of her own. From were he flew above her, Vegeta could see torn skin and silver blood flowing freely from it. He flew down cautiously, setting down on the ground just above the new crater. He eyed her for several moments, noting her still form, before risking a glance back to the ship. He was relieved to find both Bulma and Trunks’ ki still strong and healthy.

He turned back to look at Dalia and blinked in surprise. The crater was now empty and Dalia nowhere in sight.

“Shit,” he swore. He whipped around, half expecting to see her behind him, but found nothing. “Where the fuck did you go?!”

He lifted up into the air and looked down.

Nothing.

He opened his mouth to curse once again when he felt something hit him from behind. He was thrown down, but managed to stop before he reached the ground. He looked up to see Dalia forming a multicolored ki blast with both her hands. He was most definitely not going to allow her to finish that attack. He released a flash of light from his hand at the same time as she released hers, their blasts crashing in the middle and forming a giant explosion. Vegeta didn’t let her recover enough to form another one, quickly forming one of his own and throwing it at her. It hit her square in the chest and forced her to loose altitude. Before she could reach the ground, however, Vegeta soared at her and hit her on the back. She was thrown back up into the air and Vegeta again met her there, hitting her toward the ground, her body all bloody and bruised.

Dalia slowed her free-fall enough to land on her hands and knees. She took a second to gasp for the air that she lacked and arrange her thoughts. There was no way she could win this, but she had known that all along. Tasting the bitter flavor of blood in her mouth, she spit out what she could of the silver substance before making a move to stand.

Silver…

Though she looked humanoid, she lacked the characteristic of reddish blood that united them all.

Her blood…

She had to buy Coran more time and she had one last trick up her sleeve. It wouldn’t stop Vegeta, but it might just give Coran enough time to fix the ship and get the hell out of the planet.

So be it.

Vegeta watched from above as Dalia levitated herself to meet him in mid-air. Her expression was still stoic and empty, but he thought he caught something glint in the ghostly halos that had once been her irises. She didn’t power up, but something made her aura change drastically from blue to yellow. She screamed and brought her arms crossed before her, covering her face.


Vegeta blinked in surprise at what he finally saw. He had heard rumors, but it had been just that: rumors. He clenched his jaw, not sure how to react at first as he stared at the spot were Dalia had been a few seconds before.

Now in her place, he looked upon himself.

Vegeta gazed at his identical golden hair copy, not just that, but he sensed his ki in the other as well. He wasn’t sure how, but Dalia had shape-shifted into him.

~oOo~

Coran bit his lower lip as he finished programming the necessary information into the computer. For sometime now, he had been trying hard to communicate with Dalia, but she kept pushing him out of her mind. Something was terribly wrong. Stretching with his ki, he felt for Dalia’s life force and cringed involuntarily at what he found.

She was barely hanging on.

He could sense that not only had she maxed out her power, but she had also used her shape-shifting heirloom to mimic her opponent. He gritted his teeth together and quickly walked out of the cargo hold having finished all repairs on the craft. The two little brats had been cheering for sometime now letting him know they could sense Vegeta’s ki outside, but he had not let that distract him. Now, they both stood quiet confused at the turn the events had taken. Coran knew of Dalia’s ability, but he also knew that it was all an illusion. Her people could mimic looks and life forces, but that didn’t mean they had the power they projected.

He knew what she was doing. She would get herself killed to buy him the time to leave the planet and report back to Freeza and Koola. Something long ago buried inside him resurface at the thought of loosing her. He already nearly gone mad at the loss of the telepathic connection he had had with his twin brother after his elder kin had abruptly cut it soon after he had joined Freeza and Koola. It had been Dalia who had helped piece him back together afterwards and so the bond had been reborn in her. If he lost her too, the agony and emptiness would drive him to madness. A strange and wild determination burst from inside him. He had to find a way to distract Vegeta long enough to get her back.

~oOo~

Bulma crossed her hands over her chest as glared at the door. She had been inside this room for hours, and no one had come to her, even after she had spent a good portion of the first screaming and yelling to catch someone’s attention. This was no way of treating a woman in her state. To worsen things, she had no idea whatsoever of what was happening. All she knew was that Vegeta knew the creature that had kidnapped her and that was enough reason for her to worry. The young girl’s skin had turned deep blue and her hair a dark indigo the second they had appeared inside this ship. Little after her arrival, she had been left in the care of a humanoid being who at first she had thought was Tapion, young man from the past who had spent centuries locked in an oracle while keeping a horrible monster trapped inside his body. She had soon learned differently when he had locked her up in this cell just after seeing him take her son and Goten somewhere else.

Bulma sighed. She was really worried, not just for herself now, but for the child inside her and her son and his friend outside. She wouldn’t have minded nearly as much to be in this jam alone, but the thought of her children…

She clenched her jaw as the worry and stress consumed her. Surely, Vegeta would come after them. Surely…

The door to her chamber opened suddenly making her start. The man that looked like Tapion stood on the door, gray eyes gleaming in determination.

“Out,” he ordered. “Now!”

Bulma was about to snap a comment at him, but the look in his granite eyes made the words die unspoken. She stood up and did as commanded following to where he led.

~oOo~

Dalia in Vegeta’s form hit the ground hard. She put a hand over the area in her gut that the other had punched her and fought to keep herself from losing consciousness. She tried to breathe in but instead she coughed out more of the precious silver life force that ran through her veins. The charade hadn’t lasted very long as after a few attacks, Vegeta had realized he wasn’t really fighting himself.

Dammit Coran! she thought desperately. Get the hell away from here! What are you waiting for?!

She looked up at Vegeta and gathered the strength she had left. Soaring after him, they once again engaged in a fistfight.

“You’ll save yourself a lot of pain if you shrivel up and die already,” Vegeta told her slamming both fist into her back and sending her once again to crash down on the ground.

This time, something inside her snapped as she felt her façade melt away into nonexistence. Her vision wavered again and spots formed themselves before her eyes. She picked herself back up and swallowed down the cry of pain that threatened to escape her as she stood. The second she did, she doubled over again and coughed out more blood.

Vegeta watched the spectacle from above. The woman refused to die even after he knew that all her ideas had run out. He had known she was close to death the minute that his form had melted away from her. Now, she stood somehow managing to still keep a certain aura of grace as her silver hair cascaded down her back, even though her life force quickly escaped her. She charged at him again and he met her in mid air locking another punch in her gut that sent her flying back towards the ground. This time, she didn’t get up.

Dalia…Please for the gods’ sake, answer me!

Dalia opened her eyes weakly. She took one last look at the spaceship and saw that it still was where she had left it.

Coran… Leave! What are you waiting for?

Look up! his voice commanded. She did as told and saw a figure appear on the door to the craft.

What…?

The Earth woman! Use her to get back! Hurry!

Dalia felt her body sigh in relief. Bless you, Coran! she said gathering what little power she had left to fly. Risking a look up at Vegeta, she saw that his attention was still focused on her. She exhaled determinably and flashed towards the Earthling.

Vegeta realized what the other was up to a second too late. His eyes widened in horror as he saw Dalia wrap an arm around Bulma’s neck and he flew towards them landing a few feet from the pair.

“Take another step,” Dalia told him stoically, “and I’ll snap her neck.”

Vegeta froze for a moment before replying. “Do that, and I’ll make sure that what you’ve gone through now will be tripled,” he threatened though he felt something heavy settle in the mouth of his stomach.

For the first time since he had seen that transformation, Dalia showed a glint of emotion as her lips curled slightly. “Then we’ll all see each other in Hell.”

She tightened her grip around Bulma’s neck making her cry out suddenly.

“Vegeta…” Bulma rasped. “Trunks… they also have… Trunks…”

Vegeta clenched his fists in frustration until a fresh flow of blood emerged from them.

“Fuck you…” he swore, his gaze squarely on Dalia.
“Don’t try to follow us,” Dalia added while backing up back into the ship through the ramp. “Or I’ll kill them one by one myself.”

Vegeta trembled in anger and fear for his family. “Pray we don’t meet again because I’ll make you envy the dead!” he snarled.

Dalia’s face was cast by shadows as she finished entering the ship. “I look forward to that,” she said as the door began to close.

“Vegeta!” Bulma cried just as the door shut before her. Immediately, Dalia released her grip and staggered backwards to lean against the wall. The second form slowly melted away, turning her back into the wide-eyed Sheera-jin she had been just a while before. She heard a satisfying purr from the engines as the ship quickly lifted from the ground and through the atmosphere. A few seconds later, Coran appeared around the hall freezing the Earth woman in her tracks and holding Dalia up before she collapsed.

“I’ll heal you,” he told her closing his eyes.

“No,” she told him firmly. “Put me in the Healing Chamber, it should only be a few hours for me to be back to normal. You need to keep your strength for guarding the demi-Saiyans and for our masters when we get back.”

Coran was about to object, then saw the truth to her words. “Very well,” he agreed. “We’ll contact our lords when you are healed.”

Nodding slowly, Dalia let herself be claimed by darkness.