Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Red Window ❯ Fusion ( Chapter 14 )

“Don't be foolish,” Piccolo stepped in, breaking Vejata's eye contact with Vegeta to stare her down. “Goku and Vegeta both outstrip your power enormously. Trunks and Goten, even, are each stronger than you. And so am I. What would be the point?”

 

“You don't be foolish!” she strode up to him, lifting her chin to look into his eyes as she snarled. “Don't you care about defeating them? If you do, you'll listen to me—”

 

“Look,” Goku stepped forward, his hands thrown out to the side in surrender. He rested his hand on Piccolo's shoulder. “Hey.” Piccolo grudgingly turned his attention to the man, but did not rotate his body to face him. “Piccolo. I'm…I'm not going to fuse with Vegeta.”

 

“What?” and now he did turn to face Goku.

 

“Yeah. Look…you…” he paused in thought for a moment, eyes searching the ceiling for the words. “Well, Vegeta and I watched everything from Hell.”

 

“What were you doing in Hell?”

 

 

“Y'know, Vegeta wasn't quite good enough to go to Heaven yet, `cause of all the stuff he did way back when. So we just both went to Hell and watched what happened from there.”

 

Piccolo inclined his head slightly, waiting for Goku to reach his point.

 

“Anyway, you…you died first. You didn't see what happened…what happened to Goten and Trunks.”

 

“I can guess,” he growled, and seemed to be thinking of his own experience.

 

“And you didn't see…what happened to Vegeta.”

 

Vegeta stepped forward now, shoving his way between Goku and Piccolo. His eyes pierced through Goku's. “Kakarrot! Shut up…” he warned.

 

“No,” and Goku's height above the prince became more visible as he stared the man down. Shocked by Goku's terseness, Vegeta took a step back. Goku turned his attention back to Piccolo, and then the room at large. “The point is, guys…this isn't our fight.” His gaze seemed focused beyond any one face. “This is Vegeta's fight. It's both of theirs.”

 

Goku's quiet authority echoed through the room, lingering over their heads. Piccolo shifted uncomfortably, his feet wishing they could step away beneath the powerful words. “But how?”

 

“Yes,” Vegeta finally spoke up again, “my question precisely.” His brows furrowed, eyes darkening beneath them. “I will be the one to do away with…with them. But…”

 

“Not just you,” Vejata amended quietly, though her gaze was fixed on Goku. “They destroyed my people.”

 

“Oh, as if you care,” Vegeta rolled his eyes.

 

Vejata's eyes narrowed as fury flowed from her pores, and the muscles just beneath the skin of her arms and legs twitched madly. “I have taken the responsibility of managing the rebirth of our race. I have held this burden upon my shoulders for nearly a decade now…”

 

“To hell with them!” Vegeta nearly screamed, grabbing Vejata by the collar of her shirt and pinning her back against the wall. The others moved out of the way. “They're all weak, too comfortable to do what it takes to become a true warrior!” He breathed heavily. “I'm surprised you came as far as you did, sitting on your throne.”

 

“I fought tooth and nail for what I have,” she hissed. “Just as you did. I've done things…I would have chosen not to.”

 

“Well,” Vegeta grinned, “look who has a conscience. Just like Kakarrot. How sweet. You really are his student.”

 

“No!” and she shoved him away, raising her foot to kick him to the ground. “How dare you!” Growls and snarls seemed to escape her mouth of their own volition, and her tail whipped back and forth viciously. “It never was, and never will be a matter of conscience.”

 

“I think I touched a nerve,” Vegeta noted from the floor, and though she squared her shoulders with all her conviction, Vejata felt the prince was still looking down upon her, even from his prone position.

 

“Freeza,” Vejata muttered, and this seemed to snatch Vegeta from his smugness. “If you could kill him, you would.”

 

“Yes,” Vegeta narrowed his eyes. Did she know, somehow, what he had done while he was in Hell? “But only for what he made me.”

 

“He made you what you are only as much as you made me what I am.”

 

“And you killed me.”

 

“It wasn't for that.”

 

“Was it?” Vegeta raised an eyebrow.

 

“I don't give a fuck who you are. You were a threat to my position of power.” She ignored the twitching, hoping, itching, that this was the truth.

 

“You do give a fuck who he is!” Bulma finally snapped, boldly stepping in front of Vejata. “You do.” It was an assertion, not a question, but Bulma's eyes seemed to plead.

 

Vejata seemed to falter, relaxing for a moment. “I…”

 

Bulma turned to Vegeta. “And you. Just stop it. Her goddamn planet got blown up! You know the feeling better than anyone else here…” she knelt down to him. “You'd seemed so…peaceful lately. What…happened?” As only Bulma could, she ran her fingers through Vegeta's hair and kissed his forehead. The prince shook her off halfheartedly. “Vejata isn't the enemy…she even…honored Trunks' death.”

 

Vegeta's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Vejata met his eyes solemnly. “Prince Vegeta. I killed you then. I had to. I don't have to now…and…I won't.” She seemed to become steeled with resolve with each word she spoke, and by the end of her statement, her stance was proud and aloof. “I will leave you alone.”

 

The prince's eyes filled with a knowing smugness. He brought himself to his feet, lifting Bulma with him. “The only reason you're not killing me is because you know you can't do it again.”

 

“It's not worth the effort, more like,” her lips pulled up into a smirk. “Anyway, it's clear you don't want the throne. And I can subdue any who believe anyone other than me deserves it.”

 

“Can you?” he narrowed his eyes, still smirking, asking more than his words did alone. His smirk faltered as she stepped closer, her face suddenly stone.

 

“Prince Vegeta. Fuse with me.”

 

“What makes you think it's worth bothering?”

 

“If what your son and Kakarrot's son have taught me about the fusion is true, the closer one matches one's fusion partner, the more successful the fusion.”

 

“That's right!” Goku chimed in. “You want someone with a pretty close body type, and power level, and stuff. The whole point is to align yourself with the other person as much as possible so that you can combine really well!”

 

Vejata nodded, and her solemn countenance once again blossomed into a teeth-gleaming smirk. “How much more alike could we get?” she asked Vegeta.

 

“Power,” the prince protested. “The advantages of our similarities would almost certainly be outweighed by your weakness relative to mine. If Kakarrot and I fused, we could certainly power up to the third level. Gotenks can, since Trunks and Goten can both transform to the first level on their own, and have had time to practice. But you and I? Without time to train, we would reach the second level at best,” he theorized. Goku inclined his head in agreement, but seemed to be waiting for Vejata to say something. “Sorry,” Vegeta finished, “but in your base form, you're useless. Kakarrot, I may have no choice but to perform that ridiculous dance with you, of all people, if we cannot think of anything else…”

 

“Vegeta,” Vejata spoke again, and Vegeta's head whipped around to face her as she addressed him without his title. “You agreed that a fusion between yourself and Kakarrot runs the risk of toying around with them. And once they learn the tricks of your fused form, they will learn to overcome them. We only have one shot.”

 

“Then we will have to risk it.”

 

“I don't fuck around with my opponents. And with what you've seen these monsters do? You don't either.”

 

The prince seemed to consider this, and Piccolo nodded with approval.

 

“You may be more peaceful now,” she dipped her chin down to look at him through the tops of her eyes, darkly smirking, “but I will be the kick to your gut that reminds you that you once knew the art of fighting to kill.”

 

A war raged behind Vegeta's eyes, aching for the past, remembering what he had learned since. If he went back, would he ever return? Surely…

 

“We will defeat them because neither of us is afraid to kill and we will do it at the first opportunity…or do you want to torture the ones who slaughtered your son?”

 

“No,” Vegeta responded firmly, surprising even himself. “No. I want them dead. I will not risk this happening again.”

 

“That's what I thought.” She brought herself closer, standing nearly toe to toe with him. “Fuse with me, and we will become a machine for swift vengeance.”

 

The prince's eyes flashed as a flood of emotions surged through them. They settled back into distant calculation. “You are…still too weak,” Vegeta now seemed irritated by the fact, looking her over. Motion at the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he glanced to the side to find Bulma dropping a green lens into her left eye, nearly grinning. She planted her hands on her hips and waited.

 

“Are we far enough from New Namek to fight them?” she asked, glancing toward Piccolo and Goku, whose eyes widened at the sight of her confidence.

 

“W-well, you did set it up to go pretty fast,” Goku reminded her, “'cause we wanted to get far away before they could sense us.” He looked at the map. “Whaddaya think, Piccolo?”

 

“I can sense them from here. You could always…teleport them to the vicinity of the six copies. They're farther away from New Namek than we are right now.”

 

“Yeah,” Goku nodded, and glanced back toward Bulma, raising his eyebrows. “So I guess…that answers your question? But can I ask…”

 

“Vegeta,” Bulma turned to the prince as if she hadn't heard Goku. “Do the goddamned fusion.”

 

“B-Bulma…” Vegeta reached toward her, baffled, and perhaps tempted to shake some sense into her. “What is that in your eye?”

 

“A scouter, dumbass. Don't you recognize the display?” she blinked, and numbers flashed against her iris. “If you were really in Hell watching the whole time, you've seen it.”

 

“Yes…but…”

 

“I'm going to help you match up precisely.”

 

“But…”

 

“Precisely. For the best results.”

 

“Her strength is not enough.”

 

Bulma snorted. “Shows how much you know.”

 

“What do you know?”

 

“That exact smirk,” she shrugged toward Vejata, whose eyes were wide, wild, and promised such fullness of power that there was no room for doubt. The queen threw her shoulders back, tilting her neck and letting her joints pop.

 

“Come on, Prince Vegeta,” she hissed in a challenge. “I think you underestimate me.”

 

Goku bounced on the balls of his feet with excitement, grinning from ear to ear, and Vegeta sent him a glare that fizzled out and became a question, confusion. He motioned that Vegeta do as they advised, urging him on.

 

“I might never catch up to you,” Vejata rumbled. “But it wouldn't be very becoming of our family line for me not to try.” For just a moment, she turned to Goku. “Kakarrotto. I must thank you.”

 

“Let's see it! Let's see it!” he cheered.

 

“Just pose, already!” Bulma cried to Vegeta, who, despite his glare at her, took position the proper distance from Vejata.

 

Goten and Trunks exchanged confused glances, raising their eyebrows. Trunks leaned over to Goten. “Hey…what if that whole time she was in the Room of Spirit and Time…”

 

But he was interrupted by a roar from Vejata's throat and a blinding flash of golden light that abated to reveal the ascended Saiyajin.

 

Vegeta's teeth gleamed as the expression of shock melted from his features. “But of course. You are of the same stuff as I. I should expect no less of you.” He powered up as well, focusing to match Vejata's strength.

 

“Just a little bit more, Vegeta…no, less now. There. Right on the dot,” Bulma grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

 

Goten and Trunks both balled their fists in excitement, and Goku was nearly jumping for all his glee. Piccolo noted this and rolled his eyes. Doubtless he's this happy just because he sees another rival in the works…or maybe because he hopes to one day take on this fusion.

 

“Vegeta and Vejata,” Goku mused. “What will we call you?” But before anyone could answer, the two began the set of motions. Damn, Vegeta, good thing you're such a fast learner. Or did Trunks try to teach it to you? He glanced toward the boy, who indeed seemed to be quite aware of something that he himself wasn't. Judging by the way that Goten's expression matched his own, Goku knew it had to be a secret between Vegeta and his son.

 

And as if his thoughts had removed him from the world completely, in just a blink Goku was looking at one person instead of two. “What's your name?” he looked on in awe.

 

“Vegeta,” the figure responded, and the room was deadly quiet. “I am Vegeta.” And with that, he lifted two fingers to his brow, and was gone.