Surviving Together: A New Legacy

Chapter 9 - A Bloody Vision

Bulma growled as she raised her ki. Her attacker was strong, but she'd be damned before she would back down from a challenge. She clenched her first as she managed to pull her arm forward enough to shoot her elbow back into her assailant's chest. She felt his hold loosen and she took the opportunity to spin around and send a hard knee into the beast's chest. As he fell forward, she swung her elbow across his face, sending the man crashing into a wall.

Because the lights were off, she couldn't make out the face of her attacker. However, she did not intend to take the time to find out as she could feel the man begin to raise his ki, and judging by his power and fury she knew he wasn't going to be that easily defeated. She immediately rushed to the door, trying to get out before he could attack again but her attempt failed. As her hand touched the doorknob, her attacker managed to grab a hold of her hair. Her body jerked back as another hand slipped around her neck. She could hear cruel laugher before she opened her eyes to face her attacker.

"So you've learned some new tricks? To bad they won't do you any good."

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Trunks growled, frustration evident on his face as he glared at the dark man. "You suck at this!"

"What!" Vegeta snarled as he mirrored the boy's position. "I am great at everything! That includes learning. Which means the error lies with you! Obviously, you aren't teaching it correctly!"

"AHAHAH! You are so infuriating! How does anyone put up with you?" Trunks hissed. "Look I told you from the start if you want to learn how to control you're ki as well as I do you should ask my mother to teach you. She might be physically 'weak' but she's incredibly smart, and I'm sure she can figure out a way to teach even someone as stubborn as you!"

Vegeta growled. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this, especially on an empty stomach. "Follow me." Vegeta ordered as he started to leave.

"Where?" Trunks stood still. He demanded to know the destination before following.

Vegeta only shrugged indifferently. "I intend to eat, but if you'd rather act like a c--"

"Food!?!? Why didn't you say so!!?!?" Trunks said excitedly. With his rush to start training, he only had a small breakfast. He was more than ready to chow down.

The boys' sudden display of adolescence irritated Vegeta but he tried ignoring it as he led the child into his personal dining area.

"Sit." Vegeta ordered the boy. This time, Trunks complied immediately.

Vegeta placed a lunch order with a soldier. After the order was taken, the man scurried off leaving the two alone. Vegeta looked hesitantly at the boy before he took a seat across from him. The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Trunks got bored. He started looking around the room trying to find something interesting when his eyes landed on a painting. "Is that you?" Trunks asked as he walked over to get a better view of the picture.

Vegeta rose to follow the boy as he stopped to pay reverence to the image. "No, that was my father." Vegeta said emotionlessly. Trunks couldn't believe the resemblance between the two. It bothered him that he would never know if he held a resemblance to his own father.

"Must be nice." Trunks frowned as his head dropped some.

"What must be nice?" Vegeta asked rather indifferently.

"To know your father." Trunks whispered quietly. If not for Vegeta's keen Saiya-jin hearing, then he would have missed that last statement. "Is he still alive?"

"No." Vegeta said with a look of pride and sorrow. "But his death has been avenged, so I have no regret in his loss."

"Avenged? You're father was killed?" Trunks asked genuinely interested in the story.

Vegeta debated whether or not to answer. He had never spoken of his father's death with anyone. Not even her. Yet, there was something about the boy; something that made him willing to speak of his heritage. After a brief pause, he continued. "My father was killed by Freeza when he tried to protect me and our people from being annihilated. He failed and paid the ultimate price for his attempt. Our people were killed and our planet destroyed. Only I and two others of my kind remained alive."

Pausing, he looked down at the boy. Trunks seemed to be hanging on his every word. "I was only spared so that I could work for Freeza. I had no choice but to serve Freeza until I could reach the legendary power that my bloodline carried. And I finally achieved that power. Ten years ago I ascended and brought an end to Freeza's rein."

After Vegeta finished telling the story, Trunk's eyes widened. "You killed FREEZA!!!!!" He screamed. "That makes you the Emperor! Why didn't you tell me! I've been yelling at you in public and stuff and you haven't said anything! No wonder everyone thought I was insane!"

Vegeta only smirked at the boy. "I found it amusing."

"AMUSING!" Trunks bellowed. "Do you have any idea how NOT amusing my Mom is gonna find this!"

Vegeta only shrugged. "Our lunch is ready." He pointed towards Trunks' seat. Trunks complied with a scowl on his face. However the scowl didn't last long when he saw the mountain of food on the table. "Wow!" Trunks couldn't help but gasp at the amount of food.

Vegeta smirked as he nodded for the boy to eat. He watched curiously as the child managed to chomp down bit after bit. 'Boy eats like a Saiya-jin.' He thought rather impressed as he began to devour his portion. Vegeta and Trunks continued their meal in silence.

However, at the end of the meal Vegeta began to get a feeling in the pit of his stomach of pure anguish. Fear, shock, revulsion and pain all knotted into some horror that he suddenly felt was facing him. Vegeta took a deep breath trying to steady himself. Whatever he was feeling wasn't natural. He couldn't help feeling a sense of dread. Nothing had scared him in over ten years, what the hell could be doing it know?

"Wow that was great!" Trunks interrupted Vegeta's thought process.

"Fine, now we finish our training." Vegeta ordered as he rose from his seat. He needed a distraction from the bizarre feelings he was experiencing.

"Again? Are you kidding?" Trunks frowned. "I already told you to ask my Mom. She's a lot better at ki stuff than I am."

Vegeta snarled. The boy did have a point, but he wasn't ready to admit that. "You're mother has other work to do."

"Ya, work that's been ordered by you!" Trunks shot back. "Why don't we go down to the science lab and ask her nicely. I'm sure she won't mind spending the afternoon training you. If you explain to her how you're AFRAID of letting it get out that a 'weak' woman helped you, I'm sure she will be discreet about it."

Vegeta's face flushed with a mix of anger and defeat. "Fine, but both of you had better keep you're mouth shut about this."

"Fine." Trunks threw his hands up in defeat. "Now let's go see my Mom."

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"Where the hell is that bald freak?" Aphara growled. "He rushes us all out of the dinning area, claiming he is ready to pound something, and then he doesn't show up!"

"Being so stupid, he probably got lost." Durka growled impatiently. They had been waiting over a half an hour for the man to return.

"Hey tall guy!" Aphara called over the sexist brute from earlier. "Where is your bald headed leader?"

"Not that it's any of your business wench, but he said he had some business to take care of. He will return to finish your training when he is good and ready." Jarvice glared at the woman before walking away.

"He is such a bastard!" She said. Turning back to get Durka's take on it, she noticed his distant look. "Durka? Is something wrong?"

The man blinked once before he ran his fingers through his hair. "Something isn't right." He shook he head worriedly.

"What do you mean? Is it some sort of flash?" She asked quietly. Being the only one that Durka confided in, she knew of Durka's ability to 'see' things. Durka told her when he first met his mother she explained that his father had a unique ability to see glimpses of the future. He hadn't really thought much about it until he started to experience strange visions on occasion. At first, he chalked it up to coincidences, but recently the images were becoming clearer and he could no longer ignore them.

"Durka what is it? Do you see something? What was it? Tell me!" She asked never doubting his abilities after one of his 'visions' had saved her life.

"I'm not sure." He whispered. "I saw the Emperor. He had me pinned against a wall and was strangling me to near death. He had a hate and fury in his eyes I had never seen before."

"Why would he do that? Was there anything else? Was he saying anything to you? Did you notice anything that could help figure this out?" Aphara questioned, trying to find a reason for his vision.

"He was screaming something at me that much I could see. I couldn't make out the words but..." He paused trying to understand the image. After a minute his eyes widened with the realization of what he saw.

"What!" Aphara demanded. "What is it? What did you see?"

"Blood." He shook his head. "He had it all over him, his hands, his neck, his training suit…even…even on his lips…" The scared man almost slurred the word, completely shaken by the image.

"But that's impossible!" Aphara argued. "No one can cause that kind of damage to the Emperor! You must be mistaken!"

"I don't know what to make of it Aphara, but I know what I saw. Something tells me that it indeed was a future event."

Aphara frowned as she grew very serious. "Look, Durka. I know you've been under a lot of stress lately. Maybe it was just a nightmare in the form of a vision."

Durka nodded. " Maybe." He whispered. 'Though I doubt it.'

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"Hey, are you ok?" Trunks asked as the pair rounded the hall to the science wing. He took notice of Vegeta's strange behavior and asked if he was okay. Vegeta even stopped walking once to grab his shoulder as if he had just been hit with a ki blast.

"I'm fine." Vegeta growled. He hated showing any kind of weakness, especially in front of the boy. He couldn't understand where the strange pain was originating. One minute his arm would feel a sharp stab of pain, the next his thigh or his hip would be affected. The torture would worsen with each jolt of pain and as time passed, his fury grew greater. Where was this coming from? As his body was consumed with pain, a ridiculous idea crossed his mind. What if a witch bestowed a curse on him? He held back a grunt and stood tall as they entered the science lab. He wasn't going to appear weak in public.

"Euran!" Trunks cheered as he ran over to the man. "How are you, I haven't seen you since…since Merigh." His cheer turned sad as the memory hit him.

"It's good to see you too Trunks." Euran smiled at the small boy before he looked up to see the Emperor. Taking a step back, he gulped.

"Sir." He nodded with respect. "Is there something I can do for you?" He tried to hide the fear in his voice.

"Relax Euran." Trunks tried to calm the man. "He's here with me."

"Oh." Euran looked at the boy confused. "Well then what can I do for you?" He asked Trunks.

"I'm looking for mom. The Emperor here," Trunks smirked at the man. "has something he needs to ask her. We assumed she would be working." Trunks took a quick glance around the room.

Euran thought a moment as he rubbed his chin. "Now that I think about it, I don't think your mother ever came back from lunch."

"She didn't?" Trunks immediately became concerned. "How long ago did she leave? When was she supposed to be back? Wher--"

"Calm down Trunks." Euran put a hand on the boys shoulder. "Let me think. It's been over an hours since she joined the captain and that woman he hangs around with for lunch. She didn't come back after that."

"Maybe she went to watch Durka." Trunks thought optimistically.

"No." Euran shook his head. "She was in the middle of a project, and you know how she gets when there is work to be done."

"Right." Trunks nodded. "Maybe, maybe she went back to our room. Perhaps she was looking for me, or something. That's possible right?"

"I suppose. If you find her tell her we need her back here."

Trunks nodded as both he and Vegeta turned to leave. "She probably just went back to our room, ya that's it." Trunks said trying to reassure himself that his mother was safe.

Vegeta's pelvis was suddenly hit with a stabbing pain that set his entire lower body on fire. At this point, the pain was getting ridiculous and he could barely control his anger. He felt like beating someone senseless. 'I don't like this one bit.' He thought angrily. 'Something is definitely wrong.'

"Hey 'high-and-mighty'?" Trunks stopped as he looked over at the man. "Are sure you're ok? You don't look too good."

"I'm fine." Vegeta stammered as he continued to follow Trunks towards his chambers, determined to beat the pain. They were close to the room, when they were startled by an excruciating scream. The sound was ear piecing, and then an ominous silence ensued. After the pair exchanged worried glances, they sped towards the room in lightening speed.

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Author's Note: Oh and you all thought I was evil before! Ok, well I suppose you can guess who attacked Bulma, but WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? Well, I promise you'll find out in the next chapter. Until then!