Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Bite ❯ 10: Kakkarot's Arrival ( Chapter 10 )

The Bite--Chapter 10 (Kakkarot's Arrival)

By Elbereth in April

____________ ____________

The four of them turned and looked at each other. "He's here," Vegeta whispered.

"All right." Hito nodded crisply. "This is the plan. The boy here and I are going to kill Frieza." He smirked just a little at Vegeta. "I'll let you do most of it, brat, but the truth is. . . I want a piece of him, too."

Vegeta smiled slightly in return. He had no objections.

"And you, Kakkarot, can take care of your little double until we're done and can deal with him. Got that?"

Everyone nodded. Goku grinned. "Let's go." He put a hand on Trunks' shoulder, and Trunks put a hand on each Vegeta's arm. Then Goku transported them.

When they reappeared, they found themselves standing on a rocky hill in the middle of nowhere, looking down at their enemies. Frieza and Kakkarot stood there, looking back at them, apparently unconcerned. Vegeta tried not to let panic overwhelm him. True, he had allies, at long last--and strong ones, too. But his fear of Frieza and Kakkarot was so ingrained, it was hard not to let it rule him.

From different parts of the sky, Piccolo and Gohan appeared, followed shortly afterwards by Yamcha and Krillin. "What's going on?" Piccolo demanded of Goku.

"That's the Kakkarot from our alternate Vegeta's timeline. And Frieza with him, obviously. Don't worry, guys, we'll handle this."

"Goku, that you seems-hostile," Krillin said nervously.

"He's worse than that." Goku looked grim. "And don't call him me."

"Hello, boys!" Frieza called to them. "Long time, no see, Vegeta. You weren't trying to run away, were you? Nobody does that to me."

"Stay here, Trunks," Hito ordered as he and Goku followed Vegeta down the hill.

They all appraised each other. Frieza's eyebrow quirked. "Vegeta, there appears to be two of you. You don't grow old gracefully."

"I'm stronger than you could possibly imagine, baka," Hito snarled. Frieza laughed.

Kakkarot tilted his head to one side, looking at Goku thoughtfully. "You're me."

"Is he? Where's your tail, monkey?"

"I can kick your butt without it."

"Ooh, how frightening. He's less intelligent than you, Kakkarot."

Vegeta felt Kakkarot then, battering at the shields in his mind. He silently thanked Hito for strengthening them. Kakkarot frowned and took a step closer, trying to force his way in through the bond.

Goku moved in between them. "Hey. You and me first."

Kakkarot scowled, then slowly smirked. "Why not?"

Frieza was also smiling. "Dear Vegeta, don't tell me that you plan to fight me? Even with two of you, surely you realize how that will end?"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed and his pulse sped up in anticipation. "Yeah. With you dead."

"Tsk tsk. Must be this universe breeds over-confident monkeys. They've been a bad influence on you. I'm afraid I'll have to remind you how weak you are compared to me."

"And we're going to show you that the legends are really true," Hito responded coldly. "Watch closely, Frieza. You're about to see a Super Saiyan."

He started to power up. Vegeta joined him. Frieza's eyes widened. Their power levels kept rising until their hair turned to gold and their eyes to teal. They gave twin smirks as Frieza's mouth dropped open. "It-it can't be!"

"Are you blind as well as stupid? It is."

Frieza growled. "How dare you? Worthless, arrogant wretch-I'll show you what true strength is!" He, too, started to power up.

He reached his second level when Vegeta whispered to Hito, "Should we let him do this? Gohan told me his level is 1 million."

Hito smirked wider. "Not a problem. If he had a scouter, he would know we still surpass him. Let him power up. It'll be a better fight."

Vegeta swallowed hard and hoped Hito knew what he was doing.

Meanwhile, Goku and Kakkarot had ended their stare-down and begun to fight. Goku hadn't bothered to transform, figuring he could beat Kakkarot easily enough without bothering. Kakkarot was both stronger and faster than he'd anticipated, but that just made it more interesting. Goku blocked an elbow to the head and a kick, and then punched Kakkarot hard in the stomach. Kakkarot hissed and swung his knee into Goku's leg almost hard enough to break his thigh bone. Goku knocked him away with sheer ki energy, then charged in to land a double-handed blow against Kakkarot's spine.

Frieza morphed on in to his third and then his final form. He gave a smirk of his own as his aura crackled around him, dirt flying, ground shaking. Their audience moved back to give the warriors more room. By this time, Goten had joined the spectators.

Vegeta raised one hand and let a ball of ki gather there-larger and larger. Hito had closed in with Frieza, pummeling him in the ribs. Frieza's tail smacked into him with a crack as Hito sprang backward. Vegeta launched the ki blast at Frieza, from too near a distance for him to dodge.

Frieza tried to send the blast back to him, but it was too strong. The energy plowed into the lizard. When the dust cleared, Frieza was picking himself up off the ground, but Hito didn't give him time to fully recover. He rushed in, swept his feet back out from under him, and grabbed him by the tail. He whirled Frieza around twice, and then let go. He flew through the air, then plowed into the side of another hill. Again, Hito followed, sending a wave of ki blasts smashing into him.

Meanwhile, Kakkarot had fallen forward under Goku's blow, but caught himself on his hands. He did a handstand and mule-kicked Goku in the chin. He stood back up and twisted around, hitting him in the stomach. Goku grabbed his arm as he pulled away and threw him up in the air, then sent a ki blast after him. It hit, and Kakkarot started to fall back down. Goku rose up and met him with a knee to the gut and a fist to the back of the head. Kakkarot gave a yell as he smashed back into the earth. Goku landed on him full force, injuring his back further. Then he jumped off and kicked him. Kakkarot rolled away, hitting a large boulder and splitting it in two.

Frieza got up after this second attack, then phased out and behind Vegeta. Vegeta spun around as Frieza struck out, ending up being hit in the shoulder instead of the head. It was still enough to shove him backwards. Vegeta fired a Big Bang Attack, point blank. Frieza yelped and blocked. He was thrown back, going through another hill. He looked wobbly and singed afterwards. Frieza fired an attack in return at Vegeta, who barely made it out of its path. Rock flew up behind him.

Hito swooped back in, kicking Frieza in the face. Frieza snarled, grabbed Hito's leg, and swung him into that same hill. Vegeta hit Frieza with a Gallic Gun while his back was turned.

Kakkarot managed to get to his knees before Goku hit him with a Kamehameha. The ground cracked open under him, depositing him in a large crater. Goku re-materialized right beside him, throwing punches too fast for Kakkarot to defend himself.

Frieza recovered and rose into the air as Vegeta ran over to Hito, who was shoving his way out of the debris of what was left of the hill. Frieza created a large circle of ki and threw it at Vegeta, who dodged out of the way. The disc followed him as he flew upwards to avoid it. He spun left, then right, but it kept following.

Frieza laughed at him. "What's wrong? Don't you like my little game of keep-away?" The next minute he was falling out of the air as Hito hit him while he was distracted.

The disc was gaining. "This way!" Hito yelled to him, as he sped after Frieza. He caught him by the tail and let him dangle at arm's length.

Vegeta turned again and came flying. Hito smirked at him. Frieza turned pale and screamed, "No!" as Vegeta headed straight for him. At the last instant, Vegeta pulled up and Hito dropped Frieza, straight into the path of the disc. It sliced through him, cutting him in two at the waist.

Goku was holding Kakkarot by the hair, punching him in the face. For once in his life, he felt no particular need to go easy on someone. Kakkarot gasped as Frieza hit the ground in two parts. Goku stopped hitting him to watch.

Vegeta and Hito flew down to land next to him. Vegeta was breathing hard. Incredibly, Frieza was still alive.

"Spare me," he pleaded. "I'll go back to my own time and let you be. Don't kill me."

Vegeta answered, "You said mercy is a weakness." He and Hito raised their hands. "Final Flash!" they shouted.

This time when the smoke cleared, all that remained was a large crater and a bit of ash. Vegeta felt his knees go weak. Frieza was dead. He was really dead. Vegeta could scarcely believe it. Frieza had been his tormentor for so long.

"For Vegeta-sei. Mal lek tecto," he whispered. ("Death is the best revenge.")

"Kai ne faltala Saiya-jin hi rando," Hito responded. ("We have finally given to our people a warrior's peace.")

They both turned abruptly as a scream faded away. Goku still held Kakkarot up, by his shirt. He had apparently just lapsed into unconsciousness. He was covered in blood and bruises, his clothing ripped and shredded. Goku placed him on the ground.

Elation warred with disbelief and hope inside Vegeta. Was it possible that everything was going to be OK? That he could be safe, after all this time? That he could be free?

They walked over to join Goku. Trunks came running up, followed quickly by the others. At some point, Tien had shown up, as well.

"You did it!" Trunks exclaimed. Vegeta couldn't help but smile.

Hito smirked. "I told you we'd win with no problem."

Goku turned and met Vegeta's eyes. Two powers suddenly surged.

The next thing Vegeta knew, he was struggling to open his eyes from some deep darkness. The lids seemed to be half stuck shut by blood. Searing pains shot through him when he moved.

When he got his eyes open, he was looking up at the sky, which seemed to be spinning. He lay on his back on the ground. He tilted his head just enough to glance around. The other Z warriors were all sprawled out on the ground, too, unconscious. Hito was lying very near. From what little he could hazily recall, he thought Hito had moved in front of him to deflect the worst of it.

Still mostly dazed, he moved his head further. There was only one person still standing. His vision almost blacked out again. When it cleared, he realized who it was. Goku smirked down at the fallen body of his son, Gohan, then ran his gaze over the rest of the warriors.

`What-what's happened? Oh, kami, no!' He felt deep satisfaction surge through the bond before Goku looked over at him and saw he was awake.

"It's nice to see you like this, Vegeta," he said softly. "Helpless, I mean. And afraid. Your pride doesn't get broken enough."

"But--why?"

A contented sigh sounded in his mind. < "I persuaded him." >

Vegeta flinched and looked around. Kakkarot had propped himself up on one elbow, and was also staring at him. < "Oh, he thinks he joined me of his own free will. . . but you and I know better, ne? Actually, his mind was fairly easy to slip into. He is me, after all." >

This was death, then. No, this was worse than death. With that terrible, terrifying smile, Goku walked towards him.

______________ ______________

A/N: Feel free to come join me to talk about writing, DBZ, or whatever at groups.yahoo.com/group/Distortion_dbz