Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Bite ❯ 12 ( Chapter 12 )

The Bite--Ch. 12

By Elbereth in April

"Shouldn't Kevin be back from Capsule Corp. by now?" Becky worried, looking at her watch.

"Maybe he's planning something with Ms. Briefs."

Vegeta ignored the girls, who were sitting on the couch in the living room of Meg's house. They'd sent her sister to the movies, and her parents were at work. So they were alone.

Vegeta stood in the far corner, watching a dozen fish swim around an aquarium that filled half of the wall. He hoped if he concentrated on the fish long enough, he'd fall into a meditative state. There was so much to think and feel and plan, it was overwhelming him. Were these humans truly nice? What would Kakkarot do to the others? Could he help them? Would Kakkarot find him? What should he do?

If only Kakkarot would just shut up in his head! It was all wearing on him. `Maybe he's *trying* to drive me crazy.'

"Do you think Vegeta's all right?" Becky whispered to Meg. "He's been awfully quiet."

"Maybe we should get him to talking," Meg whispered back. "So he doesn't brood."

Becky bit her lip. "I can't think of anything to say."

Meg looked over at Vegeta. She wanted to find out more of what was going on, anyway. "So," she said in a much louder voice. "You're an alien."

Vegeta didn't respond. Kakkarot was speaking again. < "I don't mind you killing Frieza," > he said with a little laugh. < "I didn't like him. I just played the game. You had too much pride. But I wanted to survive over the years with as little damage and as much power as possible." > Vegeta could hear the smirk in his voice as he added, < " And, of course, I was always after *you*." >

He had to stop himself from asking why. It would be extremely dangerous to answer.

Meg tried again with a more direct question. "What are Saiyans like, anyway?" She waited expectantly.

When the pause was becoming awkward, Becky burst out, "Oh, Trunks is an alien, too! I'm not sure what Reina will think of that."

< "Goku makes a much better ally than Frieza, I must say. He's much, much more powerful. And this time, *I'm* in control." >

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't tell Reina, huh?"

Little fish swimming around, orange and white, yellow with blue stripes. . .

Meg glanced at Becky, unsure if she should be concerned or annoyed. "Vegeta, are you ignoring us or is your head wound worse than we thought?"

He forced out a response. "Don't tell Reina."

Meg stood up purposefully and approached him. "Do they not have fish on your planet or do you just find them really fascinating?" She stood next to him, arms crossed. He had yet to look at them.

Why couldn't everyone just leave him alone for once? He was so incredibly tired. "Saiyans are a strong warrior race. If you're powerful enough, you can transform into a Super Saiyan and gain even more strength. I just learned how."

< "I can't believe they all let their tails be cut off, though. Of course, this planet has no moon, but still. . ." >

Some of them had voluntarily had their tails cut off? Vegeta's eyes widened and he couldn't help but give a shudder.

Meg drummed her fingers against her arm and watched him. She was growing really worried. Something was wrong with him. "Vegeta, maybe you should sit down. Does your head hurt?"

"Yes," he admitted reluctantly.

She reached a hand out towards his forehead but he flinched back. Meg's eyes grew very soft. He stared into them. . .

There was a knock on the door. Everyone tensed. Vegeta got into a defensive stance. Meg gave a small sigh, then cautiously went and looked through the peephole on the door. Then she relaxed and turned to them with a smile. "It's OK, it's Kevin."

Vegeta closed his eyes briefly. He put as much of a block on his mind as he could. He had to be able to concentrate. They needed to decide what to do next. He slowly walked over to the couch and sat next to Becky as Meg opened the door.

Kevin didn't enter. "Is everything secure?" he asked Meg.

She frowned. "So far."

He turned then and motioned behind him, and Meg realized that there were people in his car. They got out and came up the steps quickly.

She closed the door behind them as they all looked at Vegeta. "Bulma-san insisted on coming," Kevin said. "It seemed safest to have you both here, and she wanted to talk to you."

But Vegeta wasn't looking at Bulma, but the two people behind her, and his face was pale. "How. . ."

"They appeared at CC looking for you," Bulma explained. "So we brought them along, too."

They rushed forward and both fell to one knee before Vegeta. "Ouji-sama!" they cried.

Vegeta reached out and put one shaking hand on each of their shoulders. "Radditz. . ." he whispered. "Nasu. . ."

Bulma grinned. "Apparently they followed Frieza."

They followed Frieza? His mind was reeling. He tried to dampen his feelings down and maintain his normal calm demeanor, but he was just too overjoyed to see them. He grinned suddenly. "Couldn't pass up a fight, could you?"

"Never!" Radditz grinned back.

"No way," Nasu agreed. A moment longer they stared at each other, then, "Oh, I can't help myself!" Nasu cried, and flung an arm around each of them, pulling them into a group hug.

Vegeta hugged them back, shocking them both. Radditz immediately added to the hug himself. Vegeta smiled again. "Metz fa kotu," he told them softly (I am honored to have you fight by me).

Nasu's eyes were suspiciously bright as they pulled apart and both crowded onto the couch on either side of Vegeta.

"You know how to hide your ki."

"Nasu picked it up somewhere and taught me," Radditz responded.

"Why did you follow Frieza?"

"As you said. To fight beside you. I knew Frieza was going after you. He got scientists to make some kind of machines to trace you and send him to where you were. I had managed to escape in the confusion, to try to find you first. . . before I realized you were gone to another time. I accidentally met up with Nasu, and she came up with a plan to hide ourselves so we could use the machines to follow Frieza and Kakkarot. We wanted to help you."

Vegeta felt very warm inside.

"Congratulations on killing Frieza, by the way," Nasu grinned in smug triumph.

Vegeta smirked.

Bulma and Meg both sat in chairs beside them. "Well, does anyone have a plan now?" Bulma asked.

Radditz leaned over and whispered to Vegeta, "Your future mate is hot."

Vegeta blushed.

"Um, I have to call my wife and tell her to pick up our son from daycare," Kevin interrupted. "Looks like I won't be there to do it."

"Go ahead." The rest of them sat and looked at each other. The non-Saiyans were staring at Radditz, Nasu, and Vegeta unabashedly.

"So, you're aliens, too. I note the tails." Meg smiled.

Becky shyly asked, "Why did you call him ouji-sama?"

Radditz and Nasu looked astonished. "He didn't tell you he's the Prince of all Saiyans?"

Meg and Becky looked at each other, then at Vegeta. Becky seemed surprised and awed. Meg's eyes narrowed as she studied him, up and down, then she slowly smirked. "I don't know how I didn't realize it sooner."

Vegeta's eyebrows shot up, then he smirked back.

Bulma laughed. "Please, more arrogance he doesn't need."

Vegeta sobered. "How much did Kevin tell you?" he asked Bulma.

"He said you killed Frieza, but then everyone was kidnapped by aliens." She frowned. "He means Kakkarot, right?"

"And Goku. Kakkarot's taken over Goku's mind."

Bulma's eyes went very wide. "That's--that's not good."

"No. Goku's very strong."

"I can't believe it! Goku's always pure-hearted!"

"Hn. Not right now."

"How do we rescue him?"

"We kill Kakkarot. That'll free Goku." Vegeta thought, `And me,' but didn't say.

"Um, who's Goku?" Nasu asked.

"Kakkarot's other self here. He was a good guy--until Kakkarot took him. He's the strongest person on the planet." Vegeta looked at the floor. Kakkarot's voice had been reduced to a disturbing whisper in the back of his head. If he dropped even a tiny fraction of his shields, he'd hear him again. Even now if he concentrated hard, he could understand the murmurings. . .

< "I can't believe you married an Earth woman. Despite all your Saiyan pride. And had a half-breed son. With purple hair! Interesting boy, by the way. As stubborn as you. I don't think he likes me." >

"Do we know where the hostages are being held?" Radditz asked, snapping Vegeta back to where he was.

"They're all at Goku's house. Along with the enemy."

"So what do we do?"

"If we attack directly, can we beat them?"

"No," Vegeta replied.

"I tried to think of an invention or something clever, but I'm out of ideas, Vegeta-chan," Bulma confessed worriedly.

There was a moment of tense silence. Then Vegeta spoke. "Kakkarot can't beat me alone. That means Goku has to be the one to go after me once they locate me, and Kakkarot would stay to guard the others."

"But Vegeta-san and Trunks and the rest can beat Kakkarot alone."

"No," Radditz interrupted. "Frieza has these new ki-controlling handcuffs. Kakkarot was the one carrying them, so even though Frieza's dead, Kakkarot's still got them. If he put them on the others while they were unconscious, they won't be able to power up to escape."

Vegeta scowled. "That explains a lot. Plus he's got Chi-Chi. But they don't know Radditz and Nasu are here. So, you two could sneak in and free the others from Kakkarot."

"But what about Goku?"

Vegeta swallowed hard. "I'll go somewhere deserted and flare my ki. Goku will come and I'll--I'll hide my ki again and run. If I'm fast enough, I can get away from him. By the time he gives up looking for me, the others will be rescued."

Everyone protested at once. "You'd be in too much danger!"

"Just make sure you free Vegeta first. He can take down Kakkarot if you can't. If you can kill Kakkarot while you're there, Goku will be returned to normal, remember."

"*Can* you two beat this Kakkarot?" Kevin asked, coming back into the room.

"Together, with the element of surprise, and no Frieza--we can beat him!" Radditz proclaimed confidently.

But Bulma was looking tearful. "It's still too dangerous, Vegeta-chan. You might get killed."

Vegeta's face darkened and he gave a strange, bitter smirk. "Oh, Goku won't *kill* me. Beat me up, yes, but not kill me. He'll take me to Kakkarot. Kakkarot wants me alive. For--various reasons."

There was another moment of silence.

"Kakkarot will die," Nasu promised savagely. Radditz nodded, expression also fierce.

Despite everything, Vegeta smiled. He'd been wrong. Loyalty did exist in the world. This was what it felt like to have friends.

He wouldn't let any of them die, he vowed to himself. Not Hito, not Trunks, not Radditz or Nasu or Bulma or Becky or Meg. He would see Kakkarot die.

`Oh kami, please let me see Kakkarot die.'

_____________ ______________

He'd given them time to get into position. He shifted nervously on the hill where he stood. The only thing left to do was let everybody know he was here.

He was honestly afraid. But he was a Saiyan Prince, and he had never let fear stop him before. He powered up, making his ki as bright and clear as he could.

The droning whisper in his head stopped, then loudly broke through. < "Vegeta! There you are! Giving up, are you? Why don't you just come here like I told you to?" >

Vegeta didn't answer.

The voice grew suspicious. < "You're up to something, aren't you? Or do you just intend to resist and don't want to fight near our prisoners? Well, it doesn't matter. Now that I know where you are, you're mine!" >

`I'll never be yours,' Vegeta thought suddenly. `Even if you win.' He smirked. `Let's just do this. I'm waiting.'

A/N: OK, not a lot happened in that chapter, but it was necessary to the plot. Next chapter will see some action. . .