Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unexplainables ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

Bulma shook her head and mouthed Vegeta's name to herself. She was sure she had just-heard him, in a way.

"Bulma? What's wrong?"

Bulma brought herself back to Yamcha staring worriedly down at her seated form. She shook her head again, remembering what the group had been talking about. "Nothing, Yamcha. Just thinking."

"Well, if it would help our situation it would be nice if you'd voice those thoughts instead of keeping them to yourself." Piccolo had situated himself against the wall of Kami's Lookout, arms crossed and acting like he could care less, though the crease in his brow said otherwise.

Kami hadn't been able to tell them much about these Hitori. He was, point in fact, Guardian of Earth. He couldn't see beyond Earth, but even he was at a loss as to why he hadn't sensed such a danger beforehand.

Bulma reflected that Vegeta would probably be in Piccolo's exact stance if he were there. She lowered her head slightly, "I'm just-worried about Vegeta." She said the last so low no one heard it, but everyone could guess as to what the last part was as Vegeta was what she had first spurted about at the beginning of the meeting.

Yamcha gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder, "Are you sure you've figured out their weakness, Bulma? I mean, just from fried parts of them?"

Bulma nodded her head eagerly, "Yes. I've made the required adjustments to the photon gun. It'll separate the mechanical part of this voice, since I assume it is a Cyborg like-," she hurried past that thought, "from it's 'alive' parts, thereby hurting it. You see it's a simple matter of taking the component chemicals in any living being and breaking them down so the individual compounds and elements can react with-"

"Whoa, whoa! No more! Please! Let's just go and get this over with!"

Bulma sighed irritably, but, since it was Goku who had asked, complied. They would never learn anything if they weren't even willing to listen! "Let's go then. I want to-" Her eyes grew wide, pupils shrinking very suddenly, making everyone around her do a double-take.

'Woman?'

"Vegeta?" This time she said the word aloud. She could hear Yamcha beside her asking her something, but Piccolo quickly hushed him. The green face was before her, eyes piercing into her and forcing her to focus on him.

"Can you hear him?"

She nodded mutely, mouth hanging open a little at the sensation of someone speaking in her mind.

'Woman, what are you doing here?'

"Me? What do you mean what am I doing here? You're the one in my head!"

Piccolo's voice again broke through both thoughts, "Ask him where he is."

"Piccolo wants to know where you are."

'The Namek is here? Why can't I see him?'

"Just answer the question, Vegeta! We don't have all day!"

'Don't get your panties in a wad, woman! I don't know where I am! There are…threads all around. Yours is the only unbroken one. It is blue.'

She shook her head and again focused on Piccolo, feeling a headache beginning in the back of her head, "He's not making any sense. He doesn't know where he is. He says there are lots of broken threads and mine is the only unbroken one. He says mine is blue." She furrowed her brow and waited for Piccolo to explain, as he was acting as if he knew something.

Piccolo looked over at Kami, who was watching the whole scenario with seeming great interest. He took the cue and also knelt in front of Bulma, which made Piccolo instinctively rise and back up a step. There were limits after all.

"Bulma, I want you to relax, close your eyes, and tune everything around you out. I'll help you."

Bulma nodded hesitantly and did as told, feeling the old Namek's cool hands on her forehead. The touch was fleeting and then it was suddenly gone, everything was gone. She felt a moment of panic at the wild thought that she was trapped in the darkness behind her eyelids when a gruff voice made her turn suddenly.

"Woman?"

Vegeta stood in obvious confusion; the first thing noticed the fact that he was not half-Cyborg here. Speaking of which, Bulma looked around, the blackness slowly giving way to exactly what Vegeta had described to her. There were threads, going everywhere, in every color imaginable. She could see plenty of broken threads, and yet, there seemed to be more whole ones. There were even threads that twined together, the colors blending into a new color and yet obviously separate. The area around them was clear of the threads and there seemed no way past the ones around them.

"Vegeta, where are we? It's beautiful!"

Vegeta looked around, his own expression the opposite of Bulma's awed one, "A lot of broken threads are 'beautiful'? This place comes off as depressing to me."

Bulma inspected the broken threads carefully, seeing that they looked more like reeds bending before a great wind whereas the unbroken looked strong enough to take on any gale. She looked at Vegeta in a considering manner, "What about the unbroken ones?"

Vegeta took a step toward her, then stopped and gazed around him again. After his inspection, he turned back to Bulma, "What unbroken ones? Yours was the only one I saw unbroken."

Bulma nodded, "This place is symbolic then. You can't see the unbroken ones." She watched two broken threads that seemed to be trying to reach one another. She pointed out the phenomenon to Vegeta who watched with interest as the two threads strained toward each other. As they touched, Vegeta's eyes widened. They had disappeared!

Bulma voice behind him had him turning back toward her, "You can't see them anymore can you?"

Vegeta grunted and folded his arms across his chest, "This place is strange, but it is not our major concern. I came here looking for answers. Why have I found you instead?"

Bulma put both her hands on her hip, scowling at the man before her, "You know, you had a much better attitude as a Cyborg, Vegeta! I can always go back to Kami's Lookout and keep my information to myself!"

Vegeta moved swiftly to her, grabbing one of her arms in a vice-like grip, "You have the answers then. Tell me!" His eyes, the normal black that pierced right through a person, were something she found she'd not only missed, but also made her uncomfortable.

Bulma tried to extract her arm from his hand to no avail, "I will if you let go of me! I don't have all the answers! Don't make me sound like Kami or anything. I just have some basic information."

Vegeta let go of her arm as if he'd been burned and took a step that seemed less of a retreat and more a strategic relocation. His eyes narrowed to mere slits and his lips pressed thin, "Get on with it then!"

His voice, sharp and cutting, startled her, not to mention his sudden change in attitude. What had she done now?

Vegeta made to move to her again and she gave a little hop backwards, "Ok, okay! It's simple really. The Hitori have been around for some time. They were created by someone, though by who and why no one knows. All Kami knows is that Earth is the first planet that has ever seen them, beyond that they have been just legend."

Made bolder by Vegeta's attentive stance, Bulma lightly moved toward him. Vegeta was not used to anyone approaching him with such bold confidence and stiffened as her fingers brushed his cheek, wanting to jerk back but wondering at the same time what the human was doing.

"When you said you wanted me, was that just the Cyborg talking?" Her eyes seemed too close to his face, too open and searching.

He pulled away, hating himself for the obvious retreat this time. "Do I look like a Cyborg here?"

Bulma sighed, deciding by the blatant refusal to answer to change the topic, "So, what happened after you left?"

Vegeta looked to side, "Nothing much. I'm in a cell."

Bulma narrowed her eyes, "And?"

Vegeta's eyes flashed back to the woman. "I just told you. There's nothing else!"

Bulma shook her head, "Meaning there is something else, you just don't want me to know. We have to know Vegeta, especially if we plan on attacking this Voice."

Vegeta quickly shook his head, arms tightening around his body minutely, "No. You will not do any attacking. I have a plan. You'll just get in the way."

Bulma huffed with indignation, "And what if your plan fails, Mister I-Have-Everything-Figured-Out?"

Vegeta smirked, "No plan of mine has ever failed."

Bulma smirked right back, "Hate to burst that bubble of delusion, Vegeta, but all of your plans have failed so far. Want me to go through them all or only the more recent one of trying to seduce me?"

Vegeta's face darkened, then slipped into a sneer. He stepped toward her, eyes lowered slightly so that he looked nothing short of a hunter. His arms unfolded and his hands lightly brushed her sides, teasing the skin beneath her clothes with their warmth. She was stock-still in shock and not a little pleasure.

He leaned forward, breath tickling her ear once again, "And which seduction would that be, woman? This one? Because you certainly don't seem to be hating this."

Bulma's eyes narrowed, although Vegeta couldn't see the sparks in her eyes, still smirking over her shoulder. Her own hands reached up and lightly lay on his chest, fingers kneading the muscles. She felt them immediately tense beneath her and his own hands stilled.

She smirked in triumph and continued her movements, "What's wrong, Vegeta? Can't take what you dish out?"

They both moved away from each other at the same time. Vegeta seemed to be struggling with the concept that someone had just not only met his challenge, but also thrown it back in his face.

Bulma sighed again, "Look, Vegeta. Just tell me what's happening. I figure this Voice is going to punish you, right? Just tell me with what and we can both leave."

Vegeta looked around at the surroundings he had termed both depressing and strange and reluctantly nodded his agreement. "My 'unexplainables' are going to be erased."

Bulma rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Vegeta. That sure told me a lot!"

Vegeta growled, "I don't know what it means either! That's what I'm here for; to find out what these unexplainables are! All I do know is that I will truly no longer be myself once they are gone. I will be as mindless as the probes and automatons."

The blue eyes that gazed at him were far too concerned for his liking. He spoke up before she could, "Oh, don't look at me like that, woman! I'm not going to let them do such a thing! I have a plan."

Bulma raised an eyebrow, "And it is?"

"None of your concern."

"Vegeta-"

"No, I finished my part of the bargain! I-" He suddenly glanced behind him. He turned calmly back to Bulma; too calmly. "I have to go. Don't attack! Understand?"

Before she could voice a protest, or perhaps an answer, who knew? Vegeta winked out of existence.

With a loud gasp Bulma's eyes popped open. She jumped back, almost falling over herself in an effort to get away from the wizened face in front of her.

"Bulma, it is okay. You're back now. What happened?"

Kami's gentle voice brought her back to her surroundings and she colored with embarrassment at the attention she was receiving. "I was in some kind of place and Vegeta was there without all the Cyborg stuff and there were threads and he only saw the broken ones and they're holding him in a cell and they're going to take something called 'unexplainables' away from him and he won't be himself any more but he says not to attack and that he has a plan but we have to attack anyways cause I promised him." The rest of the Z members blinked at the spouting sentence that had burst from Bulma's mouth in one breath.

Kami seemed to have caught every word of the long sentence and nodded sagely, aiding Bulma in standing while doing so himself. He stood there for many moments before Piccolo's irritated voice broke through the silence, "Well?"

Kami calmly glanced at his counterpart then back at Bulma, "You said they planned to take away his 'unexplainables'?"

Bulma nodded silently, hands still gripping the older ones, hoping to get some kind of strength and assurance from them.

Kami nodded again and turned to the rest of the group, "Although Vegeta does not want us to attack, we will. I don't believe that Vegeta realizes what he gave up when he accepted their offer."

Yamcha huffed a little, "Why did he accept their offer? What in the world did they offer him?"

Kami repeated what Bulma had told him when they had first approached him, "Power, immortality, perfection, and one woman. If you were offered those in the way Vegeta was offered them, you would not have been able to refuse. None of you would. We all of us want at least one of those things. The pull of such temptation is irresistible when the probes connect you to the voice. That much the legend clearly warns."

Yamcha turned his face away at the silent rebuke and Goku spoke up this time, "What did he give up?"

Piccolo snorted from his resumed position, "Isn't it obvious?" At Goku's blank look, the Namek sighed, "At least, to everyone except Goku." Everyone else's looks were just as blank and Piccolo spat out disgustedly, "He won't be able to transform into a Super Saiyan. That's what he's going to try to do."

Kami nodded at Piccolo, "I wouldn't have put it in quite that tone of voice, but yes, he no longer has the ability to go Super Saiyan. I don't know if he could have or not, but that's definitely his plan. When that fails, he will lose and so will Earth. Much as I never thought to have to say it, Vegeta may be the only thing that can keep all the universe from becoming Hitori."

Goku frowned, "But Vegeta said they wanted only the best."

Kami shook his head, "He also said that they wanted you, yet he got neither you nor Bulma. He knew you were not the best for the Hitori. This voice though, it did not know. It still insisted that Vegeta take you two. What would stop the voice from taking everyone?"

Bulma nodded, "Okay, okay, but this still doesn't help us! We need a plan."

Gohan piped up with his young voice, "Why don't we just attack them?"

Bulma frowned, "That would be ok if it didn't take being a Super Saiyan to defeat them, that or my proton gun." She put a finger to her chin in concentration for a minute then snapped her fingers, a smile lighting her features. "Goku, can you sense Vegeta's ki?"

Goku's brow furrowed for a second but he shook his head.

Bulma sighed, "That means you can't Instant Transmission there. We'll have to resort to a simple attack from the front door, sneak in from the back."

Piccolo cocked an eyebrow, impressed with the strategy. "Good idea. But why not switch it? Attack from the back door, sneak in from the front?"

While everyone else was still trying to figure out what front and back doors had to do with an attack plan, Bulma grinned at Piccolo, "Absolutely devious!"

Piccolo shrugged nonchalantly, "I was evil at one time. Deviance comes with the package."

Yamcha let out a sound of frustration, "Hello, enlighten the people not up to speed on war tactics."

Piccolo looked as if he wondered why he was with this group. That is, until Gohan tugged on his cloak, "Mr. Piccolo? Are we going to be distracting them so Bulma can go help Vegeta?"

Piccolo allowed a small smile to grace his lips and put a hand on Gohan's head, "At least not all of you are a lost cause. Yes, that's exactly it. But, instead of attacking where they expect us to and sneaking in where they don't, we're going to attack where they don't expect us to and sneak in where they expected us to attack."

Bulma nodded, "We'll have to time it so that when you guys attack from the back and they leave the front to defend the back, I can get in and get to Vegeta. That'll also allow you to get in more damage before they get there."

Yamcha nodded before Goku did as it looked like he was still trying to decipher the plan, which was a little too complex for him. Yamcha stood and walked up to Bulma, facing her directly, "You're not going in there alone. I'm going with you."

Bulma put both hands on her hips and scowled, "Yamcha-"

"What happens when you can't convince him to come? And what if he's unconscious or too injured to walk? You can't carry him. And that gun takes awhile to charge. If you run into more than one of those Hitori, you'll need me. Besides, I won't be able to help the frontal assault. My skills are better suited to sneaking and you know it."

Yamcha obviously could put forth a hard-to-counter case when he wanted something. Bulma grudgingly nodded and seethed at the triumphant look on Yamcha's face. "Fine. But you say one thing to Vegeta, not matter what he says to you, and I'll turn this gun on you!" She hefted the gun into her hands to prove her point and was satisfied to see Yamcha's smirk fall. He grumbled something that was an assent and she lowered the gun. It was heavy after all.

Piccolo nodded, "Good. It's settled. Goku and Gohan will come with me and attack the back. Wait one minute and then go in through the front. Use that gun as a flare when you get Vegeta. Our only goal right now is to get him."

Kami leaned on his cane heavily, all this planning making him quite tired, "Make sure you keep Vegeta 'Vegeta'. He'll be the key in unraveling this whole Hitori thing before this voice can get any more Cyborgs in his ranks."

He suddenly sighed and faced Bulma, "My dear, there is a chance that you could be too late. You'll have to use that gun then. Vegeta on the other side will be disastrous. He will follow the voice without complaint. It will be worse than the threat of Frieza."

Bulma nodded her head, though she thought Kami was asking way too much of her. Yamcha made a secret signal behind her back to Kami that said he would take care of it if Bulma couldn't.

Kami reluctantly nodded at both signals. "I wish you luck." If this were what he feared it was, they'd need it.

With waves from everyone except Piccolo, all of them took off, Yamcha carrying Bulma, to the ship. Now, if only battle plans worked out just the way they were supposed to.

' ' '

Vegeta rose smoothly from his position on the floor and turned to face the opening door. Two probes and an automaton came in first. The form of the voice came in next and Vegeta immediately noted it was bipedal, humanoid even.

The probes flanked him while the automaton took his rear, probably to cut off any attack he made at the voice. The voice himself stopped in front of Vegeta, door closing behind him.

"You went where I told you not to go."

Vegeta shrugged, eyeing those that surrounded him. He tensed his muscles and watched as all three reacted as if they would move at him. "You will not give me answers. I need them."

The figure cocked his head to one side, "Answers? I do not know the questions."

Vegeta scoffed, feeling more like himself after the 'journey' through wherever he had been. "That's the point." He paused and considered the one before him, "Perhaps if you told me more about the Hitori, I would understand more."

The figure shook his head, "Now you are just stalling."

"Humor me."

The voice shook his head again, "Very well. I am the one who created the Hitori. They came to me one night in the winds of a great storm that tore my planet asunder. I made them from the storm. I gave them form and purpose.

"I was sick of all the factions, all the wars. I wanted us to be one. Alas, the storm itself undid me. It took most of the population and brought a great drought with it.

"My own people turned on me, threw me out. But I could not look for the best to join with the Hitori because of a tyrant named Frieza. I stayed on planets, forming relations with the people there. Now, with Frieza gone, I have come upon this planet. I came here because of the woman. I heard of her adventures in space. She seemed resourceful; the best I had yet seen. Instead I have found you, but you insist on being a problem. You will not be one for long."

Vegeta carefully began to store the power inside of him. A Super Saiyan was the only thing that could defeat them. He'd learned that from Kakarott. Anything less would not work. "You say the Hitori are one, but under you we are not. You would create an empire with you at the head. You wanted only the best at first, but you would be indiscriminate now. You want Kakarott and he will destroy the Hitori. You would destroy the Hitori. You become impatient. I see where this is leading. Any other Cyborg will see the same."

The voice lowered his head slightly, "But I won't make the same mistake I made with you, Vegeta. I will erase Kakarott's 'unexplainables' whether he wants them erased or not. When your reason is unclouded by these unexplainables you will no longer have these skewed ideas and unknown questions." He made a slight motion with his hand and one of the probes moved forward.

As soon as the probe moved, Vegeta released his power in a torrent that blew back those surrounding him. His scream, lusty and filled with an untamable poise, ripped from his throat to fill the ship as the power filled him. He felt himself rise up on new heights that were painful in their intensity and forced himself to push it all out, to stretch his everything until there was nothing left to give.

Something clicked inside of him; a dull, deadened sound and Vegeta came back to reality to find himself normal and very low in power. He didn't even have time to react to nothing happening before one of the probes that had been knocked away from him charged him with a vengeance.

Vegeta quickly leapt backwards, throwing a ki blast that was so weak the metal around the probe dissipated it. He felt coils wrap securely around him from behind and gave a vivid curse. The automaton tightened its grip painfully, causing Vegeta to struggle against the hold as the voice approached him once again, chuckling.

He stopped the probe with an upraised hand. "It's no use. Even I couldn't break out of that, although I do believe you would be stronger than me in my original form."

Vegeta hissed at the voice, still struggling in defiance of his words, though the arms did not let up an inch, tightening in fact. The voice merely chuckled again, "Oh well. I suppose I'll lose some of your battle prowess by doing this, but you'll still be strong enough to take the two I need here. Then we go onto to other planets before finding where my home world is. I heard an unfortunate accident occurred and it was destroyed. Luckily they have relocated."

The voice suddenly took another step forward, features clearly visible in the dim light, a sneer firmly painted across them. Vegeta had time for one wide-eyed look of recognition and surprise before the revealed voice motioned ahead the probe.

The probed latched onto the restrained Saiyan's chest, legs firmly locking around him. Vegeta felt something move inside of him and threw his head back in a scream of pure agony as flashes of color filled his head and emptied out of him. The probe literally drained them away and Vegeta's world faded from one of color to one of black and white and shades of gray.

A/N: Okay, Hitori is Japanese for 'one person', I have extended it to mean 'one being', hence Hitori. Anybody guessed who the Voice is? BTW, look at the pic!

SkittleKicks: If you'd planted your arse 24/7 in front of the computer you'd have mold growing there and you'd becoming a grayish shade of color from lack of sun and you'd die from lack of food and not to mention stink…. I just describe color and cut…. I swear I will not kill any member of the Son family at any time in this fic or in Attachments Detached…. (chuckle) I came up with the name using a Japanese dictionary. IOW, I cheated…. Hey! I had to look that big 'M' word up! Meanie! Besides, I've met men-haters…gotta show the other side of the coin. And my Voices are not all women-haters, are they?

moonsaiyanprincess: This is what happens next…. Now…the next part! Even I like the next part!

PenDragon: It has been updated!!!!

Kandy: I do that a lot! I hope this explained a little. I bet you're dying to know who the Voice is now!

JadedBest: heehee…well, I can't have V/B NOT do it…. And keeping Goten from being born would seriously detrimante Trunks's personality. Anyways, Yamcha should be afraid of me….I really bash him in this fic. Heck, I can't even help it in-oh, no spoilers…. Well, no more Vegeta??? Oh no! (shrugs) The sacrifices that must be made for plot…. Sweet? Ok, he's-sweet. And he would too read-at least, he'd probably like the lemons, think they're comedy or something….

Masamune: Did this clear it up? I'm glad you're liking it! :)