Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Vegeta's Christmas Carol ❯ A Terrifying Prediction ( Chapter 5 )

Vegeta's Christmas Carol

by Orchideater

Rated: R

Warnings: Humor yaoi, Gk/V, Christmas cheer, grinchiness, OOCness, nudity, innuendo, a bit of Vegeta torture (the fun kind, not the bdsm kind), and bizarre underwear.

Disclaimer: DBZ and all DBZ characters property of Akira Toriyama and official licensees

Chapter 5 warnings: It's the invasion of the supporting characters! A terrible scare for poor Veggie.

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Chapter 5: A Terrifying Prediction

Vegeta awakened to the whistle of a chill winter wind gusting overhead. Dry grass crunched in his hand as he slowly focused and pushed himself to his elbows, and he glanced around, taking in the sight of a lonely, dark meadow on the edge of a wood. A carpet of clouds passed over the night sky, with not even the point of a single star to cheer those below. Vegeta shivered at the feeling of emptiness that seeped through him.

Cold. When had he ever been this cold?

The rustle of heavy cloth at his side did not startle him. By now he had accepted that he could not escape this dream till it had run its course, and either the fever in his brain had passed or whatever mysterious force sending the ghosts was satisfied at its outcome.

He expected the third spirit, but was irked at the need for it- still the difficult pupil. He had said he would tell Kakarot of his feelings. Why was it so important that he tell him right away? These damn ghosts were asking too much.

He pulled himself into a sitting position, and looked up at his silent companion. An enormous figure towered over him, robed in a ponderous black hooded cloak, similar to the garb of priests. Shadows hid his face, and only the eyes could be seen, reflecting the faint light of the glowing tip of a cigar. They glittered with malicious glee.

Vegeta waited for an acknowledgment, for it to say or do something, but the dark brute only loomed there in silence, smoking. Vegeta had to start the conversation.

 "So, you're the third ghost."

The specter responded only with motionless silence.

 "You're here to tell me about my future?" Vegeta asked, shifting nervously. "The last ghost said you would be the ghost of the future."

The ghost nodded slowly.

"So... So, I suppose you're also going to try to convince me that I have to tell Kakarot I want him now, or else terrible things will happen. Is that it?"

Another slow, deliberate nod.

"Tch! Good luck. Your intimidation tactics won't work on me. I don't exactly appreciate being told what to do by anyone, much less a phantom in a dream."

The eyes narrowed, curving from the unseen motion of a mocking smile. Vegeta sweatdropped.

"But just for the record, what terrible future were you going to predict for me?"

The ghost extended a meaty arm, pointing in the direction behind Vegeta. He turned and saw a sprawling cemetery on the edge of a city, overgrown with grasses. Some of the tombstones had fallen over or begun to crumble from disrepair.

He let out a bark of amusement. "A graveyard? Is that the best you've got? Don't make me laugh. A saiyan warrior doesn't fear death. I've already died twice, and I know the realms of heaven and hell. I don't find this a terrible fate."

The shadowy man shook his head, indicating that Vegeta had misunderstood. He raised his arm and pointed again in the same direction, but on closer inspection Vegeta could see he wasn't really pointing at the cemetery, but rather at the building across the street: the Shady Willows Nursing Home.

"Wha- What the hell does that mean?" Vegeta demanded, his jaw dropping.

The ghost finally made a sound, a low, guttural laugh dripping with ill-intent. Faster than Vegeta expected, given his stillness before, the ghost swept his arm over Vegeta and enveloped him in the long folds of the robe.

The next moment they appeared in the second floor rec room of the building. Vegeta glanced around in alarm. Before he could ask any more questions, his attention was captured by a trio of three girls marching purposefully down the hallway.

The littlest, around 11 years old or so, had pale lavender hair that formed a small widow's peak above her forehead. The older girls pushed her along like prison wardens taking an inmate to death row. The youngest looked terribly anxious and desperate to escape.

"Keeni," she whimpered, "Why do I have to do this? I'm no good with old people. They make me depressed, and gran'papa scares me. He's so creepy!"

"That's just too damn bad," one of the older girls grumbled. "You're old enough now that you can help us take care of him- you gotta do your part for the family. Don't be a load, you whiner."

"I'm not, I just-"

"Look, Nearlia, nobody likes this job. You just have to grin and bear it. Costs are less if family helps out with some of the nursing care, plus we'll look like insensitive jerks if we never come to visit him, and it will make Capsule Conglomerate look bad."

The ghost floated after them and Vegeta followed close behind. "Capsule Conglomerate? She must mean Capsule Corp. Who are these girls? Do they work for Bulma? They look vaguely familiar."

Vegeta didn't expect the ghost to actually answer him.

"They're your descendants, Vegeta-sama," he drawled in a deep, raspy voice. "Far, far up the family tree. We're visiting a time 900 years in the future from the time you know."

"Nine hundred years! You can't be serious! That would explain their strange clothes and the odd architecture of this place, though. Gods... You'd think that in 900 years humans would find a better way to take care of their old people."

"Like to see who they're visiting?" the ghost sneered, sounding terribly pleased with himself.

An oppressive wave of unease swarmed over Vegeta. "Uh, maybe some other time." He tried to back up but found himself moving forward against his will, as though pulled on invisible tracks.

"Whatever happened to all that rash and foolish bravery? Don't you want to see the grand fate of the great saiyajin no ouji? Vegeta," the ghost grabbed him and thrust him in front of the door the girls had just entered, "Welcome to your life!"

Vegeta trembled with horror at the pathetic sight that met his eyes, the kind of horror that makes lips curl and stomachs churn. "Oh my god..."

The Vegeta of the future sat upon a hospital bed before him, toothless, hunched over, flesh-melting-off-the-bones old. His mind had deteriorated almost completely as his body, grown utterly weak and helpless, a useless mass of living tissue. The high forehead had lengthened until only a few wisps of vertical grey hair dotted his head, and his body had long ago shriveled and wrinkled like a twist of old leather.

The oldest girl marched up to him and gave him the sort of too-cheery, condescending greeting a nurse gives a comatose patient, then turned back to her youngest sister. "Well, here he is. Taking care of him isn't complicated, it's just no fun. Start by keeping the drool off him," she said, wiping up a dribble with a rag.

"Follow the charts we made up. You give him his food and his meds at the appropriate time, chat with him about anything- who knows? he might hear some of it- keep him clean and try to get him out of bed to walk a few steps."

The younger girl nodded, staring fearfully at the fallen prince.

"Kkkk... kkk'rott..."

She blinked in surprise. "Oh, he said something! I think he wants the strained carrots," the girl said, pleased that she seemed to be catching on.

"No, stupid, he's just moaning about Kakarot again. Kakarot, Kakarot, Kakarot- that's the only thing left in his mind."

"Who's Kakarot?"

"Duh! Some guy he knew when he was young, who disappeared. Gran'papa was in love with him, and I think he still wants him."

"Ew!"

"Don't be rude. It's not like he always looked like this. Once gran'pa used to be really handsome, I hear."

"Wow, that's hard to believe."

The figure on the bed lifted a quivering hand. "Kkk'rott... he wash sho beautiful... lost him... he could have been mine! Beautiful... I losht him..."

"Yes, we know, gran'papa."

"Beautiful shuper shaiyan..."

"Super saiyan? Really?" the youngest said in wonder. "I wish I could have seen that transformation."

"Well, you'll just have to dream. That form's been lost to us a long, long time. Gran'pa's chatty today. Must be because you're here."

All three girls stopped short then and looked at each other. Keeni wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "Ugh. Time to change gran'pa's diaper."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Vegeta screamed, fists clenching in his hair. "No! This can't be. This can't happen! I'm the saiyan prince, a super-saiyajin two! How could I be brought this low; how could I become such a shuddering blob of organic matter? It's monstrous!"

"I call it sweet, sweet justice. Oh, you have no idea how satisfying it is seeing you that way, prince-sama."

Vegeta stopped his hysterical rant and glared suspiciously. "Who is that in there? I demand you remove that hood!" Taking the matter into his own hands, Vegeta sent a kiai at him that blew the covering back. A bald head gleamed back at him, as did the pearly whites of a nasty grin.

"Nappa?!"

"No longer at your service, prince," he said, chomping on his grubby cigar.

"What's the big idea, you dead oaf? I suppose you think this is funny!" He pointed to the geezer on the bed.

"Oh, extremely so. What victim wouldn't love to see their murderer humiliated in the worst way possible?"

Vegeta sputtered angrily. "Your back was broken in that fight, idiot. I was doing you a favor when I killed you."

The ghost lost his cool for a second and they snarled at each other face to face. "You enjoyed it too much. The healing system in the pod ship might have saved me!"

"There's no guarantee it would have! And yes, I admit I was... pretty out of control back then."

"That's an understatement. You know what, Vegeta? Don't ask Kakarot, and stay with your human woman. Live out your life as a horrible wretch!"

"Th-This is the result of not asking Kakarot to be with me? But I've already made up my mind to tell him!"

Nappa blew a cloud of stifling smoke in his face, which Vegeta waved away angrily.

"You procrastinated until it was too late, always giving some excuse or another to wait. Because of that, events came to pass where one day the dragonballs became diseased, and Goku left with the eternal dragon to tend to them, and disappeared forever."

"Disappeared? Forever? No!"

"Yup. After that you just fell apart, mind and body slipping bit by bit through the years until this was left, a shadow of a man, passed down among relatives through the generations. All because you couldn't get up the nerve to ask him."

The huge soldier tsk-tsked. "I always knew you were a bastard, Vegeta, and now it seems you've become a coward as well."

"NO! I'll do it. I swear I'll do it right now! I can't allow any of this to happen, it's too horrible. I'm missing out on a wonderful life with him. Send me back, now!"

The ghost laughed heartily, his robes billowing in a sudden wind. "It's about time you got your act together. See you around, Vegeta." He swirled the great sleeve of his robe over Vegeta again, sending him falling into blackness.

Vegeta awoke with a gasp, tangled in the covers. "Yes, it's over! I understand now. I'm going to change my life- change all our lives! I want to live and laugh and LOVE!!!"

Crickets chirped. The house was dark and silent, its residents still fast asleep.

Vegeta dropped back into his pillows and sulked. "Crap. Here I was, all ready to go, and now I have to wait till morning. Dumb ghosts! In that Christmas story, the guy had his revelation and got to go right out and fix things. They can't even get their own story straight."

He sat there for a few minutes, planning how he'd proceed with his mission after everyone awoke. Then, after taking stock of his senses more thoroughly, he came to the realization that he was still dreaming. What in the world? In the book there were the three ghosts and a spirit, and he woke up. What else did this dream have to teach him?

Vegeta nearly jumped sky high when he noticed a figure sitting in the chair against the wall, watching him silently. In the dim light he could make out a red suit and hat, and a white beard.

Santa?

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A/N: I like to think the full-blood saiyans can live a thousand years, if they manage to avoid getting killed in battle. ^^

Nearlia- "Nearly A"

Keeni- "Bikini"