Warning : The content of this fiction includes extreme violence, foul Language, sexual situations, and non consensual situations.

Disclaimer : All characters here in are property of Toei animation and Akira Toriyama, save the character Vavage and Brolly's lackeys.

Notes : This is an AU fan fiction, beginning at the Buu Saga.

Shadows Within

Part 1

Reppa

He didn't know when, how, and under what circumstances this all befell him. They were all normal now, the nausea that gripped him, the fear that clawed at him, the deep, insatiable yearning that seized him in some chilly vice. The world spun around him, his senses were fogged and his chest was tight as his heart pounded without mercy. His skin was clammy and beaded with heavy sweat when these dreams ravaged his sleep, they were more like visions than dreams with their terrifying realism. But he'd never come to the others with his ails, too proud for that, and he felt he could take anything even if it was an unconscious battle in his dreams.

Vegeta tossed in his sleep before his weary eyes opened groggily and he stared out the open window at the star coated sky. He didn't know why it was open, it was always opened as of late for some strange reason, maybe for the cool night breeze that slightly cooled him. After he thought about it, he figured he had opened it for that reason, when he felt too hot in bed. The Saiyjin prince scowled as he combed a hand over the sweat drenched blankets of the bed, his brows furrowed as he wondered what happened to his content and restful nights of sleep. He sighed as it seemed to have started shortly after Kakarot's death during the Cell Games.

"Damned baka, even when he's dead, he mocks or torments me in some way..."

He coughed into his fist, he seemed to be getting sick as of late too. He had experienced head rushes from no where and bouts of dizziness. His throat was sore from coughing and there was a burning pain in his chest. Vegeta had reason a time ago it was probably nothing but a cold and that he'd be over it eventually.

With a shake of his head, the Saiyjin looked over his shoulder at the clock on the bedside nightstand, the numbers for three in the morning brought a scowl to grace his weary brow. He remembered the few times he shared bed with Bulma, which weren't some of his fondest memories. But she had been somewhat securing and she was gone now, taken away by a mere human accident which left the prince disgruntled and thoughtful.

A bed fellow would have eased the nightmares, his mind asserted, but he felt spiteful to the idea, feeling he didn't need to worry of such things. He rested his head back down on the feather pillow, his temples pounding, as he tried to return to some semblance of slumber, which was only interrupted moments later with the return of the restless nightmares.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Stretched out on the thick blankets, Gohan found himself staring out at the beaming morning light. He couldn't wait. He couldn't wait to tell the others about how his father had finally decided it was time to come home, about how he was coming back to stay. It made the oldest of the Son boys excited beyond his wildest dreams, that his dad would soon be back in their lives.

Practically having launched himself from his bed, the teen dressed hurriedly as he rushed to the kitchen, the smell of home cooking teased at his nose as he stormed down the hall. He quickly slid into his seat as Chichi glanced at him over her shoulder, dishing out his breakfast on a clean white plate, "Where's Goten, Gohan? If he's going with you to Capsule Corp. I want him to hurry and get up to eat."

The young half-breed looked at his mother's back with a shake of the head as Goten entered the kitchen sluggishly. I can't believe Goten's not as excited as me, Gohan thought to himself as he and his younger brother ate their food with fierce speed. Finished in a flash, Gohan stood up at the table and looked at his younger brother, very anxious, "Ready to go?"

Goten took a final bite before he nodded and raced out the door before Gohan as he waved hurriedly to their mother. It only took them a few moments before the two of them arrived at Bulma's, where Trunks was standing on the front lawn, watching out for them. Out of the corner of his eye, Gohan caught a glimpse of Vegeta who stood far off near the door, a sour and exasperated look plastered on his usually emotionless face, he also looked somewhat pale. He was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and dark brown slacks. The Saiyjin prince snorted at them as he turned and stalked back inside with his arms folded and lips pursed, most likely not interested in interacting with others, Gohan figured with a sigh.

He followed after Vegeta inside before they came to the living room and most, near all save his old mentor Piccolo, Tenshinhan and Chaotzu, sat around in a scattered format. Krillin sat with his newly acquired wife, android 18 who had their daughter Marron, on the love seat; Roshi, Yamcha, Oolong and Puar occupied the couch while Gohan positioned himself next to Vegeta with the boys running amuck behind them, not too interested in what they had to discuss.

After a closer look, Gohan realized how sleep deprived and sickly Vegeta seemed when he turned to the full-blooded Saiyjin and looked away to avoid being caught staring at the smaller man, having noticed the dark circles around his eyes. Scowling, the prince looked up at Gohan with a snort of impatience, "Well, boy, we're all here save that Namek, now what is so important that you wanted to bother me about it?"

The half-breed jumped a little as he rubbed the back of his neck, always at unease under that angry glare, then he looked to the others, "Well, guys, my dad's coming back."

The shocked silence that had rewarded his statement was soon followed by happy chatter from everyone, save Vegeta and #18. While the android looked on with seeming disinterest as she rested her chin on her knuckles, Vegeta just scowled and rolled his eyes while turning from them, "Is that it? That was hardly worth my time." Gohan looked down at the Saiyjin, laughing lightly, "That only took five minutes..."

"Five minutes I could have done something useful with!"

With a huff and a curse, Vegeta soon stomped out of the room, decided on extended training in the gravity chamber as he left the rest of the group to their banter. Krillin shook his head as he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, "That's Vegeta for you, but I bet he's glad Gokou's coming back, he's been brooding since he left, without having someone to actually spar with like he does with Gokou." The others nodded in agreement as Krillin continued, "Hey, Gohan, that means Gokou'll join us in the tournament, eh?"

Gohan nodded with a laugh, "Mom won't take no for an answer."

#18 just made a sigh, shaking her head, "I'm not fighting, there's no point."

Yamcha grinned, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned back, "Me neither, sure that ten million zeni sounds good, but, I can live without it." At the mention of the prize money, #18 perked up and smirked in her typically sly manner, "Ten million zeni? Well, maybe I will participate after all..."

Gohan shook his head as the rest of the group talked on, turning to follow after Vegeta outside before he stood in front of the chamber. If my dad is going to fight, I'm pretty sure Vegeta will want in too, just to fight my dad. After he nodded to that, he walked up and looked inside the round chamber window to watch the prince's training for a few moments before he nodded again, murmuring to himself, "Yeah, Vegeta'll fight too."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sinner, 1,245. Sinner, 1.246. Sinner...Hey, Raditz....1,2....47. Sinner...yo, talk to us! 1,2........dammit all to-

"Hell!" Raditz snapped, losing his count, he threw his arms up in exasperation. Many of Hell's newer denizens in the checking-in line snickered at him as he turned to some of the locals, the Ginyu force. Raditz plugged his fingers into his ears, How many years since that King Yemma enlisted me as an official gate guard...argh, I don't know! I never would have accepted if I knew how annoying some...most of them would be!

"What do you incompetent, neurologically-impaired, bumbling boobs want now?! Does Frieza have some problems or is Cell trying to riot against the guards again?!" the long-haired Saiyjin scowled, massaging his temples in annoyance. The members of the Ginyu looked at each other as Jeice, the reasonably smart one by Raditz' standards, spoke up, "Yo, it's a lot worse! That Demon King's missin'!"

Why Jeice had to shout that out was beyond Raditz' comprehension as the denizens in Hell descended into a full out frenzy, in full out panic. Raditz swung at the Ginyu with the nearest possible object, "You ninnies, these people are already pretty crazy, their deranged minds don't need you adding to them!!" Now Raditz sweated, With Hell out of control, what's going to stop it from ascending to the physical plane?? He frowned as he stormed through the main keep of Hell's citadel to the Devil's Throne Room, hoping to find a few answers when he got there.

The Throne Room, he discovered, was in as much and even more chaos as the rest of Hell. The guard was in an uproar except for a very small handful and helpers were victims of interrogation and dragged away for vile punishment for uncommitted crimes. Even Raditz fell under ridicule as he was one of the Gate Guards and should have known of anything, to which he had to point out there was more than one way in and out. Gauze and Mez both stood at the doorway, the two ogres seemed exasperated as they called for order.

There is no order in hell..., Raditz mentally argued as he stomped through the riot and stood high on a table, shouting, "Calm down, let's take this from a reasonable sense."

"Reasonable?!" One of the demons screamed before throwing himself out the window in a frenzy. Raditz stared after him before looking around, exasperated, "If any of you are that freaked, follow his example now." That got nervous chuckles as the room settled, on a glance, Raditz saw a few were Saiyjin as he went on, "Now what exactly happened?"

Mez was the first to speak, "The Demon King's gone! He just disappeared, he didn't even go through the gates!"

Another piped up, "Someone needs to find him! Bring him back!"

Others chimed in with agreement. One demanded who would go. Suddenly everyone turned to stare and figured who'd they send, and Raditz wished he hadn't been the one standing on the table.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Vegeta sighed deeply as he crawled into his bed, soft and welcoming. He grumbled, the feeling would be gone soon he figured as he pulled the blankets around his half-naked form. The comforting, relaxing feeling would be replaced by turmoil and anxiety as those repetitive nightmares fell on him again. He pursed his lip, he didn't dare go to sleep, it wouldn't work. He sat up, wondering how hard it would be to stay awake most of the night, then felt it wouldn't work too well either.

He needed sleep, he needed a long, luxurious night's rest. But he knew he wouldn't get it since now, out of the blue, the dreams got more vivid, more detailed and felt as if he was actually in some new environment. They were at the tournament now as he had told the others he'd go. They went about the rounds, and then Kakarrot had stepped into his first round...and died, the vivid image of a bloody lance-shaped sword and it's master, cloaked in a black robe...the announcer called disqualification, then an uproar.

It didn't seem right. Shaking his head and tossing about in the blankets, he didn't like where this was going. He jerked up into a sitting position and took slow, shaking breaths. Three in the morning, it was the time when he always woke up to. It was a pattern, and not one he liked, it was too early and he hated waking up early. He frowned as he crawled back out of bed and stood at the window, propping his arms on the window frame and stared out at the glittering stars. He sighed as he rested his cheek on the window glass, "Kakarrot...."

He jumped, why had he said that? That wasn't what he had been thinking about, was it? He shook his head violently, scowling deeply. It wasn't, it was nothing, he noted he never said it, "I said nothing, nothing at all. I'm just overly tired..."

After a nod and a heavy sigh, coughing slightly, he had figured that was why that came out of the blue, lack of sleep. He slowly made his way down stairs, looking at the pictures hanging along the stair hall wall. They were all pictures of Bulma and Trunks, Trunks and his grandparents, or Bulma, Trunks, and the elder Briefs. There were none of him. He liked it better that way as he paused at the end of the stairs and looked back up, he didn't want it any other way.

He stalked into the kitchen wearing a black robe and white boxers, he looked about in the gloomy dark, the only illumination was the blue white wash of the moonlight. It was one of the rare things he liked about Earth, the moon which had been wished back some time ago. The rest were it's forests and seas, they were always soothing to him, relaxing places to be. On that thought, it gave him an idea as he hurried outside and stepped off, jetting into the air at a paced speed. The air felt good on his sweated skin and drenched ebony hair while the sights were relatively relaxing, shadowy landscaping and twinkling city lights.

Tomorrow, was that stupid World tournament and when Kakarrot came back, it would be a very trying day if he didn't get his sleep. But, since he had improved so much, Vegeta was itching to fight with the larger Saiyjin again especially when it'd give him a chance to see how much good the training in Other World did the man. He shivered in anticipation, that would be the only reason he was fighting in the tournament.

End of Part 1