A/N: Hi All! Hope the wait for this chapter wasn't too horrible! As always please let me know what you think - my goal with this story is to get above 100 reviews! So please let me know what you think! Remember - a happy author writes more and often! :D
His brain swam, voices screaming at him, jumbled together in a panic of needing to be heard. He forced his eyes shut and tried to drown them out. They taunted him. Laughing at his weakness, mocking his inability to ever live to his namesake. He was a PRINCE. A prince who was constantly bested by a clown. He lost himself, the voices teased. he was no Saiyan. He was no better than the human waste he protected now.
The distinct laugh of Freiza turned his blood to ice.
"Silly monkey...did you ever thing you would truly be more than a stupid ape? You are just like your father. NOTHING."
The voices piled themselves, layer after layer. Thicker, heavier, stronger than the small voice that kept trying to whisper itself.
"I love you Vegeta."
He couldn't hear it. Didn't want to hear it and so he pushed it away. Burying it deep where not even his subconcious would be able to pull it back in time. The other voices were right. He had forgotten himself. Lost in the years of complacency among the weaker. He had lost his quest to better himself. To be the best because he was trapped among these mortals who were no better than slugs beneath his boots.
He felt it then - the small prick of something dark. Something powerful. It started at the back of his head, spreading like water, pushing into his brain and molding with his nerves. It was painful, it was torture, but it was also heaven. With every second the pain intensified and grew, but so did his power.
Babidis voice silenced the others in Vegeta's mind causing the prince to fall to his knees with a strangled cry.
"Vegeta...let yourself go. Let me help you...push you along...Let me make you stronger than you could ever be on your own."
The pain now covered his entire brain like a coat of tar, coating everything it touched with a sticky residue of Babidi's magic. He could feel the pinch of the markings begin to form on his face, the magic M to signify he was Babidi's puppet.
Except Vegeta was no ones puppet. He was done being under anyones control. His father, Freiza, even Bulma. He was a Prince! No - he was THE Prince of ALL Saiyans and he would never again come second. He would NEVER again be forced to obey someone else's rules. He would thrive, conquer, he would be the best.
He smiled as he forced the pain away. Forced his body to absorb the magic instead of succumb to it. He could feel them in the room with him, shirking back in wary curiosity. His power was incredible - for the first time in a long time he felt he could breathe.
"V-Vegeta?" the voices were silent save for the one he fixated his hatred on the most. His eyes snapped open as he found the source of his misery.
"Kakarot...are you ready to die again?"
Bulma sat watching the skies with a knot in her stomach and a smile on her face as she watched Trunks and Goten battle it out in the skies above them. The two boys were barely anything more than blurs of color through the wind with the occassional sounds of thunder rolling in the air confirming contact. ChiChi sat furter down on the bench screaming encouragement and cheers for her youngest son, pride shining from her like an aura. Bulma envied the woman at that moment, wishing that she too could enjoy the day and ignore this sense of trouble that sat at the back of her mind.
"You ok B?" Yamcha leaned down to ask over her shoulder. He thought about reaching out and touching her but the pretty girl besides him had wrapped herself aroundhis arm like a boa constrictor. She glanced back over her shoulder to her ex, trying to keep her face calm and indifferent.
"Of course i'm fine. I'm just nervous for Trunks."
"Oh... he'll be fine. He's fought against Goten hundreds of times - this wont be any different."
"Oh yes it will!" ChiChi turned enthusiastically, her voice still high from screaming. "This time Goten has a reason to win! This time his father is here watching him and he's not going to let him down. Trunks has his father year round so it's much less important for him." Bulma frowned.
"Just a minute - my son has just as much a right to want to win this as yours." ChiChi snorted mockingly.
"Yeah? Then why is he just standing there with one arm behind his back?" Bulma glanced up to the sky to see that sure enough, Trunks was playing a game by keeping his arm behind his back.
Cocky and arrogant...just like his father.
With the thought of Vegeta the knot gave itself a firm jolt. Something definitely wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"So Yamcha... you haven't told us much about... Heather is it?" ChiChi asked, changing topics abruptly.
"Yvonne!" the young girl cut in, leaning over to joing the coversation though she refused to relinquish her hold on Yamcha.
"Oh that's right, Yvonne. So, Tell us - Yvonne - how long have you been with our Yamcha?" Yamcha rolled his eyes and tried to move his arm. Bulma rolled her eyes as well before crossing her arms across her chest and focusing her attention back to the fight. The boys now were in the air on opposite sides of the arena, gesturing and yelling at each other though they were too far away for anyone to hear.
"Long enough to know how amazing he is!" the girl giggled loudly. "though if it were up to me we'd be together ALL the time." Bulma coughed to cover a laugh while she smoothed out her skirt. "He's just amazing isn't he? I've never met a man so strong! Did you know that he was there for the cell games?! He took the beast on himself and nearly beat him before Mr. Satan showed up!"
Bulma and ChiChi glanced at each other with raised eye brows. Yamcha shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"Come on Yvonne...there's no reason to talk about that... it wasn't anything." he turned his attention to the girl and gave her a weak smile, silently pleading.
"Well that part's true at least... it really wasn't anything..." Bulma mumbled. Yvonne frowned angrily before releasing Yamchas arm and picking up her soda.
"Who are you to have anything to say about Yamcha? He is the greatest man i've ever met and you know nothing about him." Bulma continued to ignore her and shook her head laughing.
"Lady, YOU have no idea. You're just some weekend whore he dragged in to make a point. I -"
Bulma gasped as suddenly ice cold soda was dumped over her head,flattening her hair and running down her shoulders, ruining the dress she wore. The people sitting around them jumped out of the way as both women fumed. Yamcha stood and jumped over the bench to stand next to Bulma, apologizing as he tried to find something to dry her off with.
"I am not a weekend whore you bitch! Yamcha loves me."
"Yamcha doesn't ANYTHING you you crazy asshole!" Bulma shrieked.
"Yes he does!"
"No, he really doesn't." she ran her fingers through her hair groaning at the stickiness that was quickly forming. "This is ridiculous. I need to go change and wash my hair now." Yvonne sat hard on the bench while a collective awe of disappointed men hoping for a cat fight turned their attention once more to the boys still duking it out. Bulma grabbed her purse angrily and began pushing past people to get to the stairs that would lead to the suites.
"Bulma! Wait!" Yamcha yelled after her and she sighed as she felt his hand on her shoulder. "I'm coming with you." Bulma barked out a harsh laugh.
"No, really...you should stay with your 'true love'." she continued walking until they were at the top of the stairs.
"It's not like that and you know it... I couldn't never be with a girl like that for real." he admitted while running his hand through his hair. She frowned while crossing her arms over her chest again.
"Then why are you with her?" Yamcha focused his eyes on the woman in front of him, soda occassionally dripping from the ends of her hair.
"Because seeing you is too much. Not being able to kiss you is torture. She's a distraction from my feelings." he reached out and tilted her chin up.
"Please...don't...I cant..."
"Bulma, I love you. Always have - Always will." he leaned in and kissed her softly, his lips finding an old comfort with hers. She didn't pull away immediately, lingering on the kiss that felt so familiar and foreign at the same time.
"Yamcha..." she whispered into his mouth. He responded by kissing her harder, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tight against him. His tongue snaked along her bottom lip wanting to be let in and she opened her mouth slightly to let him. She let her hands roam, one in his hair and the other down his back. She could feel his blood rush and his skin getting hotter under her touch. She could get lost in this kiss forever. It would be all too easy to forget the world around her and just live in this moment. But the knot in her stomach gave another jolt and she forced herself to pull away.
"Yamcha." she tried again, "I love - "
The sound of thunder hit them first as they turned to face the stadium that had quickly disolved from the carefree atmosphere to a darker shade of panic. Women began screaming as people flooded from their seats, racing to leave the stadium. Out of the corner of her eye she clasped her hand over her mouth in horror as she saw the smoke towering from the middle of the seats - the smell of burning flesh thick in the air. It looked as if a bomb had exploded and the two fought to stay still as the crowds shoved by them.
Fear gripped Bulma's chest as she scanned the sky for any sign of Trunks or Goten.
"Where are the boys?!"
"Bulma..." Yamcha pulled her close to him as he motioned to the stadium ground where they could barely make out the two Saiyan men's forms. Vegeta stood across from Goku, lightning rippling around him like a brutal storm.
"What are they doing?..." she asked as she tried to take a step forwards but was halted by Yamchas tight grip on her. "Yamcha let me go i need to find out what's happening!" she struggled against the man but his grip only got tighter. "Vegeta!" she cried out, her voice deaf compared to the screams of the people surrounding them. Somehow though, he heard her. His head turning slightly to face her and she knew - even though they stood a mile apart - that he saw her clearly. His face was hard, an angry scowl lining his face as he took in the sight of Yamcha protectively embracing her.
"Vegeta!" she tried again, fear coating her throat making it hard to yell. The knot in her stomach exploded into full body panic. Vegeta continued to stare at her, his eyes cold. Hatred spilling from him in waves as he slowly raised a single gloved hand in her direction.
Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what was about to happen and the world went white.
A/N : A bit shorter than I originally wanted...but...this was the appropriate place to end. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!
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