Disclaimer: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball S are owned by Akira Toriyama. I do not own anything.
AN: I want to give credit to chadtayor020 for being an awesome Beta! He is also responsible for basically any of the fight scenes in this story! Also credit to Lovelykotori for the beautiful cover photo for this story! And I can't forget LVR4Trunks-N-Vegeta for helping me brainstorm!
Chapter 10: Dark Past.
*Hyperbolic Time Chamber*
It was hot; his skin was beginning to burn. But there was no way to escape the fire. He had been standing in the same spot for what felt like months. The Prince and Kakarot decided to go their separate ways for the last few months to train their minds. He had felt Kakarot's ki power up a few times, but he ignored it. Vegeta knew that training is mind was going to be the most difficult training for him to endure yet. Sparring with Kakarot had it challenges, but fighting, for Vegeta, was easier than meditation. Being secluded with his mind, his demons, he didn't meditate often. But he needed to train his mind, Frieza was known for playing mind games. And Vegeta didn't want anything to stop him from reaching his ultimate goal: to destroy Frieza.
Suddenly anger built up inside of him, the fire was not dancing around him like tornadoes. He began to power up, and suddenly Bulma passed through his head. He could see Frieza torturing her, the way Frieza tortured his mother. He began to scream, the fire was engulfing him. Suddenly it stopped, and he heard a woman's voice. "Vegeta, my son. Don't let Frieza take her the way your father let him take me," she said. "He didn't have a choice mother, he couldn't over power him," Vegeta said as he fell to his knees, he could see her clear as day. "My Prince; don't forget your Pride, but don't forget your feelings. You love her, please, tell her," she said.
And then blood shot out of her mouth, as her head fell forward; Vegeta could see Frieza. He was laughing, "Vegeta, you are a fool if you think you can beat me! I will do to your Earth woman the same as I did to your mother. Slow and painful, she will call out your name and there won't be a damn thing you can do about it! And when I am finished having my way with her; and her bloody corpse is laying lifeless on the ground, then I will torture you, and you will think what I have done to you in the past is a cake walk! HAHAHA!" Frieza's voice was screaming in his head, and his lifeless mother kept changing into Bulma.
Vegeta couldn't take it anymore, the thought of Frieza touching Bulma made a fire burn inside of him, he let out a howl and his ki surrounding him turned gold. "You won't have the chance! I will slaughter you! I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU!" Kakarot was watching in the distance. He couldn't believe his eyes, Vegeta's power was enormous, and it was only getting stronger. He noticed something change about Vegeta, but it was just a flash. He couldn't tell what had happened but he knew that it was good. Suddenly he noticed the sky turned back to white, and Vegeta collapsed. Kakarot ran towards him. "Prince Vegeta! Are you alright?" Kakarot said with worry in his voice. "Get off me Kakarot, we have but a few days left in here. Are you ready to show me everything you got?" Vegeta said. Kakarot smiled, "Yes, I am ready."
*Bulma*
Bulma, Chi-chi and Raditz stepped out of the helicopter. They had just finished getting their third Dragon Ball. And they had one more to get that was flashing on the locator. After they retrieved this one, they were going to head back to the Lookout because it had almost been 24 hours since Kakarot and Vegeta entered the Time Chamber. Bulma was ready to see Vegeta, even though it had only been a day, she felt like it had been forever. Raditz tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, are you going to tell us how far we need to walk?" he said sarcastically. Bulma clicked on the locator twice, "It looks like the Dragon Ball is just 500 ft in that direction," she said as she pointed to the south.
As they were walking through the thick forest, they heard a snap and a scream. Raditz and Bulma quickly turned around and noticed a large hole in the ground. Bulma ran to it and saw Chi-chi lying at the bottom. "CHI! Are you okay? Radtiz! Go get her out of there!" Bulma yelled, worry taking over her voice. Raditz jumped down to the hole, and put two fingers to her neck. "She has a pulse, she is just unconscious," Raditz said as he lifted her up and floated out of the hole. "But we are going to need to get to someone quickly; her leg is bleeding pretty badly," Raditz told Bulma. Bulma sighed in relief, and she grabbed onto Raditz and he floated up past the trees.
Once they were above the trees, Raditz saw smoke coming from a small building. He flew in that direction and they landed in front of the house. Bulma ran up to the door and knocked on the door. An older looking man opened it, "Hello? Can I help you?" he asked. "Yes, it seems my friend fell into a hole, she's unconscious and has lost a lot of blood!" Bulma said, tears in her eyes. "Yes, yes. Bring her in this way!" the old man said and hurried into the house. He quickly cleared of a wooden table and laid a blanket down on it. Bulma fussed over Chi-chi as Raditz laid her on the table. "Watch her neck! She's not a Saiyan you idiot!" Bulma yelled at Raditz. "Trust me, if I wanted to break her neck I would have done it by now!" Raditz yelled back
"Now kids; yelling at one and other isn't going to make her better. Here," the old man said handing Bulma some dried up leaves. "Go make some tea, in the kitchen. And you, I need you to go outside and find the plant by my shed, it has large green leaves and smells very strong. You can't miss it," the old man said to Bulma and Raditz. They both did as they were told. As Bulma walked out of the kitchen she saw out the window that Raditz was standing guard by the door, and the old man was rolling some liquid out of the lid. Bulma sat by him and studied him. He looked pretty old; he had very small eyes, big eyebrows and a bushy white mustache. He was wearing an orange coat and a small green hat.
Bulma pushed some tea closer to him and he smiled, "Thank you young lady." "You can call me Bulma," she said to him, "And that is my friend Chi-chi, the tall guy standing outside is Raditz." "My name is Gohan. Once I put the liquid from this plant on your friends cut, she will be good as new. But she will need some rest after hitting her head," Old Gohan told Bulma. "Is her leg broken?" Bulma asked him. "No, but it will be very sore. What were you doing all the way out here anyways?" Gohan asked Bulma.
"We are looking for these things called the Dragon Balls. There are 7 of them, and I have a locator that said there as a Dragon Ball not too far from where we were at. And that's when Chi-chi fell into that hole," Bulma explained. Gohan put the leaf onto Chi-chi's wound and she flinched a little. "Yes, I know it stings," he told her. As she slowly woke up, he helped her sit up. "Here you go honey, have some tea. It will help stop infection," Gohan said as he put the cup up to her lips. Bulma ran over to Chi-chi and moved some hair from her face, "Are you okay Chi?" Bulma asked. Chi-chi nodded and smiled. "I just have a really bad head ache. How did I get here?" Chi-chi asked as she took a sip of the tea.
"Raditz brought you here, and this man, Gohan, was kind enough to let us into his home, and he fixed you right up," Bulma explained. Chi-chi swung her legs around from the table and looked at the old man. "Thank you Gohan, you saved my life!" Chi-chi smiled at the old man. "Chi? Do you think you can walk? We need to get you back to the helicopter. Raditz and I will get the Dragon Ball. Then we need to get back to Kami's Lookout, Kakarot and Vegeta should be coming out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber soon." Bulma said Chi-chi nodded, and Gohan came up behind Bulma with a smile on his face. "Is this what you are looking for?" he said as he held out a Dragon Ball with 4 stars. "Oh my goodness! Yes it is!" Bulma yelled. "As soon as you said Kami, I knew you were good people. Go ahead and take it. And good luck in your travels," the old man said.
Raditz popped his head in the door, "Are you ready? They are going to be out soon, and then it will be my turn to go in." Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to punch whoever it was that touched him. As he turned around he noticed a short lady in front of him "Mother?" he asked and Gine nodded, "Your father told me to come find you. The Prince and your brother are almost done in the Time Chamber," she smiled and pushed past her son. "He also told me that Kakarot fancies one of you, and I couldn't wait to meet you. Which one is Chi-chi?" Gine said with a smile. Bulma pointed to her best friend sitting on the table. Gine's smile got bigger. "Oh my Gods! You are gorgeous!" she said as she wrapped her arms around Chi-chi. "Uh, well thank you. Can I ask who are you?" Chi-chi said. "Oh! I am Gine, Raditz and Kakarot's mother," Gine smiled.
Chi-chi's eyes widen and she looked at Bulma. Gine looked around at her surroundings, and back at the two girls. "Is everything okay?" Gine asked. "Uh yea, everything is fine. Chi-chi just fell into a hole, but she's fine now. We were just about to go," Bulma said. "What? She fell into a hole! Raditz! You were supposed to protect her!" Gine said and glared at Raditz. "She's not my mate. She's Kakarot's," Raditz said and walked back outside. Gine sighed, "Well, come on then. I am sure the boys will be ready to see you." Bulma laughed at the sound of someone calling Kakarot and Vegeta 'boys.'
Bulma helped Chi-chi off of the table, and Gine cut in. "Here I'll take her, Raditz can take you," Bulma nodded and turned around to Gohan, "Thank you so much for everything! We really appreciate it." Gohan smiled, "It was my pleasure, here is the Dragon Ball and I will start watching where I dig my holes from now on," he laughed and Bulma laughed with him. She turned around and stepped out of the door to Raditz, "Hey we are going, can you take me to the copter so I can put it back in its capsule?" Bulma asked Raditz. "Why can't you just walk?" Raditz scoffed. Suddenly Gine was in front of him with crazy speed. "Raditz, you take this nice young lady to her copter!" she said and grabbed his ear. "Fine! Fine! I'll take her! Just let go of me!" Raditz blushed that his mother was treating him this way in front of others. He picked up Bulma and quickly took her to her copter. Bulma capsuled it and she held onto Raditz once more and they flew to Kami's Lookout.
*Hyperbolic Time Chamber*
Kakarot and Vegeta's armor was reduced to a few barely attached plates and pieces. It was nearing the end of their training, they had been excruciatingly hard on each other, but this was the last day. After this they would leave and allow Raditz and Bardock to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. During their time they had grown immeasurably stronger, Vegeta and Kakarot had even discovered the secret to concealing their power levels like Piccolo had. Now, they were ready to go one final round against each other and truly test each others mettle.
Vegeta and Kakarot jumped aback about a hundred ft away from each other and yelled out with all their might. Their ki surrounded them in massive auras as the ground quaked and mountains started to rise in the background. "This is it Kakarot, let's see if you've learned anything!" Vegeta yelled. "Come on!" Kakarot responded and the two mighty warriors flew straight at each other. Vegeta punched Kakarot's stomach then was quickly kneed in his own. Kakarot blocked Vegeta's next thirty punches and responded with his own kicks. Their movements were so swift no one who hadn't undergone similar training as them could possibly follow them. Vegeta blocked and dodged Kakarot's kicks with all his skill and then blasted him away with a mighty blast of ki.
Kakarot dodged Vegeta's follow up ki blasts, all one hundred of them and answered with his own. Several of them hit Vegeta and more pieces of his armor crumbled off his body. He didn't pay attention; he only flew straight at Kakarot, dodging ki blasts as he went. He then disappeared and reappeared under Kakarot and grabbed his legs then swung around and pounded him into a nearby mountain. Pieces of Kakarot's own armor flaked off of him like a snake's skin before he quickly forced himself to spin around, making Vegeta let go of him and allowing Kakarot to elbow his head from above, sending him crashing into the ground. Vegeta quickly jumped up and dodged Kakarot's descending kick then kicked his back, sending him face first into another mountain.
Kakarot soon destroyed the mountain with a ferocious roar and summoned up more power into his fists. He flew straight at Vegeta and punched him as hard and fast as he was physically able. Vegeta barely caught Kakarot's fists after being punched dozens of times and head butted his chin then flipped around and axe kicked the top of his head. Kakarot barely fell on his feet and quickly blocked Vegeta's follow up strike; he was buried up to his knees in the ground from the power of the kick. Kakarot then grabbed Vegeta's foot and threw him into a nearby mountain and then followed up with a massive ki blast, destroying the mountain. Kakarot put his hands on his knees and sucked in air. "Oh gods don't tell me I just killed my Prince," he huffed.
"You can't kill me that easily Kakarot," Vegeta said as he walked out of the rubble, his body naked as they day he was born and covered in bruises and dozens of small cuts. Vegeta then summoned a red ball of ki energy into his hand and threw it at Kakarot. Kakarot dodged the blast and then threw a blue ball of ki at Vegeta who also dodged it. "That the best you got!?" Vegeta yelled. Kakarot grinned, "Nope," and Vegeta realized Kakarot's energy was following him! "Not funny!" Vegeta said, "Unless it's you!" Kakarot barely dodged Vegeta's own attack. The two of them flew around, dodging within a hairsbreadth of each others homing attacks.
At last Vegeta got fed up with this and flew straight at Kakarot, who got the same idea as well. There was a massive explosion of energy as they collided in midair, followed by two smaller explosions as their attacks finally found their targets. The two of them fell to the ground and struggled to get up to continue the fight. Slowly and painfully they got up and stood facing each other, both now stripped of their armor and clothes. Finally, Kakarot smiled and said, "Good one, my Prince," and fell down. Vegeta smiled, "I win," and helped him up. The doors to Kami's Lookout opened up, and the two of them walked out.
*Kami's Lookout*
Bulma, Raditz, Chi-chi and Gine had just landed onto the lookout. Bardock met them and hugged his wife. "I see you tracked them down," he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Yea, you know, you need to teach your oldest son to not be so serious. He didn't even hug his old mother when I showed up," Gine glared at Raditz, and he rolled his eyes.
Kami walked up to the girls and the Saiyans. "The Prince and Kakarot should be coming out any moment. Would you like to go in that direction?" Kami said. They all nodded and walked towards the large doors. Piccolo noticed the human with the black air was limping. And he untied a bag from his hip and walked over to her, "Here take one of these, they are senzu beans. They'll heal you up." He handed one to her and she thanked him. After she swallowed the bean she suddenly felt amazing.
Chi-chi ran over to Bulma, "Bulma listen! Piccolo just gave me this magic bean, and it healed…" Suddenly she noticed the two Saiyans that stepped out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber butt naked! Bulma looked over to see what Chi-chi was staring at and Bulma said "Oh my goodness!" and cover her eyes. "Hey guys!" Kakarot said not covering anything up. Chi-chi just turned her head and observed him. Gine ran up in front of him, "Kakarot! There are women present! Have some decency!" Bulma looked over at Vegeta; he was covering himself, and blushing. "Vegeta, what happened to your armor?" she asked trying to keep her eyes on his eyes.
"Kakarot and I may have over done it in our last sparring match," he said as he was blushing. "Oh, okay, well here." Bulma looked around and ran in a different direction. Vegeta watched to see where she was going. He didn't feel as comfortable as Kakarot did. He was raised in a kingdom, always told to present himself with pride. Kakarot was raised in the back woods of Planet Vegeta. Bulma ran back towards Vegeta, "Here, I found you a blanket," she said as she handed it to Vegeta. Vegeta looked at where both of his hands were placed, and looked back up to Bulma. "Oh heh right," Bulma giggled she held out the blanket and turned away from him. Vegeta quickly took the blanket out of her hand and wrapped it around his waist.
"Thank you woman," Vegeta said to Bulma. She smiled and said, "You're welcome." And they turned back towards the others. Bulma felt arms wrap around her waist and kissed the side of her head. "I missed you," Vegeta said. Bulma blushed, "It's only been one day." "To you, but it's been 1 year for me," he said seductively in her ear. Bulma realized that Vegeta was naked and she quickly stepped away from him and she cleared her throat. "So, I think I can make some new armor, if you like?" she said embarrassed. Vegeta crossed his arms and looked at her confused. "Yes, that would be fine. Would you like me to fly you to your home?" he suggested. "Uh…Oh, no I have the helicopter," Bulma said and blushed more seeing that his blanket slide down a little.
Bardock walked up to the Prince and Bulma, "Sire, Raditz and I are about to go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, any word of advice?" Bardock asked. Vegeta looked at him with a serious look. "Be prepared for anything," Vegeta said. Bardock bowed his head, "Thank you sire." Vegeta nodded his head in return. "Good luck," he said and Bardock and Raditz stepped into the room and the door shut. Vegeta looked back to Bulma; he needed to tell her what he felt. He wanted her, no, he needed her. He just endured a whole year without a woman. That doesn't include the time he had gone without a woman before. Normally he wouldn't care if he had a woman or not. But something about Bulma he was addicted to. He couldn't get enough of her. Ever since the first time she kissed him, he didn't know what to do with himself after.
Bulma threw her capsule and a helicopter popped out. She stepped in and started up the engine. She noticed that Vegeta got in the helicopter with her. "Vegeta, I am just going to my house. You don't have to come with me," Bulma said still feeling very uncomfortable that Vegeta was half naked. She didn't know what was going on with herself; she had seen Yamcha half-naked a million times. That boy never believed in a shirt, and she never felt embarrassed around him, but Vegeta… His body was amazing. And Bulma felt very self-conscious around him. Vegeta's voice stopped her train of thought. "I am not going to let you out of my sight for very long," Vegeta said. Bulma smiled and focused on getting the helicopter off the ground.
*Hyperbolic Time Chamber*
The doors closed behind Bardock and Raditz and they both walked out of the living space. They were both driven to their knees at first by the greater gravity, but forced themselves to stand up. "No wonder Kakarot and Prince Vegeta managed to get so strong in here," Bardock said. "Raditz, let's go through our usual routines, and then we'll spar like they did," he told his oldest son. "Right," Raditz said and they both got to it. Raditz started his exercise by running as fast as he could a thousand times around the living space, not wanting to tempt fate by going too far away from it. He then stopped running and got down on one knee then lifted himself up on one leg; he did this 20000 times, alternating his legs each time. He followed these up with 20000 squats, 10000 pushups and did an elbow plank for thirty minutes, and followed up with 10000 arm lifts. Raditz then got up and did 40000 climber exercises, a twenty minute star plank, and finished with 10000 sit-ups.
Bardock wasn't slacking on his training as Raditz did his. He was already on his second set in fact just as Raditz finished his first set. Bardock sweated as he did 30000 jumping jacks followed with 20000 squats. He got down and did 10000 cross punch sit-ups and 10000 rotating planks and elbow plank arm lifts. He then finished his set with 6000 pushups, 12000 climber exercises and 12000 punches and kicks. The two of them kept on doing sets of their respective exercises as they went, struggling to acclimate to the greater gravity. Raditz at last finished his last set and got on his hands and knees. 'Damn it all! I need to push myself; I can't keep being so weak!' he thought, thinking about how much more powerful Kakarot had become.
He saw that his father was doing stretches and did the same before he walked over to him. "Alright Raditz, you need to get rid of your tail's weakness. I should have trained you a lot sooner than this, but my missions never gave me the time to. You need to sit down cross legged and then lift yourself up using your tail, like this," Bardock demonstrated the technique to Raditz. Raditz imitated his Father and was soon keeping up with him. They did this for several hours until sweat was pouring off of them. "Alright, let's see if we got any progress," Bardock said. Raditz's tail unwrapped itself from around his waist and went into Bardock's hand. Bardock squeezed the tail, Raditz didn't feel a thing! Bardock smiled, "Alright, let's rest up for now, tomorrow is when your real training begins." Then they stood up and walked into the living space and went to their beds.