Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ.
The Show Must Go On
"You`ve become strong, stronger than I ever dreamt of being at your age. A true Saiyan, even if I never told you so," Vegeta explained. "Dad?" Trunks asked. "I`m very proud of you son."
"Dad, this is embarrassing..." Trunks mumbled, utterly flattered senseless, yes, but at the same time slightly embarrassed since he wasn`t used to it at all. Goten barely paid attention to the pair, still staring over at where Trunks had knocked Buu. "I know I haven`t been there for you the way I should have been, and I know it`s only made you stronger but now, looking back on it, I wish it`d gone different."
"Why are you doing this?" Trunks asked.
Empty spaces, what are we waiting for
Abandoned places, I guess we know the score
On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for
Another hero, another mindless crime
"Take care of your mother for me. And tell her I loved the both of you, even more than fighting," he exclaimed. "Dad..."
"Good-bye, son," Vegeta said with a shake of the head, soundly landing a quick chop into Trunks` neck. The boy let out a grunt and fell sideways to one knee, fading out of Super Saiyan and then fading out of conciousness as well. He landed with a small thump on the ground, just as Goten turned around.
Behind the curtain in the pantomime
Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore?
"And you, little warrior," Vegeta began, silencing any of Goten`s would-be protests by bending forward and nailing him solidly in the gut with one fist. Goten lurched forward, fading out of Super Saiyan but not conciousness. Not yet anyway. "Do your father, brother and your Prince proud," Vegeta stated, withdrawing his fist and standing up straight. Goten would`ve likely gone on a child`s tirade if he hadn`t passed out on his knees and landed face down in the dirt, not even twitching.
"What the hell did he just do that for?!" Zangya gaped. Piccolo shook his head. "Go get Krillin, we`re leaving and I don`t think Vegeta or I want you to hear what`s about to transpire," he stated. "You think I`m gonna bow out, just like that?" Zangya protested. "You can leave or else Vegeta and I can both knock you out, take your pick," Piccolo retorted. "Alright, I`ll be waiting with fuzzy," Zangya exclaimed, flaring an aura around her form and then rocketing back towards Krillin on the edge of the battlefield.
"Good," Piccolo muttered, turning back to Vegeta while he descended towards the ground, moving slowly. The air itself was heavy as the two exchanged glances while Piccolo picked up Trunks and Goten, one under each arm. "You`re going to do it, aren`t you?" Piccolo asked. "Yes," Vegeta answered, glancing over his shoulder in the direction where Buu was likely just now beginning to struggle to get free. "I never pegged you to be a sacrificial warrior," Piccolo smirked. "And neither did I," Vegeta replied. "Stranger things have happened," Piccolo commented. "You mean like the Kakospawn looking like their father compared to how Trunks looks like his mother?"
"Kakospawn, eh? Didn`t hear you calling them that earlier," Piccolo smirked. "Not my fault you haven`t gone deaf by now with all of the screaming the Kakobitch does," Vegeta replied. "Like that blue haired sociopath you call a lover is much better? Besides, you`re just jealous that you`re not green," Piccolo pointed out.
The show must go on
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking, but my smile... still stays on
"Perhaps," Vegeta chuckled briefly. "I`m going to miss these little jousting matches with you," he conceded. "Indeed," Piccolo agreed. The conversation suddenly turned somber however, foreboding. "Tell me, Piccolo, am I going to meet Kakarot in the afterlife?" Vegeta asked, again sparing glancing over at the stone pile that Buu was buried under. "I`m going to have to be blunt and honest with you Vegeta," Piccolo warned. "Go ahead," Vegeta shrugged.
"Goku spent his entire life doing nothing but good deeds, risking his life for people he didn`t know and often only barely cared for. He saved planets and the universe on more than one occasion, and for his heroism and his final sacrifice, he was rewarded handsomely with the right to go to the Dai Kaio`s world to train," Piccolo began. "You spent much of your life bringing little other than pain and suffering, death and destruction to hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions for all I know. While you`ve done much to change your fate over the past few years, you`ve caused far too much damage for the same kind of reward. When you die, your soul will probably be cleansed and sent on into your next incarnation, while your body and everything about you will likely be sent to Hell for the rest of eternity," Piccolo finished.
Vegeta was silent for a few moments.
And then he smiled regretfully. "Oh well," he sighed. "If that`s what my fate shall be, then I`ll face it with the same madness I faced most of the challenges in my life with," he stated. "If I see Gohan before my judgement, I`ll tell him you said to take care," Vegeta offered. "You have my thanks," Piccolo replied. "Good, now get going, Buu will break loose any second," Vegeta said, and just as he did, both of their attentions darted to the pile of rubble a few hundred feet away, which suddenly tore itself apart in a maelstrom of pinkish tinted wind, vaporizing in a matter of seconds before an unharmed Majin Buu came stomping out.
"Go, now," Vegeta ordered through grit teeth. "Good luck," Piccolo offered before igniting an aura around himself and blasting up off of the ground at his full speed. "Hey! Which one of them hit me!?" Buu demanded, making ready to storm after them. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE FAT ASS!!!" Vegeta screamed, grabbing Buu`s attention once again. The creature growled ferally and began to slowly step towards him, shaking the ground with each meaty step.
"If you`re going after them, you have to finish your business with me first, got that?" Vegeta demanded.
Whatever happens I'll leave it all to chance
Another heartache, another failed romance
On and on, does anybody know what we are living for
I guess I'm learning
"What the hell`s going on over there?!" Zangya demanded as Piccolo flashed by them. "Get moving!" He yelled behind at them. Both Krillin and Zangya exchanged worried looks and darted after the Namek, catching up after a short number of seconds. "Well?!" Krillin asked. "Vegeta`s about to do the one thing none of us ever thought he`d do!" Piccolo explained. "He`s fighting for others for the first time in his life, and he`s going to go all out!" He added.
"Then that means..." Zangya paused. "You can`t be serious!" She yelled. "Dead serious!" Piccolo replied. "WILL ONE OF YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HECK YOU`RE TALKING ABOUT?!" Krillin demanded hoarsely.
I must be warmer now
I'll soon be turning round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark I'm aching to be free
"That`s right Buu, finish with me first, understand?!" Vegeta asked, raising his good hand up and balling it tightly into a fist, hard enough that parts of the glove started to tear. "I`m gonna eat you!" Buu threatened angrily. "Then come and EAT ME fatso!" Vegeta replied, just as the ground began to rattle and dust started shaking up. Golden flames arced high off of the ground around Vegeta, who was surrounded by no less than three auras: An aura of lightning, an outer aura of flame and an inner aura of golden, shaped into the form of an imperfect sphere.
"I think I finally understand you," he stated with a smirk. "I`ll turn you into a cookie!" Buu threatened, actually too frightened of the effects going on around him to do anything serious at this point. Dust rose up to chest height, billowing around as the flame of Vegeta`s second and the lightning of his third aura both began to grow, larger and larger, to the size of a small house even.
The show must go on
The show must go on, yeah
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking, but my smile... still stays on
"Come on Buu, come turn me into a cookie already!" Vegeta demanded. "Or are you all talk, no game?!" He asked. Buu sneered and began to move forward, only to find it hard to stand anymore. Vegeta suddenly felt a snap in the back of his mind. "It won`t be long now," he thought. "If I`m right, I just broke my own barrier, which means the end is about to happen in the next minute or so. Just have to keep Buu in place till then," Vegeta thought, smiling to himself, even as his eyebrows began to look a bit heavier and his hair became a shred longer.
"I`m going to crush you and throw you into the wind!" Vegeta threatened, still buying time and knowing it. "Just a little longer..." He thought, watching Buu growl and finally began to work up the guts to walk towards him, just as the last signs of Vegeta`s attack began to become truly apparent.
"It`s snowing..." Buu thought aloud to itself, confusing snow with the rainbow hewed bits of energy now rising out of the dust, off of even himself. The very air suddenly began to become super heated, the ground began to tremble lightly and the wind began to rush, faster and faster. Vegeta`s aura billowed outward ever further, his inner aura beginning to shrink down. His eyebrows were almost entirely gone now, his forehead was noticably heavier and his hair had actually fallen forward a bit, hanging over his face and looking heavier as well, and even more golden than before.
"It`s time," Vegeta thought to himself, somberly remembering the events of his life that had led up to this singular moment. And at the end of it, he could only do one thing: He smiled.
My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly, my friends
"I do this for you... Trunks... Bulma..." Vegeta thought, the last vestages of hair leaving his now neanderthalesque eyebrows, his jaded eyes themselves gaining small but noticable pupils. "Even you, Kakarot," Vegeta thought with a smirk.
"Time to die, Buu!" Vegeta yelled, catching the creature`s attentions one last time. Buu rushed forward and jumped right up, out of the dust, descending down on Vegeta with a feral scream only to find itself held in place on the outer wall of Vegeta`s second aura, as the first aura, the sphere, finished imploding around his body.
"Good-bye."
The show must go on
The show must go on
I'll face it with a grin
I'm never giving in, on with the show
"You`re shitting me! Please say you`re shitting me!" Krillin demanded as he, Zangya and Piccolo, along with the still unconcious Trunks and Goten, continued along on their path away from where the battle should have been taking place. "If I was lying, I`d tell you, now hurry up!" Piccolo replied, right as the entire Earth began to shake, and right as a shockwave of heated air blew past the lot of them, knocking out auras and forcing the three onward further than even they had intended.
"Ah crap," Zangya muttered, looking back over her shoulder at the growing fireball in the distance, golden hewed and bright as any mid-day sun ever seen by any mortal eye. A second shockwave of heated air rushed by, and then a third and then a fourth, leaving only Krillin with the presence of mind to actually say anything at all.
"VEGETA!!!"
I'll top the bill, I'll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the show, my friends
And at the core of the fireball that day, one of the Earth`s mightiest, most unlikely defenders fell. His name was Vegeta.
The show must go on
A proud, Saiyan Prince.
Author`s Note: Real A/N next part.
