Opening into a great cavernous chasm drawing in air, Yamcha yawns and stretches his left arm and legs. With his muscles and mind now slowly waking he sits up and finds out why his right arm was unable to move. Curled up by his side fast asleep is Washu. This is a sight he could get used to. Enjoying the peaceful moment he watches her silently and smiles content with his life. After several minutes of doing nothing he is itching to get up and be active, ready for this new day. Not wanting to wake the sleeping beauty, he attempts to subtly move his right arm but a whole night of her laying on top of it has caused it to fall asleep and it is no longer responding to his nervous system in the slightest. Hindered by his useless limb he spends a good quarter of an hour slowly easing his arm out from underneath her who keeps him company during the long and lonely nights.
Freed, he leaps out of bed massaging life back into his arm until the intensifying tingling sensation of pins and needles eventually dies down and it begins to operate the same as his other arm. Casually flinging on a vest and jeans, he leaves Washu to her forty winks in peace and as the man of the house goes to see who else is also awake. Somersaulting off the banister to quickly descend to the ground floor he lands on his hands and starts to walk to the kitchen in this position. Two long tails of blue dance across the doorway as he approaches and Yamcha eases himself back onto his feet.
" Morning Sasami, breakfast ready?"
" No, not yet…" Sasami, like Yamcha, has only been up for a short while and although he feels guilty for the pressure on her for cooking all the meals she is the only one capable of accomplishing said task without any danger of food poisoning. " …. Oh before you go, Yamcha were you having a bad dream last night?"
" Bad dream? No, why?"
" It's just I heard some weird sounds coming from your room so I thought you might have been having a nightmare or something. Are you sure you weren't, you don't have to be embarrassed." A rosy colour graces Yamcha's cheeks, she heard his midnight rendezvous but thank god she is still too young to understand.
" Washu's also not coming out of her lab, I tried knocking on her door this morning but she wouldn't reply. I don't like going in there so would you mind waking her up today 'cos she asked me to make sure she didn't miss breakfast." Yamcha's position is worsening, he is thinking of ways he could try and pull this off. Maybe if he used his extreme speed he could carry the sleeper in his bed into her lab and make it look like she did not spend the night with him. Thinking to himself why he does not just tell her the truth and so prevent any complexities from building up someone must also have been thinking the same thing.
Noiselessly walking barefoot but otherwise fully dressed, Washu graces them with her presence for a cheeky wink directed at Yamcha before she skulks off into her lab. Sasami looks at Yamcha with pure confusion on her face, he can see the questions building up behind her eyes and prepares himself for the inevitable revelation he will have to make. Luckily someone else does this for him, Trunks appears directly beside Sasami and after she recovers from the startle he whispers in her ear an explanation with which she whispers back to him to confirm what he just said to her. Feeling uncomfortable and sure they are discussing him and his personal life, Yamcha feels their eyes upon him as Trunks nods at Sasami before sitting down and swinging back on the sturdy chair precariously.
" Wow, really, this is wonderful news. So Yamcha when are you going to marry Washu?" She beams at him, an innocent cherub that somehow has stricken such a deep fear into the heart of Yamcha. The colour drains from his face as a multitude of curse words whiz around his mind at the mere mention of marriage, freezing up as he did all those years ago when he had a crushing phobia of girls. One second he is there stuttering and worriedly glancing about avoiding Sasami's eyes and the next he is gone, no longer stood in the kitchen.
" Hey! That's rude. Where'd he go?" Sasami pouts, annoyed that he did not answer her question that seemed perfectly reasonable for her. Trunks nearly overbalances and falls off his seat he is laughing that much, with the cunning of his father he planned and executed that perfectly. Not as sinless or pure as the girl-child, he has known about Yamcha and Washu's relationship for some time now. With over two weeks having passed since becoming an orphan he needed to have a good source of comedy and he thinks he might have found it.
Taking in deep gulps of air the Z warrior clutches at his chest, she nearly put him into cardiac arrest with such a shock. Trying to recover and put his mind onto other matters he has moved himself into the training chamber again, one of the weights seems to be carelessly strewn on the floor which he is sure he put away properly. Dispelling it from his thoughts as it is inconsequential, he powers up the main console and activates a training programme that has quickly become his current favourite. Risking challenging himself a bit further he activates the artificial gravity up to 100G. He has tried simulations with gravity as well and found out that the gravity strangely enough only effects him and not his opponents. With this handicap he spawns the entire Ginyu force.
Wham, bam, splat and the rest is silence. A mere ten minutes and five of what supposedly were the most feared mercenary group lay defeated in the dust. Yamcha himself received only a few minor scraps and contusions, no major injuries thankfully. Greatly pleased that he managed such an accomplishment, he switches off the machine and warms himself down with a few stretches before seeing the reward for his deed peering in through the porthole in the door. Preferring seeing things with her own eyes rather than on the screens she looks at all day she stands gathering primary data. An inviting smile is too much of a temptation for him to resist. Enticed, he waves the door open with his powers. A pair of hands clamp over her eyes from behind her.
" Guess who?" He grins mischievously knowing how much she hates it when he does that. Pulling his hands off of her she shuns him until he has fed her ego enough with sweet nothings for her to forgive him for his misbehaviour.
" I'm afraid another urgent thing has cropped up in my lab. … It appears another lengthy 'experiment' is in order." Lifting her up into his strong arms he cradles her close to him as he carries her back off into her den where no-one can overhear them.
For Ayeka nothing has changed. She is still holding her vigil awaiting for his arrival back. Only moving from this spot by the window to sleep, relieve herself or when Sasami brings food to her, however most of the time the dishes get forgotten about and the meals spoil. Enveloped in her own feelings the princess does not see how much her lack of activity is worrying the younger princess. If she did it would only bring more heartache and pain to the distraught maiden. Sunrise to sunset, sunrise to sunset each and every day she patiently waits. Her thoughts tied up on Vegeta, on herself and his dark past.
Waiting till all others have gone to sleep or are otherwise preoccupied Ryoko's behaviour changes. Languishing throughout the day in the throes of inebriation and misery but at night she sneaks out, her mind cleared of distractions. With no-one to see her she phases downstairs and softly closes a large metal door behind her. Over the past week she has been making nocturnal visits to the training room every night and vacating it as soon as she hears the chirpy singing of Sasami as she gets up. Feeling foolish that it took her this long to realise, this is what he would want her to be doing not feeling sorry for herself. Such a pitiful state would only arouse his disapproval, she knows that now as she remembers how highly he thinks of strength and power. Craving his affection she strives to better herself, pushing herself beyond her known limits every night till she can show him how strong she has become and how he will be pleased. When he returns she will be ready to seize her prize for waiting.
Piercing the silence in the world of the dead is the shrill scream of Vegeta. Panting with sweat rolling off him in rivulets, his whole body shakes from the pain that was all he knew. The pain that is fading … his body… . Suddenly it clicks, he has a physical being again. Though not alive this is a marked improvement as he tries to look about in the place where no light ever shines. No sound or things to see, the only sense he knows he has working is touch; the smooth gloves slipping between his fists and the warmth sprouting from his ki. Focusing the ki into his hand and releasing it as a perfect sphere of illumination hovering around his person Vegeta surveys his surroundings.
The flare serves its purpose. Despite shedding no light on the lack of surroundings in the pits of Hell he can see himself. A throaty chuckle as he takes in himself with his eyes, the strength rolling off him in great emanations - his power has not decreased in his incarceration. Why he is wearing clothes he was not wearing at the time of his demise is something that might have bugged him were it not for the ecstasy of existence. You never truly miss something until it is taken from you and how he missed what he has been working and training to perfection throughout his whole life. Grinning from ear to ear, he quenches the ball of ki and plunges himself back into the ebony blackness of Hades. Waiting, awaiting nothing in particular but no other roads are open for him.
Time passes, how much he could not say. He could say how many times his heart beat or how many breaths he took but time he could not give you for it works differently in the eternal realm or might do for all he knows. Time in a place of infinity means nothing or is nothing or everything, he is not a philosopher or great wise thinker he is a fighter so these matters do not concern him. What concerns him is the change in his environment he has detected with his acute vision. Black has gradually changed into a dark grey, grey into silver and silver into a shining brightness blinding his vision. Shielding his eyes from the damaging light he lowers his arms back down from his face and tries to work out what in Hell is going on.
A crimson lake greets him, a wide open sea of a liquid he has drawn from others more times than he can count. This lagoon of blood he stands before. He has no recollection of it, this is a circle of Hell he has not been to. The shoreline of the gore is a forest. A forest with no trees. Each trunk is a towering spear or colossal needle thrust high into the air, every sharpened point of the millions upon millions gleaming. Such a hostile habitation is a breath of fresh air from the void he was jailed in, surveying his surroundings and the bustle of activity he sees he is not alone. Bands of armed ogres rushing from the spikes towards an unseen point beyond the horizon of death, they run past his position completely ignoring him like he was a ghost. Calls to arms are barked and alarms whir noisily, breaking the stillness of the damned. Reaching out and lifting up one of the horned beings running past him by the throat Vegeta looks coldly into the sockets of this guardian of the underworld.
" What's going on? Where in Hell am I?"
" There's been a prisoner escape from Tartarus level, the area were we keep the most evil and dangerous beings who have died … such as yourself. As to where you are this is Area 1, Sector 1 and you and your kin have been released to bolster the ranks of guards."
" My kin?..." Vegeta discards the poor ogre into the lake when he sees figures forming in the distance. Such a wondrous sight that he has not seen since his years as a toddler, a mighty host of hardened Saiyan veteran fighters relieved from their sins temporarily to aid the ones keeping them forever confined in torture. The best unarmed force the universe has ever seen was at the disposal of the Kai's and so not wanting to squander what resources they have in response to the prison break until the emergency is over the Saiyans walk to war again. Yet more and more of his long lost species come into existence, his breath catches in his throat when he sees him.
Running up to the group of his brethren known to him he stands as a man full grown before someone bearing an uncanny likeness to him, his father King Vegeta with his royal cape billowing at his back. His father is not alone, by his left hand side is the weakling brother of his Prince Tarble and skulking on the fringes is a short woman with cropped hair Vegeta pays no heed to. Gathering around their monarch instinctively the Saiyans form rank around their leader, familiar faces like Nappa and Raditz seen in the front line eager for this one final stand they have been given.
" I am here father, Prince Vegeta reporting for duty. Your time holding the crown nears an end." Bowing on one knee before the only person he would consider honouring in this way before standing back up tall and proud, his father looks down upon him.
" My son, you have grown up to full strength. You escaped Frieza's treachery then, that is good news to hear but where is your tail?" A great fatherly pride blooms within the king seeing his son as a man for the first time, a strong man and worthy fighter surely despite his missing appendage. The audacity to immediately challenge him he likes.
" I lost it carelessly in a battle, since then I have gotten stronger, stronger than all other Saiyans before me. I have become a Super Saiyan of legend like you said I would father." All the other dead Saiyans stare at him, none believe this claim of him ascending into the stuff of legend. Even his father doubts him, it can be seen in his eyes.
They want proof, they shall have proof and cower before his power. Roaring as he raises his power and surges ki through his body he transforms to the form of the mythical warrior. Amidst the sea of black and dirty brown hair stands one shining being of pure gold.
"Ha, this is but a drop in the ocean. All of you stand there so high and mighty yet even my own son not even into puberty can do this, it must come from the lineage of the super-elite. Hey Nappa, want to see how easily I can kill you this time?" The shock and awe tactics work, even the king is humbled before such a display. The stories they told themselves to ward off the oppression of Frieza have come to pass and they bear witness to the pinnacle of their species, the power hidden within all of them. Before them all stands a single man with the power to destroy them all just like Frieza did.
" Why-Why you?! I don't care 'bout your stupid hair change you trumped up little squirt … you'll pay for what you did to me!"
" Is that so Nappa? Tell me what makes you think you'll fare better than when I blasted you to pieces. Have you gone Super Saiyan also, sorry I can't tell from the light shining off your bald dome." Laughing and mocking his former partner from the safety of self assuredness and omnipotence, Vegeta takes one of his gloves off and throws it to the feet of Nappa.
" Gr… I'll kill you!" In the instant before Nappa can set his future in stone by swinging his considerable sized fists he is jerked back to his senses by a stern hand gripping his arm. Calming down through heavy breaths, Nappa slowly nods at this Saiyan, understanding now how he was being baited into such actions so he could be smitten down by the prince again. Tutting at his loss of a demonstration of his enormous strength Vegeta's attention focuses on this new scarred combatant – a face he could never allow himself to forget.
" I know your son." Vegeta points at this unnamed soldier, not knowing what to do when addressed by royalty or one straight out of the unwritten pages of their folklore he looks around checking that he is the one who Vegeta's attention is fixed on. Tightening the tattered red rag knotted around his forehead he steps forwards, approaching his Prince and King in a stately fashion. Following his father another Saiyan stands by him, long spiked hair rustling against his armour.
" Not you Raditz, begone." Walking back to his place in the battalion the second Saiyan to go to Earth knows his place and accepts it. " I was talking about your other son, Kakarot." Smiling at the mention of his second child, the one he saw for but the briefest of moments before being sent away to escape the planet's destruction, Bardock is dying to know what became of him.
" To cut a long story short your son is now the only surviving Saiyan, minus his and my hybrid children with the inhabitants of the planet he was sent to. It shames me to say this … but he was the one to ascend to this level before me, he was the one who killed Frieza and defeated many more foes which I could not." Bardock nods slowly, understanding now what those visions he saw at the moment of his transition to this plane of existence meant. He sired the saviour of their species, too late to do any good but if he killed Frieza then good on him.
" You say he was the one who freed us from our servitude? Tell me my son, why was it him, this low class, and not you who had the power and strength to defeat that bastard son of Cold?" The King looks down on the Prince with a disapproving tone hinted in his words, he raised him to be the best. Bred from the crème de la crème of warriors and trained by the greatest masters on their planet, King Vegeta cannot help but wonder how his son was surpassed. Prince Vegeta quickly replies to silence any ill thoughts his father is surely thinking.
" This isn't the first time I have died. That fool Kakarot might have bettered me all those years ago but now the tables have turned. I am the ultimate warrior. Now stand aside. I will deal with whatever's going on … I need the help of none of you feeble slugs." Flying above the heads of his countrymen, Vegeta unleashes all the restraints holding back his true self. A conflagration burning hotter than the Sun's flames burns as a Super Saiyan 3 floats high up in the sky. At last his power has reached its maximum and is witnessed by all below him, any previous notion they had of what they thought of as strength is flung and crushed into the winds.
He tackles the breakout alone, none of the ogres even reach ground zero before every wrongdoer had been not so kindly killed for a second time. The sweet taste of victory quickly fades into the shades of bitterness, no sooner has he vanquished his foes and stood high and mighty above the fallen corpses of the most feared things the universe can throw at him then his time is up. There is no justice. Cruelly whisked away from him is his body, stuck once more in the limbo state of nothingness. His reward for doing the dirty business of the Kai's is to be slung back to the chastening experience of wretched suffering. It begins anew, the torture fresh and vivid after that misleading lull and he is helpless and senseless again.
