Chapter 25: The Last Shadow Dragon
As Bulma Briefs made her way down the similar-looking hallways of the dragon's dimension she felt an air of importance. Assistants with clipboards gave her frequent nods and often some stopped her for information. Keeping the entire human race alive was something the fighters did, but managing them all, keeping them fed and overseeing any problems came down to Bulma.
In the end only the core communications hub of Capsule Corporation had been saved. Important buildings and monuments had been transported for future rebuilding, but save for a few key artefacts little remained of what had once been Bulma's home city. Yesterday, she was told, what remained of Earth had been destroyed by Alpha.
Such a blow was crippling yet came as little surprise. If they hadn't acted sooner the evil dragon would've wiped out their entire race in one fell swoop. The Z-Fighters kept the knowledge in their own little circle; being a whole dimension away meant the rest of humanity had no way of knowing, and to tell them would only bring widespread panic. They'd blame Goku and the others for failing them, when in actuality they were lucky to be alive at all.
The sound of a phone suddenly interrupted Bulma's train of thought. She sighed; the control room was a fair trek along boring grey corridors – they'd have to start without her. As she stomped past more men in lab coats the ringing stopped. Trunks and Goten must've answered. Bulma quickened her pace at the thought; another argument was bound to break out.
After a whole five minutes she eventually reached the central hub, a room made of countless screens surrounding a single leather chair. Trunks was already slouched into it, but with a loud cough from Bulma he quickly scarpered, leaving Goten to his quarrel.
In the beginning each widescreen displayed a pair of Z-Fighters. Now that their numbers had dwindled however, most remained blank as they continued to ring out. Goku had gone and Pan was dead, as were Gohan, Krillin and Tien. Uub was still unconscious after his ordeal in transporting everyone, and Trunks and Goten remained here.
As a result only two sets of fighters had picked up their phones. Piccolo occupied one screen, although the other was made up of two people Bulma had never seen before. Closer inspection proved that the first was in fact a fusion of Vardock and King Vegeta, although the second was a mystery woman, lean and pensive in her clear white outfit.
Just as before, an argument had already broken out. Trunks had agreed to let the whole thing drop, but Goten hadn't.
"I still can't believe you did that – without telling any of us you went and let the Earth get blown up!" he yelled.
"Don't confuse my choice with an impulse boy!" said Vardock. "I made a rational decision based on what I thought was best for us. I couldn't handle Chronus by myself – not in a million years – hell, I doubt any of us could! If Novus hadn't intervened then he would have been brought back into the world. Countless planets would've been destroyed – entire civilisations wiped out like my own race was. I thought one empty planet was an acceptable loss to prevent that from happening!"
Goten clenched his fists, seething in anger at the feeling of being talked down to like a child once again. "And who are you to make that call? You don't know what Earth meant to everyone!"
"I know exactly how losing a planet feels boy, don't you dare insult me by suggesting that I don't," warned the fusion, equally annoyed by Goten's naivety. "One day – when your dad is gone – you'll have to take on these responsibilities as well. You'll have to make tough calls that only people with your kind of power can make. Goku understands that."
"Don't talk to me about my dad! He would've found a way to save it!"
"Your dad isn't here!" boomed the saiyan, spittle spraying the camera as Bulma jumped back in fear. She quickly judged that combining those two into one fighter only doubled their collective stubbornness; even if he was right on the subject, he didn't handle it well.
"Goten," offered Piccolo, a shade calmer, "I know it's hard to accept, but Vardock made the right call. There was no other way; if I were in his place. . . I can't say I would've acted any differently."
The half-saiyan made a huff of denial and turned his back. Accepting the truth would be hard, but in time Bulma figured he'd come around. She knew it was difficult for him; in just a few short weeks those he'd come to depend on had disappeared. Gohan fell by the hands of Cell and Goku raced off to challenge Alpha as soon as the dragon pushed him too far. Only Trunks held him together now.
Finally the newcomer decided to speak. Soft and calmly, the woman – who Bulma figured was 'Novus' – gave her input to the young man. "Chronus had to be stopped at all costs. I truly am sorry about your planet Goten."
"Sure, whatever," he mumbled.
"But what bothers me is something else," Novus began. She turned to Vardock beside her as she prepared to speak her mind. "What did Duodecimus mean when he referred to Chronus as the 'Dragon of Envy'? It seems a strange title to bestow on oneself."
Vardock nodded in agreement. "I noticed that too. I think each of the fighters took on a name of one of the seven deadly sins. Broly mentioned something about having the strength of Wrath, and Duodecimus himself spoke of Frieza as the Dragon of Greed. Seven dragons and seven sins – I suppose it fits."
"Seven deadly sins?" Novus tilted her head, clearly perplexed by the term despite being a celestial guardian.
"It's something in human religious lore," Piccolo explained. "I guess Alpha wanted a little irony to his great war – destroying humanity with their own fables. I don't know what they are exactly, but I think we might be able to piece them together now."
"So Chronus was Envy, Frieza Greed and Broly Wrath." Vardock counted off his fingers.
"We all watched that fight between Gohan and Cell – I seem to recall Gohan mocking him for being the Dragon of Lust," said Piccolo.
"Oh yeah, Buu was the Dragon of Gluttony!" Trunks said, thinking back to his rematch with the demon as the unstoppable Gotenks.
"That sounds about right," agreed Piccolo. "And I recall from my own battle that Baby was Sloth – the freak who sits back and lets the people he's infected do all the work for him."
"So that's six in total." Vardock started on his second hand, and then stopped for a grimace. "What's the seventh sin?"
An eerie silence claimed the conversation as each fighter racked their brains for an answer. Every single one of them had some reason for not knowing: Vardock, Piccolo and Novus weren't clued in enough about human lore to recite all seven from memory; Goten on the other hand rarely studied and Trunks took little interest in religion.
It seemed suitable then, that the only person to get the answer was the only non-fighter. The realisation hit Bulma like a saiyan attack. Spirit broken in an instant, she sank to the floor in a heap, barely feeling a thing as her knees made hard contact with the solid surface.
Trunks caught her in his arms, the look of fear evident on his face. "Mother what is it?" he asked. "What's the last sin?"
Bulma tried to croak out an answer, though a river of tears stopped her before she could speak. After a few deep breaths she composed herself, speaking in a series of quavering hiccups. "The only one of the seven for which there's only one suitable candidate. . ."
"What? Tell us!" demanded the namek.
The woman buried her hands in her hair and looked to the floor. As silence passed an atmosphere built, rising and rising until Bulma dropped the final bombshell.
"Pride."
Whatever's happening back there, I need to keep moving forward. Sensing the chaos of the last few days, Goku moved to new speeds as he zipped through the void of space like a stray asteroid.
Stars whirled overhead in a blur; colours he never knew existed were smeared in giant strokes around him, forming glittering nebulas and ending in rocks as old as life itself. It looked pretty to Goku; often it was hard to keep focused on flying his fastest with so much going on around him. As he pursued Alpha further though, the abundance of colour shrank into pure darkness once more.
With the device strapped to his wrist working perfectly the saiyan had no worries about the harsh, airless atmosphere that surrounded him. Years ago flying in space felt strange – alien even – but as time passed he'd grown more and more accustomed to the idea.
Having no fear of the void meant Goku had only his thoughts to keep him occupied. On the verge of the universe itself, the saiyan couldn't feel a thing from any system he'd visited before, although the occasional great surge of energy reached his senses. Each time he felt fear – fear that one of his friends or family had fallen prey to the clutches of some Shadow Dragon.
For all he knew every single one of them could be dead by now. Although the reality was hardly far from the truth, the idea that there might be at least something left to defend spurred Goku on. He'd fight until everything he held dear had been taken from him.
In time the saiyan reached what he assumed to be his destination. Alpha's energy signal was within range, just within the confines of some absurd phenomenon.
A web of some tangible substance spread out before him – a mess of interlinked chunks comprised of nothing but primary colours. Helix shapes and honeycombs and translucent domes twisted in one giant network before him, linked by smaller strands that bridged any gaps between the arrays of mismatched shapes.
As Goku closed in he realised this went on for as far as the eye could see. The angled grid of paths and slanted surfaces would make for an interesting battleground, but first its stability needed testing. The saiyan touched down on the first chunk – a yellow corkscrew shape that coiled around itself.
To half his surprise the surface remained stable, but whatever substance made it up he could not say. Even Bulma wouldn't know where to begin, for this was farspace, the point where the known universe itself came to an end. Beyond here there was no life as far as anyone knew. The system of assorted shapes simply stretched on for lightyears on end – possibly forever.
Feeling confident, Goku crouched and drove a fist into the surface. It cracked like old icing on a cake, giving way to some thick yellow gunk which the saiyan had to wipe from his hand. He then stood as a quick scan of his senses alerted him; Alpha was close – barely a few minutes away by his reckoning. With newfound determination flooding him again Goku set off into the endless web.
Flying was made a pain. Having to constantly adjust his angle to duck under a narrow bridge or weave over obstacles became a challenge quickly. What spooked Goku the most however was the cold, dead lifelessness of farspace.
Aside from Alpha's energy and his own, Goku could sense no trace of energy for as far as his range allowed – not a single shred. The columns of blue and red and yellow gave off nothing either; the whole place was a sensory graveyard, and not just for ki readings.
Normally the stream of an asteroid, the patter of a distant meteor shower or the slow sizzling of a star could be heard in space. Here silence took its reign alongside barrenness. Nothing moved either – in fact the lack of any motion was prone to make Goku twitch whenever his aura flared.
Things continued in this way until finally the saiyan noticed a figure. He stopped and landed to study the man from afar, who quietly leaned against the crook of a vivid red bridge, staring out into the infinite sea of shapes. It took a few moments for Goku to realise it, but the figure he saw was one all too familiar. Three whole years had been and gone; so much time had elapsed since Goku last saw his friend that he nearly forgot himself in the excitement.
"Vegeta!" he cried aloud. He flew over and the saiyan prince turned his head, his normally cool expression showing a welcome grin.
"Well if it isn't Goku. I should've known you'd be out here, old friend," he said gruffly.
Goku touched down to join his comrade's side. The saiyan narrowed his eyes in suspicion for a moment before sinking back into his childish reaction. "Boy am I glad to have you back!"
"You don't say. I hate to admit it, but something tells me this 'Alpha' will be more than either of us can handle alone."
"So you're out here looking for him too? It's strange, I didn't sense your energy," said Goku.
"I was masking it." Vegeta's eyes darted around the void, twin searchlights made of coal. "But so is he."
"Yeah." Goku agreed. He scratched his head and made a sullen face. "I was tracking him up to here, but now there's no sign of him."
"Well stay vigilant. This place is a maze – he could attack us from anywhere," said the prince.
The saiyan hero nodded, thinking back. "I fought with him back on Taulos. Looks like he can appear in any place at any time. He's strong too; he kicked me about like a punching bag the moment our last battle started."
"The kind of opponent that makes your saiyan blood boil, am I right? I can feel it now – I haven't had a good fight in years," muttered Vegeta, sparing a grin.
"I know what you mean. It's exciting just knowing he's this close," Goku confessed.
Like a true saiyan warrior Goku's adrenaline began to soar at just the prospect of such a strong fighter. In the past he resented it; having fun when the world was at risk just seemed wrong, but in recent years he'd come to understand that he was actually better when he gave in to those saiyan inhibitions. He couldn't save anyone if he was holding back.
A jolt from Vegeta suddenly jerked Goku back to the present. The saiyan prince had found something. He peered towards a distant shape formation and furrowed his brow, dropping into a combat stance as he pointed with a wave of his hand. Naturally, Goku followed the direction of his fingers, and Vegeta took a step back.
Goku had always always dense, but he wasn't that dense. Fortunately genuine intelligence and combat knowledge were two different things, and the saiyan had no shortage of the latter.
A shockwave shattered all the nearby shapes as Goku powered up to his maximum Super Saiyan 5 and turned into a block. Just as he expected, Vegeta had already reciprocated, transforming early and coming down hard on him with a savage right hook. If he'd waited any longer to power up, Goku figured his head would be rolling.
A short burst of energy broke the lock between the two, sending them soaring to opposing paths of blue and red formations. No longer did Vegeta look poised and ready for battle. Instead a wretched grin was plastered across his face, a sneer characterised by only one man. Goku's theory was confirmed as the normally turquoise eyes of the saiyan prince warped to an opaque shade of red – the eyes of an Eternal Dragon.
"And here I thought I could end it all in one move," Vegeta said, sighing briefly. "It's a shame really. What gave me away?"
"I've known Vegeta for a long time, and not once have I ever heard him call me by my Earth name. . . He wouldn't call me 'Goku' if his life depended on it."
"Mmm, so that was it? I should've known."
"Enough already!" Goku raised a fist. "What have you done with Vegeta? Get out of his body!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that. At least, not until he's given me enough of his energy," he said, sniggering in unbound joy.
Goku curled an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
The saiyan continued to watch as Alpha Vegeta's sneer slowly gave way to roaring laughter. The dragon's eyes grew bloodshot in mania, his tongue sticking out in a fashion so unlike Vegeta that Goku began to wonder if there was anything left at all of his old friend. He had to remind himself that this was just another opponent – another obstacle to overcome. Yet with his friend at risk, fighting him would prove difficult.
"You see," Alpha Vegeta went on. "At the moment of my coming into this world, I had an extraordinary amount of negative energy at my disposal. Naturally, I used it to revive and give a boost to the most despicable, wretched creatures in the universe to be my allies."
Goku listened, following the details closely now that Alpha had his attention.
"But like with most things, I was rather. . . Overenthusiastic. . . With my little project," explained the dragon. "I used up too much power, meaning my own form was crippled and weak in comparison to the others. So I searched for a vessel, one whose negative energy I could feed off for my rebirth. Already being a pure embodiment of pride, Vegeta was the obvious candidate."
"So you stole his body," Goku filled in the blanks, temper fraying with Alpha's every sentence. "That still doesn't answer my question – where's Vegeta now?"
"Oh, he's in here." Alpha shrugged. "Somewhere," he added. "Not that it'll do you any good. The fool is trapped deep in his own mind – an endless void where time flows out of synch with the rest of the world. Even if you could somehow reach him, his spirit would be broken after so many centuries of solitude; then he'd have to get past me."
Goku trembled in quiet rage. The pillars of lightning about his aura danced in a spectacular show of sparks. "You. . ."
"Oh but that's not the best part!" Alpha interrupted him. "As your living friends have no doubt discovered, I used this technique to implant Chronus into his captain. And – as your dead friends are probably discovering right now – Duodecimus never reached Otherworld."
"What did you say?" Goku's heart stopped in his chest.
"Once I gather up all the energy I need and break free of this vessel, I will cease to be a part of Vegeta." Alpha loosed a wicked smirk as he delivered the kicker. "Rather, Vegeta will become a part of me."
"You monster!" A shout broke free from Goku as the impression of energy surrounding him exploded in anger, the flames deepening to a darker shade of red. "I'll never forgive you for this Alpha!" The saiyan continued to increase his power, skyrocketing past his normal limits due to an emotional frenzy. It took all his restraint to stop himself flying at the foul creature.
Alpha Vegeta merely licked his lips in anticipation. "Well well, it seems you managed to increase your power at least. This should be interesting."
"Just answer me one thing: how long Alpha? How long has it been since you made Vegeta a puppet for your amusement?"
"From the very beginning – since before he came back from the dead I managed to take root in his mind." The dragon took a stance and let his own power flare up, quickly answering the saiyan's question. The energy that covered him was shrouded in darkness; acidic black power formed a silhouette about his form, dripping like a faulty tap to melt the stems of farspace. "Recognise this form?" he asked again.
The saiyan knew it immediately – how could he forget it? It was the same form Alpha had taken when he confronted Goku and Piccolo on the planet Taulos. All that time he'd been using Vegeta's body, and never for a second had Goku even considered it.
Alpha suddenly disabled the wreath of shadow, returning to his previous form of the enslaved Vegeta. He sighed as he went on, "But it's troublesome to keep up that show all the time. Besides, it's much more fun fighting you when I get to see that expression on your face every time you raise a fist to your comrade."
Goku growled, silently admitting Alpha was probably right. When Vegeta had been taken over by Baby, fighting him wasn't so hard; with the white hair and strange red circuitry running up his face, Baby's final form bore very little resemblance to the saiyan he'd captured. Fighting Alpha would be tougher – eyes notwithstanding, he looked exactly like the man Goku had fought countless battles beside. Even his voice was a perfect mimicry.
"Vegeta wouldn't want to be kept prisoner by something like you," Goku suddenly realised. "If I can't free him. . . For his sake – even if it's the last thing I do, I'll kill you."
The dragon laughed once more. With the full power of a Super Saiyan 5 in addition to his own energy at his disposal – as well as the unlimited sea of farspace to fight upon – this would be a battle to remember. "Oh this is going to be so much fun," he resolved.
Raditz was half way through wolfing down a saiyan-sized meal when a startlingly white comet flying by the window made him jump. The power that thing gave off was absurd; it rivalled even his own. As he stretched out his senses the saiyan tried to recall who it belonged to, concluding that it belonged to no other than the legendary Hyperion.
Fortunately the age-old god seemed to realise his folly, as a few moments later he reappeared, having only just realised he'd flown past a valuable ally. Floating casually in the void of space, Hyperion knocked on the window of Capsule Six and mouthed something to the saiyan. Though he couldn't read lips, Raditz figured he wanted to come in.
Strapping on Bulma's handy device, Raditz headed over to the airlock and pushed a few buttons. Once he was sure the machine worked he punched a final red one, allowing a whole thick cloud of steam to vent from the main door. He felt weightlessness for a few moments as Hyperion slipped through the doorway.
The old god touched down, recognising Raditz immediately before the blast door slammed shut behind him. The saiyan released a sigh and unbuckled the device as the gravity returned to normal.
The clockwork whirring of the half-dead ship seemed alien to Hyperion. He glanced around, clearly disturbed that the universe's greatest fighters were so dependent on technology. Sparks cackled from exposed wires and ripped-up tiles made it necessary to watch where one stepped. Just yesterday Raditz's foot fell through one of the barren patches of flooring, only to have all the lights switch off for several hours.
"I take it that you too are heading for Alpha." Hyperion wasted no words for greetings. "I doubt either of us would be a match for him, but if we can lend our power to Goku's then perhaps we may yet win."
Raditz nodded glumly. He'd come so far in a hurry, and yet he'd never actually stopped and considered what he'd do once he get there. Could he really bring himself to fight and destroy Alpha? After what he'd seen, part of him doubted his nerve.
"It's worse than you might think," the saiyan replied. "Alpha has taken over control of Vegeta. I don't know how or why he's done it, but regardless, going up against him won't be easy."
Hyperion stopped, suddenly remembering the valiant fighter who'd sacrificed his life for them three years ago. "Vegeta?" he made sure.
Raditz only nodded again. "I didn't tell Novus. It's a saiyan affair and I didn't want to worry her, but in a few hours you'll see him for yourself, so I figured I'd give you a fair warning."
"Vegeta. . ." Hyperion repeated the name, absently musing to himself in a grave soliloquy. "I remember the first time I met the man. We spoke only briefly, but his whole persona was something I couldn't understand. My family – myself included – we saw morality in black and white: purity was good and corruption was bad."
The saiyan agreed, seeing immediately where Hyperion was going with his point.
"Vegeta didn't conform to those rules. I couldn't comprehend how a man with so much pride and anger could be on our side. I hate to confess it, but I mistrusted him right up until the moment he saved the entire universe."
"It takes a while, but he grows on you eventually," said Raditz.
"Aye. I only wished I'd realised his virtues sooner," Hyperion lamented, careful with his sword as he leaned against the wall. "All his passion, his detachment and his cunning in battle – they're assets that outweigh all his flaws. . . And his determination to continue fighting is quite possibly the most remarkable thing I've ever seen from any kind of fighter, bar Goku of course."
Raditz couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he closed his eyes; Hyperion hit the nail right on the head. With the god's puzzled expression boring into him he elaborated, "That spirit of his, it's really something isn't it? In fact, it's the only reason I'm still alive right now."
One Week Ago
Beating Frieza was perhaps the single greatest achievement of Raditz's fighting career, but also his most stupid by far. He lay there in a heap of his own blood, Kaio-Ken injuries preventing him from any kind of movement as a green flash marked the sky. Energy from some foul creation consumed the planet, and in that moment the saiyan knew Alpha had arrived to finish him off.
Three minions wielding cannons – remnants of Frieza's regime – still pointed their weapons at him as they traded looks of terror. Their guns were as useless as pea-shooters to the dragon overlord, and with their collective fear they posed little threat to the crippled saiyan now.
Another flash, this one even brighter than its predecessors, lit up the eclipsed atmosphere so suddenly that the trio before him shook in fear. The light marked the appearance of its creator, a man who wore shadows and darkness like a cloak, with tiny dewdrops of the stuff dripping from his body and scorching the ground as if it were molten lava. He was exactly as Piccolo had described: a being with a rather muscular frame whose features – if he had any - were hidden behind the veil of shadow that he wore.
The three survivors traded looks of terror before blindly rushing at the man out of hysteria. By the time they came within just a few paces they were already dead. He didn't even have to lift a finger; once they entered the dragon's wispy aura of vapour-based shadow the three simply fell to the ground and crumbled to dust. Lesser beings could not even stand in this creature's presence.
". . . Alpha," presumed Raditz, speaking from the flat of his back.
"That would be me!" jeered the dragon. He looked around before nodding in apparent satisfaction. "Quite a mess you've made of this place, just what I like to see!"
"Get on with it then," Raditz growled.
Alpha lifted his hand and waved two fingers, tutting in disapproval as he did so. "Hmm, now that's just rude. After all you did put on quite a show. That was without a doubt my favourite so far Raditz! You should be proud!"
"I'm honoured. . . Now can we just get this over with?"
The dragon gave an exaggerated sigh before suddenly sparking up a blast of powerful black ki in his left hand. It was the kind that might mortally wound Raditz even when maxed out, but when powered down, paralysed and half-dead already there would be nothing he could do to survive here.
Alpha sniggered a childish laugh and licked his lips. "If you insist. Heheh, I suppose if I leave you here you'll die anyway, so finishing you here and now would be preferable wouldn't you say? Think of this as your reward for providing me with such entertainment."
Raditz said nothing in reply as the dragon made its way forward and loomed over him, blocking out all light like a bipedal form of the black spire of the Vices he'd breached so many years ago. The saiyan closed his eyes and braced himself for the end, thinking of all he cherished as the dragon reached its shrouded, energy riddled hand towards him.
It's been fun while it lasted guys.
A scream then split the air, more horrific and painful than any Raditz had ever heard. He opened his eyes, blurry with nausea, only to see some unmistakeable tragedy take place before his eyes. He would've preferred it if this was just some cruel illusion, yet the vividness of the scene made it too convincing to be anything but reality.
The dragon's shadowed aura began to die, flickering off and back on rapidly like a faulty light bulb, and between every hypnotic flash Raditz caught a glimpse of what lay beneath. Vegeta fell to his knees, his roar of unbridled anguish sending ripples across the planet's surface. With both hands the saiyan clutched his head as the man inside drove him into a fit.
Vegeta's face met solid ground, and as he continued to scream Alpha's presence forced him back on his feet to repeat the process. Like a bellowing drunkard the prince wobbled about the clearing, balance lost as he diverted all his focus to exercising the creature within.
"Get out of my head you freak!" he cried. Black power gushed out of him again for a moment, and when he next changed back to himself Vegeta had risen to a Super Saiyan 5. It seemed it was all he could do to stave off his captor. "RADITZ!" he barked suddenly, rage and desperation evident. "Get out of here! AGHH!" Pain shook through him again. "GO!"
But Raditz wasn't moving anywhere. After his ordeal with Frieza his Kaio-Ken had left him barely able to speak, let alone get up and walk. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a squeaky croak came out of him. When he saw this, Vegeta gritted his teeth and prepared for action.
The prince had pulled off many difficult things in his day, but Raditz suspected this was amongst his most testing trials yet. Keeping his sanity was all he could manage before, and yet in the knowledge that Raditz might die Vegeta somehow managed more. He shot a blast of his own untainted saiyan energy at the man. Goku's brother flinched before realising it was a small but potent volume of harmless ki, filling him with power enough to move.
Once he'd ensured Raditz's safety Vegeta wasted no time getting as far away as possible. He bolted away in a stream of energy; aquamarine flecked with bolts of black to paint a curve across the sky. Before long, Vegeta was out of sight. Raditz figured he was already off in deep space by the time he managed to get to his feet. He wouldn't waste this chance, not after Vegeta had worked so hard to keep him alive.
The moment Alpha reclaimed the prince's body he would seek to correct his mistakes, and at the rate Vegeta was deteriorating, that would happen any moment now. When that time came Raditz knew he needed to be as far away from here as possible.
With a groan of effort the saiyan began to walk. One foot in front of the other; he needed to get to the others, to tell them what he'd seen. If he didn't, then they risked destroying one of the universe's greatest protectors – for good this time. After crossing the great road to the Gates of Life already, Vegeta was ineligible for revival; if he died here then it was all over for him.
Present Day
"So that's what happened," Raditz concluded, reclining against the wall as a thin smile creased his lips.
"You think he's still in there?" asked Hyperion.
The saiyan fixed him with a dumbfounded expression. "Isn't it obvious? Weren't you listening? Of course he is! He's still fighting in there! If we can draw him out then there's a chance we can save him."
"Indeed, although that was a week ago. . . A whole week in his own mind, in addition to however long Alpha had him before that. I can't imagine anything worse – the sheer amount of time you'd experience would be unfathomable, even to someone who's lived as long as I have." Hyperion nearly shuddered as he considered that eternal limbo.
"But he came out!" Raditz insisted. "I could hear him – he was himself again! He saved me from Alpha!"
"When his mind surfaces, all that time will dissolve," said Hyperion. "But it's unlikely he'll ever surface again. Alpha will have total control over him now; he's probably doubled his hold over Vegeta's mind after that whole affair."
"But if he can hear us then surely-"
"Even if your voice could reach him now – a task which by itself is almost impossible – he wouldn't remember who you were. He wouldn't remember anything. He'd hear an unfamiliar voice crying out in his mind, not an encouraging word from an old friend."
Despite himself Raditz couldn't help but clench a fist. What did Hyperion know? He even admitted that he'd never seen a power like Vegeta's, so how could he sit there and be so negative? Raditz for one wouldn't give up, and if he knew Goku, neither would he. Whatever it took, they'd do everything in their power to get Vegeta out.
.
Author's Notes: At long last, my age-old, poor taste joke comes to an end: For once the One Star Ball isn't the namekian sea crab, the Para Para bros, General Blue, Appul, Ginyu the frog, Pui Pui, Garlic Junior, Raiti and Zaacro, blonde Launch, Mercenary Tao, Shu or even Bacterian, it's Vegeta. I'm so sorry, but this time I'm not joking – there could only be one Dragon of Pride D:
So, is there hope for him or not? I imagine most of you are backing Team Raditz over Team Hyperion, buuut it's hard to say what the reality is just yet. To make it a little clearer, Alpha used the same technique he used to break down and implant Chronus into Duodecimus in order to put himself inside Vegeta.
Most of you figured out that this was coming anyway. If you're really observant (and have a good memory) then you might have also clocked on to the moment when Alpha possesses him:
"Vegeta believed himself to be hallucinating when he saw a small flicker of light flash out of the corner of his eye. Quickly he jerked his head in its direction only to find it gone, though a half-second later he experienced what felt like a ferocious, perfectly connected kick slamming him in the chest, knocking him off balance and sending him crashing to the road below.
He hit the ground hard and rolled several times before slowing to a stop, and once he'd done so the Prince leapt back up to his feet, surveying the area for power levels. His eyes wandered the empty road and the skies above it as his mind scoped the air frantically, all to no avail." Chapter 3 – Discuss and Deploy.
After this he keeps experiencing waves of bloodlust and a need for battle (more so than usual) up until the fight against Broly. Needless to say, this was Alpha taking hold of him. There's also this little part from Chapter 12 when Alpha confronts Goku and Piccolo on Taulos; he's described as:
"Standing a few inches shorter than Goku and wide-shouldered," Hmmm. . . Sound familiar?
Ahh. Foreshadowing is great, but payoff is so much better. Fortunately Alpha isn't the only person with an ability that's been foreshadowed for later use :D Anyway after this chapter, the Alpha Tour Saga is now officially longer than the Room of Spirit and Time Saga. Yay! It's got way less chapters, sure, although it's got a higher wordcount with still a fair bit to go. Will it top TROSAT's thirty-six chapters? Hard to say - it'll probably be a few chapters shorter, but it IS technically longer now.
Hope you enjoyed that little twist guys, until next time!